The BBC has an interesting article about a “perfect storm”: economic collapse, high inflation,high unemployment, and an up and coming election.
No, not the US: Iran.
Some background:
A couple months ago, oil prices surged to $150 a barrel, causing food and other everyday commodity prices to climb. Here in the Philippines, the government intervened by subsidizing low […]

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It has been reported recently in telegraph UK that a large scale fraud has been discovered in UK where the Credit Card swiping devices supplied by China were found to have been tampered with in such a manner that the swiped card data was being sent to China and Pakistan for cloning.
The incident reveals a […]

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David Schussler
Even Barack’s friends and acquaintances do not know who he is. Just read the following article written by Barack’s acquaintance Richard A. Epstein Senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and professor of law at the university of Chicago. Epstein’s article on Forbes.com asserts:
“[Barack Obama’s] program has three
key components, which, taken together, can convert a […]

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Despite the sore shoulder German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has received by patting himself there so vigorously, he has expressed delight at financial markets’ reactions after Germany’s 500 billion Euro rescue package (in Europe it’s forbidden to call these packages bailouts) was endorsed by the Merkel cabinet, the biggest state intervention in the Germany economy […]

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Remember “change we can believe in”? How about “the straight talk express”? The first is the mantra of believers in Barack Obama, the second was John McCain’s war wagon during his 2000 primary fight for the Republican nomination. Though Dubya ultimately prevailed, McCain’s image as political brave heart got a righteous polishing. Even after he […]

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David Schussler
newsweaver
This is a quote attributed to Barry Goldwater Jr. because that is where I heard it last week. The statement was from Mr. Goldwater, as part of a TV interview, in reference to the economic breakdown of our nation now ensuing. I believe it to be right on the money.
Now I’ve had a lot […]

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Disillusion is perhaps the better word, come to think of it. This certainly isn’t the best way to start your week. Long believing, hoping that all of this is somehow only just a horror movie (it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie…), the reality bites from the financial crisis meltdown have now bitten Germany […]

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Perhaps it says a lot when we hear that Congress is putting “pork” in the huge bailout bill. So what else is new?
The press is not much help, since they go out of their way to interview congressmen who have taken money from the two quasi government programs that started the mess, i.e. Fannie Mae […]

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After meeting nearly around the clock for two days, a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders reached a tentative agreement with the Bush administration early Sunday morning on a compromise financial bailout bill that is less sweeping than the original proposal crafted by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, and includes more oversight, accountability and taxpayer protections. […]

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A year ago the leader of the British Conservative Party gave a passionate and adroit speech in which he outlined his guiding principles – those which, he said, would underpin Conservative policy and legislation if they come to power. These are some of the statements from that speech:
“Every generation of Conservatives has to make the […]

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London Mayor, Boris Johnson, the most senior Conservative in office in Britain was at least beguilingly honest in his paean to the City of London in his recent Daily Telegraph column.
Like many a Tory who over the years has enjoyed the hospitality, and maybe even the company, of the mega-rich bankers and industrialists of Britain […]

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As an observant Stern journalist put it, German know-it-all Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück can lash out at the American failings that have lead to the current financial market crisis all he wants to, what he and other vocal German critiques of late are really doing is covering up their own grave shortfalls. Germany is sliding […]

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David Schussler
If you live by credit it is easy to fail by credit. Credit is a risk that is an inherent part of our human evolution. Unfortunately everybody is suffering for the risks that some have taken. The proposed bailout will not work unless it is accompanied by oversight, adherence to rules, and the education […]

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While the fellow who use to play political prophet of deregulation scurries to avoid responsibility for the crises that is engulfing Wall Street like a wild fire. We can be thankful George W. Bush in his final days as President, is at least attempting to put country first in sending secretary Paulson down to the […]

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The Reserve Bank of India has opened up a new challenge to technologists in India by releasing its guidelines on Mobile Banking.
Though at present the transaction value would be limited to RS 2500/- per transaction and Rs 5000/- per day, the potential for organized salami attacks and Cyber Terrorism using the service is a distinct […]

