Money For Nothing

Donations, lobbying by high-speed traders on the rise

"High-frequency trading firms increased their campaign contributions to federal lawmakers by 673 percent from the 2008 to the 2012 election cycle, according to a report that sheds light on their political connections in Washington and efforts to impact policymaking. It compiles the campaign and lobbying records for 48 different firms like Citadel Investments, Getco, Knight Capital (KCG.N), Virtu Financial LLC and Tradeworx which engage in high-speed trading, a strategy that uses lightning-fast computers to search for ways to take advantage of tiny price moves in the marketplace." Continue reading →

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How I Printed So Much Money in Zimbabwe That the Country Experienced Hyper-Inflation

"The former head of Zimbabwe's central bank, Gideon Gono, wrote a book in 2008, Zimbabwe's Casino Economy. The book is about his running of the bank during the country's period of hyper-inflation." Continue reading →

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Billionaire investors take aim at Fed’s policies at Sohn event

"Wealthy money managers bashed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's easy money policies at a closely watched annual investment conference and charitable event on Wednesday. The Sohn Investment Conference, which raises money for pediatric cancer research, gets big name hedge fund managers to share their 'best ideas' with other wealthy investors. This year's conference was sprinkled with criticisms of the Fed's $85 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities in an attempt to stoke the economy." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul On The Bubbles the Federal Reserve Is Creating

"Although many were up in arms when the Fed said it would buy $600 billion in government debt outright for the previous round, QE2, all seems quiet about the magnitude of QE3 because it doesn’t come with huge up-front total price tag. But by year’s end the Fed’s balance sheet could hit $4 trillion. With no recovery in sight, where’s all this money going? It is creating bubbles. Bubbles in the housing sector, the stock market, and government debt. The stock market has been hitting record highs for the past two months as investors seek to capitalize on the Fed’s easy money. As long as the Fed keeps the spigot open, nominal profits are there for the taking." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Fed’s QE has not created one single extra job

"Our central banks are engaged in a breathtaking program of activism. We don't know where it will lead. But, from the historical record, activism and central banking go no better together than drinking and driving. Keep it up long enough and you're bound to have an accident. But the accident hasn't happened yet. So most people have stopped worrying about it. They smell the liquor on the driver's breath. But they get on the bus anyway. The most reckless driving in central bank history...raising the footings of the US financial system by a factor of 5 times...from $800 billion to $4 trillion...and it has not resulted in one single extra job." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Fed’s QE has not created one single extra job

Who Are the Monarchs of Money?

"Quietly, without much public fuss or discussion, a new ruling class has risen in the richer nations. These men and women are unelected and tend to shun the publicity hogged by the politicians with whom they co-exist. They are the world's central bankers. Every six weeks or so, they gather in Basel, Switzerland, for secret discussions and, to an extent at least, they act in concert. The decisions that emerge from those meetings affect the entire world. And yet the broad public has a dim understanding, if any, of the job they do. In fact, these individuals now wield at least as much influence over the lives of ordinary citizens as prime ministers and presidents." Continue reading →

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CIA ‘gave millions in cash’ to Karzai over the years

"The CIA has delivered tens of millions of dollars in cash packed in suitcases and backpacks to the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade. 'We called it ghost money,' Khalil Roman, Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 to 2005, told the Times. 'It came in secret, and it left in secret.' The money was aimed at obtaining influence, but instead fueled rampant corruption, current and former officials told the newspaper. There appears to be no oversight over the secret CIA money, which is aimed at gaining influence by paying off warlords and politicians including some linked to the drug trade and even the Taliban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA ‘gave millions in cash’ to Karzai over the years

Bill Bonner: The Grandest Larceny of All Time

"Along come the central banks. They're creating a new type of wealth. It is not wage income. It is not the product of capital investments. It is not the result of technology or productivity increases or hard work or self-discipline... or any of the other things that lead to wealth and prosperity. Instead, it is created by the central bank 'out of thin air.' The result? During the first two years of the nation's economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%. There may be a 'recovery' going on. But it is a recovery for the rich." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Grandest Larceny of All Time

The Corruption of Capitalism in America Excerpt: Chapter 17, Serial Bubbles

"Never before in history had the nation's financial system been pummeled by two gigantic bubbles and two devastating crashes in such a brief interval. That Greenspan's heir apparent managed to detect the Great Moderation at the midpoint of this cycle of financial violence was only added testimony to the degree to which monetary policy had become unhinged. It was no longer plausible, therefore, to describe the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the various venues for equity derivatives as a free market for raising and trading equity capital issues. Instead, they were violently unstable casinos, ineptly stage-managed by a central bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Corruption of Capitalism in America Excerpt: Chapter 17, Serial Bubbles