Re: The great interest rate rip-off part 4 -

[interestrateripoff]

So Obama Said....

 

the other day that "What Wall Street did was immoral, but it wasn't illegal" in response to a question about why nobody had gone to jail.

Really Mr. President? None of the following is illegal?

 

• Laundering drug money. Wachovia admitted to doing it in court. They got a "deferred prosecution agreement" and not only did nobody go to jail nobody other than a few bloggers like myself raised hell about it until days before that agreement expired. Then, magically, it got news coverage. This is a clear black-letter felony; where are the handcuffs?
   
  
  
• The former chief risk officer for Citifinancial testified under oath before the FCIC that the company knowingly sold loans on to investors that did not meet their quality guidelines and published claims. In fact, he testified that by 2007 80 percent of those loans were defective. This is functionally identical to selling you a car and rolling back the odometer, peddling tainted medicine or selling melamine-laced baby formula. There is nothing complicated about this and there is under-oath testimony establishing that it was not an accident or an "error in judgment" as it continued for more than a year after it became known and was the subject of internal memos to corporate officers. This is not my conjecture or analysis, it is factual sworn testimony before a government body. Where are the damned handcuffs?
  

 

More at the link.

[interestrateripoff]

Consumer Credit: Student Loan Revulsion?

Oh boy.... and Leverage isn't out yet.....

Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 4-1/2 percent in August 2011. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 5-1/4 percent.

This will be dismissed as more "de-leveraging" by some. Don't be fooled.

 

More at the link.

[interestrateripoff]

Breaking news

 

• Merkel, Sarkozy promise new crisis package, offer no details - Reuters
  

 

 

 

• European debt crisis: Merkel and Sarkozy thrash out bailout
   
  Leaders to discuss terms as collapse of Dexia prompts European Banking Authority to design new stress tests
   
  
  • Euro crisis: as recession looms, time is running out
    
  • Moody's downgrade: Osborne says UK banks sound
    
  • Moody's: no bailouts for small building societies
    
  • US jobs report: What the economists say
    
  • US jobless mapped: unemployment state by state
    

  [*] Third round of quantitative easing possible, says MPC member

   

  Martin Weale, external member of the Bank of England committee, defends decision to pump £75bn more into UK economy

  [*] China eyes shale gas and uranium firms

   

  China National Offshore Oil Corp linked to backer of Blackpool shale gas firm Cuadrilla, while bid expected for uranium producer Kalahari Minerals

   

  • Huhne will use Fukushima report to revive nuclear plans
    
  • RWE reviews UK nuclear role
    

  [*] Transport for London warns against PFI deal for Crossrail

   

  Private finance initiatives can cost taxpayer more, says TfL, which wants state funding to buy Crossrail trains

  9 comments

 

 

• The shockwaves of the Big Bang left us with today's big bust
   
  Everything changed when the City was deregulated in October 1986. Today, 25 years on, we are living with the consequences of financial deregulation
  52 comments
  
• Youth joblessness highest since Tories last in power, new figures to reveal
   
  There are more than a million unemployed young people, according to statistics to be published this week
  169 comments
  
• Can Britain's property market weather a new recession?
   
  This time homeowners and estate agents are asking not whether house prices will fall but just how far and how fast
  
• More business news
  
• Auction of high-speed 4G spectrum set to raise £3bn
  
• Lebara sale hit by lack of interest from Vodafone
  
• Whistles profits are in the pink
  Post your comment
  
• Anglian Windows bids leave room for improvement
  

[interestrateripoff]

Families feel the pressure as the slump takes its toll

 

Jonathan Owen: A far-reaching study is spelling out the alarming consequences for our personal lives in the gloomy economic climate.

 

• Berlin talks to forge single line on euro
  
• Cameron's 'can-do' Britain has 20,000 fewer companies
  
• Twitter aims to ape Facebook's talent for money
  
• Investors put the screws on Apple after Jobs' death
  
• 'Cautious expansion' for American Apparel in Britain
  
• Banks fail Britain's creative industries
  
• Sainsbury's joins supermarket price war
  

 

Margareta Pagano: Draghi needs a bazooka to fix the eurozone

 

Sometimes only a huge shock to the system will do

 

 

• Hamish McRae: What a barrage of bad news! Let's just sift through and make sense of it all
  
• Hamish McRae: Calm down Mervyn – this so-called global recession is really not that bad
  
• Stephen Foley: The death of Steve Jobs may have left Apple with the wrong chief executive
  
• Stephen Foley: Demand won't rise till unemployment falls
  
• David Prosser: Groundhog Day maybe, but there is still a case for Microsoft to buy Yahoo
  

[interestrateripoff]

France, Belgium, Luxembourg agree Dexia rescue

 

BRUSSELS - France, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed a rescue plan for Dexia SA on Sunday ahead of a planned board meeting expected to decide on a break-up of the first lender to fall victim to the euro zone crisis.

 

• Bank's Weale says QE supports economy 12:55pm BST
  
• Merkel, Sarkozy promise new crisis package, offer no details 7:17pm BST
  
• Osmond concerned by Lloyds branch bid costs - source 5:28pm BST
  
• Metro CEO Cordes says not seeking contract renewal
  

 

Vodafone weighs into delayed 4G spectrum row

 

LONDON - Vodafone on Sunday launched a broadside against 3, its smaller rival in the British mobile market, over the increasingly controversial auction of next-generation 4G mobile spectrum.

