u.s. treasuries and now the u.s. government takes that money and it spends it into circulation what it sends out so security checks what it sends out plumbing checks what it pays the soldiers and now everybody takes this money and they go to wal-mart and they buy imported products or they go to the gas station they buy imported oil and now the money flows out and now china gets it or saudi arabia gets it and what do they do with it did their citizens take that money and spend it on american products you know they take the money and they buy u.s. treasuries with it so even though we're printing all this money it's not bidding up prices in america it's bidding up bond prices because the money we create gets sent to china or saudi arabia words used to buy treasuries that's where the inflation is showing up you have inflated bond prices but eventually that bubble has to burst because nobody wants bonds for the sake of owning bonds bonds represent a claim on on well a claim on on purchasing power on consumption and at som

u.s. treasury wants out. and, gm needed to shake off the stigma of being known as government motors. >> general motors to wanted do this. they wanted to get the government off its back so to speak and to prove to the people they can pay back the loan, part of the loan. >> reporter: other auto experts says everyone involved wanted to end this year on a positive news note. >> it helps the folks at gm and the government e the year on a high note and send us into 2013 with a positive wind at our t sails. >> reporter: what's not very positive is that taxpayers stand to lose billions of dollars on the g.m. bailout. in fact, if treasury sold all of its remaining shares today, it would mean a net loss of nearly $13 billion, or about a quarter of the government's total investment. for its part, treasury argued today the gm bailout saved amile been lost if g.m. shuttered its factories. still, in order for taxpayers to recoup the money spent on gm, the stock would need to surge to about $70 a share. that's unlikely, par

u.s. treasuries and the greenback, the u.s. dollar. >> that's our view.w is if we get a downgrade, that this is, in fact, what's going to happen. perversely, the u.s. dollar would benefit as a safe haven currency, perhaps even the pseudo-safe haven japanese yen would benefit temporarily. and then alto the u.s. is downgraded, u.s. treasuries actually stand some room the gain here. liz: okay. but the yen, for example, was falling today. in fact, it hit its lowest level in two years. the dollar's gain against the yen is the best that we've seen in, what, about five or six years? since '05 really, so seven years. what do you like out there. what are if i could ask you to pick two different currency, do you feel if people want that as slice of their investment pie, where should they be putting their money? >> i think the mistake in 2012 is betting against the euro. the fact that it's a, greece exiting the eurozone is going to drag down the euro with it. i don't think that's the way you want to play that this coming year. the euro is supported by trade and inve

u.s. treasury officials to run it's legal in compliance department these u.k. backers are going to find a wake up of their skull hanging from friers bridge like roberta calvin from the eighty's holo british banker hanging from friars branch on the back you deserve. because a report coming your way a little later here on r t c a agents illegally abducted a german citizen sort of manage him and beat him up these are the findings of the european court of human rights and its first ever ruling that the cia is guilty of torture the court found in favor of a man who had failed for years to get legal knowledge in the us and europe of what happened to him khalid al masri says he was kidnapped in two thousand and three and abused after being mistaken for a terrorist the u.s. is now being pursued for an apology and compensation but author and historian valentine believes that's unlikely to happen as the cia operates above the law. well being. well every. prison or prison term even you know states of convicted of a crime these people are simply above the law the only thin

u.s. treasury for its borrowing needs have been the result of the fed's ratios appetite for fixed income securities in the past four years that yields have been if this rated by fed policy there is no question the only question for us is if this is the result of fed policy past or present in other words is it the seemingly obvious presence of the fed in the bond market today as the major buyer of uncle sam's ious which is keeping rates low or was it the fed's accommodative monetary policy during the boom years and the subsequent urged by the private sector to relieve itself of overpriced assets in the bust that has kept yields from rising in either case we find fault with the fed for if yields were kids we would be a little worried about this. well and the thompson kids too they're about to speak there in the backyard threw them out with the trash. i guess we would call it honey i shrunk the yield curve only in this scenario policy wonks in control of the shrink ray as the particle eviscerate are used by rick moran of his character was actually called seem hardly concerned about our new microscopic

