Dollar Collapse Update: Bank of England Closes In On China Currency Deal, Fed Downplays New Bubble Worries And Already Planning QE5, G20 & IMF Push for Global Fed, Global Currency, And World’s Largest Gold Storage Dumping US Customers!!

Bank of England closes in on China currency deal

Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, is on the brink of striking a deal with the People’s Bank of China which would cement the UK’s role as the leading G7 trade hub for the world’s fastest growing currency.

The Bank of England expects to sign a final agreement to set up a three-year yuan-sterling swap line “shortly”, during a meeting between Sir Mervyn and his counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan in Beijing.

European and US officials have been pressing China for years to do more to open up the yuan to market forces, saying its artificial weakness was one of the key imbalances of the global economy.

Beijing is slowly delivering, although it still keeps a tight rein on gains for the currency for fear it will weaken its export-powerhouse economy, which has been the biggest engine of global growth for a decade.

Fed Downplays New Bubble Worries And Planning QE5

Bernanke downplays new bubble worries

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke minimized concerns that the central bank’s easy monetary policy has spawned economically-risky asset bubbles in comments at a meeting with dealers and investors this month, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.
The people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private, said Bernanke made the remarks at a meeting in early February with the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee. Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith declined to comment.
The Fed chairman brushed off the risks of asset bubbles in response to a presentation on the subject from the group, one person said. Among the concerns raised, according to this person, were rising farmland prices and the growth of mortgage real estate investment trusts. Falling yields on speculative- grade bonds also were mentioned as a potential concern, two people said.

Money Manager: Fed Already Planning QE5
“Given the Fed’s history, [increasing the amount of the Fed’s purchases is] the most likely course of action,” Pento told Yahoo. He said Bernanke “doesn’t understand that his balance sheet is unshrinkable.”
Pento predicted the next quantitative easing, which would be QE5 on his scorecard of the Fed’s easy money program, could raise the government’s monthly debt purchases from $85 billion per month to as much as $150 billion per month.
The prevailing sentiment at the Fed, as conveyed by the minutes of its January meeting and by members’ recent remarks, is that the central bank’s efforts to pump tens of billions of dollars into the economy every month should not end anytime soon.

Killing the Dollar: G20 & IMF Push for Global Fed, Global Currency

While headline stories about averting the dangers of an international “currency war” dominated news coverage of the recently concluded G20 meeting in Moscow, the real unreported story is that the global gathering of central bankers and finance ministers is pushing forward with their plan for “supersizing” the International Monetary Fund. The end goal is to transform the IMF into a global Federal Reserve, with the ability to flood the world with huge new volumes of loans and currency. It would also wield vast financial regulatory powers.
The IMF’s unit of account, or “currency,” known as a Special Drawing Right (SDR), is being readied for eventual adoption as the replacement for the U.S. dollar in international transactions, to lead the way toward eventual adoption of the SDR or some other designated unit as the global currency, much in the same way that the euro was foisted upon the people of Europe as a replacement of their national currencies.
The mainstream media seem intent on keeping the public fixated on the latest Kardashian frolics, sportsmania, and Democrat-Republican political mudwrestling, while coverage of the G7, G20, and IMF confabs that are determining the economic fate of the world receive short shrift. And the little reporting of these events that does leak out usually amounts to little more than regurgitation of the pre-scripted talking points of the conference principals. Over the past four years, The New American has published numerous articles detailing the radical plans currently underway for the total destruction of the dollar and the plans for supersizing the IMF into a global Fed. (See the linked stories at the bottom of this article).
…

Expert: Currency War Will Escalate Worldwide

There is a currency war, insists Gerald Celente, editor and publisher of the Trends Journal, and it’s going to degenerate into all out combat.
Celente’s declaration and forecast stand in sharp contrast to those of global finance leaders who are aiming to bury concerns about a currency war, as the act of competitive currency devaluation is called.
At last weekend’s G20 meeting, the finance leaders promised to “refrain from competitive [currency] devaluation,”

Peter Schiff: “We are headed for a monetary crisis, a dollar crisis

Money manager Peter Schiff predicts, “We are headed for a monetary crisis, a dollar crisis. . . . Money supplies are going to explode, and gold supplies are going to be constricted.”