5:39pm BST

 

Global economy weekahead - Trade a test for U.S. leadership

 

WASHINGTON - Anger over the loss of U.S. jobs, fear that America's global economic dominance is sliding, and bitter presidential politics have created a toxic backdrop for U.S. lawmakers this week as they vote on three free-trade deals and a currency bill aimed at penalizing China.

8:09pm BST

 

Sainsbury to match prices against Tesco and Asda

 

LONDON - Grocer J Sainsbury said on Sunday it would match the prices of branded products with its larger rivals Tesco and Walmart-owned Asda as the battle for price-conscious customers escalates.

UK 1:55pm BST

 

BA's Walsh dismisses "Heathwick" rail link - paper

 

LONDON - Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways owner International Airline Group , has poured cold water on a plan to link London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports by high-speed rail.

5:52pm BST

 

Glencore could support Bakries' Bumi stake - paper

 

LONDON - Commodities trading giant Glencore could come to the aid of Indonesia's Bakrie family over the financing of a loan backed by a stake in London-listed Bumi , the Sunday Telegraph reported.

[interestrateripoff]

Clamping Down on Rapid Trades in Stock Market

 

By GRAHAM BOWLEY

 

 

Regulators are weighing rules to rein in high-speed, computerized trading, and officials in the United States, Europe and Canada may impose fees aimed at limiting volume.

 

 

 

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News

 

Andrew Haldane, executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England, said the flash crash was a “wake-up call.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Chicken, That Temperamental Star

 

By DAVID SEGAL

 

Tabletop directors are commercial artists whose goal is to make mundane foods look so irresistible that people want to eat the TV.

 

• Video: Steamy Scenes of Pasta
  

 

Poker Inc. to Uncle Sam: Shut Up and Deal

 

By JANET MORRISSEY

 

Legalizing and regulating poker on the Internet could bring billions of dollars to government coffers, supporters say.

 

Media Decoder Blog

 

Sony Is Said to Buy Film Rights to Jobs Biography

 

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

 

Sony Pictures Entertainment has concluded a deal to buy film rights to the authorized biography "Steve Jobs," from Walter Isaacson, according to a person who was briefed on the deal.

 

Unboxed

 

The Power of Taking the Big Chance

 

By STEVE LOHR

 

Part of Steve Jobs’s legacy will be the lessons learned by those who worked closely with him over the years.

 

The Wizard and the Mortal: Two Sides of Genius

 

By RANDALL STROSS

 

The deaths of Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs brought outpourings of public grief, but while both were celebrated for their genius, Mr. Jobs was also remembered for his humanity.

 

Protest Spurs Online Dialogue on Inequity

 

By JENNIFER PRESTON

 

What began as a protest in a New York City park against economic inequities has become a conversation that is spreading across the country on social media.

 

• Protest of War Shuts Museum In Washington
  

 

Workstation

 

For Women, Parity Is Still a Subtly Steep Climb

 

By PHYLLIS KORKKI

 

The number of senior executive women has hardly budged in recent years. And an expert says one cause may be an “entrenched sexism” that is largely unconscious.

The Depression: If Only It Were That Good

 

By DAVID LEONHARDT

 

Even when unemployment was very high during the Depression, we were making technological progress. Now, we suffer from stagnation in business and education.

[interestrateripoff]

9 October 2011 Last updated at 17:47

 

Euro crisis talks 'end in accord'

 

The German and French leaders say they will propose "important changes" to the way the eurozone operates after talks on controlling the bloc's debt crisis.

 

• Dexia in trouble
  
• Eurozone crisis in graphics
  

 

Sainsbury's launches price match

 

Sainsbury's says it will match the prices of certain products at rivals Tesco and Asda as supermarkets look for ways to attract new customers.

 

• Tesco profits grow but UK subdued
  

 

 

£4m savings adverts miss target

 

Public awareness of the UK savings safety net has failed to increase - despite a £4m advertising campaign.

 

• Q&A: Are my savings safe?
  
• How to complain about financial services
  

 

 

 

• Greek default needed, says Major
   
  Former Prime Minister Sir John Major says European banks need to recapitalise and 'Greece needs to default', to help end the debt crisis.
  
• Italy and Spain debt downgraded
   
  Italian and Spanish government debt are both downgraded by the Fitch credit rating agency.
  
• New York ID theft ring broken up
   
  Police in New York say they have broken up an international identity theft ring that used fake credit cards to mainly buy high value computer products.
  
• UK banks hit by Moody's downgrade 843
  
• O2 apologises for roaming glitch
  
• King fears crisis is 'worst ever' 427
  
• US economy adds 103,000 new jobs
  
• Call for payday loan regulation 241
  
• Fuel poor could miss out on help
  
• Pension charge for council staff
  
• Ofcom delays 4G mobile auctions
  
• Disney's Robert Iger to step down
  
• Europe clears Microsoft Skype bid
  
• Premier Foods in profit warning
  

[interestrateripoff]

[/url]

 

France, Belgium and Luxembourg agree Dexia deal

 

France, Belgium and Luxembourg said on Sunday that they had reached a deal to dismantle troubled bank Dexia, the first victim of the eurozone debt crisis.

