Diamond drilling company has something to do with Mr.Bill Richardson

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With the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001, Richardson took on a number of different positions. He was an adjunct professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a lecturer at the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West.[20] In 2000, Bill Richardson was awarded a United States Institute of Peace Senior Fellowship. He spent the next year researching and writing on the negotiations with North Korea and the energy dimensions of U.S. relations.

Richardson also joined Kissinger McLarty Associates, a "strategic advisory firm" headed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty, as Senior Managing Director.[21] From February 2001 to June of 2002, he served on the board of directors of Peregrine Systems, Inc. He also served on the corporate boards of several energy companies, including Valero Energy Corporation and Diamond Offshore Drilling. He withdrew from these boards after being nominated by the Democratic Party for governor of New Mexico, but retained considerable stock holdings in Valero and Diamond Offshore.[22] He would later sell these stocks during his campaign for President in 2007, saying he was "getting questions" about the propriety of these holdings, especially given his past as energy secretary, and that it had become a distraction.[23]

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Treasury: Deficit hits new record All-time high reached in just 3 months
BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER The Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The federal government already has run up a record deficit of $485.2 billion in just the first three months of the current budget year. And economists say the imbalance for the full year could easily top $1 trillion, pushed to that eye-popping level by the spending the government is likely to do to combat the recession and the most severe financial crisis in generations.
    The Treasury Department reported Tuesday that the deficit for December totaled $83.6 billion, a sharp deterioration from a year ago when the government managed a surplus of $48.3 billion.
    All the red ink comes from the massive spending out of the fi nancial rescue program — $247 billion out of $700 billion spent so far — and a prolonged recession that has depressed tax revenues.
    The overall deficit from October through December is the highest on record for a first quarter and surpasses the mark for a full budget year of $454.8 billion set last year.
    Slightly more encouraging was a Commerce Department report that the trade deficit declined sharply to $40.4 billion in November, the smallest imbalance in five years as the recession slashed demand for oil and imports from China. While an improving trade deficit can act to boost the economy, analysts said the problem is that the recession in the Unitd States has spread globally. That has cut into U.S. export sales, meaning American manufacturers will now have to contend with slumping domestic and foreign demand.
    The Congressional Budget Office last week projected that the budget deficit for this fiscal year will hit $1.2 trillion. Yet that projection does not include any of the costs from the economic stimulus program that President-elect Barack Obama is hoping Congress will pass in the next few weeks in an effort to keep the current recession from deepening. The cost of Obama’s two-year program is expected to be around $800 billion.
    David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York, said he expects this year’s defi cit will hit $1.6 trillion and will remain above $1 trillion next year as well, reflecting the cost of the rescue program and the stimulus effort.
    Deficits of this size would be records in dollar terms and the largest as a percentage of the overall economy since the government was spending massive amounts to fight World War II. Still, economists generally support the massive government effort.
    “A lot of us are pretty nervous about the deficits, but the fact is that if you look at the state of the economy, the risks of not doing anything are greater than the risks of doing something,” Wyss said.
    The deficit through December includes $247 billion that has been spent on the $700 billion financial rescue program that Congress passed on Oct. 3 to deal with the most serious financial crisis to hit the country since the 1930s.
    Much of that money has been spent injecting fresh capital into banks in an effort to repair their balance sheets and encourage them to resume more normal lending. Part of the bailout funds also went to shore up insurance giant American International Group Inc. and the auto industry, with both General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC getting support.
    The administration has..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00401

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Stocks dive as hope fades on Wall Street
BY DAVE CARPENTER AND TIM PARADIS
The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — So you thought Wall Street might be out of the woods? Think again.
    A surge of optimism that started a market rally late last year, mercifully quieting the stock market’s stomach-churning volatility, has vanished as economic recovery recedes further onto the horizon.
    On Wednesday, stocks took a dive reminiscent of the terrifying jumps and drops of last fall, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 300 points before closing down 248.
    It was the Dow’s biggest point drop since Dec. 1 and the first string of six straight down days since early October. The Dow is still 9 percent higher than its November low, but the bumpy decline feels all too familiar.
    “It’s a good instinct to start a new year off with optimism,” said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston. “But unfortunately that tends to fade in the harsh light of reality.”
    So what happened?
    Holiday sales turned out to have been worse than expected, the jobless rate exceeds 7 percent for the first time in 16 years, the global economy is eroding faster and corporations from Alcoa to Intel to Wal-Mart have disappointed investors.
    Apple was the latest company out with bad news Wednesday, with CEO Steve Jobs saying he is taking a medical leave of absence.
    “Right now we just don’t have any evidence to show that that free fall is over,” said Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh.
    For a time, it seemed like the worst might be over for stocks. After hitting a trough on Nov. 20, the major stock averages all rose by more than 20 percent within six weeks — the kind of rally that usually takes years.
    The rally was driven in part by hopes for Washington’s aggressive fiscal policies and the upcoming change in the White House. But .................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00600

