This sums it up...

http://perotcharts.com/issues/

Bank of America says nearly half its mortgages are 'bad'

Bank of America Corp. is segregating almost half its 13.9 million mortgages into a “bad” bank comprised of its riskiest and worst-performing “legacy” loans, Bloomberg News reported, citing Terry Laughlin, who is running the new unit.

“We are creating a classic good bank, bad bank structure,” Laughlin told investors at a meeting in New York Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. He was promoted last month to manage the costs of resolving disputes stemming from the company’s 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. “We’re going to get after this, we’re going to do it the right way and we’re going to put it to bed in the next 36 months,” he said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/morning_call/2011/03/bank-of-america-says-nearly-half-its.html?ana=twt

Price INCREASE

The price of just about every major agricultural commodity has been absolutely soaring during the past year....
*The price of corn has doubled over the last six months.
*The price of wheat has more than doubled over the past year.
*The price of soybeans is up about 50% since last June.
*The price of cotton has more than doubled over the past year.
*The commodity price of orange juice has doubled since 2009.
*The price of sugar is the highest it has been in 30 years.

Financial dismantling of the American middle class in 8 charts

The American economy runs on high octane debt. Debt has been welcomed by many with open arms and things seemed to be going well until people realized they actually had to pay the debt back. Average Americans trying to keep up with the picket white fence image of Leave it to Beaver were largely relying on debt to keep up with this lifestyle that was unsustainable with current incomes.

http://www.mybudget360.com/financial-dismantling-of-the-american-middle-class-in-8-charts-peak-debt-credit-card-cash-banking-finance-wealth/

US Wants to Take Your Dollars -- and Replace Them With Coins

So in order to replace the paper currency with dollar coins -- a long-advocated move that could save the government an estimated $5.5. billion over 30 years -- the General Accountability Office called on Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to help yank the $1 note from circulation.

In the past 20 years, the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, has issued four recommendations for a switch to metal dollars in order to save all the money spent to replace worn-out dollar bills. Dollar bills last longer than they used to and now have a life span of up to 40 months. But the coins have an average life span of 30 years.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/07/us-wants-to-take-your-dollars-and-replace-them-with-coins/

"No Way Out" of Debt Trap, Gross Says: U.S. Living Standards Doomed to Fall

In the U.S., states across the country face a collective $125 billion shortfall for fiscal 2012, while Congress is facing a budget gap nearly 10 times that size.

PIMCO founder Bill Gross -- one of the world's largest mutual funds managers, who focuses mostly on bonds -- has previously said that if the United States were a corporation, no one in their right mind would lend us money. For the last decade, we’ve been “relying on the kindness of strangers” to help cover our debts,

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/%22no-way-out%22-of-debt-trap-gross-says-u.s.-living-standards-doomed-to-fall-536001.html?tickers=%5eDJI,%5eGSPC,%5eTNX,GLD,GDX,TLT,MUB

Maine gets break in federal health care overhaul

The federal government Tuesday granted Maine a waiver of a key provision in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, citing the likelihood that enforcement could destabilize the state's market for individual health insurance.

The U.S. Health and Human Services department said in a letter it would waive the requirement that insurers spend 80 cents to 85 cents of every premium dollar on medical care and quality improvement. Instead, the letter said, the state could maintain its 65 percent standard for three years, with the caveat that HHS intends to review the figures after two years.

The decision makes Maine the first state to receive a waiver of the requirement. Similar requests are pending from Kentucky, Nevada and New Hampshire.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41978227

Hoyer Says Federal Budget May Not Be Balanced for 20 Years

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that it may take as many as 20 years to balance the federal budget after years of deficit spending in Washington.

At Hoyer's weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com noted that President Obama's latest budget proposal does not balance at any time in the next 10 years

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/hoyer-says-federal-budget-may-not-be-bal#

Warning Of 'Food Price Riots In The UK

"Even in the developed world I think we have very, very low wage growth, so people aren't getting more in their pay packet to compensate them for food and energy, and I think we could see social unrest certainly in parts of the developed world and the UK as well."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/A-Senior-HSBC-Economist-Warns-Of-Food-Riots-In-The-UK-If-Prices-Continue-To-Soar/Article/201103215948496?lpos=Business_Employment_First_Article_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15948496_A_Senior_HSBC_Economist_Warns_Of_Food_Riots_In_The_UK_If_Prices_Continue_To_Soar

Traders ‘short’ dollar as currency loses attraction

Hedge funds and forex dealers are betting record amounts against the dollar, reflecting a growing belief that the US currency has lost its haven appeal and that eurozone interest rates will soon rise.

As the crisis in the Middle East has worsened, the latest exchange data show that traders are selling “short” the currency. The big US fiscal deficit and concerns about the effect of rising oil prices have been blamed by some for the dollar’s slide.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e050b72e-4823-11e0-b323 00144feab49a.html#axzz1FsQ5F8cv

World Food Prices Climb to Record as UN Sounds Alarm on Further Shortages

Global food prices rose to a record in February and grain costs may continue to rise in the next several months, with only rice keeping the world from a repeat of the crisis three years ago, the United Nations said.

