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Wednesday 01.25.2012
State of the Union 2012: Obama speech
White House
Text of President Obama’s State of the Union Address
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
State of the Union Address
"An America Built to Last"
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Washington, DC
As Prepared for Delivery –
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Mitch Daniels Response To State Of The Union:
FULL TEXT: Republican Address to the Nation
Following is the full text of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Republican Address to the Nation, as prepared for delivery:
In State of the Union,
Obama warns economic disparity threatens middle class
By Scott Wilson and David Nakamura - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama warned the nation Tuesday that the decades-old promise of a secure and rising middle class is under threat because of growing disparities between the rich and everyone else in America.
In an election-year State of the Union message that will likely serve as the template for the months of campaigning ahead, Obama outlined a series of steps that he believes will reinforce the tentative economic recovery, including proposals to eliminate tax incentives for companies to move jobs overseas, to make college more affordable and to expand help for credit-worthy homeowners looking to refinance mortgages at historically low interest rates.
Obama calls for economy 'built to last'
Vows to fight for middle class;
says Wall St. must play by the rules
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama will use his State of the Union address Tuesday to describe specific plans to move toward an economy that is "built to last."
In excerpts of the speech released early by the White House, Obama said that the United States must attract "a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs" to compete in the global economy.
The U.S. must also be "in control of our own energy," he said.
Following up on a speech the president gave in December in Kansas, Obama vowed to fight for the middle class.
State of the Union:
Obama to vow to 'fight obstruction with action'
By Michael A. Memoli - LATimes.com
Reporting from Washington— President Obama will vow to "fight obstruction with action" in his State of the Union address tonight, signaling the extent to which he will use an unpopular Congress as foil as he campaigns for a new term this year.
"As long as I'm president, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place," Obama is expected to say this evening, according to advance excerpts of the address provided by theWhite House.
State of the Union:
Obama to say U.S. must reclaim fairness
By Ben Feller - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Keeping the American dream alive has become "the defining issue of our time," President Barack Obama says. He’s using Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to draw a stark election-year line with Republicans over how to keep the United States from eroding further into a nation of haves and have-nots.
In excerpts of his speech released in advance,Obama attacked income equality and offered his own economic revival plan built upon boosting manufacturing, energy and education. He warned Republicans in Congress that he will fight them if they try to obstruct him or restore an economy gutted by "outsourcing, bad debt and phony financial profits."
Economic inequality a focus of Obama’s State of the Union
Denver Business Journal by Mark Harden
President Barack Obama hits themes of economic inequality and fairness in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, according to advance excerpts released by the White House.
"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules," Obama’s speech text says.
India to pay gold instead of dollars for Iranian oil.
Oil and gold markets stunned
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar, DEBKAfile's intelligence and Iranian sources report exclusively. Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day, or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets.
By trading in gold, New Delhi and Beijing enable Tehran to bypass the upcoming freeze on its central bank's assets and the oil embargo which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose Monday, Jan. 23. The EU currently buys around 20 percent of Iran's oil exports.
True or False: India to pay Iran in Gold for its oil
By Deepak Rangan - CommodityOnline.com
There are reports floating that India will be paying Iran in Goldinstead of the US Dollar for the oil imports. Though this might just make the goldbug in you to rush out and buy gold, we have to remember that this has not been confirmed-its only a rumour.
Israeli-based news website DEBKAfile reported that Iran and India are negotiating backup alternatives with China and Russia, should the US and EU find a way to block the gold payment mechanism.
Governments Will Want Much,
Much Higher Gold Prices Soon! Here’s Why
By: Arnold Bock
That governments will want - and will NEED - much, much higher gold and silver prices in the future is counter intuitive, given that they have done everything within their power till now to throttle back and to keep a lid on bullion prices. Let me explain why.
Although we have seen eleven consecutive years of gold bullion price rises, such increases have been incremental, measured and at levels which make the remainder of the commodities and equities markets look volatile. Governments have used their preferred bullion banks as agents in the paper futures markets and their central banks, in conjunction with their respective Treasury bureaucracies, to limit the inexorable rise in precious metals prices as much as possible to keep gold - the only ‘real money’ - from drawing unfavorable attention to their own failing fiat currencies and uncontrolled sovereign debt.