France pushes Germany on bank rescue deal

 

 

 

 

Global crisis heralds loss for Goldman Sachs

 

Goldman Sachs is expected to make its first quarterly loss since the depths of the financial crisis, underlying how the current market turmoil is hurting Wall Street's biggest banks.

Has Goldman lost its magic touch?

 

 

Full report should throw light on to failings at RBS

 

 

 

Martin Weale: 'A lot of scope for more QE'

 

The Bank of England is likely to follow up last week's £75bn of quantitative easing (QE) with even more, a leading rate-setter has said.

 

Willie Walsh attacks 'Heathwick' plan

 

The head of one of the world's largest airline groups and owners of British Airways has dismissed plans for a new super-airport covering Heathrow and Gatwick as lacking credibility.

Gatwick and Heathrow could get rail link

 

 

 

Nectar Card hit hard by low interest rates

 

The consumer economic downturn should have been kind to loyalty schemes – as millions more shoppers signed up to discounts and rewards to save money.

 

Lastminute.com sued over O2 ticket sales

 

 

 

 

Sun ceases to shine on Lloyds' branch disposal

 

 

 

 

Recovery hopes painful for hedge fund legend Paulson

 

 

 

 

Glencore ready to support Bakris' £900m stake in Bumi

 

 

 

 

Greg Hands levies 'swizz' jibe at Barclays

 

Finding the human causes of this crisis can set us on the road to recovery

 

At last, a sense of urgency has gripped the authorities. But before we can find a way out of this epic morass, we need to be sure what got us here.

 

The week ahead – October 10, 2011: results, meetings and trading updates

 

 

 

 

Occupy Wall Street protests continue to spread

 

 

 

 

Financial week ahead: October 10 - October 14

 

 

Finding the next Apple may well be impossible for investors

 

 

Heathwick? Is that some kind of bad joke?

 

 

Talking up austerity will never bring down the UK's debt, Mr Osborne

[interestrateripoff]

Lee Adler Gets It. Why Don't You?

 

Another one comes to the light...

We as a society must stop pretending.

Most of us think that we still have money in the bank to protect, so we go along with the game of extend and pretend. For some of us, the game has already ended. The rapacious zero interest rate policy that I call Bernankecide has already robbed millions of savers of their life savings. This is the reality that has yet to hit home for many Americans who are content to wallow in the status quo. Unfortunately, the longer it takes for them to wake up, the worse their, and our, fate will be.

It is not just "money to protect." It is also unpayable political promises, most-particularly the concept of unlimited health care spending for seniors. The tab for this is somewhere around $50 - 70 trillion dollars. We do not have it, we cannot acquire it, and thus it will not be paid. This is not subject to any sort of honest debate.

 

More at the link.

[interestrateripoff]

Slovak Politician GETS IT!

 

What the hell do we have here?

SPIEGEL ONLINE:

Slovakia has yet to approve the expansion of the euro backstop fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), because your Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is blocking the reform. If a majority of Slovak parliamentarians don't support the EFSF expansion, it could ultimately mean the end of the common currency.

Sulik:

The opposite is actually the case. The greatest threat to the euro is the bailout fund itself.

SPIEGEL ONLINE:

How so?

Sulik:

It's an attempt to use fresh debt to solve the debt crisis. That will never work.

TRUTH! Out of a politician! Yet note carefully folks: NOT ONE of those running for President here, in the United States, has said this. NOT ONE has said that we must cut the federal government budget to the point of balance - actual balance, not via gimmicks. That's a 43% cut, incidentally.

You cannot fix a debt problem with more debt, and any sort of "refinancing" is simply more debt. You must either pay it down or default it.

 

I'm sure the Slovaks will be brought back on message very shortly unless of course the Germans want out and are quite happy for the Slovaks to pull the plug.

[interestrateripoff]

Is Creditanstalt Spelled "Dexia"?

I somehow doubt it, but you do have to wonder...

France and Belgium may have agreed on the split of the burden of Dexia SA (DEXB)’s “bad bank,” which will hold 120 billion euros ($160 billion) of risky U.S., Italian, Spanish, and Belgium loans, Le Journal du Dimanche said, without citing anyone.

Belgium and France may guarantee 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively, of the refinancing of these loans, the newspaper said. The proceeds of the sale of Dexia’s profitable assets such as its Belgian retail bank will go to the bad bank to mitigate its losses, according to the newspaper.

Note the word: refinancing.

The word that these clowns never use: Default or Payment.

Either of the latter would be ok. Refinancing does nothing to address the fundamental imbalance in the economy - the making of loans that could not be paid back by the borrowers, which is supposed to result in the bankruptcy of both borrower and lender.

 

The boy is back at the dyke again trying to put his finger in the hole, only 3 short years after the last bank bailouts we are now heading back into the financial storm. This time the losses will be bigger and the pain more acute.

