The Mining Industry feels the pinch

It is not just the auto industry that is feeling the pinch of the economy, it seems that the mining industry is feeling it as well.

BIG mining companies have suffered an astounding reversal of fortunes in the past few months. As boom has turned to gloom, commodity prices have slumped, leaving mining firms with painful decisions to make. Rio Tinto is the latest to suffer. On Monday February 2nd the Anglo-Australian mining giant was forced to confirm press speculation, acknowledging that it is in talks with Chinalco, a state-owned Chinese aluminium maker. The Chinese firm may agree to a deal to help to alleviate Rio’s debts which were taken on before the credit crunch led to a foundering world economy.

Rio’s debt pile of some $40 billion was mostly run-up through its purchase of Alcan, a Canadian aluminium firm, in 2007. Around $9 billion is due later this year, and refinancing will be a tricky proposition given the parlous state of debt markets. Another $10 billion must be repaid in 2010. Rio has started a firesale of assets: it raised $1.6 billion last week by selling iron ore and potash businesses in Brazil and Argentina to Vale, a Brazilian rival. But prices are depressed and making a sale is not always possible—Rio has still not managed to offload Alcan’s packaging business, although it is reportedly in talks with a potential buyer.

via Rio Tinto, deeply indebted, seeks investment from China  The Economist.

More fall out from a concept floated by the Democrats, that was based entirely upon risk. Thank you Bill Cinton for ruining America. 🙄

The Automotive Bailouts: The Other Side of the Story

I have been sitting here, trying to keep out of this. But I have sat and looked at the Republican and NeoConservative Spin on this Story and I’m sick of it. 😡

So, I am giving you, the other side of the story, from the horses mouth; without commentary from me.

I did not ask that you agree, I simply ask that you listen and hear this man out. Now I am almost sure, that the Blogs, that I have linked to, will remove my trackback, like the Neo-Con Fascists that they are. I mean, it is all about controlling the message with those guys.  🙄

Here we go:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Media Q & A:

Media Q & A Part 2:

Media Q & A Part 3:

There you have it. The other side of the story. You decide.

(Source UAW.ORG)

Important Announcement From the Blogs 4 Borders Crew!

Jake Delivers a sobering announcement about the Blogs 4 Borders BlogBurst. 🙁

….and here I am unemployed and cannot help. 😥

If you want to help Jake get his show on the road, click here to send him a message. Or go to his YouTube site and leave him a message there.

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Blogs 4 Borders! 10/13/2008

Jake snuck this one out on me or I didn’t see it, one of the two! Doh

——————-

Our weekly vlog/podcast on illegal immigration and border security issues. In this weeks edition…

The subprime meltdown: a basic issue of fairness?

You do the math: California calls for $7 billion bailout, where’d the money go?

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders. When will the madness end?

Download for your Ipod here.

Make sure to visit this weeks sponsor….

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If you’d like to sponsor a show contact us here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Now here’s a smart idea….

Now the Democrats are using their brains.

U.S. Democrats seek Wall Street tax in bailout plan (Via Reuters):

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing for a new Wall Street tax that would cover the potential costs of a $700 billion bailout being negotiated by Congress and the Bush administration.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters after a meeting with fellow Democrats, said the fee could be assessed after five years if the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office determined taxpayers had lost money in the bailout.

“If after five years … the CBO decides that the American taxpayer has lost money in this, then there would be a fee on financial institutions,” Pelosi said, adding that she hoped the provision could be part of a final bailout deal.

Pelosi said that the Secretary of the Treasury could determine how to assess the fee.

It is a about damn time the Democrats wised up. This would ensure that the taxpayer, (i.e. you and me) would not get stuck paying the bill on this “bail out”.

I know some traders will scream about this. But, you know what I say? screw ‘em! I say, let the assholes making the big money get the tax, instead of the working class, like me, who do not even play the markets.

I am all for free markets, but I’m also for responsibility. If greed caused all this, let the damn greedy ones pay for it in taxes, instead of the average American, like me!

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End of Day Market Numbers

As I reported earlier. It was going to be a bad day on the stock market. Unfortunately, I was right.