u.s. treasury yields which the ten year is yielding one point seven percent will those e-mails look downright juicy when you compare them to japan's look at the ten year japanese bond ok when i looked right before air it was yielding point seven four percent you can see how they've just continued on the downward swing why do we need to pay attention now will japan's voters head to the polls this weekend to vote in the parliamentary elections the man likely to win prime minister based on the polls we've had out so far he's the front runner has said he wants the bank of japan to print until price inflation gets to two percent may seem a little odd that the prime minister could be dissin volved in pressuring the central bank what does this indicate about the perceived power of the printing press and is this an excess of reality especially in the case of japan well let's ask jim grant because he has been writing about this and i'm so interested to get his insights jim what do you think about the front runner in japan saying i want the central bank to print until we get two percent price inflation

u.s. treasuries were downgraded, wouldn't that have a pretty significant the fact on where we are relative to the avalanche? >> if there is downgraded treasury debt, this would likely trigger other downgrades. anything backstopped by the government would be downgraded. bank debt, they will get downgraded. jpmorgans of the world. state and local government debt will get downgraded. you are right,money managers have in their relationship with their clients agreements not to invest in bonds that have rates below a certain grade. they will have to divest downgrades. credit markets. the credit markets will ultimately adjust. the reality has not changed. you will see hedge funds and private equity firms, but that is the process. it will take time. between now and then, it will create a greater amount of turmoil. it is what this means. it means that we do not have the political will to nail this thing down. and we will not. until we are forced by the avalanche. we will go nowhere. >> if you want to preserve the entitlement, get us to balance. >> get us to sustainability. >> thank you, mr. chairma

u.s. treasury secretary tim geithner tomorrow. wang is the first official from the new leadership team to visit with the u.s. for more on the impact and implications of this, let's speak with frank ching, adjunct associate professor at the chinese university of hong kong. frank, hi. the first news that we're getting out of this appears to be more import duties s. this going to be the theme of u.s./china relations, or do you expect these meetings to be more of a thaw? >> well, i think that these are the first meetings since the new leadership in china was installed. and since president obama saw -- well, won second term. i think both sides want to make use of this occasion to improve their relationship. so this joint annual meeting is a platform, and i think that they will probably be able to achieve some progress on issues of concern to both sides. but i don't see any sweeping changes. >> what's interesting, frank, and you point this out, are comments we got out of china's commerce minister or commerce secretary suggesting concern

u.s. treasury made a multibillion dollar profit on giving that loan. the thank you mesh ad campaign claims the government has more than $20 billion in the deal. >>> a westminster mans dead after a car crashed at carroll hospital center. it happened just after 8:00. >> reporter: tire tracks cut through the grass in front of the sleep center at carroll hospital center showinged unexpected path a driver took this morning. >> we had a vehicle enter the hospital grounds, lose control, go across the lawn and strike part of our building. >> reporter: turns out the driver of that vehicle had a medical emergency while he was behind the wheel. the carroll county sheriff's office said 78-year-old thomas skipper, jr. jumped the curve and ran over a tree before crashing into an office window. >> there was someone siting in that area. luckily, he were not injured. >> reporter: that window is now covered with a tarp closed up so the facility can continue operating. skipper was taken steps away to the emergency room but doctors could not revive him. westminster, joce

u.s. treasuries? >> boost prices? >> why not? >> certainly to the extent austerity is more vicious -- >> and the dollar. >> than is currently modelled, that would be optimistic for treasury market and currency market. listen, at the end of the day, this whole idea of the fiscal cliff, they are going to figure this out and kick the can down the road and give themselves nine months or a year to figure this out. it's not going -- this is not going to stick. is just simply not. >> dan, here is the problem. if they wait until fourth of july to get this done -- how long is the can? call it mamp when they get a deal done. if you don't know what your tax rate is going to be for 2013 and you're waiting for congress to make a deal, you're not going to spend as much money if you're in the group that's going to get whacked, you're going to sit on that and say i don't know if i owe an extra 15 grand to the government or not, i sure as heck will not spend it. >> let's be clear, if this goes to march or july 4th, the u.s. is in a recession, no d

