Wall street, Washington D.C.,

Greedy Rich make

America China's Laughable

Clown.

How does that make you feel

about your once

great country?

Geithner sells a devalued dollar

It is not surprising that Timothy Geithner, the US Secretary of the Treasury, asked ( begged ) China to buy more US treasury bills during his visit to Beijing, which began on Sunday. However, the US dollar's weakness in the foreign exchange market as well as the gloomy fore cast on the outlookforthe greenback makes Geithner's sales pitch look feeble, says an article in he US dollar index, which touched its lowest point of the last five months on Friday, has dropped by 1.5 percent in just one month. This is the dollar's biggest monthly slump since March 1985. Investors said the capital, which once poured into the dollar market when the stock market was in panic thanks to the financial tsunami, are now retreating from the dollar and seeking higher profits in other assets. (learn more at )

America Begs China for Money—and the Chinese Laugh!
June 3, 2009 From theTrumpet.com
What will it cost for Chinese support this time?

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Chinese government officials that their money was safe and that America wants a strong dollar. His Chinese audience broke out in loud laughter. The cost of borrowing is going up, and America’s desperation is making it an international laughingstock.
Geithner visited China this week to allay fears that Washington’s bulging budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy are a veiled attempt to repudiate its debts by fueling inflation. The U.S. government directly owes China over $760 billion, but including other agency debt, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac liabilities, estimates place total debt to China in excess of $1.5 trillion. (Learn more about this Chinese lap dog geithner )

Why Are They Laughing at Timmy…And How Will it Affect Your Wealth?

Jun 5th, 2009 By Jon Herring

Chinese business and social culture are generally very subdued and conservative… and above all, respectful. But students at Peking University in Beijing just couldn’t help themselves this week.U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner traveled to China, hat in hand, to allay the concerns of our biggest creditor about the soaring budget deficit and Washington’s loose monetary policy. And by loose, I mean that we are rapidly printing the dollar into worthlessness.
In a speech before the student body, Lil’ Timmy told those gathered that Chinese dollar holdings and investments in U.S. debt were safe and that the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve are committed to a strong dollar policy.
Ha! That’s a good one. And the Chinese students let him know it, with a collective belly laugh. I suspect some of them were actually rolling on the floor. And they weren’t laughing with him. They knew he was full of it. I expect you do too. (Learn more at )

Geithner Makes Another Promise to China
By Chuck Butler 06/02/09 St. Louis, Missouri

The currencies, led by the euro (EUR), ran into a dollar roadblock yesterday, not once, not twice, but three times… The first two times the euro traded over the 1.42 figure, it fell back, but recovered to again try to remain over 1.42… It was a classic case of profit taking at a line of resistance… But the third time, was no charm for the euro, and thus it ended the day and night sessions below 1.42… But hey! Has this run from 1.2578 on March 1st been something, or what?
I see where UBS believes this is it for the euro… Sort of like the thought that a star burns the brightest right before it burns out… Hmmm… I guess they believe that the U.S. deficit problems are going to go away… Apparently, they drank the Kool-Aid from U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner, who told the Chinese that the U.S. was going to shrink the deficit… He also told them that their assets were “safe”… Ty sent me something on this that he found yesterday…
“Chinese assets are very safe,” Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s. (learn more at )

CounterPunch Diary

Obama in Cairo: High Words, Low Truths
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN

As they drafted his speech to the Muslim world, delivered in Cairo on Thursday, President Obama’s speech writers strove to suggest that cordiality towards Islam is soundly embedded in America’s cultural history. The first Muslim congressman, Obama confided to his vast audience across the Muslim world, was sworn into the House of Representatives with his hand on Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Koran.
No names were mentioned, but this would have been Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a Democrat elected in 2006. On his victory night rally the local crowd shouted “Allahu Akhbar!”. During the race Eillison understandably downplayed past associations with the Nation of Islam.Obama also reminded the world that Morocco had been the first nation to recognize the infant United States, signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, which declared in its preamble that the United States had no quarrel with the Muslim religion and was in no sense a Christian country. The second US President, John Quincy Adams said that America had no quarrel with Islam. (Learn more at)