[interestrateripoff]

Slovakia On Why It Votes "No" To EFSF Expansion: "The Greatest Threat To The Euro Is The Bailout Fund Itself"

 

 

The Latest Dexia News: Nothing Set Yet, Despite $4 Billion Proposed Purchase Of "Good Bank" By Government, 60% Of Belgium Bad Bank

 

 

"Planning To Plan" - Merkozy Reach Yet Another "Agreement", Adding "It Is Too Early To Enter Into Details"

 

 

The CEO Of Failed Dexia Made €1.95 Million In 2009 And 2010 Despite A €150 Billion Government Guarantee And A Fed Bailout

 

 

Dexia's Belgian Bank To Be 100% Nationalized

 

 

Did Foreigners Bail Out The US Stock Market... By Dumping $56 Billion In Treasurys?

 

 

The Dutch Central Bank Answers 10 Questions About Its Gold

 

 

"Dexia's Funeral Will Be Announced On Sunday" As "Weakest Link" Slovakia Prepares To Bury The Euro

 

Think An American Economic Resurgence Is Imminent? Don't Be Stupid, Warns Goldman

 

 

Chart Of The Week: European "Fear And Loathing" Hits Record $1.3 Trillion

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.businessinsider.com/an-irish-haircut-john-mauldin-2011-10

 

Ireland is an interesting contrast to Greece. Greece used its access to low rates that came along with the euro to borrow and increase the wages of government workers, until the Greek train system, for instance, had €100 million in revenue and €400 million in salaries, with another €300 million in expenses. A government-sponsored retirement plan for some 600 different “hazardous” jobs (like hairdressing and radio work) was available at 50 years of age.

 

Greek banks are going to go bankrupt not because they lent money to finance too many homes but because they lent money to the Greek government. That is the opposite of Irish banks, which, while they bought modest amounts of Irish government debt, facilitated a construction boom of epic proportions – a bubble that imploded.

 

I have written about Irish housing woes. They built 300,000 too many homes, which would correspond to about 15 million too many homes in the US (we “merely” overbuilt by 2.5 million). The resulting crash in building has been a monstrous drag on the Irish economy. And the same happened in commercial construction – a taxi driver took some delight, once he knew I was a financial writer, in pointing out buildings that were empty. “But they are probably a good buy now!”

 

And the construction boom helped finance a huge boost in government revenues. In 2004, the Irish Home Builders Association calculated that 40% of the price of a house went straight to the government in taxes. You can find details on their calculations in this newspaper article. The government of that time protested that the figure was only 28%!

 

And the Irish willingly took on the debt of banks that went bankrupt. If Anglo Irish Bank were a US institution, the equivalent debt would have been about $3.5-4 trillion (depending on the exchange rate). Can you imagine trying to get a bailout for ONE bank for that much? And in Ireland there were three of them (!), though the other two were somewhat smaller. The Irish government guaranteed the bank debt for ECB loans, which money then went to European banks that had loaned the Irish banks the money in the first place.

 

Michael Lewis, in his just published book Boomerang! (I saw several people reading it on the plane coming back – soon to be downloaded to my iPad), noted that he thought it was interesting that the Irish people did not seem all that aware of the rather crushing nature of the debt they had assumed.

 

Don't forget Ireland, I think they could end up needing another bailout shortly. Hard to tell what will happen if the European banking system heads into another crisis.

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15234228

 

The current rate of public sector job losses is far greater than official projections and suggests total job cuts in the sector will be 50% higher than forecast, researchers say.

 

The number of jobs lost since April is five times greater than the Office for Budget Responsibility projected for the entire year, the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD) said.

 

The body called on the government to halt public sector job cuts.

 

The Treasury said the cuts were needed.

 

A spokesman said: "Risks in the global economy make it even more essential to stick to the government's essential deficit reduction plan, which is supported by the International Monetary Fund, the OECD and the CBI.

 

"This plan is essential for sustainable growth and has helped deliver record low interest rates for families."

 

You've got to laugh, record low rates have been delivered at the cost of high inflation which will of course damage families far more....

 

Although the gamble is that someone high unemployment will reign in inflation and act as a nice anchor as the BoE prints it's way to oblivion.

[interestrateripoff]

Breaking news

 

• Finance whiz and music lover to be Bertelsmann CEO - Reuters
  

 

 

 

• Dexia gets new bailout with €4bn deal
   
  Institution is first victim of the 2011 banking crisis as its Belgian arm is bought by the government and France and Luxembourg also step in with guarantees
  100 comments
  
  • Spain unlikely to meet deficit target
    
  • European debt crisis: Monday's events
    
  • Oil and shares rise on eurozone hopes
    
  • Dexia gets €4bn Belgian bailout - video
    
  • Portugal's credit binge hangover
    
  • Cocaine testing lined up for Italy's traders
    
  • Euro crisis: as recession looms, time is running out
    

  [*] Small business funding needs 'new mechanisms', says Cable

   

  Vince Cable defends Project Merlin lending deal but says small businesses face 'deeper' funding problem

  8 comments

  • RBS and Lloyds criticised for cash machine restrictions
    
  • Poll:Is it wrong to restrict ATM access?
    

