Gold = $1,001.00/oz; crude oil = $111.00/bbl

[Ninong]

Right now spot gold is trading at:

$1,001.00/oz.

Crude oil hit $111.00/bbl today.

Right now the euro is trading above $1.56, the Swiss franc is just a tiny fraction under $1.00 and the dollar dipped below 100 yen (99.75 to be exact).

Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke is bailing out the big banks and flooding the market with liquidity in an effort to stave off a major recession. This is having the undesirable side effect of trashing the dollar. Inflation right now is raging, we just haven't measured it yet. The real rate of inflation is the expansion of the money supply -- the cost of goods and services will eventually follow.

During the reign of George W. Bush:

Annual Average Domestic Crude Oil Prices
2001 = $23.00
2002 = $22.81
2003 = $27.69
2004 = $37.66
2005 = $50.04
2006 = $58.30
2007 = $64.20
2008 YTD = >$100.00

P.S. -- The stock market's having a rough day today after the Carlyle Group's bond fund decided to default on $16.6 billion in worthless mortgage-backed debt.

P.P.S. -- Carlyle Capital is insolvent. It's assets are being seized. Interesting when you consider exactly who are the principals in Carlyle Group. They were unable to refinance their junk bonds, so they simply gave up and dumped their bond fund.

[Ninong]

Update:

Crude oil = $110.00/bbl (We will probably see $4.00/gal regular gas nationwide within 90 days. Regular gas along the Big Sur coast in California is already $5.20/gal.)

Gold = $1,008.00/oz

Euro = $1.57

Swiss franc = $1.00 (Actually the dollar fell below the Swiss franc earlier this morning, at which point one U.S. dollar would get you only 0.9996 Swiss francs. In 1971, the U.S. dollar was worth four Swiss francs. The Swiss franc is probably the world's most stable currency. You know things are bad when the dollar is depreciating against the Russian ruble. We have dropped 26% against the ruble in the past 5 years! In March 2003, a dollar was worth 32 rubles but today it's worth only 23.6 rubles. March 2003 is when we invaded Iraq and that's when oil and gold started their spectacular rise and the dollar started it's disastrous decline. Russia exports oil.)

U.S. dollar = 100 yen (The dollar has briefly dipped below 100 yen for the past couple of days now.)

Canadian dollar = US$1.02

Earlier today, the U.S. government and JP Morgan Chase bailed out Bear Stearns by providing emergency funding for four weeks. In spite of denials all week that they were in financial trouble, Bear was about to go under this morning. JP Morgan Chase is providing secured funding to Bear for 28 days backstopped by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

I don't know when it's going to sink it, but all of the major financial institutions are in trouble right now and all of them have been issuing misleading statements about their true condition. Bank of America has been sending secret letters to Congress suggesting ways that the government can pass legislation that would effectively have the taxpayers bail out the banks for their criminal behavior in the subprime mortgage debacle. And just last week Ben Bernanke pumped another $200 billion into the banking system and told the banks the fed would accept their worthless mortgage-backed paper as collateral. That's effective April 1st, which seems like an appropriate date, all things considered. Obviously Bear Stearns couldn't even wait until April 1st. They were so desperate that the fed had to act today to save them. The money is flowing through Chase but Chase won't be held liable for any losses. We, the taxpayers, will pick up the tab, thanks to Ben Bernanke.

For months now the major U.S. banks, and several major European banks, have been selling off huge equity stakes to Asian and Middle Eastern sovereign funds and Saudi princes in an effort to stay afloat. I believe most of them will survive, thanks mainly to huge infusions of foreign capital, but some of them will go down. I think you can stick a fork in Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment bank. They will need to be taken over now in order to avoid going belly up. That's exactly what happened to Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender. Last August, Bank of America dumped $2 billion cash into Countrywide in an effort to keep them afloat but it didn't work. In January, Bank of America decided to simply take over Countrywide for $4 billion in stock. Countrywide was worth $24 billion just a year ago but all they fetched this past January was $4 billion in an all-stock takeover.

This situation has been building for more than a year now. I brought this up in another thread back in September 2007 and pointed out then that the worldwide financial situation was a lot worse than people wanted to admit. Since I posted that thread six months ago, the write-downs for junk mortgage-backed instruments have been skyrocketing. I believe we're above $200 billion worth of write-downs at this point. This was a classic Ponzi scheme if ever I saw one.

