Free Republic

Sung to the tune of "Mary, Mary" by The Monkees. Kerry, Kerry Kerry, Kerry, where you goin' to? Kerry, Kerry, can I go too? This one thing I will vow ya, I'd rather die than to live without ya. Kerry, Kerry, where you goin' to? Kerry, Kerry, tell me truly What did I do to make you leave me. Whatever it was I didn't mean to, Guardian readers would never try and hurt ya. Kerry, Kerry, where you goin' to? What more, Kerry, can I do To prove my love is truly yours? I've done more now than a clear-thinkin'...

Dow Jones Business News Many Seek Changes To SEC's Proposed Short-Sale Rules Monday February 2, 2:38 pm ET By Phil McCarty, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- While the mutual-fund industry's main trade group strongly supports the Securities and Exchange Commission's (News - Websites) proposal to overhaul short-sale rules, several others have suggested significant changes to the regulation. The short-selling proposal, known as Regulation SHO, was put forth in October but has largely been lost amid the ongoing mutual-fund scandal and myriad rule proposals to clean up the $7 trillion industry. SEC Commissioner Cynthia Glassman declined to comment on...

Press Release Source: UBS UBS Issues Market Report Monday January 12, 2:03 pm ET UBS Strategists Express Concern Over High Levels of Cash Held by U.S. Investors NEW YORK, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The bear market over the past three years has driven cash holdings from 11.6% in March 200 to 16.4% by mid-2003, writes UBS Wealth Management USA's Chief Investment Strategist Mary Farrell and her team of strategists in a research note released today. "American households are ringing in the New Year sitting on more cash than ever," writes Farrell. According to the most recent release of the Federal...

Pension Insurance Plan Has Record Deficit LEIGH STROPE Associated Press WASHINGTON - Deficits at the government's pension insurance program surged to a record $11.2 billion in 2003 - three times larger than any previous shortfall, with the outgoing director warning Thursday that taxpayers could be called on for a bailout. Steven Kandarian, executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., said the program wasn't yet in a financial crisis. But he urged Congress to act soon to reform the nation's private pension system, which is being squeezed by low interest rates, a subdued stock market and laws that do not...

Sitting on a String by Gary North Something very strange is going on. It has been going on since August. The U.S. money supply is shrinking. Consider the charts published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The St. Louis FED has been diligent for decades in making available charts and tables regarding the money supply, as well as other key statistics. I trust the long-term consistency of this information. If you will see for yourself what is going on, you will be able to understand this report with less confusion, meaning your confusion will stay even with mine....

<p>KB Toys Inc., the largest closely held U.S. toy retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection and said it may close as many as 500 stores, becoming the latest casualty of competition from discount chains during the holiday season.</p> <p>KB Toys, based in Pittsfield, Mass., had a work force of about 35,000 at 1,231 stores during the Christmas season, according to documents filed with the bankruptcy court. Sales at stores open at least a year have declined about 10 percent from Feb. 2 through Dec. 31, the court papers said.</p>

THE MARKETING OF EVIL, PART 1 Selling sex and corruption to your kids Posted: January 15, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: This is the first part of a groundbreaking, two-part series on today's youth culture, by WND Vice President and Managing Editor David Kupelian. It is a frank and in-depth exploration of an often-shocking subject, and may not be suitable reading for children. Parental discretion is advised. © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com "A Scout is trustworthy … loyal … helpful … friendly … courteous … kind …" I'm watching my 12-year-old son Joshua and two dozen other Boy Scouts together recite...

S Koreans despair at debt crisis By Charles Scanlon BBC correspondent in Seoul South Korea's largest credit card company has been bailed out at the last minute, but the near-collapse has put the country's giant debt problem into sharp focus. The firm in question - LG Card - needed a $4bn bailout to cover its bad debts, and its acute difficulties are sadly indicative of a nation that over the past few years has been on the biggest credit-fuelled spending binge in its history. With four million South Koreans now defaulting on their credit card bills to the tune of...

Feds Again Scrutinize Investment Banks By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP)--Big investment banks are under renewed federal scrutiny in the multibillion-dollar Parmalat fraud case, as investigators are examining the banks' role in helping the Italian dairy giant sell bonds and questioning whether they turned a blind eye to irregularities in company books. Following a stunning bankruptcy, the expanding case is being dubbed Europe's Enron. And the regulators' focus on Wall Street banks behind big-money deals recalls the Enron aftermath. For the banks, ``it's still a really competitive business where they're under a lot of pressure to be creative....

