A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L
	MONEY AND DEBT NEWS: 1-JAN-11 - 31-DEC-11
	From	01-Jan-11						Copyright © 2011 by Macroknow inc. All Rights Reserved.
	To	31-Dec-11
	Days	365
	News Items	2076
	Date	Event Category			Authors	Title	X	Event	Source	URL	Item
	2-Jan-11	FIN	DEBT		Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Nick Macfie	S.Korea KAMCO to Buy $4.4 Billion Bad Loans In 2011: Report		Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) to buy ~$4.38 billion worth of bad loans	NYT: Reuters		1
	5-Jan-11	BANK	DEBT		Sapna Maheshwari	Europe Banks Race Sovereigns to Bond Investors: Credit Markets		4-Jan-11: European banks offered $7.25 billion of bonds (Deutsche Bank AG, $1 billion; Rabobank Nederland, $2.75 billion); EY countries need to raise $1.1 trillion in 2014	Bloomberg		2
	13-Jan-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		13 January 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively	European Central Bank		3
	13-Jan-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		4
	18-Jan-11	ELITE	FIN	DEBT		Over US$ 100 Trillion Additional Credit Needed to Support Global Growth		More Credit with Fewer Crises: Responsibly Meeting the World’s Growing Demand for Credit, a report released by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey & Company: "Credit levels will need to double over the next 10 years, growing by US$ 103 trillion, to support consensus-projected economic growth"	World Economic Forum		5
	18-Jan-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Ian Talley; Min Zeng; Tom Barkley	3rd UPDATE: China Is Net Seller Of Treasurys In Nov; Japan Buys		Total reserves (U.S. Treasurys) at the end of 2010: China, $2.85 trillion; Japan, $877.2 billion; U.K., $511.8 billion in Nov-2010	WSJ-Dow Jones Newswires		6
	18-Jan-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Paul R. La Monica	China: The new landlord of the U.S.		Paul R. La Monica: China is "alarmed since the Fed's bond buying should lead to a weaker dollar and higher interest rates, thus reducing the value of China's Treasury stake"	CNN Money		7
	26-Jan-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		25-26-Jan-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		8
	28-Jan-11	PRO	DEBT		Jason Webb; Gavin Serkin (ed.)	Egypt Bond Yields Climb to Record High in Worst Week as Protests Spread		Egypt: outcome of uprising: bond yields soar to record high	Bloomberg		9
	28-Jan-11	BANK	MON		Susanne Craig	Goldman Sachs Gives Blankfein a Big Raise		Lloyd C. Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs: restricted stock valued at $12.6 million; base salary, $2 million per year (up from $600,000)			10
	2-Feb-11	BANK	FIN	MON	Aaron Lucchetti; Stephen Grocer	On Street, Pay Vaults to Record Altitude		Total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms, 2010: record $135 billion (up 5.7% YOY)	WSJ		11
	2-Feb-11	FIN	BANK	MON	William H. Gross	Devil’s Bargain		William H. Gross: "Fifty years ago, the highest paid and most prestigious professions were that of a doctor or a 707 airline pilot who flew the “golden” route from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Today the yellow brick road begins on Wall Street or the City. Aside from supernova innovators such as Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, the money is made from securitizing things instead of booting and rebuilding America. . . Almost a quarter of the 400 wealthiest people on Forbes annual richest list make their money from money, whereas only 8% could make that claim in its first issue in 1982, and probably close to 0% when I first read my economic primer in 1966."	PIMCO		12
	3-Feb-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		3 February 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively	European Central Bank		13
	4-Feb-11	EDU	DEBT		Nick Anderson	Default rate for repayment of for-profit college loans hits 25 percent		U.S. Department of Education report: default rate for repayment of for-profit college loans in 2010: 25% (up from 21% YOY)	Washington Post		14
	7-Feb-11	MON				Egypt government struggles to finance itself		President Hosni Mubarak's family wealth is estimated by the ABC television network at ~$70bn	BBC News		15
	10-Feb-11	BANK	GOV	DEBT		IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Calls for Strengthening the International Monetary System		IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn: “Global imbalances are back, and issues that worried us before the crisis—large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures, rapidly growing excess reserves—are on the front burner once again . . . reforms to the international monetary system could both bolster the recovery and strengthen the system’s ability to prevent future crises”	IMF		16
	10-Feb-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		17
	12-Feb-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Maria Petrakis (reporter); Angela Cullen (ed.)	Greek Government Criticizes EU, IMF Demands for Asset Sales		Greece: George Petalotis, regarding demand by EU-IMF for asset sales to raise €50 billion: “The only agent responsible for these decisions is the Greek government. We take orders only from the Greek people”	Bloomberg		18
	17-Feb-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW		Short-term Delinquencies Fall to Pre-Recession Levels, Loans in Foreclosure Tie All-Time Record in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey		Mortgage Bankers Association: the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of 2010Q4 was 4.63% (up 0.05% YOY); the serious delinquency rate (the percentage of loans that are ≥90 days past due or in the process of foreclosure), was 8.57% (down 1.1% YOY)	Mortgage Bankers Association		19
	25-Feb-11	GOV	MON	VIO		EXECUTIVE ORDER: BLOCKING PROPERTY AND PROHIBITING CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO LIBYA		President Barak Obama issues an executive order blocking Libyan property [for Libya's wealth statistics, see 23-Mar-11]	White House		20
	28-Feb-11	GOV	POL	MON	Helene Cooper	U.S. Freezes a Record $30 Billion in Libyan Assets		The U.S. Froze $30 Billion in Libyan Assets	NYT		21
	1-Mar-11	BANK	DEBT		Steven M. Davidoff	Debt Market Rebounds From the Crisis, and So Does Risk		Concern about new debt issued since 1-Jan-2011: high-yield debt, $38 billion (up 60% over 2010), according to Dealogic; "cov-lite" debt, $17 billion	NYT-DealBook		22
	3-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		3 March 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively	European Central Bank		23
	9-Mar-11	ELITE	MON			The World's Billionaires	The World's Billionaires	The World's Billionaires: Top 5: 1. Carlos Slim Helu & family, $74 B; 2. Bill Gates, $56 B; 3. Warren Buffett, $50 B; 4. Bernard Arnault, $41 B; 5. Larry Ellison $39.5 B	Forbes		24
	10-Mar-11	GOV	MON	PRO	Reuters; Additional Reporting: Martina Fuchs, Martin Dokoupil; Writing: Crispian Balmer; Editing: Diana Abdallah	Gulf States Launch $20 Billion Fund for Oman and Bahrain		Gulf States announce $20 billion fiscal stimulus package for Oman and Bahrain; protests are planned in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia	NYT: Reuters		25
	10-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		26
	10-Mar-11	MON	FRAUD			Canadian banknotes to be made of plastic		Canada: RCMP statistics on the number of counterfeit Canadian banknotes passed in 2009, by denomination: $5, 2,894; $10, 8,342; $20, 24,762; $50, 5,653; $100, 25,030; $1,000, 5	CBC News		27
	12-Mar-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT		European Leaders Expand Bailout Fund		European nations: to increase the European Financial Stability Facility (bailout fund) from ~$350 billion to >$600 billion; to lower the interest rate on and more than double the term of Greece's bailout loans	VOA News-Reuters		28
	12-Mar-11	AOG	QUAK	MON		Alert Worldwide: Tohoku Japan Earthquake		AIR Worldwide estimated the insured property losses from the Japan M9.1 quake to be in the range from $14.5 billion to $34.6 billion (losses from the tsunami excluded)	Air Worldwide		29
	14-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	MON		Earthquake in the Pacific Coast of the Tohoku Region (Seventh Earthquake Report)		Bank of Japan: "the Bank conducted a same-day funds-supplying operation totaling 7 trillion yen, which was the largest amount ever conducted, and a future-day-start funds-supplying operation totaling 3 trillion yen. The Bank will do its utmost to continue ensuring stability in the financial markets and securing smooth settlement of funds, including providing liquidity"	Bank of Japan		30
	15-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	MON		FOMC Statement		FOMC: to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%; to purchase $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of 2011Q2	Federal Reserve Board		31
	15-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		15-Mar-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		32
	16-Mar-11	GOV	MON	PRO		Gadhafi's Son Says Libya Funded Sarkozy Campaign		Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Col. Moammar Gadhafi: Libya financed President Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign, wants its money back	VOA News		33
	17-Mar-11	MKT	MON			Yen hits record-high against US dollar as Nikkei falls		The yen hit a record-high against the US dollar since the end of World War II	BBC News		34
	17-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on February 14 and 15, 2011		Bank of Japan to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at ~0%-0.1%	Bank of Japan		35
	18-Mar-11	BANK	DEBT		Sonya Dowsett, Jesus Aguado; Greg Mahlich (ed.)	Spanish banks' bad loans at 16-year high in Jan		Spain: the ratio of bad loans to total loans increased from 5.8% in Dec-2010 to 6.1% in Jan-2011, a record-high since Oct-95	Reuters		36
	18-Mar-11	BANK	GOV	DEBT	Ben Protess, Eric Dash	Many Banks Are Clinging to Billions in Bailout Money		Distribution of bailout debt still owed to the U.S. government: $21 billion, 25 banks; $10 billion, 559 banks; total bailout debt owed: $31 billion, 584 banks [source: U.S. Department of the Treasury]	NYT-DealBook		37
	19-Mar-11	BANK	MON		Dan Fitzpatrick; Contributor: Liz Rappaport	Banks Get Fed's Nod to Pay Dividends		U.S.: 6 of the largest banks to distribute $8.7 billion in new dividend payments in 2011	WSJ		38
	23-Mar-11	GOV	MON	VIO	Robert O’Harrow Jr., James V. Grimaldi, Brady Dennis	Sanctions in 72 hours: How the U.S. pulled off a major freeze of Libyan assets		Libya: wealth statistics: amount of Libya's wealth frozen by the U.S., $32 billion; Libya's GDP in 2009, $62 billion (Executive Order 13566); Libya's sovereign wealth fund, ~$40 billion; Libya's central bank reserves, $110 billion	Washington Post		39
	24-Mar-11	PRO	DEBT	POL	Lisa Bryant	EU Leaders Discuss Spreading Debt Crisis		Brussels: EU Summit: concern re spreading of eurozone debt crisis; thousands of workers protest against economic pro-business reforms	VOA News		40
	24-Mar-11	BUS	MON		David Kocieniewski	G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether		General Electric, 2010: worldwide profits, $14.2 billion; U.S. tax bill, $0 -- claimed tax benefit, $3.2 billion	NYT		41
	25-Mar-11	QUAK	ECON	MON	Henry Ridgwell	Japan Tsunami Damage Cost Could Top $300 Billion		Japan: total cost of the damage caused by the tsunami estimated at up to ¥25 trillion ($309 billion)	VOA News		42
	28-Mar-11	GOV	DEBT			Canada's Federal Debt: Canada's National Debt Clock		Canada's federal debt: total, $559.4 billion; per capita, $16.333	Canadian Taxpayers Federation		43
	28-Mar-11	BUS	DEBT	JOBS	Lynn Thomasson, Whitney Kisling; Editors: Nick Baker, Nick Gentle	CEOs Tap Record Cash for Payouts as M&A at Post-Lehman High		Consequence of ~0% Federal Reserve interest rates and unemployment rate kept at ~26-year high: record $940 billion buildup in corporate cash	Bloomberg		44
	29-Mar-11	GOV	DEBT		Charles Forelle	Greece, Portugal Cut. Thanks ESM!		Standard & Poor’s dowgraded the credit ratings of both Greece and Portugal: Greece was downgraded to double-B-minus, and Portugal to triple-B-minus	WSJ		45
	30-Mar-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		TARP Bank Programs Turn Profit After Three Financial Institutions Repay $7.4 Billion		U.S. Department of the Treasury: 3 financial institutions repaid $7.4 billion in TARP funds to taxpayers; the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (bank bailout) "will ultimately provide a lifetime profit of approximately $20 billion to taxpayers"	U.S. Department of the Treasury		46
	31-Mar-11	MON			Jon Loades-Carter (ed.)	Swiss Miss Out as Arab Capital Flies to London		Rich Middle Eastern families are moving their money to London	NYT: Reuters		47
	1-Apr-11	DEBT			Matt Wirz; Serena Ng. Contributors: Leslie Scism; Mark Gongloff	Subprime Bonds Are Back: As Economy Recovers, Long-Term Investors Willing to Take On More Risks		Subprime bonds are "back in vogue"	WSJ		48
	6-Apr-11	BANK	MON		Jack Ewing	Commerzbank to Repay $20.3 Billion of German Bailout		Commerzbank to repay €14.3 billion ($20.3 billion) of the €16.2 billion German bailout	NYT-DealBook		49
	7-Apr-11	BANK	MON		Andrew Ross Sorkin (ed.)	JPMorgan Paid Dimon $20.8 Million in 2010		JPMorgan Chase paid its CEO Jamie Dimon $20.8 million in 2010 (up from $1.3 million in 2009)	NYT-DealBook		50
	7-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		7 April 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to increase by 0.25%: (1) the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem to 1.25%; (2) the interest rate on the marginal lending facility to 2.00%; and (3) the interest rate on the deposit facility to 0.50%	European Central Bank		51
	7-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		52
	8-Apr-11	REL	PRO	MON	Joshua Lapide	Christian leaders against Israel: ban on Anglican bishop and new taxes are unjust		Jerusalem: Christian churches protest against: Israel’s denial of a residency permit to Suheil Dawani, an Anglican bishop; and Israel's attempts to impose new taxes on churches. "The new taxes are an outrage against the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, British rule, that of Jordan and the UN Resolution of '47 that founded the State of Israel."	AsiaNews		53