Governments Will Want Much,
Much Higher Gold Prices Soon! Here’s Why
BY ARNOLD BOCK - FinancialSense.com
That governments will want - and will need - much, much higher gold and silver prices in the future is counter intuitive, given that they have done everything within their power till now to throttle back and to keep a lid on bullion prices. Let me explain why.
Although we have seen eleven consecutive years of gold bullion price rises, such increases have been incremental, measured and at levels which make the remainder of the commodities and equities markets look volatile. Governments have used their preferred bullion banks as agents in the paper futures markets and their central banks, in conjunction with their respective Treasury bureaucracies, to limit the inexorable rise in precious metals prices as much as possible to keep gold - the only ‘real money’ - from drawing unfavorable attention to their own failing fiat currencies and uncontrolled sovereign debt.
"Absence of Far East Demand"
Sees Gold "Succumbs to Profit Taking"
as Markets "Fragile" on Greek Debt Uncertainty
By: Ben Traynor, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
London Gold Market Report
WHOLESALE MARKET gold prices retreated to roughly where they started the week during Tuesday's morning session in London, making a 1% drop from yesterday's 6-week high to $1665 an ounce.
Silver prices slipped to $31.91 an ounce – a 1% drop on Friday's close – as stocks and commodities also fell following news that Greek debt agreement remains elusive after yesterday's Brussels finance ministers meeting.
"Key support [for gold prices] sits at the 200-day moving average, currently at $1643," says the latest report from Scotia Mocatta technical analyst Russell Browne.
"Gold succumbed to profit-taking yesterday," adds Marc Ground, commodities strategist at Standard Bank.
Central bank buying to be bulwark of gold rally
LONDON (Commodity Online): Central-bank purchases to be a bulwark of the long-term Gold rally, said HSBC in a research note.
According to bank, a World Gold Council report estimating that central-bank gold purchases may have hit 450 metric tons in 2011. This means the official sector outstripped gold exchange-traded-fund demand of 155 tons last year by almost threefold.
"The outlook for central-bank gold purchases remains positive for this year, based on the likelihood that emerging-markets central banks will continue to diversify away from the USD," HSBC said.
Silver sales are booming as supply drops to scary levels
By Steve St Angelo - CommodityOnline.com
For the first time in history, Silver Eagle & Maple Leaf sales will surpass domestic silver production in the U.S. and Canada in 2011
The demand for American Silver Eagles and Canadian Maple Leaf coins has increased tremendously over the past several years. 2011 will be the first year in which official coin sales will surpass domestic silver production in both countries.
Billionaires at Davos Bemoan Inequalities
By Matthew G. Miller - Bloomberg.com
Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk wants to talk about income inequality. So does Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien and Indian billionaire Vikas Oberoi.
The three are among a contingent of at least 70 billionaires who are joining more than 2,500 business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week, according to a list of attendees and promotional materials obtained by Bloomberg News. A half-dozen of the richest participants, interviewed in advance of the conference, say economic disparity needs to be addressed.
Billionaires at Davos Bemoan Inequalities
By Matthew G. Miller - Bloomberg.com
Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk wants to talk about income inequality. So does Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien and Indian billionaire Vikas Oberoi.
The three are among a contingent of at least 70 billionaires who are joining more than 2,500 business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week, according to a list of attendees and promotional materials obtained by Bloomberg News. A half-dozen of the richest participants, interviewed in advance of the conference, say economic disparity needs to be addressed.
IMF Cuts Global Forecast, Sees European Recession,
Warns Of 4% Economic Crunch If No Euroarea Action
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The latest IMF Global Financial Stability Report is out and it is not pretty. The IMF now sees:
• 2012 world growth outlook cut to 3.3% from 4.0%, 2013 growth revised lower to 3.9% from 4.5%
• 2012 US growth of 1.8%, 2013 at 2.2%
• 2012 UK growth of 0.6%, down from 1.6%
• 2012 China growth of 8.2%, down from 9.0%
• Eurozone to enter "mild" recession, whatever that is, with -0.5% economic growth, to grow again in 2013 by 0.8%. Unclear just how with all the deleveraging...
