The great interest rate rip off part 1

[interestrateripoff]

READ THIS NOW: CNBC's Diana Olick Finally GETS IT

Ah, now we're getting some press on the true issues:

There has been plenty of pontificating over the ramifications of foreclosure freezes on troubled borrowers, foreclosure buyers and the larger housing market, not to mention lawsuits, investor losses and bank write downs. There has been precious little talk of what the real legal issues are behind the robosigning scandal.

No there hasn't. I've been pounding the table on the bottom line on this for three and a half years, and on MERS specifically for more than a year.

The record is what it is, and every single Ticker I've ever published is still here, and is searchable.

Josh Rosner, of Graham-Fisher, put the following out in a note today,

claiming violations of pooling and servicing agreements on mortgages could dwarf the Lehman weekend:

Nearly all Pooling and Servicing Agreements require that “On the Closing Date, the Purchaser

will assign to

the Trustee pursuant to the Pooling and Servicing Agreement all of its right, title and interest in and to the Mortgage Loans and its rights under this Agreement (to the extent set forth in Section 15),

and the Trustee shall succeed to such right, title and interest in and to the Mortgage Loans

and the Purchaser's rights under this Agreement (to the extent set forth in Section 15)”. Also, an Assignment of Mortgage must accompany each note and this almost never happens.

We believe nearly every single loan transferred was transferred to the Trust in “blank” name. That is to say the actual loans were apparently not, as of either the cut-off or closing dates, assigned to the Trust as required by the PSA.

Rather than continue to fight for the “put-back” of individual loans the investors may be able to sue for and argue that the “true sale” was never achieved.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.

Go ahead people, keep buying stocks. Especially bank stocks.

This, and the intentional coverup that inevitably fails, is the stuff of which CRASHES are made when the truth is FINALLY forced into the open.

 

The ponzi [problem] appears to be unraveling.

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Fed Minutes: September Meeting

CNBS is claiming a potential six trillion dollars of QE2? Where do they get that out of this document?

The information reviewed at the September 21 meeting indicated that the pace of the economic expansion slowed in recent months and that inflation remained low.

So we still have "expansion"? Well then, why do we need more accommodation?

Consumer spending continued to increase at a moderate rate in July and appeared to move up again in August. The rise in business outlays for equipment and software looked to have moderated recently following outsized gains in the first half of the year. Housing activity weakened further, and nonresidential construction remained depressed.

If the problem is in housing and non-residential construction you can't fix it with QE-anything.

For households, record-low mortgage rates supported a relatively high level of refinancing activity, but many borrowers reportedly remained unable to refinance because of insufficient home equity or poor credit histories.

So rates (and therefore spreads) aren't the issue here either, which means that once again "QE2" won't do anything.

Participants discussed the medium-term outlook for monetary policy and issues related to monetary policy implementation. Many participants noted that if economic growth remained too slow to make satisfactory progress toward reducing the unemployment rate or if inflation continued to come in below levels consistent with the FOMC’s dual mandate, it would be appropriate to provide additional monetary policy accommodation.

However, others thought that additional accommodation would be warranted only if the outlook worsened and the odds of deflation increased materially.

Wait a second - CNBS said that the entire committee agreed that further accommodation was warranted. That's not what's in the minutes!

As a general matter, participants felt that any needed policy accommodation would be most effective if enacted within a framework that was clearly communicated to the public. The minutes of FOMC meetings were seen as an important channel for communicating participants’ views about monetary policy.

Is that a statement that we need to get the November meeting minutes before actual policy steps would be undertaken? That certainly isn't what the market is anticipating, nor what the CNBS and other "media idiots" are claiming was said, but it sure IS what's there!

Moreover, the data had been mixed, with readings early in the period generally weaker than anticipated

but the more-recent data coming in on the strong side of expectations.

Now wait a second! We are hearing an incessant string of people on CNBS saying the opposite! This says that the FOMC committee has seen MORE RECENT strong data, implying no need for further accommodation at all.

So on balance, yeah, the FOMC said they'd QE again (or do other "things") if the "recovery" weakened further. But absent from the discussion in the mainstream media is the fact that the members expressed a belief that recent economic data had come in stronger than expectations, which would tend to dampen any desire to take this action.

Do we now live in a world where the mainstream media is trying to, in concert with certain "interested parties", literally bludgeon the FOMC into doing something by LYING about what they actually said in their meeting?

One has to wonder - read the minutes for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/oct/12/hbos-loses-millions-las-vegas-casino

 

Value of state-owned Lloyds' overseas portfolio questioned after Penn National Gaming paid $230m for $860m debt

 

Lloyds Banking Group, the partially state-owned lender, has lost more than $500m (£317m) on loans to M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas – the second massive financial hit the bank has taken in America in as many months.

 

News of the deal has started attracting attention to the value of Lloyds's overseas portfolio, much of which it acquired during the unpopular takeover of HBOS is 2008. Market watchers had previously attributed most of the woe associated with that acquisition to lending within HBOS's UK corporate division, headed by Peter Cummings.

 

Penn National Gaming, a US gambling group, paid $230.5m for about $860m owed to HBOS International, which included $700m the bank loaned to M Resort plus another $160m loan that HBOS had acquired from MGM Resorts at an undisclosed price.

 

The debt sale comes two months after it emerged that HBOS International was set to lose "tens of millions of pounds" from dealings with another US client, Sea Island, the exclusive Georgia holiday retreat that filed for bankruptcy in August. In that case, court documents said Sea Island was unable to pay back close to $600m in debts owed to a consortium of banks that included HBOS, which were taken out to fund an ambitious expansion plan. The company said it planned to sell its coastal resorts to investment funds Oaktree Capital Management and Avenue Capital Group in a $197.5m.

 

The deal to buy the HBOS debt has given Penn a Las Vegas casino for a fraction of what it cost to build the 390 room resort. Opened in March 2009, the M Resort is located well away from the main Las Vegas Strip, which is considered the heart of the casino city. It lies about 10 miles south of the Mandalay Bay casino and is surrounded by planned housing communities.

 

The resort features more than 92,000 sq ft (8,500 sq metres) of gaming space including 1,900 slot machines, 64 table games, 14 poker tables and a race and sports book. It also has nine restaurants and five bars, more than 60,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, a 4,700 space parking facility, a spa and fitness centre and a 100,000 sq ft events piazza.

