I do not know what American citizens will do regarding this sort of issues. But we will have an idea as soon as we know the Consumer Confidence Index in a few days.
Peace and best wishes. Xi On Feb 19, 6:42 pm, "Sumerian.." <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you Xi for the title. Yes it will continue, but what we will see more > that normal American citizens are hardly affected while those problem makers > and riches are trying to escape from the consequences while trying to make > citizens pay the price. I hope that American citizens to wake up and stand up > against their global thief political and business key people. > > ================== > > WASHINGTON – The number of laid-off workers > receiving unemployment benefits > has jumped to an all-time high near 5 million while new jobless claims remain > well above 600,000. Both figures > were worse than expected and new projections from the Federal Reserve show > unemployment rising for the rest of this year. > > The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of > people receiving regular unemployment benefits rose 170,000 to 4.99 million > for > the week ending Feb. 7, marking the fourth straight week those receiving > benefits have been at a record level on data going back to 1967. > > The continuing claims figure also was > significantly above the year-ago level of 2.77 million and underscored the > difficulty people are having in this recession finding another job once they > are > laid off. > > An additional 1.5 million people are receiving > benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by > Congress > last year, bringing the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits > to 6.54 million for the week ending Feb. 7. > In other economic news, wholesale inflation surged > unexpectedly in January, according to the Labor Department. Wholesale prices > jumped 0.8 percent last month, the biggest gain since July and well above the > 0.2 percent increase that economists expected. > > The acceleration was led by a 3.7 percent surge in > energy prices with gasoline > prices jumping 15 percent, the biggest gain in 14 months. Even outside > the volatile food and energy sectors, wholesale prices showed a > bigger-than- expected increase, rising by 0.4 percent. > New applications for unemployment benefits totaled > 627,000 last week, the same as the previous week, according to the department. > But that was still more than the 620,000 claims economists expected. > It also remained near the 631,000 claims filed > three weeks ago, which was the highest tally since October 1982, when the > economy was emerging from a steep recession, though the labor force has grown > by about half since then. A year > ago, initial claims stood at 342,000. > The four-week average for claims rose to 619,000 > last week, up from 608,500 the previous week which was the first time the > figure > had topped 600,000 during the economic > downturn. > > The cascade of layoff notices in recent weeks has > heightened concerns about the current recession, already the longest in a > quarter-century. > > Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., said Wednesday it > will cut nearly 5,000 jobs, or almost 7 percent of the biggest U.S. tire > maker's > work force, this year after it posted a fourth-quarter loss and revenue sank > 21 > percent. The cuts follow the elimination of about 4,000 jobs in the second > half > of last year. > > General Motors Corp. and Chrysler on Tuesday filed > plans with the government more than doubling their request for aid to a total > of > $39 billion and announced plans for thousands more job cuts. GM alone said it > would cut 47,000 jobs globally by the end of the year — 19 percent of its work > force, and Chrysler said it will cut 3,000 more jobs. > The Fed released a new economic forecast on > Wednesday that reduced its growth forecast for 2009 and increased its > unemployment rate projections. The > new forecast predicts that unemployment will hit between 8.5 and 8.8 percent > this year, up from the current level of 7.6 percent. > > And in an appearance at the National Press Club, > Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said > Wednesday that "strong and aggressive action" would be able to overcome the > current recession and jolt the economy back into growth. But he said "if we > fail > ... then the situation will continue to deteriorate. " > > President Barack Obama pointed to the > deteriorating economy to win quick passage of an $787 billion economic > stimulus program which he > signed into law this week. On Wednesday, Obama unveiled a $75 billion program > aimed at halting the surging level of mortgage foreclosures in the wake of the > worst slump in housing in decades. > For the week ending Feb. 7, the states with the > largest increases in jobless applications were Kentucky and Arkansas, which > blamed the jumps on rising layoffs in the mining, trade and manufacturing > industries. The biggest decreases were recorded in California and Tennessee, > which reported fewer layoffs in the construction, trade, service and > manufacturing industries.by "Karlheinz" <austrohawk , or The HAWK as he used > to be known for so many years- S1000+ > > ======= > S1000+ > ======= > > --- On Thu, 2/19/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Subject: Sumerian: More wolves eating wolves. > To: "World-thread" <[email protected]> > Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009, 5:43 AM > > UBS Will Disclose Names, Pay $780 Million to > U.S.