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The economic MELTDOWN •
Feds mull more bailout cash for banks
BY STEVENSON JACOBS AND DANIEL WAGNER
The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — The banks may need a bigger bailout.
    The government is mulling another multibillion-dollar aid package for Bank of America Corp., raising the possibility that much more taxpayer money will be needed to keep the banking industry from edging back toward the abyss.
    Investors took the news badly. Bank of America shares fell as much as 28 percent to their lowest level in 18 years before closing down 18 percent. Citigroup Inc. shares fell to a near 16-year low, closing down 15 percent, amid concerns about its stability. A grim earnings outlook from JPMorgan Chase & Co. escalated the pessimism. Its shares lost 6 percent.
    But the sense of panic that has hovered over Wall Street in recent days does not seem to have breached Capitol Hill. Lawmakers, wary of pushback from constituents, reluctantly released the second $350 billion in the Treasury’s financial rescue fund Thursday after assurances that $50 billion to $100 billion would be spent to try to reduce foreclosures. Many lawmakers have resisted giving banks more money.
    The bank sector’s tumble stoked investor fears that a darkening economic outlook is hurting government efforts to resuscitate the banking industry. And it raised the possibility that the $700 billion fi - nancial rescue package — the largest in history — might need to swell even further.
    “The perception on Wall Street is that things are getting worse and that the banks are bearing the brunt,” said Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.
    Bank of America, which already received $25 billion under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, could get billions more to help it absorb losses from its buyout of Merrill Lynch, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
    The plan could be modeled after a similar government lifeline that was thrown to Citigroup in November, the person said. Under such a plan, the government would give Bank of America another capital infusion and possibly guarantee any losses on problem loans. A fresh capital injection could come from the TARP, while any money for loan guarantees could come from a mix of government sources.
    Such a move would support the growing consensus among fi nancial experts that Treasury’s bailout program so far won’t be enough to stabilize banks reeling from bad mortgage loans and falling home prices. As the recession deepens, consumers and businesses are increasingly defaulting on other loans, such as those involving credit cards and commercial real estate, analysts say.
    “It was getting better for a while, but now it’s just going to hell,” Bert Ely, an independent banking consultant, said. “The worse it gets, the more the government is going to have to do — and the problem is, we just don’t know.
    “There may have to be additional TARP money put on the table. ... There’s nothing magic about the $700 billion number. That could be increased to a trillion, a trillion and a half in a flash.”
    The prospect of pumping more taxpayer money into Bank of America raised troubling questions about whether other banks may need more capital infusions.
    “Will we need TARP 2.0?” asked Vincent R. Reinhart, former director of the Federal Reserve’s monetary affairs division. “The first half wasn’t used effectively, so we’re certainly going to need the second half. But it probably won’t be enough.”
    He said the fact that some of the money will be used for mortgage relief will mean there will be less money “to deal with the banking problem.”
    House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank, DMass., said the problems in the financial sector could mean that “we have to do more.”
    “Things have been worse than anticipated, there’s no question,” he said in an interview Thursday on C-SPAN. He compared the fi - nancial system to a patient under emergency care, saying, “You don’t say, ‘Well, that didn’t work, I’m cutting it off.’ ”
    But more government intervention in the banking sector would likely upset Republican lawmakers and could further unnerve investors worried about the health of major banks.
    “If the government has to step in, it may very well mean the government will have to take precedence over other shareholders,” effectively wiping them out, Reinhart said.
    Investors are also wary about what Bank of America would have to give up in return for more bailout money. One possibility: The government could require the bank to slash its quarterly dividend paid to investors, analysts said. A similar restriction was imposed on Citigroup as a condition of its rescue.
    “The market is very troubled by that,” said Edward Yardeni, an independent banking analyst. “Banks don’t really have any value to shareholders if they can’t pay dividends. It’s not a growth industry.”
    The dour sentiments followed a troubling fourth-quarter earnings report from JPMorgan. It reported earnings of $702 million in the October-December quarter; analysts had expected that it would break even.
    Nonetheless, JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon called the quarter “very disappointing” and said the bank could suffer more losses from bad loans if the economy worsens.
    During a call with journalists, Dimon said the crisis in the financial industry has “gone way beyond normal.”
    “Everyone is ....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00600

