The world economy is just as vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007

According to the BIS the world economy is still just as vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007.- Gary

BIS chief fears fresh Lehman from worldwide debt surge

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

The world economy is just as vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007, with the added danger that debt ratios are now far higher and emerging markets have been drawn into the fire as well, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.
Jaime Caruana, head of the Swiss-based financial watchdog, said investors were ignoring the risk of monetary tightening in their voracious hunt for yield.

"The world economy is just as vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007" the Bank for International Settlements has warned.

“Markets seem to be considering only a very narrow spectrum of potential outcomes. They have become convinced that monetary conditions will remain easy for a very long time, and may be taking more assurance than central banks wish to give,” he told The Telegraph.

Mr Caruana said the international system is in many ways more fragile than it was in the build-up to the Lehman crisis. Debt ratios in the developed economies have risen by 20 percentage points to 275pc of GDP since then.


Credit spreads have fallen to to wafer-thin levels. Companies are borrowing heavily to buy back their own shares. The BIS said 40pc of syndicated loans are to sub-investment grade borrowers, a higher ratio than in 2007, with ever fewer protection covenants for creditors.

More >>>

Whistleblower: NSA stores 80% of all phone calls, including full audio

The U.S. is practically bankrupt and still think they have the resources to spy on a 193 nations and it's own citizens. What the hell have we done to piss off that many countries. I get it, you need espionage, but at the least the U.S. is becoming paranoid and the worst we becoming a police state? 

Rt.com

At least 80 percent of all audio calls are gathered and stored by the NSA, whistleblower William Binney has revealed. The former code-breaker says the spy agency’s ultimate aim is no less than total population control.


The National Security Agency lies about what it stores, said William Binney, one of the highest profile whistleblowers to ever emerge from the NSA, at a conference in London organized by the Center for Investigative Journalism on July 5. Binney left the agency shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center because he was disgusted at the organizations move towards public surveillance.

“At least 80 percent of fiber-optic cables globally go via the US,” Binney said. “This is no accident and allows the US to view all communication coming in. At least 80 percent of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA lies about what it stores.” 

More >>>

Additionally, another report from RT shows where NSA gathered 'startlingly intimate' data on ordinary citizens, Snowden data reveals.

A large proportion of the data classified as “useless” by analysts contained “startlingly intimate” material. This included “stories of love and heartbreak, illicit sexual liaisons, mental-health crises, political and religious conversions, financial anxieties and disappointed hopes.” The NSA also gathered around 5,000 personal photos.

“In some photos, men show off their physiques. In others, women model lingerie, leaning suggestively into a webcam or striking risque poses in shorts and bikini tops.”


Even though these files were branded as “useless” by intelligence analysts, they were still retained by the NSA and can be accessed at any time by analysts should the need arise.

Moreover, as reported by the Washington Post official documents provided by Mr. Snowden show proof concerning the extent of the NSA’s vast surveillance apparatus.

One of the documents—a file marked “top secret” from 2010 and approved by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court—shows that the NSA has been authorized to conduct surveillance on 193 foreign governments, as well as various factions and organizations around the world, including the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information from individuals ‘concerning’ all but four countries on Earth, according to top-secret documents,” 

journalists Ellen Nakashima and Barton Gellman wrote for the Post.

More >>>

Iraq insurgents ‘seize nuclear materials’ from Mosul University

Iraq has told the United Nations that “terrorist groups” have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country’s north.

In a letter seen by Reuters, dated 8 July, the country appealed for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad”.

But the UN atomic agency said on Thursday it believed the nuclear material requisitioned by insurgents was “low grade” and did not pose a significant security risk.

Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the letter that nearly 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University.

“Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state,” Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials “can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency “is aware of the notification from Iraq and is in contact to seek further details,” spokeswoman Gill Tudor said.

“On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk.”

More >>>

Target ISIS: First batch of Russian fighter jets arrives in Iraq

The first delivery of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrived in Iraq on Saturday, the country’s Defense Ministry said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping the jets will make a key difference in the fight against ISIS.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense on Sunday confirmed receiving five Su-25 fighter jets in accordance with the deal with Moscow. The jets were delivered by a Russian An-124 transport plane in a dismantled state, and are expected to be set up and become operational within 3-4 days.

“The Sukhoi Su-25 is an air-ground support and anti-terrorism mission aircraft. In these difficult times, we are in great need of such aircraft. With God’s help, we will be able to deploy them to support our ground forces on a mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants within the next 3-4 days,” Iraqi Army Lieutenant General Anwar Hamad Amen Ahmed told RT’s Ruptly news agency at an airport receiving the jets.

According to Ahmed, Iraq will wage a “massive attack” on insurgents with the help of the jets.

“We have experienced pilots and other professionals. Our Russian friends have also sent their own experts to assist us in preparing the aircraft. All the logistics have been planned for as well,” the lieutenant general said.
More >>>

Negative Interest Rates Signal Final Currency War

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Financial analyst Andy Hoffman says the negative interest rates installed last week by the European Central Bank will eventually mean depositors will pay the banks in Europe to hold their money.  Hoffman explains, “I believe that will happen in time . . . inevitably there are only so many tools in the arsenal of the central bank.  They can print money and lower interest rates . . . all that stuff.  Now, the ECB, like the Bank of Japan, and the Fed are at the bottom of the barrel. . . . What they are trying to get them to do is for the banks to take the money out and lend it. . . . Of course, it’s ridiculous because they are not going to lend anything.  They are insolvent.  That’s why the ECB is also reinstating . . . their Long Term Refinancing Operation to liquefy banks like Deutsche Bank and Portugal’s Espirito Santo because they are in big trouble.  So, will it get down to depositors?  Well, you have two choices.  Either eat those losses, and I just mentioned, they are already drowning in insolvency, or pass them along to depositors.  Yes, I think in the coming months, you will see banks with negative deposit rates. . . . I would take my money out.”

So, where do you put money when bank deposits turn negative?  Hoffman, who has 15 years’ experience as a Wall Street analyst, contends, “Some people say gold is a barbarous relic and you can’t eat gold.  One of their favorite reasons why you shouldn’t own it is that it pays no interest.  Now, paying no interest is paying higher than a bank account is going to be paid.  We say at Miles Franklin that gold and silver is not an investment.  It’s your money.  It’s the way you used to think of money.  You didn’t worry that your bank would be insolvent . . . that the bank would be bailed in or bailed out with your taxpayer money.  Now, people are saying is it really safer to have my money in a bank?  Isn’t it safer to have gold and silver?  I think more and more people around the world . . . are going to realize gold and silver are real money.”

More & Video >>>