Geithner Agenda to Appease Chinese

Masters

Geithner aims for positive China tour China Daily - ‎May 27, 2009‎

Geithner's China trip to focus on trade China Daily - ‎May 30, 2009‎

US treasury chief pursues closer economic ties with China Xinhua - ‎May 31, 2009‎

Geithner's Asia Background Shows on His China Trip TIME - ‎Jun 1, 2009‎

Geithner: China's dollar assets are safe People's Daily Online - ‎Jun 1, 2009‎

Geithner says US concerned about the deficits China Daily - ‎Jun 2, 2009‎

China, US to strengthen economic ties CCTV - ‎Jun 2, 2009‎

China's Debt Restlessness Reuters - ‎Jun 3, 2009‎

Doth Geithner Protest Too Much?

Bill Zielinski

“Chinese assets are very safe”
This remarkable assertion regarding the safety of US debt securities held by China was made by Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, during his visit to China. That Mr. Geithner felt compelled to make this statement probably reinforced the unease China has about the finances of the United States. If the Chinese assets were actually “safe” and everyone knew it, there would have been no need to say that they were safe.
Mr. Geithner’s denial brings to mind another famous denial made by Richard Nixon during the Watergate affair - “I am not a crook”. We all know how that turned out. If it wasn’t obvious that everyone knew Nixon was a crook, he would not have had to deny it. If US assets are really safe, Geithner would not have to say that they are safe. (Learn more at)

U.S. treasury chief pursues closer economic ties with China
http://www.chinaview.cn/ 2009-06-01 12:53:34

BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is making the most of his first Beijing visit to pursue a closer economic ties with China.
Geithner spent Monday in a flurry of meetings with China's top economic team, including Vice Premier Wang Qishan and chiefs of finance, commerce, banking and securities.
Saying Geithner's visit covered wide-ranging issues, Wang stressed "the foremost subject coming to my mind is the economic dialogue of the first Strategic and Economic Dialogue."
The new dialogue mechanism came out of the first meeting between President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama in April in London.
Its strategic track will be chaired by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while its economic track will be chaired by Wang and Geithner, as special representatives of their respective presidents.
"Our economic dialogue should be comprehensive, strategic and long-term, strengthen our communication and coordination on hot-button economic issues," Wang said in a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Fed & Wall Street cought price fixing gold ,

U.S. jobless rate hits 26-year high

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

U.S. employers cut 345,000 jobs last month,( This comparing of employers cut number and the REAL JOBLESS CLAIMS NUMBER IS 631,250 FOR A FOUR WEEK PERIOD) the fewest since September and far less than forecast, according to a government report on Friday that was more evidence the economy's severe weakness was diminishing.

The media is making any all out effort to get the public to believe that the economy is getting better day by day. The ecomomy is not getting better, so don't believe it!

The Real Jobless Claims
Highlights
Jobless claims data show improvement, finally. Initial claims in the May 30 week fell 4,000 to 621,000 (prior week revised 2,000 higher to 625,000). The trend of the last two weeks is under the four-week average which is at 631,250. Continuing claims ended more than four months of uninterrupted weekly gains, down 15,000 in the May 23 week to 6.735 million. The unemployment rate for insured workers, which has been ticking consistently higher, held unchanged at 5.0 percent. Were it not for pending layoffs in the auto sector, today's report would have raised talk that labor contraction had reached its peak. The Labor Department will post the monthly employment report tomorrow with expectations looking for little to no improvement from April.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
Initial jobless claims eased in the May 23 week but the overall report points to a rising pool of unemployed. Initial claims came in at 623,000, down 13,000 from the prior week. But the alarming news in the report was a sizable 110,000 jump in continuing claims for the May 16 week. The gain was the 19th in a row and at 6.788 million sets another record high.

Banks Losing control, Team effort to stave off

World Economic Crash or to Please Chinese

Master??

Japan's Debt-to-GDP ratio should be cut: panel

Bloomberg June 4, 2009

The government should reduce its public debt to gross domestic product ratio "in a stable manner" and start eliminating its budget deficits to sustain fiscal health, a Finance Ministry panel said Wednesday.
The government has "no choice but to postpone" its goal of balancing its budget by fiscal 2011 because the recession is reducing tax revenue, a fiscal policy panel said in a statement released Wednesday. It didn't provide any recommendations for what the debt ratio should be lowered to. Prime Minister Taro Aso has pledged ¥25 trillion to revive the economy, swelling a public debt burden that's already the largest in the industrialized world.
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said last month that the government won't be able to post a primary surplus in two years and is considering a new target.

