Meltdown

[Coopmv]

Coop, one must wonder how much longer this "War on Terror" will continue, and at what cost?  Some commentators estimate a price tag exceeding $3 Trillion (or $5T including "social costs") ... and several hundred thousand (500,000?) US troops ... I wonder if this is a bottomless pit, or if "victory" is possible at some distant point in the future.




U.S. commander warns of "failure" in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan says in a confidential assessment of the war that without additional forces the mission "will likely result in failure."  A request for more troops faces resistance from within U.S. President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, which controls Congress, and opinion polls show Americans are turning against the nearly eight-year-old war.

Army General Stanley McChrystal wrote: "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible." ... McChrystal's request [may] include roughly 30,000 new combat troops and trainers ... [and he] paints a grim picture of how the war is progressing and writes "the overall situation is deteriorating."  He calls for a "dramatically" and even "uncomfortably" different approach to fighting a war which requires a cultural change in the way the military fights. "The objective is the will of the people, our conventional warfare culture is part of the problem, the Afghans must ultimately defeat the insurgency." The war in Afghanistan is now at its deadliest in eight years. ... The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has almost doubled this year from 32,000 to 62,000 and is expected to grow by another 6,000 by the year's end. ...

link





Christian Science Monitor: Afghanistan will cost US more than Iraq
Funding for war in Afghanistan will eclipse Iraq for the first time in next year's budget.

By David R. Francis  |  Staff Writer/ September 15, 2009 edition

For the first time, the war in Afghanistan in the next budget year will cost Americans more than the war in Iraq. By the end of the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, the total military budget costs for both wars will have exceeded $1 trillion. That's more than the cost of the Vietnam War, adjusting for inflation, or any other US war except World War II ($3.2 trillion in 2007 dollars). 

[url=http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/09/15/economic-scene-afghanistan-will-cost-us-more-than-iraq/]link



Classified McChrystal Report: 500,000 Troops Will Be Required Over Five Years in Afghanistan

Read more here

This nation-building crap in Afghanistan has got to stop - the US is acting more and more like the Roman Empire before its epic decline.  The Soviet Unions had their pants beaten off in Afghanistan, why is the US so stupid as to think we can win over there?  $3T price tag is too much to pay when the US gets almost nothing in return.  It is not as if people are paying under $1 for a gallon of gas now ...

[BachQ]

Coop, the FDIC is utterly helpless and asleep at the wheel.

Banks With 20% Unpaid Loans at 18-Year High Amid Recovery Doubt
For banks with 20 percent of loans overdue, "either they've got a massive amount of capital, or the FDIC just hasn't gotten around to them," said Jeff Davis, an analyst with FTN Equity Capital Markets in Nashville. Lack of staff and money are slowing FDIC's shutdowns, he said. At least 17 of the 26 banks have been hit with civil penalties or enforcement orders that demand improved management and more capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Failure to comply can lead to seizure. The number of distressed banks is larger, with the FDIC counting 416 companies on its confidential list of "problem" lenders at mid-year.

link


FDIC Insuring 8,200 Banks with $9 Trillion in Deposits and Zero in the Deposit Insurance Fund. Calling Banks to Prepay Assessment of $45 Billion. --- MyBudget360 ---

[BachQ]

Wash. Post -- US foreclosure rate rises 17%

Bloomberg: -- U.S. consumer bankruptcies rose past 1 million through the first nine months of the year, the highest since 2005 changes to bankruptcy laws.
Reuters -- According to Rob McMahon, head of General Electric Corp's Restructuring Finance Group, an "avalanche" of large U.S. businesses will need to be restructured over the next 12 to18 months ... "The only thing keeping more companies from filing right now is all the convenant-lite deals," said McMahon, whose unit is one of the leading providers of debtor-in-possession or DIP loans to bankrupt companies, "We're still heading for an avalanche of deals over the next 12 to 18 months that will keep the restructuring world quite busy. ... There is not a scarcity of money available for DIP lending. There is a scarcity of companies with adequate collateral."

[Coopmv]

Coop, the FDIC is utterly helpless and asleep at the wheel.

