Apocalyptic Hope

guarding the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street -- yahoo / ny times

Includes: Breugal International Economy ( EU ) ; One world currency; World Bank; dollar falling; inflation - deflation; transfer of wealth; Job slowdown; Check 21; SHARIA Banking; Electronic Trading DIRECT PLUS ; Debtor's Prison; Taxes

“We are on the verge of a global transformation.
All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order." -- David Rockefeller
...posted by Marco ( FD)

Financial and Banking Issues
US Economy http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=business&cat=us_economy
Global Economy http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=business&cat=global_economy
Business Online www.thebusinessonline.com ( London )
Euronext http://www.euronext.com/home/0,3766,1732,00.html European Stock Market
What is Euronext ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euronext
Financial Times http://news.ft.com/world/economy ... http://news.ft.com ... http://news.ft.com/business/indepth
Daily Forex http://www.dailyfx.com/
Small Business http://www.inc.com/home/
The Economy www.economy.com

Banks to provide UNSECURED Loans ( no backing) --Oct. 7, 2008
Ed: This means that loans can be called in at any time. Maximim penalties for defaulting.
"Those with the loan, he will own " ( global head of the economy )
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fed-reportedly-looking-unsecured-lending/story.aspx?guid=%7BFE856AB9%2DB78B%2D485B%2D9209%2D676
B8E898EBB%7D&dist=TNMostRead


Global Banking Regulatory system coming into place -- Sept. 20, 2008 -- Gov. possession of banks = total control
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/sep2008/sheridan920-1.htm

Ed: If the dollar is replaced by the euro, we would have almost a 50% devalution. When ?
"What might trigger a fatal run on the dollar in world markets?
While a broad and abrupt selloff by major foreign holders of dollars — for example, China — appears unlikely, a cataclysmic event, similar to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, could prompt a search for a new international medium of exchange.
In the modern era of automated payments, the upheaval might come from a terrorist attack that undermines the computerized transfer facilities of the world's banking system. A catastrophic loss of electronic records could surely destroy the credibility of the dollar as the international medium of exchange."
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/07/will-the-euro-r.html

Two premier financial centers:
"But the euro does have growing strengths. At current market exchange rates, the European Union is now larger economically than the US. New central and eastern European members are bringing enormous dynamism and flexibility. At the same time, the European Central Bank has gained considerable credibility from its handling of the global credit crisis. Indeed, if the euro zone can persuade Great Britain to become a full-fledged member, thereby acquiring one of the world's two premier financial centers (London), the euro might start to look like a viable alternative to the dollar"
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/04/has-moment-come-to-replace-us-dollar.html
UK and the Euro http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2008/05/when-will-the-uk-wake-up-and-join-the-euro-area/

the EURO http://finance.yahoo.com/currency?u
REAL TIME Updates http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/stockresearch/globalmarkets/default.asp
Ratio http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html
Currencies used around the globe: http://coinmill.com/EUR_USD.html
Converter:
http://www.gocurrency.com/v2/dorate.php?inV=&from=EUR&to=USD&Calculate=Convert?keyword=euro%20to%20dollar&CMP=SFS-70160000000CwVRAA0

Arab buyout of banks -- Barclays and General Electric ; also bought Chrysler building
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126866

SHARIA FINANCES ....

Islamic Lawfare ; Legal Jihad -- Sharia Law ---- April 15, 2008
http://www.islamist-watch.org/article/440

Banks in accordance with the Koran -- June 4, 2005
He estimated that if the pattern of growth continues, "20 percent of the world's assets could be attracted to
Shariah-compliant products" in 10 to 15 years. And as the quality of Islamic financial products improves, Vicary said, growth will come from both Muslims and non-Muslims.  Bankers and analysts attribute the upsurge to a number of factors: historically high oil prices, leaving the Middle East awash in money; the wider choice of products now available that
comply with Shariah; and greater consciousness of religious duty among wealthy Muslim investors.

Shariah, which is drawn from the Islamic holy book, the Koran, and the example of the life of the prophet Muhammad, governs all aspects of a follower's life, including financial affairs.  Forbidden commercial activities include production and sale of alcohol and tobacco and investments in casinos and hotels where alcohol is sold

One of the most basic rules of Islamic finance is the prohibition of paying interest on loans or deposits. Islam also forbids certain kinds of risk-taking, especially financial activity akin to gambling ( Ed: speculative stocks ? ) , and it encourages the linking of income to productivity, profit-sharing and equitable contracts.  In the simplest Shariah contracts, known as musharakah or mudarabah, banks avoid charging or paying interest by sharing profit and risk with the customer, effectively playing the role of equity partner.

 "You should not expect huge returns for doing nothing, is basically what Islam is saying," said Vicary, a 33-year veteran of banking in Britain and the United States who converted to Islam a decade ago
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/01/business/islamic.php

Sharia Law is being applied to universal banking and also to International Law. Will Sharia punishment be meted out to Christians in the future ? ... beheadings as foretold in
Revelation 20:4 ??

Islamic Banking and Sharia Law -- The global march of Islamic banking
By Phar Kim Beng
http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FH20Dj02.html

Euro surpasses dollar; now # 1 --- March 19, 2008
The European Union has overtaken the U.S. as the world's No. 1 economy due to the continued dramatic fall of the dollar, according to a Reuters report
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59256

A Banking Crisis in the making ? Feb. 19, 2008
Banks in the United States have been quietly borrowing "massive amounts" from the U.S. Federal Reserve in recent weeks, using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch, according to a report on the web site of The Financial Times....
The Financial Times said the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the U.S. banking system and the banks' growing reliance on indirect forms of government support

The TAF . . . allows the banks to borrow money against all sort of dodgy collateral," Christopher Wood, analyst at CLSA, told the FT. "The banks are increasingly giving the Fed the garbage collateral nobody else wants to take . . . [this] suggests a perilous condition for America's banking system
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1821384420080219?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Every sign, and that is every sign, points to bank and brokerage write-downs in 2008 which will make 2007 seems like a picnic.
http://www.247wallst.com/2008/02/signs-point-to.html

Then, as financial institutions bring the CMOs to market and find their value has decreased, these losses must be reflected in the banks writing off the CMO losses, in turn reducing the estimated market value of their assets by the amount of CMO losses written-off.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56728

Loss of purchasing power
Inflation is set to jump and the purchasing power of your FIAT currencies will continue to melt away...
Of course the little guy will be crushed under the heels of the incipient inflation this will create.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3710