It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk

CNBC – by Catherine Rampell, The New York Times
The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job.
Consider the 45-person law firm of Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh here in Atlanta, a place that has seen tremendous growth in the college-educated population. Like other employers across the country, the firm hires only people with a bachelor’s degree, even for jobs that do not require college-level skills.
This prerequisite applies to everyone, including the receptionist, paralegals, administrative assistants and file clerks. Even the office “runner” — the in-house courier who, for $10 an hour, ferries documents back and forth between the courthouse and the office — went to a four-year school.
(Read More: The Most Expensive Colleges 2012-2013)
“College graduates are just more career-oriented,” said Adam Slipakoff, the firm’s managing partner. “Going to college means they are making a real commitment to their futures. They’re not just looking for a paycheck.”
Economists have referred to this phenomenon as “degree inflation,” and it has been steadily infiltrating America’s job market. Across industries and geographic areas, many other jobs that didn’t used to require a diploma — positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters — are increasingly requiring one, according to Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads from more than 20,000 online sources, including major job boards and small- to midsize-employer sites.
This up-credentialing is pushing the less educated even further down the food chain, and it helps explain why the unemployment rate for workers with no more than a high school diploma is more than twice that for workers with a bachelor’s degree: 8.1 percent versus 3.7 percent.
(Read More: Why More Than 8% Unemployment Could Lie Ahead)
Some jobs, like those in supply chain management and logistics, have become more technical, and so require more advanced skills today than they did in the past. But more broadly, because so many people are going to college now, those who do not graduate are often assumed to be unambitious or less capable.
Plus, it’s a buyer’s market for employers.
“When you get 800 resumees for every job ad, you need to weed them out somehow,” said Suzanne Manzagol, executive recruiter at Cardinal Recruiting Group, which does headhunting for administrative positions at Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh and other firms in the Atlanta area.
Of all the metropolitan areas in the United States, Atlanta has had one of the largest inflows of college graduates in the last five years, according to an analysis of census data by William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. In 2012, 39 percent of job postings for secretaries and administrative assistants in the Atlanta metro area requested a bachelor’s degree, up from 28 percent in 2007, according to Burning Glass.
“When I started recruiting in ’06, you didn’t need a college degree, but there weren’t that many candidates,” Ms. Manzagol said.
(Read More: Colleges That Bring in the Highest Paycheck)
Even if they are not exactly applying the knowledge they gained in their political science, finance and fashion marketing classes, the young graduates employed by Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh say they are grateful for even the rotest of rote office work they have been given.
“It sure beats washing cars,” said Landon Crider, 24, the firm’s soft-spoken runner.
He would know: he spent several years, while at Georgia State and in the months after graduation, scrubbing sedans at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Before joining the law firm, he was turned down for a promotion to rental agent at Enterprise — a position that also required a bachelor’s degree — because the company said he didn’t have enough sales experience.
His college-educated colleagues had similarly limited opportunities, working at Ruby Tuesday or behind a retail counter while waiting for a better job to open up.
“I am over $100,000 in student loan debt right now,” said Megan Parker, who earns $37,000 as the firm’s receptionist. She graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2011 with a degree in fashion and retail management, and spent months waiting on “bridezillas” at a couture boutique, among other stores, while churning out office-job applications.
“I will probably never see the end of that bill, but I’m not really thinking about it right now,” she said. “You know, this is a really great place to work.”
The risk with hiring college graduates for jobs they are supremely overqualified for is, of course, that they will leave as soon as they find something better, particularly as the economy improves.
Mr. Slipakoff said his firm had little turnover, though, largely because of its rapid expansion. The company has grown to more than 30 lawyers from five in 2008, plus a support staff of about 15, and promotions have abounded.
“They expect you to grow, and they want you to grow,” said Ashley Atkinson, who graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2009 with a general studies degree. “You’re not stuck here under some glass ceiling.”
Within a year of being hired as a file clerk, around Halloween 2011, Ms. Atkinson was promoted twice to positions in marketing and office management. Mr. Crider, the runner, was given additional work last month, helping with copying and billing claims. He said he was taking the opportunity to learn more about the legal industry, since he plans to apply to law school next year.
The firm’s greatest success story is Laura Burnett, who in less than a year went from being a file clerk to being the firm’s paralegal for the litigation group. The partners were so impressed with her filing wizardry that they figured she could handle it.
“They gave me a raise, too,” said Ms. Burnett, a 2011 graduate of the University of West Georgia.
The typical paralegal position, which has traditionally offered a path to a well-paying job for less educated workers, requires no more than an associate degree, according to the Labor Department’s occupational handbook, but the job is still a step up from filing. Of the three daughters in her family, Ms. Burnett reckons that she has the best job. One sister, a fellow West Georgia graduate, is processing insurance claims; another, who dropped out of college, is one of the many degree-less young people who still cannot find work.
Besides the promotional pipelines it creates, setting a floor of college attainment also creates more office camaraderie, said Mr. Slipakoff, who handles most of the firm’s hiring and is especially partial to his fellow University of Florida graduates. There is a lot of trash-talking of each other’s college football teams, for example. And this year the office’s Christmas tree ornaments were a colorful menagerie of college mascots — Gators, Blue Devils, Yellow Jackets, Wolves, Eagles, Tigers, Panthers — in which just about every staffer’s school was represented.
“You know, if we had someone here with just a G.E.D. or something, I can see how they might feel slighted by the social atmosphere here,” he says. “There really is something sort of cohesive or binding about the fact that all of us went to college.”
—Written by Catherine Rampell for The New York Times
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100474974

Britain's credit rating downgraded from AAA to Aa1

The Government’s economic strategy has been dealt a serious blow after a leading credit ratings agency downgraded UK debt on its expectation that growth will "remain sluggish over the next few years".

David Cameron has 'full confidence' in the Chancellor, Downing Street said Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLAND

 

 

 

Moody’s announced on Friday night that it had cut the Government’s bond rating one notch from ‘Aaa’ – the highest possible level – to ‘Aa1’.

The move is a significant setback for Chancellor George Osborne, who has faced criticism that his strategy for dealing with UK’s huge debt burden is failing to deliver.

Moody’s pointed to “continuing weakness in the UK’s medium-term growth outlook, with a period of sluggish growth which [it] now expects will extend into the second half of the decade”.

The credit ratings agency also noted that the Government's debt reduction programme faced significant "challenges" and that the UK's huge debts are unlikely to "reverse before 2016".

