Top fifteen creditors that we owe - Our Country Has Been Sold In The Name Of Greed

By Aaron Cantor Sunday, February 14, 2010

Greedy politicians of all parties have sold us out.

They have to borrow more and more to keep the entitlement programs from crumbling beneath their feet which would bring on anarchy.

I think, however, the real reason is so they can stay in office and vote themselves another pay raise and all the rest of the perks they think they are entitled to.

All incumbents have to go ASAP. I have included in this article, a list of the top fifteen creditors that we owe more money than we can ever hope to repay, but these jackasses just keep borrowing and spending like there is no tomorrow. Try that with a loan shark and you would no longer be able to walk, or maybe you would no longer be breathing.

It is not only those greedy thieves in the government that I am disgusted with, but the idiots who keep re-electing them time and time again.

Most of those clowns have been in Washington for twenty and thirty years, a leash (in the form of term limits) needs to be put on these Ganefs ( Ganef a Yiddish word meaning thief, robber or swindler) take your pick they are usually all three.

They have sold the country and us down the river and they don’t seem to care, as long as they get theirs.

When you go into that voting booth in November, before you pull that handle, think about what the hell you are doing. If it is an incumbent vote him OUT!!!

GET A LOAD OF WHO AND HOW MUCH WE OWE, THANKS TO THE DUMMIES IN WASHINGTON, AND REMEMBER YOU VOTED FOR THEM.

1. Federal Reserve and US Intragovernmental Holdings

That’s right; the biggest holder of US government debt is actually inside the United States. The Federal Reserve System of banks and other US intergovernmental holdings account for a stunning $5.127 trillion in US Treasury debt. This is the most recent number available (Sept 2009), and is at an all-time high, rising in every reporting period since 2007. About a decade ago, the total government holdings were “only” $2.5 trillion.

2. Other Investors

With the most recent numbers from March 2009, this extremely diverse group includes individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts, estates, savings bonds, corporate and non-corporate businesses for a total of $1.114 Trillion. Although the level of debt held in U.S. savings bonds has remained basically constant, the broad category of “Other” investors has nearly quadrupled since

3. China (Mainland)

The buzz word in the market for US debt is China. The world’s most populous country is also the largest and most important international buyer of US debt. From its all-time high in May 2009 of $801.5 billion, China’s stockpile of Treasury securities has actually shrank by about $10.4 billion, with the biggest portion of this dip occurring between October and November 2009. Hong Kong, which is not included in China’s total, holds an additional $146.2 billion.

4. Japan

Another major US trade partner, Japan holds a huge amount of the country’s debt, with a stunning $757.3 billion. As recently as August 2008, Japan held the more US debt than any other country, but currently holds the #2 spot, as far as foreign governments are concerned.

5. Mutual Funds

According to the Federal Reserve, mutual funds hold the fifth largest amount of US debt compared to any other group, although mutual fund holdings have diminished by more than $70 billion since December 2008. Including money market funds, mutual funds and closed-end funds, this group of investments manages approximately $694.5 billion of US Treasury securities.

6. State and Local Governments

US state and local governments have over a half-trillion dollars invested in American debt, according to the Federal Reserve. The level of investment has remained very stable over the past three years, moving within the range of $516.9 billion and $550.3 billion from 2006 to 2009, and although the amount has been increasing, the amount of holdings is off their highs.

7. Pension Funds

Pension funds control large amounts of money, reserved for personal retirements, and thus are obligated to make relatively safe investments. This group includes both private and local government pension funds, totaling $490.2 billion. The private pension fund category also includes US Treasury securities held by the Federal Employees Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan “G Fund.”

8. United Kingdom

Britain currently holds $277.5 billion in US debt, but the country’s investment has fluctuated dramatically throughout the past 2 years, currently at its all-time high the UK’s holdings were as low as $55 billion in June 2008.

9. Oil Exporters

Big oil means big money… and big investment into US debt. Included in the group of oil exporters are Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria. The group combines for a total of $187.7 billion a level they have maintained for the past year.

10. Caribbean Banking Centers

The US Treasury identifies this group as institutions in the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Panama and the British Virgin Islands. Holdings are currently listed at $179.8 billion, up from $106.6 billion in June 2008, but off the group’s high of $213.6 billion in March 2009.