 

Las Vegas has been one of the cities hardest hit by the financial crisis. However, Penn chief executive Peter Carlino said: "M Resort is a unique, differentiated property that we expect will continue to improve its operating results even without the benefit of a rebound in the local Las Vegas economy."

 

Penn presently operates 23 sites in 16 jurisdictions, including Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico and West Virginia.

 

The mounting US losses at HBOS are thought to have been incurred in the division previously run by Colin Matthew, a former HBOS board member whose responsibilities included the bank's international business. He retired from the newly formed group in January 2009 with a pension entitlement of £416,000 a year, having been paid £652,000 in 2008 and £905,000 in 2007.

 

Luckily as a UK taxpayer I really don't mind dipping into my pocket to pick up the tab for this, after all that's all we are here for.

 

At least everyone will have got their bonus and it's only money after all....

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/oct/12/punch-taverns-under-pressure-debt

 

Ian Dyson, the new chief executive of pub landlord Punch Taverns, is facing pressure to go to war with bondholders to cut the group's £3bn debts.

 

Today, the company revealed it had plunged £160m into the red for the year to 21 August, and several analysts called on Dyson – currently undertaking a strategic review of the business – to consider the radical option of walking away from troublesome trading operations which struggle to service their debts.

 

The demands for drastic action came after Punch revealed it had used cash reserves, held at group level, to top up shrinking profits at one of its three trading operations, known as Punch B. More than £20m was ploughed into rent concessions and beer supply discounts for struggling publicans in order to avert a bond crisis. Without this support, earnings at Punch B had sunk below a minimum covenant level required under a complex securitised bond agreement.

 

Analysts at Liberum Capital said: "The main decision seems to rest on the extent to which the company should continue to support the tenanted securitisations – especially Punch B – or whether this is ultimately a case of throwing good money after bad." Their counterparts at Cazenove urged Dyson to "consider more drastic measures to protect value in Punch's businesses, possibly at the cost of allowing certain securitised vehicles to fail".

 

Hundreds of pub sales and a £375m rights issue have helped reduce Punch's net debt by 30% in two years, but borrowings still stand at £3.1bn – more than five times the group's share value.

 

Asked whether he had ruled out radical options in his strategic review, Dyson said: "This is just the beginning of my sixth week so we're clearly at the very early stages. Nothing has been ruled in, nothing has been ruled out." The appointment of the former M&S finance director to run the pub group with a market value of less than £600m surprised many when it was announced in May.

 

Punch has already said it expects the cost of keeping Punch A and Punch B from breaching lending covenants to rise to £45m for the current financial year, compared with £30m over the 12 months to 21 August.

 

Finance director Phil Dutton insisted the group's debt was now at a manageable level, but he appeared to hint that tough talks with bondholders remained an option: "When we raised equity a year ago one of the reasons was to make sure the capital structure could be defended and protected through the economic cycle and that's what we're doing. We are in a lot stronger position in that sense – but there are still options which we will have to work through and think through."

 

Dutton was speaking after the group revealed comparable revenue at its tenanted pubs had fallen 6.8% despite the disposal of almost 900 sites – 13% of the pubs in the leased division. About 11% of Punch's remaining estate is boarded up or trading on a temporary basis.

 

Perhaps if they had run a pub business rather than a property empire which sold beer on the side they might have avoided all this debt.

 

Still I'm sure they can afford all this debt, it's not like debts are stupid multiples of losses is it?

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/business/economy/13econ.html?ref=business

 

This is not what a recovery is supposed to look like.

 

In Atlanta, the Bank of America tower, the tallest in the Southeast, is nearly a fifth vacant, and bank officials just wrestled a rent cut from the developer. In Cherry Hill, N.J., 10 percent of the houses on the market are so-called short sales, in which sellers ask for less than they owe lenders. And in Arizona, in sun-blasted desert subdivisions, owners speak of hours cut, jobs lost and meals at soup kitchens.

 

Less than a month before November elections, the United States is mired in a grim New Normal that could last for years. That has policy makers, particularly the Federal Reserve, considering a range of ever more extreme measures, as noted in the minutes of its last meeting, released Tuesday. Call it recession or recovery, for tens of millions of Americans, there’s little difference.

 

Born of a record financial collapse, this recession has been more severe than any since the Great Depression and has left an enormous oversupply of houses and office buildings and crippling debt. The decision last week by leading mortgage lenders to freeze foreclosures, and calls for a national moratorium, could cast a long shadow of uncertainty over banks and the housing market. Put simply, the national economy has fallen so far that it could take years to climb back.

 

The math yields somber conclusions, with implications not just for this autumn’s elections but also — barring a policy surprise or economic upturn — for 2012 as well:

¶At the current rate of job creation, the nation would need nine more years to recapture the jobs lost during the recession. And that doesn’t even account for five million or six million jobs needed in that time to keep pace with an expanding population. Even top Obama officials concede the unemployment rate could climb higher still.

 

¶Median house prices have dropped 20 percent since 2005. Given an inflation rate of about 2 percent — a common forecast — it would take 13 years for housing prices to climb back to their peak, according to Allen L. Sinai, chief global economist at the consulting firm Decision Economics.

 

¶Commercial vacancies are soaring, and it could take a decade to absorb the excess in many of the largest cities. The vacancy rate, as of the end of June, stands at 21.4 percent in Phoenix, 19.7 percent in Las Vegas, 18.3 in Dallas/Fort Worth and 17.3 percent in Atlanta, in each case higher than last year, according to the data firm CoStar Group.

 

Demand is inert. Consumer confidence has tumbled as many are afraid or unable to spend. Families are still paying off — or walking away from — debt. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, estimates it will be the end of 2011 before the amount of income that households pay in interest recedes to levels seen before the run-up. Credit card delinquencies are rising.

 

“No wonder Americans are pessimistic and unhappy,” said Mr. Sinai. “The only way we are going to get in gear is to face up to the reality that we are entering a period of austerity.”

 

This dreary accounting should not suggest a nation without strengths. Unemployment rates have come down from their peaks in swaths of the United States, from Vermont to Minnesota to Wisconsin. Port traffic has increased, and employers have created an average of 68,111 jobs a month this year.

 

I just take solace in the fact it's all contained.