Bernanke warns on deficit Posted

by Gwen Robinson on Jun 04 05:16.

Ben Bernanke urged Congress on Wednesday to act to bring down long-term budget deficits, or else face a future debt trap, reports the FT. The Fed chairman said that recent sharp increases in bond yields – from below 3% to 3.76% last week for 10-year Treasuries – reflect “concern about large federal deficits” as well as new optimism about the economy and other factors. Reuters meanwhile reports that the Obama administration plans to unveil on June 17 its sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation.
This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 5:16 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with ben bernanke.

UPDATE

Japan's new fiscal target to be halving deficit ratio by FY 2013+
Jun 4 01:15 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, June 5 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japan's new key fiscal target will likely be halving the ratio of its primary balance deficit to gross domestic product by the end of fiscal 2013, according to a draft of the government's upcoming fiscal guideline.
The draft, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by Kyodo News, states that the government will then aim to realize the surplus ratio by around the end of 2019.
Concerning the ratio of Japan's outstanding public debt to GDP, the draft says the government will try to stop the ratio from expanding by around 2015 and reduce it in a stable manner afterward.

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

James Madison, while a United States Congressman

China Corners Over 90% of Market for Rare-Earth

Metals

by Washington's Blog

China has cornered 97% of the world market for rare earth metals, according to Byron King (the Times Online puts the number at 95%, and the Financial Times puts the number at "over 90%").
What are rare earth metals? Most people define them as including the following 17 metals:
Cerium Dysprosium Erbium Europium Gadolinium Holmium Lanthanum Lutetium Neodymium Praseodymium Promethium Samarium Scandium Terbium Thulium Ytterbium Yttrium
Some people also include some or all of the Actinide Series elements as rare earths. The Actinides include:
ActiniumAmericium Berkelium Californium Curium Einsteinium Fermium Lawrencium Mendelevium Neptunium Nobelium Plutonium Protactinium Thorium Uranium As the Times Online notes:
"The weight and magnetic properties of rare-earth metals have made them important for wind turbines, essential to hybrid cars, and indispensable if the world ever hopes to covert to fully electric vehicles..."
Don Burbar, the chief executive of Avalon Rare Metals, said: "The crux of the matter is that there are now a lot of technologies that can't work without rare earths, and China is currently in effective control of the global supply. China has positioned itself to retain control, and meanwhile politicians around the world do not appreciate how the supply side of green technology works."
As mining analyst John Kaiser writes:
"In the case of rare earth oxides, we're looking at a situation where the Obama Administration would like to see clean energy replace gasoline-based energy in transportation fuel. The Chinese are thinking along similar lines because they don't want to be dependent on foreign oil supplies any more than the United States does. Rare earth oxides go into these super magnets that are a key part of these hybrid and electric cars. The Japanese, the Europeans, and North American carmakers would like to commercialize the production of hybrid cars, but they are afraid to do so because all the rare earths right now come out of China . And China has said "we would like all the manufacturing to be done in China and we'll sell it to the rest of the world." Well, that puts everybody at the mercy of China . So now there's a scramble afoot to look for these deposits outside of China and never mind that China could flood the market with their rare earth oxides. The end users are thinking we need to have security of supply for these rare earth oxides so we're not at the mercy of political machinations by a country like China . And see this article from the New York Times on China's buying spree in Australia.

Economic recovery is wishful thinking
Dean Baker

The Guardian June 3, 2009

Last week we got a whole series of bad reports on the state of the economy. New and existing home sales both remain near their lowest level for the downturn, as house prices continue to drop at the rate of 2% a month. New orders for capital goods, a key measure of investment demand, fell by 2% in April. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, new orders were still down by 1.5%.
On Friday, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index fell by more than 5 percentage points from its April level, approaching its low for the downturn. The employment component of the index did hit a new low.
These reports might have led to gloomy news stories, but not in the US media. The folks who could not see an $8tn housing bubble are still determined to find the silver lining in even the worst economic news. learn more at