Moody’s said that despite considerable structural economic strengths, growth is expected to be sluggish due to a combination of weaker global economic activity and the drag on the UK economy “from the ongoing domestic public- and private-sector deleveraging process.”

However, Moody’s, which is the first ratings agency to lower the UK from the highest rating, said the outlook on UK debt is stable.
Mr Osborne responded to the downgrade by insisting he would not change course on the Government’s austerity programme.
He called Moody’s decision a “stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country – and the clearest possible warning to anyone who thinks we can run away from dealing with those problems”.
“Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it.”
“We will go on delivering the plan that has cut the deficit by a quarter, and given us record low interest rates and record numbersof jobs."
He also took comfort that Moody’s noted that “the UK’s creditworthiness remains extremely high” thanks in part to a “strong track record of fiscal consolidation”.
Mr Osborne added: “[Moody’s] also make it absolutely clear that they could downgrade the UK’s credit rating further in the event of ‘reduced political commitment to fiscal consolidation’.
“We are not going to run away from our problems, we are going to overcome them.”
In his Autumn Statement in December, Mr Osborne admitted public finances were taking longer to address than he had hoped, adding that he would be forced to extend austerity measures by at least another year.
All three major credit agencies last year put the UK on "negative outlook", meaning they could downgrade its rating if performance deteriorates.

Let’s face it; Can you really afford to own a house or a car? It’s becoming something only the rich can afford

Owning items is becoming something of a luxury these days, especially for the younger population. While the parents of the younger crowd out there are sitting pretty in their hard fought paid for homes, the younger crowd are being shut out. Mainly because they just can’t afford the debt burden. This goes for cars as well. The younger crowd just can’t swing the debt as easily as their parents could. It’s becoming a luxury to do so. The few that are lucky enough to do so are either getting big time help from their parents, or they have hit the lottery.
Many adults can no longer afford their homes as well as a car. Just too damn expensive. If they are buying, they are mainly rich overseas investors looking to take what we once had. Many are snatching up all of America’s homes in the wealthier neighborhoods.
Even if younger Americans have well paying jobs they’re not buying. The American dream has been dealt a lousy hand as all of the Bankster cheating and BS has hit our landscape. Because of all of the exposed fraud that American banks have been involved in, causing our economy to crater, homes and cars are taking a back seat.
After all, when you have small business closing their doors at a monumental pace you have to ask yourself, how are you supposed to pay for these items? We have been fed a bunch of Gobble de Gook about how well our economy is picking up and how the housing starts are rising at a record pace.
I tend to differ.
American business closures so far this year: Only 26 days worth…..Not good
February 23 , 2013

• Bell County Day Treatment and Recovery school KY
• Core Systems in Painesville Ohio Closes? , 400 Layoffs
• Abercrombie & Fitch – Plans 40 to 50 Store Closing in 2013
• Damon’s Grill’s Ann Arbor location, at 3150 Boardwalk Dr. near Briarwood Mall MI
• Aleris International, Inc Closing Production Plant in Roxboro by End of May
• Volunteers of America, Dakotas’ Floyd Career Learning Center
• Update: Unity Elementary School in Lagrange GA to Close
• Vie de France Yamazaki, Inc cease production at its frozen bread plant located in Bensenville, Ill
• The Blockbuster Video store in Litiz, Ephrrata
• Nine Dueber’s stores in Minnesota?

February 22 , 2013

• Half Price Books confirmed the Lawrence store KS Closing in Coming Months
• Sears store in Calumet City’s River Oaks Center IL
• Neighborhood Transportation in Lewisville NC
• Bonnie’s Place in Lansing Michigan
• Wappingers Central School District elementary schools NY are Eyed for Possible Closure
• Ethan Allen Design Center in Mill Valley CA
• Caterpillar Inc. is considering closing its distribution facility in central Pennsylvania
• Chiasso in Chicago IL
• Hubbingtons Furniture is closing its Hampton store
• Aspira Charter School, Betty Shabazz Charter School on List of Chicago School Closing
• RBS India Winds down its retail and commercial business in the South Asian nation
• Wausau Paper Corp. says it plans to close its mill in Brainerd, Minn
• Marsh Closing Stores in Columbus, Marion Indiana
• Weiman’s Bakery in Richmond VA
• Canada’s Department of Veteran Affairs office in Windsor ( International )
• Bay Hills Card and Gift Hallmark store in Arnold MD to close at end of the month
• Bahooka Tiki Bar in LA
• Unity Elementary School in LaGrange GA Possible Closure
• Pet Town in Helena MT

February 21 , 2013

• Footsteps of Reston VA
• Spotlight Newspapers End Saratoga and Schenectady County Edition NY
• The Hoppy Dog in Jackson Ward Richmond VA
• Update 1UP, UGO, and Gamespy Sites Closing Down
• 1UP, GameSpy, and UGO May Shut Down
• Sneaky Pete’s in Ardmore PA?
• Trolley Junction Restaurant in Nevada City
• Chisme Mexican-Italian restaurant. IA
• Update: All 5 Old Farmhouse Restaurants in White City, north Medford, south Medford, Phoenix and Ashland
• Archiver’s of Memphis Tenn.
• 2 Planned Parenthood Clinics in Iowa
• Paradise Landing waterpark at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center
• Warehouse Sports outdoor in Spokane and Coeur d’ Alene WA
• Canal Escorts Closed? – Almost 100 Jobs Lost
• Safeguard Properties will shut its Westlake Village CA – 82 Layoffs
• Wilson’s Restaurant in Paso Robles CA
• Kmart at 2100 Wade Hampton Blvd in Greenville SC
• Isabella’s Copper Pot in Plymouth MI