 

America has major structural issues which is has managed to avoid confronting for decades, they still appear to be in denial.

 

This decade globally is going to be one very hard slog especially as no one wants to tackle the real issue and deleverage.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/business/13retire.html?_r=1&ref=business

 

The cities, counties and authorities of New York have promised more than $200 billion worth of health benefits to their retirees while setting aside almost nothing, putting the public work force on a collision course with the taxpayers who are expected to foot the bill.

 

The total cost appears in a report to be issued on Wednesday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a research organization that studies fiscal policy.

 

It does not suggest that New York must somehow come up with $200 billion right away.

But the report casts serious doubt over whether medical benefits for New York’s retirees will be sustainable, given the sputtering economy and today’s climate of hostility toward new taxes and taxpayer bailouts.

 

The daunting size of the health care obligation raises the possibility that localities will be forced at some point to choose between paying their retirees’ medical costs and paying the investors who hold their bonds. Government officials aim to satisfy both groups, and have even made painful cuts in local services when necessary to keep up with both sets of payments.

 

Only a few places have tried to rein in their costs, by billing retirees for a portion of the premiums, for example. Retirees have responded with lawsuits, but ratings agencies and municipal bond buyers have shrugged off these warning signs.

 

“So far, the market doesn’t care,” said Edmund J. McMahon, the director of the Empire Center. “The market seems to assume, on the basis of nothing, that at some point all of these places are simply going to stop paying retiree health benefits.”

 

The health benefits are entirely separate from the pensions that New York’s public workers have earned. Governments have reported their pension obligations for years, but their retiree medical obligations have been building up unseen, because governments were not required to account for them. The information is starting to come to light because of a new accounting requirement.

One city, Schenectady, found the cost too overwhelming to calculate, warning that it “will be astronomical, with the potential of bankrupting municipalities.”

 

The city even said in a document accompanying a recent debt offering that it did not know whether it was really required to comply with the new accounting rule.

The $200 billion that New York State and its localities owe retirees in the aggregate is less than the amount they owe their bondholders, about $264 billion. But health costs are rising, and in some places the obligations have already eclipsed the value of the government’s outstanding bonds. Most credit analysts seem to expect that if a municipality has to default on something, it will default on its retiree health promises, not on its bonds. Pensions, meanwhile, are considered protected by the New York State constitution.

 

Excellent we promise the workers something and then make no plans to pay for it. Genius.

 

With people like this in charge it's no wonder the global economy is so healthy, cigars and bonus all round I think.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8060539/Government-spending-cuts-will-see-a-million-people-lose-their-jobs-says-PwC.html

 

Almost half a million people in the private sector will lose their jobs as a result of public spending cuts, new research suggests. The number is the same as the Government expects to cull from the public sector by 2015.

 

For parts of the UK, it will mean one in 20 people lose their job over the next four years as a result of the £83bn public spending cuts to be announced by the Chancellor next week.

 

Private sector output could be slashed by £46bn, or 2pc of the total, consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said. This would not be enough to push the economy back into recession, it said.

 

However, it is forecasting, that the private sector will only generate around 1m new jobs over the next four years in areas such as outsourced business services and social care.

 

This is far fewer than the 1.6m new jobs predicted by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility in June.

 

Of the industry sectors most exposed to the spending cuts, PwC said business services will shed 180,000 jobs and construction 100,000.

 

Job losses across the public and private sector are likely to hit 5pc of the total workforce in Northern Ireland, and 4pc in Wales, Scotland and the North East, although overall more jobs will be lost in London and the South East because their economies are larger.

 

UK-based manufacturers of leather goods and footwear, electronic components, weapons and ammunition and office machinery and computers will all be hit hard by the cuts, PwC predicted. Nick Jones, PwC director, said: “Businesses have been scenario planning and making contingencies but now it is going to become very real.”

 

Looks like govt spending has created a huge malinvestment in capital then? We borrowed the money for these jobs now we have pay back time.

 

Still at least we saved the bankers.

[interestrateripoff]

Breaking news

 

• 
  
• Intermediate debt prices turn positive - Reuters
  
• JPMorgan bulks up wealth unit with 300 hires - Reuters
  
• pick Brazil's Gol, Tam as currency soars - Reuters
  
• Bonds fall as 10-year sale gets lukewarm demand - Reuters
  
• UPDATE 1-Cell Therapeutics talks to possible investors - Reuters
  
• US STOCKS-Wall St jumps on earnings, China data - Reuters
  
• Mart to speed up U.S. store building - Reuters
  
• EU slows more Chinese imports - Reuters
  

 

 

 

• Jobs market gloom as benefit claimants rise again
   
  Number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Britain last month rose at its fastest rate since January
  229 comments
  
  • Unemployment: what the economists say
    
  • Benefit claimants constituency by constituency
    

  [*] Big banks give up on taxpayer backing for lending fund

   

  Last updated eight minutes ago

  Six biggest banks present 17-point plan to improve lending – including £1.5bn growth fund – at meeting with chancellor and business secretary

   

  • Lloyds Banking Group cuts 4,500 jobs
    
  • 100,000 British firms face financial distress
    
  • HBOS loses millions on Vegas casino
    
  • US bankers set for record pay packages
    

  [*] Standard Chartered rights issue stuns City

   

  Bank is raising £3.3bn to shore up its finances ahead of the introduction of new global capital rules

  2 comments

  [*] BAA to appeal over airport sell-off ruling

   

  BAA says it will go to supreme court after judges reinstate order forcing it to sell two more of its airports

  [*] Mutualisation on cards for Post Office

   

  Vince Cable's plans, which could include selling to a foreign owner, fuel fears of mass redundancies

 

 

• Burberry's momentum continues as it reports strong sales and revenues
   
  Aviator jackets, matching fur-lined boots and leather bags have catapulted sales and revenues higher at Burberry, which recently opened its first store in Brazil
  
• Falling exports threaten UK recovery
   
  Exports drop 2.1% as slowdown in global economy cuts sales abroad but trade balance improves as imports fall even more
  
• Rockhopper shares fall back
   
  Setback a month after shares soared on upbeat news from Falklands drilling programme
  Post your comment
  
  • Brussels plans strict controls for offshore drilling
    

  [*] More business news

  [*] Ocado to create 2,000 jobs

  [*] Connaught jobs still at risk

[interestrateripoff]

Gap stops thinking outside the box

 

If the purpose of a corporate rebranding is to create buzz, then Gap certainly succeeded. Unfortunately for the clothing group, that buzz came in the form of such a fierce backlash from Facebook and Twitter users that it pulled the new logo after just six days.