11. Insurance Companies

According to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, insurance companies hold $162.2 billion in Treasury securities. This group includes property-casualty and life insurance firms.

12. Brazil

The South American economic giant has $157.1 billion in holdings, according to the Treasury. Brazil’s investment into US debt has been fluctuating slightly over the past two years, with current holdings testing a high of $158 billion from June 2008. The low holdings and a low of $126 billion in March.

13. Hong Kong

Breaking into the top 15 biggest holders of US debt is Hong Kong, whose holdings have surged nearly 50% in the last 6 months, from a level of $99.8 billion in June 2009 to $146.2 billion currently.

14. Despository Institutions

As of the third quarter of 2009 (the most recent numbers currently available), the Federal Reserve Board of Governors lists depository institutions as holding approximately $145.4 billion in US debt. This group includes commercial banks, savings banks and credit unions.

15. Russia

Russia’s investment in US debt grew over 393 percent between January 2008 and March 2009(from $35.2 billion to $138.4 billion), but the country’s investment in US debt has receded slightly since, and is listed at $128.1 billion as of November 2009. This is approximately at the same level it was in February 2009.

A little food for thought, what if all those markers were called in at once?

Credit Suisse Declares the U.S. a Riskier Investment Than Indonesia

Feb 12 2010
Amid fears that Switzerland might come to an agreement with the United States on banking privacy and tax evasion disclosures, Credit Suisse issued a report identifying those countries it determined to have the highest risks of default on their sovereign debts. Number 16 on the list was the United States, based primarily on its 2009 budget deficits and government debt.

http://washingtonindependent.com/76529/credit-suisse-declares-the-u-s-a-riskier-investment-than-indonesia

Market-Ticker | There Is NO Economic Recovery Happening

Second wave of real estate collapse just beginning. This 60-Minute TV segment has been taken off the Internet several times, so catch it while you can

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/705.html

US Public Pensions Face $2 TRILLION Deficit

The US public pension system faces a higher-than-expected shortfall of more than $2,000bn that will increase pressure on many states’ strained finances and crimp economic growth, according to the chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund.

The estimate by Orin Kramer will fuel investors’ concerns over the deteriorating financial health of US states after the recession. “State and local governments are correctly perceived to be in serious difficulty,” Mr Kramer told the Financial Times. READ MORE ...

Personal bankruptcy rose by nearly a third in 2009 - a surge largely driven by foreclosures and job losses.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126263231055415303.html?mod=rss_Deals_and_Deal_Makers

Market moves and the lunatic fringe

IMPLODING equities, exploding credit default swaps, soaring gold and slumping oil -- if, at any time over the past 18 months, it seemed that markets were in the grip of lunacy, it may be because investors are, technically, lunatics.

The market mayhem since the global financial meltdown began in 2008 has provided fertile soil for proponents of a branch of investment theory which holds that market cycles move in phase with the Moon.

Now, backed with decades of data and behaviour that can no longer be explained by purely rational analysis, the lunar theory has slipped into the mainstream.

In a piece of research that involved 14 of its senior analysts from across five leading financial centres scrutinising data from 32 leading indices over several decades, Macquarie Securities has arrived at a startling discovery: the two days on either side of the new lunar month represent most of the positive returns on equity markets for the next four weeks.

"Using data since 1988 for a wide variety of indices," the report concluded, "it is quite clear that a strong surge in returns can be seen leading into the turn of the (lunar) month."

The analysts are quick to dismiss the idea that the theory applies only to markets in Asia -- a part of the world where belief in the lunar theory, especially in Hong Kong and Japan, is better established.

"The effect is not just an Asian effect, it happens globally," the Macquarie report said.

"Of the 32 markets we examined, all showed higher than average returns around the turn of the (lunar) month ... and for many of the markets, the average return for the rest of the month was below, or close to, zero."

Equity markets, it seems, act as a particularly sensitive barometer for the invisible impact of lunar cycles on human psychology -- an influence that has been widely assumed for centuries, but never solidly proven by science.

Macquarie points to two academic studies, which found that returns around the new moon are nearly double that of the corresponding full moon phase.

Using MSCI index data from the same 32 equity bourses and tracking decades of data, the Macquarie report found that: "In many markets, a very clear increase in average returns can be seen leading into the lunar new month."

The results, the analysis said, showed that without exception every market showed a very slight increase in the average return over the new moon period.

