Free Republic

Pretty much precisely what noted earlier today: "A couple of behind-the-scene facts: from October to February, an epic 700k people have left the work force. If you actually adjust for the fact that the labour force participation rate has plunged this cycle to a 27-year low the unemployment would be sitting at 12% today. Moreover the employment-to-population ratio — the so-called “employment rate” — stagnated in February at 58.4% and is actually lower now than it was last fall when “double dip” was the flavour du jour."PAYROLL REVIEW – NICE JOB, SHAME ABOUT THE PAYCHEQUE, from Gluskin Sheff The widespread...

It appears many in Wisconsin would like an electoral do-over. Paperwork has been filed to recall 16 state senators — Democrats and Republicans — according to the Government Accountability Board, although the paperwork is incomplete in three of those cases. Those 16 include every single senator who can be recalled this year. The remaining 17 state senators, who won election or re-election last November, are constitutionally protected from recall efforts for the first year of their terms. “Add this to the list of incredible, astonishing developments that have happened in Wisconsin politics over the past two weeks,” said Mordecai Lee,...

If you remember, I questioned whether Obama was crossing the line into sedition with his statement that he intended to ignore a declaratory judgment. Well, they apparently (after stalling) asked the Judge for a stay, and got something a bit different than they asked for in reply. Judge Vinson began with:

The dollar took another drubbing Thursday as inflation hawks spread their wings in Europe. The euro climbed near $1.40, putting it up more than 4% on the year (see chart, right), after European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB may raise its benchmark interest rate as early as next month. "Risks to the medium-term outlook for price developments are on the upside," Trichet said. "They relate, in particular, to higher than assumed increases in energy and non-energy commodity prices." The ECB kept its policy rate unchanged as expected at 1%, but Trichet warned that the bank is ready...

The dollar's dominance in the world will diminish, due to increased pressure from emerging markets to raise interest rates to slow their economies over the next 18 months, Ray Dalio, founder & CIO of Bridgewater Associates told CNBC. "It's inevitable that the dollar's role as the world's currency will diminish from the dominant world currency to one of a few," he said. "It will fade probably fairly quickly so the United States which accounts for almost two-thirds of the reserves will probably go down to 50 percent of the world's reserves and it will have an effect on lending," he...

The world’s largest commodities trading firm, Glencore International, which was founded by Marc Rich (He is no longer affiliated), is considering a massive IPO. CNBC's Kate Kelly is reporting that Glencore is signaling to bankers that it expects to issue at least $7 billion in stock as part of an initial public offering to launch as early as April. Glencore is a heavy trader in oil, gas, wheat, corn, aluminum, nickel, and just about every other raw commodity you can think of. These guys are as shrewd as you can get. If they want to go public at this point,...

Say much less simple compliance with the law:CORPUS CHRISTI — A final judgment has been issued against one of the nation's largest mobile homebuilders related to a jury trial last year that found the company liable for civil racketeering and fraud in a South Texas case.

Global food prices have reached their highest point in 20 years and could increase further because of rising oil prices stemming from the unrest in Libya and the Mideast, a U.N. agency warned Thursday. Skyrocketing food prices have been among the triggers for protests in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, and raised fears of a repeat of the food price crises in 2007 and 2008. Some experts point to key differences compared to those years: for one, the price of rice, an important food security commodity, is much lower today. Still, Oxfam called the hike "deeply worrying." The Food and Agriculture...

The 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who left the state two weeks ago now face fines of $100 for each day they stay away. Republicans remaining in the Senate approved the daily fine today with none of the Democrats present. The Democrats left Wisconsin in order to delay indefinitely a Republican-backed bill taking away collective bargaining rights from public employees. The resolution also requires the missing Democrats to reimburse the Senate for any costs incurred during attempts to force them to return. Their salary and other per diem payments can be withheld until they pay back the penalties and costs....

In a surprising turn of events, today's biggest piece of news received a mere two paragraph blurb on Reuters, and was thoroughly ignored by the broader media. An announcement appeared shortly after midnight on the website of the People's Bank of China. The statement, google translated as "Pragmatic and pioneering spirit to promote cross-border renminbi business cum on monitoring and analysis to a new level" is presented below:

Of the nonperforming loans on the balance sheets of the 12 banks that failed in February, 72% were for commercial real estate, according to analytics firm Trepp. There have been 23 bank failures in 2011, but Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said closings this year will not surpass the 157 shuttered in 2010. That was an 18-year high, which Bair said will prove to be the peak coming out of the financial crisis. Analysts at Trepp estimate that there should still be more than 100 failed institutions by the end of 2011, however. Most of the February failures...