 

• Spending cuts will cost a million jobs, warns PwC
  
• World oil consumption forecast raised by watchdog
  
• Court defeat for BAA over airport sell-off
  
• Inflation rate switch to hit pensions next year
  
• Lloyds to axe 4,500 jobs
  
• Gold to hit record $1,650 an ounce within a year, say Goldman Sachs analysts
  
• The Business On... Lord Levene, Chairman, Lloyds of London
  

 

David Prosser: Ocado needs to put its foot down on new deliveries

 

Outlook Ocado had better get a move on getting its new distributioncentre, the site for which was secured yesterday, up andrunning. The attraction of the new Warwickshire depot is not just that it will expand the online grocer's coverage to about 85 per cent of UK households, from 65 per cent today, but also that it will free up resources at its existing Hatfield centre. Some of the capacity there is currently used to serve thegrocer's northern customers and once Warwickshire is operational, Ocado will be able to reallocate this to customers in the South.

 

• David Prosser: Time to reconsider 20 per cent VAT
  
• David Prosser: The oil lobby secures a speedy triumph
  
• David Prosser: Procurement savings are not a pain-freeway to cut spending
  
• Stephen King: China baulks at sharing the West's post-party hangover
  
• Hamish McRae: Will there be a currency war? Maybe not, but countries are being selfish
  

 

The great American mortgage crisis deepens

 

Foreclosure abuse has sparked anger at the banks, as fears over its impact on the fragile housing market grows. Stephen Foley investigates.

 

• Can Battersea power station spark to life?
  
• The Business On: Sally Tennant, Chief executive, Kleinwort Benson
  
• What happens when private equity gets it wrong?
  

[interestrateripoff]

Miners propel FTSE to 5-month closing high

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Strong miners helped drive Britain's top share index to a more than five-month closing high on Wednesday, boosted by firmer metals prices and hopes for fresh economic stimulus in the United States.

Continue Reading

 

 

 

Banks propose £1.5 billion business growth fund

 

LONDON (Reuters) - A taskforce of six major British banks has unveiled a 1.5 billion pounds business growth fund to kickstart funding to small businesses in the wake of a sharp downturn in business lending after the credit crisis.

6:25pm BST

 

Government moves to sell off Royal Mail

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The government began moves on Wednesday to sell off upto 90 percent of state-owned letters delivery business Royal Mail, with the remaining stake reserved for the company's staff.

UK 2:26pm BST

 

Bank's Sentance says interest rates need to rise

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Interest rates need to start rising gradually to counter the risk of above-target inflation becoming entrenched in the economy, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance said on Wednesday.

6:48pm BST

 

Lloyds to cut 4,500 jobs

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 4,500 jobs as it reorganises its technology operations as part of its integration of HBOS, which it took over in early 2009.

UK 1:22pm BST

 

Enel has green light for Europe's biggest 2010 IPO

 

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's market regulator has cleared Enel's plans to list its Enel Green Power (EGP) renewables unit, paving the way for Europe's biggest initial public offering so far this year.

8:17pm BST

 

StanChart to raise $5.3 billion in rights offer

 

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - Asia-focussed bank Standard Chartered launched a $5.3 billion (3.3 billion pounds) rights issue to bolster its finances for new capital rules and provide the firepower to take advantage of growth opportunities, it said. | Video

7:39pm BST

 

EU diplomats mull compromise in hedge fund deadlock

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European diplomats worked on Wednesday to break a deadlock in talks aimed at tightening controls on hedge funds in the EU, with officials saying they were considering delaying or granting opt-out clauses on the most controversial parts of the law.

6:26pm BST

 

BAA loses court battle on sale of airports

 

LONDON (Reuters) - BAA will have to break up its network of British airports after the Court of Appeal on Wednesday overruled a previous decision in BAA's favour.

UK, 2:52pm BST

 

London City Airport investor seeks exit -sources

 

AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) - Infrastructure fund manager Highstar Capital is looking to divest its 25 percent stake in London City Airport, two people familiar with the matter said, a sale that could fetch up to 200 million pounds.

[interestrateripoff]

13 October 2010 Last updated at 19:47

 

UK unemployment in fall to 2.45m

 

The UK jobless total fell to 2.45 million in the three months to August, but September's claimant count rose, official figures show.

 

• Spending cuts 'risk 1m UK jobs'
  
• Stephanomics: Working the numbers
  
• UK economy tracker
  

 

Lloyds planning 4,500 IT job cuts

 

Lloyds Banking Group announces plans to cut 4,500 jobs in its information technology operations by 2012.

 

• Lloyds says bank chief to retire
  
• Bank bail-out 'a good investment'
  

 

 

Cable unveils Mail privatisation

 

Business Secretary Vince Cable says private buyers can own up to 90% of Royal Mail, while the Post Office may be mutualised.

 

 

 

• Banks plan small business fund
   
  UK banks propose creating a £1.5bn fund to invest in small businesses, following government criticism of weak lending.
  
• Liverpool owners lose court case
   
  Tom Hicks and George Gillett fail in their High Court attempt to wrest back control of Liverpool, paving the way for the club to be sold. Sport
  
• US probe into home repossessions
   
  All 50 US states start a joint investigation into whether mortgage firms were wrong to repossess hundreds of thousands of US homes.
  
• Isa allowance to go up in April
  
• JP Morgan reports $4.4bn profit
  
• Standard Chartered in share issue
  
• 'Big rise' in number of new firms
  
• French strikes go into second day
  
• Thousands face PPI claim delays
  
• Nuclear plant's life is extended
  
• China's trade surplus at $16.9bn
  
• Wales' only Hard Rock Cafe shuts
  
• BAA loses airport sell-off ruling
  

 

 

• Standard Chartered
   
  Is the bank too good to be true?
  
• Credit where it's due
  

[interestrateripoff]

E.P.A. Approves Higher Ethanol in Gas

 

By MATTHEW L. WALD 2 minutes ago

 

 

The new rules would allow a 15 percent ethanol blend for vehicles manufactured since 2007.