IMF also adds that without action, the debt crisis may force a 4% Euro-area contraction, in line with what the World Bank, controlled by a former Goldmanite, said. Lastly, the IMF says that Europe needs a larger firewall and bank deleveraging limits. Well there is always that €X trillion February 29 LTRO.
Why Isn't Illinois A Bigger Story Than Greece?
BY JOHN RUBINO - FinancialSense.com
As the Greek default (and it is a default no matter what they end up calling it) is finalized this week, the consensus seems to be that failure to reach a deal would cause a global financial apocalypse.
That may be true. And if it is, why aren’t we more worried about Illinois? It’s more or less the same size as Greece, its finances are in the same generally catastrophic shape, and its leaders are just as feckless and dishonest. It owes tens of billions of dollars to various investors and stakeholders and will clearly have to stiff many of them at some point. The following article captures the "failed state" dilemma perfectly:
EU ratchets up pressure with Greek default threat
European Union officials have stepped up pressure on Greece and its creditor banks in a complex game of three-way brinkmanship, signalling that they will allow a Greek default to run its course unless both sides accept more pain.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Austria's finance minister Maria Fekter said patience with Athens is exhausted. "Greece has failed its austerity targets by a wide margin. The Greeks have made decisions, but they weren't implemented. They have agreed to austerity measures, but costs haven't come down. This situation has caused great consternation," she said at a meeting of EU finance minister in Brussels.
"We're sending a direct message to Greece that the community expects more. We're not pleased and only when there's a written message on the table in front of us, can further assistance be discussed," she said.
Greek Economy on Track to Implode: Hanke
By Austen Sherman and Sara Eisen - Bloomberg.com
Whether or not Greece is able to reach an agreement on the restructuring of its debt, the country is set to "implode" as the economy contracts, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Steve Hanke.
"The game is completely over," Hanke, professor of applied economics, said at the Bloomberg Sovereign Debt Crisis Conference in New York hosted by Bloomberg Link. "All the calculations are nonsense and have been since day one. Since the crisis began the money supply has been shrinking and the economy is going to implode, no matter what they do in the short run."
EU ministers agree new bail-out fund, criticise Greece
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers have overcome Finnish objections to a permanent bail-out fund for the eurozone, access to which will be made conditional on signing a new treaty on fiscal discipline.
"We were able to agree on a text of the revised treaty concerning the European Stability Mechanism," Chair of the meeting Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told a press conference late Monday night (23 January).
Professor Edward Altman:
The Final Battle for the Euro Will Be Fought on Italy’s Shores
Latest Z-Score Test Shows Credit Conditions Have Worsened
James J Puplava CFP with Edward Altman PhD - Podcast
FinancialSense.com
Hungary risks losing EU funds, ministers say
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers on Tuesday (24 January) warned Hungary it may lose EU funds if it fails to fix ts excessive deficit, a problem since 2004.
"Hungary cannot face sanctions under the excessive deficit procedure as it is not a member of the euro area. But for beneficiaries of the EU's cohesion fund, such as Hungary, failure to comply with the Council's recommendations can lead to the suspension of cohesion fund commitments," the ministers said in their conclusions on Tuesday.
IMF sees rising recession risk from euro credit crisis
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
The global economy is slowing sharply and is at far greater risk of recession than was thought just months ago with Europe’s debt crisis creating "fertile ground" for a rapid collapse, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.
In a sobering trio of reports on growth, public debt and financial stability, the agency described global trade and investment as waning and depicted the world as perhaps one shock away from a serious downturn. The epicenter of the economic turmoil remains the euro zone, where political leaders have not committed the money needed to prop up weakened governments and banks, thereby threatening to create a cycle of "self-perpetuating pessimism" that could undermine the recovery, the IMF said.