I found this hilarious cartoon explanation of the subprime mortgage mess. It may take a minute or two to load. It's well worth the wait. It's sort of a slide show consisting of 45 pages. You have to turn the pages. There is no sound, so I guess it's safe for work as long as no one else is reading some of the text because they do use a few 'adult' words every now and then. Highly recommended!!! Extremely highly recommended!!!!!

P.S. -- Update (4 p.m. EDT): The dollar ended the week worth less than one Swiss franc and less than 100 yen! Gold is currently trading above $1,000/oz and crude oil is above $110/bbl. The stock market recovered much of today's earlier losses, when the Dow was down more than 300 points, to finish with the Dow down only 195 points at 11,951 (compared to 14,198 in November 2007). The S&P500 lost 2.1% today and the NASDAQ lost 2.3%. If we're very lucky, this bear market will bottom out somewhere around 25-30% down from the November highs but I wouldn't count on it.

[Ninong]

JP Morgan and Bear Stearns Still Talking

It will be interesting to see if JP Morgan can work out a deal to buy the failed Bear Stearns before the markets open in Asia. Toyko is down more than a third since last July and Hong Kong is down more than a third since November. The impending failure of the fifth largest U.S. investment bank is certain to rattle those markets if a deal hasn't been announced before they open. The Tokyo Stock Exchange opens in another 91 minutes (8 p.m. EDT, 9 a.m. Monday in Tokyo).

Bear Stears was selling for $170.23 a share in February 2007 and they closed at $30.00 a share Friday. In fact, they were trading at $85.00 a share as recently as three weeks ago. I don't think they're worth anything close to $30.00 a share. That's a joke. They made a killing with the subprime mortgage scam the past few years and now the chickens have come home to roost.

Hopefully JP Morgan Chase will close the deal within the next hour or two. Bank of America picked up Countrywide Financial for a mere $4 billion in stock but I doubt that Bear is worth even half that amount right now. They have been misleading the public and their shareholders for the past several months now.

If a deal isn't reached before Wall Street opens Monday morning, all hell will break loose. People are just beginning to comprehend the real extent of the subprime crisis. This was the biggest leveraged Ponzi scheme in my lifetime.

P.S. -- I found this hilarious cartoon explanation of the subprime mortgage mess. It may take a minute or two to load. It's well worth the wait. It's sort of a slide show consisting of 45 pages. You have to turn the pages. There is no sound, so I guess it's safe for work as long as no one else is reading some of the text because they do use a few 'adult' words every now and then. Highly recommended!!! Extremely highly recommended!!!!!

[Ninong]

The Dollar Is Plunging Right Now....

Gold Is Skyrocketing....

Asian Markets Are Plunging....

Just before the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened, JPMorgan Chase announced that it would acquire its rival, Bear Stearns, in a deal valued at $236.2 million -- or $2 a share and that the Federal Reserve would provide special financing for the deal.

As a reminder, Bear Stearns had a market value of $20 billion dollars on February 22, 2007. Three weeks ago their market value was $10 billion. At the close of the market Friday, their market value was approximately $4 billion based on a share price of $30.00, which was down $27.00 from Thursday's close of $57.00.

Today Bear Stears is valued at $2.00 a share! And the United States Federal Reserve has declared a new form of federal aid for the greedy, corrupt, incompetent, banks that made billions with their shenanigans in the subprime mortgage market. Oh, and by the way, the Fed cut 25 basis points off the discount rate this evening. They will meet Tuesday and no doubt Wednesday cut the more important federal funds rate at least 75 basis points, possibly 100 bp.

As for the poor dollar:

Right this minute, the Swiss franc is worth more than the U.S. dollar. A Swiss franc will cost you $1.03.

Thinking of springtime in Paris? Better bring lots of dollars with you because a euro will cost you $1.59. That's just about double what it cost just seven years ago.

The yen is now trading at 95.77 to the dollar.

The Asian stock markets are plunging. As I type this, Tokyo is down more than 4% and Hong Kong is down more than 5%. Both exchanges were already down more than 33% from their highs of just a few months ago.

Gold:

Gold just hit $1,032.00/oz.