Other brokerage firms have latched on to parts of the lunar theory. Analysts at CLSA recently pointed out to clients that the recent near-collapse of the global credit and financial system was presaged by the lunar cycle.

As markets teetered on the brink of oblivion in 2008, the true panic began exactly on the 27th day of the seventh lunar cycle. Eerily, that same phase marked the height of panic during the great market crashes of 1857, 1907, 1929, 1987 and 1997.

The Macquarie report, which acknowledges that investors are unlikely to adapt their strategies to fit the new research, concludes that the relevance of the theory is "probably slightly more powerful than, say, betting that good value stocks outperform in the long run".

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/market-moves-and-the-lunatic-fringe/story-e6frg91o-1225812989219

Oklahoma Has Biggest Deficit Among States

Oklahoma has the unwanted distinction of having the largest revenue shortfall of any state, according to a new report. That reality is illustrated by the state's revenue collections, which are down by more than 25 percent from a year ago.

The state last week ordered yet another round of cuts, this time instructing agencies to cut 10 percent from their budgets.

A November state budget report by the National Conference of State Legislatures says Oklahoma's 18.5 percent shortfall for the current fiscal year edges out Arizona's 18 percent, with Illinois in third at 16.5 percent.The report says states have lopped $145.9 billion from their fiscal year 2010 budgets compared with 2009. For most states, the fiscal year begins on July 1.

In addition, 36 states have reported additional shortfalls for 2010 totaling $28.2 billion....

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2009/12/22/106170.htm

California Governor Schwarzenegger May Appeal to Obama as $21 Billion Deficit Defies Solution...

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, anticipating a $21 billion budget deficit, plans to ask President Barack Obama to ease mandates and minimums on social programs to save as much as $8 billion.

The Republican governor plans to seek the relief, according to a California official who asked not to be identified because details haven’t been resolved. Instead of seeking one-time stimulus money or a bailout, the most-populous state wants the U.S. to reduce mandates and waive rules stipulating expenditures on programs such as indigent health care, the official said.

California is among states most affected by the economic recession. It has the lowest credit rating and recorded the nation’s second-highest rate of home foreclosures, trailing only Nevada. Unemployment peaked at 12.5 percent in October amid the loss of 687,700 jobs from the year before, when the jobless figure was 8 percent. Wealth declined as the stock market lost 40 percent of its value in 2008. READ MORE ....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKc0QT2U7Gc0

The Long Decline of the American Economy

Global Research, December 21, 2009

The official position on the cause of the current financial downturn is that it was caused by the reckless practices of financial institutions and the failure of regulatory bodies, and it is likely that these were the proximate causes, but they were not the ultimate cause. Americans, unfortunately, are rarely willing to search for ultimate causes or do anything about them when they are found.

In the 1980s, I was living in a suburb of Washington, DC. One evening, a friend and I were walking the streets of Georgetown when we met a group of Japanese taking pictures of a building they had just purchased. They asked us to take some photographs of them in front of it, which we did. A few blocks further along, we observed a group of teenagers drumming on plastic household buckets. The kids were very good drummers, but I pointed out to my friend that after WW2, the youths of the Caribbean altered abandoned oil drums into musical instruments of various ranges and created a new and unique musical genre—steel drums. Later over dinner, my friend and I discussed what appeared to be a serious decline in America's economic fortunes and culture. READ MORE .....

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16639

Stocks' 'Nightmare' Decade - U.S. Market's Performance Since End of 1999 is Worst in Almost 200 Years

December 21, 2009

The U.S. stock market is wrapping up what is likely to be its worst decade ever.

In nearly 200 years of recorded stock-market history, no calendar decade has seen such a dismal performance as the 2000s.

Investors would have been better off investing in pretty much anything else, from bonds to gold or even just stuffing money under a mattress. Since the end of 1999, stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange have lost an average of 0.5% a year thanks to the twin bear markets this decade.

The period has provided a lesson for ordinary Americans who used stocks as ... read more

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704786204574607993448916718.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

In borrowing from China, we created our own economic ‘China syndrome'

For a few days, I have been reading several key articles dealing with China, but today a Washington Post article titled, U.S. firms lag in bids for Iraqi oil was the icing on the cake. In Twittering this article, I called it a blow-back to the U.S.