Europe at war with Iran
By Pepe Escobar - ATimes.com
No one ever lost money betting on the foolishness of European Union (EU) politicos. And if you are an oil trader, rejoice - all the way to the bank; as expected, EU foreign ministers - meekly following the Barack Obama administration - have given a green light for a full Iranian oil embargo.
The embargo applies not only to new contracts but also existing contracts - to be voided by July 1, and includes extra sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and petrochemical exports to the EU.
It's always crucial to remember the embargo - a de facto European declaration of economic war - was forcefully proposed in the first place by the neo-Napoleonic "liberator" of Libya, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. The official EU excuse for the economic war is "serious and deepening concerns over the Iranian nuclear program".
Short 10 Year US treasury: Goldman Sachs
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Goldman's Francesco Garzarelli has officially told the firm's clients to go ahead and short 10 Year Treasurys via March 2012 futures, with a 126-00 target. The fact that Goldman is now openly buying Treasurys two days ahead of this week's FOMC statement makes us wonder just how much of a rates positive statement will the Fed make on Wednesday.
Meet the new Federal Reserve members
By Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's a new year. And that means a new, and probably less divided, Fed.
The Federal Reserve is playing its annual game of musical chairs, rotating voting members on its policymaking committee.
While the Fed board of governors and the president of the New York Federal Reserve always have votes, the other Fed presidents take turns serving on the committee.
This time around, the rotation brings on four voting members who are likely to be a far less contentious group than the four they are replacing.
Sheikhs fall in love with renminbi
By M K Bhadrakumar - ATimes.com
China and Qatar have been taking virtually opposite positions apropos events in Libya and Syria. Yet, they do not seem to be deterred by this little difference and are bonding in a big way in economic cooperation to mutual benefit.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who visited Doha last week, disclosed at a press conference on Friday: a) China proposes to invest in the manufacturing of ''downstream oil products, which are most urgently needed by Qatar''; b) China and Qatar signed an agreement to jointly build a refinery in Taizhou, Zheijiang, in China; c) Chinese companies propose to participate in infrastructure projects in Qatar; and d) China and Qatar are discussing a "long-term, stable and comprehensive cooperative partnership" in natural gas.
Art Cashin On "Calamity Joe" Granville
And A January 23 Market Top
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The Chairman of the Fermentation Committee takes the fizz out of the market once again.
From UBS Financial Services
Calamity Joe Is Back - Last week, we wrote that various cycles and technicians were pointing to a possible market top, on or about January 23rd. The “causes” ranged from sophisticated oscillators to the new moon to astrological confluences. Yesterday, one more “cause” was added and it came from a somewhat controversial Wall Street legend - Joe Granville. Here’s a bit from a Bloomberg review of Mr. G’s call:
Joseph Granville, whose "sell everything" call in 1981 sparked a decline in U.S. stocks, said the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) will drop toward 8,000 this year because of waning momentum and volume.
THE SUMMERS MEMO
Posted by Ryan Lizza - NewYorker.com
In a piece this week on Barack Obama’s shift from idealism to pragmatism, I describe an important fifty-seven-page document from Lawrence Summers to President-elect Barack Obama dated December 15, 2008:
Marked "Sensitive and Confidential," the document, which has never been made public, presents Obama with the scale of the crisis. "The economic outlook is grim and deteriorating rapidly," it said. The U.S. economy had lost two million jobs that year; without a government response, it would lose four million more in the next year. Unemployment would rise above nine per cent unless a significant stimulus plan was passed. The estimates were getting worse by the day.
George Soros on the Coming U.S. Class War
The situation is about as serious and difficult as I've experienced in my career.
By John Arlidge - TheDailyBeast.com
You know George Soros. He’s the investor’s investor—the man who still holds the record for making more money in a single day’s trading than anyone. He pocketed $1 billion betting against the British pound on "Black Wednesday" in 1992, when sterling lost 20 percent of its value in less than 24 hours and crashed out of the European exchange-rate mechanism. No wonder Brits call him, with a mix of awe and annoyance, "the man who broke the Bank of England."
