Fresh Economic Doom for Everyone

www.marketwatch.com...

number of trouble banks rises to 702; nearly 10% of all US Banks

Driven by expanding problems with commercial real estate loans, the number of distressed banks in the U.S. rose to 702

Based on the result, roughly one in 11 of the approximately 8,000 U.S. banks are on this list, with regulators expecting a significant expansion in the number of failures throughout 2010, boosted in large part by increased losses on commercial real estate sustained by mid-sized and smaller banks

A congressional watchdog group reported on Feb. 11 that it over the next few years, a wave of commercial real estate loan failures could threaten the U.S. financial system, and in the worst-case scenario, hundreds of additional community and mid-sized banks could face insolvency.

According to the FDIC, the value of what are deemed problem assets at institutions stood at $402.8 billion at the end of 2009, compared with $345.9 billion at the end of the third quarter.

www.marketwatch.com...

Inflation moving faster than it looks

The so-called "core" rate of inflation, which excludes food and energy, is misleading. You know why? Because we all consume these items -- they are part of everyone's cost of living.

In the real world, these and other prices are going up, some quite sharply. And it's not just the notorious 39% hike in insurance premiums announced by a California insurance company. No, Virginia, lots of prices are going up, while in some cases portion sizes are being reduced. ( See my column of March 24, 2009.)

I am referring to items that you and I purchase just about every day. Besides energy, these include food, health care, transit fares, local taxes and tolls. To these you can add telephone and cable bills, toiletries, beauty products, and, yes, haircuts (mine just went up 8%).

But these increases, numerous as they are, are being masked by declines in big-ticket items such as cars, computers, housing and cell phones, to name a few. As you know, these are items that we don't buy every day, week, month or even year.

www.marketwatch.com...

The Death of US Capitalism: The Final 10 Scenes

Do Main Street's 95 million investors know something Warren Buffett's long-time partner, Charlie Munger, doesn't know? Munger is warning us "It's Over" for America. Yes, "o-v-e-r," America's in decline, at the end-of-days, coming to "financial ruin," says Munger.

Their arrogance traps them in a self-sabotaging cycle that weakens their resolve, makes them vulnerable to new, unpredictable challenges, ultimately destroying them from within. That happens over and over throughout history, even as their optimistic brains tell them they're still the greatest.

So for a moment, please set aside your "optimism," listen to our translation of Munger's drama as a 10-scene crime-thriller about America on the "road to ruin."

the 10 secenes:
Scene 1: Power and wealth create false sense of invincibility
Scene 2: Greed consumes America: Gambling replaces real work
Scene 3: Wall Street's casinos prosper as Main Street suffers
Scene 4: America's side-bet debt to foreign casinos skyrockets
Scene 5: Nations in denial rarely prepare for disasters in advance
Scene 6: In the later stages, get-rich-quick beats real work
Scene 7: Wall Street CEOs, economists, lobbyists love gambling
Scene 8: Wall Street gamblers love Reaganomics, hate change
Scene 9: Main Street investors join Wall Street's 'Happy Conspiracy'
Scene 10: Politicians love Wall Street's derivative casino: Game over!

Solution? Get into action, let's launch the "Second American Revolution." Got any constructive, optimistic strategies? Share them. Add your comments

www.guardian.co.uk...

Protestors block Greek Stock Exchange

Militant trade unionists blockaded the entrance to the Athens stock exchange today as millions of striking Greek workers prepared to pour on to the streets to protest against austerity measures aimed at ending a debt crisis that has sent tremors through the eurozone.

The demonstration, by protesters affiliated to the communist party, came on the eve of a 24-hour general strike that is expected to bring Greece to a standstill.

online.wsj.com...

Wealthy Greeks Send Money Abroad

Wealthy Greeks are pulling their money out of local banks and sending it abroad, fearing increased government scrutiny on assets and a run on the banks if Athens is forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund, according to private bankers and other people with knowledge of the situation.

seekingalpha.com...

Wealth Disparities in U.S. Approaching 1920s Levels

Folks, there is no way we can have economic prosperity in this country when the top 1% has all of the money. The middle class is basically being destroyed right in front of our very eyes. Consumption economies die when the consumers have no money to consume!

I see growing signs of desperation and anger as the wealth of this nation continues to get transferred to the elite of this nation.

People are starting to "lose" it as a result. This past week's airplane event in Austin was a disturbing development. I must admit that I really am not surprised. The government shouldn't be either.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

European banks face showdown over €1 trillion of debt

European banks need to roll over €1 trillion (£877bn) of debt over the next two years at a much higher cost and in direct competition with hungry sovereign states, according to a report by Morgan Stanley

A slurry of bad economic news today, stocks are down, consumer confidence fell off a cliff... Greece is in big trouble, its problems will surely spread throughout the EU. i found a few damning articles i thought people should be aware of. There are a couple of single threads that deal with some of these stories but i figured if you saw em all together it might hit you alittle harder and knock some reality into you all. This is doom with no timetable, it IS going to happen, its just a matter of time...


[edit on 23-2-2010 by TheCoffinman]

reply to post by TheCoffinman


Good informative thread.... ring's familiar somehow...Hmmmmm oh, well, can't place it, anyhow enjoy

Ok, I got it, now I remember......




www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by freetree64


yes your thread is mentioned in here, there is however alot more goin on and i figured it might give people a better overall perspective if they saw whats goin down as a whole today... but please, visit freetree's thread too

[edit on 23-2-2010 by TheCoffinman]

reply to post by TheCoffinman


Understood, and appriciate it, your's is more well thought out and informative, I think, and it's good to keep a couple of them up, to catch more set's of eye's.....

Serious Deja Vu.
Great thread I was uninformed of the Protest in Greece near the stock exchange thank you.

It's like I've said in other threads related to this subject. You and I can only use 1 credit card to pay the minimum on another and so on until one day it all catches up to you. This is what's happening with the world. Everyone borrowed way to much and trying to wind down that useless stimulus will sink most countries economies. Interest Rates have to go up. There is too much money in the system inflating an even worse bubble than the one we just saw.

The "Debt Crisis" will be epic and will bring down many countries before it's done.

Wow.. Guess they can't really hide that the economy just went skydiving with no parachute, now can they? I didn't know about what happened at the Greek stock exchange, either. Great thread.