Lt. Gov. Bustamante, Speaker Herb Wesson, President Pro Tem John Burton, Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte, Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Speaker Designate Fabian Nunez, distinguished members of the Legislature, Chief Justice of California Ron George and associate justices, members of the Board of Equalization, my fellow constitutional officers, esteemed Cabinet secretaries, friends, my fellow Californians, and last but not the least, the first lady, the No. 1 partner, and the love of my life, Maria Shriver. I changed my mind. I want to go back to acting. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the truth at all. People have...

The art of thievery Posted: January 6, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com There are few areas of government abuse that infuriate me more than does spending on the so-called "arts." In one of the most incredible scams ever perpetrated on the American taxpayer, tens of thousands of marginal artists across the country have discovered a way to use the police power of government to compensate for the lack of actual marketable artistic skills. The general philosophy here is that if you cannot get the uncultured great unwashed to purchase your works of art in a free market, then...

"Nano" in firm's name fuels stock's hefty gain Reuters, 12.03.03, 5:42 PM ET By Daniel Sorid SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A growing fascination with nanotechnology seems to be doing wonders for the stock price of Nanometrics Inc. Too bad the company's only connection with the hot field of molecular-scale machinery is the first four letters of its name and a stock ticker, NANO. But that, apparently, is enough to confuse some investors. It has been a remarkable few days on the stock market for the Milpitas, California-based Nanometrics, whose true identity is perhaps more mundane than its name would suggest:...

U.S. November insider stock sales hit 2-year high Reuters, 12.03.03, 7:22 PM ET By Joseph A. Giannone NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Stock sales by top U.S. corporate executives reached their highest level in more than two years in November, a bearish signal at a time when the stock market has been surging amid strong growth in the economy and company earnings. Last month corporate executives cashed in $4.5 billion worth of their own companies' shares, up 43 percent from October and nearly double the five-year monthly average, according to Thomson Financial's Insider Research, which tracks insider transactions. Meanwhile...

German money woes hit schools University budget cuts spawn protests in German cities, as education proposals around Europe continue to draw fire. By Charles Hawley | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor MUNICH – The gathering looked almost like a regular university course, with a group of students peering up from notebooks, pens at the ready, as a professor spoke. The only difference was that instead of sitting at desks, the students were seated on vinyl benches - in a Berlin subway. The lecture in the metro Monday was one of hundreds of protests - ranging from handing out informational...

NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. homeowners are on track to convert more than $130 billion of their home equity into cash this year, surpassing the $96 billion homeowners unlocked last year, Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people) said on Tuesday. Rising home prices and historically low mortgage rates have enticed millions of Americans to borrow against the growing value of their homes, freeing up money for spending or paying off other debt, such as car loans and credit card bills. The Federal Reserve and economists have pointed to money from "cash-out" refinancing as one of the...

<p>If you weren't bored to tears or taking a nap during the first few lessons of Economics 101, perhaps you remember the instructor droning on about the role of the Federal Reserve. You may even recall how that role was summed up in the mysterious phrase, "Controlling the money supply."</p>

Busiest IPO day in 3 years reported By Bloomberg News, 11/25/2003 Pinnacle Airlines Corp., a regional carrier owned by Northwest Airlines Corp., raised $271.6 million in the first IPO by a US airline in more than 18 months. Pinnacle sold 19.4 million shares at $14 each. Northwest Airlines is selling an 89 percent stake in Pinnacle through the IPO and may sell all of its shares. The airline was one of four IPOs yesterday, the most by US- based companies since five sales on Dec. 7, 2000, according to Bloomberg data. A broadcaster, a retailer and a relocation company also...

PRC to bail out state banks AFP , BEIJING Tuesday, Nov 25, 2003,Page 11 China is preparing to once again bail out its insolvent state-owned commercial banks in a move that has been widely expected for some time, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Details of a comprehensive package are now being worked out between the finance ministry and the People's Bank of China, the central bank, Vice Finance Minister Lou Jiwei (???) told the newspaper. It will involve possibly using some of China's nearly US$400 billion in foreign exchange reserves as a source of funds while the state may also...

Professors say TVA 'broke' If it were private utility, report says, it would be headed for bankruptcy By REBECCA FERRAR, ferrarr@knews.com November 25, 2003 TVA is virtually broke and could face a federal government bailout if it doesn't get its debt situation under control, a new report by two university professors concludes. "The TVA is fundamentally insolvent," said Dennis Logue, dean of the University of Oklahoma's Price School of Business. "If it were a private company, it would be in bankruptcy. It continues to borrow money with an implicit guarantee from the federal government." Logue wrote the 40-page report with...

<p>WACO, Texas, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A new Baylor University School of Business survey indicates at least 10 percent of Generation Y members are compulsive buyers.</p> <p>Associate Professor Jim Roberts and W.A. Mays, professor of entrepreneurship, said that after researching the "affliction" known as compulsive buying for nearly a decade, they've seen an alarming trend.</p>