Non-insured money ???
The implication is clear, the FDIC has begun the “death watch” on the many banks which are currently drowning in their own red ink. The problem for the FDIC is that it has never supervised a bank failure which exceeded 175,000 accounts. So the impending financial tsunami is likely to be a crash-course in crisis management. Today some of the larger banks have more than 50 million depositors, which will make the FDIC's job nearly impossible....
It means there's going to be an unprecedented wave of bank closures in the US and that people who want to hold on to their life savings are going have to be extra vigilant as the situation continues to deteriorate. And it is deteriorating very quickly.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article3643.html

Bernanke new Federal Reserve Chairman-- Oct. 24, 2005
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1245351

Sept. 24 -- Oct. 12 -- Banks test emergency systems; absenteeism to cause more Online banking ?
This period extends into the new fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 --- http://www.fspanfluexercise.com/
The exercise also covers companies that provide critical behind-the-scenes processing to keep the flow of checks and money circulating around the country.
The 25 percent absentee rate will jump to 49 percent in week two....
Abend said the various projections were compiled with the help of government scientists. Government financial regulators also helped put together scenarios on how the stock market will behave as well as what the value of the dollar and various commodities such as oil will be doing.....
they also will have to cope with shrinking Internet bandwidths as more and more people try to work from home.
Cash withdrawals from ATM machines are expected to rise sharply and getting the machines refilled will present problems because of rising absentee rates at the armored car companies and the difficulty of getting fuel for the armored trucks as gasoline refineries curtail their production
Of the more than 2,700 organizations participating, two-thirds are banks, 20 percent are securities firms and 10 percent are insurance companies
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0924biz-banksflu24-ON.html
PBIM by IBM http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0301660.htm

More Online Banking
http://www.banktech.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=YBJHVDZUT0SP0QSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=201802547
SWIFT -- Worldwide Banking http://www.banktech.com/swift/

12 week banking scenario ( till the end of '07, beginning of 2008; biggest global shopping time for Christmas )
Teleworking from home
the program will follow a compressed time frame that simulates the impact of a 12-week pandemic wave.
In a report (download PDF), the FSA said the exercise showed that some banks would be forced to close branches and reduce banking services, including ATMs.
Telecommunications vendors will participate in the U.S. exercise, Binder said. The simulation will be jointly conducted by the Financial Banking Information Infrastructure Committee, which is chartered by the White House to improve coordination among financial regulators, and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council, a Chicago-based association of major financial services firms and trade groups.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9033378
Restricting the use of the Internet
Businesses as well as home users likely would be asked to voluntarily restrict high-bandwidth traffic, the planners said. And if asking didn't work, they warned, government action to restrict traffic might well follow. 
Devising strategies for getting people to limit their Internet use would also be an issue. When restrictions are voluntary, "people will step up to the plate; what's mandatory will be resisted," said Bruce Wortmann, IT manager at NJN Public Television and Radio in Trenton, N.J. 
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011125
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011125&pageNumber=2
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=275619&intsrc=article_more_bot

Banks tightening credit risks
The turbulence represents the first significant test of innovative financial instruments and markets used to distribute credit risks through the global financial system, with markets recognizing the extent that credit discipline has deteriorated in recent years, said the report.
 The crisis "has caused a repricing of credit risk and a retrenchment from risky assets that, combined with increased complexity and illiquidity, has led to disruptions in core funding markets and increased market turbulence in August," the report added
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/24/content_6787633.htm
Those include collateralised debt obligations and other structured investment vehicles, which have grown rapidly over the past few years and have plummeted in value.
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=stocksNews&storyID=2007-09-19T062849Z_01_NOA923297_RTRUKOC_0_MOODYS-STRESS-
TESTING.xml&pageNumber=2&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArt-C1-ArticlePage2
Global Credit Crunch http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7010277.stm
Recession on the horizon There are already signs of an economic slowdown in the US, the world's biggest economy. And if it deepens, it could dampen down the economic recovery underway in Europe and Japan. The UK, as a major exporting nation, would also be affected.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7003139.stm
Contagious defaults http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu2&subLeft=3&autono=297906&tab=r
More info at www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/mammon.html

Briton admits to wanting to bomb NY Stock Exchange - Oct. 12, 2006
Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert, admitted to plotting to blow up the stock exchange and other U.S. financial hubs including the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Citigroup and Prudential in Washington, New Jersey and New York.
"Explosions at these premises were clearly designed to kill as many people as possible," said prosecuting lawyer Edmund Lawson. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2558409

US needs to devalue the dollar for Europe to rise -- Sept. 11, 2006
First, US interest rates need to be nudged up gently to take the steam out of the housing market without precipitating a loss of confidence (which is already happening). Secondly, agreement is needed between the world's finance ministers - along the lines of the 1985 Plaza Accord - to effect an orderly and effective devaluation of the dollar.
http://euobserver.com/9/22308/?rk=1

Ed: keyword-synonyms : "image, avatar, logo"
Sept. 11, 2006 -- Financial world wants IMAGES ( please see Rev. 14:9-11 )
Consumers who are banking online are encountering such images and countless more as banks implement new processes to safeguard their clients' identities. Banking regulators have demanded that institutions with online banking operations beef up their methods for properly identifying customers when they log on. Banks and credit unions have until the end of this year to install a process called two-factor authentication, which requires consumers to use more than a password and PIN to identify themselves when they log on to their bank's site. That might involve acknowledging an image like an appliance or an animal. Regulators are trying to protect consumers from intrusions online and identity theft.

A Tech CU member creates a personal welcome phrase that he or she sees every time he or she logs in to the banking site. Then a random unique image is issued to the customer.
"We allow them later to select an image from our image database after they complete the initial enrollment. They see this each time they log in," Smilgys said.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_4318195

FBI monitors banking accounts -- August 9, 2006 .."Minority Report"
banks have been handing over personal customer information to the government for years.
Since 1996, banks have been required to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) whenever they detect a suspicious transaction of $5,000 or more that could involve potential money laundering or terrorist financing, said Candice Pratsch, a spokeswoman for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the arm of the Treasury Department in charge of aggregating reports.
"Under this law, banking regulators are starting with the premise that every American is a terrorist, and anything that they do is capable of being a terrorist act," said James Rockett, co-head of the financial institutions corporate and regulatory group at San Francisco-based law firm Bingham McCutchen

But Caruso, who also served as chief compliance officer for Riggs Bank after it was investigated for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, said that while most SARs don't actually result in criminal investigations, the data can be used alongside data from the FBI or overseas intelligence to create a more meaningful case.
Once something happens, investigators can go back to database and find information quickly," he said. "But the suspicious profiling is not designed to prevent anything
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/09/news/economy/banks_secrecy/

Patriot Acts eliminates privacy
National Security Letters are the key to the trove of personal data. When the law authorizing them was passed by Congress in 1986, the letters could be authorized only by a high-ranking FBI official in pursuit of an "agent of a foreign power."
The Patriot Act, passed six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, expanded the letters' reach. Now they can be issued if a local FBI official merely certifies that the information sought is "relevant" to an international terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation.