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0XVjooQdppA&refe... > > Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, will pay > $780 million and disclose the names of some secret account holders to > avoid U.S. prosecution on a charge that it helped thousands of wealthy > Americans evade taxes. > > The Justice Department accused UBS of conspiring to defraud the U.S. > by helping 17,000 Americans hide accounts from the Internal Revenue > Service. The U.S. will drop the charge in 18 months if the bank > reforms its practices, helps prosecutors and makes payments. UBS will > immediately turn over names of about 250 clients, according to people > familiar with the matter. > > By gaining those names, the U.S. will pierce the veil of Swiss bank > secrecy. The IRS, which has sought the names of all U.S. account > holders since July, has met resistance from the Swiss government. The > final number of account holders Zurich- based UBS must disclose will > hinge on future legal battles, according to the agreement. > > “UBS sincerely regrets the compliance failures,” Chairman Peter Kurer, > 59, said in a statement after the accord was unsealed yesterday in > federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Client confidentiality, to > which UBS remains committed, was never designed to protect fraudulent > acts or the identity of those clients, who, with the active assistance > of bank personnel, misused the confidentiality protections.” > > UBS rose 30 centimes, or 2.5 percent, to 12.51 francs by 9:21 a.m. in > Swiss trading, valuing the bank at 36.7 billion francs ($31.1 > billion). The stock fell 16 percent this year. > > Settlement Estimates > > The Securities and Exchange Commission also reached an agreement to > resolve claims that UBS acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and > investment adviser to U.S. citizens who held accounts directly or in > the names of others. > > The $780 million is lower than previous settlement estimates, which > exceeded $1 billion. The U.S. government agreed to the lower amount > because of the bank’s eroding financial condition, according to a > person familiar with the matter. UBS said the cost of the settlement > will be booked in 2008 accounts. > > “It is certainly a positive for the bank, that some sort of agreement > has been found,” Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, an analyst at Sanford > Bernstein & Co., said in a note today. “In a broader context, we doubt > the saga is over. The success in getting the documentation out of > Switzerland with support from the Swiss authorities is likely to > encourage other tax authorities to pursue claims against the Swiss > more vigorously.” > > IRS Summons > > UBS has announced more than 11,000 job cuts, exited parts of debt > trading and commodities businesses and raised $32 billion from > investors to offset record losses at the securities unit. Last week, > it posted a fourth-quarter loss of 8.1 billion Swiss francs on trading > losses and leveraged loan impairments. > > Financial institutions worldwide have amassed $1.1 trillion of > writedowns and credit losses and shed more than 274,000 jobs since the > U.S. subprime-mortgage market collapsed in 2007, data compiled by > Bloomberg show. > > UBS will pay $380 million to disgorge profits from its cross-border > business from 2001 to 2008, and $400 million in interest, penalties > and restitution for unpaid taxes. > > On July 1, a federal judge in Miami approved an IRS summons seeking > information on thousands of UBS accounts owned or controlled by U.S. > citizens. Under the deferred prosecution agreement, UBS and the > government disagree on how many names the bank must disclose. The U.S. > may continue to seek enforcement of the summons, and UBS may assert > legal defenses. > > ‘Breached’ Obligations > > The U.S. authorities, who have been seeking client data from > Switzerland through an administrative assistance procedure, will > withdraw this request, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory > Authority said in a statement today. The regulator allowed UBS to pass > on some data to prevent the U.S. from filing criminal charges against > the bank, it said. > > “Such charges could have had drastic consequences for UBS and its > liquidity situation and ultimately put its existence at risk,” the > Swiss regulator said. UBS had “severely breached” its obligations to > “remain fit and proper as well as adequately organized,” said the > Swiss market watchdog, which also investigated the case. > > UBS agreed only to the immediate disclosure of account holders > involved in fraudulent or sham offshore account structures, according > to people familiar with the matter. > > U.S. law views tax evasion as a crime, Swiss law does not. The Swiss > view tax fraud as a more serious ... > > read more » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
