China's financial system: Look again

Chinese Property Shares Sink on Overpriced Home Prices
In Asia Thursday China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3% to close at 2,811 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3% to end the day at 23,172. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.5% to 10,286. News that a major Chinese Think Tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that Real Estate prices are overpriced to the tune of nearly 30% took the property sector by storm today. The organization released its annual report saying that in five of the 35 cities they investigated, propert...

Trichet Says Excess Forex Volatility, Disorderly Moves Adverse
Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet reiterated that excessive and disorderly movements of foreign Exchange Rates must be avoided. “The euro area has a shared interest in a strong and stable international Financial System, as excess Volatility and disorderly movements in Exchange Rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability,” Trichet wrote in a letter to a member of the European Parliament, published on the bank’s we...

Should Megabanks Be Broken Apart?
The economic crisis in Ireland has shown that "too big to fail" can quickly turn into "too big to save” as the Irish government tried to shore up faltering private banks, with catastrophic results for the entire economy. In a recent Op-Ed article, Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mo., wrote that despite Financial Reform Legislation, the biggest banks still control our economy and pose a serious threat. After the last round of Bailouts, the five largest f...

CEOs pitch plan to Washington, ask for second look on healthcare and financial regulatory reform
A group of business leaders is calling for policymakers to revisit two of President Obama's key legislative achievements — healthcare and financial regulatory reform — as well as take additional steps to boost The Economy by supporting the Private Sector. The Business Roundtable, an association of Chief Executive Officers, also called for comprehensive Tax Reform, including a lower Corporate Tax rate, entitlement spending and Social Security reform, more trade agreements, education incenti...

Banks That Failed Despite Fed's Cash
The Federal Reserve’s multitrillion-dollar effort to save the Financial System helped prop up hundreds of ailing banks. But not every institution fared so well. Some 20 American banks that tapped tens of billions of dollars from the Fed’s various emergency Lending programs later failed, according to data the Fed released last week. The shuttered banks, all once deemed by the Fed to be relatively healthy, ranged from small community banks in Florida to big savings institutions like ...

The Top Ten China Myths of 2010
Harmony is the mantra of the new Chinese empire. But 2010 was a year in serious need of a tune-up. On trade, Diplomacy, the environment, the Internet, and even Basketball, China spent the year staking out a muscular new role in the world—with combustible results. The top ten myths left in shards on the floor: 1. Dissidents no longer matter in global diplomacy. Fact: After China joined the World Trade Organization and hosted the Beijing Olympics, the image of the impassioned, ink-stained in...

Stocks poised for timid open
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised to open slightly higher Friday as investors digested the latest data on China's trade surplus and awaited the latest from Washington on the Obama-GOP Tax Cut deal. Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and NASDAQ (COMP) futures were up 0.2% to 0.3% ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance. Email Print Comment China's trade surplus narrowed 16% in November. Separately,...

Bunning hits 'stubborn' Dems in farewell address
Retiring Sen. Jim Bunning — who spent more than 20 years in Congress — gave an emotional goodbye to the upper chamber, but not before criticizing Democrats as "stubborn." The Kentucky Republican swung at Democrats for pursuing the massive healthcare overhaul and the financial regulatory reform package, which he said were "disappointments" that will cause more problems than they will solve. Bunning, a staunch conservative, blamed the Democrats' "stubborn refusal to Compromise" for the outc...

Sanders Statement on Fed Disclosure
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on today's disclosure by the Federal Reserve that banks and other institutions received an estimated $3.3 Trillion in emergency loans and other assistance during the Financial Crisis: "After years of stonewalling by the Fed, the American People are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed's multi-trillion-dollar Bailout of Wall Street and Corporate America. Perhaps most surprising is the hu...

Cherkaskys parting remarks
This seems to be the day for swan songs: First Lt. Richard Ravitch reflected on his tenure and now Michael Cherkasky, chairman of the state Commission on Public Integrity, is saying his goodbyes, along with some “notes of concern,” including his belief that the CPI is too big, its members are appointed by an overly partisan process, and it may be spending too many resources going after relatively minor lobbying violations (the group spent time a while back debating, basically, over ...

'Toxic assets' are hot again
What's hot for 2011: Mortgage-backed securities? Posted by Nin-Hai Tseng, writer-reporter December 9, 2010 11:39 am Remember those Toxic Assets that nearly wrecked the U.S. Financial System back in 2008? They're back, even though housing isn't. Image via Wikipedia It seems like only yesterday that virtually everyone thought mortgage-backed securities were evil. After all, the securities – backed by mortgages including subprime home loans – helped put the country's largest banks o...

What's hot for 2011: Mortgage-backed securities?
Remember those Toxic Assets that nearly wrecked the U.S. Financial System back in 2008? They're back, even though housing isn't. It seems like only yesterday that virtually everyone thought Mortgage-backed securities were evil. After all, the securities – backed by mortgages including subprime home loans – helped put the country's largest banks on the brink and the Global Economy into a dizzying downward spiral after the housing bust started. In the years leading up to the financial...

Majority of Americans Say Fed Should Be Reined In or Abolished, Poll Shows
A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation’s independent Central Bank, saying the U.S. Federal Reserve should either be brought under tighter political control or abolished outright, a poll shows. The Bloomberg National Poll underlines the extent to which the central bank’s standing has suffered as it has come under fire in Congress, first from Democrats for regulatory lapses before the Financial Crisis and then from Republicans for failing to revive an economy in which t...

Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee is building a $3 million house on Blue Mountain Beach just east of Destin, Fla. He bought the lot on the famous sugar sand beach last year for $800,000 and this year took out a building permit for a house expected to cost $2.2 million. The three-story house will have 8,224 square feet of living space and 2,969 square feet of decks and porch. A pool or spa is also in the works. Walton County tax records show Huckabee has a $2.8 million Mortgage with Centennial Bank after...

Binghams Bungling
Bingham, the galactic Law Firm with roots in Boston’s old-fashioned legal market, is a ubiquitous advertiser in expensive print publications, boasting about its deftness in navigating complex business challenges with keen legal insight. The firm even brags about its advertising prowess. At issue is the embarrassing spectacle of Larry Silverstein handling a simple contract drafting exercise for Jamie and Frank McCourt. The rich erstwhile couple feud over ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers...

AIG to repay $21bn emergency loan
American International Group (AIG), the troubled giant US insurer, is to repay one of the emergency rescue loans it received during the Financial Crisis. It will repay the remaining $21bn outstanding from a $91bn loan from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The move will pave the way for the US Treasury to sell a fifth of the insurer on the Stock Exchange early next year. The Treasury currently owns 80% of AIG, although this will rise to some 92% before the planned share selloff. AIG also pla...

Federal Reserve historian slams Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Allan Meltzer, author of a new exhaustive history of the Federal Reserve, slammed Congress's recently passed Financial Reform law for creating an "abomination" in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. During a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute with former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, Meltzer, who has been critical of federal intervention during the Financial Crisis, said that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was "absolutely not the way to go." "It should be on the b...

US Trade Deficit At $38.7 Billion, Better Than Expectations Of $43.8 Billion
From the release: The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total October exports of $158.7 billion and imports of $197.4 billion resulted in a goods and services Deficit of $38.7 billion, down from $44.6 billion in September, revised. October exports were $4.9 billion more than September exports of $153.8 billion. October imports were $0.9 billion less than September imports of $198.4 billion. In October, the good...

U.S. Trade Deficit Plunges as Exports Hit Two-Year High
Aided by a jump in exports and a dip in imports, the U.S. Trade Deficit unexpectedly plunged 13.2% in October to $38.7 billion -- the Lowest Level since January, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Friday. A Bloomberg survey had expected the Trade Deficit to remain unchanged in October at $44.0 billion, after a revised $2.3 billion drop to $44.6 billion in September. Deficit with China Narrows In October, exports surged 3.2% to a two-year high of $158.7 billion after an 0.5% increase in ...

Berlusconi battles back from brink in Italy
FILE - In this Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010 file picture, Italy's Prime Minister... ROME (AP) - The Wikileaks cables have caused Silvio Berlusconi major embarrassment, with juicy gossip about hard partying and too-cozy ties to Russia. But the Italian premier has bigger problems on his hands than diplomatic indiscretions: In upcoming days he'll be fighting for his very political survival. The 74-year-old leader faces a no-confidence vote next week that will determine the fate of his government. Just w...

Berlusconi battles back from brink in Italy
The Wikileaks cables have caused Silvio Berlusconi major embarrassment, with juicy gossip about hard partying and too-cozy ties to Russia. But the Italian premier has bigger problems on his hands than diplomatic indiscretions: In upcoming days he'll be fighting for his very political survival. The 74-year-old leader faces a no-confidence vote next week that will determine the fate of his government. Just weeks ago, it appeared Berlusconi had little chance of winning after his biggest ally withdr...

Strong Treasuries sale calms nerves
Large domestic Financial Institutions and foreign central banks were big buyers at an auction of 30-year US Treasury Bonds on Thursday, helping to ease anxieties about a further rise in yields for government Debt. The auction came after the biggest two-day sell-off of US Treasuries since 2008 had sent the yield on the 30-year bond to 4.50 per cent on Wednesday, its highest level since May, and up from just 4.05 per cent at the end of November. EDITOR’S CHOICE US stocks see new high as data im...

Economic Outlook: A fraction of a panacea
Published: Dec. 10, 2010 at 9:22 AM What's good for the Christmas goose appears strangely unappealing to Washington this year in the wake of a bond purchasing program that baffles Economists. In short, the $600 billion Quantitative Easing program the Federal Reserve announced Nov. 3 was supposed to bring long-term Interest Rates down, providing a stimulus to a foundering recovery. Many have been baffled by the sudden rise in bond yields since then. Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said, "I don't...

Hendry: There Are No Policy Remedies for Debt Deflation
Hugh Hendry is back writing after a long hiatus. His latest commentary to investors makes for good reading. His Thesis: we are in a world of Debt Deflation for which there are no policy remedies; the Fed is fighting an uphill battle and it will lose. Long-time readers will now I agree with the thrust of Hendry’s core thesis. I certainly advocate some policy remedies, but I do not expect them to arrest the Debt deflationary trend, simply to mitigate its effects. I fear that just as Whitman&...

U.K. Banks Face Government Levy
Five U.K. banks may have to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in a levy that aims to charge them for the risks they pose to the country's economy. The planned bank levy will raise a total of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.59 billion) a year from 2012 onwards, The Wall Street Journal said. The levy has two goals, according to Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban. Sponsored Links "First, ensuring that banks make a fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the U.K. f...