February 20 , 2013

• More than Movies on Dover Road ( BC )
• Sawyer Park on Washington Ave in Houston TX?
• Daikin McQuay in Auburn NY Closing in 2014
• Bahooka in Rosemead CA?
• Army Navy Surplus Market in Downtown Tampa FL
• DAK Americas is considering shutting down its plant in Navassa
• Helix Camera Chicago IL
• Backyard and Veranda, which has locations in Dartmouth and Bedford ( International )
• CiCi’s Pizza across from Westdale Mall will close Sunday, Feb. 24
• Card Party in Wayzata
• Buenas Vidas Youth Ranch CA
• Cheli’s Chili Bar of Dearborn MI
• Silverton Hospital confirmed Closing new catheterization lab last week
• HMV ( UK ) – 37 More UK Stores, 464 Layoffs
• Whitley Products facility located at 1403 Stanley Drive and 1100 Flora Street in Plymouth
• Kmart in Jamestown ND Closing on May 19
• St. Paul Infant Center located in lower level of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Missoula
• Beaches Wings and Grill in Jacksonville FL?
• Dillard’s in the Cache Valley Mall Utah – 55 Jobs Lost
• Showplace Discount Movie Theater in Evansville Indiana
• Blue Ridge Eco Shop in Charlottesville VA

February 19 , 2013

• Sears Ala Moana Location
• Bergmann Pharmacy in Middleton WI
• Lenox Square Grill restaurant at Lenox Square in Buckhead GA
• Blue Wasabi Sushi & Martini Bar in Scottsdale AZ?
• Anthology Book Co in Loveland CO
• Georgio Carriage Gate shopping center FL
• Old Navy Benton Harbor location MI?
• Mudsock Books & Curiosity Shoppe in Fishers Indiana
• Update: Kayex Crystal Growing Technologies plant in Rochester NY
• The Granary restaurant inside the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History in Jackson MI
• Henderson BASF Plant Services in NE?
• The Ice Zone in Boardman Ohio
• Alaska Communications is closing its Fairbanks customer service center
• Zales Jewelers store inside the Hutchinson Mall
• Bonnie and Clyde Soda Shop in the Stone Soup Emporium in Bristol Indiana
• Portsmouth Upper Crust location NH
• Closing List of Texas Blockbuster Videos
• St. Rose School in Proctor MN

February 18 , 2013

• Planned Parenthood Closing 4 Wisconsin Clinics
• Blockbuster Closing all Iowa Stores
• 3 KFC in Columbia County GA
• Eby-Brown Plans to Close Marley Neck Plant – up to 200 Layoffs
• Conotton Valley Union Local Schools District is considering closing 1 Elementary School
• Maroon Bells of Colorado Chocolate Shop in Brookfield WI
• Whyevernot on West Main Street in Mystic CT
• Fratelli’s Authentic Italian Cuisine Restaurant TX
• Ray’s Hell-Burger in Arlington Va.
• E.J. Salentine Buick in Muskego WI

February 17 , 2013

• Emerald Forest Products in Emmett Idaho
• Liberty Lanes in Liberty NY
• Pfizer Closing Covx Research Unit in San Diego CA
• Niedringhaus Elementary in Granite City IL
• Formal Elegance in Columbus GA

February 16 , 2013

• The Ames True Temper manufacturing plant union city PA
• Kayex Corp. to Close North Chili Plant
• Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti in Irving TX
• California State Automobile Assoc. office inside the Lucky supermarket at 1000 El Cerrito Plaza CA
• Hooters Mowry Avenue location in Fremont CA?
• J.C. Harris Co. in West Palm Beach FL
• Hodges Jewel Box in South Boston Va
• Nicholas Hoare book store in Toronto
• Mayo Clinic Healthy Living store at the Mall of America

February 15 , 2013

• Saks Fifth Avenue store located in Stamford Town Center in Stamford, Connecticut in Early 2014
• Spokane Public Health Clinic Washington
• iCare Interactive Childcare Sioux Falls
• St. Tammany News will cease publication of The News Banner and the Slidell Sentry News on Feb. 27

February 14 , 2013

• Holy Grounds Coffee Shop in Farmington MO
• The Freshii on Light Street downtown Baltimore, Other Location Still Open
• Piccadilly’s Westside cafeteria in Jacksonville FL
• All 60 Sport Mart Stores Closing by end of March ( International )
• Jim’s Campus Camera in downtown San Luis Obispo CA
• Stadtmuller Jewelers in Sayville NY
• Music Forte in Galva IL
• The Rite Aid on north Maple Avenue Zanesville Ohio?
• 129 Chicago Public Schools to be Considered for Closing