Oil:

Crude oil is currently above $111.00/bbl but it will probably hit $120.00/bbl if the dollar doesn't halt it's current slide soon.

[Ninong]

The Asian markets have calmed down a little in the past hour or so. Tokyo and Hong Kong are presently down about 3.5%, Shanghai is down 3.25%, Taiwan is down 2%, Korea is down 3% and Australia is down 2%. They were all down a lot more than that a couple of hours ago.

Gold has slipped a little and is now trading at $1,024.00/oz but crude oil is still above $111.00/bbl.

It will be interesting to see how Wall Street reacts Monday morning.

[Ninong]

The New Math:

We, the American taxpayers, will bail out the banks who went broke making obscene profits on the subprime mortgage scam.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just four days after Bear Stearns Chief Executive Alan Schwartz assured Wall Street that his company was not in trouble, he was forced on Sunday to sell the investment bank to competitor JPMorgan Chase for a bargain-basement price of $2 a share, or $236.2 million.

The stunning last-minute buyout was aimed at averting a Bear Stearns bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global financial system sparked by the collapse in the subprime mortgage market. Bear Stearns was the most exposed to risky bets on the loans; it is now the first major bank to be undone by that market's collapse.

The Federal Reserve and the U.S. government swiftly approved the all-stock buyout, showing the urgency of completing the deal before world markets opened. The Fed also essentially made the takeover risk-free by saying it would guarantee up to $30 billion of the troubled mortgage and other assets that got the nation's fifth-largest investment bank into trouble.

"This is going to go down in very historic terms," said Peter Dunay, chief investment strategist for New York-based Meridian Equity Partners. "This is about credit being overextended, and how bad it is for major financial institutions and for individuals. This is why we're probably heading into a recession."

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it will guarantee all business -- such as trading and investment banking -- until Bear Stearns' shareholders approve the deal, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter. The acquisition includes Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan headquarters.

JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh did not say what would happen to Bear Stearns' 14,000 employees worldwide or whether the 85-year-old Bear Stearns name would live on after surviving the Great Depression, two World Wars and a slew of recessions. He told analysts and investors on a conference call that JPMorgan was most interested in buying Bear Stearns' prime brokerage business, which completes trades for big investors such as hedge funds.

At almost the same time as the deal for control of Bear Stearns was announced, the Federal Reserve said it approved a cut in its lending rate to banks to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent and created another lending facility for big investment banks. The central bank's official meeting is on Tuesday. Before the emergency move to lower the discount rate, which is the rate at which banks lend each other money, the Fed was widely expected to again cut its headline rate by as much as a full point to 2 percent.

P.S. -- Don't forget that all of these crooks were paying themselves tens of millions of dollars in annual bonuses back in 2005 and 2006 when they were showing all sorts of phony profits on funny paper that was virtually worthless. Enron would be proud of these guys. Hey, wait a minute. I almost forgot, these are the same guys who aided and abetted Enron.

[Ninong]

Market Update

Before I go to bed, let's see how we closed in Asia.

Hong Kong down 5.2%, Tokyo down 3.7%, Taiwan down 1.9%, Korea down 1.6%, Jakarta down 4.6%, Shanghai down 3.6% and Australia down 2.2%.

Europe is open and currently London is down 2.6% (it was down as much as 3% on the open), Paris is down 2.7%, Frankfurt is down 3.8%.

Gold is $1,027.00/oz and crude oil is $111.40/bbl.


According to Reuters, we're in for a very bad day on Wall Street today:

U.S. stock indexes futures on Sunday evening were pointing to a sharply lower open on Wall Street on Monday. S&P 500 futures fell 27 points, while Nasdaq futures slid 35.75 points. Dow futures were down 200 points.

It's still pretty amazing when you think about the fact that Bear Stearns' CEO was saying just four days ago that everything was OK and they were not in any trouble and then Sunday they are sold for $2.00 a share in stock. They were valued at $170.23 a share on Feb. 22, 2007. Just three weeks ago they were valued at $85.00 a share. Thursday they closed at $57.00/share and Friday they closed at $30.00/share. Now they're worth $2.00/share. Not as bad as Enron, which dropped from $93.00/share all the way down to 25 cents a share but pretty bad, especially if you're holding any of their crappy stock.