 

 

 

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

 

A sign alerting customers that E85, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, is not regular gasoline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings Help Give Wall Street a Push

 

By CHRISTINE HAUSER 50 minutes ago

 

With earnings releases picking up, traders turned their attention away from the Fed’s expected move to stimulate the economy to whether companies can continue to grow.

 

• U.S. Import Prices Slip on Lower Petroleum Costs
  

 

JPMorgan Chase Profit Rises

 

By ERIC DASH 10:12 AM ET

 

JPMorgan Chase kicked off what is expected to be a mixed quarterly earnings season for big banks.

 

Chinese Exports Surged Again in September

 

By DAVID BARBOZA 10:10 AM ET

 

Massive amounts of foreign capital continue to flow into the country, complicating Beijing’s economic policies.

 

Germany Benefits From Recovery in Eastern Europe

 

By JUDY DEMPSEY 2:00 PM ET

 

German exporters, already buoyed by demand in China, are profiting from a modest upswing in Central and Eastern Europe as well, according to an influential industry group.

 

E.U. Concerned by Big Four's Dominance in Auditing

 

By STEPHEN CASTLE 30 minutes ago

 

Announcing an effort to tighten regulation after the financial crisis, Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for financial services, said that for the auditing sector, "the status quo is not an option."

 

50 States Start Foreclosure Inquiry

 

By REUTERS 34 minutes ago

 

The officials are looking into accusations that some banks used shoddy paperwork to evict borrowers.

 

Across the U.S., Long Recovery Looks Like Recession

 

By MICHAEL POWELL and MOTOKO RICH

 

The economy has fallen so far during the recent recession that it could take years to climb back.

 

• Graphic | Slide Show
  
• Economix: Trying to Chart the Long Road Back
  

 

N.Y. Faces $200 Billion in Retiree Health Costs

 

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

 

Almost nothing has been set aside, putting the public work force on a collision course with taxpayers.

 

 

 

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[interestrateripoff]

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Lloyds to axe a further 4,500 jobs in its IT arm

 

Lloyds Banking Group job cuts rise to "about 22,000" as it continues its restructuring programme following its takeover of HBOS last year.

Government cuts could cost 500,000 private sector jobs

 

 

 

Standard Chartered unveils £3.3bn rights issue

 

British bank announces deeply discounted cash call to fund growth while meeting Basel III rules on capital.

 

JPMorgan chief defends home foreclosures

 

Jamie Dimon robustly defends how the bank evicts homeowners, as the row over repossessions in US escalates in the run-up to key elections.

 

FTSE 100 jumps 1.5pc on Fed stimulus news

 

 

 

 

ENRC billionaire was on 'sex yacht' seized by Turkey

 

 

 

 

Part-time workers make up third of UK workforce

 

 

 

 

BAA airport sell-off challenge fails

 

 

 

 

Pizza Express teaching staff to flirt with customers

 

 

• Do banks really need all this extra capital?
  

 

• Financial crisis deja vu as US lifts deepwater drilling ban
  

 

 

• Autonomy gets a pasting from an analyst who really 'gets it'
  

 

Osborne says OBR shouldn't be open to opposition parties

 

 

 

IFS attacks Treasury's claim CPI link for benefits is 'fair'

 

 

 

 

Government cuts could cost 500,000 private sector jobs

 

 

 

 

UK consumer spending stays resilient

 

 

 

 

UK net trade 'fails to ride to the rescue'

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/business/14mortgage.html?_r=1&ref=business

 

At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as “Burger King kids” — walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was.

At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.

 

And at Litton Loan Servicing, an arm of Goldman Sachs, employees processed foreclosure documents so quickly that they barely had time to see what they were signing.

 

“I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan,” a Litton employee said in a deposition last year. “I’m not a loan officer.”

 

As the furor grows over lenders’ efforts to sidestep legal rules in their zeal to reclaim homes from delinquent borrowers, these and other banks insist that they have been overwhelmed by the housing collapse.

 

But interviews with bank employees, executives and federal regulators suggest that this mess was years in the making and came as little surprise to industry insiders and government officials. The issue gained new urgency on Wednesday, when all 50 state attorneys general announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices. That news came on the same day that JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that it had not used the nation’s largest electronic mortgage tracking system, MERS, since 2008.

 

That system has been faulted for losing documents and other sloppy practices.

 

The root of today’s problems goes back to the boom years, when home prices were soaring and banks pursued profit while paying less attention to the business of mortgage servicing, or collecting and processing monthly payments from homeowners.

 

Banks spent billions of dollars in the good times to build vast mortgage machines that made new loans, bundled them into securities and sold those investments worldwide. Lowly servicing became an afterthought. Even after the housing bubble began to burst, many of these operations languished with inadequate staffing and outmoded technology, despite warnings from regulators.

 

When borrowers began to default in droves, banks found themselves in a never-ending game of catch-up, unable to devote enough manpower to modify, or ease the terms of, loans to millions of customers on the verge of losing their homes. Now banks are ill-equipped to deal the foreclosure process.

 

“We waited and waited and waited for wide-scale loan modifications,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of the first government officials to call on the industry to take action. “They never owned up to all the problems leading to the mortgage crisis. They have always downplayed it.”

 

Still I'm sure it won't end up costing the banks.

 

So paperwork in the garbage and executive bonuses funded by the taxpayer, we have a fantastic system and still no one has been jailed or arrested for this mess. Carry on regardless.

[interestrateripoff]

Breaking news

 

• 
  
• US STOCKS-Banks drag Wall St lower over foreclosure uncertainty - Reuters
  
• Euro zone faces QE2 pain test: James Saft - Reuters
  
• US bank stocks roiled by foreclosure concerns - Reuters
  
• Verizon to join AT&T in selling Apple iPads - Reuters
  
• Verizon to join AT&T in selling Apple iPads - Reuters
  
• Kerzner gets unsolicited $3.4 bln from BMB Group - Reuters
  
• GM says up to 5 pct of IPO for employees, dealers - Reuters
  
• Gap eyes international business to boost sales - Reuters
  

 

 

 

• HBOS's leading role in £11.5bn loans to US gambling industry
   
  Full extent of failed bank's lending to Vegas casinos and resorts revealed
   
  
  • HBOS loses millions on Vegas casino
    
  • Banks propose £1.5bn small firms' fund
    
  • Lloyds Banking Group cuts 4,500 jobs
    
  • 100,000 British firms face financial distress
    
  • JP Morgan stashes £4.2bn for bonuses
    
  • Standard Chartered rights issue stuns City
    

  [*] Statisticians attack Treasury plan to switch inflation measure

   

  Royal Statistical Society calls government plan to peg benefits and pensions to lower CPI measure of cost of living 'flawed'

   

  • Pensions of high earners targeted for £4bn savings by Treasury
    

  [*] Robo-signing foreclosures scandal rattles Wall Street

   

  Bank shares fall over concerns US watchdogs will decide thousands have been evicted unfairly by employees rubber-stamping repo documents

  45 comments

  • Q&A: What are 'robo-signers'?
    

