US Cost of Living Hits Record, Passing Pre-Crisis High

A special index created by the Labor Department to measure the actual cost of living for Americans hit a record high in February, according to data released Thursday, surpassing the old high in July 2008. The Chained Consumer Price Index, released along with the more widely-watched CPI, increased 0.5 percent to 127.4, from 126.8 in January. In July 2008, just as the housing crisis was tightening its grip, the Chained Consumer Price Index hit its previous record of 126.9.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42130406

Currency Meltdown Coming

The situation in Japan is getting worse, not better. There are shortages in food, fuel and warm dry shelter. To make matters exponentially worse, nuclear power plants there continue to burn out of control and emit high levels of radiation. Japan is a stark reminder of how fast a modern technologically advanced society can be brought to its knees by an unforeseen calamity.

http://usawatchdog.com/currency-meltdown/

Enron Accounting: D.C. Politicians "Just Wasting Time" on Budget, BU's Kotlikoff Says

The Senate on Thursday is expected to pass another continuing resolution that will fund the government until April 8 and avert a shutdown. But that won't solve the need for a budget to fund the remainder of the fiscal year, much less address America's true fiscal woes, says Boston University economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff.
The ongoing budget debate in Washington is "really a food fight between Democrats and Republicans in order to shield what's going on, which is we are stealing from our kids," Kotlikoff says. "What these guys in Washington are doing is just wasting time."

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/enron-accounting-d.c.-politicians-%22just-wasting-time%22-on-budget-bu%27s-kotlikoff-says-536041.html;_ylt=A2KJjammK4JNUD4AqJOTmYlQ?tickers=^DJI,^GSPC,TBT,TLT,XLV,GLD,TIP&sec=topStories&pos=10&asset=&ccode=

U.S. Debt and Deficits Ensure Violent Dollar Sell-Off Ahead

Monetization can be done in two ways. First, there is outright monetization as is now being conducted by the Fed through its POMO program; that is, its daily purchase of $4–$8 billion of Treasury debt. Indeed, the Fed’s QE2 bond purchases have been so massive that it is literally buying Treasury paper in the secondary market almost as fast as new bonds are being issued. During January, for example, fully 40% of the Fed’s $100 billion bond buy was from CUSIP numbers less than 90 days old.

Needless to say, putting brand new treasury bonds in the Fed’s vault before they have paid even a single coupon is functionally equivalent to printing greenbacks. After all, under this type of high-speed round trip, virtually all the coupons from newly issued bonds will end up as incremental profit at the Fed and be remitted back to the Treasury at year end.

Stated differently, in the present era of massive quantitative easing, newly issued Treasury securities amount to non-interest bearing currency without the circulation privilege.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article26902.html

It's Not Your Imagination: The Number Of Disasters Just Keeps Rising

The seventh largest quake ever occurred this week. The eighth largest quake occurred last year. The third largest quake occurred in 2004. Add to this hurricanes and floods, and it seems like natural disasters are on the rise

http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-natural-disasters-2011-3

US backing for world currency stuns markets

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/5050407/US-backing-for-world-currency-stuns-markets.html#

The Silver Door Is Closing

A time will come when the value of silver is so strong and the value of the dollar so weak, that only a fool would ever trade silver for the dollar.

http://dont-tread-on.me/the-silver-window-is-closing/

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