By Catherine
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part VI
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
Oh, boy. The Solari network does it again.
It turns out that David Hisey, the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae appo…
Fellowship Opportunity at Spikenard Farm & Apiary
Note from Catherine:
I think biodynamic farming is an area with a great past, present and future. So when a network member told me that Spikenard Farm was looking for someone to help them with fundr…
How to Find a Local Bank
In response to questions from listeners about how to find a local bank, we are reproducing below Catherine’s article on this topic. The full article may also be accessed at the Solari website.
Plea…
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part VII
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like the…
The Way To Santiago Compostella – My Pilgrimage
From our friend Alastair Thompson (Scoop Independent News co-editor)
In the month of May this year my wife Wendy and I went on a pilgrimage across Northern Spain, walking 810kms from the village of …
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part V
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
The financial press this morning reports that Daniel Mudd, the retiring CEO of Fannie Mae, is leaving with a severance pa…
Slow Burn Capital Controls
A broker reported to me today that their clearing agent is requiring them to mark purchases of AAA sovereign bonds denominated in foreign currencies as “speculative” investments.
Pressure to do this …
Lehman Bankrupt, AIG Next? – Please Position ASAP!
As the leaders of the mortgage bubble continue to hit the wall, the importance of repositioning your assets into the “real” economy and out of a “bubble” economy is urgent.
In Frantic Day, Wall Stree…
Scoop's Ad Campaign for U.S. Electronic Election Integrity
I am writing to ask for your help and support for someone and something of great importance to me.
Alastair Thompson, General Manager of Scoop Independent News, has just announced the launch of a…
Why Is Scoop And Their Campaign So Important To Me?
(Continuation of previous blog post: Scoop’s Ad Campaign for US Electronic Election Integrity)
In January 2002, I sent an e-mail to the Solari network list posing 20 questions designed to illuminate …
Popsicle Index Down, Harvard Endowment Up, Again!
Did you ever notice that there is an inverse relationship between the health of people and the environment and the Harvard endowment’s profits?
Return of 8% for Harvard Endowment
By Geraldine Fabrika…
The Bank Index
A network member points out that Don Coxe of BMO Financial Group, one of our favorite market analysts, has commented that we have now deleveraged everything that was doing well to help prop up the ban…
Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks – Part IV
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
Whether you want to attribute the Federal Reserve and US Treasury’s success to the deflationary effects of globalization …
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part III
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
On July 23, when I and my Community Business segment were spiked from KPFA radio, Fannie Mae stock was trading at $15 and…
An Anniversary Prayer — September 11, 2008
An Anniversary Prayer — September 11, 2008
Lord, we gather in prayer on the seventh anniversary of 9-11;
We thank you for the many blessings you have given us,
among them the gift of life;
Let our …
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part II
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
Who were the lobbyists on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s payroll? Who were the politicians who enjoyed their financial supp…
Comments to Catherine on Coast-to-Coast
Dear Readers:
If you have comments to Catherine’s talk on Coast-to-Coast radio last night, please place them as a comment to this post.
Thanks!
Anais
Solari Web
Orwellian Markets
Doug Casey’s newsletter reports that the Dow Jones Index companies had consolidated losses in the second quarter. However, the Dow Jones is holding and gold is falling.
Meanwhile, it took 232 years t…
The Farm Blog Up
thefarmblog.org
News and views from The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee
Event – October 2008: "Financial Permaculture"
Financial Permaculture: Greening a Rural American Community
October 24-28, 2008
Hohenwald, Tennessee
Attend this 5-day regenerative business and community development course and design simulation wi…
Fannie and Freddie Become Penny Stocks – Part I
~ Click here to view the full Freddie and Fannie Become Penny Stocks article.
Overwhelming American communities with mortgage, auto and credit card debt as we shift manufacturing and research capacit…
Erie, Pennsylvania Sues JP Morgan Chase
Facing Federal Probe, JPMorgan Exits Municipal Swaps
Business Standard (5 Sep 2008)
“JPMorgan Chase & Co will stop selling interest-rate swaps to government borrowers in the $2.6 trillion US munic…
A Comment On Our Election Coverage
My focus during the presidential elections — as it has been for the last three elections — is on helping you understand what you can do to protect your assets before, during and after the election, …
A List of the 20 Funniest Movies – Help!
I have a terrific friend who is coming home from the hospital tomorrow to recuperate from heart surgery. Her doctors say that this kind of surgery triggers feelings of sadness and depression. So I w…
Going Green First Class
“Eco-Iconic”
At trendwatching.com
Bahrain World Trade Center
Dubai Wave Tower
The 10 Most Affordable Housing Markets
Affordable Housing Exists, If You Know Where to Look
By Prashant Gopal – BusinessWeek (4 Sep 2008)
1. Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.