 

 

• Threat of 1930s protectionism is looming, warns WTO's Lamy
   
  "You get a tit-for-tat chain and it sours and sours," says director general as fears of currency war escalate
  10 comments
  
  • Dollar sinks against yen, euro and Australian dollar
    

  [*] Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive applies for voluntary bankruptcy in US

   

  Surprise moves comes after Drumm's offer of €2m to settle his debt with Anglo Irish was rejected last week

  [*] More business news

  [*] OFT and Competition Commission to merge

  7 comments

  [*] Job market gloom as claimants rise again

  259 comments

  • Benefit claimants constituency by constituency
    

  [*] Hands seeks £7bn from Citi over EMI

  [*] Economic titans clash over US policy

[interestrateripoff]

Court of Appeal tells BAA to sell Stansted and a Scottish airport

 

Alistair Dawber: BAA lost the latest round of a long-running legal saga with the competition authorities over its dominance of the UK's airports yesterday, meaning that it will now be forced to sell Stansted, and either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports.

 

• OFT clears pub industry over 'beer ties'
  
• Lloyds job cuts break 20,000 barrier as another 4,500 go
  
• Burberry sets sights on Chinese wealth with expansion plan
  
• Shortage of jobs prompts part-time boom
  
• JPMorgan to expand review of 100,000 pending repossessions
  
• Promised rise in ISA limit is set to be £470
  
• The Business On... Terry Smith, Deputy chairman, Collins Stewart
  

 

David Prosser: It's not the Post Office's ownership that matters most but its funding

 

Outlook Having spent the previous 24 hours publicly eating his words on tuition fees, Vince Cable must have been relieved to get on to a fluffier topic yesterday. The Business Secretary's announcement that the future of the Post Office might lie in a mutual ownership model was the sort of heart-warming stuff he used to specialise in during his humble days as an opposition spokesman on Treasury matters.

 

• David Prosser: The bank doth not protest too much
  
• David Prosser: BAA will keep playing for more time
  
• David Prosser: Ocado needs to put its foot down on new deliveries
  
• David Prosser: Time to reconsider 20 per cent VAT
  
• David Prosser: The oil lobby secures a speedy triumph
  

 

Nick Anstee: Lord Mayor shows he's up for the fight

 

Repairing the City's battered reputation after the banking crisis is vital to the UK economy, the Lord Mayor of London tells Sarah Arnott

 

• The great American mortgage crisis deepens
  
• Can Battersea power station spark to life?
  
• The Business On: Sally Tennant, Chief executive, Kleinwort Benson
  
• What happens when private equity gets it wrong?
  
• Angela Knight: 'We're natural hate figures. but that really isn't fair'
  

[interestrateripoff]

Weak banks drag FTSE down on cash call fears

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by banks on worries about rights issues in the sector, while mobile phone heavyweight Vodafone rose following an upgrade from Nomura.

Continue Reading

 

 

 

Germany, EU unhappy with BHP-Rio iron ore joint venture

 

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A planned iron ore joint venture between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto looked set to be opposed by European regulators after Germany said it would ban the $116 billion deal.

6:57pm BST

 

Barclays eyes new bond to meet capital demands

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays is working on a new capital instrument that would allow it to meet regulators' capital demands without issuing equity, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters Breakingviews.

7:42pm BST

 

Diageo warns of weak Europe after first quarter sales tonic

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Diageo , the world's biggest spirits group, said trading in Europe was weaker as it met forecasts with a 5 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales driven by growth in emerging markets.

2:19pm BST

 

World economy to slow, rely on emerging Asia - Reuters poll

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The world economy is set to rely even more heavily on booming emerging markets next year as recovery in rich nations from the worst financial crisis in generations plods on, Reuters polls showed.

3:12pm BST

 

Bain leads £1 billion race for Priory - sources

 

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital is the front-runner for the near 1 billion pound deal for mental health specialist the Priory Group, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

2:01pm BST

 

Commercial property values inch up in September

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Commercial property values rose marginally in September, doing little to assuage fears that the market's 13-month run-up has lost steam and may return to negative growth, research showed on Thursday.

4:44pm BST

 

Bank's Tucker says recovery not on sure footing - report

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England's deputy governor Paul Tucker said the economy in Britain and globally was yet to find a "sure footing," a newspaper reported.

UK, 2:42pm BST

 

Government to create single competition authority

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain plans to streamline its antitrust regime by merging two existing bodies into a single competition and market authority, in a move broadly welcomed by business leaders.

UK 4:50pm BST

 

Sanofi CEO says nothing has changed on Genzyme bid

 

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis SA's position remains unchanged regarding a $18.5 billion hostile offer for Genzyme Corp , Sanofi Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher told Reuters on the sidelines of the Women's Forum.

[interestrateripoff]

14 October 2010 Last updated at 19:45

 

Plan limits pensions tax relief

 

The amount of tax-free income that savers can put into pensions has been sharply restricted by the government.

 

• Pension tax relief and self-employed
  

 

Court defeat for Liverpool owners

 

A High Court judge grants an injunction blocking the attempts of Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to halt the sale of the club. Sport

 

• Fans angry with Liverpool farce Watch Sport
  
• US lawyer on 'Texas ambush' Listen Sport
  

 

 

Charity to run consumer helpline

 

Consumer complaints ranging from rogue traders to energy companies will be dealt with by a charity in the future.

 

 

 

• Pub sector 'ties' cleared by OFT
   
  The Office of Fair Trading confirms it has found no evidence that so-called "beer ties" between pub firms and landlords are harming competition.
  