Let's get real: Our invasion into Iraq was to control this oil and not because of WMDs. It was not about terrorism, but greed. Soldiers as well as innocent Iraqis lost their lives and we have spent over $700 billion to fight the war in Iraq. A large sum we borrowed from China to keep this war going. Who stands to profit in these oil bids? You guessed it; China. The excerpts from this WP article will simply blow your mind:

“Chinese diplomats in Baghdad have kept a low profile in recent years, working out of a hotel and drawing little public attention. But Iraqi officials say they have been struck by the caliber of Chinese diplomats, many of whom speak flawless Arabic and have developed a nuanced understanding of Iraqi politics.”

This eye-opening article goes onto report: "We all know that China is on track to become a major economic as well as technological power," said Assam Jihad, a spokesman for the Oil Ministry.”

Do not get angry at the Iraqis since it was their oil to begin with; it was our foolishness for believing in the Bush/Cheney administration on why we needed to invade Iraq in the first place. For two oil-men, they look pretty silly in light of this story.

These wars have sunk our economy into a sink-hole period! In borrowing handily from China, we created our own economic ‘China syndrome'. These U.S. oil firms must be facing their own ‘Shock and Awe'. China out-gunned them without launching one single rocket or sending troops into Iraq. They did so with brains instead of brawn.

To further prove China's economic dominance in the world, one only has to read this explosive article published in the NY Times this past week: Recession Elsewhere, but It's Booming in China There you will read where their rate of consumption has surpassed ours on goods such as flat-screen televisions, washers, dryers as Americans hold back on their purchases.

In fact as this article points out: "China is pulling ahead at this particular moment partly because Americans, debt-laden and worried about their jobs, are pulling back. After decades of gorging on consumption, Americans are saving."

What should be a wake-up call to those in Washington D.C. who control our economic destinies is where this article points out: "For the first time, China, not the United States, is a locomotive helping to pull the global economy out of a slump. But China's tiny appetite for American exports means that the main benefit has gone to commodity exporters and to businesses in China."

READ MORE:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/In-borrowing-from-China-w-by-Mary-MacElveen-091213-563.html

Credit rules mean pain for industry, consumers

December 13, 2009

Consumer spending - whether it's with cash or credit - makes up as much as 70 percent of the nation's economy

Consumers cut back their use of revolving credit - made up of credit cards - to the tune of $6.95 billion in October, or 7.23 percent less than a year earlier, data from the Federal Reserve Board showed last week. Meanwhile, the delinquency rate on credit card loans - those past due 30 days or more and still accruing interest - was 6.58 percent in the third quarter, a record for the industry.

In a survey by the Federal Reserve released in November, banks reported that they expect to tighten - or have already tightened - many terms on credit card loans for borrowers, including those with good credit.

"Even now, we have forces saying spend, spend, spend," said Tahira Hira, an Iowa State University professor of personal finance and consumer economics.

"We depend on that for the economy to bounce back. We are looking for the consumer to spend."A pullback on overall spending "is a very difficult lesson for the country," Hira said. "We have a whole generation here which hasn't learned how to live within their means. And now we are being forced to come back within our means, and some people don't have means."

"The credit card industry is not going to be profitable this year, and is projected to lose billions of dollars in 2010 as a result of the overall business conditions," McCoy said.

READ MORE:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091213/BUSINESS/912130333/Credit-rules-mean-pain-for-industry-consumers

Market-Ticker | Insanity: Doing The Same Thing (Obama) - dumb and then there is dumber

There is dumb and then there is dumber. Our President has crossed from one to the other, no doubt egged on by the failure of his policies thus far to take root:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession" until more Americans are back at work.

You can't spend your way out of a debt problem any more than you can drink yourself sober. This sort of bankrupt policy is an attempt to stop this:

READ MORE:

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1713-Insanity-Doing-The-Same-Thing-Obama.html

AP | McDonald's sales take hit from US joblessness

McDonald's US sales decline deepens as joblessness, competition catch up to burger chain

CHICAGO (AP) -- The supersized recession that was a boon for business last year caught up further with McDonald's Corp. in November, as high unemployment ate into sales ...

READ MORE:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/McDonalds-sales-take-hit-from-apf-3524063237.html?x=0

Reuters | Florida's space economy threatened by shuttle's end

MIAMI (Reuters) December 8, 2009 - At El Leoncita Cuban & Mexican Restaurant near the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's "space" coast, a bar sign says it all: "No happy hour on launch days."

