AP – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he thinks his performance in debate against fellow Republicans shows he’s best qualified to take on President Barack Obama in the fall.
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Gingrich says he’s best bet in GOP to beat Obama
(AP)
AP – Texas Gov. Rick Perry aimed his sharpest criticism at President Barack Obama rather than his GOP rivals as he campaigned Friday in coastal South Carolina, eight days ahead of the state’s primary.
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In SC, Perry steps lightly on Republican rivals
(AP)
On Monday, banking giant Goldman Sachs announced it is staying long on gold. Due to low real interest rates, slower U.S. economic growth, and rising debt, the bank has also raised its gold forecast for 2012. “We expect gold prices to continue to climb in 2011 given the current low level of U.S. real interest rates. Further, with our U.S. economics team now forecasting slower U.S. economic growth in 2011 and 2012, we expect U.S. real interest rates to remain lower for longer, supporting higher gold prices through 2012,” the Goldman report states. The bank also said that the ongoing debt crisis in the eurozone is “skewing the balance of risks to higher gold prices.” Ben Bernanke has already pledged to keep interest rates at all-time lows for at least mid-2013. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve recently slashed its economic growth projections for 2012. Fed officials now expect the U.S. economy to grow by 2.5 percent-2.9 percent next year, down from previous projections of 3.3 percent-3.7 percent made in June. What strategy is the Goldman Sachs employing to take advantage of the current economic situation? “With expiration approaching, we are rolling our outstanding long Dec-11 COMEX gold trade recommendation, entered on October 11, 2010 with an initial value of $1,364.2/toz and a current gain of $423.9/toz, into a long Dec-12 COMEX gold future position with a reference price of $1,800.5/toz,” said Goldman. In English: Goldman was bullish on gold for 2011, and continues to be bullish on gold for 2012. (Related: Gold and Thanksgiving ) The report also gives a short-term price forecast. For gold, the bank increased its forecasts: Three-month forecast ▲ 7.0 percent to $1,760 a troy ounce [the standard measurement used for precious metals] from $1,645/oz Six-month forecast ▲ 5.8 percent to $1,830/oz from $1,730/oz 12-month forecast ▲ 3.8 percent to $1,930/oz from $1,860/oz. Credit Suisse has also said that gold may climb over $1,800 in the coming days due to negative real interest rates as the key driver. However, with the Fed’s low interest rate pledge, negative real interest rates are likely to remain for a number of years. That being said, many expect gold prices to climb above $2,000 per ounce. Dr. Walter de Wet, the Head of Commodity Research at Standard Bank in London, expects gold to hit $2,200 at the end of the first quarter next year. He believes more quantitative easing is on the way for Europe and the U.S., and does not see the Fed stopping its expanding balance sheet for another three or four years. Standard Bank predicts that $500 billion of QE3 will add $200 to the gold price early next year. In the middle of Goldman’s report is a very telling sentence that aligns the interests of Goldman Sachs and Standard Bank. “Given our U.S. economists’ cautious economic outlook and the significant downside risks associated with the European turmoil, additional Fed easing might well be needed ,” the report reads (emphasis added). While the fundamental reasons for precious metals remain strong, Goldman going long on gold may also be a bet on QE3. [ Editors note: portions of the above are from a cross post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet . ]
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Did Goldman Sachs’ Recent Gold Forecast Predict the Fed Will Print More Money?
An Israeli man and his pregnant wife who was in labor were attacked by Palestinian stone throwers this weekend as they were making their way to the delivery room, according to Arutz Sheva . This comes less than a month after 25-year-old Asher Palmer and his baby son Yonatan were killed when Palestinians threw a large rock through their windshield near Hebron, causing it to overturn, as The Blaze previously reported .
Asher Palmer and his son Yonatan (media credit: Ynet)
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‘Murder in Their Eyes’: Latest Palestinian Rock Attack Target — Pregnant Woman en Route to Delivery Room
In gearing up support for 2012, President Obama has called in former Goldman Sachs CEO and ex-New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine to win back support for the President from leaders in the banking industry. New York Post: “The beleaguered president has recruited former Goldman Sachs head honcho Jon Corzine to shore up re-election funds from the banking industry, which is furious over Obama’s financial regulations. Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey who was blasted out of office by Republican Chris Christie in 2009, has attended secret meetings with the president and has been working on Obama’s 2012 campaign for months, The Post has learned. The Democrat, who now leads Manhattan-based brokerage MF Global, has been tasked with scraping up the very little banking-industry support Obama can still get.” President Obama campaigned heavily for Corzine’s failed 2009 gubernatorial reelection bid. Corzine was first elected to U.S. Senator for New Jersey in 2000, following his 1999 exit from investment banking giant Goldman Sachs after a power struggle with future Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Corzine made an instant $400 million when Goldman Sachs went public in 1999. The President has been criticized by Republicans during his first term for what some saw as an attempt by the Oval Office to ” Demagogue” and “Demonize ” Wall Street. But Obama has been courting Wall Street of late , including attending a $35,800-a-plate fundraising dinner in New York City in late June hosted by a committee of bankers, private equity executives and hedge fund managers. Corzine hosted a similar event for Obama at the former Governor’s home this past April. The New York Post eludes that Corzine’s support could be motivated by the former governor’s desire to get back into the national political dialogue: “Success could resuscitate his political career with a top post — such as treasury secretary or a key ambassadorship — if there is a second Obama term” Current Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has allegedly told White House officials that he is considering exiting his post after President Obama and Congress come to an agreement on the nation’s debt limit.
