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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 10:26:50 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Japan to completely halt US beef imports - DJ

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 10:31:34 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Home Equity Extraction Still Hot In Q3, Fueling Shopping Spree [what did Q4 look like? seems a little late to be harping about Q3 Mish] Laura Mandaro Thu Jan 19, 7:00 PM ET .... Consumers had also dug more wealth out of their homes in the second quarter, with equity withdrawals rising 27% to an estimated $904.4 billion after falling for two prior quarters, said the Fed. For the first nine months of last year, equity extraction totaled $2.6 trillion vs. $2.4 trillion for the same period of 2004 and over double withdrawals during all of 2000. ... Consumer spending rose an average 5% a year from 2001-03, despite a recession and jobless recovery as well as a bear market over much of that period. .... Cooling housing markets in Britain and Australia had a significant impact on consumer spending in those countries. And people there tapped the equity in their homes far less often than Americans. news.yahoo.com

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 10:34:39 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Bay Area home sales down in December, prices slide 16% decline in number sold is biggest drop in 4 years The Bay Area real estate market ended 2005 on a wobbly note, with the number of sales in December tumbling by the biggest margin in four years.... sfgate.com

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 11:06:10 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Department of Computer Security? It's a Joke mises.org

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 11:23:46 AM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Hehe So, by common agreement, the banker would occasionally throw a few hundred dollars into Free Parking to sweeten the pot. But soon even this failed to produce the desired stimulus at www.games.com (the best online monopoly I have found) That was often a safety net for me - pulled me out of many losing games - hitting that free parking and getting all that free cash - really turns the tide. Also, people trading me my park place for thier oriental ave early in the game - I won so many games because I got my hotels in chinatown built long before they could afford to build some on boardwalk - later in the game though - this was never a good trade. (what is it vosilla says about cash flowing properties in low class neighborhood?)

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 12:08:14 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Treasury not concerned with rising US indebtedness today.reuters.com NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The United States' increasing indebtedness to the rest of the world isn't a major concern as foreigners are still more than willing to invest in the country, a senior Treasury official said on Thursday. "It is something we watch closely but it is not anything of pressing concern," Robert Kimmitt, deputy secretary of the Treasury, told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. The U.S. current account deficit is widening as imports continue to outpace exports, meaning that U.S. consumer spending is increasingly being financed from abroad. But there will always be demand for U.S. assets and debt, from both the private sector and foreign governments, because the United States has the most liquid and deepest capital markets in the world, Kimmitt said. The central banks of many Asian and oil-producing countries -- particularly China and Japan, whose reserves both exceed $800 billion -- hold large quantities of U.S. debt as part of their foreign-exchange reserves mountains. Although these institutions hold assets denominated in other currencies and therefore already manage diversified portfolios, Kimmitt doesn't expect them to dump their dollars. "It certainly wouldn't be in their interests to do anything that would hurt the U.S. market in which they're already heavily invested," Kimmitt said. Foreign investors hold around $2.5 trillion more of U.S. assets than U.S. investors' asset holdings overseas. Kimmitt reiterated Treasury's line on China and its currency, namely that Beijing's 2.1 percent revaluation of the yuan last July was welcome but that greater steps toward letting the currency float freely are needed. "More needs to be done and more needs to be done quickly," as a free-floating currency would be in China's interests, Kimmitt told reporters. Treasury is in constant dialogue with China and other countries to promote the freeing up of currencies, trade, capital and investment flows, he said. As far as domestic issues are concerned, Kimmitt said the priority for Treasury remains reducing the budget deficit. "I'm really concerned about the deficit. It's much too large and it has to become smaller," Kimmitt said, adding that cutting spending should be the focus. He said, however, that the deficit is "moving in the right direction" toward President George W. Bush's goal of being halved by 2009. The U.S. fiscal deficit in the year to September 2005 was $319 billion, less than 3 percent of gross domestic product and down from a record $427 billion the year before. But earlier this week, the White House said it expects post-Hurricane Katrina spending to push this year's deficit back out to more than $400 billion.

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 12:39:38 PM
From: LLCF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

That's awesome... LOL. Interestingly thinking you're getting ahead by hurting others seems an illusion, as religions have taught for thousands of years and as physics is showing: amazon.com sciam.com "What goes around, comes around? DAK

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (44841)	1/20/2006 12:45:54 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

DJ FDIC To Wait On Full Board, Hearing For Wal-Mart Bk Vote WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will wait for its board to be fully staffed before deciding on Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (WMT) controversial request to provide federally insured banking services, the FDIC's acting chairman said this week. "I believe that the board of directors will be fully constituted before a final decision is rendered on this application," acting FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in a letter Thursday to U.S. lawmakers. The agency's board currently has four of five seats filled. In the letter, released Friday by the lawmakers, Gruenberg says he also expects the FDIC to wait for a public hearing before deciding on the application, noting Wal-Mart's request has drawn more than 1,500 public comments and more than 90 requests for hearings. Wal-Mart's status as the world's largest retailer has drawn intense interest in its application for federal insurance of back-office banking services by a subsidiary firm known as an industrial loan company, or ILC. Wal-Mart says the ILC charter will help process electronic checks and credit- and debit-card transactions. But critics say Wal-Mart could use an initially limited charter to expand in the future into general banking services, using its size and influence to shut out competitors. Gruenberg was responding to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, two signatories of a letter 23 House lawmakers sent the acting FDIC chairman last month. The letter requested full staffing of the agency's board before a decision on Wal-Mart's request. Frank and Gillmor have also asked the FDIC whether any approval of the Wal-Mart application could permanently restrict the ILC subsidiary to activities cited in its original application.