By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 
The Federal Reserve announced, this week, that it was keeping interest rates at near zero percent until at least 2014.  It sure doesn’t look like the so-called “recovery” is going very well.  The Fed also said it may “stimulate” the economy soon.  Print baby print—you wonder why gold has been rising in price? 

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 
The European Union is frantically trying to come up with a plan to fix the debt crisis that is threatening to cause a worldwide financial calamity.  It seems every day there’s a new idea to save the union.  The latest is some sort of backdoor bailout through the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  Why doesn’t the European Central Bank (ECB) just take care of the bailout by itself? 

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
If you listen to the narrative coming from the right, you would think the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters were social deviants.  Sean Hannity said on his show last week, “What have we seen here, violence, rape, arson, destruction of property, sex in public, masturbation in public, naked people, drugs, drug paraphernalia, anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, anti-capitalism.” 

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Something a little different today.  I have three videos for you to watch.  The first features a guy named Eddie Hobbs.  He is a financial planner and expert from Ireland.  In recent weeks, some of my stories have indicated there could be bank runs in the EU.  Last week, Mr. Hobbs confirmed the wealthy are indeed taking money out of EU countries with sour sovereign debt. 

I have to applaud the “Occupy Wall Street” movement even if their message is a little disjointed.  I think the message will sharpen in time.  I hope the main focus continues to be the ongoing market manipulation and crime that has gone unpunished.  I know folks on both sides of the spectrum are criticizing these folks.    I am not surprised because, after all, both parties have been bought off by the Wall Street bankers.  (I am behind anyone who is exercising their First Amendment rights.)  

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  
I keep hearing the so-called experts say how much better shape the banks are in now than in the last financial meltdown of 2008.  To that, I say horse hooey!  Any expert worth his salt knows that nothing has been fixed in the financial system.  The problems were papered over with fiat currency and the proverbial can kicked down the road—ting ting ting. 

A few weeks ago, the Telegraph UK did a story about the sharp drop in foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries.  One of the big buyers of American debt is, of course, China.  There are those that think China is forced to buy our debt otherwise its economy will collapse.  Until the Treasury releases what is called “TIC” data  (Treasury International Capital) in November, we really will not know what is going on.

The debt downgrade of the U.S. debt has caused much calamity and confusion.  The stock market has sold off several hundred points since S&P took the action earlier this month.  Is it a big deal?  You bet, but it is not the immediate end of the line when talking about the U.S. Treasury market.  Brilliant economist Martin Armstrong recently said, “When you deal in REAL money, there is a problem. How do you store it? You can’t just put a billion on deposit at a bank.

Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Another 400 point drop in the Dow yesterday and all I can say is here we go again!  Many are asking what’s going on?  It is two big things.  Nothing has been fixed since the financial meltdown of 2008, and there is way too much debt on both sides of the Atlantic.  There is little wonder why gold is hitting all-time highs.  The economy is tanking and inflation is picking up.  All this and a lot more on the “Weekly News Wrap-Up” for Friday August 19, 2011.

The U.S. debt downgrade is really more than a tiny one notch cut in the credit worthiness of the U.S.  One talking head on television said yesterday that there was never any question that the U.S. would repay its debt because the country can print money.  The talking head is correct but does not take into consideration the future buying power of the repayment dollars. Printing money at the rate the Fed has been doing devalues the currency and, in effect, allows the government to default with dollars with reduced …