A possible financial changeover will keep the engines of the economy going, ( Rev. 13:3 ),
although hardships will abound. ( Rev. 6: 5, 6 ). A global impact on all economies.

News:

Banks mesh with healthcare -- Aug. 21, 2006
According to Forrester Research Group, a major integration effort is needed to mesh banks with health plans, healthcare providers and education tools, in order to provide a seamless, unified CDH offering. Benefitfocus already offers online enrollment, wellness programs, electronic billing and data exchange to over 33.5 million subscribers and 150 insurance carrier partners; this new partnership will offer an integrated HSA offering to health plans, which prefer to buy rather than build
http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20060807/CLM03007082006-1.html

Wal-Mart Banking -- March 23, 2006
A group of lawmakers on Friday said an industrial bank owned by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - News), the world's largest retailer, could threaten the stability of the U.S. financial system and drive community banks out of business.
"Wal-Mart's plan, to have its bank process hundreds of billions in transactions for its own stores, could threaten the stability of the nation's payments system," the lawmakers wrote.
"Given Wal-Mart's massive scope and international dealings, it is not possible to rule out a financial crisis within the company that could damage the bank and severely disrupt the flow of payments throughout the financial system."
The congressmen said the losses to the FDIC, which insures deposits at banks and thrift institutions, could be staggering if Wal-Mart begins to have financial troubles that bleed into its bank's business.
Wal-Mart is trying to open an industrial bank to handle electronic payment processing
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2006/jimg324-4.htm
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060310/financing_banking_walmart.html?.v=2

Banking Online with EMV smart cards
The company is optimistic about prospects for its readers as more European banks issue smart cards and more Europeans bank online. About one in five European banking customers now banks online, says Nigel Reavley, director of Xiring’s banking business unit. He estimates by the end of 2007 there will be 130 million Europeans banking via the Internet
http://www.cardtechnology.com/article.html?id=20060922DZT2N8K6

"Islam Index" for banking--- August 2006
Thailand’s Stock Exchange is looking at the possibility of introducing “Islam Index” to attract Muslim investments into the country’s bourse. The Stock Exchange of Thailand said the proposed Islam Index will comprise listed
companies whose activities are compliant to Islamic teachings.
The Index is expected to include 50 to 80 Thai securities.
https://www.theasianbanker.com/A556C5/Update.nsf/0/26D5D38E071ECEA9482571B9003AA57F?Opendocument
Ed: Is this how people eventually get beheaded for not transacting with 666 ??

S.W.I. F.T. banking monitored -- June 23, 2006 ( SWIFT )
Under this effort, Treasury routinely acquires information about bank transfers from the world's largest financial communication network, which is run by a consortium of financial institutions called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT.

The SWIFT network carries up to 12.7 million messages a day containing instructions on many of the international transfers of money between banks. The messages typically include the names and account numbers of bank customers — from U.S. citizens to major corporations — who are sending or receiving funds.

Through the program, Treasury has built an enormous — and ever-growing — repository of financial records drawn from what is essentially the central nervous system of international banking.

the SWIFT network, which has operations in the U.S., including a main computer hub in Manassas, Va.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-swift23jun23,0,6482687.story?coll=la-home-headlines

SWIFT
"exploit technological tools"
Officials described the Swift program as the biggest and most far-reaching of several secret efforts to trace terrorist financing
Data from the Brussels-based banking consortium, formally known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has allowed officials from the C.I.A., the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to examine "tens of thousands" of financial transactions, Mr. Levey said.
Swift is a crucial gatekeeper, providing electronic instructions on how to transfer money among 7,800 financial institutions worldwide. The cooperative is owned by more than 2,200 organizations, and virtually every major commercial bank, as well as brokerage houses, fund managers and stock exchanges, uses its services. Swift routes more than 11 million transactions each day, most of them across borders.
Because Swift is based overseas and has offices in the United States, it is governed by European and American laws
In late 2004, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to develop regulations requiring American banks to turn over records of international wire transfers.
the consortium, which is led by a Brooklyn native, Leonard H. Schrank, but they quickly discovered it offered unparalleled access to international transactions. Swift, a former government official said, was "the mother lode, the Rosetta stone" for financial data.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/washington/23intel.html?ei=5065&en=8b8acbe63f34dad9&ex=115164
0000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/23/news/spy.php

Security tokens to be mandated -- June 19, 2006
"The report further advises that the FDIC is considering a federal mandate for the implementation of security tokens by financial institutions nationwide"
GlobalWare's Security Token Program captures the serial number of each device [ Ed: smart card or subdermal chip in right hand or forehead ] and links it to the recipient name and address as it ships to the customer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060619/phm011.html?.v=53

Henry Paulson picked to head the Treasury Dept. -- May 30, 2006
Ed: Stock Market expert; will investment banking be embedded in payrolls ?
"Mr. Paulson's experience in running Goldman Sachs, a global financial firm involved in all kinds of sophisticated corporate and financial activities, makes him a near-perfect appointment," Allen Sinai of Decision Economics said in a typical Wall Street reaction
Bush's top second term domestic priority, Social Security overhaul, is currently dead, his drive to overhaul the tax code is in the deep freeze, and Democrats are massing to defeat the president's effort to make permanent his first-term tax cuts, charging they are unaffordable in light of huge budget deficits
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Paulson's long experience in dealing with China should help in the administration's campaign to get the Chinese government to allow its currency rise in value against the dollar as a way of dealing with a record $202 billion U.S. trade deficit with China.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/31/ap/politics/mainD8HUQIVO1.shtml

Paulson: Wall Street Insider
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/30/business/prexy.php

Multifunction Equity Exchange MEE Cards and Bank cards cross bounds -- May 2006
Ed: Investment banking; will this replace Social Security in the U.S. ??
Coupled with debit cards issued by Bank of China, MEE Cards connect the PREC online trading system with the banking system and let users effect real-time settlements and equity transfers.
By introducing the MEE Card, Intermost, a forerunner in Internet-based equity exchange, will provide the market with a cross boundary, real-time, rapid, and convenient service."
Mr. Lin also pointed out, "According to Zhenghua Depository, there are more than 400,000 investors in their depository database. They will be the first batch of MEE Card holders. Considering the millions of investors participating in equity exchange trading in China, the potential of our card business is enormous. Through the issuance of our MEE Card we will establish our qualified investors' database, which will become an invaluable asset and a solid foundation for our future business expansion
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-22-2006/0004366114&EDATE=

NYSE + Euronext = 12 hours trading -- June 2, 2006
NYSE Group Inc. agreed Thursday, June 1, 2006 to acquire Euronext NV for nearly $10 billion (euros 7.80 billion) cash and stock, creating the first trans-Atlantic securities market in a deal that would pressure rival exchanges to consolidate.
If approved by regulators and shareholders, NYSE Group Inc.'s acquisition of Euronext would create a single platform where traders could deal in stocks, options, futures, commodities and corporate bonds across two continents for up to 12 hours daily.