Median home price: $108,000
Median household income: $65,100
Share of h…
September Slow Burn
If it is bothering you that the price of everything that is losing value is up and the price of everything that is increasing in value is down, Eric Sprott’s latest may help you stay grounded.
The Ph…
Thank Heavens For Honest Judges
Fighting Foreclosure: Subprime Borrowers Battle (and Beat) Lenders in Court
By Amanda Stutt – Village Voice (3 Sep 2008)
Excerpt: “If the paperwork is garbage I deny it”
More and more Judges have dem…
Deja Vu View
“Deja Vu View” is our title to revive things we have written in the past that are worth revisiting given current events.
The federal government having to assume another $5 trillion in liabilities fo…
A Solari Report – Independent Media Sustainability: A Review of Existing Media Capital Structures
Independent Media Sustainability: A Review of Existing Media Capital Structures
By Carolyn Betts, MBA/JD
Anyone who is focused on building wealth—whether personal financial wealth or community …
Simmons International
In our discussion on “Recommended,” there were several comments on Matt Simmons’ role in promoting the Peak Oil scenario. I thought it would be useful to point out that when Halliburton sold KBR stock…
Deja Vu View 2
Only Convenient Caring Please
A YouTube video by Catherine Austin Fitts
Recommended
I just finished James Norman’s new book: The Oil Card: Global Economic Warfare in the 21st Century.
Norman makes the case that a suppressed oil price was the most important strategic variable in brin…
September 16-18 in Portland
Our very special ally Paul Levy is sponsoring his very special teachers, Tibetan Buddhist masters Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, to teach three workshops in Portl…
Freddie and Fannie Hammer Regional and Small Banks
Moody’s ratings downgrades of Freddie and Fannie preferred last week are going to be bad news for insurance companies and regional and small banks who are believed to have large holdings in approximat…
The Financial Permaculture Blog Launches
Financial Permaculture Blog:
a resource for gathering information and conversations about financial permaculture
Also see: The Farm Blog
From Sam Smith at Prorev.com
DRINKING AGES IN SOME EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Albania—No minimum age
Austria—14
Denmark—No minimum drinking age
Finland—No minimum drinking age
France—16 (beer, wine)
Germany—16 (beer, wine)
H…
A New Word From Franklin Sanders
LUNATICKLE – noun. The thrill of fear, laughter, and incredulity that convulses your body when you read the financial news in the morning and realize that the lunatics have taken over not only the asy…
Financial Permaculture
In 1989, I was serving as Assistant Secretary of Housing. The housing bubble of the 1980’s had burst, and foreclosures were rising. The mortgage insurance funds of the Federal Housing Administration…
Gold and Deflation
Now is a time when there is much discussion regarding the performance of gold in periods of deflation. A fine piece addressing some of these issues was written in 2005 by Bob Landis, Chairman of Amari…
Pebble Mine
The financial permaculture conversation continues . . .
Pebble Mine
At Gaiapoiesis – 19 Aug 2008)
Pebble Mine – at Wikipedia
Fannie and Freddie 1-Year Chart
This weekend, Barrons published a piece on Fannie and Freddie indicating the chances for nationalization were rising. Today, the stocks dropped like a stone.
Bailout Concerns Slam Freddie, Fannie Sha…
Let's Help the Next President Make Real Financial Choices for the People
I have been asked the question, “Why are you coming to Mill Valley, California to give such a significant speech and workshop in August on a Labor Day weekend?”
Here is why.
The 2008 Democratic Na…
Thank you, Prince Charles
Charles Warns GM Farming Will End in Ecological Disaster
By Robert Booth – The Guardian (13 Aug 2008)
In Memorium: Stephen Mackendrick Thompson
Stephen Mackendrick Thompson – 1939 – 2008
Alastair Thompson, of New Zealand’s Scoop Independent News, writes of the passing of his father, Stephen, on 27 July 2008.
Whosoever cometh to me, and hear…
Another Remarkable Coincidence
Bohemian Grove 2008 – July 11-27
Wikileaks: Bohemian Grove 2008 Guest List
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was passed by the United States Congress on July 24, 2008 and signed by Preside…
Silver & Gold Payment Calculator
Place comments about Solari and the Moneychanger’s beta version of the Silver & Gold Payment Calculator here.
View previous comments here >>>
There Must Be a Story Here
On August 12, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times that Hillary Clinton is planning on staging a commotion at the Democratic convention at the end of August. During the day, I keep hearing rumors…
Oh Boy, More on the Bear
Even Bloomberg is saying something stinks on the Bear Stearns option trading:
Bringing Down Bear Began as $1.7 Million of Options
By Gary Matsumoto – Bloomberg.com (11 Aug 2008)
Incredibly Good News for Local Ownership Advocates
Nestlé to renegotiate McCloud Deal
By David Benda – Redding News (6 Aug 2008)
“Nestle Waters North America announced Tuesday it’s pulling out of its original contract with McCloud Community Services …
The Housing & Economic Recovery Act of 2008
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008:
An Analysis by Catherine Austin Fitts
~ Click here for the full article.