	8-Apr-11	MON	ECON			Loonie surges to 3.5-year high		Canada: loonie rises to 104.77 cents US (up 0.44 of a cent)	CBC News: Canadian Press		54
	11-Apr-11	EDU	DEBT		Tamar Lewin	Burden of College Loans on Graduates Grows		Student loan debt topped credit card debt for the first time in 2010 [see FinAid.org and FastWeb.com]	NYT		55
	12-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on March 14, 2011		The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1%	Bank of Japan		56
	13-Apr-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT	Rex Nutting	We're worrying about the wrong deficit		Rex Nutting, MarketWatch: "We're worrying about the wrong deficit . . . foreigners own about $11 trillion in U.S. financial assets, including $4.4 trillion in government securities. In addition, foreigners have invested more than $2 trillion directly in U.S. businesses."	MarketWatch		57
	13-Apr-11	BUS	BANK	DEBT	Takako Taniguchi; Finbarr Flynn; Chitra Somayaji (ed.)	Japan Megabanks Get $90 Billion in Loan Requests as Quake Hurts Companies		Japan: businesses sought 7.5 trillion yen ($90 billion) in loans following the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami	Bloomberg		58
	18-Apr-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		AAA/A-1+' Rating On United States of America Affirmed; Outlook Revised To Negative		S&P affirmed 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the U.S. and dowgraded its outlook on the long-term rating of the U.S. sovereign from stable to negative	S&P		59
	25-Apr-11	GOV	FIN	MON	Henny Sender; Jamil Anderlini	CIC set for up to $200bn in fresh funds		China: foreign exchange reserves topped $3 trillion; the government to inject up to $200 billion in China Investment Corp. (CIC), China's sovereign wealth fund	FT		60
	27-Apr-11	BUS	MON	LAW	Dan Eggen	The Influence Industry: Companies lobbying for tax holiday on overseas money		U.S.: some 40 companies and business associations lobby for tax breaks via the "Win America Campaign" in return for repatriating money they hold overseas	Washington Post		61
	27-Apr-11	BUS	MON	LAW		$1 Trillion Into The U.S. Economy? Or $1 Trillion Into Foreign Economies? No, It’S Not A Trick Question.		Win America Campaign, mission statement: "We have an opportunity right now to strengthen our economy, pay down our debt, put people back to work, and invest up to $1 trillion in America. Currently, there is over $1 trillion earned by American businesses trapped overseas. We strongly support corporate tax reform – it is essential to keeping us competitive. But as Washington works on broader reform – likely to be a long process – an essential first step would be to allow these worldwide American businesses the freedom to bring up to $1 trillion in global earnings home to invest it now into our still fragile economy. . ."	Win America Campaign		62
	27-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		63
	27-Apr-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Ratings agencies' warnings, actions on Japan debt		S&P lowered its outlook for Japan's rating from stable to negative	Money Control [27-May-11]: Reuters		64
	27-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		26-27-Apr-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		65
	28-Apr-11	BANK	MON			Deutsche Bank reports first quarter 2011 net income of EUR 2.1 billion		Deutsche Bankm 2011Q1 results: net revenues, €10.5 billion (up 16% YOY); net income, €2.1 billion ("matches Deutsche Bank’s best ever quarter")	Deutsche Bank		66
	28-Apr-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Statement on Monetary Policy		The Bank of Japan to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1%	Bank of Japan		67
	4-May-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Landon Thomas Jr.; Raphael Minder; Contributor: Stephen Castle	Markets Losing Faith in Portugal		3-May-11: Portugal bailout package: $115.5 billion	NYT		68
	5-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement With Portugal On a €26 Billion Extended Fund Facility Arrangement		IMF staff-level agreement with Portugal to provide €26 billion (~$116 billion) in extended fund facility arrangement	IMF		69
	5-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		5 May 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.25%, 2.00% and 0.50% respectively	European Central Bank		70
	5-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		71
	8-May-11	BANK	DEBT	JUST		Yunus says political influence may ruin Garmeen Bank		Bangladesh: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, microlending pioneer, was ousted from Grameen Bank; Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Yunus of “sucking blood from the poor borrowers"	Washington Post: AP		72
	9-May-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	William L. Watts	S&P cuts Greece credit rating to B from BB-minus		Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut Greece's long-term sovereign credit rating from BB- to B	MarketWatch		73
	11-May-11	MON	JUST			Rajaratnam Guilty on All Insider Trading Charges		Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was found guilty on all 14 insider trading charges [USA v Raj Rajaratnam et al., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184]	CNBC: Reuters		74
	14-May-11	MON	RPIG		Andrew Ross Sorkin	Rich and Sort of Rich		According to a study on economic equality by Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics) and Emmanuel Saez (University of California, Berkeley), "the rich have gotten richer — income for the top 1 percent rose by $261,930, or 30 percent, from 2002 to 2008 — while the bottom 90 percent saw their incomes drop by $1,170, or 4 percent, on an inflation adjusted basis"	NYT		75
	16-May-11	BUS	DEBT	WWW	Sapna Maheshwari; Alan Goldstein (ed.)	Google Sells $3 Billion of Bonds in ‘Home Run’ Debut Offering		Google sold $3 billion of bonds; Google's total cash and marketable securities was $35 billion at yearend 2010	Bloomberg		76
	17-May-11	GOV	DEBT	ELITE	Barry Wood	Buffett’s silly talk about the U.S. debt; Commentary: U.S. isn’t special and can’t avoid default forever		Warren Buffett: “The United States is not going to have a debt crisis as long as we keep issuing our debts in our own currency. The only thing we have to worry about is the printing press and inflation"	MarketWatch		77
	24-May-11	BUS	GOV	DEBT		Chrysler Group LLC Completes Refinancing and Repays U.S. and Canadian Government Loans in Full		Chrysler Group LLC repayed $7.6 billion in outstanding U.S. and Canadian government loans after completing new financing transactions (a term loan totaling $3.0 billion, debt securities totaling $3.2 billion, and a revolving credit facility of $1.3 billion)	Chrysler		78
	25-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility		Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility on 31-May-11	Federal Reserve Board		79
	25-May-11	GOV	BUS	MON	Noah Buhayar; Dan Kraut (ed.)	AIG Share Sale Raises $8.7 Billion		The U.S. Treasury Department and American International Group Inc. (AIG) raised $8.7 billion	Bloomberg		80
	26-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Bob Ivry; Gary Putka (ed.)	Fed Gave Banks Crisis Gains on $80 Billion Secretive Loans as Low as 0.01%		Federal Reserve emergency lending program: $80 billion in "secretive loans" to banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG (CS), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), at interest rates as low as 0.01% in 2008 [single-tranche open-market operations, or ST OMO]	Bloomberg		81
	27-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Salameh: I will not allow any bank to go bust		26-May-11: Beirut: Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh asserted at the Arab Economic Forum that he would not allow any Lebanese bank to fail; Salameh: “The privatization programs in these [Arab] states did not actually liberate the economies and achieve sustainable growth. Most of these state assets were sold to particular businessmen"	Daily Star		82
	30-May-11	BANK	FIN	MON		Russia Unexpectedly Raises a Key Interest Rate		The Bank of Russia: raised its overnight deposit rate by 0.25% to 3.5%; and kept its refinancing rate at 8.25% and its repo rate at 5.5%. Capital outflows estimated at >$50 billion over 7 months.	NYT: Reuters		83
	30-May-11	GOV	SEC	MON	Dave Seglins	G8/G20 police raked in bonuses, OT pay; Documents detail lucrative RCMP summit security contracts to out-of-town forces		CBC/Radio-Canada: RCMP contracts for protecting G8/G20 leaders totalled $7 million; 657 officers were hired "at premium rates of 1½ or two times an officer's usual wages."	CBC News		84
	31-May-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Landon Thomas Jr.	New Rescue Package for Greece Takes Shape		Greece: new bailout package ($86 billion in new loans; roll over of old government debt; accelerated privatization; tax collection) triggers protest	NYT		85
	2-Jun-11	GOV	BUS	DEBT		Treasury Announces Agreement to Exit Remaining Stake in Chrysler Group LLC		U.S. Department of the Treasury to sell its 6% fully diluted equity interest in Chrysler Group LLC to Fiat for $500 million; the likely net loss from Treasury's commitment of $12.5 billion to Chrysler under TARP’s Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP) is estimated at $1.3 billion.	U.S. Department of the Treasury		86
	4-Jun-11	ECON	DEBT	JOBS	Andrew Martin	For the Jobless, Little U.S. Help on Foreclosure		Andrew Martin: "the primary cause of foreclosures is unemployment"	NYT		87
	5-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		IMF Reaches Staff Level Agreement with Egypt on a US$3 Billion Stand-By Arrangement		IMF reaches staff level agreement with Egypt on a 12 month US $3 billion stand-by agreement	IMF		88
	5-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Statement by John Lipsky, Acting Managing Director of the IMF, on Egypt		John Lipksy, Acting Managing Director of the IMF: "the IMF could make available as much as $35 billion in financial assistance to the region [including Egypt] . . . to address short-term needs and develop the strategies necessary for medium-term success of their transition to free and democratic societies."	IMF		89
	5-Jun-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT		Economically struggling Belarus to get $3 bln Russia-led loan in exchange for privatizations		4-Jun-11: Belarus to get a $3 billion loan from a "Russia-dominated group"; loan condition: Belarus must privatize much of its economy	Washington Post: AP		90
	8-Jun-11	DEBT			Azam Ahmed	Bank Said No? Hedge Funds Fill a Void in Lending		Some hedge funds are lending to midsized companies; this kind of banking may be risky as it is unregulated	NYT-DealBook		91
	8-Jun-11	GOV	MON		Neil Macfarquhar	In Saudi Arabia, Royal Funds Buy Peace for Now		Saudi Arabia: cost of placating Saudi opposition since start of Arab Spring: $130 billion	NYT		92
	9-Jun-11	MIL	MON			Libya mission has cost Canada $26M: MacKay		Canada: cost of Canada's Libya military mission: $26 million for fuel and bombs; Canada dropped >300 laser-guided bombs on targets in Libya from 19-Mar-11 to 2-Jun-11	CBC News-AP		93
	9-Jun-11	ECON	BANK	MON	Paul Krugman	Rule by Rentiers		Paul Krugman, NYT: "creditor-friendly policies are crippling the economy. This is a negative-sum game, in which the attempt to protect the rentiers [bankers and wealthy individuals with lots of bonds in their portfolios] from any losses is inflicting much larger losses on everyone else. And the only way to get a real recovery is to stop playing that game."	NYT-Op Ed		94
	9-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		9 June 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.25%, 2.00%, and 0.50% respectively	European Central Bank		95
	9-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion		The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion	Bank of England		96
	10-Jun-11	VIO	NATO	MON		New Airstrikes Target Libyan Capital		9-Jun-11: Libya: Italy, France and some Arab nations pledged >$1.1 billion to help Gadhafi's opponents; 10-Jun-11: NATO airstrikes target Tripoli	VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters		97
	13-Jun-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Shawn Langlois	S&P cuts Greece by thre notches		Standard & Poor's downgraded its long-term sovereign credit ratings of Greece from B to CCC	MarketWatch		98
	14-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Statement on Monetary Policy		The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1%	Bank of Japan		99
	14-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	An (ed.)	China hikes bank reserve ratio for 6th time this year to battle inflation		China's central bank to raise the banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5%; banks will have to allocate 21.5% of their capital as reserve (reducing liquidity by $56.92 billion)	Xinhua		100
	15-Jun-11	DEBT			Scott Stearns	Clinton: African Businesswomen Need More Access to Credit		U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: African businesswomen need more access to credit	VOA News		101
	16-Jun-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT	Matt Andrejczak	Greece poses $41 billion risk to U.S. banks		Bank for International Settlements (BIS): total exposure of U.S. banks at yearend 2010 was $41 billion	MarketWatch		102
	17-Jun-11	MON	FRAUD			Chinese officials stole $120 billion, fled mainly to US		People's Bank of China: up to 18,000 corrupt Chinese officials stole $120 billion and fled mainly to the U.S.	BBC News		103
	19-Jun-11	PRO	DEBT			Spaniards protest against economic cuts		Spain: tens of thousands of Spaniards protest to express their outrage against austerity measures imposed by eurozone lenders	Al Jazeera		104