Roubini Predicts U.S. Losses May Reach $3.6 Trillion (Update1)
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By Henry Meyer and Ayesha Daya

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. financial losses from the credit crisis may reach $3.6 trillion, suggesting the banking system is “effectively insolvent,” said New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted last year’s economic crisis.

“I’ve found that credit losses could peak at a level of $3.6 trillion for U.S. institutions, half of them by banks and broker dealers,” Roubini said at a conference in Dubai today. “If that’s true, it means the U.S. banking system is effectively insolvent because it starts with a capital of $1.4 trillion. This is a systemic banking crisis.”

Losses and writedowns at financial companies worldwide have risen to more than $1 trillion since the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

President Barack Obama will have to use as much as $1 trillion of public funds to shore up the capitalization of the banking sector, following the $350 billion injection by the Bush administration, Roubini told Bloomberg News. Congress last year approved a $700 billion rescue fund, of which half remains to be disbursed.

Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, posted a quarterly loss of $1.79 billion last week, its first since 1991, and received $138 billion in emergency government funds. Citigroup Inc. posted an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss, completing its worst year, and plans to split in two under Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit’s plan to rebuild a capital base eroded by the credit crisis.

‘Bankrupt’ System

“The problems of Citi, Bank of America and others suggest the system is bankrupt,” Roubini said. “In Europe, it’s the same thing.”

Stocks in Europe, Canada and Brazil dropped yesterday on speculation government efforts to shore up the financial industry will fail to stem the deepening global recession. The U.K.’s Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said it expects to post a loss of as much as 28 billion pounds ($41 billion) for 2008 and the government got ready to raise its stake in the lender.

Oil prices will trade between $30 and $40 a barrel all year, Roubini predicted.

“I see commodities falling overall another 15-20 percent,” Roubini said. “This outlook for commodity prices is beneficial for oil importers, it’s going to imply that economic recovery might occur faster, but from the point of view of oil exporters, this will be very negative.”

Oil has tumbled 77 percent from its July high of $147.27 as the global economy sinks into recession, straining the budgets of crude exporters. Saudi Arabia, Oman and Dubai, the second- largest sheikdom in the United Arab Emirates, have said they will post budget deficits this year.

Crude oil for February delivery fell to $32.70, down 10.4 percent from last week’s close and the lowest since Dec. 19, on the New York Mercantile Exchange today. The contract traded at $33.37 a barrel at 10:45 a.m. London time.

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What will happen when the bills come due?

This country may well have no future.
The Treasury has been looted; spending could be beyond our ability to pay — ever. As our children and grandchildren face betrayal, we are being systematically fleeced into serfdom.
If — or when — darkness engulfs the United States, will we then seek the light?