  [*] BlackBerry service crash affects BBM messaging

   

  RIM acknowledges ongoing email and messaging problem for customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa

  1 comment

  [*] South Africa resists being 'Walmartised'

   

  Government could force Walmart to bow to more stringent and expensive conditions before its takeover of Massmart can proceed

 

 

• Nobel prize award to Sims and Sargent is another blow to the free marketeers
   
  Economics blog: Awarding the Nobel prize to interventionist economists was a thumbs down to academics of the Chicago school
  15 comments
  
  • Sargent and Sims win Nobel prize for economics
    
  • UK needs more than QE to recover
    
  • More from the economics blog
    

  [*] Ladbrokes goes back to plan A - it had better work

   

  Nils Pratley on finance: Richard Glynn had good reasons for walking away from Sportingbet but seems to take a long time looking at takeovers

  1 comment

  • Ladbrokes slips after purchase aborted
    
  • More Nils Pratley on finance
    

  [*] Cost of insuring banks against default

   

  Business blog: The cost of buying insurance against some of the biggest banks defaulting has risen during the eurozone crisis

  4 comments

  • The business blog
    

  [*] More business news

  [*] Youth joblessness highest since Tories last in power

[interestrateripoff]

Greece loan talks advance, EU delays summit

 

7:44pm BST

ATHENS/BERLIN - Greece said it concluded talks with international lenders over a vital aid payment on Monday after Germany and France gave investors hope by promising a plan to recapitalise Europe's banks soon. |

 

Banks brace for capital calls as Dexia rescued

 

6:22pm BST

BRUSSELS/PARIS - Europe's banks expect to be told to raise more capital under a Franco-German effort to solve the euro zone debt crisis after the state rescue of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA.

 

FTSE lifted by Franco-German debt crisis pledge

 

LONDON - Bank and commodity stocks hoisted Britain's top shares to a five-week closing high Monday, on mounting optimism over the prospects for a solution to Europe's debt crisis after a weekend meeting of French and German leaders.

 

 

• Banks brace for capital calls as Dexia rescued | 6:22pm BST
  
• Stocks, euro rise on German-Franco crisis pledge 7:32pm BST
  
• Greece loan talks advance, EU delays summit | 7:44pm BST
  
• Lloyds set for big losses on real estate - FT
  

 

E.ON finds gas in southern North Sea

 

LONDON - E.ON has made an "encouraging" gas discovery after drilling in the Tolmount prospect in the southern North Sea, it said on Monday.

1:49pm BST

 

Special report - China's debt pileup raises risk of hard landing

 

CHENGDU/WUHAN, China - When China announced a nearly $600 billion (385 billion pounds) package to ward off the 2008 global financial crisis, city planners across the country happily embarked on a frenzy of infrastructure projects, some of them of arguable need.

5:21pm BST

 

Banks cut IT contractor pay in battle on costs

 

LONDON - Banks including Nomura and Royal Bank of Scotland have cut pay rates for IT contractors and other temporary workers by 10 percent and more as they take an increasingly hard line on costs.

12:38pm BST

 

Adidas eyes double-digit growth in Russia

 

MOSCOW - German sporting goods company Adidas AG expects investment in its own stores and rising consumer spending in Russia to propel the region to becoming one of its top three global markets behind the United States and China, it said on Monday.

3:45pm BST

 

EU excludes OTC in D.Boerse/NYSE review - sources

 

FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS - The European Commission will not include over-the-counter derivatives in its review of Deutsche Boerse's planned takeover of NYSE Euronext , three people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

[interestrateripoff]

High-street banks attacked over account switching policy

 

 

The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) is under attack for failing to push for portable bank accounts – a basic reform that campaigners say would free consumers to switch banks and increase the efficiency of the wider economy.

 

 

• Steel giant Tata to invest £2m at plant
  
• World stock markets rise after euro debts vow
  
• Belgium nationalises Dexia unit
  
• MPs question banks' cash machine rules
  
• Cameron urges 'decisive steps' on eurozone crisis
  
• Confidence falls while activity starts to rebound
  
• Software group Misys rocked by shareholder revolt over pay
  

 

Stephen King: Sometimes we should never expect politicians to find the right answer

 

Economic outlook: Fail to deal with the budget deficit and the UK could end up with a sovereign downgrade, higher interest rates and even more pain

 

 

• Margareta Pagano: Draghi needs a bazooka to fix the eurozone
  
• Hamish McRae: What a barrage of bad news! Let's just sift through and make sense of it all
  
• Hamish McRae: Calm down Mervyn – this so-called global recession is really not that bad
  
• Stephen Foley: The death of Steve Jobs may have left Apple with the wrong chief executive
  
• Stephen Foley: Demand won't rise till unemployment falls
  

[interestrateripoff]

10 October 2011 Last updated at 17:01

 

Public sector job cuts 'deeper'

 

The rate of public sector job losses is far greater than official projections and suggests far more jobs will be lost than forecast, researchers say.

 

• Pension charge for council staff
  

 

EU summit on debt crisis delayed

 

A European Union summit on the eurozone's debt crisis and recapitalisation of the banks is delayed until 23 October.

 

• Eurozone crisis explained
  
• Experts debate eurozone options
  
• Charting Europe's economic woes
  

 

 

Blackberry crashes across Europe

 

Server problems cause frustration for Blackberry owners across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 215

 

 

 

• Embattled Dexia gets huge bailout
   
  France, Belgium and Luxembourg look to secure the future of the troubled bank Dexia with a massive bailout, following fears it could go bankrupt.
  
• Cameron urging action in eurozone
   
  David Cameron urges Europe's leaders to take "decisive steps" to solve the financial crisis that is sweeping through the eurozone. 136
  
• Unison members to vote on strikes
   
  More than a million public sector workers are to vote on potential strike action in a dispute over pension changes, Unison confirms.
  