	19-Jun-11	MIL	RES	MON	Elisabeth Bumiller; Thom Shanker	War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs		The Pentagon requested ~$5 billion for drones (including sensor-and-camera equipped "spy flies") in 2012; since 11-Sep-2001, the time alloted to "flying missions for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" swelled increased 3,100%	NYT		105
	20-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	MON		Bank of Canada Unveils Polymer Bank Note Series: Celebrating Canada’s Achievements at the Frontiers of Innovation		Canada: The Bank of Canada to issue new polymer $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bank notes with advanced new security features	Bank of Canada		106
	21-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Maria Petrakis; Marcus Bensasson; James Hertling (ed.)	Papandreou Wins Confidence Vote, Raising Rescue Chances		Greece: Prime Minister George Papandreou won a vote of confidence, a move needed to secure international financial aid [bailout] for Greece	Bloomberg		107
	21-Jun-11	GOV	DEBT	BANK	Jack Ewing	Greek Banks Feel Hostage to Debt Crisis		Greece's financial statistices: face value of Greek government bonds, ~€48 billion (according to Barclays Capital); worth of the bonds as collateral, ~nothing except at the European Central Bank. Nonperforming Greek bank loans, 10%	NYT		108
	22-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		FOMC to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%; and to complete its purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of Jun-2011	Federal Reserve Board		109
	22-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT		Greek government approves austerity plan		Greece: the Greek cabinet approved an austerity budget plan: $17bn in bailout funds in exchange for $40.24bn in budget cuts, new taxes, and a $72bn privatization plan; thousands of people protested against "thieves"	Al Jazeera: Agencies		110
	22-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Rachel Donadio; Steven Erlanger	Some Greeks Fear Government Is Selling Nation		Greek assets for sale will likely include "ports, Mediterranean vistas, the national lottery, railroads and telecommunications"; assets and state-owned corporations will likely sell at deep dicounts ("a pittance" according to Mr. Mihalos of the Athens Chamber of Commerce)	NYT-DealBook		111
	23-Jun-11	MKT	GOV	DEBT	Deborah Levine	U.S. 2-year yield hit record low after data		2-year Treasury yields tumbled to a record low	MarketWatch		112
	23-Jun-11	BUS	FIN	DEBT		Press Statement		Swedish Automobile N.V.: "Saab Automobile AB will be unable to pay the wages to employees"; Saab had 3,351 employees as at 31-Dec-09 [soutce: Saab]	Saab		113
	24-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Lisa Bryant	EU Leaders Agree on Second Bailout for Greece		European Union leaders agreed on a 2nd bailout for Greece; the bailout is reportedly worth >$171 billion and is conditional on more austerity measures	VOA News		114
	24-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Julia Werdigier	Worsening Debt in Europe Is Called Major Threat to British Banks		Mervyn A. King, Bank of England governor: “The most serious and immediate risk to the U.K. financial system stems from the worsening sovereign debt crisis in several euro area countries."	NYT		115
	25-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT		Egypt Decides It Does Not Need World Bank, IMF Funding		Egypt decided against loans from the World Bank or the IMF	VOA News-AFP-Reuters		116
	26-Jun-11	GOV	DEBT	REL	Kevin Flower. Contributor: Guy Azriel	Israel denies fiscal pressure on Greece to block flotilla boats		Israel: Israeli foreign ministry denied Israel and the U.S. were using economic pressure to coerce Greece into preventing boats from joining an international flotilla to the Gaza Strip; Yigal Palmor. "Do these people have any proof whatsoever to such claims? Their entire activity is aimed at demonizing the state of Israel. What are they saying, that we have used all the Jewish bankers in the world to cancel Greece's bonds? What kind of fantasy world are they living in?" [Edward Ayoub, Much Mind Editor: this appears to be connected to the "malicious slander" accusing Jews of a [here financial] "cannibalistic conspiracy" which allegedly had Jews swearing an "oath of hostility to the Greeks"; for more information, see Peter Schȁfer, Judeophobia, Harvard University Press, 1997, at 62-63]	CNN World		117
	28-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Matthew Dalton	CORRECT: EU Threatens Greek Default If Austerity Plan Rejected		Greek parliament is under EU pressure to approve lender-imposed measures (spending cuts, asset sales, and tax hikes worth ~€28 billion) or face default	WSJ: Dow Jones Newswire		118
	28-Jun-11	PRO	GOV	DEBT	Jon Sopel; Chris Morris (At the scene)	Greece protest against austerity package turns violent		Greece: thousands of angry protesters join a 48-hour general strike against a parliamentary vote on bailout austerity measures imposed by lenders; violence reported; groups of protesters battle the police	BBC News		119
	28-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Tim Shipman	Athens aflame: Thousands of striking Greeks in fresh anti-cuts PRO... and this is them just warming up for clashes tomorrow		The UK may have to channel up to £20bn to Greece through 'IMF back door'	Daily Mail		120
	28-Jun-11	MKT	BANK	DEBT	Graham Bowley	In a Greek Default, Higher Risk for Money Market Funds		A Greek default can have serious consequences for U.S. investors: ~50% of U.S. funds (~$800 billion) has been lent to European banks	NYT		121
	29-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Myra P. Saefong; Deborah Levine	Brady bond-style solution isn’t a Greece guarantee		French bank plan to roll over Greek government dabt: proceeds of maturing Greek debt would be reinvested into new 30-year bonds	MarketWatch		122
	29-Jun-11	PRO	GOV	DEBT	Rachel Donadio; Niki Kitsantonis. Contributors: Stephen Castle; David Jolly	Greek Parliament Approves Austerity Plan		Greece: the Greek Parliament approved lender-imposed austerity measures; thousands of angry Greeks protested violently against the measures	NYT		123
	29-Jun-11	BANK	DEBT	JUST		Bank of America Announces Agreement on Legacy Countrywide Mortgage Repurchase and Servicing Claims		Bank of America "to resolve nearly all of the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure, representing 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion"	Bank of America		124
	29-Jun-11	BANK	DEBT	JUST	Nelson D. Schwartz; Eric Dash. Contributor: Gretchen Morgenson	Bank of America Settles Claims Stemming From Mortgage Crisis		Bank of America to pay $20 billion to settle claims related to the subprime meltdown; potential losses to the financial services industry from future claims may total tens of billions of dollars	NYT-DealBook		125
	29-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve and other central banks announce an extension of the existing temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements through August 1, 2012		The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank to extend the temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap program through 1-Aug-2012	Federal Reserve Board		126
	29-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	MON		Federal Reserve issues a final rule establishing standards for debit card interchange fees and prohibiting network exclusivity arrangements and routing restrictions		The Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule establishing standards for debit card interchange fees; under the rule, the maximum permissible interchange fee for an electronic debit transaction equals 21 cents plus 5 basis points times the value of the transaction; the rule is required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act	Federal Reserve Board		127
	30-Jun-11	PRO	GOV	MON	Ben Brown; Colette Hume; James Cook	Public sector strike hits services and schools		UK: hundreds of thousands of public sector workers protest planned pension changes	BBC News		128
	30-Jun-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Matthew Saltmarsh; Stephen Castle	German Banks Agree to Roll Over Greek Debt		Both French and German banks agreed to roll over Greek debt	NYT		129
	30-Jun-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Elisabetta Povoledo; Gaia Pianigiani	Italy Approves an Austerity Package		Italy: the government approved a 3-year $68 billion austerity package	NYT		130
	3-Jul-11	REL	MON		Ananthakrishnan G, TNN	Rs 75,000 cr and counting: More treasure tumbles out of shrine		India: treasure (including gold idols, figurines, coins, diamonds, and emeralds) valued at >Rs 75,000 crore was discovered at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple	Times of India		131
	4-Jul-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	William L. Watts	S&P warns Greek debt rollover would be default		Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said Greece would likely be in “selective default” if Greek government debt is rolled over according to France's proposal	MarketWatch		132
	5-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Stephanie Tong; Chitra Somayaji (ed.)	China Banks’ Outlook May Be Souring on Loans		Yvonne Zhang of Moody’s: “The Chinese audit agency could be understating banks’ exposure to local governments"; local governments are indebted to Chinese banks to the tune of $540 billion	Bloomberg		133
	5-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Sandrine Rastello; John Detrixhe; Christopher Wellisz (ed.)	Portugal Rating Cut on Possible Greek Follow		Moody’s Investors Service cut Portugal’s long-term government bond rating from Baa1 to Ba2 (junk)	Bloomberg		134
	6-Jul-11	GOV	MON	NUC	R. Jeffrey Smith. Contributor: Joby Warrick	Pakistan’s nuclear-bomb maker says North Korea paid bribes for know-how		Pakistan: Abdul Qadeer Khan released secret documents allegedly detailing the transfer of nuclear and missile technologies between Pakistan and North Korea; two Pakistani military officers were allegedly paid >$3.5 million and "3 diamond and ruby sets"; the Pakistani military officials named denied the allegations	Washington Post		135
	6-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Deng Shasha (ed.)	China's central bank raises interest rate by 25 basis points		China: the People's Bank of China (PBOC) decided to raise its benchmark one-year borrowing and lending rates by 0.25%	Xinhua		136
	6-Jul-11	ECON	MON	DEBT	Binyamin Appelbaum	As Plastic Reigns, the Treasury Slows Its Printing Presses		U.S.: value of currency in domestic circulation as percent of the U.S.’s economic activity: ~5% in 1970; ~2.5% in 2010	NYT		137
	7-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		7 July 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to increase the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility by 0.25% to 1.50%, 2.25% and 0.75% respectively	European Central Bank		138
	7-Jul-11	MON	RPIG	ELITE	Brooke Sutherland; Dan Kraut (ed.)	Buffett Donates $1.5 Billion in Annual Gates Foundation Gift		Warren Buffett donated stock valued at ~$1.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	Bloomberg		139
	8-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		IMF Executive Board Completes Fourth Review Under Stand-By Arrangement for Greece and Approves €3.2 Billion Disbursement		The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved ~€3.2 billion (~$4.58 billion) for Greece; total disbursements to Greece under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Greece is ~€17.4 billion (~$24.9 billion)	IMF		140
	8-Jul-11	MON	JUST		David Benoit	Wells Fargo Settles Mortgage-Backed Security Suit For $125M		Wells Fargo & Co. to pay $125 million to settle mortgage-backed securities suit	WSJ: Dow Jones Newswires		141
	10-Jul-11	GOV	MIL	MON		White House: US Suspends $800 Million in Military Aid to Pakistan		The U.S. to suspend ~$800 million in military aid to Pakistan	VOA News		142
	11-Jul-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	George soros	True Europeans now need a ‘plan B’		George Soros: "The German chancellor Angela Merkel insisted that there should be no joint EU guarantee; each country would have to take care of its own institutions. That was the root cause of today’s euro crisis. . . Greece is heading towards disorderly default and/or devaluation, with incalculable consequences."	FT-The A-List		143
	12-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Moody's downgrades Ireland to Ba1; outlook remains negative		Moody's Investors Service downgraded Ireland's foreign- and local-currency government bond ratings from Baa3 to Ba1 (junk)	Moody's		144
	12-Jul-11	GOV	BANk	DEBT		Statement on Monetary Policy		The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1%	Bank of Japan		145
	12-Jul-11	FIN	MON			Toronto to offer buyouts to 17,000 city workers		Toronto, Canada: ~17,000 municipal workers to be offered a buyout of ≤6 months salary; Toronto's budget shortfall is $774 million	CBC News		146
	14-Jul-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Nikola G Swann; John Chambers; David T Beers	Research Update: United States of America 'AAA/A-1+' Ratings Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Rising Risk Of Policy Stalemate		S&P: "Standard & Poor's has placed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the United States of America on CreditWatch with negative implications"	#VALUE!		147
	15-Jul-11	GOV	RES	MON	Wang Guanqun (ed.)	China pledges to boost funding for scientific research		China: Ministry of Science and Technology to increase funding of scientific research to 2.2% of GDP by 2015 (up from 1.74% in 2010); China's volume of research papers in the field of materials science has exceeded those of the U.S. and Japan	Xinhua: China Daily		148
	15-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Results of the 2011 EU-wide stress test		European Banking Authority (EBA): 2011 EU-wide bank stress test: 8 of 90 banks fall below the capital threshold of 5% Core Tier 1 Ratio (CT1R) (CT1 shortfall of €2.5 bn); 16 banks display a CT1R of between 5% and 6%	European Banking Authority		149
