Monday, December 15, 2008

Russia devalues ruble as Madoff fraud unraveled

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aw7gy7CnbU_s Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's central bank devalued the ruble for the second time in a week after policy makers spent $161 billion of reserves trying to defend the currency and oil revenue slumped.

Just when Wall Street needs it least, Bernie Madoff's pyramid scheme takes financial fraud to new lows.... http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12795543&source=features_box1

Tim Duy is worried that "the Fed the Fed and Treasury are setting the stage for a disorderly adjustment of the Dollar":

What If the Analogy is Wrong?, by Tim Duy: I say this with no exaggeration: The picture painted by the data flow of the past two weeks is deep into the left tail of any of my reasonable distribution of probable economic outcomes. The die is now cast – fiscal stimulus will be too late to prevent the snowballing that will occur throughout the first half of next year. In this environment, policymaking will become increasingly desperate.    http://www.rgemonitor.com/financemarkets-monitor/254768/fed_watch_what_if_the_analogy_is_wrong