A tale of two war criminals: Bush and Clinton do Toronto
by Krystalline Kraus

When you accuse anyone of war crimes, you’d better be sure you have the evidence to back it up; such an accusation is the equivalent of yelling “fire” in a crowded shopping mall.
It’s a serious charge, something that sits heavily on our psyche as fragile human beings who generally tend to disbelieve that any one could be capable of committing crimes against humanity, especially if they have elected him president.
Perhaps that’s why such a presidential event as a “conversation” between George W. Bush and Bill Clinton happened in Toronto, Canada on May 29, 2009 -- the event was billed as a “conversation,” [2] maybe because the terms “meeting of the minds” or “great intellectual debate” would embarrass one of the two parties involved?).
The two men got a standing ovation from a packed audience that paid from $200 to over $2,000 a ticket at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Yes, that’s right, a standing ovation from the crowd inside the Convention Centre. And both Presidents got paid for their time. While no one is telling how much each ex-President made off the 90 minute conversation, Bush reportedly received (US) $160,000 for his last appearance in Canada, in Calgary Alberta in March 2009. Clinton can charge up to (US) $350,000 per speaking engagement. Good work if you can get it. (learn more )

Cheney said in an interview on Fox News:
“

On the question of whether or not Iraq was involved in 9-11, there was never any evidence to prove that,” he told the Fox host. “There was “some reporting early on … but that was never borne out… [President] George [Bush] … did say and did testify that there was an ongoing relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq, but no proof that Iraq was involved in 9-11.”

Media's Blatant Propaganda, Feel Good

World Economy

The article you are about to read takes the truth and twists, spins and OVER STATES every aspect of the truth.

I should know because I LIVE IN JAPAN AND I KNOW WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING HERE.

Japan’s Industrial Production Surges Most in 56 Years (Update3)

By Jason Clenfield and Toru Fujioka
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s industrial output surged the most in 56 years in April as a rebound in exports helped the economy ( emerge ) ( what a f**king joke, everyone here is hurting) from its worst recession since World War II.
Production rose 5.2 percent from March, the second monthly gain, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo ( If the trade Ministry said anything, he did say it to the Japanese People ). The increase was faster than the 3.3 percent economists estimated, and companies said they planned to boost output ( What is this bullsh*t, Sumitomo steal has no orders and workers are sitting around with nothing to do ) in May and June as well. (Read more of this crap at )

Here's more from the Propaganda Machine

Japanese Stocks Rise on U.S. Manufacturing; Shipping Lines Drop
By Jason Clenfield

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares rose after U.S. manufacturing figures added to signs the global recession is abating. ( where does this guy live la la land or candy fairy island ) Stocks pared gains on media reports North Korea is preparing to launch a medium-range missile.
Sony Corp., maker of the PlayStation 3 game machine, climbed 4.3 percent. Honda Motor Corp., the nation’s No. 2 car maker, jumped 2.2 percent on optimism General Motors Corp.’s bankruptcy will allow Japanese car makers to expand market share. ( Who is buying a car NOW every one in Japan holding on to their money awaiting a SH*T STORM )Nippon Yusen KK, Japan’s No. 1 shipping line, lost 1.7 percent as investors speculated the shares have risen too fast. ( want read more of this babble )

Geithner,Propaganda Machine

Read both headlines.

Global Crisis ‘Inevitable’ Unless U.S. Starts

Saving, Yu Says
June 1 (Bloomberg)

Another global financial crisis triggered by a loss of confidence in the dollar may be inevitable unless the U.S. saves more, said Yu Yongding, a former Chinese central bank adviser. It’s “very natural” for the world to be concerned about the U.S. government’s spending and planned record fiscal deficit, Yu said in e-mailed comments yesterday relating to a visit to Beijing by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The Obama administration aims to reduce the fiscal deficit to “roughly” 3 percent of gross domestic product from a projected 12.9 percent this year, Geithner reaffirmed today. The treasury secretary added that China’s investments in U.S. financial assets are very safe, and that the Obama administration is committed to a strong dollar. It may be helpful if “Geithner can show us some arithmetic,” said Yu. “We need to know how the U.S. government can achieve this objective.” ( Learn More at)

Geithner Says China Has Confidence in U.S.Economy

By Rebecca ChristieJune 2 (Bloomberg)