u.s. treasury department will begin selling its stakes in almost all of the remaining banks that received bailouts during the financial crisis. four years after the implementation of the troubled asset relief program the government still owns a part of 218 banks. those banks owe taxpayers nearly $8 billion. the government says tarp was always intended to be a temporary measure. key players from wall street may be heading to the whitehouse. according to bloomberg news.. the obama administration is said to be considering kenneth chenault -- the ceo of american express-- for a cabinet post... possibly treasury secretary. also, the adminstration is said to be batting around the name ursala burns- who runs xerox as a possible candidate for commerce secretary. president obama said earlier he is interested in having top business leaders in his cabinet. coal consumption is climbing around the world. the international energy agency-- better known as as the i-e-a predicts demand for coal could come close to outpacing oil in the next few years. global demand for coal is expected to bump up by 2.6% p

u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner has warned that his department will need to take extraordinary measures to postpone the upcoming government defaults. he plans adjustments to the national budget that would give the u.s. two months of grace. president barack obama has said he is still hopeful that a resolution can be reached this year. he cut short his vacation in hawaii to restart negotiations with republicans in congress. before christmas, the president called for bipartisan cooperation. >> now is not the time for more self-inflicted wounds, certainly not those coming from washington. >> analysts say failure to reach a deal with poison u.s. consumer spending. the fiscal cliff would trigger tax increases and government spending cuts in january, leaving far less money in the economy. the international monetary fund warrants of knock on effects for the global economy. -- warns of knock on effects for the global economy. the pressure is on in washington to agree on a plan. only then might the applause on wall street be a little more genuine. >> with the clock ticking ever more loudly in was

u.s. treasurys, running out and raising for the exodus, u.s.ities market, it is the fight for equality under way. we're back after this. tracy: three trading days left in 2012. all eyes on the fiscal cliff, sandra smith looking at our commodities are reacting in today's trade. sandra: you her glory before the commercial, major crisis of safety going on, in the bond market. and selling the commodities markets. a lot of agricultural commodities getting hit. you enter a recession and folks spend less on food and energy, food oil prices topped $90 a barrel, on the decline in today's session still looking at the $90 mark. natural gas despite the storm, and we see gas prices come down. there's liquidation in the commodities market into the dollar and bond market. and the trading session, the best performer on the cme, that is silver and gold prices doing very well today, gold prices, and traders down here, and go to precious-metals, gold and silver, that trade is back. tracy: there's a little bit of a play on the economy as well. these guys know more

u.s. treasury is selling its remaining stake in aig for just under $8 billion.hat ends the era of government ownership. >>> on the street, hp, the dow's worst performer shot up on rumors that activist investor carl icahn is building a stake in the pc maker. meanwhile mcdonald's gave blue chips a boost in better than expected sales. apple and google have reportedly combined their competing bids for a bundle of kodak patents. former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn and a maid have agreed to settle a suit. the dollar amount will remain confidential. >>> retailers hired 465,000 seasonal workers land month. up 25% from last year. >>> they say apple's map is life-threatening, this after several drivers headed for a town in australia where it ended at a dirt road miles away from food and water. >>> finally, serbian tennis champ novak djokovic ruined the world's christmas after he bought up the entire year's supply for his new restaurant. it, by the way, is made from a milk of serbian donkeys. i'm sure a lot of disappointed folks out there. >>> well, coming up, dramatic

