Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/senators-grovel-embarrass-themselves-at-dimon-hearing-20120615

I was unable to watch J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s Senate testimony live the other day, so I had to get up yesterday morning and check it out on the Banking Committee’s web site. I had an inkling, from the generally slavish news reports about the hearing that started to come out Wednesday night, that it would be a hard thing to watch.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/econ-j15.shtml

US President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney gave speeches on their economic programs in Ohio Thursday, proposing nothing to alleviate the mass joblessness and poverty created by the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Link: http://wideawakenewsdata.yolasite.com/willthefinancialworldcollaspethisweekend.php

The goals have been stated . The power elite want Europe under the control of Brussels. It is ok for government to debate and fret over things such as gay marriage and other pop culture topics but the people must not be allowed to be self-governing on things such as their financial future or who will be invaded in their name. So we use crisis government and media propaganda to induce large volumes of fear in order to provide cover for the implementation of the game plan. It is that simple. Why enter into a messy free fall of the economy when propaganda is so much easier and cheaper.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/15-7

For the fortunate few scanning America's economic recovery from luxurious penthouse suites, they are treated to the magnificent scenery of record profits, escalating CEO pay and an ever-growing share of the nation's income.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/econ-j14.shtml

Rising interest rates in bond markets demonstrate that the €100 billion Spanish bailout last weekend has done nothing to resolve the euro zone crisis and may well have made it even worse. The rate on Spanish 10-year bonds climbed to the danger level of 6.8 percent Wednesday, while interest rates on Italian one-year government debt reached their highest levels since last December.

Link: http://presstv.com/detail/2012/06/14/246252/us-386k-jobless-benefit-applications/

The number of the Americans applying for unemployment benefits has risen as the hiring process remains sluggish in the job market. The US Labor Department said on Thursday that applications for weekly benefits rose by 6,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 386,000, AFP reported.

Link: http://www.silverdoctors.com/cartel-dumps-9000-paper-silver-contracts-in-10-minutes-during-am-futures-raid/

We recently posted regarding this morning’s water-fall raid in silver at 9:30am EST that drove silver .80 lower in minutes. SPOT volume data indicates 9,157 contracts were dumped on the market in a span of 10 minutes- 45.8 million paper ounces of silver. Take a moment to put this latest paper futures silver raid in perspective: THIS IS LARGER THAN THE ENTIRE US MINT SILVER EAGLE SALES FOR 2011 AT 40 MILLION OUNCES!

Link: http://economywatch.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/14/12203711-foreclosure-activity-jumps-in-troubling-sign-for-housing-recovery?lite

The housing market has shown some promising signs of late, but a fresh batch of foreclosure data offers a reminder that any recovery from the housing bust will likely be slow, spotty and painful. RealtyTrac reported Thursday that foreclosure filings rose by 9 percent in May from a month earlier, to 205,990 total properties that were subject to default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions.

Link: http://zen-haven.dk/why-the-greek-vote-matters-to-america-just-explain-it/

Yes, it’s an election year in America but the world is going to be watching another vote this weekend in Greece. Rarely does an election in a country as small as Greece have global implications — Greece produces less than 2% of Europe’s GDP. But we live in unusual times.

Link: http://www.rt.com/news/water-dangerous-contaminated-gaza-909/

Is it possible that we are already in a global recession but just don’t know it yet? And is the U.S. itself—still the epicenter of the world economy—standing on the front edge of another recession?

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/tag:reuters.com,0000:newsml_L1E8HCG3W#ixzz1xwvPaZqh

Central banks from major economies stand ready to take steps to stabilize financial markets by providing liquidity and preventing a credit squeeze if the outcome of Greek elections on Sunday causes tumultuous trading, G20 officials told Reuters. A senior U.S. official cautioned that the Greek election will not provide "the definitive signal on what happens next" in the euro zone debt crisis.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/155862/how_jamie_dimon%27s_new_business_model_from_hell_could_take_down_wall_street_%E2%80%93_again_/

If you want to trade securities at any brokerage firm in the U.S., you’ll need to study intensively for about three months, memorize dizzying rules and regulations, then take a six hour licensing exam. (The exam is so rigorous that it’s compared to the CPA exam... Or, you could skip all of that and earn $14 million a year trading – without a license – stocks, bonds, swaps, options, futures with $374 billion of bank depositors’ money at JP Morgan Chase’s Chief Investment Office – a unit few on Wall Street had ever heard of until it reported losing billions of dollars in May in the same derivative transaction that made AIG a ward of the taxpayer in 2008.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/pers-j13.shtml

The financial crisis of the past four years has thrown American families back two decades, according to figures provided by the Federal Reserve Board in its triennial Survey of Consumer Finances.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/gree-j13.shtml

The assault launched by the spokesman of Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn against two political rivals on live television must be taken as a warning to working people. Especially in a country with a history of military dictatorship, the emergence of such far-right violence points to the threat of a turn to openly authoritarian forms of rule.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/13-5

Obama administration agrees to deal that contradicts domestic agenda. The release today of a confidential document from ongoing US trade negotiations with eight Pacific nations -- known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- reveals that provisions included in the trade agreement would drastically undermine Obama's proposed domestic agenda and give unprecented political authority to multinational corporations.

