Uncle Sam is paying banks NOT to lend you money

The Federal Reserve is rewarding banks for not lending money. While bank deposits at the Fed rarely surpassed $25B in the past, there is a whopping $1 TRILLION there now, paying (overpaying!) .25% interest! CHASE has over $200B there and WELLS FARGO $100B. Money they should be LENDING to finance growth that would get us out of the Great Recession. But it's risk-free there. Given bankers' decisions in the past, maybe that's a good plan for them.

"Sweet Spot" pretty sour for most of us

Radio business analyst so happy that today's jobs report hit the "sweet spot". Meaning that it's not good enough to make the Federal government stop shoveling money to the bankers and their cronies, but good enough to give a majority of Americans false hope that the economy is improving. Real sweet.

Oil and Gas Producers $crewing Us Over

The push to export natural gas stems from the fact that the country now has too much of it. Thanks to the fracking-led energy boom, U.S. natural gas prices have collapsed. The flow of gas from many recently drilled wells has actually been shut off, as pumping it out costs more than the gas can be sold for.

Prices in other parts are the world aren't nearly so low. In Europe, they are three times higher than in the United States. In Japan they're nearly five times as high. That offers an incredible incentive for energy companies to put their gas on a ship and send it abroad.

YOUR OIL AND GAS COMPANIES: SOLVING THE LOW PRICE PROBLEM.

Missed this somehow last Tuesday!

European officials have begun investigating several big oil companies including Shell, BP and Norway's Statoil over suspected attempts to manipulate global oil prices for more than a decade.

Not Much Different Over Here

The euro zone economy shrank for a record sixth consecutive quarter in the first three months of the year, according to data released Wednesday. But when European heads of state meet next week in Brussels, don’t look for any big announcements about plans to stimulate growth.


Europe, experts say, seems to be in policy paralysis. With Germany, the Continent’s economic heavyweight, in the grip of pre-election politicking, no big European policy moves are likely until after that country’s elections in September. Even then, it is not clear that anyone has any masterstrokes planned.

NOT LIKE ANYBODY IS SUFFERING OR ANYTHING.

OIL prices up four and a half dollars in two days

OIL PRICES up $4.46 in two days? Any question speculators are just using purported good economic news to drive the price back above $90 ??! This nonsense is keeping us from faster recovery!

It's not "austerity", it's GFC.[German Financial Control]

Criticism of German-mandated austerity in some of Europe's most-leaguered nations -- and in the center-left opposition in Germany itself -- has triggered a "1984"-style "newspeak" terminology change. German officials appear to turn testy when the word "austerity" is mentioned these days, and in recent months have deliberately adjusted their language to use the term "growth-friendly consolidation" to describe their policy approach. "I call it balancing the budget," German chancellor Merkel stated. "Everyone else is using this term 'austerity'. That makes it sound like something truly evil."

Like "Nazism"?