Banks With 20% Unpaid Loans at 18-Year High Amid Recovery Doubt
For banks with 20 percent of loans overdue, "either they've got a massive amount of capital, or the FDIC just hasn't gotten around to them," said Jeff Davis, an analyst with FTN Equity Capital Markets in Nashville. Lack of staff and money are slowing FDIC's shutdowns, he said. At least 17 of the 26 banks have been hit with civil penalties or enforcement orders that demand improved management and more capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Failure to comply can lead to seizure. The number of distressed banks is larger, with the FDIC counting 416 companies on its confidential list of "problem" lenders at mid-year.

link


FDIC Insuring 8,200 Banks with $9 Trillion in Deposits and Zero in the Deposit Insurance Fund. Calling Banks to Prepay Assessment of $45 Billion. --- MyBudget360 ---

Unfortunately, the man who played no small role in creating this mess, the creator of two bubbles are now collecting his pension, traveling the world and giving speeches for big bucks ...   

[snyprrr]

And Israel is frothing at the mouth to jump start the "will it ever come?" War With Iran. Israel seems to looove to use goy soldiers to do their dirty work. Hmmm, troops in Iraq...troops in Afghanistan... hmmm, what's in the middle? even MORE OIL!!! Yeehaw!!!

Look for a (another) false flag terror op to go down. If nukes go off in the US, they will blame the muslims/Iran, but look for the mossad agents fleeing the scene.



And I was wondering about all those poppies. Is it really herion addicts who are consuming all the poppies, or is it BigPharma who need them for all their painkillers that the whole world seems hooked on these days? BigPharma seems to make more sense than herion addicts, the point being that SOMEONE wants YOU doped up so,...mmm maybe you won't bother with all that wool they've been trying to pull over your eyes lately.

[Lethevich]

Oh man, I lol'd.

[Coopmv]

Coop, the FDIC is utterly helpless and asleep at the wheel.

Banks With 20% Unpaid Loans at 18-Year High Amid Recovery Doubt
For banks with 20 percent of loans overdue, "either they've got a massive amount of capital, or the FDIC just hasn't gotten around to them," said Jeff Davis, an analyst with FTN Equity Capital Markets in Nashville. Lack of staff and money are slowing FDIC's shutdowns, he said. At least 17 of the 26 banks have been hit with civil penalties or enforcement orders that demand improved management and more capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Failure to comply can lead to seizure. The number of distressed banks is larger, with the FDIC counting 416 companies on its confidential list of "problem" lenders at mid-year.

link


FDIC Insuring 8,200 Banks with $9 Trillion in Deposits and Zero in the Deposit Insurance Fund. Calling Banks to Prepay Assessment of $45 Billion. --- MyBudget360 ---

I had hope earlier this year that the politicians would bring back the Glass-Steagall Acts.  The abolition of that law in the name of deregulation was what got the US into such mess.  But it looks like the lobbyists of the big banks have won again.  The Obama Administration has been all thunder and no rain ...   

[BachQ]

And I was wondering about all those poppies. Is it really herion addicts who are consuming all the poppies, or is it BigPharma who need them for all their painkillers that the whole world seems hooked on these days? BigPharma seems to make more sense than herion addicts, the point being that SOMEONE wants YOU doped up so,...mmm maybe you won't bother with all that wool they've been trying to pull over your eyes lately.

Afghanistan's opium poppy accounts for 90% of the world's supply, and over 60% of Afghanistan's GDP.

So, for whatever reason, the US is determined to control the world's opium output ... even at a cost GREATER THAN the Iraq War.  AMAZING.

It seems that opium is even more valuable than oil.

[Coopmv]

Afghanistan's opium poppy accounts for 90% of the world's supply, and over 60% of Afghanistan's GDP.

So, for whatever reason, the US is determined to control the world's opium output ... even at a cost GREATER THAN the Iraq War.  AMAZING.

It seems that opium is even more valuable than oil.

Considering the problems Iran has been causing, the most brilliant policy was to have kept Saddam around and have him go after Iran.  But GWB blew it.

[Coopmv]

DM,  Wonder how the Chinese export to the US did in August?

Americans reduce their outstanding debt by $12 billion in August, 7th straight drop

[Coopmv]

DM,  These big banks are just so disgusting.  Obama is just all thunder and no rain.  These banks must be put on a short leash, as they are a menace to mankind ...

