'Our savings have vanished – we've lost everything'

Police in Bangladesh used tear gas and water canons to disperse angry protests by crowds of small investors after a dramatic free-fall plunge on the country's stock market caused the authorities to suspend trading.

Hundreds of outraged investors took to the streets outside the stock exchange in the Motijheel neighbourhood of the nation's capital after the worst plunge in the country's history saw the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fall by 660 points, or 9.25 per cent, in less than an hour.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/our-savings-have-vanished-ndash-weve-lost-everything-2181132.html#

Virginia Creates Subcommittee To Study Monetary Alternatives In Case Of Terminal Fed "Breakdown", Considers Gold As Option

In what may one day be heralded as the formal proposal that proverbially started it all, the Commonwealth of Virginia introduced House Resolution No. 557 to establish a joint subcommittee to "to study whether the Commonwealth should adopt a currency to serve as an alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System."

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/virginia-creates-subcommittee-study-monetary-alternatives-case-terminal-fed-breakdown-consid

25 Hard Questions That You Will Not See Asked On CNN, MSNBC Or Fox News

Have you ever noticed how CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, NBC and CBS all seem to come up with the exact same version of "the truth"? But over the past several years we have seen a great awakening take place. Millions of Americans are sick and tired of being spoon-fed establishment propaganda like a bunch of small children and they are searching on the Internet for alternative media outlets that are asking the hard questions and that are willing to at least explore answers that are not part of "the officially sanctioned" version of the truth.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/25-hard-questions-that-you-will-not-see-asked-on-cnn-msnbc-or-fox-news

Potential For Social Unrest With Rising Commodity Prices –Jim Rogers

Rising commodity prices could trigger social unrest in some countries in the future, says noted commodities investor Jim Rogers.

Supplies for many natural resources low and demand for them high, pushing up prices. Most commodities values from corn to copper saw significant rises in 2010 and prices continue to hold solidly.

http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNews20110112DeC_JIM.html

JPMorgan’s Dimon: More Cities Will Go Bankrupt

Cities including Detroit and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, have raised the prospect of bankruptcy. Still, the number of filings has declined. Five municipal entities sought protection in 2010 compared with 10 in 2009, according to data compiled by James Spiotto, head of the bankruptcy practice at Chapman & Cutler, a Chicago law firm. The biggest last year was a South Carolina toll road with more than $300 million in debt, he said.

U.S. states will contend with about $140 billion in deficits in the next fiscal year, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research group, said in a report issued Dec. 16. Edmund “Ted” Kelly, CEO of Liberty Mutual Holding Co., said yesterday that his firm had reduced holdings of municipal debt in Connecticut, California and Illinois.

http://www.moneynews.com/Headline/JPMorgan-sDimonSaysHeExpectsMoreMunicipalBankruptcies/2011/01/12/id/382555?s=al&promo_code=B72C-1

JPMorgan: Surging Food Prices Fueling Global Inflation

Rising food prices are stoking global inflation with many agricultural commodity markets driven higher by bad weather in key producing countries, a senior trader at JPMorgan said.

"If you break down the inflation numbers then the impact of food has been extremely significant," Will Shropshire, head of investor trading, product development and agriculturals for JPMorgan said in an interview.

"Increased prices for key agricultural food components (are) undoubtedly going to have an impact on inflation," he added.

High food prices have moved to the top of policymakers' agendas because of worries about the impact on inflation, protectionism and unrest.

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/JPMorganSurgingFoodPricesFuelingInflation/2011/01/10/id/382394?s=al&promo_code=B701-1

Downsized! More and More Products Lose Weight

From toothpaste to tuna fish, hot dogs to hand soap, companies have been shaving ounces and inches from packaged goods for years, usually blaming it on rising costs for ingredients and energy. They've got a point: Higher commodity and fuel costs are expected to cause a spike in food prices by as much as 3 percent in 2011. But if manufacturers are skimping when costs go up, why aren't they more generous when costs hold steady or fall?

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111735/more-and-more-products-lose-weight

Could the U.S. central bank go broke?

With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.4 percent and only tentative signs that businesses are beefing up hiring, Fed officials, including Chairman Bernanke, see a duty to prevent a further deterioration of economic conditions -- and have signaled a readiness to use all the tools at their disposal.

Last November, as the economic recovery appeared to falter, the Fed said it would buy a new round of $600 billion in Treasury securities through June of this year. That's on top of the $1.7 trillion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities it had purchased in response to the financial crisis.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7096FE20110111?pageNumber=2

Economy facing headwinds, but Bernanke hopeful

Jobless claims hit a 10-week high last week while producer prices shot up in December, pointing to headwinds for an economy that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said was showing fresh vigor.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70A41H20110113

Brazil Threatens Trade War Against US, China

The world is on the road to an all-out trade war unless the United States and China stop manipulating their currencies, says Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

China and the United States have been tweaking their exchange rates to gain favorable trade advantages as well as to fuel economic growth, disrupting other nations' exchange rates in the process.

The Brazilian real has strengthened considerably recently, which hurts the country's all-important export sector.

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/FTBrazilThreatensTradeWarAgainstUS-China/2011/01/10/id/382355?s=al&promo_code=B6EE-1

The Long Swim – How the Fed Could Become Insolvent

You’ve seen the proof in real time. Once-dominant industrial companies, e.g., General Motors, can run out of money. The biggest banks, e.g., Bank of America, can run out of money. Even sovereign governments, e.g., Greece, can run out of money. Yes, all those organizations are still limping along, but only after being rescued by other giant institutions, such as the U.S. government, the less unhealthy European governments, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/coxon3.1.1.html

Economists foretell of U.S. decline, China's ascension

To hear a number of prominent economists tell it, it doesn't look good for the U.S. economy, not this year, not in 10 years.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7082BL20110109?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true

When Will Gold and Silver Go Down?

http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-gold-silver-when-will-gold-and-silver-go-down-.aspx?article=3285831600G10020&redirect=false&contributor=James+West

Soon The Economic Deluge

The international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944 is on the verge of breaking down. It could still be saved by heroic measures, especially if these were taken in the United States. They would include an immediate slash in projected government expenditures, an immediate balancing of the budget, and a halt in any further increase in the stock of money.

http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/06/dollar-economy-monetary-policy-opinions-contributors-daniel-oliver.html?boxes=Homepagelighttop

7 Reasons Food Shortages Will Become a Global Crisis

Food inflation is here and it's here to stay. We can see it getting worse every time we buy groceries. Basic food commodities like wheat, corn, soybeans, and rice have been skyrocketing since July, 2010 to record highs. These sustained price increases are only expected to continue as food production shortfalls really begin to take their toll this year and beyond.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/7-reasons-food-shortages-will-become.html

Confirmed: We’re Literally On the Brink of Catastrophic Collapse

It’s a Catch 22 and there’s no way out.

Defaulting on or inflating away our debt are the only viable solutions. Both of these will lead to the same end - a complete and total collapse of the way of life Americans have become used to.

Just as Henry Paulson, President Bush, et. al. warned of economic collapse and depression in 2008, Mr. Geithner warns of the very same today. All of the trillions spent, all of the laws passed, and all of the manipulations of global asset markets, have done absolutely nothing to resolve the fundamental systemic problems we faced prior to the onset of the crisis.

It is, quite literally, going to be the end of the world as we know it - and it cannot be stopped.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/confirmed-were-literally-on-the-brink-of-catastrophic-collapse_01062011