Ed: Paving the way for global 24 hour buying and selling Online
The historic move to consolidate the two exchanges is expected to launch a wave of consolidation in financial markets around the globe, one that might eventually arrive at a round-the-clock worldwide trading system.
A partnership with Euronext fulfills our shared vision of building a truly global marketplace with great breadth of product and geographic reach that will benefit all investors, issuers, and our shareholders and stakeholders."

NYSE itself is new to the electronic trading game: the 214-year-old exchange bought electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc. in March, which also turned NYSE into a public company
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=2031453&business=true

FIRST TRANSATLANTIC STOCK MARKET
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=279007&nav=menu181_2_11
NYSE to buy Euronext -- May 22, 2006
"new Europe" favors Western Alliance over "old Europe"
headed by John Thain
Euronext stock exchange operator, which runs bourses in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon.
Euronext directors met Monday to consider the offer from NYSE Group Inc., which would form a company with a market value of about $21 billion
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1165742.php/Euronext_mulls_NYSE%60s_$10.2B_takeover_bid

NYSE talks of merging with Euronext ; creating a "virtual platform" -- May 19, 2006
"Combining exchanges has gained popularity as bourses have evolved from physical places where stocks are traded to virtual platforms that provide trading services to banks and brokerages and that can benefit from economies of scale. Exchanges have themselves become publicly traded companies, abandoning the traditional model of ownership by the brokerages that use their services and widening the possibilities for mergers and acquisitions"

With stock trading, an extensive derivatives business and a very lucrative division devoted to clearing and settlement of financial transactions, Deutsche Börse would be the larger partner in a combination with Euronext, which focuses on stock trading and to a lesser extent derivatives. The German exchange has floated the possibility that the cash equities business could be based in Paris, while derivatives trading - and the company's official seat - would be in Frankfurt
In theory, the merger would deliver synergies for both the companies and for brokerages that use exchange services, since they would develop a single computer platform to trade stocks and reduce fees for users
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/18/business/exchange.php#

Nasdaq looks to buy London Stock Exchange LSE - May 2006
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybem&story_id=93433820&ID=blackenterprise
Nasdaq / LSE Bob Greifeld
http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=9632

Scandanavian's OMX to create "First North" Sweden, Norway, Denmark
The new junior market will be highly similar in its operations to Aim, acting as a springboard for companies that want a stock-market quotation but are not eligible to list on the Nordic Exchange, OMX's official list.
For the first time in OMX's history, companies listed on the new exchange will be able to release information in English - in addition to Swedish, Danish or Norwegian - in a clear attempt to attract British companies. Nordic Exchange president Jukka Ruuska told The Daily Telegraph that OMX is trying to lure a number of Aim's nominated advisers to become certified advisers on First North.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/05/22/cnomx22.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/05/22/ixcity.html

ED: Notice all the stocks going "public". Will investments by the public replace all forms of pensions, retirement programs etc. ???

China's Stock Market goes public ( IPO ) -- May 19, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/18/business/ipo.php

King of Wall Street moves billions to European Stock Market ; May 7, 2006
It is not entirely clear why KKR, based in New York, chose Europe’s Euronext stock market, rather than a US exchange. The firm would not comment. One reason may be that KKR wants to steer clear of the onerous US regulations of Sarbanes-Oxley. As a private company for 30 years, KKR is not used to regulators poking around the company books.
http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Alms%20from%20the%20king%20of%20Wall%20Street&StoryID=7CC4E388-8F7F-4F69-B4
A2-E80BC2957005&SectionID=803597D7-4BD5-45D5-BF88-E1AC85BF7FDF

Ben Bernanke new Fed Reserve Chairman -- Feb. 1, 2006
"As expected, the Fed raised the benchmark federal funds rate on overnight bank loans another quarter point on Tuesday, to 4.5 percent, its 14th straight increase since June 2004. But it effectively gave Bernanke a wide range to chart his own policy by making it clear that it was no longer seeking a "measured" pace of rate increases

Bernanke, a highly respected economist but almost unknown outside the circle of monetary economics, will be taking over the most powerful economic job in the world at a moment of both great strength and great uncertainty for the Fed.
The U.S. current account deficit, the gap between what it spends and what it produces, soared well past $700 billion in 2005 and requires about $2 billion a day in fresh foreign financing.  
Energy prices, which declined during most of Greenspan's 18-year tenure, have climbed back to records even as U.S. dependence on foreign oil has increased

Wages of low-income and middle-income workers are barely keeping pace with inflation
...the economy could be on the verge of a slowdown because of high energy prices and a weak housing market"
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/31/business/fed.php

Discontinuing the M3 Report -- Jan 5, 2006
Why the discontinuance of the reporting of M3 is that this is a way to keep an eye on how much inflation there is. In other words, IT HIDES THE GROWTH OF MONEY! Our country will not be able to sustain the levels of debt we have... especially when (not if) foreign countries stop funding us (ie, purchasing tbills, etc). When the US Dollar starts taking more of a pounding later this year, (yea, thats speculative but many top money watchers are convinced it will), it will be harder to guage the levels of inflation if the Fed stops reporting on M3.

