Archive for January, 2008
“What Else Lurks Out There That Hasn’t Been Uncovered by Investigators?”
January 22nd, 2008Via: Forbes: Regulators call it fraud for profit. Real estate insiders refer to it as scamming for cash. Lehman Brothers isn’t calling it anything at all–or saying anything about being swindled out of upward of $50 million. The U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles says the scam was masterminded by developers Charles Elliot Fitzgerald and Mark […]
EMERGENCY: GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS COLLAPSING
January 22nd, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy sell or hold any financial instrument. I’m going to call emergency here. I was waiting to see if Asia would get a foot hold today, but the slide is extending. I hope Cryptogon readers have diversified well and are ready to face this situation. We all knew […]
Black Monday as Biggest FTSE Crash Since 9/11 Wipes Off Nearly £60 Billion in Share Value
January 21st, 2008Via: This is London: The stock market was in meltdown today as nearly £60billion was wiped off London shares. A combination of poor economic figures and the worsening global credit crunch sent the FTSE 100 plunging. At one stage the drop was the biggest since 9/11 in 2001, although the index of Britain’s biggest companies […]
Israel Is Set to Promote the Use of Electric Cars
January 21st, 2008Imagine my shock. Via: New York Times: Israel, tiny and bereft of oil, has decided to embrace the electric car. On Monday, the Israeli government will announce its support for a broad effort to promote the use of electric cars, embracing a joint venture between an American-Israeli entrepreneur and Renault and its partner, Nissan Motor […]
GERMANY: DAX DOWN 7%
January 21st, 2008It’s a global sell off, but Germany is down over 7% at the moment, according to the blinking numbers on my screen… You might recall that I focussed specifically on Germany in my New Year’s piece about 2008: Think of the longer term effects on European economies of the dollar collapse and Americans becoming unable […]
Is This the End of Cheap Food?
January 21st, 2008Via: Guardian: ‘It’s going to be interesting,’ says James Walton, chief economist with the food retail industry’s education body, IDG. ‘UK shoppers aged under 50 have so far never experienced food-price inflation.’ Essentially, throughout most Britons’ lifetimes, food has become cheaper. But, in December, the inflation rate (by the government’s preferred consumer price index, the […]
Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories
January 21st, 2008Mainstream media playing catch up… Via: New York Times: Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing residents of Asia’s largest slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new factories built to convert vegetable oil into diesel sit idle, their […]
“This Is Going to Be Worse Than Anybody Thinks”
January 21st, 2008I guess that analyst hasn’t been reading Cryptogon. Via: The Street: Recession is no longer the taboo word on Wall Street. It’s being tossed around like confetti. The new phrase that can’t be uttered is “systemic risk,” and with bond insurer Ambac losing its triple-A credit rating from Fitch Ratings on Friday, the real risk […]
UK: Panic Selling Shuts £2 Billion Real Estate Fund
January 20th, 2008Via: Guardian: One of Britain’s biggest property funds was forced to shut its doors to withdrawals yesterday after the slump in commercial prices triggered panic selling by small investors. The move prompted fears of a Northern Rock-style run on billions of pounds invested in once high-flying funds which many savers have seen as a safe […]
CIA Drug Planes Tip of the Iceberg
January 20th, 2008Via: Mad Cow Productions: Two American-registered drug planes busted in Mexico carrying four and 5.5 tons of cocaine are just the “tip of the iceberg” in a blockbuster aviation deal which sold 50 American-registered aircraft to the Sinaloa Cartel, the MadCowMorningNews has learned. According to an indictment released over the holidays by Mexico’s Atty. General, […]