	15-Jul-11	GOV	MON		David Gollust	US Joins 30 Countries in Recognizing Libyan Rebels		31 countries, including the U.S., have formally recognized Libya’s anti-Gadhafi Transitional National Council as the “legitimate governing authority"; frozen Libyan assets in U.S. banks: $32 billion	VOA News		150
	18-Jul-11	GOV	BUS	MON	Zhang Xiang (ed.)	China's non-financial SOEs report 22 pct rise in profits in H1		China: financial results of non-financial state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for 2011H1: revenues, 17.42 trillion yuan (up 24.2% YOY); profits, 1.13 trillion yuan ($173.08 billion) (up 22.3% YOY)	Xinhua		151
	18-Jul-11	BUS	FIN	DEBT	Andria Cheng	Borders says it's liquidating, shutting 399 stores		Borders Group Inc. to liquidate its store assets and shut 399 stores	MarketWatch		152
	18-Jul-11	BUS	FIN	MON	Kate Burgess; Robin Wigglesworth; Daniel Schäfer	Failures raise fears of a system in crisis		Financial Times: ~50 European companies wanted to go public in 2011H1; of these ~50% of withdrew before listing	Financial Times		153
	19-Jul-11	BANK	DEBT	ENER		SolarEdge Closes $8.0 Million Credit Facility with Silicon Valley Bank		Israel: Silicon Valley Bank to provide SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. with an $8.0 million credit facility	Silicon Valley Bank		154
	19-Jul-11	FIN	MON			Hedge Fund Industry Extends Record Asset Level With 2Q Inflows		Hedge Fund Research: capital invested in the global hedge fund industry, $2.04 trillion (record); investment inflows in 2011H1, >$62 billion	Hedge Fund Research		155
	20-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility		Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility	Federal Reserve Board		156
	21-Jul-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Landon Thomas Jr.; Stephen Castle. Contributor: James Kanter	Heads of Europe Back Broad Plan to Rescue Greece		Brussels: European leaders agree to a €109 billion ($157 billion) bailout package for Greece; Greece's total debt, €350 billion ($496 billion)	NYT		157
	23-Jul-11	BANK	DEBT	FRAUD	Alexei Barrionuevo; Contributors: Pascale Bonnefoy; Aaron Nelsen	Rise of Consumer Credit in Chile and Brazil Leads to Big Debts and Lender Abuses		Chile, Brazil, and other South American countries are suffering from usury and its abuses. Household debt-to-income levels: U.S., ~140%; Brazil, 40% in April 2011 (LCA Consultores); Chile, 70% at yearend 2010 (Central Bank). Credit card interest rates in Brazil are >220%. Accrording to filmmaker Osvaldo Oyarce: “We have turned ourselves into modern slaves." Class action lawsuit filed in Jun-2011 against alleged fraudster in Chile.	NYT		158
	25-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Greece to Ca from Caa1, developing outlook		Moody's Investors Service downgraded Greece's local- and foreign-currency bond ratings from Caa1 to Ca	Moody's		159
	26-Jul-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Michael J. De La Merced	California Secures $5.4 Billion Loan From 8 Banks		California obtained a $5.4 billion bridge loan from 8 banks (including Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup) to protect itself from the consequences of a failure in Washington to raise the U.S. debt ceiling	NYT-DealBook		160
	27-Jul-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT		Visa Inc. Posts Strong Fiscal Third Quarter 2011 Earnings Results and Authorizes New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program		Visa fiscal 2011Q3 results: total operating revenues, $2.322 billion (up 14.4% YOY); net income attributable to Visa Inc., $1.005 billion (up 40% YOY)	Visa		161
	28-Jul-11	GOV	BUS	MON	Matt Hartley	U.S. balance now less than Apple cash		According to Matt Hartley, Apple "has more cash on hand than the most powerful democracy on Earth has spending room"	Financial Post-FP Tech Desk		162
	28-Jul-11	BANK	BUS	MON	Nelson D. Schwartz; Azam Ahmed; Andrew Ross Sorkin (ed.)	Debt Ceiling Impasse Rattles Short-Term Credit Markets		U.S.: debt-ceiling deadline is 2-Aug-11; big banks and companies withdrew over one week $37.5 billion from money market funds that invest in normally riskless securities, including U.S. Treasury debt [source: Investment Company Institute]	NYT-DealBook		163
	29-Jul-11	GOV	LAW	DEBT	David Espo. Contributors: Andrew Taylor; Donna Cassata; Alan Fram; Jim Kuhnhenn; Erica Werner; Ben Feller	House approves debt bill; Senate rejects it		U.S.: the House approved a Republican-drafted $900-billion debt increase bill; the Senate rejected the bill	AP		164
	31-Jul-11	GOV	LAW	DEBT		To Escape Chaos, a Terrible Deal		Deal between Congressional leaders and the White House: "The deal would avert a catastrophic government default, immediately and probably through the end of 2012. The rest of it is a nearly complete capitulation to the hostage-taking demands of Republican extremists"	NYT-Editorial		165
	1-Aug-11	GOV	LAW	DEBT	John Nolen	A summary of the debt ceiling compromise		Washington, DC: the House approved a compromise deal to raise the U.S. debt limit bu up to $2.4 trillion, an additional increase, in the range from $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion, is also available after a special committee matches the increae with a corresponding spending cut; the deal requires cuts >$900 billion over 10 years; the deal involves no tax increases	CBS News		166
	1-Aug-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT	Maria Tsvetkova; Alissa de Carbonnel (Writing); Tim Pearce (ed.)	Putin blasts 'parasite' US		Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: "They [Americans] are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy. . . They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar."	Reuters		167
	1-Aug-11	GOV	LAW	DEBT	Michael McDonald; David McLaughlin; Mark Tannenbaum (ed.)	‘Dire’ Finances Force R.I. City Into Bankruptcy		U.S.: 5 municipalities sought bankruptcy protection in 2011 to date vs. 6 in in the whole of 2010	Bloomberg		168
	2-Aug-11	GOV	LAW	DEBT	Jennifer Steinhauer. Contributor: Robert Pear	Debt Bill Is Signed, Ending a Fractious Battle		Washington, DC: the Senate voted 74 to 26 to raise the government’s debt ceiling; President Obama signed the bill	NYT		169
	2-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Announcement on Dagong Downgrading the Debt Rating of the USA		China: Dagong Global Credit Rating cut the credit rating on U.S. sovereign debt from A+ to A with a negative outlook	Dagong Global Credit Rating Co.		170
	2-Aug-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		IMF Statement on U.S. Agreement to Raise Debt Ceiling		Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “We welcome the agreement to raise the U.S. government’s borrowing limit and cut the budget deficit. By reducing a major uncertainty in the markets and bolstering U.S. fiscal credibility, this agreement is good for both the U.S. and the global economy"	IMF		171
	2-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Announcement: Moody's confirms US Aaa Rating, assigns negative outlook		Moody's: "Moody's Investors Service has confirmed the Aaa government bond rating of the United States following the raising of the statutory debt limit on August 2. The rating outlook is now negative."	Moody's		172
	2-Aug-11	ELITE	FIN	MON		The top 1%		Al Jazeera-Fault Lines "investigates the gap between the rich and the rest": "The richest one per cent of Americans earn nearly a quarter of the country's income and control an astonishing 40 per cent of its wealth"	Al Jazeera-Fault Lines		173
	3-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Wang Guanqun (ed.)	Chinese rating agency Co. downgraded U.S. credit rating after debt limit increase		China: Dagong Global Credit Rating cut the credit rating on U.S. sovereign debt from A+ to A with a negative outlook; reason: "the U.S. national debt growth has outpaced that of its overall economy and fiscal revenue"; China's U.S. debt holdings amounted to $1.15 trillion as of the end of April 2011	Xinhua		174
	4-Aug-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		4 August 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB decided to keep the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.50%, 2.25% and 0.75%, respectively	European Central Bank		175
	4-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT		Delia Robertson	Activists Condemn South Africa Loan to Swaziland		3-Aug-11: South Africa to bailout Swaziland with a $350 million loan; activists condemn the loan	VOA News		176
	5-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Primary Credit Analyst: Nikola G Swann [Toronto]. Secondary Credit Analysts: John Chambers [New York]; David T Beers [London]	Research Update: United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative		Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America from 'AAA'  to 'AA+' and affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term rating; the downgrade reflects the authors' view that "the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges . . ."	S&P		177
	6-Aug-11	GOV	POL	DEBT		China Slams US on Credit Downgrade, Most Countries Cautious		China issued a warning to the United States regarding "debt addiction" and "short-sighted political wrangling"	VOA News-AP-Reuters		178
	7-Aug-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		7 August 2011 - Statement by the President of the ECB		The European Central Bank (ECB): the governments of Italy and Spain agreed to "new measures and reforms in the areas of fiscal and structural policies"; these aim "to substantially enhance the competitiveness and flexibility of their economies, and to rapidly reduce public deficits"; the ECB "will actively implement its Securities Markets Programme," a bond bying program "to help restoring a better transmission of our monetary policy decisions – taking account of dysfunctional market segments – and therefore to ensure price stability in the euro area"	European Central Bank		179
	8-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Primary Credit Analyst: Matthew Albrecht [New York]; Secondary Credit Analysts: Daniel E Teclaw [New York]; Sunsierre Newsome [New York]	Ratings On Select GREs And FDIC- And NCUA-Guaranteed Debt Lowered After Sovereign Downgrade		Standard & Poor's downgraded (1) the long-term issuer credit ratings on 10 of 12 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) from 'AAA'" to 'AA+'; and (2) the senior issue ratings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 'AAA'" to 'AA+'; the outlooks for all 12 FHLBs is negative	S&P		180
	8-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT		Camilla Hall	Dubai’s ICD to repay $4bn of loans		Dubai: Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) to repay $4 billion in loans, instead of opting for refinancing	Financial Times		181
	9-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT		Brian Dumaine; Graphic: Nicolas Rapp	Who in the world is most in debt?		The 10 most indebted developed countries (ranked according to Debt/GDP ratio): 1 Japan; 2 Greece; 3 Italy; 4 Iceland; 5 Belgium; 6 Ireland; 7 U.S.; 8 Singapore; 9 France; 10 Portugal	CNN Money: Fortune		182
	10-Aug-11	MKT	GOV	DEBT	Deborah Levine	U.S. sells debt at record low yield; bonds gain		The U.S. Treasury Department sold $24 billion in 10-year notes at a yield of 2.14% (record low)	MarketWatch		183
	14-Aug-11	ELITE	MON	RPIG	Warren Buffett	Stop Coddling the Super-Rich		Warren E. Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, on taxing the super-rich: "I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class . . . But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million . . . And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate."	NYT-Op Ed		184
	14-Aug-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		World Bank President Zoellick Media Availability in Sydney, August 14, 2011		World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick: "Well, I think we're entering a new danger zone, and I think that confidence in economic leadership has been slipping.  And it will be important that the primary economic actors take steps, both short and long term, to restore that'	World Bank Group		185
	15-Aug-11	M&A	BANK	DEBT		Bank of America to Exit International Credit Card Businesses		TD Bank Group to purchase Bank of America’s $8.6 billion Canadian credit card portfolio and certain other assets and liabilities	Bank of America-Business Wire		186
	15-Aug-11	MKT	FIN	MON	Scott Austin	Mark Cuban: This Tech VC Bubble Is Like A Ponzi Scheme		Mark Cuban called the recent valuations of high-tech firms a “technology VC bubble” -- “a Ponzi scheme” or “an old chain letter” (new venture-capital money is used to pay off old venture-capital money and so on and so forth)	WSJ		187
	16-Aug-11	BUS	MON		Steven M. Davidoff	Tax Policy Change Would Bring Cash Piles Abroad Back Home		The amount of cash held by 519 American multinational corporations abroad is estimated by JPMorgan Chase at ~$1.375 trillion	NYT-DealBook		188
	16-Aug-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Fitch Affirms United States at AAA; Outlook Stable		Fitch affirmed United States at AAA with stable outlook; "The affirmation of the US 'AAA' sovereign rating reflects the fact that the key pillars of US's exceptional creditworthiness remains intact: its pivotal role in the global financial system and the flexible, diversified and wealthy economy that provides its revenue base. Monetary and exchange rate flexibility further enhances the capacity of the economy to absorb and adjust to 'shocks'"	Fitch Ratings		189
	17-Aug-11	ECON	DEBT	RPIG		Recession Increases Number of Children Living in Low-Income Families by 7% to 31 Million; 7.8 Million Children Lived With at Least One Unemployed Parent in 2010		KIDS COUNT Data Book: "The official child poverty rate . . . increased 18 percent between 2000 and 2009 . . . This increase means that 2.4 million more children are living below the federal poverty line. . . In 2010, 11 percent of children had at least one unemployed parent and 4 percent have been affected by foreclosure since 2007"	Annie E. Casey Foundation		190