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China, the biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries, has expressed confidence in the U.S. economy and the Obama administration’s actions to fight the recession. “I’ve actually found a lot of confidence here in China, justifiable confidence, in the strength and resilience and dynamism of the American economy,” Geithner said in an interview in Beijing with Chinese state media today. China held $768 billion of Treasuries at the end of the first quarter. Premier Wen Jiabao called in March for the U.S. “to guarantee the safety of China’s assets” and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan has proposed a new global currency to reduce reliance on the dollar. Yu Yongding, a former central bank adviser who acted as the interviewer for the China Daily newspaper, told Geithner: “I worry about details. We will be watching you very carefully.” (Read more about this jackass at)

The shadow of dictatorship: Bush established

secret government after September 11

By the Editorial Board

The Bush administration has established a “shadow government,” consisting of 75 to 150 officials of the executive branch who have been dispatched to secure, fortified locations to provide “continuity of government,” supposedly as a precaution against a possible nuclear terrorist attack on the US capital, the Washington Post reported Friday. An executive order for temporary evacuation was issued shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and the arrangement was made permanent a month later.
The administration decided to implement longstanding contingency plans prepared during the Cold War but never before activated. More than 100 officials were evacuated by helicopter within hours of the suicide hijackings which destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.
They were taken to two locations, believed to be in mountainous terrain in the eastern United States, which became the seat of a temporary regime. In late October the arrangement was made permanent. Since then, officials drawn from top levels of the civil service, just below the appointed cabinet and sub-cabinet level, have been rotated at 90-day intervals. Legal documents have been drafted to give these officials the full powers of the executive branch in the event of a catastrophe. (Learn more at)

Five futurist visionaries and what they got right - tech - 06 May 2009 - New Scientist

Five futurist visionaries and what they got right - tech - 06 May 2009 - New Scientist

Shared via AddThis

American capitalism gone

with a whimper

27.04.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-american_capitalism-0
It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.
Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.
First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.
Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

GDP

HighlightsFirst quarter GDP was revised up moderately as the Commerce Department's first revision bumped up the quarter's growth rate to a 5.7 percent annualized decline from the initial estimate of a 6.1 percent contraction. The revised estimate was worse than the consensus forecast for a 5.5 percent decrease. The upward revision was primarily due to less negative inventories and a smaller decline in exports. Partially offsetting was a lower increase for personal consumption. Nonresidential fixed investment, residential investment, and government purchases were little-revised. The first quarter drop in GDP followed a 6.3 percent decrease the previous quarter.
On the inflation front, the GDP price index was revised to an annualized 2.8 percent increase which was incrementally lower than the initial estimate of 2.9 percent. The markets had expected an unrevised 2.9 percent increase. The headline PCE index was unrevised with a 1.0 percent decline while core PCE inflation also was unrevised with an annualized 1.5 percent increase.
Year-on-year growth for real GDP dropped by 2.5 percent, after falling 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter.
Although GDP growth was not quite as good as markets expected, the shortfall was not that significant. Markets likely have put these numbers behind and are focusing on post-open numbers for the Chicago PMI and consumer sentiment index. The sentiment number may be what markets really care about today, given the importance of improved consumer sentiment for recovery to take hold any time soon.

Mortgage Meltdown, More Pain To Come

T2 Partners has a phenomenal series of charts on the housing crisis stating Why There Is More Pain To Come.
The report is 69 pages almost all of them loaded with charts. I took a liberal selection below, adding plenty of comments, but please take a look at the original article for many additional charts. All charts below are from the article. Click on any chart to see a sharper image. Quotes from the article in italics. My comments are in plain text.
Case Shiller vs. Lawler

Nearly everyone is familiar with Case Shiller. I suspect most have not heard of Lawler. Interestingly there is a feud of sorts between the two as noted by the Wall Street Journal article Outlook for Home Prices Clouded by Spat Over Historical Trends.Yale University economist Robert Shiller has often dazzled audiences with a chart showing home prices from 1890 to present. Someone even used Mr. Shiller's chart to make a YouTube video that puts its viewer on a roller-coaster ride over peaks and valleys in home pricing. It's a bumpy ride.
Now another economist, Thomas Lawler, says Prof. Shiller's chart is "bogus." Mr. Lawler says Mr. Shiller cobbled together data that are inconsistent and sometimes unreliable. Mr. Shiller defends his work and accuses Mr. Lawler of making "wild allegations."
No one has found a precise way to measure changes in house prices. Because no two homes are exactly alike, changes in the price of one won't necessarily be matched even by apparently similar homes nearby, much less those hundreds of miles away. ( Learn More At )

Massive Uncertinty, Devaluation Looming ???