If there is to be any blessing in this housing bill, perhaps it will be to so …
Housing Bill, Part IX
In the Destruction of the Old, Let There Be the Creation of the New
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is now marketing a new documentary called I.O.U.S.A. I have only seen the trailer. Based on readin…
Gas prices. Job cuts. Inflation. Everything's going up, except the Popsicle Index.
Gauging life by the Koolee Index
by Micheal Overall – Tulsa World.com (11 Aug 2008
Housing Bill, Part VIII
The Two Great Financial Mysteries of Our Time: Missing Money and Collateral Fraud
There are two great financial mysteries in America:
where is all the missing money and how do we get it back?
…
Tapeworm Keeps Billions in Missing Money
Excerpt:
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth … later was removed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which said he had lost his objectivity. The government had asked t…
Housing Bill, Part VII
Andrew Cuomo Owes Us $5 Trillion
It is not easy to engineer the bankrupting of the American middle class and the U.S. government.
Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve banks and their members can p…
Housing Bill, Part VI
The Tapeworm Corporation Comes Out of the Closet
(Comparison Chart: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the DOW, 1989-2008)
Eisenhower warned us about a military industrial complex. I have read that he had …
Wilson
When my dog Forest died earlier this year, I was faced with the prospect of raising a new dog while traveling. I discussed my challenge with a farmer who lives nearby. She agreed to share one of her f…
The Real Skinner on Puppy Linux
Computing For Everyone Who Can’t Afford Their Own Personal IT Department
By Court Skinner
Computers are a necessity for success in our modern era, but owning and using one has become increasingly c…
Deeper Money
$4 trillion missing from the federal government, collateral fraud and 9-11. . .
Dead and Buried, But Not Forgotten by Rob Kirby
Withholding Taxes
Withholding Taxes Chart – Current through the Daily Treasury Statement dated August 4, 2008
From Matt Trivisonno’s Blog
~ Thanks to The King Report for pointing this out.
A New Word
Triskaidekaphobia – A phobia of number 13
Alexander Solzhenitsyn – In Memorium
Russian novelist, dramatist and historian, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn died of heart failure near Moscow on August 3, 2008 at, at the age of 89.
Putin Says Solzhenitsyn Death is Loss For Russia
By Maria Go…
What's In a Number?
It looks like Royal Dutch Shell will end up paying about $600 million in connection with global class action lawsuits and enforcement that were triggered by its reclassifications of its oil and gas re…
Housing Bill, Part I
Overview
I have had several requests to comment on the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
This afternoon I read hundreds of pages of bill language. Essentially, my take on the bill is that …
Housing Bill, Part II
Nation State or Investment Syndicate?
One of the instructive features of the housing bill is the nature of creditor politics that is a subtext on housing and mortgage politics these days. One invest…
Housing Bill, Part III
Your House Is Bigger than My House
When I was Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner, then Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp asked me to his office for a private discussion. He explai…
Housing Bill, Part IV
The Profits of Playing Ball
The housing bill brings up a number of important questions about the risks and rewards that result from government subsidy and bail outs.
One recent market commentator p…
Housing Bill, Part V
Where Is the Collateral?
Any government official asked to come up with a workout plan for troubled financial institutions, large portfolios of financial assets and liabilities and/or places that are…
Financial Permaculture: Business Models
What will be the successful business models of the future? This is an important conversation and our ally at Gaia Emerging has some thoughts. This is right in line with the mission investing conversa…
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
By Sam Smith – The Progressive Review (1 Aug 2008)
Admittedly Catherine Austin Fitts has a pretty unusual background for a commenta…
Message to KPFA Listeners
My being censored (1) (2) (3) is your financial opportunity.
KPFA was going to provide our 2-CD audio seminar Positioning Your Assets for Growth in Uncertain Times as a premium for donations of $120….
Falling Real Estate Values
Let me repeat something I said many times when I was Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner during Bush I, lead financial advisor to FHA during the Clinton Administration, an in…
Denial Bliss
Sometimes it pays to NOT understand what is going on. Can you imagine being the person who had to write the current announcement on the Bear Stearns website if you were fully educated to the real deal…
Webstats
Reading the Solari webstats is always a fascinating prospect.