February 13 , 2013

• The Rug Importer store in Paramus NJ Closing this Weekend
• Donegan’s Do-it-Best, 13 E. Main St., in Mount Morris IL
• Henco Furniture in Selmer TN?
• 17th Street Market in Tuscan AZ
• Edward Jones Mortgage Closing in St Louis Minn. – 200+ Jobs Affected
• ITT Exelis in West Springfield MA – 200 Layoffs on June 28th
• The Refectory in Portland OR
• Viracon Closing its St George Plant for 2 Years – 222 Face Unemployment
• HSBC Card Services to Close Chesapeake VA Call Center – 164 Jobs Lost
• Life of the Party Store in Fort Collins
• It’s a Dog’s World in Ditmas Park NY
• Blockbuster Video in Buffalo Grove IL
• Babycakes NYC will be closing its doors in DTLA

February 12 , 2013

• The Mygofer store in Joliet IL
• Nice Price Books are closing their Carrboro NC store in March
• The Hallmark store in the Fingerlakes Mall – Trying to Stay Open
• Rainforest Cafe in Westfarms CT?
• Pathmark in East Meadow NY
• Rockit Music in Brea CA?
• Missouri Mercantile in Hazelwood MO
• Lutheran Social Services says it will close seven facilities in Eau Claire WI
• Oberdorfer LLC will close its aluminum casting foundry in DeWitt NY
• The Inn at Harvard College
• Gargiulo Inc. will close their Somis farm and packing operations by April 1

February 11 , 2013

• Portola Packaging Inc Closing 1 Plant in Batavia IL, Expanding 2 others
• Epic Games is shuttering its Baltimore-based studio
• A Woman’s Choice clinic on Pomona Drive in Greensboro NC
• Gene Allen’s Gifts in Arlington on Park Row Drive
• Jonathan’s Best in Chestnut Hill PA
• Kmart in Depew NY
• Kettering Corner in Annville PA
• Gio’s Club and Bar in Winnipeg ( International )

February 10 , 2013

• Advanced Monolythic Ceramics will be closing its Olean plant in August – 65 Layoffs
• Christiano’s Hardware store in Leicester NY
• Circle II Restaurant in Elizabeth City NC

February 9 , 2013

• Lambert’s Swap Shop AR
• Emmerson Furniture Company in Canon City CO?
• The Store at Five Corners in South Williamstown MA
• The historic swimming pool at the DeKoven Center, 600 21st St WI
• Thomas’ Trackside Station and Railroad Books & Videos in the Shops of Traintown Strasburg PA
• Pardzee’s Restaurant on Manlius Center Road in East Syracuse NY
• Sonny’s Rocks in Denver
• Citizens First National Bank branch at Flindt and Richland Drives IA?
• Guitar Emporium
• Books-A-Million will close its Cotswold Village store NC
• Newman Bookstore at the Hecker Center for Ministry in Washington

February 8 , 2013

• Blockbuster Video store in Edina MN
• Shoney’s location along MacCorkle Avenue in St. Albans W. VA
• Sam’s Food City 3 Ca Locations in Modesto, Turlock, and Livingston
• The Chillicothe Blockbuster store on Western Avenue
• Aardvark Video in Macclenny FL
• Our Lady of the Assumption School in Atco
• Sister René Dental Center located at 17 Seneca St. in Hornell NY
• The Shadow Room in Middletown CT

February 7 , 2013

• Porter’s Camera Store in Cedar Falls IA
• ZO Home Store in North Bend WA
• AVAC Store in Myrtle Beach SC
• Kmart in Lancaster
• GM Confirms Closing Flint East Plant Michigan in Nov
• Easter Seals Closing Office in Franklin County PA
• Cassa-daga Elementary School NY – Possible Closure
• The Harley Davidson store in Duluth’s Canal Park Minn?
• Cedarhurst’s Sabra Pizza NY
• The Hustler Hollywood store in Clintonville Ohio
• G. Whiz Store in Barrington IL
• The Save-A-Lot store at 10047 Gravois Rd. in Affton MO
• Let’s Talk Cellular stores in Cody, Powell and Thermopolis WY

February 6 , 2013

• SunChemical Performance Pigments in Wurtland
• The Downtown Club in Downtown Fresno
• Jewel will be closing three stores in the Chicago area
• Home Eco Store in St Louis MO
• The Long-Term Care Facility at the Knox County Hospital KY
• 3 Alleghany County Elementary Schools VA Face Closure 
• Duke Energy Closing its Crystal River Nuclear Plant
• StarTek Closing Cornwall Operations ( International )

February 5 , 2013

• Confetti Cafe in Bethlehem PA
• ALCO store in Dodge City KS
• Altoona Hooters PA
• Nestaway in Beaver Dam KY
• Gameloft’s Hyderabad studio ( International ) Shut Down? – 250 Jobs Lost?
• Concord Hand Designs in Concord MA Confirms Closing

February 4 , 2013

• 16 The Department of Employment and Workforce in SC
• Update: The Annandale Blockbuster Video store VA
• Nights Uniform Company in Beaumont Texas
• The Deep Ellum gallery Kettle Art in Texas
• First Lutheran Church of Carson School in Carson, California
• The Gap and GapKids stores at Westfield Franklin Park
• HMV ( International ) – up to 100 Stores

February 3 , 2013

• Duke Closing Coal Fired Power Plants in Riverbend and Buck Plants NC
• Update: Cafe Polonia in Downtown Salem MA