• Ladbrokes ends Sportingbet talks
  
• Two win Nobel economics prize
  
• Warm weather 'knocks High Street'
  
• Netflix in U-turn on DVD spin-off
  
• Proton Bank saved by Greek fund
  
• Power firms challenged on subsidy
  
• German exporters shrug off crisis
  
• Ferrovial sells 6% stake in BAA
  
• Savile Group makes full-year loss
  
• Samsung delay is 'Jobs tribute'
  
• Napster founders to start Airtime
  
• Dexia: The burden on Belgian and French taxpayers
   
  12 hours ago
  Given the size of Dexia, with a 500bn euros plus balance sheet - comparable in size to all Greek banks put together - eurozone governments viewed its rescue as vital to avoid more market turmoil. But that rescue has come at some burden for Belgian and French taxpayers.
  
• The Nobel prize, and the ONS
   
  17 minutes ago
  Without reliable statistics, policy making can be a tricky business.
  

[interestrateripoff]

As Its Economy Sprints Ahead, China’s People Are Left Behind

 

By DAVID BARBOZA

 

China’s current economic system favors state-run banks and companies over wage earners, who are largely denied the benefits of the nation’s remarkable growth.

Shiho Fukada for The New York Times

 

A shopkeeper napping on a busy shopping street in Jilin. While Western companies look at China as a potentially huge market, consumers in Jilin and other heartland cities mostly settle for what state-run department stores and mom-and-pop shops offer.

 

 

 

American Economists Share Nobel Prize

 

By CATHERINE RAMPELL 11:34 AM ET

 

Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims, two Americans, won the Nobel economics prize on Monday “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.”

 

• Economix Blog: Further Reading on the Laureates 12:40 PM ET
  
• Post a Comment | Read (74)
  

 

Media Decoder Blog

 

Netflix Abandons Plan to Rent DVDs on Qwikster

 

By BRIAN STELTER 1:53 PM ET

 

Netflix said Monday morning that it had decided to keep its DVD-by-mail and online streaming services together under one name and to abandon its plan to start a new company called Qwikster.

 

Markets Ahead on Hopes for European Bank Plan

 

By REUTERS 58 minutes ago

 

Stocks rose on Monday after a renewed pledge by France and Germany to come up with a plan to tackle the euro zone debt crisis and support the region’s banks.

 

E.U. Delays High-Level Meeting

 

By STEPHEN CASTLE and NIKI KITSANTONIS 11:46 AM ET

 

The president of the European Union delayed the planned summit meeting until Oct. 23 to give leaders more time to finalize a plan to fight a worsening debt crisis.

 

• Interactive Feature: Tracking Europe's Debt Crisis 3:00 PM ET
  

 

Recession Officially Over, U.S. Incomes Kept Falling

 

By ROBERT PEAR

 

In a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump, a new report shows that despite some improvement in the economy, household incomes have lagged.

 

• Graphic: Declining Household Income
  
• Post a Comment | Read (283)
  

 

Bertelsmann C.E.O. to Step Down

 

By ERIC PFANNER 38 minutes ago

 

Hartmut Ostrowski cited “personal reasons” for the surprise move and will be succeeded by Thomas Rabe, the chief financial officer.

 

Apple Says Pre-Orders of iPhone 4S Break Record

 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:51 PM ET

 

Apple says first-day pre-orders of the iPhone 4S topped 1 million, breaking the record set by last year's model.

 

DealBook

 

Venture Capital Fund-Raising Tumbles in Third Quarter

 

By EVELYN M. RUSLI

 

Venture capital firms raised $1.72 billion in the third quarter, the lowest level since 2003, according to a report released on Monday by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association.

[interestrateripoff]

[/url]

 

Global markets rally on German, French plan to prop up banks

 

Global markets jump on German-French plan to prop up banks as markets shake off Greece default fears and EU postpones eurozone summits to October 23 to discuss steeper losses for Greek bondholders.

 

 

France and Germany set a date to save Europe

 

French president Nicholas Sarkozy and German chancellor Anglea Merkel have pledged to present a plan that resolves the eurozone debt crisis by the end of the mont but gave no hint of how they intended to do it.

Euro crisis: Cameron urges 'big bazooka'

 

 

Belgium nationalises Dexia retail bank in rescue deal

 

 

E&Y: Eurozone on brink of recession

 

 

Martin Weale: 'A lot of scope for more QE'

 

 

Basic living costs in Britain at 20-year high

 

 

 

Sargent and Sims win Nobel economics prize

 

Americans Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims share the 2011 Nobel prize in economics for work on the impacts of policy changes or shocks like surging oil prices on output, inflation or employment.

Profile: 2011 economics Nobel prize winners

 

 

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics: Did you know?

 

 

 

Murdochs 'should leave News Corp board'

 

Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch should be voted off News Corporation's board, according to a shareholder advisory group that has called for an overhaul at the company in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

 

Ferrovial sells stake in airports operator BAA

 

 

 

 

BP office raid documents can't be used in lawsuit

 

 

 

 

The £127m 'fraud' never revealed by SocGen

 

 

 

 

AstraZeneca to invest $200m in Chinese factory

 

 

 

 

Basic living costs in Britain at 20-year high

 

 

 

 

Wal-Mart rapped by China over pork prices

 

 

Debt crisis: live

 

Markets edge up on Merkel and Sarkozy plan to pump money into banks but default fears linger as EU prepares to delay forthcoming summits due to ongoing talks on steeper losses for Greek bondholders.