	18-Aug-11	GOV	BUS	DEBT		Treasury Receives $2 Billion TARP Repayment from American International Group (AIG)		The U.S. Department of the Treasury received a repayment of $2.15 billion from American International Group (AIG); AIG received a total of ~$180 billion from Treasury during the financial crisis); to date, Treasury has received $313 billion in repayments and other income from its TARP investments (>76% of the $412 billion disbursed under the program)	U.S. Department of the Treasury		191
	19-Aug-11	BANK	DEBT			Failed Bank List		FDIC: number of failed banks by year: 2011 YTD, 68; 2010, 157; 2009, 140; 2008, 25	FDIC		192
	22-Aug-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Bradley Keoun; Phil Kuntz; David Scheer (ed.)	Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Fed Loans		Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz, Bloomberg: To survive the housing market collapse in 2008 the U.S. Federal Reserve lent banks ("Wall Street's Aristocracy") $1.2 trillion of public money; ironically, the loans amounted to "about the same amount U.S. homeowners currently owe on 6.5 million delinquent and foreclosed mortgages"	Bloomberg		193
	22-Aug-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW		Delinquencies Rise, Foreclosures Fall in Latest MBA Mortgage Delinquency Survey		Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA): National Delinquency Survey: the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on 1-to-4-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 8.44% of all loans outstanding as of the end of 2011Q2 (up 0.12% QOQ; down 1.41% YOY)	Mortgage Bankers Association		194
	23-Aug-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT		Quarterly Banking Profile		FDIC-insured institutions' results, 2011Q2: net income of $28.8 billion in 2011Q2 (up $7.9 billion or 37.9% YOY)	FDIC		195
	30-Aug-11	ELITE	MON	RPIG	Julia Werdigier. Contributor: Elisabetta Povoledo	Tax Me More, Europe’s Wealthy Say		Europe: concerned about the potential for social unrest [protests in Greece, Spain, U.K], Europe's elites are calling for higher taxes for the super-rich	NYT		196
	1-Sep-11	GOV	MIL	MON	Al Pessin	International Conference Pledges Support for Libya		Paris, France: "Friends of Libya" conference; NATO military operations to continue; billions of dollars of frozen Libyan funds to be released	VOA News		197
	1-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve Board announces a formal enforcement action against the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Bank USA		The Federal Reserve Board to enforce "action against the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Bank USA to address a pattern of misconduct and negligence relating to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing involving its former subsidiary, Litton Loan Servicing LP"	Federal Reserve Board		198
	1-Sep-11	BUS	DEBT	ENER	Keith Bradsher	China Benefits as U.S. Solar Industry Withers		31-Aug-11: Solyndra (CA) filed for bankrupycy protection; 2 other American solar poawer manufacturers, Evergreen Solar (MA) and SpectraWatt (NY), also filed for bankruptcy in Aug-2011; China has surpassed the U.S. in solar cell production around 2006	NYT		199
	2-Sep-11	BUS	MON		Matt Andrejczak	Dividend investors: Fatter payday on way: Cash back could hit $241 billion, up 18% from 2010		U.S.: dividend investors to benefit from increased dividends from America's 500 largest companies	MarketWatch		200
	6-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Landon Thomas Jr.; Nelson D. Schwartz. Contributor: Liz Alderman	In Euro Zone, Banking Fear Feeds on Itself		George Soros on the European debt crisis: "This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers . . . That is why the problem is so serious. You need a crisis to create the political will for Europe to create such an authority, but there is still no understanding as to what the authority will do." Markets are nervous, there is a potential for deposit runs on banks, U.S. money market funds have cut their exposure to European banks, and the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds tumbled to an all-time record low (1.90%).	NYT		201
	6-Sep-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Deborah Levine	Treasurys up; 10-year yields hit record low		Yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 1.9753%, via an all-time low of 1.90%	MarketWatch		202
	6-Sep-11	PRO	DEBT		Rachel Donadio. Contributor: Gaia Pianigiani	Italian Workers Strike Against Austerity Measures		Italy: thousands of workers (~70,000 in Rome) protested against a ~$64 billion austerity package linked to Italian debt	NYT		203
	8-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		8 September 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.50%, 2.25% and 0.75% respectively	European Central Bank		204
	8-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Mortgage Rates Attain New All-Time Record Lows Again		Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS): mortgage rates, fixed and adjustable, hit all-time record lows: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.12% (down from 4.35% YOY). Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac: "Market concerns over Eurozone sovereign debt default and a weak U.S. employment report for August placed downward pressure on Treasury bond yields and allowed fixed mortgage rates to hit new lows this week. On net, the economy added no new jobs last month and was the weakest reading since September 2010. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, marking its 31st consecutive month of being above 8 percent, the longest such stretch in 70 years."	Freddie Mac		205
	8-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Chairman Ben S. Bernanke	The U.S. Economic Outlook [speech at the Economic Club of Minnesota Luncheon, Minneapolis, Minnesota]		Chairman Ben S. Bernanke: "The financial crisis that gripped global markets in 2008 and 2009 was more severe than any since the Great Depression. . . The actions to stabilize the financial system were accompanied . . . by substantial monetary and fiscal stimulus. Despite these strong and concerted efforts, severe damage to the global economy could not be avoided. The freezing of credit, the sharp drops in asset prices, dysfunction in financial markets, and the resulting blows to confidence sent global production and trade into free fall in late 2008 and early 2009. . . Our economy retains its traditional advantages of a strong market orientation, a robust entrepreneurial culture, and flexible capital and labor markets. And our country remains a technological leader, with many of the world's leading research universities and the highest spending on research and development of any nation. Thus I do not expect the long-run growth potential of the U.S. economy to be materially affected by the financial crisis and the recession if--and I stress if--our country takes the necessary steps to secure that outcome."	Federal Reserve Board		206
	9-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Christine Lagarde	“The Challenges for the Global Economy”: Opening Remarks at the Royal Institute for International Affairs - Chatham House		Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund: "The key message I wish to convey today is that countries must act now—and act boldly—to steer their economies through this dangerous new phase of the recovery. The world is collectively suffering from a crisis of confidence, in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook and rising concerns about the health of sovereigns and banks. . . For the advanced economies, there is no question that fiscal sustainability must be restored through credible consolidation plans. . . Monetary policy . . . should remain highly accommodative, as the risk of recession outweighs the risk of inflation"	IMF		207
	11-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Nathalie Boschat; Paul Hannon. Contributor: Gabriele Parussini	G-8 Pledges Boost in Arab Spring Funds		G8 countries to provide $38 billion in financing via the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Arab Spring nations through 2013; the IMF to provide additional loans	WSJ		208
	12-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	GOV	Liz Alderman	Fears Rattle Big Banks in France		France: shares in BNP Paribas and Société Générale tumbled ~12%; investors are concerned about the impact of a potential Greek default on French banks; will a threat to bank liquidity require a government bailout?	NYT		209
	12-Sep-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT	John Carney	Jamie Dimon Is Right		Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, called new Basel III international capital regulations "anti-American"; Basel III advantages European banks that own covered bonds	CNBC		210
	12-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP): Monthly 105(a) Report – August 2011		Impact of TARP programs and other Treasury investment in AIG on the Federal Budget, as of 31-Aug-11: obligation/commitment, $470.67 billion; disbursed amounts, $412.73 billion; oustanding investment balance, $124.04 billion; estimated lifetime costs as of 30-Jun-11, $36.69 billion	U.S. Department of the Treasury		211
	13-Sep-11	GOV	MON	GOLD	Chris Arsenault	China buys gold, challenges US dollar		China: accoding to a WikiLeaks cable, China is shifting foreign holdings into gold, thus "undermining the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency." Josh Aizenman, president of the International Economics and Finance Society, to Al Jazeera: "Any country that can finance its expenditures by printing money or selling bonds is essentially getting a free lunch." Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, to Al Jazeera: "We pay our debts in dollars so we can print money to pay our international debts. . . [Because of the dollar's status as a reserve currency, the US] can run trade deficits indefinitely" -- this gives the U.S. a "big advantage"	Al Jazeera		212
	13-Sep-11	EDU	DEBT			Consumer Bankruptcy Filings among College Educated, High Income Earners on the Increase		Institute for Financial Literacy: key findings in the "2010 Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographics Report: A Five Year Perspective of the American Debtor" by Leslie E. Linfield include: (1) "College education doesn't appear to ward off bankruptcy as the rate of degree holders filing bankruptcy increased by 20%"; (2) "Bankruptcy filers earning incomes above $60,000 increased their rate of filing by over 66%"	Institute for Financial Literacy		213
	13-Sep-11	ECON	DEBT		Louise Egan; Jeffrey Hodgson (ed.)	Canada household debt rises further in 2nd quarter		Canada: the ratio of household credit market debt (mortgages, consumer credit, and loans) to disposable income rose to 149% in 2011Q2 (up from 147% in 2011Q1)	Reuters		214
	13-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW		U.S. Foreclosure Activity Increases 7 Percent in August, Defaults Surge 33 Percent		RealtyTrac: U.S. Foreclosure  Market Report for August 2011: 1st-time default notices were filed on 78,880 U.S. properties in Aug-2011 (up 33% MOM; down 18% YOY); foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions) were reported on 228,098 U.S. properties in Aug-2011 (up 7% MOM; down ~33% YOY)	RealtyTrac		215
	14-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Moody's downgrades Societe Generale's index-linked notes		Moody's downgrades Societe Generale's index-linked notes	Moody's		216
	14-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Moody's downgrades Credit Agricole SA’s long-term ratings to Aa2 on Greek exposures, ratings remain on review to consider impact of funding challenges on Credit Profile		Moody's downgrades Credit Agricole SA’s long-term ratings to Aa2 on Greek exposures	Moody's		217
	14-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Moody's downgrades Societe Generale long-term ratings to Aa3 on normalised systemic support, Outlook negative, BFSR remains on review to consider impact of funding challenges on credit profile		Moody's downgrades Societe Generale long-term ratings to Aa3 on normalised systemic support, Outlook negative	Moody's		218
	14-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility		Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility	Federal Reserve Board		219
	15-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		15 September 2011 - ECB announces additional US dollar liquidity-providing operations over year-end		The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), in coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct 3 US dollar liquidity-providing operations covering the end of 2011	European Central Bank		220
	16-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Joshua Chaffin; Alex Barker; Kerin Hope	Geithner warns EU of ‘catastrophic risk’		U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's warning: “Governments and central banks have to take out the catastrophic risk from markets… [and avoid] loose talk about dismantling the institutions of the euro"	Financial Times		221
	16-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Stephen Castle; Louise Story	Advice on Debt? Europe Suggests U.S. Can Keep It		Many European leaders do not care for America's financial advice. Maria Fekter, finance minister of Austria: “I found it peculiar that, even though the Americans have significantly worse fundamental data than the euro zone, that they tell us what we should do,” Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group: “The United States has diminished credibility — it can’t simply tell Europe what to do. . . "	NYT		222
	17-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE		OccupyWallStreet: The American Revolution Begins Sept 17th		OccupyWallStreet.org's mission: "On the 17th of September, we want to see 20,000 people to flood into lower Manhattan, set up beds, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Like our brothers and sisters in Egypt, Greece, Spain, and Iceland, we plan to use the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic of mass occupation to restore democracy in America. . . We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%"	OccupyWallStreet.org		223