February 2 , 2013

• The J.R. Simplot Co. will close its Heyburn distribution center
• Erday’s men’s clothing store in Geneva IL
• Detroit closing 50 Parks/Rec. Areas – Click For Locations
• Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is closing its small Cytogenetics Laboratory
• DeVry Institute of Technology Closing Calgary Campus ( International )
• Chocolate Peacock is closing its store at 2947 S. 108th St. in Omaha NE – Going Online Only
• Hodges Jewel Box in South Boston VA
• Our Paper Place Closing Newark CA Store
• Update: Valley Furniture in Watchung NJ
• Renton Western Wear WA

February 1 , 2013

• The Garbarino tobacco shop on Waverly Street in Framingham MA
• AmerisourceBergen Closing Pharmaceutical Distribution Site in Thorofare??
• Video Villager in Rock Falls and Sterling Illinois
• Richards and Rochelle Men’s Store, 17 N. Main St. in Uptown Butte
• The Fremont Theatre CA
• AZZ Galvanizing in Benwood W. VA – 20+ Job Lost
• Impressions Plus Printing and Copying in Winchester VA

January 31 , 2013

• Little Colony Kids in Homewood IL
• Southern Estates Books and Antiques in Riverwalk Landing
• Bridgeway Center’s Crisis Stabilization Unit
• Black Market Store in Anchorage Alaska
• Best Buy (Canada ) – 15 Stores, 900 Workers
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co Closing its Main French Plant and Cuts 39% of French Workforce
• Bounce U in North Sarasota FL
• Patches, Etc. in St Charles MO
• Top`ings Yogurt in Anderson CA
• Rain or Shine Garden Supply Store Oregon
• Meier’s House of Clocks in Tacoma Wa.
• Associated Food Stores Closing 2 Distribution Warehouses in Billings and Helena MT
• Coca-Cola Refreshments Inc. will close its Sheboygan production facility – 40 Jobs Lost

January 30 , 2013

• Update: Estee Lauder to Shut Down Oakland NJ Plant, Moving to Long Island or PA
• Neighborhood Transportation in Lewisville NC
• Haverty’s Closing Jackson Store in Mississippi
• Peschell’s Bakery in West Haven Conn.
• Eaton Manufacturing Closing in Decatur Ala. – 63 Jobs Lost
• The Cask & Cork Bistro Pourhouse in Fresno
• Cobham Closing 2 Baltimore MD Locations – 138 Jobs Lost

January 29 , 2013

• Hooters Restaurant Location in Roanoke VA
• Flextronics plans to shut down its plant in Creedmoor – 157 Jobs Lost
• Saks Fifth Avenue store located in Galleria Dallas in Dallas, Texas
• Nashua Motor Express, Inc Nashua NH
• Walt Disney Co. is closing Junction Point Studios Texas
• Olympia Sports in Consumer Square NY?
• Closure Systems International Packaging Machinery Inc. in Randolph NY?
• Haines Music Store in Selinsgrove PA
• The Hess refinery in the Port Reading section of Woodbridge – 170 Layoffs
• Krispy Kreme at 720 N. Glenstone Ave in Springfield MO
• J&S Market at 1555 Warrenton Road in Fredericksburg VA

Do not believe the BS you are hearing on the idiot boxes people. Obviously, as proved above, owning a home or car is becoming impossible.

Inequality Is Much Worse Than You Think

• In 2010, the top hedge fund manager earned as much in one HOUR as the average (median) family earned in 47 YEARS.

• The top 25 hedge fund managers in 2010 earned as much as 658,000 entry level teachers.

• In 1970 the top 100 CEOs made $40 for every dollar earned by the average worker. By 2006, the CEOs received $1,723 for every worker dollar.

As the administration and Congress argue over cuts in social programs, inequality in America grows more extreme each day. Even the great financial crash didn't derail this trend. The richest 400 Americans, for example, increased their wealth by 54 percent between 2005 and 2010, while the median middle-class family saw its wealth decline by 35 percent.

None of this is accidental.

It's not the result of mysterious global forces, or technology, or China, or structural problems concerning the skills and education of our workforce. Rather, it is the direct result of policy choices made by Democrats and Republicans alike. Together, they swallowed the Kool-Aid of unregulated market mania, and now we are paying the price.

New Deal policy makers shared a deep fear that democratic capitalism could not function unless Wall Street was tightly controlled. After all, Europe was sinking into the fascist camp while the new Soviet Union seemed invulnerable to the global depression. As a result, to put it crudely, the New Dealers quickly regulated the hell out of high finance through a myriad of programs including the formation of the S.E.C and Glass-Steagall. The goal was to turn Wall Street into a sleepy place to work, rather than an adrenalin-fueled arena of stock manipulation and fraud. At the same time income tax rates on the wealthy sky-rocketed with top marginal rates reaching over 90 percent. The results were nothing short of stupendous.

• For more than a quarter of a century there were no financial crises anywhere in the globe (except Brazil in 1964).

• The average wage in the financial sector collapsed so that its compensation was similar to the average wage of non-financial jobs.

• Inequality fell rapidly -- the top one percent accounted for more than 23 percent of all income in 1928. By the 1970s it had fallen to less than 9 percent.

These policies gave birth to middle-class America, as the average income of working families grew steadily during the WWII period. This was the new America that would out-compete world communism for the support of working people all over the world.

Then we forgot. 