No doubt people will be dumping the financials tomorrow. That's exactly what I said everybody should do back in September 2007. I said don't touch the banks. They have no idea how bad off they really are and even if they knew, they'd lie about it.

[Ninong]

Market Doing Better Than Expected So Far Today

During the first half hour the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 195 points but right now it's only down 75. The financials, as expected are leading the way down (-3.8%), with the exception of JP Morgan Chase, which is up about 12% now that Ben Bernanke has promised to reimburse them up to $30 billion in losses connected to the crappy mortgage paper held by Bear Stearns, the former world's fifth-largest investment bank that they just acquired Sunday evening for a paltry $2.03 a share.




Highlights so far this morning:

Economic data were worse than expected this morning. Industrial production fell 0.5% in February. This was worse than the expected decline of 0.1%. Meanwhile, the NY Empire State Index, a regional manufacturing survey, fell to -22.2 from -11.7. This was worse than the expected reading of -7.4. It marks the lowest Empire reading on record, which started in 2001.

Industrial production falling 0.5% in February, when added to the fact that we lost about 163,000 jobs in February, means we're probably in a recession.

Meanwhile, in a move to improve liquidity, the Fed cut the discount rate by 25 basis points in an emergency meeting over the weekend. The Fed also authorized a new lending facility that can be utilized by participants in the securitization markets, including investment banks.

Bernanke is telling the banks that just like borrowers were allowed to lie about their income and ability to pay higher mortgage payments, he will allow the banks to lie about the value of their mortgage holdings and accept them as collateral even though their current real market value is so low it can't be determined. Not to worry, the American taxpayers are filthy rich and more than willing to bail out Wall Street.

Commodities are posting steep declines, with the CRB Index shedding 2.5%. Crude is down 3.5% to $106.39 per barrel. Gold, up 1.1% to $1011.50 per ounce, is one of the few commodities trading higher. In overnight trade, Gold hit all-time intraday high of $1033.90.

The following comment was posted at 11:00 a.m. EDT (90 minutes after the open):

The financial sector has had a notable lift off its worst level. The sector is currently down 1.2% after being down as much as 4.6%. JPMorgan Chase (JPM 40.82, +4.28) is leading the recovery effort. There is also strength in US Bancorp (USB 32.43, +0.86) and Wells Fargo (WFC 29.22, +0.77).

And at 11:30 a.m. EDT things are not all that bad considering the scary opening:

11:30 ET Dow -65.78 at 11833.17, Nasdaq -31.52 at 2180.97, S&P -15.93 at 1272.05:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices go back on the decline as recovery efforts fade. Despite the latest retreat, the stock market is trading well above its worst level when it was down 2.0%.

P.S. -- Here's the 12:05 p.m. EDT update:

12:05 ET Dow -125.70 at 11824.66, Nasdaq -42.36 at 2170.13, S&P -31.21 at 1264.22:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices are trading sharply lower at midday on news that a major Wall Street bank collapsed and is being bought at a firesale price.

Market participants were shocked to find out that JP Morgan Chase (JPM 39.44, +2.90) was buying Bear Stearns (BSC 3.94, -26.06) for what is equivalent to $2 per share, or $240 million. This equates to a 93% discount from Friday's closing price. The Fed will providing up to $30 billion dollars in funding to back Bear's less liquid assets. Although the $2 offer seems low, the other option for Bear is bankruptcy.

Last week there were rumors that Bear was facing liquidity issues. In turn, this caused a large amount of withdrawals at Bear, which spurred the firm's collapse. Bear's stock has plummeted 87% and is down 98% from its all-time high.

Meanwhile, in an emergency meeting, the Fed cut the discount by 25 basis points to 3.25% on Sunday. The discount rate is the interest rate at which eligible banks can borrow money directly from the Fed.

In an additional move to increase liquidity, effective today, the Fed created a new lending facility that will provide financing to participants in the securitization markets, such as investment banks.

These developments have created new fears of what may be in store for other financial institutions. National City Corp. (NCC 8.80, -4.35) is down 33%, Cit Group (CIT 11.50, -3.73) has lost 24%, Lehman Brothers (LEH 28.90, -10.36) has slipped 26% and Washington Mutual (WM 9.06, -1.53) has given up 14%.