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Obama Recruits Former Goldman CEO and Ex-NJ Gov Corzine to Win Back Wall Street
AP – Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Wednesday blasted a budget address by President Barack Obama calling it a job-killer and not a serious proposal.
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Gingrich calls Obama’s tax plan a job-killer
(AP)
In this year of anti-Wall Street anger, Fairfield County is one of the very few places where a stint at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. might help a congressional candidate.
In this year of anti-Wall Street anger, Fairfield County is one of the very few places where a stint at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. might help a congressional candidate.
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Fairfield Race Draws Heat
Hmmm. Feds moved to shut down Obama crony bank ShoreBank today, but it’s not really going away (refresher course here and here ). Via Reuters : Regulators on Friday seized notable Chicago-based community development bank ShoreBank after Wall Street backers failed to rescue the institution, and its deposits will be taken over by a newly-chartered bank. ShoreBank, a privately owned bank with a national reputation for its philanthropic activities, had received multi-million dollar investment commitments from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Bank of America, as well as from General Electric. But the bank, which was put on the ropes when the recession hit its lower-income borrowers especially hard, was unable to secure the funds it was seeking from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, it needed to match private-sector pledges. ShoreBank’s deposits will be taken over by a newly-chartered institution called Urban Partnership Bank. Its 15 branches also will shift to the new bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said the bank had $2.16 billion in assets and $1.54 billion in deposits. Who is “Urban Partnership Bank?” This press release lists officials with Shorebank e-mail addresses as the contacts for the Urban Partnership. And many of the same old Big Biz investors and left-wing activists who tried to prop up Shorebank are investors in the new reincarnation: The group seeking to buy ShoreBank, the ailing South Side lender expected to be seized by federal regulators Friday, plans to name former First Chicago executive Bill Farrow as the chief executive and president of the institution if it succeeds at bidding for certain assets and deposits of the failing bank. It means that three former First Chicago executives will be running the show if their bid succeeds.Many of the large institutions that earlier had committed about $150 million to Chicago-based ShoreBank as it unsuccessfully sought $75 million in government aid will be investors in the new bank, whose charter is named Urban Partnership Bank. They’ll likely put in about the same amounts as before, though a few smaller contributors might have dropped out. Besides big banks, the group also will include philanthropic groups, insurance companies and socially minded individuals who believe in ShoreBank’s mission of serving underserved communities in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. As I noted several weeks ago, the White House denies it has played any role in trying to broker a bailout. But Shorebank’s Windy City ties to Obama are too numerous to ignore. And so is this administration’s penchant for bullying and bribery . A crony bank by any other name smells just as rotten. *** From ZeroHedge: Failure Of Obama’s Pet ShoreBank Costs Taxpayers $368 Million, Which Immediately Goes To Goldman Sachs Among Others… And just who is this “Urban Partnership Bank” that is receiving a taxpayer subsidy of $368 million? Why all the usual suspects of course: “The significant investors in Urban Partnership Bank are American Express Company, Bank of America, Citigroup, Ford Foundation, GE Capital Equity Investments, Inc., Harris Bank, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Key Community Development Corp., Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust Corporation, PNC Investment Corp., State Farm Mutual Automobile, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and Wells Fargo & Company .” And so the old “out-of-one-taxpayer-pocket-and-into-another-Wall-Street-pocket” game continues, only this time it includes administration darling banks that should have been liquidated long ago. By keeping ShoreBank artificially alive for far longer than it deserved, the assets amortized far more than they would have had it been taken into receivership by a non-conflicted bank, and thus the final cost to taxpayers would have been far less. As it stands, Goldman and 11 other banks are receiving a multimillion dollar gift to conduct a portfolio liquidation run-off of ShoreBank’s assets, while merely making sure existing deposits are serviced.
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ShoreBank update: A shutdown…and a quick, smelly reincarnation
Reuters – Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc are among those Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg will cite for having made “ill-advised” payments, the Wall Street Journal reported on its web site on Thursday.
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Pay czar to cite Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi: report
(Reuters)