After a series of economic mishaps, (largely due, but not limited, to the excessive costs of the Vietnam War and the Cold War), both inflation and unemployment rose simultaneously. This led many economists and policy makers to believe that Keynesian economics no longer applied (meaning that you could not successfully use government spending to combat rising unemployment without triggering excessive inflation.) Neo-liberal economists, led by Milton Friedman, filled the breach by arguing that less government and more free enterprise were desperately needed. In fact, they claimed that the determined pursuit of profit invariable created the most wealth (and freedom) for all.

The message was well received, especially by the Reagan administration. Taxes were slashed for the super-rich, (with the blessing of the Democrats, as well.) Unions were suppressed. Regulations, especially on Wall Street, vanished. A boom was to follow to make all boats rise.

It didn't happen as planned.

The income of the average worker stalled and the top 1 percent flourished. Inequality rose as financial gambling became a way of life. (In fact, after accounting for inflation, real average weekly wages in 1977 were higher than they are today.)

Wall Street, however, sprung to life. As deregulation increased, so did Wall Street incomes compared to the rest of the economy.

With the financial sector leading the charge, non-financial CEOs climbed on board. If 30-year-old traders could make tens of millions of dollars playing financial roulette with other people's money, then why shouldn't CEOs get paid more... and more... and more? "Greed is good" became more than a memorable phrase from a movie. It became a badge of honor -- a sign of recognition among the highest-paid players who knew precisely how to game the system.

And then we paid the price with another crash. Not quite as bad as 1929, but close. But this post-crash period is remarkably different. Rather than constraining inequality, the bailouts resurrected high finance and the inequality it inevitably spawns. Instead of putting our foot back on the neck of finance, we're talking about slashing social programs. Rather than dramatically increasing taxes on the super-rich through a wealth tax, we're debating how to slash Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Are Americans Socialists?

One reason our priorities are so favorable to inequality is because most Americans have no idea how skewed our income distribution really is. As Michael Norton and Dan Ariely have demonstrated through their research, over 90 percent of Americans prefer to live in a country with an income distribution like Sweden's. That doesn't mean, of course, that Americans are closet social democrats. Rather, it reflects that they believe America is much more egalitarian than it really is.


The Norton/Ariely study builds from an idea developed by philosopher John Rawls in his book, A Theory of Justice. Rawls argues that to create the principles for a fair and just social order we need to take part in a rational but imaginary exercise. We need to imagine ourselves coming together as free and equal individuals to form a compact to create a society. But to engage in our imaginary negotiations, we must do so behind a "veil of ignorance" -- we must have no idea where we would end up in the new society we would be creating. We have to make our choices about the principles of social justice without knowing our individual talents or health or financial resources. So given that "veil of ignorance," what would be our principles of justice? Rawls argues convincingly that we would select two. First, we would only agree to enter a new society if it protected as many of our basic freedoms as possible. And second, we would only permit inequality if it also benefited those with the least incomes and resources in society.

For the last generation, our free market ideologues have argued that inequality would trickle down and, in effect, fulfill Rawls' second condition for justice. However their real-time experiment failed. Increasing inequality has not increased the well-being of the poor, or even the middle class. It is by and for the well-to-do. In short, we are unlikely to find a rational or moral justification for increasing inequality.

For a brief moment, Occupy Wall Street changed the national discourse away from the insanity of belt-tightening and towards inequality and Wall Street. If we care about justice, we need to find ways to do so again.

China officially admits the existence of "Cancer Villages" for the first time

China's environment ministry has acknowledged the existence of "cancer villages", several years after widespread speculation first began that polluted areas were seeing a higher incidence of the disease.

The use of the term in an official report, thought to be unprecedented, comes as authorities face growing discontent over industrial waste, hazardous smog and other environmental and health consequences after years of rapid development.

"Poisonous and harmful chemical materials have brought about many water and atmosphere emergencies... certain places are even seeing 'cancer villages'," said a five-year plan that was highlighted this week.

The report did not elaborate on the phenomenon, which has no technical definition but gained prominence in domestic and foreign media after a Chinese journalist posted a map in 2009 pinpointing dozens of such "cancer villages".

But the ministry acknowledged that in general China uses "poisonous and harmful chemical products" that are banned in developed countries and "pose long-term or potential harm to human health and the ecology".

Environmental lawyer Wang Canfa, who runs an aid centre in Beijing for victims of pollution, said Friday it was the first time the "cancer village" phrase had appeared in a ministry document.

"It shows that the environment ministry has acknowledged that pollution has led to people getting cancer," he said. "It shows that this issue, of environmental pollution leading to health damages, has drawn attention."

A ministry official who declined to be named could not confirm whether it was the first time it had used the phrase, but said it had previously acknowledged the connection between the environment and human health.