Soros doesn’t make small bets on anything. Beyond the markets, he has plowed billions of dollars of his own money into promoting political freedom inEastern Europe and other causes. He bet against theBush White House, becoming a hate magnet for the right that persists to this day. So, as Soros and the world’s movers once again converge on Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum this week, what is one of the world’s highest-stakes economic gamblers betting on now?
What exactly would President Obama do in a second term?
By JOHN F. HARRIS and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | Politico.com
Take this quiz: If President Barack Obama wins a second term, he has promised that he will do … what exactly?
There are people who follow the president closely who couldn’t answer that question. And even those who try would surely find themselves disagreeing with one another.
As he stands before the nation Tuesday evening to present his State of the Union address, Obama is a president whose positions may be well-known but whose agenda — what he actually intends and can reasonably expect to achieve if voters give him four more years — is blurry.
Romney: I wouldn't pay taxes under Newt plan
By ALEXANDER BURNS | Politico.com
Hours before he plans to release his 2010 tax returns, Mitt Romney noted at the GOP debate in Tampa that under his opponent’s tax plan, he wouldn’t have paid any taxes at all.
The moment came after Newt Gingrich joked about Romney’s 15 percent tax rate, saying: "I’m prepared to describe my flat tax as the Mitt Romney flat tax."
Romney jumped in to ask: Do you tax capital gains at 15 percent or zero percent?
Gingrich’s answer: Zero.
"Under that plan, I’d have paid no taxes in the last two years," Romney said, alluding to the fact that all his income is from investments.
US Post Office Needs to Cut 260,000 Jobs: Rep. Issa
By: Jeff Cox - CNBC.com
The U.S. Postal Service needs to slash 260,000 jobs and end weekend delivery if it is to climb out of its "financially insolvent" condition, Rep. Darrell Issa said.
Despite a mandate to avoid deficits, the post office loses up to $15 billion a year, Issa told CNBC during an informal gathering of senior House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members.
America's great divide between rich and poor
By Stephen Lendman - Pravda.ru
In 1962, Michael Harrington's "The Other America" exposed the nation's dark side, saying:
"In morality and in justice, every citizen should be committed to abolishing the other America, for it is intolerable that the richest nation in human history should allow such needless suffering."
"But more than that, if we solve the problem of the other America we will have learned how to solve the problems of all of America."
Jack Kennedy was concerned enough to ask Walter Heller, his Council of Economic Advisor chairman, to examine the problem.
In his January 8, 1964 State of the Union address, poverty levels also got Lyndon Johnson to say his administration "today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America."
In fact, he barely scratched it. However, he got Congress to enact measures helping America's poor.
Inequality then was severe. Today, it's unprecedented and growing. Wealthy elites are richer than ever. Census data show around half of US households impoverished or bordering on it.
Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett
Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejection
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just when one thinks American crony capitalism couldn't hit new lows, here comes Warren Buffett and his personal puppet, the president, proving everyone wrong once more. Because if one thinks there is no (s)quid pro quo for all that "sage" advice that Buffett has been giving to Obama on extracting as much wealth as possible from future wealthy Americans (before they decide they have had enough with this crony shit and leave the country for good), one would be fatally wrong.
Buffett would profit from Keystone cancellation
By Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
Warren Buffett, whom President Obama likes to cite as a fair-minded billionaire while arguing for higher taxes on the wealthy, stands to benefit from the president’s decision to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.
Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ownsBurlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, which is among the railroads that would transport oil produced in western Canada if the pipeline isn’t built.
Wells Fargo economist says 'true' housing recovery
could be decade away
San Francisco Business Times by Mark Calvey
Wells Fargo Securities says a national housing rebound could take a decade to arrive despite recent data suggesting an improvement in housing.
"While home prices may finally reach a bottom on 2012, prices will likely not rebound nationally in a significant way anytime soon, so long as vacancy levels remain elevated," Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, told clients in a 12-page special report this month. (Wells Fargo Securities is an arm of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, (NYSE: WFC) the nation’s largest mortgage lender.