u.s. treasury notes in our trust account with landfill proceeds and we continue to have an interest-free bankccount, so that we don't pay fees for the most part on the bank account. the fourth report is the inception to-date. i am happy to answer questions from directors. >> any questions from directors? >> i just want to commend you all on the safety performance under this construction contract. it is pretty heavy, significant, complex work and the fact that you have continued to go through without issue. i don't know how much is attributable to being a jpla, but it's really phenomenal. it's a good model for everyone. one question on the financial report. where is the contingency for the overall project contingency tract and where would we be able to see that? >> we could start bringing you a report that shows the overall project budget. this is just the fiscal year budget. so it's just a slice of our best estimate of the overall capital budget that we anticipated to spend in this fiscal year. we don't budget for contingency. there is contingency built into each line item, so we have looked

u.s. treasury department officials have alerted congressional leaders about the debt ceiling. the government will reach this in about two months and the country could suffer a self-inflicted default. congress currently sets the borrowing limit at $16.4 trillion. the national debt rose because of a series of deficit-covering bonds were issued. the government and the republican party are at odds over the issue. the political stalemate in the summer of 2011 over raising the debt ceiling caused a plunge in stock prices. standard & poor's, the american credit rating agency, has downgraded u.s. government bonds from the top ratings for the first time. here are the latest market figures. >>> the chinese are trying to go head-to-head with the americans in the multibillion dollar sat nav business. their new navigation satellite system or bds is now offering service in the asia-pacific region. >> translator: bds will be used for both military and civilian purposes. it is useful in setting up china's national defense. >> chinese government representatives say the country has launched 16

u.s. treasuries. and the federal reserve continues to promise rates will remain low, at least for the next few years. so what does that mean for bond investors, especially as worries about a bond bubble grow? >> i know those people have been warning about a bond bubble for quite a few years. but the fact is, we just haven't seen it. the fed has made quite clear that if inflation expectations were to get out of control, or even if we got even close to it, the fed would do something about it. >> reporter: don't forget, inflation is the bond market's nemesis because it erodes the value of bonds. and there's concern all the money the u.s. central bank pumped into the financial system in recent years will drive up prices. and then there are those who believe the u.s. economy will improve in the coming months. >> so we're not so optimistic near-term on the treasury market, because we think that economic data is going to get a little better, and that the fiscal cliff resolution, which we do expect before yea

u.s. treasuries, if you're talking about the long maturities, 15, 20, 30 years, i would say be careful. in most scenarios, those come under pressure. if you're talking about the shorter maturities, we think there remains value. not as much as they used to be, but there is still some value. 10 years and in, it is safer. 10 years and beyond is dangerous. if you're going to other bonds, it depends on quality. investors need to focus on companies that are sovereign, with very strong balance sheets, explosive growths and positive cashflows, because you're going to need all three things to navigate this small, complex environment. >> susie: let me ask you real quickly before we leave here about the fiscal cliff because ben bernanke talked a lot about that today. we discussing that with darren about all of the risks. there is a lot of back and forthwith lawmakers in the white house. what is the best possible outcome you're expecting and hoping for? >> so it is different things. so what we hope for is that our politicians come together and agree on a grand bargain that combines the following: m

u.s. treasury officials to run is legal in compliance department these u.k. backers are going to find wake up with a ball of their skull hanging from friers bridge like roberta kalvik from the eighty's hello british banker hanging from friars branch from the back you deserved . cia agents illegally abducted a german citizen sodomized him and beat him up the use of the findings of the european court of human rights and his first ever ruling that the ca is guilty of torture the court found in favor of a man who failed for years to get legal would knowledge meet in the us and europe of what happened to him khalid al masri says he was kidnapped in two thousand and three of abuse after being mistaken for a terrorist u.s. is now being pursued for an apology and compensation but author and historian doug valentine thinks it's unlikely to happen as the cia on the cause of the cia's clandestine nature. and those c.e.o.'s has there ever will be will ever be. a prison a prison term even in the united states of convicted of a crime these people are simply above the law t