Europe’s Fine… Just Ask Depositors Who Saw Their Savings Go to ZERO

by Phoenix Capital Research

Anyone who wants to get an inside look at both the European banking system and the politicians in charge of fixing it need to only look at Spain’s Bankia.
Bankia was formed in December 2010 by merging seven totally bankrupt Spanish cajas (regional banks that were unregulated). The bank was heralded as a success story and an indication that European Governments could manage the risks in their banking systems.
Indeed, in 2011, Bankia even reported a profit of €41 million. And in April 2012, it was proposing paying a dividend. Then, in the span of two weeks, the bank revised its 2011 profit to a €3.3 billion LOSS, requested a formal bailout from Spain, and had to be nationalized.
What’s striking about this sequence of events is that throughout it, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was claiming that Spain’s banks were in great shape. Indeed, on May 28 2012, (after Bankia had already requested a €19 billion bailout, the single largest bailout in Spanish history), Rajoy stated , “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”
Bear in mind, Spain itself was just days away from requesting outside aid from the EU.
The timeline says it all:

• May 9^th: Bankia requests €4.5 billion loan, Spanish Government states that the bank is “solvent.”
• May 21^st: Spain meets Bankia’s request for loan and takes a 45% stake in the bank thereby instigating a partial nationalization.
• May 23^rd:  Bankia’s bailout needs grows to €11 billion/ Rajoy retorts to France’s Hollande, “Hollande does not know the state of Spanish banks.”
• May 24^th: Bankia’s bailout needs grow to €15 billion
• May 25^th: Bankia’s bailout needs are now €19 billion (2011 profits revised to €4 billion loss)… the Spanish Bailout Fund has just €5 billion in cash.
• May 28^th: Rajoy comments, “there will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector.”
• Weekend of June 8-10^th: Rajoy texts to his finance minister: “Aguanta, we are the fourth European power. Spain is not Uganda… If they want to force the rescue of Spain, they need to start getting ready €500 billion and another €750 billion for Italy, which will have to be rescued afterwards.”/ Spain informally asks for €100 billion bailout/ EU Finance Ministers OK the bailout.
• Sunday June 10^th: Rajoy states that the bailout is a “victory” before commenting, “This year is going to be a bad one: Growth is going to be negative by 1.7 percent, and also unemployment is going to increase.”

Thus, in just one month’s time, Spain implements the largest bank nationalization in its history and requests €100 billion from the EU to recapitalize its banks. And yet, throughout this time, Spanish politicians maintain that Spain’s banking system is “solvent” or in great shape… right up until they get the €100 billion at which point the truth comes out: “This year is going to be a bad one.”
Also note that Rajoy sealed the deal and which he proclaimed a “triumph”  (along with the above statement about 2012 being a bad year) before hopping a plane to watch Spain’s soccer team play Poland.

Fast forward to December 2012, and Bankia is again in the news, this time with Spain revealing that despite receiving the largest bailout in Spanish history, the bank still had a NEGATIVE value.
Bankia’s shareholders have received a nasty new year’s surprise. They may lose most of their investments or even all of them says the Spanish bank rescue fund in its latest report.


According to FROB, the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, Bankia has a negative value of 4.2 billion euros, and its parent group BFA is 10.4 bn in the red.
Valuation is key in the recapitalisation of Spain’s banking system, weighed down by massive bad loans accumulated in a property bubble that burst in 2008. Bankia/BFA is set to receive 18 bn euros of European aid, and become the country’s biggest bailout recipient.
Source: Euronews
At this point the following is obvious:
1)   Europe’s banks are in far far worse shape than anyone publicly admits
2)   The political class in Europe has no idea how to solve this mess
3)   No one has quantified the bank’s actual losses or their capital needs
4)   Everyone is lying about just about everything related to Europe’s financial system
You could honestly end the story here and know everything you need to about Europe. But then you’d be missing out on Bankia’s newest achievement: setting the record for corporate losses in Spanish history.
Nationalised Spanish lender Bankia is expected to reveal a €19bn loss next week, the largest in the country’s corporate history.
On Thursday Bankia will report full-year earnings, including a €12.6bn provision taken at the end of last year. The writedown is a result of the lender moving assets into Spain’s “bad bank” at heavy discounts.
Bankia, which is seen as a symbol of Spain’s financial woes, was created through the merger of seven smaller savings banks before being listed on Madrid’s stock exchange. When the company failed, hundreds of thousands of people who had been sold shares saw their savings wiped out. The collapse forced Spain to ask Europe for a bailout for its banking sector, which has meant the lender is subject to tight controls.
Source: Telegraph
It’s a little known fact about the Spanish crisis is that when the Spanish Government merges troubled banks, it typically swaps out depositors’ savings for shares in the new bank.
So… when the newly formed bank goes bust, “poof” your savings are GONE. Not gone as in some Spanish version of the FDIC will eventually get you your money, but gone as in gone forever (see the above article for proof).
This is why Bankia’s collapse is so significant: in one move, former depositors at seven banks just lost virtually everything.
And this in a nutshell is Europe’s financial system today: a totally insolvent sewer of garbage debt, run by corrupt career politicians who have no clue how to fix it or their economies… and which results in a big fat ZERO for those who are nuts enough to invest in it.
Be warned. There are many many more Bankias coming to light in the coming months. So if you have not already taken steps to prepare for systemic failure, you NEED to do so NOW. We’re literally at most a few months, and very likely just a few weeks from Europe’s banks imploding, potentially taking down the financial system with them. Think I’m joking? The Fed is pumping hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars into EU banks right now trying to stop this from happening.

We have produced a FREE Special Report available to all investors titled What Europe’s Collapse Means For You and Your Savings.
This report features ten pages of material outlining our independent analysis real debt situation in Europe (numbers far worse than is publicly admitted), the true nature of the EU banking system, and the systemic risks Europe poses to investors around the world.
It also outlines a number of investments to profit from this; investments that anyone can use to take advantage of the European Debt Crisis.
Best of all, this report is 100% FREE. You can pick up a copy today at:
http://gainspainscapital.com/eu-report/
Best

Graham Summers