Last year Wall Street banks were virtually insolvent. Taxpayers stimulated them back from the dead. Now, thanks to the proliferation of HFT-Quants, Wall Street's again racing at hyperspeed, gambling with the money it conned from taxpayers, using it to skim more from clueless investors. First the Fed and Treasury, now Wall Street's "Too-Stupid-To-Fail" banks are stealing from Main Street's "Too-Dumb-To-Stop-Trading" investors.

[Coopmv]

Absolutely, the commercial real estate meltdown is just around the corner ...

Roubini says housing market hasn't bottomed

[Coopmv]

DM,  Will this be called the Long March Hummer or the Great Wall Hummer going forward?     

General Motors Co. is poised to sign a deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer as early as Thursday afternoon, a person briefed on the deal said.

[Coopmv]

DM,  Gold will hit $5000/oz and gas at $20/gal in the US ...   

Next asset bubble could come sooner than you think
Amid the wreckage of the financial crisis, building blocks for the next bubble are with us

[Coopmv]

DM,  Here comes the second stimulus ..   Confronted with big job losses and no sign the U.S. economy is ready to stand on its own, Democrats are working on a growing list of relief efforts, leaving for later how to pay for them, or whether even to bother.

[Coopmv]

DM,  We Americans should be ashamed of how stupid our bankers and politicians have been to let this housing debacle happen.  Denmark has a total population less than that of NYC ...     

The Mortgage Crisis: The U.S. vs. Denmark

[Coopmv]

DM,  It will be interesting to watch how long the Chinese will keep the Hummer manufacturing plants in the US. 

Iconic Hummer brand sold to Chinese manufacturer
Hummer, symbol of America's love of big, is now in hands of Chinese heavy equipment maker

[BachQ]

Coop, I think 7 consecutive drops in outstanding debt is a record ... and it's not over yet.

DM,  Wonder how the Chinese export to the US did in August?

Americans reduce their outstanding debt by $12 billion in August, 7th straight drop

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. banks are reducing their lending at the fastest rate on record, tightening the credit squeeze and threatening to leave many otherwise viable businesses unable to borrow money to expand their businesses, meet their payroll or refinance their maturing debts. According to weekly figures provided by the Federal Reserve, total loans at commercial banks have fallen at a 19% annual rate over the past three months, while loans to businesses have dropped at a 28% annualized pace. ... In the first and second quarters, the U.S. private sector consumed more capital than it raised for the first time in more than 60 years. Negative net investment is "the hallmark of depression and difficult to reverse," said economist Leigh Skene of Lombard Street Research.

[BachQ]

NYT: Financial Crisis Puts Europe Back in the Slow Lane


By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and MATTHEW SALTMARSH
Published: October 9, 2009

PARIS — Two years ago, Europe was growing more rapidly than the United States, and the Old Continent finally seemed prepared to tackle longstanding economic challenges like rigid labor markets, runaway government spending and a rapidly aging population.

But as Asia and the United States emerge from the global economic crisis, Europe appears likely to be the world's laggard, threatening a return to the dark days of "Eurosclerosis." Leaders who once spoke optimistically of fundamental changes aimed at enhancing productivity have turned to the more prosaic tasks of protecting jobs and avoiding painful political choices.

"It's worse than being back to Square 1," said Gilles Moëc, a senior economist in London for Deutsche Bank.

And just when it is needed most, the political will to address Europe's bigger economic problems seems absent, according to many experts across the region and around the world.

...  Underscoring the new pessimism, new statistics released Wednesday showed a 0.2 percent contraction in the euro zone in the second quarter, worse than forecast. ... "The Europeans are losing out," said Simon Johnson, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The Europeans are the biggest losers of the economic crisis, even though the home of subprime madness was the U.S." ...  Already, the euro zone's share of world trade has slipped to 28 percent in 2008 from 31 percent in 2004, according to the World Trade Organization.

Economies in Spain, Ireland, and Greece are all expected to keep shrinking in 2010, while the region's economic powerhouse, Germany, ekes out a 0.3 percent gain, according to a bleak new outlook from the IMF.

link

[BachQ]

Ten Thousand Apply For Ninety Job Openings In Louisville

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/ten-thousand-apply-for-ni_n_315778.html