With the debt out of control and the dollar being wide open to a massive sell-off, there's going to be a problem getting anyone to buy all the securities that are going to be issued by the US or dumped by existing investors. When one looks at the numbers... well, it's horrifying. As if there wasn't enough to be alarmed about.... Google ....the recent M3 decision by the Feds and the more you read the more you will see what's on the horizon. Then again, we all know what's coming. Keep looking up, it won't be very long. It's just another one of many things falling into place. How fortunate and blessed we are to be witness.
--UpFront RRMB

Ed : I think this means we are going to have hyper-inflation ...the third horse of the Apocalypse

Explaining the ramifications of no reporting of M3
Unilaterally and without reasonable explanation, the Fed has decided to stop reporting money supply M3, the broadest of the monetary aggregates and probably the most important statistic published by the U.S. central bank. The decision comes as a shock to many in the financial community and apparently to other central banks, which reportedly were not consulted.
http://www.gillespieresearch.com/cgi-bin/bgn/article/id=712

CPI..Consumer Price Index
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_1

Paul Volker " U.S. Economic Crisis Immenent -- June 11, 2005
But will there be a smooth and manageable rebalancing of the global economy - created by a slow drop in the dollar combined with a spike in foreign demand – or will the U.S. currency suddenly collapse, with skyrocketing interest rates that lead us into a global recession?
Volcker believes a crisis is unavoidable, and he claims that investors will lose their confidence "at some point," creating serious dilemma for "both exchange markets and interest rates."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/6/9/161923.shtml ( Deborah ; 5 doves)

Average American Credit card debt
Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20040209.html

Explaining the Economy today, and why so many are hurting -- Arlene
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/economy.html

EU- Bruegel think tank ...global economics ( gov + corporations) -- Jan 18, 2005
The new body - named Bruegel (BRUssels European and Global Economic Laboratory) is set to be a high profile addition to the Brussels scene, with former Competition Commissioner Mario Monti as Chairman and well-known French economist Jean Pisani-Ferry as Director.
France and Germany have decided to launch a European initiative for the creation of a European centre for the
international economy devoted to these objectives".
There are 12 Member States contributing to its budget (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the UK) and 18 corporations, including DaimlerChrysler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Siemens and Telecom Italia.
http://euobserver.com/?aid=18168&rk=1

Comment:
a one-world currency, followed by the subdermal chip for all global financial transactions??

Gold as the 4th Currency ???
Ed: If Gold is so great, then why are the Central Banks selling it off, rather than profiting from it ?
Gold has entered a new phase. This phase is characterized by gold separating itself from all paper currencies including the dollar. It's clear that something has changed -- that gold is now being accepted by sophisticated investors, not as a speculation, but as an alternative currency."
"Gold is now being accepted as the fourth currency along with the dollar, the euro and the yen. But there is a difference. Gold is also being recognized as the tangible currency and the ONLY SAFE currency. That gold pays no interest -- but is still at an 18-year high in terms of dollars -- is a testament to its value and safety in the eyes of sophisticated investors." http://www.swissamerica.com/FutureCD.php?tcode=WNDgsfutCD


"They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:
their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD." Ezekiel 7: 19

"Come buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich" -- Rev. 3 : 18

A one-world Global Currency ?? Then switching to electronic "units" ??? Time will tell.
http://www.singleglobalcurrency.org
and
www.singleglobalcurrency.com

Moving toward a global currency and tax -- Joan Veon -- Aug. 20, 2005
Today, with the rising price in oil, the sale of oil is only transacted in dollars. Now, between a gold-backed ruble and other countries switching to the euro, our economic hegemony is being seriously challenged
It has become an "integrated global financial system" with the bank playing a very large role in it
the G8 leaders last year gave their blessing to an international peacekeeping force for Africa which, when I questioned them, told me that these troops could be sent anywhere in the world. For those who still doubt the idea of a world government, I would ask why we need a global tax, global currency and global army?

You don't have a global currency unless you are harmonizing currencies
http://www.rense.com/general67/glob.htm

Central Banks shift reserves from US to Eurozone -- Jan. 24, 2005
Any rebalancing of central bank reserve portfolios has serious implications for the global financial system as the US has become increasingly dependent on official flows of funds to finance its current account deficit, estimated at $650bn in 2004.
Any reluctance to increase exposure to dollar assets further could cause the greenback to plunge on currency markets
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9ef63678-6d7d-11d9-9b69-00000e2511c8.html

A Supra-National Central Bank ?
And if the euro can replace the franc, mark and lira, why can't a new world currency merge the dollar, euro and yen? The euro's recent recovery against the dollar almost certainly establishes its credibility as a permanent currency. While major eurozone economies remain troubled, practically no one so far is blaming the European Central Bank.
This suggests success for the grandest reform of all, a supra-national central bank. The ECB Executive Board and Governing Council could yet become political targets, of course, especially if much-discussed deflation actually sets in. But even with strikes in Germany and France, few politicians seek a way out in a little more inflation or currency depreciation;
few complain about the loss of "monetary sovereignty."
.... we do know from history that changes in the international monetary order have powerful effects,
economic and often political.
A world money would be an extraordinary boon to international stability.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/rbartley/?id=110003691

July 9 -- Global Currency; One International Centralized Bank
"the world should proceed to the next level of currency consolidation: a single global currency, to be managed by an international central bank."
Since then, governments have sought to stabilize exchange rates by various mechanisms, such as pegging one small country’s currency to that of a larger country, but nothing has worked well. That’s why we now have arrived at the time when a single global currency would be beneficial and we should plan for it.
To assist with such planning, the Single Global Currency Association is holding the First Annual Single Global Currency Conference at the Mt. Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods on Friday, July 9, 2004, the 60th anniversary of the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. The goal of the Association is the implementation of a Single Global Currency by 2024 and there will be a Currency Conference at Bretton Woods every year until such implementation is achieved.
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=36920

Single Global Currency Association
The Single Global Currency Association signed a resolution Friday calling for the nations of the world to develop
“a comprehensive plan for the implementation of a single global currency by 2024” at the latest.
It’s an ambitious agenda for an organization founded just a little over a year ago by Morrison Bonpasse of Newcastle, Maine.
Today, the concept has its supporters — the Malaysian prime minister [ remember the m-chip ?] , U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and even Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan are some. according to the Single Global Currency Association.
As far as ideas about what a new global currency would be called, Bonpasse said. “We don’t have a specific name,” — although there have been suggestions such as Globo, Geo, Worldo and Mondo.

One of the attendees of Friday’s conference was James Turk of North Conway, the founder of GoldMoney, a online service to buy and sell gold. He supports a global currency and says New Hampshire should be particularly interested in a world currency, especially the high-tech sector in the southern part of the state.
“That tech economy would be even stronger if there was a commonly accepted currency,” he said, noting that it would be easier to make global transactions faster.
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=40597

Ed: First the standard global currency; then the electronic "units" in tandem with the 666 mark of the beast.

" Buy of Me gold-tried-in-the-fire that thou mayest be rich " ...Jesus, Revelation 3: 18

ACCESS DENIED .. today the terrorists ; tomorrow 666 resisters. ( or whomever becomes a newspeak 'terrorist" )

Ed: When the 666 economic system comes, all resisters will have no access to banking.
Hamas assets frozen -- May 2006
The United States Treasury last month barred almost all financial dealings with the Palestinian Authority in response to Hamas's rise to power, under a federal law that makes it a crime to provide funds to terrorist groups.
That has rattled local banks, which are tied to the American banking system. The banks abruptly stopped handling even basic wire transfers needed for the authority to receive money donated by foreign countries

The European Union joined the United States in suspending all financial assistance for the authority after Hamas took office in late March as a result of its decisive victory in Palestinian legislative elections.
Israel has also frozen the roughly $50 million it collects in tax and customs revenues each month on behalf of the Palestinians.