Market Chart

Dow

10,917.51
-504.48
(-4.42%)

Nasdaq

2,179.91
-81.36
(-3.60%)

S&P 500

1,192.69
-59.01
(-4.71%)

10y bond

3.39%
-0.15
(-4.24%)

USD-Euro

0.7044
+0.0004
(0.06%)

USD-Yen

  • 105.8300
    -1.8000
    (-1.67%)

USD-GBP

0.5587
+0.0007
(0.13%)

Hopefully tomorrow will be better for everyone.

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A possible dicey day on Wall St.

I knew about the problems that were happening over on Wall Street and in the banking world. I was just unaware of just how bad it is.

It turns out, that it is really bad. I mean, really seriously bad!

The Wall Street has a great Video and Story up over on their site.

Here’s the Video:

Quote from WSJ:

The American financial system was shaken to its core on Sunday. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said it would file for bankruptcy protection, and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be sold to Bank of America Corp.

The U.S. government, which bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a week ago and orchestrated the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in March, played much tougher with Lehman. It refused to provide a financial backstop to potential buyers. Without such support, Barclays PLC and Bank of America, the two most interested buyers, walked away. Barclays said Monday it pulled out of the potential deal after deciding it wasn’t in the best interest of shareholders.

Late Sunday night, Lehman said it intends to file for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Lehman said none of the broker-dealer subsidiaries or other subsidiaries of LBHI will be included in the Chapter 11 filing and all of the broker-dealers will continue to operate. Customers of Lehman Brothers, including customers of its wholly owned subsidiary, Neuberger Berman Holdings LLC, may continue to trade or take other actions with respect to their accounts, Lehman said.

On Sunday night, Bank of America struck an all-stock deal to buy Merrill Lynch for $29 a share, or $50 billion.

Though it steered clear of a bailout, the Federal Reserve is expected to take new steps to stabilize the broader financial system. These steps, expected to be temporary, would make it easier for banks and securities firms to borrow from the central bank by using a wider range of collateral. Bankers say these financial institutions might need short-term funds as they unwind their many trading positions with Lehman.

While I do not have anything invested on Wall Street, I know people who do, in fact, my parents have stock options in G.M. So, this may just affect them. I will be watching this story all day today. This Blog is mainly politics, but I also Blog about other news stories of interest. Anyhow, this could trigger panic selling everywhere and could trigger a massive crash of the stock market, rivaling the crash of the 1930’s or at least rivaling the mini-crash of the 1980’s.

I do realize that the FDR did put some protection in our bank system to prevent another major crash, as to just good those protections are, we will see I suppose. I do not claim to be a banking nor financial expert. But I can see the panic in the eyes of those men that made that video. So, I expect a horrible day on the stock market.

Of course, our communist liberals, especially the far left with their anti-capitalist mentality, will be cheering this little misfortune. I’m sure that B. Hussein Obama will be saying stuff like, “They deserve to be punished, for making the little people suffer!” and “It was George W. Bush’s fault that the stock market crashed!”

On the other hand, John McCain will most likely make some rather stupid comment and then blame his time as a P.O.W. on his idiotic gaffe. Like he always does. 🙄

Either way, this story is going to be interesting to follow. Stay tuned. 

Update: Michelle Malkin says “The Fit has hit the shanIndeed. But she also says:

And now is the time where I get to say, “See, I told you so.” From March 17, 2008, as the Bear Stearns bailout was underway:

I warned from the start of stimulus-palooza that we were headed in this direction. Both political parties support these massive government interventions–from empowering judges to meddle with private contracts to backing billions in mortgage securities. This isn’t the last step. It’s the first. And you know who will end up getting screwed: The responsible and the frugal.

True Michelle, But don’t you think that Mr. “Nation of whiners“, has to share some of the blame, because of his lobbying for the deregulation of the housing industry? Which caused all of this in the first place? I think so. What is really known, is the fact that it is going to get a hell of lot worse, before it gets any better. *gulp!*

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Palin Makes Her First Gaffe, or perhaps not….

Sam Stein is wetting his pants with glass that Palin supposedly Made Her First Gaffe.

Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend. Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization.

Well, there’s only one little problem with that whole thing. It was not exactly a gaffe at all. Because now that the United States Government has bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it is going to start costing the tax payers money, not to mention that it will cause housing prices to rise, to cover the bailout. After all, the Government will have to cover that loss.

So, it looks like, while she might have been wrong in the past. In this case, considering what has happened to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Palin was absolutely correct.

Others:
michellemalkin.com, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Corner, Hot Air

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