Tag Archives: History Repeating

The Ghosts of Spying Past

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“In the 1990s, the Clinton administration fought furiously against privacy and security in communication, and we’re still hurting from it today. Yet people in powerful positions are trying to commit the same mistakes all over again.  Doing business safely requires data security: If unauthorized parties can grab credit card numbers or issue fake orders, nobody is safe. However, the Clinton administration considered communication security a threat to national security.  Attorney General Janet Reno said, ‘Without encryption safeguards, all Americans will be endangered.’ She didn’t mean that we needed the safeguard of encryption, but that we had to be protected from encryption.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/the-ghosts-of-spying-past

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Critical OpenSSL bug allows attackers to impersonate any trusted server

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“There’s a critical vulnerability in some versions of the widely used OpenSSL code library that in some cases allows attackers to impersonate cryptographically protected websites, e-mail servers, and virtual private networks, according to an advisory issued early Thursday morning.  The bug allows attackers to force vulnerable end-user applications into treating an invalid certificate as a legitimate transport layer security (TLS) or secure sockets layer (SSL) credential. As a result, adversaries with the ability to monitor a connection between the end user and trusted server could intercept or even modify data passing between them.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/critical-openssl-bug-allows-attackers-to-impersonate-any-trusted-server/

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Investing In China’s New Silk Road

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“What happened to the original Silk Road?  It slammed closed under the rule of Mao Zedong and his Cultural Revolution. He closed all transport to the west.  That’s why, even today, most exports from China to the West travel by container ship — a trip of over 9,500 miles, crossing 15 different seas.  It’s a little crazy if you think about it. Because China is part of the Eurasian landmass and has overland access to all of continental Asia, Europe and even the Middle East.  Moving freight overland instead of by sea would be incredibly more efficient.  Consider that for a minute. How things might change if China — arguably the world’s largest economy now — had easier access to the rest of Asia and Europe.”

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/reports/RWR/chinasilkroad/v/

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Greek bank official dismisses ‘haircut’ report as “baseless”

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“Greek leaders have repeatedly dismissed the possibility they will have to ‘bail-in’ depositors to prevent the collapse of the banking system.  But citing bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures, the Financial Times reported: ‘The plans, which call for a ‘haircut’ of at least 30 percent on deposits above 8,000 euros, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank.’  The report quoted a source as saying: ‘It (the haircut) would take place in the context of an overall restructuring of the bank sector once Greece is back in a bailout programme.’ The head of Greece’s Bank Association dismissed the report as ‘completely baseless’.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102809199

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Icahn warns market is ‘extremely overheated’

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“Activist investor Carl Icahn took to Twitter and CNBC Wednesday to issue a stark warning to investors: ‘I think the public is walking into a trap again as they did in 2007,’ Icahn told CNBC.  Specifically, the 79-year-old investor warned of a bubble in high-yield debt. The prominent investor joins a chorus of voices pointing at frothiness in the so-called junk-bond market, including DoubleLine Capital founder Jeff Gundlach.  In two tweets published on Wednesday, Icahn cautioned against listening to so-called permabulls, saying the 2008 crisis might have been avoided if more investors had warned about the risk of a bubble in 2007, as he is attempting to do now.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/icahn-warns-market-is-extremely-overheated-2015-06-24

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Chicago Public Schools’ pain is these financial firms’ gain

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“Struggling to make payments for pensions and pay down billions of dollars in debt, the Chicago Public Schools last week announced 1,050 layoffs and $200 million in spending cuts to keep the school system afloat.  Dozens of financial and legal firms have been paid $18.1 million in fees from CPS borrowing and debt-refinancing deals since 2011, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.  CPS still owes billions on borrowing deals dating to the mid-1990s, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley took formal control of the school system, which then began renovating and building schools using borrowed money.”

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/740413/watchdogs-cps-bond-fees

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Trouble Could Be Looming for Puerto Rico Bond Insurers

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“Assured Guaranty Ltd., MBIA Inc. and Radian Group Inc. have ‘substantial’ exposure to Puerto Rico bonds that in some cases outstrip the assets available to cover unexpected losses, according to Moody’s.  A 2028 bond without bond insurance recently traded at about 74 cents on the dollar, according to the Electronic Municipal Market Access website.  Some municipal-bond investors questioned the value of bond insurance following the financial crisis, when bond insurers suffered losses after guaranteeing risky mortgage-backed securities and lost their top credit ratings. The number of new municipal bonds that carry bond insurance has fallen in recent years.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/07/07/trouble-could-be-looming-for-puerto-rico-bond-insurers/

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Greece defaults on $1.7 billion IMF payment

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“Greece became the first developed country to default to the IMF, an organization of 188 nations that tries to keep the world economy stable.  Greece will now be cut off from access to IMF resources until the payment is made.  The move came hours after the country made a desperate attempt Tuesday to halt its plunge into economic chaos by requesting a new European bailout.  Greece asked for a two-year bailout from Europe, its third in six years.  Greek banks remained shut Tuesday and limits on cash withdrawals were in place as the country tried to stave off financial collapse before the vote. Daily withdrawals are limited to 60 euros, or about $67.”

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/30/news/economy/greece-imf-default

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John Hussman: Judging the Future at a Speculative Peak

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“A rather classic feature of speculative peaks is the eagerness of speculative companies to issue equities to the public while the getting is good. On that front, fully 78% of the initial public offerings over the past 6 months are companies that have negative earnings; a percentage that eclipses both the previous record of 76% at the height of the tech bubble in 2000, as well as the second-highest extreme of 65%, which was set, not surprisingly, in April 2007 during the distribution phase that preceded the 2007-2009 market collapse. Likewise, private equity firms have been dumping their ownership stakes at a record pace.”

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc150706.htm

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Greece Closes Banks and Stock Markets, Introduces Capital Controls

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“The banks in Greece and the Athens Stock Exchange will remain closed until at least July 6, the day after the referendum on the austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors. In the meantime, cash withdrawals at ATMs will be limited to 60 euros ($66) and transfers abroad will be forbidden. Greece is the second Eurozone country, after Cyprus in 2013, to impose capital controls.  The move is evidently aimed at preventing panicked Greek investors and savers from taking their money out of the nation’s banks and moving it elsewhere. In the days before the predictable stall of the negotiations with Europe, many Greeks rushed to withdraw their money.”

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/21038/greece-closes-banks-stock-markets-introduces-capital-controls/

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