The Master Paster

A majority of U.S. senators on Thursday voted to confirm Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term at the head of the Federal Reserve.

This is a huge 1600 km pipeline that was not supposed to be ready until this July. The Canadian oil giant Suncor has agreed to use this pipeline to ship oil from the Alberta oilsands to Wisconsin.

Despite what anyone in the media says, Canada is a major exporter of oil to the US. Currently The US imports almost twice as much oil from Canada then the next country on the list. See for yourself.

Interesting post on moneyourmoney.info suggesting people move their money from the large banks to the local ones. Sites like this are popping up all around the web promoting small local…

Thousands of people, including two Australians, are feared dead after the 7.0 magnitude quake struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

by Anthony Fox

In late 2009, former Merrill Lynch economist, now with the Canadian firm, Gluskin Sheff, said the following:

“The credit collapse and the accompanying deflation and overcapacity are going to drive the economy and financial markets in 2010. We have said this repeatedly that this recession is really a depression because the (post-WW II) recessions were merely small backward steps in an inventory cycle but in the context of expanding credit. Whereas now, we are in a prolonged period of credit contraction, especially as it relates to households and small businesses.”

Summarizing his 2010 outlook, Rosenberg highlighted asset deflation and credit contraction imploding “the largest balance sheet in the world – the US household sector” in the amount of “an epic $12 trillion of lost net worth, a degree of trauma we have never seen before,” even after the equity bear market rally and “tenuous” housing recovery likely to be short-lived and illusory with a true bottom many months away.

As a result, consumer spending will be severely impacted. “Frugality is the new fashion and likely to stay that way for years,” highlighting a secular shift toward prudence and conservatism because households are traumatized, tapped out, and mindful of a bleak outlook. It shows in new consumer credit data, contracting $17.5 billion in November, the largest monthly amount since 1943 record keeping began.

Surprisingly, only people over age 55 have experienced job growth. All others have lost jobs, can’t get them, and for youths the “unemployment crisis (is) of epic proportions.” In addition, there’s a record number of Americans out of work for longer than six months, in part because the “aging but not aged” aren’t retiring, and those who did are coming back, of necessity, to make up for wealth lost.

Venezuelans rushed to the shops on Saturday, fearful of price rises after a currency devaluation that will let President Hugo Chavez boost government spending ahead of an election but feeds…