Banque de France turns a blind eye to European financial crisis

 

 

 

 

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics: Did you know?

 

 

 

 

Profile: 2011 economics Nobel prize winners

 

 

Banque de France turns a blind eye to European financial crisis

 

 

'Bash' the right 'rich' – bankers are workers, not capitalists

 

 

Finding the human causes of this crisis can set us on the road to recovery

[interestrateripoff]

Erste Group Reveals Stunner: Reports Billions In Previously Undisclosed Underwater Sovereign CDS; Who Is Next? And How Much More Is Out There?

 

 

11th Hour Decision Pushed To Milliseconds Before Midnight As Slovakia Fails To Reach EFSF Decision

 

 

Guest Post: How To Explain Greece To A Complete Idiot / Politician

 

 

Greek 1 Year Bond Yields Pass 150% For The First Time Ever; Presenting The Hyperbolic Bond Curve

 

 

EUR Shorts Flee The Overcrowded Burning Theater In Disorderly, Multiple-File Exodus

 

 

Not To Be Left Out, China Announces Its Own Bank And Stock Market Bail Out

 

 

Berlusconi Blames Stock Market Volatility On Cocaine Abuse By Traders

 

 

Slovak SaS Party Won’t Change Its Position On Voting Against EFSF Expansion

 

 

Two More European Banks Nationalized Following Dexia's Example

[interestrateripoff]

• Goldman Sachs let off £10m interest by HMRC
   
  Leaked files show tax official shook hands on secret settlement described as 'cock-up'
   
  
  • Minutes of meeting on Goldman Sachs settlement
    
  • Legal advice on disclosure to parliament
    
  • Quarter of FTSE 100 subsidiaries use tax havens
    
  • Are Nigerians paying a high price for tax havens?
    
  • Tax havens and the FTSE 100: the full list
    

  Breaking news

   

  

  • US STOCKS-Wall Street flat before Slovakia votes on fund - Reuters
    

   

   

   

  • Stock markets on knife-edge ahead of Slovakia vote
     
    Live After Malta's vote in favour of the enhanced European financial stability facility (EFSF), our attention switches to Slovakia, the final piece in the jigsaw
    102 comments
    
    • Latest “7.25pm: Slovakian MPs are continuing to have their say, and there's no sign that a vote is imminent. However, it doesn't appear that anyone has…”
      Debt crisis live
       
      
    • Slovakia: a two-minute guide
      
    • Slovakia coalition threatens bailout plan
      
    • Osborne calls for decisiveness over Greece crisis
      
    • Summit delayed as deal proves elusive
      
    • Dexia gets new bailout with €4bn deal
      
    • Spain unlikely to meet deficit target
      
    • Cocaine testing lined up for Italy's traders
      

    [*] Recession over but UK still suffering from 'depression', says NIESR

     

    UK economic output remains well below its pre-recession peak, says National Institute of Economic and Social Research

     

    • Economics blog: Engine of growth has shrunk
      
    • Manufacturing output in August fall
      
    • UK manufacturing: what the economists say
      

    [*] Mothercare boss pays for sales slump

     

    Ben Gordon leaves baby goods retailer 'by mutual consent' after third profits warning in a year, blaming the 'underlying economic malaise'

     

    • Shoppers switch to cheaper stores
      
    • M&S to open on Champs Elysées for Christmas
      
    • Odeon & UCI audience figures slip
      

    [*] Bank of England builder goes into administration

     

    It remodelled the Bank, refurbished the V&A and built Trafalgar Square fountains, but Holloway White Allom has called in the administrators

   

  [*] Does the EFSF have a design fault?

   

  Nils Pratley on finance: The first EFSF bonds are performing badly – that suggests investors are already questioning the guarantees

  9 comments

  • More from Nils Pratley on finance
    

  [*] Quotas for women? Good and bad

   

  Business blog: The new corporate governance code will force companies to set out their policies for boardroom diversity

  19 comments

  • The business blog
    

  [*] Merkozy'll fix the debt crisis? We'll believe it when we see it

   

  Economics blog: Merkel and Sarkozy are working on a 'comprehensive strategy' but there are huge financial and political hurdles

  26 comments

  • Nobel award is another blow to the free marketeers
    
  • UK needs more than QE to recover
    
  • More from the economics blog
    

  [*] Saab 'close to bankruptcy'

   

  The administrator in charge of Saab's restructuring under court protection could pull the plug on the process, according to Swedish reports

  [*] More business news

  [*] Glencore in Rothschild coal deal

  [*] Quarter of FTSE 100 subsidiaries located in tax havens

   

  • Tax havens and the FTSE 100: the full list
    

  [*] Housing market stirs with remortgages up by a third

  [*]

[interestrateripoff]

British firms attacked for routine use of tax havens

 

Charity urges politicians to match rhetoric with action to stop an 'epidemic' of tax dodging

 

 