Now, with the United States Treasury's action, even Arab and Muslim countries that want to assist the authority have not been able to deliver their aid.

No bank wants to risk being cut off from international transactions," Abed said. "This is oxygen for banks. If you are a bank, and you shut yourself out of the United States and Europe, what are you going to do - conduct all your transactions in rupees?"
http://freeinternetpress.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6793&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Dollar falling: Currency Devaluation ? Hyper-Inflation ? ( 3rd horseman of the Apocalypse)

Euro up; Dollar down -- May 10, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/09/business/euro.php

Dumping the Dollar -- Sept. 1, 2005
THE nightmare scenario that haunts global strategist Clyde Prestowitz is an economic September 11 -- a worldwide financial panic triggered by a sudden massive sell-off of US dollars that would lead inexorably to the collapse of economies around the world
Prestowitz is not a doomsayer, neither is he alone in his views. As president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a Washington think tank, he is in regular contact with the most influential US business leaders, several of whom -- Warren Buffet and George Soros included -- have taken steps to hedge their currency positions against the possibility of a cataclysmic plunge in the greenback.

Warren Buffet, chairman of investment giant Berkshire Hathaway, is betting $US21 billion against the dollar. This is why currency speculator and hedge fund manager George Soros has also made a big bet against the dollar ...
The lack of an alternative to the dollar is the only reason it hasn't taken a big fall already."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,16416680,00.html

RFID : a cashless society -- Sept. 6, 2005
RFID. The greenback, which has been steadily losing ground to the nearly ubiquitous debit card, now faces a new threat in the form of RFID-based contactless payment systems. These RFID payment systems allow customers to simply wave a small object such as a mobile phone, a credit card or key chain near a reader terminal at the checkout counter. ABI Research predicts a sharp increase in the use of contactless payment services over the rest of 2005. "As consumers continue to use card-based transactions for smaller, traditionally cash-based purchases, contactless payment capabilities make more sense, especially for card issuers looking to increase customer loyalty and convenience," says Erik Michielsen, director of RFID and ubiquitous wireless research at ABI Research.
http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20050901/rfidwatch.cfm

Dollar Going Down -- Feb. 3, 2005 Gates, Buffet and China
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42687

Risk collapse of the dollar ?? -- Jan. 25, 2005
the decline in the dollar is eroding the face value of the investments made by central banks, possibly even negating returns made on yield. As a result, the US needs to change the market's perception of the dollar or risk facing a dollar collapse. In order to do this, the Fed not only needs to raise rates, but also needs to engrain into the market the mentality that rates are on the rise and will continue to be for some time.
http://www.dailyfx.com/article_rr_081.html

Price comparison http://www.moneysupermarket.com

Euro of more value than the dollar
Central Banks shift reserves to the Eurozone -- Jan. 25, 2005
The study's findings sent the European single currency higher against its US counterpart on Monday
US officials would have to raise interest rates if foreign investment decreased significantly, dampening economic growth.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050124/1/3q2gi.html

Rev. 13: 1 tells us that the antichrist will rise from the sea ( of global crisis ). An economic global crisis is emerging, in which the euro will have greater importance than the dollar.
Rev. 13: 3 also tells us that the wound ( economic here ) is healed. Will the answer-man have a global currency rate? Time will tell.

Multiplicity over morals ... number of consumers exceed conscience -- Sept. 29, 2004
The promise of its booming market has caused governments, including that of the United States, to refrain from criticizing China's human rights abuses. And the Googles of the world face accusations of aiding the Communist Party in censoring the flow of information to its people.
http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=541058.html

___________________________________________________

DEBT RELIEF -- ( TRANSFER of WEALTH )

Bush wants 100% sweeping debt relief for poor countries-- Oct. 3, 2004
Sec. Treasury Snow: "The details aren't important." -- ( Ed. note: Is that because the devil's in the details ?)
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=6397591

see also Clinton's plan www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/2bibi2.html

Forebodings and Tremors:

Job slowdown in the U.S. -- June 4, 2005
Manufacturing companies shed 7,000 jobs in May, and have eliminated 67,000 jobs since last August. The results highlighted the apparently permanent decline in factory employment as a result of rising productivity and increased outsourcing of production to China and other low-wage countries.  
Only a few industries added significant numbers of workers.
One was health care, which has been expanding faster than the overall economy for years and added 26,000 jobs in May
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/03/business/usecon.php

Manufacturing ( Machine-Shops) going bankrupt -- Aug.27, 2004
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5843623/

Social Security bankrupt says Greenspan-- Aug. 27, 2004
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=41728

Cycles
I believe we are about to be taught some history lessons: You dance with one who brung you. When you abuse power, you lose power. You do not foul your own nest. You do not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Maybe the United Auto Workers (UAW) will do what the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) did for its members. Their union got them the best pay and benefits in the world. Unfortunately, the pay and benefit packages were so good, almost all of the steel mills left American shores.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40041

Japanese bank merger could create world's largest bank -- Aug. 12, 2004
http://www.iht.com/articles/533641.html
With combined assets of about 188 trillion yen ($1.7 trillion), UFJ and Mitsubishi Tokyo would create the world's largest bank with assets, surpassing U.S.-based Citigroup Inc.'s $1.19 trillion. A combination of UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui would also create the world's biggest banking group with assets of 184 trillion yen ($1.67 trillion.)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2004/08/30/ap1522733.html

European Banks merging; but not Germany -- August 10, 2004
"European consolidation is moving forward," he said. "But we have to concentrate on growth by drawing on our own strength."
http://www.iht.com/articles/533228.html
http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=533228.html

U.S. is the world's largest economy; Japan is the second largest economy.

