No conspiracy charge by feds against Madoff is covering up links to domestic and foreign intelligence.
The failure of federal prosecutors to bring conspiracy charges against Bernard Madoff, the mega-billion dollar Ponzi scammer who pleaded guilty March 12 to eleven counts of fraud and other crimes in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, is providing cover to those who pulled the strings on Madoff's illegal operation. (more)
1. How bad are sales, really?
Stock markets might just have finished a particularly strong quarter -- with the S&P 500 Index gaining 15.2% for its best quarter since 1998, the MSCI World Index rising by 19.7%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index adding 33.6% -- but they started to look tired last month. And July is also off to a shaky start.
U.S. office vacancies rose to the highest in four years in the second quarter as job losses mounted and demand for space declined, Reis Inc. said.I was surprised that Barron's reported that the banks show their Total Reserves fell from $896 billion to $848 billion, which is a simple math problem that seems custom-made for my abilities in that regard.
And to prove it, I deftly subtract one from the other and get - voila! - $48 billion, which is not only factually correct, but more than enough to quiet any naysayer saying, "Nay, I say!" as regards my computational skills.
Then, to add that essential touch of surreal whimsy that seems to permeate all things fiscal and monetary these days, I additionally note that not only did Total Reserves go down in the banks by $48 billion to $848 billion, but I will note that Total Reserves one year ago were a miniscule $41 billion! Hahahaha! They fell last week by more than they totaled one year ago! Hahaha! (more)
From a technical standpoint, gold looks set for some short-term pain. Just like stocks, the gold chart is taking a page from 2008. Check it out:When it hit the fan last year, gold failed to deliver the righteous moonshot many had forecast. It certainly was a better place to be than stocks, but gold still suffered. Until further notice, the same playbook appears to be in use today… gold may be the once and future money, but the dollar and U.S. Treasuries remain the ultimate flight to quality when the going gets tough.
After sticking to a tight range the last few weeks, gold fell today along with stocks. The spot price shed $10, to $925 an ounce. (more)
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices may fall in more than half of the largest U.S. cities through the first quarter of 2011 as unemployment and foreclosures rise, mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. said.
Thirty of the 50 biggest metropolitan areas have at least a 75 percent chance of lower prices through March 31, 2011, Walnut Creek, California-based PMI said in a report today. The decline is likely to spread to “all regions of the nation” from California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, the states most affected by the housing slump, PMI said. (more)
Richard Daughty is general partner and COO for Smith Consultant Group, serving the financial and medical communities, and the editor of The Mogambo Guru economic newsletter - an avocational exercise to heap disrespect on those who desperately deserve it.