Bond market investors are showing the greatest confidence in global economic growth since credit markets crashed three years ago. Yields on debt securities are rising for a fourth month as prices fall, the longest stretch since June 2008, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Broad Market Index, which tracks the performance of more than 19,000 securities valued at about $39 trillion. While the highest-rated debt, from U.S. Treasuries toMicrosoft Corp. debentures, are falling, the riskiest company notes are returning the most in eight years. “We've just experienced the first several months of a bear market in bonds,” said...

Extending the Federal Reserve's easy-money policies would be a mistake for an economy that badly needs to learn how to live without artificial stimulus, Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC. As Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers his semi-annual policy update to Congress, El-Erian said the central bank ought to be weighing how it will exit the second leg of its multi-trillion dollar quantitative easing program, often called QE2. El-Erian used an automotive analogy to demonstrate what he thinks should be Bernanke's position. "Think of your car having stalled and someone comes along with jumper cables and starts it. At some point,...

Litigation and regulatory actions tied to Goldman Sach's selling of mortgage-backed securities could cost the investment bank an additional $3.4 billion in legal expenses, Goldman's said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week. The $3.4 billion is a "worst-case scenario" projection and does not reflect the true risk Goldman faces, but rather what could happen if the firm lands on the losing end of all litigation, a spokesman for the firm said. The company's projection of greater-than-budgeted for legal expenses puts it in company with Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan & Co., all of...

When we wrote a few weeks ago about Eric Holder, Wikileaks and Bank of America, we focused on the irony of the U.S. Attorney General threatening to prosecute an organization (Wikileaks) that possibly holds the very information on which he might draw up his very first indictment of a major bank or Wall Street executive. Why hasn't Eric Holder asked to see the evidence, which Wikileaks claims to have, that executives at one of our largest banks may have committed serious crimes?Let's be honest, Holder doesn't really give a rip about financial crimes, but the media should at least be...

Italian Banks Want Protection of Gold Reserves From GoldCore Silver has risen another 1.4% today to a high of $34.44/oz and above the 31-year interday high of $34.33/oz reached last Tuesday (February 22nd). Silver is higher in all currencies this morning, especially the Japanese yen. The news that Saudi Arabia may be sending tanks to crush anti-government protests in Bahrain saw buying of silver, gold and oil.

Did you catch ABC's recent special on an incubator to boost preemie survival in Africa and a new machine to diagnose tuberculosis in the developing world? Perhaps you saw Ray Suarez's three-part series on poverty and AIDS in Mozambique on the PBS NewsHour. Or listened to Public Radio International's piece on the rationing of kidney dialysis in South Africa. Beyond their subject matter, these reports have something else in common: They were all bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Better-known for its battles against global disease, the giant philanthropy has also become a force in journalism. The foundation's...

According to CNBC’s Kate Kelly, JPMorgan has just released its 10-K and it reveals some shocking information. Kelly says “JPMorgan [JPM Loading... () ] has been named as a defendant in about 10,000 different law suits. And as a result, they could end up needing an additional $4.5 billion on top of what they’ve already set aside for legal losses." What should you make of it? Instant Insights with the Fast Money traders Fast trader Karen Finerman is a JPMorgan shareholder but she isn’t concerned by these developments. "They talked about substantial legal costs in their last call," she says....

And there was a time when people thought Obama was out to get the bankers... From CitiRichard Parsons, chairman of the board of directors of Citigroup, has been named to President Barack Obama's advisory panel on jobs and the economy. The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, to be chaired by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, will focus on ways to promote growth and hiring in American businesses.We expect someone to tell us that between the two, their respective companies have seen headcuts well into the tens of thousands. As a reminder, under Immelt alone, GE's track record of employment...

Over Half PD Holdings In Under Two Weeks Today's POMO closed with the Fed monetizing its usual fare of $6.69 billion in various 3 Year bonds, at a 5.81 Submitted-Accepted ratio. The surge in the S/A ratio is not surprising: a quick look at the internals shows just what the reason for the Primary Dealers' urgency was. Of the entire POMO, one CUSIP: the just auctioned off QH6 3 Year which was sold by the Treasury not even 2 weeks s. Of the entire POMO, one CUSIP: the just auctioned off QH6 3 Year which was sold by the Treasury...