Aug 2004 - Asian holdings: What affects Europe, affects the Asian banks
HSBC Holdings [ London] said Monday that it had reached an agreement to buy a stake in
Bank of Communications, the biggest acquisition of a Chinese bank by an overseas lender, Bloomberg News reported.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, already owns stakes in Bank of Shanghai and Ping An Insurance in China. The London-based bank said it would announce details of the Bank of Communications purchase soon. HSBC said last month that it was negotiating to buy a 19.9 percent stake in the lender.
http://www.iht.com/articles/532242.html

HSHB Holdings ( London) ; HSHB North America > HSHB USA > Household
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040803/1061131.asp

JOBS, and Unemployment .... Labor
Labor and the Workplace News
http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=Business&cat=Labor_and_Workplace

Global unemployment ...media malaise -- Sept. 2005
This is happening all over the world. Common people are just unhappy. Unemployed and underemployed workers and peasants are on the verge of revolution in many countries. In India, China, America, Africa, Middle East, ASEAN countries – everywhere the common people are hard pressed with lack of opportunities and higher prices of energy
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/4465.asp

Massive unemployment in East Germany -- Sept. 9, 2004
Ed. note: The EC was founded by 6 nations and was a Steel ( manufacturing ) base
Germany has always been considered the main economic engine of the EU
The point is that there are no jobs in Eastern Germany. There is no perspective. ...Jobs do not exist in East Germany. East Germany needs a new beginning. Hartz IV is not the solution. It hits at the small people and the very small businesses.”
There is no perspective. The youth have gone to western Germany to find work. The manufacturing base has been destroyed.”

This is one of [ Lothar] Bisky's biggest gripes. He deeply resents the way that the Treuhand, the agency charged with privatizing East German industry since reunification, restructured the region's economy. It closed down many of the enterprises or sold them to West German companies. The changes led to unprecedented unemployment in a part of the country that had never experienced such social insecurity.
http://www.iht.com/articles/537915.html

West Germany subsidizing East Germans -- Sept. 9, 2004
Want Berlin Wall back
BERLIN (Reuters) - Fourteen years and a trillion euros after reunification one in five Germans would like to see the barrier that split the country during the Cold War put back, a survey has found.
A poll by the Forsa institute released on Wednesday found a quarter of western Germans wishing the 15 million east Germans were cut off again by the Berlin Wall, living in a different state, while 12 percent of eastern Germans wanted out of the united Germany.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=579530&section=news

International Labor Org.[ iLO ] encourages global socialism, parity -- Sept. 2004
need of a "collective voice" for well-being and security ( " w of the w , unite" )
Says ILO Director General Juan Somavia, "Unless we can make our societies more equal and the global economy more inclusive, very few will achieve economic security or decent work."
The report underscores the fact that political democracy and a trend towards civil liberties increases economic security.
With globalization triggering the decline of trade unions, a weak collective voice has made workers insecure.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/oneworld/20040903/wl_oneworld/4591933271094210344&e=5

Global joblessness -- August 12, 2004
GENEVA The number of young people without jobs reached a global all-time high of .88 million last year, fueling frustration and possibly increasing crime and terrorism in hard-hit poor nations, the United Nations labor agency said Wednesday.
Total unemployment worldwide reached 186 million in 2003, with about 47 percent of the jobless aged between 15 and 24, the International Labor Organization said.
"What you always see in crises is that young people are the first to lose their jobs, and they are the last to get jobs again," said Dorothea Schmidt, co-author of a 26-page ILO study of global youth unemployment.
http://www.iht.com/articles/533596.html

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth:
and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."

Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter."
James 1:1-5

MERGERS ....... the less players, the more power

Bank of America now largest issuer of credit cards -- July 1, 2005
The merger comes at a time of consolidation in the credit card industry. Already, the 10 largest issuers control about 85 percent of the market, according to The Nilson Report, a credit card industry newsletter. With Bank of America surpassing Citigroup as the largest U.S. card issuer, this deal could change the landscape even more
The result will be the country's top retailer of financial services with the size and scale to drive distribution and marketing efficiencies
In early June, Washington Mutual, a big West Coast banking company, reached a deal to buy Providian Financial, a leading credit card issuer, in a $6.45 billion deal. Morgan Stanley has announced plans to spin off its Discover Financial business. In March, Capital One, one of the biggest U.S. credit card companies, agreed to buy Hibernia, a regional banking company based in New Orleans, for $5.35 billion.  Some analysts now suggest that Capital One itself, and potentially American Express, could be next on the auction block
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/30/business/bofa.php

Italian Bank buys out German bank -- June 25, 2005
The planned merger of Italy's Unicredito with Hypovereinsbank, Germany's second-largest bank, created a stir in banking circles in Germany
EU Commission decree, effective mid-July, 2005
federal states and municipalities in Germany will in future no longer be obliged to act as guarantors for public banks in the event of default

"The abolition of state guarantees certainly makes sense because there was an element of distorted competition in some areas," Hartmann-Wendels said. "It will hardly have any consequences for the normal savings banks but it definitely will for the Landesbanken, which don't have a retail branching system and don't refinance themselves through savings or deposits of the customers but rather through a high degree of foreign capital from international capital markets
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1626929,00.html

European Banking Mergers -- July, 2004
The purchase of Britain's Abbey National by Spain's Santander Central Hispana could herald the beginning of long-awaited consolidation in the European banking sector. But the German market remains troubled.
The ripples could also be felt in offices that make up Frankfurt's skyline, where many observers see this sparking a wave of consolidation in the European banking sector
The deal would create the world's 10th largest bank, and experts believe it could be first bang of a long-awaited consolidation trend in the European banking sector. Santander's board of directors approved the purchase on Sunday evening, seeking to pay €13.6 billion to buy Abbey, Britain's sixth-largest bank. If the deal goes through, it will mark the first time a British bank has been taken over by a European competitor
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1276899,00.html

Changes within the Banking System
hurtling towards a cashless society at breakneck speed

No time-lapse ... instant debit
"Check 21" ...... paperless economy --- August 8, 2004 check-imaging
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21), which was signed into law last year, will become effective on October 28th. Check 21 will create unprecedented changes for payment operations, and the act and its regulations have implications for every bank as check processing moves into the electronic world, whether or not your bank chooses to process checks electronically.

Check 21 will impact every customer, employee and operation that touches a check today. This seminar will provide a roadmap any company can follow for a smooth transition.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-05-2004/0002226025&EDATE=

More on "Check 21" by Marilyn Barnewall
A year ago, legislation called "Check 21" was passed and signed by President Bush. If you have not heard about Check 21, I urge you to go to Consumer Union Web site at http://www.consumersunion.org/finance/ckclear1002.htm
Find out about it.
Check 21 becomes law on October 28, 2004.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40537

Check 21 cyberconference
We have assembled a Check 21 Task Force to study and analyze these different scenarios, which will allow us to effectively re-engineer the payment system and to help our clients receive the maximum benefit," said Robert W. Stasik, executive vice president and head of Mellon GCM. "This special briefing is the first in a series of educational programs that our Check 21 Task Force will facilitate in the coming months."
In addition, Mellon GCM is the only electronic payments services provider in the U.S. to achieve both Level 3 Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®) Certification for its software engineering practices and ISO 9001:2000 Registration. More information on Mellon GCM is available at http://www.mellon.com/gcm .