	17-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Colin Moynihan	Wall Street Protest Begins, With Demonstrators Blocked		New York, NY: protest "as an expression of anger over a financial system that they said favors the rich and powerful at the expense of ordinary citizens"	NYT		224
	17-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE		Protesters in N.Y.C. blast money in politics		New York, NY: groups inspired by the "Arab Spring" protests occupy Wall Street and stage their own protest against corrupt money in politics.	CBS News		225
	19-Sep-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	David T Beers	Global Credit Portal: Republic of Italy		Standard & Poor's lowered Italy's unsolicited ratings to 'A/A-1'; outlook negative	Standard & Poor's		226
	19-Sep-11	GOV	FIN	MON	Dan Robinson	Obama Proposes $3 Trillion Deficit, Debt Plan		White House, DC: President Barack Obama unveiled a 10-year plan including >$3.2 trillion in deficit savings and a new minimum tax on millionaires	VOA News		227
	19-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Colin Moynihan	Wall Street Protests Continue, With at Least 6 Arrested		New York, NY: the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street protest continues; ~200 people protested "to criticize a financial system that unfairly benefits corporations and the rich and undermines democracy"	NYT-City Room		228
	21-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		FOMC statement		FOMC (1) to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%; (2) to purchase, by the end of Jun-2012, $400 billion of long-term (6-30 years) Treasury securities and sell an equal amount of short-term (<3 years) Treasury securities	Federal Reserve Board		229
	21-Sep-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Moody's: Research		Moody's downgrades: (1) Citigroup Inc to P-2; (2) Bank of America Corp. to Baa1/P-2; (3) Wells Fargo & Company rating (sr to A2)	Moody's		230
	22-Sep-11	POL	MON			Reception With Governor Mitt Romney At Essex House, September 27, 2011 [Paid for by Romney for President, Inc.]		The cost of a Private VIP Reception with Governor Mitt Romney on 27-Sep-11  is $2,500/person and $5,000/couple	Politico: Romney for President, Inc.		231
	22-Sep-11	MON				Loonie drops almost 3 cents		The loonie fell 2.8 cents to 96.61 cent US in early trading	CBC News		232
	22-Sep-11	GOV	RPIG	MON	Anjana Pasricha	India’s New Poverty Definition Upsets Activists, Some Economists		India’s new poverty definition: a person who spends ~$15/month on food, education and health in rural areas is NOT poor; for urban areas, the poverty threshold is $20/month; the World Bank’s international poverty threshold is $1.25/day or ~$37.5/month	VOA News		233
	22-Sep-11	ELITE	MON			The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America		The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America: 1. Bill Gates, $59 bn; 2. Warren Buffett, $39 bn; 3. Larry Ellison, $33 bn; 4. Charles Koch, $25 bn; 4. David Koch, $25 bn; 6. Christy Walton, $24.5 bn; 7. George Soros, $22 bn; 8. Sheldon Adelson, $21.5 bn; 9. Jim Walton, $21.1 bn; 10. Alice Walton, $20.9 bn . . .	Forbes		234
	23-Sep-11	BANK	MON	DEBT	Ben Protess	Banks Increase Holdings in Derivatives		U.S.: Banks hold ~$250 trillion of derivative contracts (for hedging risks and speculation); JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs hold ~95% of the total exposure to derivatives	NYT-DealBook		235
	24-Sep-11	PRO	GOV	DEBT	Rachel Donadio. Contributor: Niki Kitsantonis	Worried Greeks Fear Collapse of Middle Class Welfare State		Jens Bastian, economist at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, on the potential collapse of the middle class in Greece, as quoted in the New York Times: "The government is increasingly at war with the citizens . . . It is taking decisions whose consequences are not only squeezing the middle class, but threatening its very existence"	NYT		236
	26-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	MON	Tom Braithwaite	Dimon in attack on Canada’s bank chief		Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, attacked Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney; regulators want the biggest banks to hold up to 9.7% core capital against risk-weighted assets; Mr. Dimon views such rules as being "Anti-American" [see 12-Sep-2011]	Financial Times		237
	28-Sep-11	GOV	LAW	MON	Ivan Broadhead	China Pushes for Currency Internationalization		U.S.-China tension: work on new U.S. legislation to "make it easier for China to be labeled a currency manipulator and for trade sanctions to be imposed on Chinese goods"	VOA News		238
	29-Sep-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	William Boston; Bernd Radowitz	German Parliament Approves Bailout Fund's Expansion		Germany: the German parliament approved the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) which expands the bailout fund for the euro zone from €250 billion to €440 billion ($595.94 billion; up 76%)	WSJ		239
	29-Sep-11	BANK	RE	DEBT	Ruth Mantell	30-year mortgage at record low 4.01%		U.S.: the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.01% (record low)	MarketWatch		240
	29-Sep-11	BANK	MON		Ylan Q. Mui	Bank of America to add $5 monthly debit card fee as era of low-cost banking ebbs		Bank of America to charge customers a fee of $5/month to shop with their debit cards (this decision was reversed on 1-Nov-11 after a huge outcry [source: NYT])	Washington Post		241
	30-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE		“OCCUPY WALL STREET” INSPIRES PROTESTS IN BOSTON		Occupy Wall Street, which began on 17-Sep-11, has spread to Boston: “Our country is owned by the top 1%.  We are the 99%. Join the conversation!”	Occupy Boston		242
	30-Sep-11	ELITE	MON	RPIG	James Oliphant	Did Warren Buffett really disagree with Obama's tax plan?		Warren Buffett, in a CNBC interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, regarding Obama’s tax plan: " . . . my program is to have a tax on ultra-rich people who are paying very low tax rates. Not just all the rich people. It probably would apply to 50,000 people in a population of 310 million.”	Los Angeles Times		243
	30-Sep-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Carolyn Weaver	Occupy Wall Street' Protesters in NYC Decry Corruption, Greed		New York, NY: hundreds of "Occypy Wall Street" demonstrators protested against bank and corporate greed; community organizer Naif Littles: "The top 400 richest Americans have more wealth than 150 million Americans combined."	VOA News		244
	1-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Al Baker; Colin Moynihan; Sarah Maslin Nir. Contributors: Natasha Lennard; William K. Rashbaum; Elizabeth A. Harris	Police Arrest More Than 700 Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge		New York, NY: "Occupy Wall Street" protest, began 17-Sep-11, continues; police arrested >700 demonstrators	NYT		245
	2-Oct-11	ELITE	MON		Susanne Craig; Ben Protess	Others Go, but Buffett Stays on President’s Side		30-Sep-11: Warren E. Buffett hosted a fund-raiser for President Obama and raised >$1.5 million for Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee;	NYT-DealBook		246
	3-Oct-11	GOV	DEBT	MON	Polya Lesova; Chris Oliver	Greece to miss deficit targets; more cuts loom		Greece to implement €6.6 billion ($8.8 billion) in new austerity measures demanded by the EU, ECB and the IMF [WSJ]	MarketWatch		247
	3-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Erik Eckholm; Timothy Williams. Contributors: Ashley Southall; Ian Lovett; Steven Yaccino	Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small		"Occupy Wall Street" rally against corporate greed has spread to many cities around the world; Javier Rodriguez, former student: “The monetary system is not working. The banks are here to steal from us. Everybody is in debt whether it’s medical bills or school or loans. People are getting fed up with it.”	NYT		248
	4-Oct-11	BANK	DEBT		John Greenwood	‘Business as usual’ at RBC Dexia despite breakup proposal at Belgian parent		Dexia's financial troubles to reportedly have “no impact on RBC Dexia or its operations”; RBC Dexia is a joint venture of Royal Bank and Dexia; Dexia holds $21 billion of Greek debt	Financial Post		249
	4-Oct-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Moody's downgrades Italy's government bond ratings to A2 with a negative outlook		Moody's Investors Service downgraded Italy's government bond ratings from Aa2 to A2 with a negative outlook	Moody's		250
	4-Oct-11	ELITE	MON	JOBS	David A. Fahrenthold	For some of the rich, budget and tax battles bring worries — of paying too little		Some of the very rich in the U.S. are worried about the rich-poor income gap; concerns include potential loss of wealth, unfair taxation, the rich-working class income gap, murderous class warfare	NYT		251
	5-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Steven Greenhouse; Cara Buckley. Contributors: Al Baker; Joseph Goldstein; Rob Harris; Colin Moynihan	Seeking Energy, Unions Join Protest Against Wall Street		Major unions join the "Occupy Wall Street" protest	NYT		252
	6-Oct-11	MON	LAW	JUST		French courts did not breach Convention in convicting George Soros for insider trading		In the case Soros v. France, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that that there had been "No violation of Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights"; George Soros was convicted and sentenced by the French courts for insider trading in the 1990s -- he was fined €2.2 million	European Court of Human Rights		253
	7-Oct-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Rating Action: Moody's downgrades 12 UK financial institutions, concluding review of systemic support		Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of 12 UK financial institutions, including: Lloyds TSB Bank plc (from Aa3 to A1), Santander UK plc (from Aa3 to A1), and RBS plc (from Aa3 to A2)	Moody's		254
	8-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Al Baker. Contributors: Rob Harris; Natasha Lennard; Colin Moynihan; Anna M. Phillips	Wall Street Protest Visits Washington Sq.		New York, NY: >1,000 "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators march to Washington Square Park	NYT		255
	9-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	Paul Krugman	Panic of the Plutocrats		Paul Krugman on America's plutocrats: "So who’s really being un-American here? Not the ["Occupy Wall Street"] protesters, who are simply trying to get their voices heard. No, the real extremists here are America’s oligarchs, who want to suppress any criticism of the sources of their wealth"	NYT: Op-Ed		256
	10-Oct-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Philip Blenkinsop; Lionel Laurent. Contributors: Robert Jan-Bartunek; Philipp Halstrick; Steve Slater; Steve Slater; Leila Abboud (ed.); Greg Mahlich (ed.)	Banks brace for capital calls after Dexia rescue		Belgium: bank bailout: Dexia Bank Belgium to be nationalized at a cost of €4 billion to Belgium; Dexia has secured €90 billion ($121 billion) in guarantees from France, Belgium and Luxembourg; Dexia's global credit risk exposure is $700 billion	Reuters		257
	10-Oct-11	BUS	BANK	DEBT	Wang Guanqun; Chen Zhi (ed.)	China's cash-strapped small firms ring alarm bells		China: many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are suffering from a liquidity crunch; in Wenzhou, 20% of the 360,000 SMEs have stopped operating; many indebted entrepreneurs are skipping town, declaring bankruptcy, or committing suicide; the annual interest rate in the "informal lending market" hit a record 25.09% at the end of Aug-11	Xinhua		258
	10-Oct-11	BUS	FIN	MON		Venture Capital Industry Raises $1.72 Billion in Q3 2011: Lowest Dollar Amount Raised Since Q3 2003		Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA): U.S. venture capital funds raised $1.72 billion in 2011Q3 (down 53% YOY)	Thomson Reuters		259
	10-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	David Brooks	The Milquetoast Radicals		David Brooks: "If there is a core theme to the Occupy Wall Street movement, it is that the virtuous 99 percent of society is being cheated by the richest and greediest 1 percent. . . Unfortunately, almost no problem can be productively conceived in this way. A group that divides the world between the pure 99 percent and the evil 1 percent will have nothing to say about education reform, Medicare reform, tax reform, wage stagnation or polarization. They will have nothing to say about the way Americans have overconsumed and overborrowed . . ."	NYT: Opinion		260
	13-Oct-11	BUS	BANK	DEBT	David Barboza. Contributor: Gu Huini	In Cooling China, Loan Sharks Come Knocking		China: loan sharks in Wenzhou charge interest rates as high as 70% and use "mafia-style loan enforcers"; illegal lending of ~$630 billion a year (~10% of China’s GDP) [source: UBS] [see 10-Oct-11, Xinhua]	NYT		261
	15-Oct-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT		G20 Ministers Meet to Resolve European Debt Crisis		Paris: G-20 nations meet to deal with Europe’s sovereign debt crisis	VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters		262
	17-Oct-11	PRO	MON	ELITE	J. David Goodman	He Made It on Wall St. and Used It to Help Start the Protests		Robert S. Halper, a former vice chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), is reportedly the largest single donor to Adbusters, the Canadian magazine that ignited the Occupy Wall Street movement; Mr. Halper's last donation to Adbusters was $20,000; Mr. Halper has also contributed $2,500 to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign	NYT		263
	17-Oct-11	GOV	MON	MIL	Walter Pincus	United States needs to reevaluate its assistance to Israel		8-Oct-11: Israel: the Israeli cabinet to raise taxes on corporations and rich people (with incomes of ≥$130,000 a year) and to cut over 2 years ~5% from its ~$16 billion defense budget	NYT		264