• Pay deal ends Tunnock's dispute
   
  The pay dispute at Tunnock's bakery, where Caramel wafers and Teacakes are made, ends with agreement by staff to a third pay offer.
  
• US trade gap up on China imports
   
  The US trade deficit was wider than expected in August following record imports from China, official figures show.
  
• French petrol shortages warning
  
• Iran elected to Opec presidency
  
• Loan insurance sale curbs backed
  
• Dollar continues fall against yen
  
• Chinese local authority debt risk
  
• Rio Tinto reports iron ore record
  
• Travel outlets bolster WH Smith
  
• South Korea keeps rates on hold
  
• US probe into home repossessions
  

 

 

• Liverpool saga
   
  Is administration the rational next step?
  
• Liverpool: It could be all over
  
• Do consumer protection changes make sense?
  

 

 

• Working the numbers
   
  Disappointing figures from the UK's labour market
  
• Beginner's guide to global currency wars
  
• Nobel winners' hide and seek
  

[interestrateripoff]

[/url]

 

Dollar retreats on speculation of US stimulus

 

The dollar slumped against the pound and other major currencies on mounting speculation that the US will unleash more quantitative easing.

 

Middle classes hit again with tax raid on pensions

 

Amount people can pay into their pension pot and still receive tax breaks is to be capped at less than a fifth of its current level.

 

BoE risks losing credibility over inflation, says Sentance

 

Central bank must combat inflation if it is to remain credible, warns senior policymaker who wants a rate rise.

 

Standard Chartered warns of 'uncertainty' over rules

 

 

 

 

Pimco sells US Treasuries ahead of QE2

 

 

 

 

US jobless claims rise more than expected

 

 

 

 

OFT and Competition Commission to merge

 

 

 

 

BSkyB in last-ditch attempt to scramble YouView player

 

 

 

 

News Corp's political donations prompt investor protest

 

 

• Chile aced mining rescue, but how will it deal with aftermath?
  

 

• Why we should believe the banks when they say they will lend more
  

 

 

• BAA ruling through the eyes of Ryanair's Michael O'Leary
  

 

Halt the middle class money-go-round

 

 

 

JPMorgan chief defends home foreclosures

 

 

 

 

Osborne says OBR shouldn't be open to opposition parties

 

 

 

 

IFS attacks Treasury's claim CPI link for benefits is 'fair'

 

 

 

 

Government cuts could cost 500,000 private sector jobs

[interestrateripoff]

Bank Shares Push Wall Street Indexes Lower

 

By CHRISTINE HAUSER 3 minutes ago

 

 

Banking stocks fell day after state officials started a joint investigation into foreclosure practices of major lenders.

 

• Chase Broadens Foreclosure Reviews
  
• Banks Ignored Signs of Trouble
  

 

 

 

 

 

#nytint-tabContent { width: 395px ! important; background-color: white ! important; }

• Bank of America
  
• Citi
  
• JPMorgan
  
• Wells Fargo
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fund Manager Doesn’t Hedge His Bets on Tories

 

By LANDON THOMAS Jr. 52 minutes ago

 

As the right-leaning British government prepares to impose some of the deepest spending cuts in a generation, it is doing so with the full throated support of London’s financial elite.

 

Wal-Mart to Buy More Local Produce

 

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD 1:47 PM ET

 

With the focus on sustainable agriculture, the retail giant is trying to improve efficiency among suppliers.

 

• Post a Comment | Read (27)
  

 

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens; Producer Prices Rise

 

By CHRISTINE HAUSER 1:58 PM ET

 

The trade deficit in August increased 8.8 percent to $46.3 billion, while the producer price index rose 0.4 percent in September.

 

Europe Walks a Fine Line on Regulation of Cloning

 

By JAMES KANTER 52 minutes ago

 

New rules on cloned livestock would be stronger than those in the United States with regard to actual clones, but would seek to avoid trade tensions.

 

Despite Weakening Dollar, OPEC Plans No Changes

 

By REUTERS 10:33 AM ET

 

A delegate to the oil cartel’s meeting in Vienna said that ministers were “100 percent” in agreement that no change in supply policy was needed.

 

Financier Is Said to Accept a Ban in Pension Case

 

By LOUISE STORY and PETER LATTMAN

 

Steven Rattner, who oversaw the Obama administration’s auto-industry overhaul, will accept a ban from the securities industry and pay a fine of more than $5 million, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

 

• DealBook: Thwarted Ambitions for a Financial Tycoon
  

 

UBS Declines Legal Action Over Subprime Losses

 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 6:05 AM ET

 

The Swiss bank said that it will not take legal action against former executives and board members for the losses suffered during the U.S. subprime crisis.

 

U.S. Sees Improved Cooperation on Fighting Bribery

 

By MATTHEW SALTMARSH 9:15 AM ET

 

Officials said they expect to see more prosecution for bribery in international business deals in coming years.

 

French Strikers Block Refineries

 

By MATTHEW SALTMARSH 2:15 PM ET

 

Transport workers in France carried their strike into a third day on Thursday, hoping to keep up the momentum of protests against pension-system changes.

 

 

 

• A Bit More Ethanol in the Gas Tank
  
• U.S. to Let Insurers Raise Fees for Sick Children
  
• Microsoft’s Bing Gets a Social Lift From Facebook
  

[interestrateripoff]

Jamie Dimon: Hilarious

 

Now this one is good for a roller....

"You can make a long list of negatives and positives about the economy," he said. "Housing is obviously on the negative side. But prices have stabilized in a lot of markets around the country. Homes are being sold. Financing is being done. ... There's no wave of foreclosures coming. It's a little tick up from where it is. ... So it's not good. But it's actually modestly improving from a terrible state."

Absolutely. There's no wave of foreclosures on the horizon.

What's coming is lawsuits, and it's going to look like this:

My prediction is that the plaintiff's bar is gonna make you eat this Dimon - one delicious, savory bite at a time.

You thought you got away clean after 2008 and early 2009 with "mark to model." Grinnin' you were, indeed.... over $100 billion in "compensation" to the "talent" in your industry this year, as just one example.

Bonne chance mes amis.

Ps: If everything is so great Dimon, why the hell are you going to the market for $4 billion in a bond offering? Me thinks your **** stinks just like everyone else's.

 

The lawyers are coming this is going to get very messy.