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/13/sen-wyden-pushes-to-repeal-outrageous-ban-on-industrial-hemp/

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden on Wednesday called on Congress to repeal the ban on industrial hemp production, framing the ban as a restriction on free enterprise.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/food/155849/are_corporations_and_big_banks_making_a_windfall_from_food_stamps/

How much food stamp money are Coca-Cola, General Mills and Walmart getting? The government isn't telling. Perhaps you've heard: At a time of record need for food assistance among America's poor, the U.S. Senate is poised to cut roughly $4.5 billion from food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which 46 million Americans -- one in seven of us -- rely upon.

Link: http://www.whitenewsnow.com/american-news-white-america/32048-banksters-tighten-their-grip-avg-net-worth-falls-40-2007-2010-a.html#post140339

Net savings per household fell by 40% in only 3 to 4 years and average income fell 8%. Our "friends" at the not so Federal Reserve did us the favor of adjusting the figures for the inflation they created. But are those figures accurate? The Federal Reserve tells us that inflation is always at 2-4% annually. But an honest economist, like John Williams at ShadowStats.com, will tell you that, by the federal government's own formula of 30 years ago, inflation is more like 10-14% (and unemployment is over 20%). If we take the difference of about 10% inflation annually over 4 years, we've actually lost about 35% more purchasing power than Ben Shalom Bernanke's boys are letting on. And that's ON TOP of the 8% real decline in income.

Link: http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/113530.html

I speak of course of the Republicans as well as the Democrats who together form The Party of Government. Baby Bush (a.k.a. "Jeb," brother of "Dub-Yuh," endorser of Willard) whines and cries that there are elements of the Republican Party today who believe they are taxed enough already and oppose further tax increases. He cannot stand the fact that there are people who question the notion that prosperity is created by taking money from hard-working taxpayers and giving it to government bureaucrats to spend.

Link: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/06/12/greek-bank-run-update-100500-million-day-145011/

Money continues to evaporate from Greece banks as it heads toward elections likely to vote in a candidate that will lead to an exit from Euro.

Link: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/06/12/politicians-free-market-work-expect-reelected-145061/

CNBC hits the nail on the head as Europe debates bailout package that amounts to a gold confiscation scheme for nation’s hit by the Sovereign debt crisis. Between discussions of gold-backed debt issuance in Europe (from Rick Santelli) and why Europe’s problem is not merely a banking crisis but far worse

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-movement-money-people-limited-144836122--finance.html;_ylt=A2KLOzIJWtdP4yMA3VHQtDMD

The European Commission has been providing legal advice to others who are considering possible scenarios should Greece leave the euro, a European Union spokesman said. Olivier Bailly said Tuesday that, legally, limits could be imposed on movement of people and money across national borders within the EU if it's necessary to protect public order or public security — but not on economic grounds.

Link: http://truth-out.org/news/item/9595-not-news-america-is-no-longer-the-land-of-opportunity

There are places in the world where the majority of people are doomed to live no better than their parents and grandparents did. Places where a poor child from the slums might as well dream of being an astronaut as dream of having a decent middle-class job. Places where the children of the rich get even richer while the children of the poor stay poor.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/155734/banks_booting_families_and_leaving_homes_to_rot%3A_a_tour_of_blighted_homes_in_los_angeles/

Los Angeles has an ordinance that fines banks for leaving foreclosed homes in disrepair. So why are so many of them blighted, dragging down whole neighborhoods? These enormous economic shifts imprint people at an incredibly deep level. We feel it. When we wake up in the morning. We are going through the pain of this one. We are having our lives changed by this one. We take with us through our days the big sack of worry for our kids with this one. It’s on our streets. You see it in the overgrown lawns and boarded-up windows of some of those bank-owned homes.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/155834/a_world_of_trouble_if_the_spanish_banking_crisis_spreads/

Until flaws in the euro are addressed, the crisis is likely to simmer on. Spain's banks are in a world of trouble, as you've undoubtedly heard. They are strained by loans made over the course of a a building boom that went bust in 2008, two recessions in the last three years, and the highest unemployment rate among developed nations. Misguided austerity policies have only made things worse.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/11-1

Greece, Portugal may see Spain's bailout as motivation to renegotiate their own rescue packages. Spain's €100billion bailout this weekend has prompted fury in some Greeks who see Spain's rescue funds as free from the troika-imposed austerity conditions attached to their own bailout.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/09-4

Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos attends a news conference at the economy ministry in Madrid, June 9, 2012. (REUTERS-Paul Hanna)Following an emergency conference call with eurozone financial leaders on Saturday, Spain's Finance Minister Luis de Guindos announced that the nation would be the fourth member of the Eurozone to request a bailout package to save its failing economy. Definitive numbers for a possible deal were not yet available, but reports indicate that the package could be as large as €100 billion, roughly $125 billion.