Business from tourists is so strong that when a U.S. space shuttle blasts off a drinks promotion is never needed. Throngs waiting for their margaritas snake out into the Titusville eatery's parking lot, according to owner Miguel Sanchez.

"It's the busiest day of the year -- crowded, crowded," Sanchez said.

But like other local business operators, as well as policymakers, Sanchez worries sales will drop and jobs will be lost as Florida's signature, half-century-old space economy risks being eclipsed by the end of the space shuttle program.

The federal government's space shuttle program, which is so much part of state lore that Floridians voted to depict the winged space vehicle on a 2004 commemorative quarter coin, now has just a few missions left before winding down in 2010 after 29 years of flights.

And there is no clear replacement for what is an important driver of the fourth most-populous U.S. state's economy, as the Obama administration is debating a new U.S. manned-space program that would at best be many years away from new launches.

Florida's economy has been especially hard hit by recession. U.S. state and local governments are sapped by budget deficits, while fledgling private-sector efforts to carry Americans into space for fat fees appear to be nowhere near getting traction.

Read More:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B73MR20091208

Best Bang-For-The-Buck Cities

Omaha, our No. 1 bang-for-the-buck city (also rated the city best surviving the recession), joins a number of Great Plains metros near the top of our list. These include Wichita, Kan. (No. 6) and Tulsa, Okla. (No. 19). This swath of prairie in the center of the country was somewhat buffered from the disastrous effect on coastal markets of the housing crisis, enabling it to emerge solidly from the recession. Housing sales here kept a steady, if slow, pace during the boom ...

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/30/cities-affordable-cheap-lifestyle-real-estate-housing-foreclosures_chart.html?partner=yahoore

Source:

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/best-bang-for-the-buck-cities

The New York Times Sunday Cover: Food Stamps For All!

The New York Times delivered a sobering message on Sunday with a lead story that read “Food Stamp Use Soars Across U.S., and Stigma Fades.” We’re all hurting, the paper seemed to say, as a giant United States infographic detailing the change in number of people who receive food stamps over the past two years occupied most of the space above the fold. The Great Recession indeed.

The cover story begins matter of factly and it’s clear we’re not in for a feel good Sunday human interest piece:

Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.

The piece puts the 2009 government price tag at about $36 billion, as 14 states reached a record number of recipients by last December. “One example is Michigan, where one in eight residents now receives food stamps,” reads the article, illustrated by the dark sections of the above map. See also: Nevada, Florida, Arizona. Ouch.

You can see another nifty looking, mood deflating Times graphic below, and read the whole downer of an article here.

Rense.com | New Study Shows Ten States Face Fiscal Crisis

By Stephen Lendman
11-25-9

The Pew Center on the States (PCS) "works to advance state policies that serve the public interest," through "credible research (to) advance nonpartisan, pragmatic solutions for pressing problems affecting Americans." Its new report titled, "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril," says the following:

"Many economists are optimistic that America's Great Recession may be turning the corner. States, however, are not celebrating. Plagued by record-setting revenue losses, the housing bust and credit crisis, high unemployment and a host of other challenges, (they've) struggled through nearly two years of budgetary pain - and are bracing for more."

California is worst off, but hardly alone. Others include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Pew's Managing Director on the States, Susan Urahn, says:

"America's economic recovery and prosperity hinge in key ways on how quickly and to what degree states emerge from the Great Recession." For many, their "fiscal health hangs in the balance."

Source:

http://www.rense.com/general88/stuf.htm

Reuters | Washington Post closing remaining U.S. bureaus

Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:47pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Washington Post is closing its last U.S. bureaus outside the nation's capital as the money-losing newspaper retrenches to focus on politics and local news.

"At a time of limited resources and increased competitive pressure, it's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," the newspaper's top editor, Marcus Brauchli, wrote in a memo to employees that was obtained by Reuters.

The Post will close its bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, effective December 31.

The news comes after the Post told several employees at its website that they would be laid off, and follows several rounds of buyouts in recent years.

The Post, like nearly every other U.S. newspaper, has been battered by falling advertising revenue and circulation as readers get more news online for free.

FULL ARTICLE>>>>