[interestrateripoff]

Ha Ha - NOW CNBS Reports On The Underlying [problem]?

THREE YEARS ON CNBS finally reports......

It appears the mortgage content of many of those pools—created when the banks were dominating the

mortgage securitization market

in 2005, 2006 and 2007—may have been misrepresented. For example, an underwriter may have maintained that 80 percent of the mortgages in the pool were for primary residences when in fact far fewer were for that purpose. Or the underwriter stated that only 10 percent of the pool would be made of of "no-doc" loans—those that include less documentation about the borrower—when in fact the percentage was far higher.

That could be fraud, and if so, the creator of the mortgage pool could be liable. Given that the market for private label RMBS (residential mortgage-backed securities) was $1.5 trillion, the potential liability may be considerable. And while most of the originators of these mortgages are long gone, the securitizers are not.

No really?

With the exception of Lehman and Bear Stearns (oops - Bear got absorbed, so guess who got this turd?) these guys sure are still around, and the issue is not just repurchase demands - a contractual matter - but also possible fraud claims.

As pointed out here:

As I pointed out in 2007 in many Tickers (here and here for just two examples) any loan made in which material misrepresentations were involved, and which was securitized and sold on to investors, is subject to being forced back up the chain for that breach, and it, and the loss that it has accrued, which presently is running in excess of 50%, will land on the "last man standing."

I further called this entire edifice what I believed it to be then and still do: FRAUD.

In this case since most of the originators of this trash are gone that's going to be the securitizer who had a legal duty to tender into the trust only loans that met the quality guidelines.

Worse, that's just direct liability. Then there's the possibility of fraud claims that would arise from selling securities you either know or should have known (and you had a duty to investigate) did not meet quality claims in the prospectus or pooling and servicing agreements.

Finally, there's the 900lb Gorilla - all the synthetics - CDOs, CDS and other similar instruments - that were created off these base MBS.

$200 billion? You're dreaming. Double that - at least - since that figure is only direct repurchase risk. When one adds in the potential credit-default swap and CDO exposure, oh boy......

Ed: This stuff isn't that hard to figure out folks. If someone is running a [problem], it's fraud. If you're selling something to someone and intentionally concealing that you're ****ing in the pitchers of beer, you're robbing 'em and if and when they figure it out you can be held to account. It's really not any more complicated than that, and the entire bubble and resulting bust could not have happened absent these actions, which were not mistakes - they were intentional acts.

Further, if anyone is wondering why I'm savaging CNBS instead of trying to get in their good graces and be invited back on, it's because I don't run other people's money, I have no pecuniary interest in appearing on their channel, and the amount of damage that people have taken by being sucked in twice now in the space of a decade by their ****-laden swill enrages me. That channel and its corporate shills owe the entire nation a personal apology - on air - and then they should all quit and walk off the set. Of course you and I all know - that will never, ever happen.

[interestrateripoff]

Now We're Cooking: Bad 30yr Auction

 

Oh oh....

"We don't want none of your steeenking 30 year paper Mr. Government - not with all this rampant lawlessness and fraud out there in the mortgage space - fraud that we know the Banksters will present themselves with in front of you and get fellated for again, and for which we will ultimately get hosed since we were dumb enough to lend you money that you're going to have to vaporize to save these crooks."

Yes, that's the alarm clock ringing folks - or a Stallion that ate a whole bottle of Viagra. Pick one - they both suck.

To the government: Better get with this for the banksters, or you're gonna see more of that - and it would be a good idea to start with Bernanke when you start with the list to who you intend to apply those cuffs to, along with the CEOs of the big banks. You know their names - they're the guys who were chuckling as they left Paulson's meeting in 2008.

Don't wanna do it 'cause you like the bribes, er, "campaign contributions"? That's cool. So long as Bernnake continues to threaten to print money and debase the currency we'll simply add the premium for that risk to the bond market, and instead of long rates going down as he thinks they will, they'll go up.

Now about that deficit you think you can fund......

Keep at this crap long enough and you will get within the impact zone of this - and once in the zone there's no escaping the outcome.....

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/grave-danger-of-financial-collapse-says-clarke-2106829.html

 

The world faces a "grave danger of financial collapse" and the UK is "not out of the woods" yet, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke warned today.

"I actually am one of those who believes, with a grave danger of financial collapse, we're not out of the woods in the western world yet. There is an extremely serious financial crisis," he said.

Mr Clarke said the UK has "rescued ourselves at the moment", but he added: "If we fail to deliver with the (CSR) programme we're going to set out, we'll be back there all too soon."

His comments were not contained in the draft text of his speech released by the Ministry of Justice.

But speaking at the Prison Governors Association annual conference in Buxton, Derbyshire, Mr Clarke joked about the reputation of the town's mineral water, telling his audience: "Whilst here I would suggest you taste the water to try the cure, because the events of the next 12 months are going to be quite dramatic."

He said he did not want to dwell on the comprehensive spending review, but added: "It is quite the most dramatic in living memory.

"There's no one alive who remembers a crisis of this kind.

"It is not the usual public spending squeeze."

Mr Clarke told the prison governors: "I would brace yourself for quite a lot of change, because these are difficult circumstances.

"Whatever I manage to get, it won't be what you like."

 

Saying it will be very bad so when it's bad everyone will be relieved or are we on the brink of a major collapse, certainly if house prices are going to collapse the banks will be in trouble.

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-13/sentance-says-bank-of-england-faces-increasing-risk-of-credibility-loss.html

 

Bank of England policy maker Andrew Sentance said the record drop shown in the Halifax house-price gauge last month may show “volatility” instead of heralding a renewed property-market slump.

“For the time being I would regard that move in house prices you saw in the Halifax index, which wasn’t replicated in the Nationwide house-price index, as an indicator of volatility in the market rather than the start of a pronounced downward trend,” Sentance said in response to questions after a speech in London late yesterday.

The 3.6 percent price drop in September shown by Halifax, a division of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, contrasted with a 0.1 percent increase reported by Nationwide Building Society. While Sentance has argued since June that the economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates, his colleague Adam Posen said last month that it requires more stimulus.

“We’re bound to go through periods where there are periods of uncertainty,” Sentance said.

In his speech, Sentance reiterated his call for higher interest rates, saying that the longer the Bank of England keeps it benchmark rate at a record low, the more it puts its credibility at risk.