Close Encounter With Comet Hartley.

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Bernanke's Case For Quantitative Easing.

What's amazing about the latest bout of quantitative easing is the total lack of pretense. By that we mean Bernanke isn't even pretending that that QE would actually benefit the real economy. We noted yesterday that buy concentrating buying at the short end of the yield curve, Bernanke was punishing savers (pinning short-term rates to the mat) and bailing out banks (keeping the yield curve steep).Link

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‘Damn right’..... I ordered waterboarding.

President George W. Bush admits for the first time in his new memoir that he personally approved the use of waterboarding, a technique in which an interrogator simulates drowning on a suspect. The method, which most describe as torture, has since been banned by the Justice Department. In his book, "Decision Points," Bush asserts that he was asked by the Central Intelligence Agency whether he would support the agency's waterboarding of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind. "Damn right," Bush says that he said.Link

$100M in Taxpayer Support...............

Freddie Mac said Wednesday that it lost $2.5 billion during the third quarter of this year. Add to that the $1.6 billion dividend payment the GSE had to make to Treasury on stock the company relinquished in exchange for bailout money, and Freddie Mac reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $4.1 billion, or $1.25 per common share, for the quarter. The third-quarter results actually represent an improvement from the previous three-month period, when the GSE reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $6.0 billion, or $1.85 per common share.
Freddie Mac had a net worth deficit of $58 million at September 30, 2010, that company officials attributed to the quarterly dividend payment to Treasury of $1.6 billion, which exceeded the GSE’s total comprehensive income of $1.4 billion.Link

He was a ‘dissenting voice’ on Iraq.

Former President George W. Bush says he was a "dissenting voice" on the decision to invade Iraq because he "didn't want to use force" but ran out of options. "I was a dissenting voice. I didn't want to use force," Bush told NBC's Matt Lauer in his first interview promoting his new memoir, "Decision Points." "I mean force is the last option for a President," he continued, according to an NBC News transcript e-mailed to Raw Story. "And I think it's clear in the book that I gave diplomacy every chance to work. And I will also tell you the world's better off without somehow in power. And so are 25 million Iraqis.".Link

U.S. futures steady ahead of Fed decision.

U.S. stock futures tilted mildly higher Wednesday after a private report had companies hiking payrolls by 43,000 in October and as the Federal Reserve considered more stimulus. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ10 11,120, -32.00, -0.29%) gained 15 points to 11,167, and those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ10 1,186, -6.70, -0.56%) added 1.8 points to 1,194.5. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ10 2,141, -9.25, -0.43%) edged up 1.75 points to 2,152. “You’ve got a bit of a buy-the rumor, sell-the-news type of situation here. From a stock-market perspective, this 18% rally we’ve enjoyed over the last couple of months may have priced in” bullish fundamentals, said Phil Orlando, equity market strategist at Federated Investors, citing improvements in the economy, solid third-quarter earnings, expectations of another round of quantitative easing from the Fed and Republican gains in midterm elections.Link

Obama's Mumbai visit is expensive.

Mumbai: The US would be spending a whopping $200 million (Rs. 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city. "The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said. About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.Link