Saturday Thought For The Day:
As California considers the use of IOUs again, four California banks blow up the same weekend.
This portends interesting times ahead.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
And then there was EIGHT!
Bank Closing Information – August 20, 2010
These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks
Sonoma Valley Bank, Sonoma, CA
Los Padres Bank, Solvang, CA
Butte Community Bank, Chico, CA
Pacific State Bank, Stockton, CA
ShoreBank, Chicago, IL
Imperial Savings & Loan Association, Martinsville , VA
Independent National Bank, Ocala, FL
Community National Bank of Bartow, Bartow, FL
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The miraculous dispersing oil story has been repealed. When you are caught in a total fabrication it is embarrassing.
These are the same people who run the bureau of statistics. That should give you something to think about.
Senior U.S. scientist rescinds previous claim that 3/4 of oil from spill is gone, says most is still there
Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Monica Lawrence
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – A senior U.S. government scientist on Thursday admitted that three-quarters of the oil that was released into the Gulf of Mexico after BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill was still there, contradicting his earlier claim that the worst of the spill had passed, the Guardian reported.
Bill Lehr, senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), presented a radically different picture than the one the White House had presented to the public earlier this month. He contradicted his own reports from two weeks ago that suggested that the majority of the oil had been captured or broken down. “I would say most of that is still in the environment,” Lehr told the House energy and commerce committee.
His statement seems to all but confirm suspicions within the scientific community that the White House was trying to spin and hide scientific data regarding the damage of the oil spill. The only member of Congress who turned up at the hearing was Ed Markey, the committee chair. Lehr did, however, revise the amount of oil that spilled into the gulf, saying that only 4.1 million barrels were spilled versus the previous estimate of 4.9, noting that 800,000 barrels were siphoned directly from the well.
A number of estimates that aren’t coming from the White House suggest that as much as 90 percent of the oil is unaccounted for. Lehr himself said that only 6 percent was burned and the other 4 percent was skimmed, but he wasn’t confident on the amount collected from beaches.
Markey was visible upset and critical of Lehr, saying that the released report by NOAA gave the public a false sense of confidence. “You shouldn’t have released it until you knew it was right,” he said.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Do you recall all the hype about this program?
Nearly 50 percent leave Obama mortgage-aid program
Obama mortgage-aid effort is struggling to stem the rising number of foreclosures in US
Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer, On Saturday August 21, 2010, 2:49 am EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half of the 1.3 million homeowners who enrolled in the Obama administration’s flagship mortgage-relief program have fallen out.
The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Friday’s report from the Treasury Department suggests the $75 billion government effort is failing to slow the tide of foreclosures in the United States, economists say.
More than 2.3 million homes have been repossessed by lenders since the recession began in December 2007, according to foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. Economists expect the number of foreclosures to grow well into next year.
"The government program as currently structured is petering out. It is taking in fewer homeowners, more are dropping out and fewer people are ending up in permanent modifications," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
Besides forcing people from their homes, foreclosures and distressed home sales have pushed down on home values and crippled the broader housing industry. They have made it difficult for homebuilders to compete with the depressed prices and discouraged potential sellers from putting their homes on the market.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
There is a distinct stench coming from the West Coast. That is not exactly dollar positive.
California faces issuing IOUs again
By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles
Published: August 19 2010 19:11 | Last updated: August 19 2010 19:11
California will be forced to issue IOUs to public workers and other creditors in lieu of cash in the next two months if a budget deadlock cannot be broken, the state’s financial controller has warned.
America’s most populous state faces a repeat of 2009, when a slumping economy and its failure to agree a budget caused an unprecedented fiscal crunch and the issuing of $2.6bn of IOUs, which damaged California’s credit rating and forced it to scrap some social programmes.
John Chiang, California’s controller, told the Financial Times that the state was once again flirting with IOUs because of a budget stalemate between Arnold Schwarzenegger, its governor, and the state government. The budget is two months late.
“If the governor and the legislature act responsibly and pass a budget then we won’t have to issue IOUs – it’s as simple as that,” said Mr Chiang.
However, Mr Schwarzenegger and the state legislature do not appear to be close to agreeing a new financial plan for California, which issues more municipal debt than any other US state. The governor has outlined drastic spending cuts to close a $19.1bn deficit, which many in the state legislature have opposed.