Ever since the sub-prime meltdown last August, the big mystery when I fire up my systems each morning is guessing who will be the larges…
KPFA's Small Business Blacklist
For those of you following the censorship of Community Business on Flashpoints by KPFA and the finances of KPFA and Pacifica Foundation including their tax-exempt status, federal government funding, b…
The Military Holds the Dollar Up
John:
My assessment is that 90% of the value of the U.S. dollar comes from the U.S. military. After we had our satellite systems in place, Cheney said “deficits don’t matter.” The US debt and defic…
Eclipse This Friday
This Friday, we will experience a solar eclipse. Here are links to learn more:
NASA Eclipse Web Site
Solari Eclipse of August 1, 2008 – at Wikipedia
Susan Johann
When I was wealthy, I would occasionally commission artwork. While I am rebuilding my wealth, I am going to post the people I intend to commission. One of my dearest friends, Susan Johann, is a phot…
Positioning Your Assets: Is Your Community Waving Goodbye to $3.3 Billion?
If a Single Household Loses $250,000, a Community Loses $3.3 Billion
As someone who lives in a rural community where everyone knows everyone else, I love to see people and communities prosper. In m…
Positioning Your Assets
In our new audio seminar, Positioning Your Assets for Growth in Uncertain Times, among the many issues we address are one of the risks of holding your savings in a currency that is falling in value re…
This Weekend National Debt Increased $800 Billion
This weekend each American became liable for another approximately $2,666 of debt (and counting) to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Congress Backs Rescue Package
By A…
National Australian Bank Mortgage Loss
NAB Will Shock Wall Street
By Robert Gottliebsen – Business Spectator, Australia (25 Jul 2008)
To the Business Speculator, Australia:
Good piece. Thanks.
You stated that “NAB had a 55 per cent loss…
How Does the Money Work at KPFA Radio and the Pacifica Network?
Given the suspension of Community Business – a segment I have been doing on Flashpoints on Wednesday night with Dennis Bernstein, I thought I would take a look at KPFA Radio’s financial informati…
Financial Permaculture: From the Invention Room
New Green Deal Same as the Last
Gaiapoiesis Blog (21 Jul 2008)
“The deep answer to all of the myriad of social justice, environmental justice, and resource depletion problems lies not in centralized …
Who Needs the Lottery?
Imagine if hundreds of student associations globally formed syndicates. Two hundred student associations at $5,000 each would create a $1MM in winnings.
AUSA Offers $5000 for Citizen’s Arrest of Rice…
Censored
Sasha Lilley
Interim Program Director
ipd@kpfa.org
Lemlem Rijio
Interim General Manager for KPFA
igm@kpfa.org
Dear Lemlem and Sasha:
I learned from e-mail which was cc:ed to me yesterday that:
1. …
Predatory Gentrification
I just got a call this morning from another tenant in a HUD affordable building that a large developer would like to control and tear down. These calls trickle in.
If you think predatory lending is …
Financial Orwell Unpacked
Spin #1: The problem has been unregulated markets.
Real Deal: The problem was a debt bubble engineered by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government with massive amounts of government guaranteed deb…
Solar Cycle Variations
For a number of years I have been interested in the impact of the solar cycle on weather, mood and other aspects of our lives that impact the economy and markets. I am convinced that understanding our…
Optimism Sinks With Home Equity….
Case-Schiller Home Prices and Consumer Confidence Index
By Natalie – Swivel Preview (10 Jul 2008)
Financial Stock Shorts
SEC Short-Sale Rule Gets Negative Reviews
By Kara Scannell – Wall Street Journal (19 Jul 2008)
The Fitts Plan
The Backbone Campaign has asked Cabinet nominees to record recommendations for candidate positions. Here’s mine as nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
Listen here >>>
–
–
Read the tr…
Excerpts From My Letter to a Philanthropic Advisor
We live in a flow of economic warfare. There are no markets. There are resources, politics that weave into highly complex legal and regulatory issues, as well as operational and market issues which im…
Jim Sinclair on Share Certificates
Posted On: Monday, July 14, 2008, 9:33:00 PM EST
“Receiving Share Certificates For Stocks In An IRA Without Being Penalized”
Author: Jim Sinclair
Dear CIGAs,
The following comes with a disclaimer a…
John Templeton Dies – July 8, 2008
“Sir John Templeton was an investor and mutual fund pioneer who dedicated much of his fortune to religion and science. Templeton was born in the town of Winchester, Tennessee. He attended Yale Univers…
Jim Rouse
One of my favorite stories about community development was told to me by Jim Rouse and his colleagues about what happened at the charrette sponsored by the Rouse Company to design the planned city of …
More on Financial Permaculture
If we look at a community as a financial ecosystem with financial sustainability as one of our goals in achieving overall sustainability, one of the questions we should ask as we reduce waste is “who …
Mortgage Market Musing
Sometimes, it helps to step back and see the big picture.
Let’s say that I serve as the depository for a large government and I also own the central bank. I get my partners appointed to run the gover…
Mortgage Market Basics
Fannie and Freddie are down again this morning…
Fed’s Discount Window Said Open to Fannie and Freddie
By Romain Bostick – Bloomberg News (11 Jul 2008)
In 1997, in my attempt to persuade US leaders…