	18-Oct-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT	Julia Talanova	S&P downgrades Italian banks		Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded 24 Italian financial institutions, including 7 top banks	CNN Money-CNN		265
	18-Oct-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Kathrin Muehlbronner; Bart Oosterveld	Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Spain's government bond ratings to A1, negative outlook		Moody's downgrades Spain's government bond ratings from Aa2 to A1, negative outlook	Moody's		266
	19-Oct-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Jon Huntsman [Republican Presidential Candidate]	Too Big to Fail' Is Simply Too Big: There is no evidence huge banks add sufficient value to offset the systemic risk they pose		Jon Huntsman: "More than three years after the crisis and the accompanying bailouts, the six largest American financial institutions are significantly bigger than they were before the crisis . . . These banks now have assets worth over 66% of gross domestic product—at least $9.4 trillion, up from 20% of GDP in the 1990s. There is no evidence that institutions of this size add sufficient value to offset the systemic risk they pose"	WSJ-Opinion		267
	19-Oct-11	FIN	MON	POL	Dan Eggen; T.W. Farnam	Obama still flush with cash from financial sector despite frosty relations		President Obama raised more money from the financial and banking sector than any Republican presidential candidate	Washington Post		268
	20-Oct-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Meltdown: The men who crashed the world: The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse		Meltdown: "The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929."	Al Jazeera		269
	20-Oct-11	POL	FIN	MON		2012 Presidential Candidate Fundraising Summary		Center for Responsive Politics, on presidential candidate fund raising in the 2012 cycle, as at 30-Sep-2011: Barak Obama (D), $89,473,611; Mitt Romney (R), $32,212,389; Rick Perry (R), $17,168,589; Ron Paul (R), $12,623,422; Michele Bachmann (R), $7,546,040	Center for Responsive Politics		270
	20-Oct-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT	Mark Scott	Moody’s Downgrades Spain’s Biggest Banks		Moody’s downgraded 5 banks: Santander, BBVA, La Caixa, CaixBank, and Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA)	NYT-DealBook		271
	20-Oct-11	PRO	VIO	DEBT	Stelios Bouras; Alkman Granitsas	Greece Gripped by Protests		Greece: tens of thousands protested against austerity measures imposed by international creditors;violence reported	WSJ		272
	21-Oct-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Stephen Castle; Jack Ewing; Liz Alderman	Funds Approved for Greece, but Leaders Remain Divided		European finance ministers to bailout Greece: €8 billion loan package to prevent an imminent default	NYT		273
	21-Oct-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT		FDIC: Failed Bank List		FDIC: number of failed banks by year: 2011 YTD, 84; 2010, 157; 2009, 140; 2008, 25; 2000-2007, 27	FDIC		274
	23-Oct-11	GOV	PRO	DEBT	Mary Beth Sheridan	Libya declares liberation with an Islamic tone		Libya: Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the Transitional National Council, declared Libya “liberated”: “The interest [on loans] will be ruled out. You will not pay it anymore” [Islam prohibits charging interest or usury]	Washington Post		275
	24-Oct-11	REL	FIN	MON		Holy See Calls For Reform Of Global Finance		The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a note titled: "Towards reforming the international financial and monetary systems in the context of a global public authority"; the note proposes "that globalisation be regulated by a global public authority"	Vatican Information Service		276
	24-Oct-11	REL	FIN	MON		Full Text: Note on financial reform from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace		Note on financial reform from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace	Vatican Radio		277
	26-Oct-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Euro Summit Statement		Brussels: Way out of the debt crisis: New European plan to bailout Greece and restore confidence: the Private Sector Involvement (PSI) to reduce the Greek debt to GDP ratio to 120% by 2020; holders of Greek bonds to voluntarily cut the bonds' face value by 50%; Euro zone Member States to contribute to the PSI package up to €30 bn; the official sector to provide additional programme financing of up to €100 bn until 2014, including recapitalisation of Greek banks	European Council		278
	27-Oct-11	REL	PRO	MON	Victoria Ward	George Carey: St Paul’s Cathedral protest damaging Christianity		Lord Carey, on St. Paul's Cathedral's hosting of the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest: "One moment the Church was reclaiming a valuable role in hosting public protest and scrutiny, the next it was looking in turns like the temple which Jesus cleansed, or the officious risk-averse ’elf ’n’ safety bureaucracy of urban legend"; the Cathedral, which closed its doors for 6 days, lost £120,000 in revenue	The Telegraph		279
	31-Oct-11	BUS	DEBT	ENER	Tom Hals; Roberta Rampton; Dale Hudson (ed.); Eric Walsh (ed.)	Beacon Power bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra		30-Oct-11: Beacon Power Corp. (an energy storage company) filed for bankruptcy; the company received a $43 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy program	Reuters		280
	31-Oct-11	GOV	MON		Contributors: Kaori Kaneko; Hideyuki Sano; Chang-Ran Kim; Masayuki Kitano; Tomasz Janowski; Neil Fullick (ed.); Alex Richardson (ed.)	Japan Intervenes to Tame Soaring Yen Ahead of G20		Japan: Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda: "We started currency intervention this morning in order to take every measure against speculative and disorderly moves and to prevent risks to the Japanese economy from materialising"	NYT: Reuters		281
	31-Oct-11	GOV	MKT	DEBT		Treasury Announces Marketable Borrowing Estimates		U.S. Department of the Treasury announced its current estimates of net marketable debt: 2011Q4, $305 billion, assuming an end-of-Dec cash balance of $60 billion; 2012Q1, $541 billion, assuming an end-of-Mar cash balance of $60 billion	U.S. Department of the Treasury		282
	1-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on October 6 and 7, 2011 – Statement on Monetary Policy		The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0% to 0.1%	Bank of Japan		283
	2-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement		FOMC to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		284
	3-Nov-11	PRO	BANK	MON		Hundreds of Thousands of Consumers, Billions of $$ Move to Credit Union: Rising fees at banks spark consumer action during October in run-up to ‘Bank Transfer Day’		Credit Union National Association (CUNA): "CUNA estimates that at least 650,000 consumers across the nation have joined credit unions since Sept. 29 (the day Bank of America unveiled its now-rescinded $5 monthly debit card fee). Also during that time, CUNA estimates that credit unions have added $4.5 billion in new savings accounts, likely from the new members and existing members shifting their funds"	Credit Union National Association		285
	3-Nov-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT	Charles Forelle; David Gauthier-Villars; Marcus Walker	Europe's Greece Ultimatum: France, Germany Say the Nation Must Decide Whether to Stay in Euro or Go		European leaders give Greece an ultimatum: German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "Does Greece want to remain part of the euro zone or not, that is the question the Greek people must now answer"; French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on what would happen should Greece opt out of the euro zone: "no French taxpayer money, no German taxpayer money." [Dr. Edward E. Ayoub, on Usurious Powers subjugating Democracy to Usury -- in the very cradle of Democracy: "Greeks must choose between continued 'usury' or bankruptcy"; will Greeks opt for an American-style revolt: "give me freedom or give me death"?]	WSJ		286
	3-Nov-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Rachel Donadio; Niki Kitsantonis. Contributors: Steven Erlanger; Alan Cowell	Greek Leader Calls Off Referendum on Bailout Plan		Greece: Prime Minister George A. Papandreou called off referendum on Greece’s new bailout deal with the euro zone	NYT		287
	3-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		3 November 2011 - Monetary policy decisions		The Governing Council of the ECB to decrease the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility by 0.25% to 1.25%, 2.00% and 0.50% respectively	European Central Bank		288
	3-Nov-11	ECON	JUST	MON	Robert S. McIntyre; Matthew Gardner; Rebecca J. Wilkins; Richard Phillips	Report: 280 Most Profitable U.S. Corporations Shelter Half Their Profits from Taxes; Thirty Companies Paid Less Than Zero in Taxes In The Last Three Years; Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Release “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010”		Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) Release “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010”: key findings: "A comprehensive new study that profiles 280 of America’s most profitable companies finds that 78 of them paid no federal income tax in at least one of the last three years. Thirty companies enjoyed a negative income tax rate over the three year period, despite combined pre-tax profits of $160 billion"; “These 280 corporations received a total of nearly $223 billion in tax subsidies"	Citizens for Tax Justice		289
	3-Nov-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Kent Cline	Greek Crisis Dominates G20 Talks		Cannes, France: G20 summit	VOA News		290
	8-Nov-11	FIN	MON	JUST	Peter Lattman	Rajaratnam Ordered to Pay $92.8 Million Penalty		Raj Rajaratnam ordered to pay a $92.8 million penalty -- a record ever assessed against a person in a Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading case.	NYT-DealBook		291
	9-Nov-11	PRO	EDU	MON		Thousands march in student protest over university fees		London, UK: thousands of students protested against higher tuition fees and "privatisation" of universities	BBC News		292
	9-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT		Rachel Donadio; Elisabetta Povoledo. Contributors: Alan Cowell; Stephen Castle	Crisis in Italy Deepens, as Bond Yields Hit Record Highs		Italy: Italy's cost of debt hit 7.4%, a 10-year+ record high potentially triggering calls for a bailout; Italy's public debt is 120% of GDP	NYT		293
	9-Nov-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW		U.S. Foreclosure Activity Hits 7-Month High in October		RealtyTrac: U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for Oct-11: foreclosure filings were reported on 230,678 U.S. properties (up 7% MOM; but down ~31% YOY); top foreclosure rates were reported in Nevada, California, and Arizona	RealtyTrac		294
	9-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	LAW		Jefferson County, Ala., to file for bankruptcy		Jefferson County, AL, to seek Chapter 9 protection from creditors in a $4.1 billion filing [source: Birmingham News]	MarketWatch		295
	9-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility		Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility	Federal Reserve Board		296
	9-Nov-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT	Steven Erlanger	Euro Fears Spread to Italy as the Debt Crisis Deepens		Country debt statistics: total and external debts in dollars and as percents of GDP: Greece: $493 bn and $259 bn (149.5% and 78.5%); Italy: $2.758 trillion and $1.191 trillion (121.5% and 52.5%) [sources: World Bank; Eurostat]	NYT		297
	10-Nov-11	PRO	EDU	MON	Sidhartha Banerjee	Up to 200,000 Quebec students stage massive protest over tuition hikes		Quebec, Canada: ~200,000 college and university students protested against hikes in tuition fees	Globe and Mail		298
	10-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	LAW	Barnett Wright. Contributors: Kent Faulk; Marie Leech; Joseph Bryant	Jefferson County files largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history		Jefferson County, saddled with $4.23 billion in debt, filed the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history	Alabama Live-The Birmingham News		299
	10-Nov-11	MKT	DEBT		Virginia Harrison	Asia markets dive on Italian debt fears		Bond yields on Italian 10-year notes rose over 7%; Hang Seng Index tumbled 5.3%; Nikkei fell 2,9%	MarketWatch		300
	10-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Bank of England maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and size of Asset Purchase Programme at £275 billion		Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to keep the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £275 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves	Bank of England		301
	11-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT		Gaia Pianigiani; Niki Kitsantonis. Contributor: Alan Cowell	Italy and Greece Act With More Force on the Debt Crisis		Acting on the debt crisis: Greece swore in a new prime minister, Lucas Papademos; Italy's Senate approved a package of austerity measures	NYT		302
	12-Nov-11	EDU	DEBT		Matt Wirz	What Hedge Funds Can Teach College Students		Estimated average U.S. tuition costs in 2011: public 2-year colleges, $2,963/year; 4-year private colleges, $28,500/year [source: The College Board]. Estimated current default rate range for student loans bundled into bonds, 30%-$0% [source: Chris Haid, at Barclays Capital]	WSJ		303
	13-Nov-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Anthony Faiola. Contributor: Sarah Delaney	Mario Monti named Italy’s interim prime minister after Silvio Berlusconi resigns		Italy: Mario Monti, a former university president and European Commission member, was named interim prime minister; President Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister on 12-Nov-2011 and vowed to work to “save Italy.”	Washington Post		304
	13-Nov-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT	Eric Dash	Banks Quietly Ramping Up Costs to Consumers		Banks are quietly adding new charges and higher fees on bank transactions and accounts	NYT		305