All of the ten sectors are trending lower. Not surprisingly, financials are the main laggards with a 3.8% loss. The energy sector (-3.4%) is also showing weakness as oil slips 3.0%.

[Ninong]

Here's how the AP is playing it this morning:

NEW YORK - Wall Street clawed its way back from sharp losses Monday, as investors snapped up bargain stocks following JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s government-backed buyout of the stricken investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.

[...]

A buyout of Bear Stearns was certainly more appealing than the alternative: letting the investment bank collapse and causing huge losses for anyone linked to it.

And the Fed’s actions Sunday night were seen as a pledge that the central bank would do everything in its power to keep the credit crisis from destroying the financial industry and the economy, said Joseph V. Battipaglia, chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co.

Still, the market remained extremely volatile, and a steeper drop Monday was still quite possible. The sale of Bear Stearns — and the fact that JPMorgan is valuing the fifth-largest Wall Street investment bank at a paltry $2.03 a share, or $240.1 million — stirred fear among investors worldwide about other banks’ exposure to the troubled credit markets.

Bear’s buyout, while perhaps reassuring in that it didn’t result in a bankruptcy filing, was nonetheless an unwelcome development as it makes clear the extent to which credit markets are struggling to operate. The pain for investors in Bear Stearns, which succumbed to soured bets on now troubled mortgages for borrowers with poor credit, will be sizable. JPMorgan is acquiring Bear, including its midtown Manhattan headquarters, for about 1 percent of what the investment bank was worth little more than two weeks ago. The 85-year-old company has 14,000 workers worldwide.

The collapse of the world’s fifth-largest investment bank comes after a short-term bailout Friday that JPMorgan led and that the Fed backed. It was the first such intervention by central bankers since the 1930's.

In another unusual move, the Fed said it set up a lending option for big investment banks to secure short-term loans.

P.S. -- JP Morgan Chase paid about $240 million for Bear, plus they got Fed guarantees to cover up to $30 billion in losses. The Bear Stearns headquarters building in New York alone is worth $1.2 billion -- that's its real estate appraised value. That may be the only thing in this deal whose value is a known quantity.

[Ninong]

Check this out:

Loudmouth idiot Jim Cramer last week telling us that Bear Stearns was SAFE! "Bear Stearns is not in trouble." -- Jim Cramer, noted loudmouth, March 11, 2008.

[Ninong]

Diversify

When Enron went down, their employees lost a great deal of their retirement money because their individual 401k accounts were heavily invested in Enron stock. Most of Enron's employees had most of their savings in Enron stock. That's flirting with financial disaster.

I wonder if the same thing is true of Bear Searns' employees? According to published reports, Bear's employees lost more than $5 billion in the value of Bear stock held in their retirement accounts. It may not be too bad if Bear's stock represented no more than say 10% of your retirement account but what if some employees had virtually all of their savings tied up in their employer's stock like so many Enron employees before them?

One British billionaire, who just started buying Bear stock a year ago, lost more than $1 billion yesterday. Gives an entirely new meaning to the term "Bear Market."

[Ninong]

Turnaround Tuesday

Remember back in October 1987 when the market sold off on Friday, followed by a real crash on Monday (the greatest one-day percentage drop in history), and then another drop during the first 90 minutes of trading Tuesday only to reverse direction and close with a big gain on the day? That Tuesday is now referred to as "Turnaround Tuesday."

Today was another Turnaround Tuesday.

The Fed lowered the fed funds rate by 75 bp to 2.25% and the discount by 75 bp to 2.5%. That, coupled with the Fed's action Sunday to guarantee up to $30 billion in losses for one single investment bank's crappy mortgages and to open up the discount window to investment banks, has provided the market with the needed assurances that no matter what happens to the individual homeowners who were screwed in this scam, nothing bad is going to happen to our friends on Wall Street because the Federal Reserve Bank (aka you and me) will cover their losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 420 points (+3.51%), the NASDAQ gained 91 points (+4.19%), the S&P500 gained 54 points (+4.24%).

Gold, which hit an all-time high of $1,033.90 early yesterday, is now trading in the mid-$970's, down nearly 6% from yesterday's intraday high. This is to be expected. The runup in gold was a flight from equities.

[Ninong]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 420 points (+3.51%), the NASDAQ gained 91 points (+4.19%), the S&P500 gained 54 points (+4.24%).