An index of 55 food commodities rose 2.2 percent to 236 points from 230.7 in January, the eighth consecutive gain, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said today. Wheat rose as much as 58 percent on the Chicago Board of Trade in the past 12 months, corn gained 87 percent and rice added 6.5 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-03/world-food-prices-climb-to-record-as-un-sounds-alarm-on-further-shortages.html

Manufacturing growing at fastest pace in 7 years

U.S. manufacturers expanded at the fastest pace in nearly seven years last month, but a sudden rise in the price of raw materials could threaten their profits.

The Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 61.4 in February, up from 60.8 the previous month. That's the highest reading since it reached the same level in May 2004. The ISM's index bottomed out at 33.3 in December 2008, its lowest point in nearly 30 years.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Manufacturing-growing-at-apf-689542114.html?x=0

Oil prices jump on Middle East, Bernanke comments

Oil prices climbed Tuesday as Iran clamped down on anti-government protesters and unrest in the Middle East threatened to keep energy prices high for months to come.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery gained $2.66 to settle at $99.63 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude gained $3.62 to settle at $115.42 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The recent surge in oil has pushed up gasoline prices in the U.S. by nearly 20 cents per gallon in the past week. That's the sharpest increase since September 2008, when Hurricane Ike shut down Gulf Coast refineries, according to the Oil Price Information Service. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina sent prices soaring about 45 cents per gallon in one week.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-prices-jump-on-Middle-apf-1296176780.html?x=0

Oil drops, but gasoline prices keep rising

Oil prices fell below $97 per barrel Monday just days after spiking above $100. Last week's surge continued to ripple through global pipelines, however, as gasoline prices jumped 8 cents over the weekend.

Crude dropped on reports that Libya was still exporting oil. Shipments were thought to have halted last week as protestors clashed with the government and strongman Moammar Gadhafi lost control of many of the country's oil fields. But industry officials said Monday that a tanker bound for China was loading oil in the Libyan port of Tobruk. Saudi Arabia also was boosting exports.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery lost 91 cents to settle at $96.97 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude fell 34 cents to settle at $111.80 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Traders said there is a "fear premium" of $15 to $20 per barrel built into the price of oil to account for further disruptions in shipments as pro-reform movements sweep through North Africa and the Middle East. Oil prices should slide as the situation in Libya stabilizes, analysts said.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-drops-but-gasoline-prices-apf-489242950.html?x=0

History tells us that a surge in fuel costs makes a US recession likely

Ever since the early 1970s, every single time oil prices have spiked sharply (rising by 80pc or more), regular as clockwork the US has entered recession.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/liamhalligan/8349612/History-tells-us-that-a-surge-in-fuel-costs-makes-a-US-recession-likely.html#

Oil drops, but gasoline prices keep rising

Oil prices fell below $97 per barrel Monday just days after spiking above $100. Last week's surge continued to ripple through global pipelines, however, as gasoline prices jumped 8 cents over the weekend.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-drops-but-gasoline-prices-apf-489242950.html?x=0

What Are We Getting for an Extra $1 Trillion in Federal Spending?

As every constituency fights to protect its herd of sacred cows, there's certainly no shortage of political jockeying in the battle over the 2012 federal budget. What's missing, however, is this simple question: What exactly are we getting for the extra $1 trillion a year the federal government is now spending?

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/what-are-we-getting-for-an-extra-1-trillion-in-federal-spending/19859822/

Oil prices could be game-changer for world economy

Soaring oil prices are reaching levels that could threaten to brake improving but tentative global economic recovery, with an outside chance of a new recession or that most destructive of conditions, stagflation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-economy-oil-idUSTRE71N2SB20110224

The End of the US Dollar?

The turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East is threatening not only to overthrow aging dictatorships, autocracies and monarchies, but also to upset the geopolitical balance between the countries of that region and the Western powers that has existed since at least the 1950s. For the West, the issue has always been the security of oil. For the US there is a second issue, and that is the security of Israel. Now both are under threat.

http://news.goldseek.com/UnionSecurities/1298563200.php

State and local budget cuts are slowing US economy

Deep spending cuts by state and local governments pose a growing threat to an economy that is already grappling with high unemployment, depressed home prices and the surging cost of oil.

Lawmakers at state capitols and city halls are slashing jobs and programs, arguing that some pain now is better than a lot more later. But the cuts are coming at a price -- weaker growth at the national level.

The clearest sign to date was a report Friday on U.S. gross domestic product for the final three months of 2010. The government lowered its growth estimate, pointing to larger-than-expected cuts by state and local governments. The report suggested that worsening state budget problems could hold back the recovery by putting more people out of work and reducing consumer spending.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/State-and-local-budget-cuts-apf-4195423316.html?x=0