Public Pensions Face Underfunding Crisis

An analysis by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester and Joshua Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management finds that public pension plans for America's 50 biggest cities and counties are underfunded by $382 billion--or $14,000 for every household in those same cities. Some of the biggest plans may run out of money to pay promised benefits in as little as five to eight years.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/city-pensions-americas-50-biggest-municipal-pension-shortfalls/story?id=12366160

Doomsday for the US Dollar: Post Mortem for the World's "Reserve Currency"

Paul Volcker is worried about the future of the dollar and for good reason. The Fed has initiated a program (Quantitative Easing) that presages an end to Bretton Woods 2and replaces it with different system altogether. Naturally, that's made trading partners pretty nervous. Despite the unfairness of the present system--where export-dependent countries recycle capital to US markets to sustain demand---most nations would rather stick with the "devil they know", then venture into the unknown. But US allies weren't consulted on the matter. The Fed unilaterally decided that the only way to fight deflation and high unemployment in the US, was by weakening the dollar and making US exports more competitive. Hence--QE2.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22402

16 Reasons Why California Is The Next Greece

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-california-is-the-next-greece-2010-05#california-has-a-20-billion-budget-gap-despite-last-years-ravaging-cutbacks-1

16 Nightmarish Economic Trends To Watch Carefully In 2011

A Scary Thought Provoking List

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/16-nightmarish-economic-trends-to-watch-carefully-in-2011

Citigroup: Dollar May Drop 11 Percent in 2011 as Treasurys Fall

The dollar may drop 11 percent versus the euro next year as investors shun U.S. assets and drive bonds lower, according to Citigroup Inc.

“It’s a bearish U.S. asset dynamic led by the bond market,” Tom Fitzpatrick, chief technical analyst, said in a telephone interview. “This period has a set-up that is amazingly like what we saw in the ‘70s, and is similar to what we saw around 1993.”

The dollar will follow trading patterns from the 1970s, when the housing market experienced a decline similar to the recent drop, and the 1990s, which also saw a slump in the bond market, technical analysts led by New York-based Fitzpatrick wrote in a note to clients. U.S. two-year yields doubled from a low of 3.7 percent in September 1993 to a high of 7.7 percent in December of 1994, pushing bond prices lower.

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Citigroup-Dollar-Drop-2011/2010/12/15/id/380047?s=al&promo_code=B4DA-1

General Mills to raise prices

Starting Jan. 3, General Mills /quotes/comstock/13*!gis/quotes/nls/gis (GIS 36.38, +0.00, +0.01%) plans to raise prices by up to 3% on everything from its frozen vegetables to hot snacks, a move intended to offset commodity inflation and to strengthen gross margins that have taken a hit from price wars. In November, the Minneapolis-based company raised some cereal prices.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/general-mills-profit-rises-on-tax-benefit-2010-12-16

Inflation surges at record pace in December

Inflation accelerated in December at a record pace, prompting worries that interest rates might rise sooner than expected, though the surge was largely due to an unflattering comparison with a year earlier. The jump left markets keenly eying a speech due later from central bank governor Mervyn King for signs of the impact on the bank's medium-term inflation outlook, but most were still upbeat on the chances of inflation eventually coming back to target.

http://news.stv.tv/business/151359-inflation-at-9month-high-in-december/

Food prices rise sharply - and there's more to come

Grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year, outpaced only by costs of transportation and medical care, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But it makes sense. Since November 2009, meat, poultry, fish and eggs have surged 5.8percent in price. Dairy and related products have gone up 3.8 percent; fats and oils, 3 percent; and sugar and sweets, 1.2 percent.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/16/MN571GQRDL.DTL

Interesting Junk Silver article by Ol' Remus

It's doomsday plus a few weeks. Say you need to bribe the border guards at the state line but they seem to have all the wristwatches and free range eggs they can use. Hah! There's nothing like a few good ol' silver coins to become their number one tourist, let this man through. Or your gas station's not accepting Visa and the ATMs have gone dark from sea to shining sea and you've got a hard to get reservation at a fallout-free retreat. Hah! Dazzle 'em with the sheen of silver my friend, fill 'er up and happy motoring to you.

http://woodpilereport.com/html/index-194.htm

Derivatives: The Quadrillion Dollar Financial Casino Completely Dominated By The Big International Banks

The New York Times has just published an article entitled "A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives". Shockingly, the most important newspaper in the United States has exposed the steel-fisted control that the big Wall Street banks exert over the trading of derivatives. Just consider the following excerpt from the article....

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/derivatives-the-quadrillion-dollar-financial-casino-completely-dominated-by-the-big-international-banks

Water, Meet Blood - JP Morgan Admits To, Reduces Massive Silver Short Position, Proves Millions Of Conspiracy Theorists Correct

JPMorgan was an attempt to deflect public criticism of the bank’s dealings in silver, a person familiar with the matter said. The person added that the bank’s position in silver would from now on be “materially smaller” than in the past." Of course, the latter is pure and total bullshit: as Bart Chilton indicated over the weekend, it is JP Morgan who at one point or another (and possibly very recently) controlled as much as 40% of the silver market, via a massive short.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/jp-morgan-admits-defeat-cuts-silver-short-position-proves-millions-conspiracy-theorists-abso

Market alarm as US fails to control biggest debt in history

US Treasuries last week suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The borrowing costs of the government of the world’s largest economy have now risen by a quarter over the past four weeks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/liamhalligan/8196283/Market-alarm-as-US-fails-to-control-biggest-debt-in-history.html

Gold, silver and copper hit record highs on fears of weakening dollar

Gold reached an intra-day high of $1,432.50 an ounce, an all-time record, before profit takers moved in. Silver futures hit $30.75 - the highest level since March 1980 - before easing in afternoon trade.

In an interview on Sunday night on US television, Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, hinted that the central bank may launch further asset purchases to prop up the ailing US economy, although he also said that "it doesn't seem likely" that the economy would fall back into recession.

Copper prices also rose to a record in London on Tuesday, with futures for three-month delivery rising to $9,044 a tonne in intraday trade, beating the previous high of $8,966 set on November 11. Fears are mounting of a future copper squeeze as demand is soon expected to exceed supply.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/8187488/Gold-silver-and-copper-hit-record-highs-on-fears-of-weakening-dollar.html