The Market Ticker

The Market Ticker: "'Someone' paid 7% for overnight money on the Fed Trading system last night (that 'someone' was a bank, by the way.)

This will be claimed to be 'ordinary' end of quarter distortions for closing the books.

Don't believe it for a second.

Let's put this in plain language: The discount window is open for any bank that has good collateral at less than 1/10th of that interest rate.

Therefore there is absolutely no reason for any institution to go into the Fed Funds market for overnight money at 7% unless they have no good collateral to post against it and thus cannot go to the window.

So who is it? No idea. And while the amount borrowed overnight at that rate may be tiny, that's not the point - the point is that the last time we saw anything that dramatic was just before it all went 'boom' last year.

Yes, I'm sure that end-of-quarter had something to do with it. In fact, I'd be stunned if it did not.

However, as I noted, there's no reason for anyone to pay that if they have good collateral to post at the discount window, given that you can do so for 1/10th or less the price.

Keep your nose to the ground and your eyes open.

Someone (or more than one someone) is in trouble."

BBC - Earth News - Ant mega-colony takes over world

BBC - Earth News - Ant mega-colony takes over world: "A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another.

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination."

Dollar Slides After China Calls for ‘Super-Sovereign’ Currency - Bloomberg.com

Dollar Slides After China Calls for ‘Super-Sovereign’ Currency - Bloomberg.com: "The dollar dropped against all of its most-traded counterparts after China repeated its call for a “super-sovereign” currency.

The greenback headed for its biggest weekly loss against the euro in a month after the People’s Bank of China said the International Monetary Fund should manage part of members’ foreign-exchange reserves. China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, with $763.5 billion in April."

mental_floss Blog » Hangover Cures from Around the World

mental_floss Blog » Hangover Cures from Around the World

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft offers free anti-virus

I thought this was a very interesting selection of countries for a launch..

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft offers free anti-virus: "A trial version of Microsoft's free anti-virus software has been launched in the US, China, Brazil, and Israel."

Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells: Scientific American

Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells: Scientific American: "Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells
Used in gardens, farms, and parks around the world, the weed killer Roundup contains an ingredient that can suffocate human cells in a laboratory, researchers say"

LiveScience.com

LiveScience.com: "An amazing series of images show the final moments before Japan's Kaguya probe slammed into the moon as planned June 11, 2009, its mission ending with one last flourish designed to allow scientists on Earth to observe the lunar material kicked up by the crash."

Toronto civic strike prompts warning against garbage dumping

This was just awful last time, will be ok for a week, then the trouble starts...

Toronto civic strike prompts warning against garbage dumping: "The City of Toronto had little to offer frustrated citizens on Monday afternoon except pleas for more patience, as the strike by the city's civic workers looked headed for a second day.

Twenty-four thousand inside and outside workers — virtually the entire municipal civil service — walked off the job just after midnight, frustrated by six months of negotiations that they say have gone nowhere.

With temperatures rising and the city about to miss its first day of residential garbage pickup, officials took the step of forewarning residents not to even think about illegally dumping their garbage."

Dams in China on brink of collapse - China - World - The Times of India

Dams in China on brink of collapse - China - World - The Times of India: "BEIJING: Shoddy construction , unqualified workers and embezzlement of funds are threatening the safety of several dams on China's Yellow River,
which are close to collapse just a few years after they were built."

U.S. to issue new Wall Street pay curbs - The Globe and Mail

U.S. to issue new Wall Street pay curbs - The Globe and Mail: "Those overarching guidelines for the industry come as the administration prepares to issue new, more specific regulations governing pay at financial institutions that have received infusions from the $700-billion (U.S.) Troubled Asset Relief Program. The regulations, prompted by legislation passed by Congress earlier this year, would limit top executives to bonuses no greater than one-third of their annual salaries."