Gold, which hit an all-time high of $1,033.90 early yesterday, is now trading in the mid-$970's, down nearly 6% from yesterday's intraday high. This is to be expected. The runup in gold was a flight from equities.

Gold and Crude Oil Both Falling Today

Investors are unwinding their gold positions and moving back into the stock market now that the Fed has taken affirmative action to shore up the shaky financial system. Right now gold is trading at $940.00/oz, that's 9% below the all-time intraday high of $1,033.90 reached early Monday. Gold was due for a correction because just six months ago (September 19, 2007) it was trading at $720.00/oz. It had gained 44% from that price to its high of $1,033.90. As recently as four months ago (Dec. 18, 2007) it was only $795.00/oz.

Crude oil has dropped about $4.00/bbl and is now trading around $105.00/bbl.

Overall, the stock market is doing quite well today considering yesterday's huge runup. Right now it's sort of treading water, with the Dow and the NASDAQ just barely down about 0.2% each.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Surplus Cap Requirements Eased

A couple of weeks ago we learned that the government had raised the limits on conforming loans from just over $400,000 to more than $700,000 in an effort to ease the credit crunch. That's supposed to be a temporary increase in effect from July 1, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2008.

Today federal regulators lowered the surplus capital requirements for Fannie and Freddie from 30% to 20%, which means they will have a combined $200 billion available to buy new mortgages.

Both of these moves will help tremendously with the current housing mess by making loans easier to get. The old conforming loan limits may have been fine for rural towns in Nebraska and Mississippi but they were a joke in places like San Francisco and Honolulu. They should make the new, higher conforming limits permanent and index them to the market.

[Ninong]

Overall, the stock market is doing quite well today considering yesterday's huge runup. Right now it's sort of treading water, with the Dow and the NASDAQ just barely down about 0.2% each.

The Market's Trending Lower Now

15:00 ET Dow -145.67 at 12242.62, Nasdaq -27.40 at 2240.46, S&P -14.94 at 1315.32:

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market is attempting to recover after trending downward since since 12:00 ET. Losses remain more than 1%.

Merrill Lynch (MER 42.96, -3.68) is under pressure on reports that it is suing XL Capital Assurance (XL 30.97, -2.03) over default protection on $3 billion in CDO obligations that the bond insurer is seeking to void.

Merrill's lawsuit against a bond insurer has suddenly reminded the market exactly why things are in such a big mess right now. Hey, guys, not to worry. Bernanke will bail ya out. Just hang in there.

[Ninong]

Still Sliding Lower

15:35 ET Dow -219.35 at 12189.13, Nasdaq -36.38 at 2231.83, S&P -22.64 at 1308.10:

[BRIEFING.COM] The recovery effort fades as the major indices fall back near their worst levels of the session. The Dow has given up more than half of yesterday's massive 420 point gain.

Meanwhile, Treasuries are rallying, with notable buying interest toward the front end of the yield curve. The 3 month T-Bill is now only yielding 0.62%.

[Ninong]

Oops!

Yesterday's close: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 420 points (+3.51%), the NASDAQ gained 91 points (+4.19%), the S&P500 gained 54 points (+4.24%).

Today's close: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 293 points (-2.36%), the NASDAQ lost 58 points (-2.57%), the S&P500 lost 32 points (-2.42%).

Gold is presently trading at $943.00/oz and crude oil is at $103.25/bbl. Treasuries surged today in a flight back to safety. The yield on a 3-mo T-bill is only 0.63%, a 6-mo T-bill yields 1.21%, the 2-yr note yields only 1.50%, the 5-yr note yields only 2.33%.

[Ninong]

I think the Germans are onto something here:

"Ben Bernanke has completely lost his bearings. The enormous liquidity he is pumping into the economy will create double-digit inflation in six months, just as the dawn follows the night. The European Central Bank is doing the job of a central bank. The Federal Reserve is acting like a bank in a banana republic."

[Ninong]

Goldman Sachs predicts global losses could reach $1.2 trillion!!!

That's the number Goldman Sachs is using to describe the extent of the financial disaster perpetrated by themselves and their buddies with the encouragement of Alan Greenspan and the approval of the Cheney-Bush criminal gang.