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David Schussler
Invoking a “Rip Van Winkle” metaphor, this morning US Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted the failures of our financial systems and its oversight. Haltingly on Fox News Sunday, he could not answer moderator Chris Wallace’s simple questions regarding the safety of the average persons finances today and tomorrow.
The huge trillion dollar bailout proposed by the […]

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With a record that defines two decades plus in voting to deregulate and remove oversight control from the financial sector. John McCain is floundering in the wake of the greatest financial meltdown to occur since the Great depression of 1929.
The GOP ticket has been forced into a defensive posture and polls which had Arizona’s senior Senator […]

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It may seem a bit obvious to point it out but the current turmoil in the financial world is not a natural phenomenon like a hurricane, but entirely mad made. Let me be a bit more specific – the responsibility for the mess - be it at Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Freddie Mac or Fannie […]

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At the October, 2001 national convention of the Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials (AARO) the group’s past president Sam E. Blackburn decried conditions in the property appraisal industry saying “the present system is not working.” Why? Because “lenders have added a new twist to the old law of supply and demand: if appraisers don’t supply the numbers they need, […]

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Markets in the past month have been whipsawing back and forth, this volatility has caused a lot of investors to retreat to cash until the markets show some direction. While this may be a prudent play if you are a day trader, it is not if you are a long term investor. Here are 5 […]

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This is one of the most significant books I have ever read. Paul Stiles rips through the overtly numerous ways our massive corporate sellout has methodically destroyed our economy, our culture, and the underlying spirit of our once great nation. The author spills the beans on every legal scam in America, from the advertised rebate […]

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Swiss Bankers over the years have built a reputation for probity, confidentiality and a conservative if not staid style for handling their client’s money. Recent events at UBS however have shattered that carefully crafted image and have lent an aura of swashbuckling to the pinstriped gnomes of Zurich.
After an utterly disastrous foray into Hedge Fund […]

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In Part 6 of his series, Lawrence Meyers and Monty Bennett discuss Ashford’s REIT structure and how to read their balance sheet.
By: Lawrence Meyers
L:  Let’s talk about hotel REITs and how they work, and specifically, how Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) works.
M:  REITS are not allowed to operate their own hotels.  They can own them, […]

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By Callum Roxburgh
The well worn saying that it is always darkest before the dawn also holds true for the stock market. Stock markets, by their very nature, are often driven more by sentiment than pure logic. When the majority of investors have thrown up their hands in frustration, it is usually an indication that a […]

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By Lawrence Meyers
I’m a value investor.  I love it when the market unfairly marks a stock down to ridiculous prices.  Such a thing is happening right now to hotel REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT).  The market has been selling anything that has to do with real estate, mortgages, financials, and travel.  Lucky for me, […]

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David Schussler
When speaking of fuel prices, environmental outlooks, food supply, freedom, trade, immigration, or war, market forces are in play. Market forces are a natural part of human evolution. As we have developed as a people, science, philosophy, religion, and business have enveloped our thinking and reasoning. This evolution of thought has created symbiotic relationships […]

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The British Institute of Directors says that “…the non-executive director’s role is to provide a creative contribution to the board by providing objective criticism.” Well “objective criticism” was distinctly absent from the non-executive directors who appeared at the Annual General Meeting of Royal Dutch Shell plc this week. To be fair Jorma Ollila, Shell’s Chairman, […]

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News in The Observer, May 11 2008, that Royal Dutch Shell is to pay £3m ($6 billion) to directors simply to stay on the board for three years will be met with strong criticism not only by the investor community but also by one of Shell’s forgotten set of stakeholders - their Pensioners in the […]

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The European Union’s carbon dioxide emissions during 2007 rose around 1.1% compared to the year before. Emissions by over 10,000 European companies who are mandated to offset pollution once they exceed industry limits, reached around 1.914 billion metric tons. Data released Wednesday suggests that 93% of the heavy industry companies had submitted their pollution numbers.
The […]

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European carbon traders are eagerly awaiting benchmark numbers on European greenhouse gas emissions during 2007. European countries ought to have submitted the data in a central system yesterday but many failed to meet the deadline.

That is why the Brussels authorities in charge of the central system have not yet released the information on the Community […]

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