Unemployment in U.S.

Probably Surpassed 9%

in May

By Shobhana Chandra
May 31 (Bloomberg)

Unemployment in the U.S. probably surpassed 9 percent in May for the first time in more than 25 years, underscoring forecasts that the economy will be slow to pull out of the worst recession in half a century, economists said before a report this week.
The jobless rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest level since September 1983, according to the median of 59 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey before the June 5 Labor Department report. Other data may show manufacturing and service industries shrank at a slower pace and consumer spending dropped.
“The economy is decaying at a slower rate and that is the best you can say,” said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York. “I can’t tell you we are out of the woods yet.”(Learn More At)

Dollar Posts Biggest Drop Versus Euro in 2009 on

U.S. Deficit Share
By Oliver Biggadike
May 30 (Bloomberg) --

The dollar declined beyond $1.41 for the first time in 2009 in the year’s biggest monthly drop after investors dumped dollar-denominated assets as the U.S. budget deficit was projected to quadruple to $1.85 trillion.
The greenback fell against all of its major counterparts in May including the Australian and New Zealand dollars as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note touched the highest level since November. The pound rose above $1.60 as speculation an economic recovery is starting enhanced the appeal of sterling.
“It’s a fundamental dollar-down trade,” said James McCormick, global head of foreign exchange and local market strategy at Citigroup Inc. in London. “The truth is that countries like the U.S. with handicapped banking systems, with overextended fiscal policy, are going to see very shallow recoveries.”
The dollar weakened 6.3 percent this month to $1.4158 per euro, from $1.3230 on April 30. It was the biggest drop since December’s 9.2 percent decline. The greenback fell 3.3 percent to 95.34 yen from 98.63 at the end of last month. The yen slid 3.3 percent to 134.96 per euro, from 130.52. (learn more at)

U.S., allies prepare for tougher response to

N.Korea

Sun May 31, 2009 6:15am EDT
By Bill Tarrant

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States and its Asian allies could look at tougher responses should diplomacy fail to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, officials at a security conference said at the weekend.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told his counterparts from South Korea and Japan on Saturday that while diplomacy was preferred, other steps may be considered if it failed.
"Six party talks are the preferred course of diplomacy," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said, referring to the now defunct talks among the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States to disarm the North.
"But given that the six-party talks haven't produced the results we're looking for, Gates also made the point that while we pursue that course, we have to look at other options ... to improve our defenses, if that becomes necessary," he told Reuters.
A Japanese government official, briefing reporters on Saturday after Gates met Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on the sidelines of the Asian Security Conference in Singapore, said missile defense was one of the topics raised. (Learn More at )

HYPERINFLATION SPECIAL REPORT

Issue Number 41

__________

Inflationary Recession Is in Place
Banking Solvency Crisis Has Opened First Phase of Monetary Inflation
Hyperinflationary Depression Remains Likely As Early As 2010
__________

Overview
The U.S. economy is in an intensifying inflationary recession that eventually will evolve into a hyperinflationary great depression. Hyperinflation could be experienced as early as 2010, if not before, and likely no more than a decade down the road. The U.S. government and Federal Reserve already have committed the system to this course through the easy politics of a bottomless pocketbook, the servicing of big-moneyed special interests, and gross mismanagement.
The U.S. has no way of avoiding a financial Armageddon. Bankrupt sovereign states most commonly use the currency printing press as a solution to not having enough money to cover their obligations. The alternative would be for the U.S. to renege on its existing debt and obligations, a solution for modern sovereign states rarely seen outside of governments overthrown in revolution, and a solution with no happier ending than simply printing the needed money. With the creation of massive amounts of new fiat (not backed by gold) dollars will come the eventual complete collapse of the value of the U.S. dollar and related dollar-denominated paper assets.

(LEARN MORE AT)