	16-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Eurozone Contagion Poses Threat to U.S. Bank Rating Outlook		Fitch Ratings: ". . . unless the Eurozone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner, the broad credit outlook for the U.S. banking industry could worsen"	Fitch Ratings Ltd.		306
	17-Nov-11	PRO	BANK	DEBT	Colleen Barry	Italy hit by protests as PM unveils economic plan		Mario Monti, Italy's new premier: Italy facing a "catastrophic danger": anti-austerity protesters clashed with police in Milan, Turin, Sicily	AP		307
	17-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT		David Jolly. Contributors: Nicholas Kulish; Rachel Donadio; Stephen Castle; Graham Bowley	Euro Debt Worries Shift to Spain and France		Bond yields on Spanish 10-year debt soared to a dangerous 6.97%; Spain auctioned ~€3.6 billion ($4.8 billion) in 10-year debt	NYT-Reuters		308
	17-Nov-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW		Delinquencies Decrease, Foreclosures Rise in Latest MBA Mortgage Delinquency Survey		Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA): National Delinquency Survey: the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on 1-to-4-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 7.99% of all loans outstanding as of the end of 2011Q3 (down 0.45% QOQ; down 1.14% YOY); the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of 2011Q3 was 4.43% (unchanged QOQ; up 0.04% YOY); the percentage of loans that are ≥90 days past due or in the process of foreclosure was 7.89% (up 0.04% QOQ; down 0.81% YOY)	Mortgage Bankers Association		309
	21-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT		Lori Montgomery; Paul Kane. Contributor: Felicia Sonmez	Supercommittee announces failure in effort to tame debt		U.S.: A congressional "supercommittee" tasked with curbing the national debt admitted failure to reach a deal	Washington Post		310
	21-Nov-11	FIN	MON	LAW	Ronald D. Orol	MF Global trustee: $1.2 billion missing		MF Global trustee said ~$1.2 billion in customer funds is missing	MarketWatch		311
	22-Nov-11	BANK	MON	ELITE	Gonzalo Vina; James Hertling (ed.)	Barclays CEO Pay ‘Corrosive’ for U.K. Economy, Study Says		U.K.: High Pay Commission: Former Barclays CEO John Varley was paid £4.4 million ($7 million) in 2010, 169 times that of the average worker in the U.K.	Bloomberg		312
	22-Nov-11	GOV	BANk	DEBT	Jack Ewing	Europe Banks Seek More Cash From Central Bank		Confronting a credit crunch, European banks have borrowed €247 billion ($333 billion) from the European Central Bank (ECB) in just one week	NYT		313
	22-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Deborah Levine	U.S. sells 5-year debt at record-low yield		U.S. Treasury Department sold $35 billion in 5-year notes at a record low yield of 0.937%	MarketWatch		314
	23-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Michael Birnbaum	German bond auction falls short in new euro debt worry		Germany: German bond auction raised only $5.2 billion of the desired $8.1 billion; Germany’s deb-to-GDP ratio is 83%	Washington Post		315
	25-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		Ratings On Belgium Lowered To 'AA' On Financial Sector Risks To Public Finances; Outlook Negative		Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Belgium's credit rating from AA+/Negative/A-1+ to AA/Negative/A-1+	Standard & Poor's		316
	25-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT	Zoltan Simon; Edith Balazs; Balazs Penz (ed.)	Hungary Credit Rating Cut to Junk at Moody’s		Moody’s Investors Service cut Hungary’s credit rating to junk	Bloomberg		317
	25-Nov-11	GOV	DEBT	MKT		New Fears on Europe, Italy’s Borrowing Costs Jump Again		Italy: the interest rate on 6-month Italian bonds soared to 6.5% (up ~100% from the previous month); the interest rate on long-term Italian bonds is >7%	VOA News		318
	27-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Bob Ivry; Bradley Keoun; Phil Kuntz; Gary Putka (ed.)	Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B		Bloomberg article, on the secret bailout of banks: "The Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year. . . Total assets held by the six biggest U.S. banks increased 39 percent to $9.5 trillion on Sept. 30, 2011, from $6.8 trillion on the same day in 2006, according to Fed data. . . The 190 firms for which data were available would have produced income of $13 billion, assuming all of the bailout funds were invested at the margins reported, the data show"	Bloomberg		319
	28-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Consumer Debt Falls in Third Quarter		Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit: consumer debt fell ~$60 billion to $11.66 trillion in 2011Q3; delinquency rates increased to 10% as of the end of Sep-2011, vs. 9.8% at the end of Jun-2011; ~$1.2 trillion of consumer debt is delinquent and $834 billion is seriously delinquent (more than 90 days)	Federal Reserve Bank of new York		320
	29-Nov-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT	Susanne Craig; Ben Protess; Nelson D. Schwartz	S.&P. Cuts Its Ratings for 15 Banks		Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded 15 banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase	NYT-DealBook		321
	29-Nov-11	EDU	DEBT	LAW	Michelle Singletary	Student debt hint: Avoid it		According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loans increased from $845 billion in 2011Q2 to $865 billion in 2011Q3 (by comparison, credit card debt decreased slightly from $694 billion in 2011Q2 to $693 billion in 2011Q3); according to the U.S. Education Department, the national student-loan default rate increased from 7% in FY2008 to 8.8% in FY2009	Washington Post-Bloomberg		322
	30-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Coordinated central bank action to address pressures in global money markets		The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank agreed: (1) to coordinate actions to increase their capacity to provide liquidity to the global financial system; (2) to lower the pricing on the existing temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 50 basis points; (3) to establish temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements (liquidity provided in each jurisdiction in any currency)	Federal Reserve Board		323
	30-Nov-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		China PBOC cuts bank-reserve rule 0.5 point		China: the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to lower banks' reserve requirement ratio by 0.50%	MarketWatch		324
	2-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	LAW	Ben Carter	UK banks charging as much as 800,000% to borrow		Some UK banks charging as much as an annualized interest rate of 800,000% to borrow	BBC News		325
	2-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT	David Oakley; Tracy Alloway; Ralph Atkins	ECB lending soars as banks feel squeeze		ECB lending soared to €8.64 billion; Eurozone banks are having difficulty raising funds in markets	Financial Times		326
	4-Dec-11	GOV	ECON	DEBT	Rachel Donadio	Italy’s Leader Unveils Radical Austerity Measures		Italy: Prime Minister Mario Monti unveiled radical austerity "Save Italy" measures, including spending cuts, cuts to regional governments, tax increases, and higher retirement age	NYT		327
	5-Dec-11	ELITE	MON		Chris Vellacott; Mike Nesbit (ed.); Mark Potter (ed.)	Europe's rich move assets amid euro fears		Europe: concerned about the fate of the euro and the sovereign debt crisis, rich investors are fleeing out of the euro into the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen	Reuters		328
	6-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Neil Irwin	Fed disputes report of secret help to big banks		Chairman Ben S. Bernanke denied "repeated claims that the Federal Reserve conducted ‘secret’ lending that was not disclosed either to the public or the Congress"	Washington Post-Bloomberg		329
	7-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Robert Friedman (ed.); John Voskuhl (ed.)	Bloomberg News Responds to Bernanke Criticism of U.S. Bank-Rescue Coverage		Bloomberg rebuted Chairman Bernanke's rebuttal [see 6-Dec-11]: the amount the Federal Reserve “lent, spent or committed” or the total of all “guarantees and lending limits” was $7.77 trillion; re the "penalty rate" the fed charges, Bloomberg’s 28-Nov story included "During the crisis, Fed loans were among the cheapest around, with funding available for as low as 0.01 percent in December 2008, according to data from the central bank and money-market rates tracked by Bloomberg"	Bloomberg		330
	9-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Moody's Ratings News		Moody’s dowgraded long-term ratings for France's top 3 banks: Société Générale (to A1), BNP Paribas (to Aa3), and Crédit Agricole SA (to Aa3)	Moody's Investors Service		331
	13-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement		FOMC to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%	Federal Reserve Board		332
	14-Dec-11	GOV	DEBT	FIN	Deborah Levine	U.S. sells 30-year bonds at record-low yield		The U.S.  Treasury Department sold $13 billion in 30-year bonds at a yield of 2.925% an all-time record low	MarketWatch		333
	14-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Fitch Cuts Ratings on 5 European Banks		Fitch Ratings lowered the long-term issuer-default and viability ratings for Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel, Credit Agricole, Danske Bank, OP Pohjola Group, and Rabobank Group	NYT: AP		334
	14-Dec-11	BANK	MON		Ajay Makan	Dive in deposits at foreign-owned banks in US		Cash on deposit at foreign-owned banks operating in the U.S. fell $291bn (25%) to $879bn from the end of May-2011 to the start of Dec-2011 [Federal Reserve]	Financial Times		335
	16-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	MKT		Fitch Ratings		15-Dec-11: Fitch Ratings dowgraded the Issuer Default Ratings of Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corporation; Fitch Ratings also downgraded Long-term Issuer Default Rating of BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse AG	Fitch Ratings Ltd.		336
	18-Dec-11	MIL	DEBT	OIL	Edward E. Ayoub	Neocon Intentionality: Nothing But Malice		The War on Iraq: "Neocon Intentionality: Nothing But Malice," Mind Chronicle, 12-Apr-2007: ● The World Crisis of Debt-Based Capitalism. ● Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). ● U.S. Power Serving Israel's Interests. ● Oil.	Mind Chronicle		337
	19-Dec-11	BUS	AUTO	DEBT		Bankruptcy looks to be end of the road for Saab		Sweden: Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy	Los Angeles Times		338
	19-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT		EU Finance Ministers statement on IMF resources		Council of the European Union: Euro area Member States agreed to provide €150 billion of additional resources to the IMF's General Resources Account. Burden-sharing between euro area Member States: Germany, 27.67%; France, 20.94%; Italy, 15.66%; Spain, 9.91%; Netherlands, 9.07%...	Consilium		339
	19-Dec-11	BUS	DEBT		David Jolly	Saab Files for Liquidation After G.M. Balks at China Deal		Sweden: Saab and 2 subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy; General Motors, to protect key patents used by Saab, refused to back an investment offer from China	NYT		340
	21-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Nelson D. Schwartz; David Jolly. Contributor: Jack Ewing	European Bank in Strong Move to Loosen Credit		To avoid a possible collapse, European central bankers pumped ~$640 billion into the European banking system (3-year loans with a trivial interest rate of 1%); the move mimics the "easy-money policy pursued by the Federal Reserve after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008"	NYT		341
	22-Dec-11	GOV	FIN	DEBT	Rachel Donadio. Contributor: Gaia Pianigiani	Senators in Italy Pass Plan for Budget		Italy: Italy’s Senate passed a $40 billion austerity and growth package – including tax increases, a raise in the retirement age (to 66 for men and 62 for women), and measures to crack down on tax evasion	NYT		342
	23-Dec-11	GOV	BANK	DEBT	Phil Kuntz; Bob Ivry; Gary Putka (ed.)	Fed Once-Secret Loan Crisis Data Compiled by Bloomberg Released to Public		Bloomberg released previously secret data detailing lending transactions the U.S. central bank made through 7 facilities including "the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, the Term Auction Facility, the Term Securities Lending Facility, the discount window and single-tranche open market operations, or ST OMO"	Bloomberg		343
	24-Dec-11	BANK	DEBT	RE	Michael Forsythe; Henry Sanderson	China’s local governments are taking on a lot of debt		China: borrowing to finance projects such as the Yujiapu financial district (a copy of Manhattan) has reached $622 billion; 231 borrowers account for >75% of a total debt estimated at 4.97 trillion yuan	Washington Post-Bloomberg		344
	26-Dec-11	ELITE	RPIG	MON	Peter Whoriskey	Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents		The median net worth of a member of the House increased from $280,000 in 1984 to $725,000 (up 159%; inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars used; net worth excludes home equity) in 2009; by contrast, over the same time period, the median net wealth of an American family declined from $20,600 to $20,500 (down 0.5%) [source: Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the University of Michigan]	Washington Post		345
	29-Dec-11	BANK	FIN	DEBT		FDIC: Failed Bank List		FDIC: number of failed banks by year: 2011, 92; 2010, 157; 2009, 140; 2008, 25; 2007, 3; 2007-2011, 417; 2000-2011, 441	FDIC		346
	30-Dec-11	GOV	DEBT	PRO	Suzanne Daley. Contributor: Rachel Chaundler	As Spain Acts to Cut Deficit, Regional Debts Add to Woe		Spain: plagued by regional overspending, and under pressure from European bond markets, Spain’s government announced austerity measures: a $19.3 billion package of tax increases and spending cuts; the cuts triggered protests and strikes	NYT		347