• Clothing sales slump amid heatwave
  
• M&S back in France after 10 years
  
• Government announces £170m industry boost
  
• Europe's banks may get €200bn bailout
  
• Turkish website comes between Ladbrokes and Sportingbet
  
• UK at risk as OECD signals acceleration in pace of global economic slowdown
  
• ICB members tell MPs to ignore banks' special pleading
  

 

David Prosser: Ladbrokes may be a bookie but its chief executive is right to give gambling a miss

 

Richard Glynn has missed out on two deals in six months, but in each case made the right decision

 

 

• Martin Hearson: We identified over 8,000 firms hiding in tax havens
  
• Stephen King: Sometimes we should never expect politicians to find the right answer
  
• Margareta Pagano: Draghi needs a bazooka to fix the eurozone
  
• Hamish McRae: What a barrage of bad news! Let's just sift through and make sense of it all
  
• Hamish McRae: Calm down Mervyn – this so-called global recession is really not that bad
  

[interestrateripoff]

Bank chiefs warn against too harsh reforms

 

6:55pm BST

LONDON - Bank bosses warned they could leave London or reduce business or investment here if planned regulatory reforms prove too harsh on the industry.

Greece to get loan, Trichet says crisis systemic

 

5:57pm BST

ATHENS/FRANKFURT - Greece should receive a vital lifeline next month in order to avoid bankruptcy, its international lenders said on Tuesday, buying time for a broader EU response to a debt crisis that Europe's top central banker labelled "systemic."

 

 

• Global stocks swing, oil jumps ahead of Slovak EU vote 7:37pm BST
  
• Exclusive - Europe hits banks with tougher capital test
  

 

Greece to get loan, Trichet says crisis systemic

 

ATHENS/FRANKFURT - Greece should receive a vital lifeline next month in order to avoid bankruptcy, its international lenders said on Tuesday, buying time for a broader EU response to a debt crisis that Europe's top central banker labelled "systemic."

 

FSA acted wrongly in Keydata probe

 

LONDON - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) used legally privileged material in an investigation into defunct investment services group Keydata, which sparked the UK's biggest personal investment scandal in decades when it collapsed in 2009, a UK court said.

5:10pm BST

 

Recession fears grow as consumers struggle

 

LONDON - The economy risks slipping back into recession after barely growing in the third quarter, a business group said on Tuesday, as data showed that manufacturers are running out of steam and as consumers struggle to make ends meet.

UK 5:39pm BST

 

Slovak euro fund vote hits snag, seen done this week

 

BRATISLAVA - A Slovak ruling party said it would abstain on Tuesday from a vote on expanding the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund, forcing the government to turn to opposition parties to push through a deal agreed by the currency bloc to contain the Greek debt crisis. | Video

6:48pm BST

 

Deutsche Boerse/NYSE have four weeks to answer EU-source

 

CHICAGO - Merger partners Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext have until November 8 to formally address the European Commission's specific concerns over their $9 billion (5.77 billion pound) deal, according to a source familiar with the time table.

6:58pm BST

 

Glencore in talks for Bakrie coal, shares - sources

 

JAKARTA/SINGAPORE - Glencore is in advanced talks with Indonesia's Bakrie family to secure more rights to sell coal and an option to buy shares in miner Bumi , in exchange for refinancing a $1.35 billion (865.21 million pound) loan, sources with knowledge of the deal said.

[interestrateripoff]

11 October 2011 Last updated at 18:40

 

Greece and troika in payout deal

 

International financial inspectors reach agreement with Greece on reforms to put the nation's troubled economy back on track.

 

• Who are the troika?
  
• Greek crisis: Backpackers' guide
  
• Trying times for Greek families
  
• Eurozone crisis explained
  
• Greece's debt crisis odyssey
  
• Q&A: Greek debt crisis
  

 

Euro bailout fund faces key vote

 

Slovakia is to hold a key vote on the eurozone bailout fund shortly, vital both to efforts to combat the debt crisis and the future of the Slovak government. 173

 

• Eurozone crisis explained
  
• Why Slovakia opposes euro bailout Watch
  
• EU summit on debt crisis delayed
  
• Eurozone's crisis countdown
  

 

 

UK seeing 'big rise in poverty'

 

Falling incomes will mean the biggest drop for middle-income families since the 1970s, says a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

 

 

 

• Bank chiefs question ringfencing
   
  The UK's biggest banks question the value of ringfencing their retail operations, but say it is "not a make or break issue".
  
• Mortgage market's 'signs of life'
   
  The mortgage market showed "welcome signs of life" in August, lenders say, although it remained far from signalling a housing boom.
  
• Factory output declines in August
   
  The UK's manufacturing output was 0.3% lower August than in July, according to official government figures.
  
• UK recovery 'weakest in century'
  
• Co-op suffers debit card glitch
  
• Mothercare chief executive quits
  
• Two suppliers end doorstep sales
  
• Users suffer new Blackberry crash 462
  
• EU bans pre-ticked website boxes
  
• Firms see economy 'deteriorating'
  
• Chinese bank shares move higher
  
• Pension funds 'further into red'
  
• Social media 'to generate $10bn'
  
• Banks: China buys, Europe cries Watch
   
  11 hours ago
  In propping up their banks, how big is the danger that the credit-worthiness of European states, such as France, will be undermined by the perception that they have become more exposed to the huge liabilities of their banks?