Life After the Oil Crash

Deal With Reality or Reality Will Deal With You

















Breaking News: Thursday August 20th, 2009

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Editor's Note: My Best Guess on the Release of Lockerbie Bomber and How it Relates to Oil and Energy Issues

By now, most of you have heard about the possible release of the Lockerbie Bomber. If not, check this article from the Economist. My best guess (having heard this from somebody else mind you) is that behind the scenes the U.S. is lobbying for the guy to be released in exchange for the big western oil majors not getting kicked out of the country. The guy is a hero in Libya so having him out is a pretty big deal. Getting Scotland to release him will be a boost to  the Libyan government's relations with the Libyan street. So both the Libyan government and U.S. oil interests (potentially) benefit from him begin released. For more on Libya and the U.S. interest in it's oil reserves, check out this January 2009 article from Forbes: Is Libya Going to Boot U.S. Oil Companies?

On to the day's  financial collapse news:

Bloomberg: Mounting Bank Failures Rapidly Depleting FDIC's Reserves

Mish Shedlock: Emails from a Bank Owner Regarding FDIC Bankruptcy

Financial Times: Soaring Unemployement Means More Bank Collapses

SeekingAlpha: Wave of Credit Card Delinquencies Reaching Tidal Force

London Times: UK Government Forced to Borrow as Tax Revenue Falls

Economist: Signs of "Stabilization" Should Not Obscure Huge Problems

Economist: An Explanation for one Town's 27.5% Unemployment Rate

Reuters: Sales of Manhattan Commerical Real Estate at a "Standstill"

Bloomberg: Sears Posts Huge Loss on Pension Costs, Store Closures

NY Times: Retailers Reporting Worst Back to School Sales Season Ever

Wall Street Journal: Fashion Magazines Report Collapes in Ad Revenue

Daily Reckoning: Torpdeo of Debt Has Finally Sunk Consumer Economy

TheDeal.com: That Worrying Wall of Debt ($3.6 Trillion in Ten Years)

Economist: Rise and Fall of Reader's Digest (Just Filed for Bankruptcy)

Most important news from yesterday in case you missed it:

Bloomberg: If You Took Wall Street's Advice in Rally, Now Owe $6,000

Market Watch: Delinquency Rate on Banks Loans Hits a Record 6.49%

Wall Street Journal: Ivy League Schools See Endowments in "Freefall"

Preparation and Relocalization:

MSNBC: Amish Communities See Recession as Challenge and Blessing

North Bay Bohemian: Petaluma Seed Bank Saves Past for the Future

John Rawles/SurvivalBlog: Usefullness of the AK 47 as a Survival Rifle

Best of the LATOC Archives:

Alternet: The Financial Crisis is Pushing Europe to the Brink of Disaster

UK Telegraph: Very Real Probability Britain is Heading to Bankruptcy

Economist: U.S. Economy Ripsawed by Misery of Mass Unemployment

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