FRANK JAMES DAVIS
Troy     

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00908

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BoA exec resigns over Merrill bonuses
BY STEPHEN BERNARD AND IEVA M. AUGSTUMS
The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — John Thain resigned under pressure from Bank of America on Thursday after reports he rushed out billions of dollars in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees in his final days as CEO there, while the brokerage was suffering huge losses and just before Bank of America took it over.
    The bonuses were paid before Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill became fi - nal on Jan. 1, and while Bank of America was privately telling the government that Merrill was losing so much money that the deal might fall through unless it could get more federal bailout money.
    Bank of America later received an additional $20 billion from the government, in part to offset the unexpected Merrill losses. The brokerage lost $15 billion in the fourth quarter and more than $27 billion for the year.
    The bonuses, typically paid in January, were instead given in December and totaled $3 billion to $4 billion, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Bank of America would not confirm the size of the bonuses.
    Scott Silvestri, a Bank of America spokesman, noted that Merrill was still operating as an independent company at the time the bonuses were paid. Had Thain not acted early, it would have been up to Bank of America to pay or reduce the bonuses later.
    Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis flew to New York on Thursday to meet with Thain, and within hours the spokesman issued a terse statement saying the two had “mutually agreed that his situation was not working out and he would resign.”
    The government helped orchestrate the acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America over the same weekend in September that another investment bank, Lehman Brothers, went under, setting off the most intense period of the financial crisis.
    The government also promised last week to guarantee about $97 billion in losses on Bank of America’s troubled assets, most of it coming from Merrill Lynch.
    Thain himself did not accept a bonus last year. Nor did four other top executives at Merrill: its president and chief operating officer, its president of global wealth management, its chief financial officer and its general counsel.
    Thain, 53, is a former head of the New York Stock Exchange and a former chief operating officer of investment bank Goldman Sachs. He had been named head of a wealth management division of the merged businesses of Merrill and Bank of America.
    In 2007, Thain topped the list of highest-paid CEOs in American business, with a compensation package valued at $83 million, according to an Associated Press analysis. That included a signing bonus and other enticements that helped lure him from the NYSE to lead Merrill.
    New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has opened an investigation into the bonuses, a person familiar with the probe told The Associated Press on Thursday.
    The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
    Silvestri said Lewis was aware of Thain’s decision to grant the bonuses, and some analysts said the disclosure also increases pressure on Lewis.
    Bank of America stock, which was already tumbling Thursday, fell further after reports of Thain’s departure but later regained ground.
    It closed down 97 cents, or more than 14 percent, at $5.71.
    Bank of America stock has been among the hardest hit in the financial sector. It has lost almost 60 percent of its value since the Merrill deal went through. The stock is down 85 percent from one year ago.
    “From a shareholder standpoint, board standpoint, you would really have to question his judgment,” said Jason O’Donnell, a bank analyst with Boenning & Scattergood Inc.
    It is unclear who would replace Lewis as Bank of America CEO if he were ousted by the board of directors. Thain was rumored to be most likely to be Lewis’ eventual successor, O’Donnell said.
    “Clearly Lewis made a bad deal. Thain did a very good job in selling him on the prospects of Merrill,” he said. “He needs to take responsibility for that transaction.”
    At the very least, the payment of bonuses indicates Thain was “completely tone-deaf to the culture of B of A,” said Tony Plath, finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
    “My surprise is the board gave him an opportunity to resign and didn’t just fire him,” he added.
    A spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said Frank was “very disappointed to learn this news, and these banks are the toughest people in the world to try to help.”
    Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said at the Capitol that they were not familiar with the details of the situation but that it would be an outrage to award bonuses in advance while the brokerage fi rm was suffering big losses.
    “If it’s found to be ....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00400

I think that the SEC should take a look at Thain for possible prosecution for fraud.

Quoted from Shadow

I think that the SEC should take a look at Thain for possible prosecution for fraud.

No 'looking into it'............DO IT!!
Now we will see what obama is made of!

I am sick and tired and afraid and confused and bewildered where this entire bailout/stimulus thing is going to end up. A few months ago the government took over $300 Billion of our tax dollars and gave it to the businesses who have failed us miserably with yet another $350 Billion waiting in the wings to be let out again. And yet they are talking about even MORE...substantially more!!! Possibly a TRILLION by the time it is all said and done.

Let me say that I am a capitalist. But ya know what, it isn't working. Greed and corruption from these corporations have just slapped the American People in the face. The American people's hard earned money that made their corporations rich. And what do they give us back.......a recession/depression!! Can I say, 'thank you very much'.

Now what really concerns me is that because of the corporate corruption and greed, we may soon be living in a true socialist country with the corrupt, greedy government at the helm!!! THIS IS VERY SCARY STUFF MY FRIENDS...VERY SCARY!!

I think Obama is trying to find out what the Boston Tea Party was like first hand, because he's sure made a lot of people who voted for him very upset by the things he's done recently and it's only just begun.

I just learned something new....need to research it a little more.....but,,,,those banks/lending institutions etc...that bought and sold mortgages, over
and over and over and over and sliced and diced them dont even know who's name is on the deed or where the mortgage papers are....
hence, no mortgage paper=no debt........strung out to the end and now they can eat it..........squatters rights........

now the problem is the valuation or re-valuation......see,,,they sucked the blood out and now we are all left with a pale dead corpse.....do we think the
government can pump blood back in and run a code blue?????

we must decide what has value...our homes and neighborhoods or the fast paced flipping, slicing and dicing.....it still ends up being our choice.....

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