By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  

If there is one central theme to the ongoing financial crisis we face, it is an insolvent banking system.  It is so bad that the accounting rules were changed (after the financial meltdown in 2008) to allow banks to value assets on their books at whatever they think they will fetch far into the future.  So, the billions of dollars of underwater mortgage-backed securities and real estate sitting on the balance sheet is held at imaginary values to make many banks look solvent when, in fact, they are not. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

In the internet world, it is said the two year mark is one of the most important milestones.  My internet consultant tells me, “nobody takes you seriously until after your second anniversary.”  I put USAWatchdog.com on line August 24, 2009.  I remember working for hours on an article (which I still do today) and only getting 10 readers, and sometimes less.  It has been one long slog, but a very rewarding one. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  (Revised)

Earthquakes have hit the U.S.   Thank goodness the quakes only caused minimal damage, although the Washington Monument is now cracked and leaning to the side.  Is it symbolic of the listing American economy?  Now, a hurricane is  strafing the eastern seaboard.  Will there be damage?  I hope not, but is there going to be a random event that will push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge?  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Gaddafi’s reign is over.  I am happy for the people of Libya, but I am not as jubilant as the crowds I see partying in the streets.   I wonder if the country will go from a dictatorship to a theocracy steeped in radical Islam.  I say this because in the early days of the rebellion, there were many reports that connected the rebels with al-Qaeda. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

Yesterday, the Dow was up more than 300 points, and gold hit another all-time high before dropping nearly $100 an ounce.  You would think the stock market was back and the gold trade was over.  Wall Street is excited about recent bad economic news that just may force Fed Chief Ben Bernanke to start a third round of quantitative easing (QE3).  I hate to break it to Wall Street, but QE3 is already underway in the form of 2 years of guaranteed near 0% interest rates.  (more…)

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. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

It looks like the end of power for tyrant Muammar Gaddafi.  He’s been in power 40 years, but what will take his place?  Remember when stories broke out a few months ago about Libyan rebel al-Qaeda links?  It is a fact that was reported in one of many publications such as The Telegraph back in March.  The story headline read “Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.” (more…)

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. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

It was another 400 point loss on the Dow today.  Manufacturing is contracting according to the latest reports, and Europe is in very big trouble with sovereign debt (especially with Spain and Italy).  If the Euro falls apart, then the dollar will be the big near term beneficiary.  So, the buck could actually strengthen for a short while because it would be the prettiest ugly girl in the currency room.   If stocks (especially the banks) keep getting pounded and the economy keeps sinking, then the fed will be forced to act or let the economy and the market fall off a cliff. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

The decision by the Fed, last week, to keep a key interest rate at near zero percent for 2 years is historic because the Fed has never done this before.  This action will have profound negative effect on the U.S. dollar and its buying power.  It also signals that even the Fed thinks the economy is not going to get better for at least 2 years.  This action will affect every American and telegraphs a policy of inflation by the government. (more…)

Even though silver and gold are both up around 25% for the year, silver has been lagging gold’s recent spike.  Plenty of folks have been asking what’s going on.  In the big picture, what is happening is fiat money is in the process of dying.  Can governments save the fiat system with austerity?  I don’t think so because there is simply too much debt in the world.  What I do know is the rich are turning to physical assets for protection from calamity and inflation.  Silver is used for storing wealth and industrial production.  It is only a matter of time before silver catches up with gold, and most experts say it will go up in price on a percentage basis much more than gold. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

Watching the Sunday talk shows and looking at the reporting from this weekend’s Republican  straw poll, you would not think that Congressman Ron Paul even participated in the event.  Paul came in a very close second to Representative Michele Bachmann in a field of Presidential Candidates.  Bachmann received 4,823 votes; Paul received 4,671 votes, which represents a margin of just 152 votes. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

The stock market had a wild ride this week.  It was more like a bucking bronco than a way to save and invest your hard earned money.  The market seems to have turned into a violent casino, only the Wall Street sharks and short sellers will come out on top.  Riots in the UK are so out of control that the British government is thinking about spraying rioters with purple dye to identify them later. (more…)

A while back, I made a prediction that something bad was going to happen before the end of 2011.  I think the recent stock market plunge qualifies as “something bad.”  Where have all the trillions of dollars gone from the stock market?  I think Wall Street is up to its old tricks and harvested the public’s hard earned 401-k money—again.  The stock market has been an awful place for the “buy and hold” investor to park his money for the past 11 years.  The little guy has been fleeced time and again by the short selling sharks. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

You have to respect the power of the Federal Reserve when just a statement can turn the entire stock market around in a day.  Yesterday, the Fed admitted the economy was not good and in a statement said, “. . .downside risks to the economic outlook have increased.”  Because the economy is tanking, the Fed promised to keep a key interest rate at near 0% for “. . . at least through mid-2013.” (more…)