Fannie, Freddie writedowns too costly: Regulator
Reuters - ChicagoTribune.com
The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mactold lawmakers that forcing the two mortgage firms to write down loan principal would require more than $100 billion in fresh taxpayer funds.
In a letter sent on Friday to the Republican and Democratic leaders of a U.S. House of Representatives government oversight panel, the Federal Housing Finance Agency explained why it has long opposed principal reductions for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth.
Searching for the Bottom in Home Prices
by Charles Hugh Smith - CollapseNet.com
A substantial percentage of many households' net worth is comprised of the equity in their home. With the beating home prices have taken since 2007, existing and soon-to-be homeowners are keen to know: Are prices stabilizing? Will they begin to recover from here? Or is the "knife" still falling?
To understand where housing prices are headed, we need to understand what drives them in the first place: policy, perception, and price discovery.
In my December 2011 look at housing, I examined systemic factors such as employment and demographics that represent ongoing structural impediments to the much-awaited recovery in housing valuations and sales. This time around, we're going to consider policy factors that influence the housing market.
INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS’ GROUP
CALLS FOR HALT TO WIRELESS SMART METERS
Organization tells CPUC that smart meters pose health risks, especially for children
EastCountyMagazine.org
January 24, 2012 (San Diego)--The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has become the first national physicians’ group to adopt a resolution calling for a halt to wireless smart meters.
The group sent a resolution to the California Public Utilities Commission opposing smart meters due to health risks and calling on the CPUC to take preventative actions to protect the public health.
The letter notes that medical literature has raised “credible questions about genetic and cellular effects, hormonal effects, male fertility, blood/brain barrier damage and increased risk of certain types of cancers” from radio frequency levels emitted by smart meters. “Children are placed at particular risk for altered brain development, and impaired learning and behavior. Further EMF/RF adds synergistic effects to the damage observed from a range of toxic chemicals,” the international doctors’ organization concluded.
Total Federalization of Police
Under New Homeland Security Mission
Mission Creep: DHS Agency Abandons Fighting Terrorism,
Shifts to Hiring Police, Taking Over America
By Aaron Dykes - Infowars.com
A new white paper presented to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence carves out an 'evolving mission' for Homeland Security that moves away from fighting terrorism and towards growing a vast domestic intelligence apparatus that would expand integration with local/state agencies and private-public partnerships already underway via regional fusion centers.
Crafted by the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Group, co-chaired by former DHS chief Michael Chertoff and composed of a who’s who of national security figures, the report outlines a total mission creep, as the title "Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission" implies.
Ageing Japan faces 'chronic' trade deficit after Fukushima
Japan has racked up its first trade deficit in 31 years as the country's ageing crisis hits home and the Fukushima nuclear disaster raises dependence on imported fuel.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The darkening picture has set off deep soul-searching about the sustainability of the nation's Japan's economic model, and ultimately the trajectory of its 1,010 trillion yen (£8.3 trillion) public debt.
Official data to be released overnight is expected to show the country ran a deficit of about $24bn (£15.4bn) in 2011, and has been running a structural shortfall of $3bn a month since the tsunami shut down most of Japan's nuclear industry.
Iran: Closing Hormuz Strait to Deal With EU's Embargo?
By: Yousef Gamal El-Din - CNBC Anchor
Iranian authorities have reacted to the decision by the European Union on an embargo by calling for an immediate halt to oil sales to the continent. In a statement on its website, the Iranian Oil Ministry described the European Union’s decision as "hasty" and "a political game".
But a spokesman for the parliament’s energy committee also told the semi-official Fars news agency that the country still saw the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as one of the strategies to deal with an oil embargo.
U.S. military in Persian Gulf still necessary, welcome force
By Rowan Scarborough-The Washington Times
The U.S. is maintaining a sizable ground, air and sea force in the Persian Gulf, underscoring the need to protect oil-producing states after deposing Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and exiting a democratic Iraq in December.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region’s American military commitment, would not provide details about troop strength and placement, or the number of Air Force strike aircraft and Navy warships in the Gulf.
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