Mellon Financial Corporation (NYSE: MEL - News) is a global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of financial services for institutions, corporations and high net worth individuals, providing institutional asset management, mutual funds, private wealth management, asset servicing, human resources and investor solutions, and treasury services http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040804/clw025_1.html

Loosing more rights
However, only consumers who insist on continuing to get paper checks have the right of recredit protection, Budnitz warns. Once you agree to check imaging, you lose this right.
However, expect other problems with Check 21, warns Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney for the Consumers Union West Coast office. An extra negotiable "substitute check" could create a greater potential for double payment; a risk that the amount on the paper check might be changed when turned into an electronic image for processing; and the inability to prove a forgery without the original check.
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/biz/content/business/bizliberman0808.html;COXnetJSessionID=BXiQp2Cn63STtgClrr7yYs4
YcEqFgke1tQMfShr7QZIoTpc01VR1!-1298750554?urac=n&urvf=10920843040844.18449638320717E-4

electronic debit and fraud--Must read !
See why we must guard our account numbers as closely as any sensitive personal information.
See why checking account fraud will increase after Check 21 begins this October 28
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001999479_pfchecks08.html

Continuous Electronic Trading -- DIRECT PLUS ....... 24 / 7

Electronic Trading foreseen -- August 4, 2004
On a day of trading clouded by fears of a potential terrorist attack, John A. Thain, the chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, announced yesterday his long awaited plan to increase electronic trading that could diminish the historic role of floor traders.
His proposal, which will allow institutional investors to trade large blocks of stock electronically, is a radical shift for the exchange and its 1,366 members. It is all the more ambitious by being introduced during a time of nervousness in the markets with the onset of rising interest rates, terrorist threats and political uncertainty

.Defenders of the exchange's two-century-old open outcry system, which relies on specialist traders to use their trading acumen and capital to help investors find the best price for a stock, say that now, more than ever, the experience and know how of the floor trader is needed to ensure price stability.
At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Thain said that the new program, called Direct Plus, was designed so that large institutional investors like Fidelity and American Century would conduct more of their electronic trades with the New York Stock Exchange.

Institutional investors have long complained that they cannot trade with speed and anonymity at the exchange and as a result they have directed much of their trading to the Big Board's electronic competitors.

The stock exchange has invested $25 million over the last three years in an alternative exchange, located in an undisclosed location in one of the five boroughs, which can house all of the Big Board's traders. It is ready to resume trading within a 24-hour period in the event that operations in the main building are disrupted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/business/03wall.html?ex=1092283200&en=7b9be6d87eed507e&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

"those with the loan, he will own" (antichrist and his system)

DEBTS and DEFICITS

American consumer debt - August 3, 2004
Around $740 billion of U.S. household debt outstanding is owed on credit cards -- more than the gross domestic product of Ireland, Sweden and Norway combined -- out of $2 trillion in credit card, tuition and auto loans.
"It's all right to have a nation full of people who never save anything for a rainy day, just as long as it never rains. Unfortunately, America is about to be hit by a tsunami," warned Peter Schiff, president of investment firm Euro Pacific Capital in Newport Beach, California.
So it is consumers who have relied most on debt and are therefore more at risk from interest rate increases.
But about 20 percent of outstanding mortgages are variable, and figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association show about 30 percent of new applications are for adjustable rate mortgages.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5548720/

European and American borrowing
Adverse comparisons were made last week between the level of indebtedness of Britons and that of other European nationals.
The average Briton has outstanding consumer credit of £ 2,549,
compared with £ 1,710 owed by the average German,
£ 1,086 by the average Frenchman and
£ 490 by the average Italian.
But one of the reasons Britain has higher levels of debt is that we have a more dynamic economy.

While commentators were eager to make comparisons between levels of debt in Britain and mainland Europe, they were less keen to compare Britain with America, where borrowing is much more a way of life - and where, as a result, economic growth has been consistently higher than in Europe

"Debt" is an ugly word, with connotations of debtor's jails. But there is a positive side to it as well. There is no reason to assume that our £1 trillion of borrowings will not be the making of us.
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/08/01/dl0101.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/08/01/ixopinion.html

Debtor's Prison

Debtor's Prison -- Full Circle
Well, what do you suppose drives our economy? It's credit.
And what horrible condition continues to rise in epedemic proportions as a result? It's bankruptcy.
Do you suppose it might be possible to have enough consumers declare bankruptcy that the entire economy might implode upon itself? It did with the farmers in early civilizations. I would say it is very possible when your castle is built of plastic.
http://credit.about.com/cs/credbasicsfaq/a/100501.htm
http://www.mortgages-loans-creditreport-insurance-realestate.com/debtorsPrison.php

cbs/ap

IRS ...will there be a new tax system ? Global ? ...... " a raiser of taxes " ?? Daniel 11:20

IRS --- "FairTax" ...consumption tax
It's time for the "FairTax" [ their definition of "fair" = no tax for business; 23 % increase taxes for us )
H.R. 25 would eliminate the federal income tax and replace it with a 23 percent consumption tax
paid by the end user. [ by the consumer...customer ... paid by you and me ]

That means business-to-business purchases for the production of goods and services would not be taxed. The organization estimates consumer prices will drop by an estimated 20-30 percent as a result of the change.
The group's website describes how the bill's rebate function works.
It assures that those living in poverty would not pay any tax.
[ would love to see their definition of poverty ...way below the Real definition of poverty ]
( Rest assured, we will all be struggling.)

(What is their definition of "essentials" and of "necessities". ?Spartan life coming for sure.)

The bill's Senate version is S.1493, sponsored by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., was introduced last year.

Now consider that a flat tax, national sales tax, or VAT ( value added tax) would not only eliminate the need to do this, it could also eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) itself and make the process of paying taxes much easier."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39762

From the Newswire:

Paul Wolfowitz head of World Bank -- March 16, 2005
The administration began notifying other countries that Wolfowitz was the U.S. candidate to replace World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who is stepping down as head of the 184-nation development bank on June 1 at the end of his second five-year term.
The United States is the World Bank's largest member nation. The bank traditionally has had an American president. Its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, traditionally has been headed by a European.

Wolfowitz, a veteran of six administrations, has earned a reputation for being a foreign policy hawk - the view that the United States should use its superpower status to push for reforms in other nations. A conservative scholar, Wolfowitz, before taking over the Defense Department post, had served as dean and professor of international relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/03/16/ap1887807.html

March 16, 2005 -- Solidifying the 25 stock markets of the EU; not a single unit, but close.
EU wants its 25 stock markets to work in step
The 25 EU markets may never function like a market of one single country because of d