Link: http://www.news9.com/story/18741749/federal-regulators-closes-bank-in-kingfisher

Federal regulators have seized a small bank in Oklahoma, bringing to 25 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it closed First Capital Bank in Kingfisher. The bank, which had one branch, had about $46.1 million in assets and $44.8 million in deposits as of March 31.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57449375-83/u.n-could-tax-u.s.-based-web-sites-leaked-docs-show/

Global Internet tax suggested by European network operators, who want Apple, Google, and other Web companies to pay to deliver content, is proposed for debate at a U.N. agency in December. The United Nations is considering a new Internet tax targeting the largest Web content providers, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix, that could cripple their ability to reach users in developing nations.

Link: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/06/06/spain-can-no-longer-fund-itself-begs-for-immediate-bailout-141651/

Spain’s budget minister has requested an immediate bailout up to 4 times higher than previously estimated saying they can no longer borrow money from the markets. Spain’s budget minister has gone on the radio today begging for an immediate bailout between €40 billion and €90 billion which is between 2 to 4 times the originally estimated €20 billion amount. On the air he warned that Spain’s outstanding €1 trillion worth of debt to foreign investors and other regulatory restrictions prevent the nation from accessing alternative bailout mechanisms already in place.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/pers-j04.shtml

Friday’s disastrous US jobs report, which showed the worst payrolls growth in a year, capped a week of dismal economic news from every part of the world. These developments reveal that claims of an economic recovery are not only premature but utterly fictitious. Despite all claims to the contrary, the crisis again and again proves to be intractable.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/06/04/a-monster-that-will-haunt-them

Students have been on strike for months in the Canadian province of Québec in an attempt to stop the government's proposed increase in the cost of tuition at public universities. With the education system effectively shut down and faced with almost daily demonstrations of students and their supporters, Québec's government, led by Premier Jean Charest of the Liberal Party, has attempted to repress the movement with mass arrests and escalating legal restrictions. Québec's parliament passed Bill 78 to curtail the right to assemble.

Link: http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/greece-power-regulator-calls-emergency-meeting-to-avert-collapse-of-power-grid-and-natural-gas-system_06032012

When the political and economic systems of entire nations collapse the consequences are devastating.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/02/western-banks-colombian-cocaine-trade?newsfeed=true

The vast profits made from drug production and trafficking are overwhelmingly reaped in rich "consuming" countries – principally across Europe and in the US – rather than war-torn "producing" nations such as Colombia and Mexico, new research has revealed. And its authors claim that financial regulators in the west are reluctant to go after western banks in pursuit of the massive amount of drug money being laundered through their systems.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/econ-j02.shtml

The disastrous jobs report released Friday by the US Labor Department is further evidence of a deepening global crisis that threatens to unravel into a full-blown financial collapse. The American economy added only 69,000 jobs in May, far below expectations about half the amount needed to keep up with population growth. The official unemployment rate rose from 8.1 to 8.2 percent.

Link: http://survivingcapitalism.blogspot.com/2012/06/unraveling-welfare-safety-net-europe.html

Yields on 10-year Treasuries plunged to a record-low 1.56 percent on Thursday morning as panicky investors stormed out of European financial assets into German and U.S. government bonds. Deteriorating credit conditions, a flurry of ratings downgrades, and bank runs in Spain and Greece have triggered a flight-to-safety which has pushed the benchmark 10-year below its previous all-time low of 1.67 percent.

Link: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/01/the-dow-posts-its-worst-day-in-2012/

Investors just can't catch a break. A day after closing the books on the worst month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) since 2010, global stock markets laid another egg today. The Dow shed 274 points, or 2.2%, as signs of slowing global growth flared on several continents, pushing the Dow officially into negative territory on the year. Today's precipitous drop also marked the Dow's greatest single decline so far this year. Look how far the index has fallen since the start of May. Whammy.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/01-8

"The time of the Left has come" As the June 16 elections in Greece near, the final public polls show that the leftist Syriza party continues to build on it's strong showing in the May 6th elections. Syriza maintains a clear lead over second place New Democracy party: 31.5% to 26.5%. (Public Issue poll for the Kathimerini newspaper)

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/unem-m31.shtml

Next month, another 70,000 US workers will be cut off of unemployment benefits weeks earlier than would have been the case had President Obama and Congress not reduced the duration of extended jobless pay. The early loss of benefits in June will come on top of early cutoffs for more than 200,000 workers two weeks ago as a result of the anti-working class bill brokered by the White House in February.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/euro-m31.shtml

Fears that the euro zone is nearing breakup sent panicked investors to safe haven assets Wednesday, driving the yields on US government debt to their lowest levels since 1946. Investors fled from Spanish and Italian bonds after the European Central Bank made clear that it would now allow Spain to tap its financing to recapitalize Bankia, the country's fourth-largest bank, which last week requested a €19 billion bailout from the Spanish government.