The Wholesale Trade Sales & Inventories monthly report shows wholesale sales increased 1.9% from last month, but inventories dropped -0.2%. For the year, wholesale sales are up 12.2% and inventories have increased 8.4%.
October sales were revised up to 2.6%, wholesale inventories revised down to 1.7% September to October percentage changes.
Who says the Federal Reserve isn't good for something? They just made $80.9 billion dollars in 2010.
The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced preliminary unaudited results indicating that the Reserve Banks provided for payments of approximately $78.4 billion of their estimated 2010 net income of $80.9 billion to the U.S. Treasury. This represents a $31.0 billion increase in payments to the U.S. Treasury over 2009 ($47.4 billion of $53.4 billion of net income). The increase was due primarily to increased interest income earned on securities holdings during 2010.
On the other hand, what they made the money on are securities from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, or GSEs, U.S. Treasuries and those infamous mortgage backed securities or toxic assets them purchased.
You think the United States government produces imaginary numbers for economic reports? Try China. Consider the heat on the U.S. trade deficit, jobs, currency manipulation and China. Now we have a trade report from China claiming their surplus was cut almost in half in a month.
Europe's never ending sovereign debt and default problems are rearing their ugly head once again. Just a rumor hitting the rounds that Portugal is being pressed to take a bail out, even when those rumors are denied was enough to send their bonds reeling. As it was the European Central Bank has to buy Portugal's bonds.
The ECB intervened to buy government bonds on the secondary market.
"They're buying five-years and 10-years in Portugal, whatever people are offering really," one trader said.
Another trader said the ECB appeared to be buying Greek and Irish bonds too. EU sources say the central bank has not yet bought Spanish government debt.
There is a domino theory that if Portugal is the next nation to be bailed out and saved from sovereign debt, Spain will assuredly also go south. Spain is a much larger economy. Ireland & Greece have already taken bail outs. It is assumed Portugal is next in the domino falling list. Contagion is also assumed when it gets to Spain. Contagion means the PIGS sovereign debt crisis will affect the United States and other nations outside of Europe.
The number of people on food stamps jumped 14.7% from 2009 to an astounding 43,200,878 people. In one month participation increased 0.7%. There were 310,570,000 people in the United States in October. That is 13.9% of Americans on food stamps for October 2010! The average benefit is $133.79 per person.
What is beginning to unfold before our eyes is a situation which can only be comprehended with jaw-dropping incredulity.
The Too Big To Fail banks have been waiting with trepidation for a ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Massachusetts on the case titled US Bank National Association (as trustee) vs. Antonio Ibanez. They were right to be fearful. The state supreme court has ruled against the banks and upheld a lower court order that nullified foreclosures by US Bancorp and Wells Fargo, on the grounds that neither bank had the legal right under Massachusetts law to foreclose. Today’s ruling has far-reaching consequences for the banks and the housing market in general, as it throws into serious question the legal soundness of millions of mortgages in the US if, as expected, courts in other states come to similar conclusions as the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Finally, some in this country are actually paying attention to the law. Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp just lost their Foreclosuregate case in Massachusetts. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts just ruled against them. The case boils down to if the bank cannot locate the paperwork, too bad, they cannot foreclose, even when they bundle these things up in derivatives and trade them like baseball cards.
Financial Times has the background on the case itself and gives one of the court rulings on securitization of mortgages with respect to foreclosures:
The Land Court then proceeded to find that (1) neither Appellant had a valid assignment of mortgage at the time of publication of the notices or at the time of the foreclosure sale, (21 the foreclosure notices failed to identify the “holder” of the mortgage, and ( 3 ) the notices were deficient under Mass. Gen. L. ch. 244, 5 14. [A592-93]. Put another way, the Land Court held that Appellants lacked authority as assignees to conduct the subject: foreclosures.
This is the key sentence from the decision, that the use of a securitization does not alter or reduce the requirements that apply to transfers and ownership of the loans and the related property.
Who says the Federal Reserve isn't good for something? They just made 
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