u.s. treasury if the fed allowed interest rates to rise the u.s. treasury would be and is forced to be would be in a position where they had to default and so i guess i really can't see a big rush to treasuries when the government is defecting because remember in order to avoid to fail we would have to have enormous cuts in government spending i mean what we're talking about right now for this so-called fiscal cliff is tiny compared to the amount of spending cuts or tax hikes that would be required to service the debt if the fed stopped buying and let interest rates rise but what is there another factor in this that plays a role which is the dollar's a reserve currency i mean even if the u.s. prints to infinity at the end of the day the u.s. isn't zimbabwe it's not argentina there is. the dollar's role in the globe it is it's very important to many different countries that don't have a replacement as of yet so it doesn't all of that kind of complicate an argument that's like oh the u.s. would default on its debt but if we do play into infinity then

u.s. treasuries and pretty soon it looks like japan will one day will see the largest holder of u.s. debt so china are actually slowing down if not backing off from the holder of u.s. debt but at the same time we see that they are i mean last year they were accounts for twenty one percent of global gold demand said upping their you know. gold gold people are personally buying in investing in gold and we see measures coming out from the government which of facilitating the ownership of gold and banks. import. import permits. pick it up from. and the government is now allowing working to allow banks to import more gold they're looking at. them to do this what was the government doing that well i think i have a personal theory which sounds quite naive quite simplistic but it's an interesting way of looking at it in that china have approached grace fairly kind of keynesian way away and they you know they created a huge amount of money in order to promote this grace and at the same time we've seen a huge amount of wealth coming to individuals we've seen huge amount of development a lot of

u.s. treasuries are effectively almost near zero. still u.s. treasuries. a place that's attractive is not bonds for the highest quality companies. and not bonds -- you know, high risk, high reward, all that kind of stuff, that's still there. the idea is to find in the middle, good solid companies, you know, crossover, single a, triple b. liz: are there ones you look at and say this looks good to me? >> i put together a category of about 10 or 12 different companies. not particularly famous kind of companies but they are good quality companies where you know they aren't going anywhere. you are at least going to get some yield. liz: what's in that little group? >> you try to spread it out. you try to find some telecom companies. the key is to find the companies that you personally understand. so like bgc, you know, i know my company is not going anywhere. that's something i include for these people, not a large percentage because that's irresponsible but a little bit of someone like bgc and a little bit of other kind of companies. if you know the company and

u.s. treasury. you remember that from the debate, right? no one asks, no one is answering that begin today, we got the confirmation from the romney campaign. now, what is this all about? and what does it have to do with the congo? i was reporting for bbc television and the guardian. when i found out that someone had figured out how to dip their hands, their claws into the foreign aid fund, the debt relief given to the republic of congo which is suffering a cholera epidemic. this money was intended to be used, $90 million intended to be used to in the cholera epidemic in the congo and yet it was waylaid by a bird of prey, a vulture, a vulture fund, a guide -- managed by a guy named paul singer. is other middle name is elliott. paul elliott singer who has accompanied by a good name of elliott management so i went up the congo river for abc television to find out what happened and i found elliott management had their claws around the cholera of money for the congo. we reported it on bbc television and the very next day the parliament voted una

u.s. treasury back blacklist the treasury refused saying there wasn't enough evidence to put wiki leaks on such a list but lawmakers were successful in financially suffocating the website of visa and master card which make up a majority of credit card payments were blocked from doing business with the site meanwhile wiki leaks founder julian assange remains holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london hell likely be arrested and extradited to sweden where he faces questioning over sex charges if he steps foot outside of that building. well if you think drones are controversial wait until you hear about killer robots these machines or take warfare to a whole new level the robots. it has a mind of their own meaning they could pick and choose which targets a fire on that means humans would almost be completely detached from the decision making process and decide who lives and who should die now these killer machines don't exist yet but major powers around the world including the u.s. are working to make them our reality human rights groups are now trying to ban killer robots from ever being u

u.s. treasuries for a second. there was a report today that investors are turning cautious on u.s. suries. you believe that? >> and heard the same story two years ago and and i don't believe them in amount than we were two years ago. i don't really think there's a lot of money that's going to fly out of treasuries. why is that? because we are still the world's biggest consumer. how do you find the world's biggest consumer? you lend the money. the u.s. government is still issuing tons of debt. so i don't think richard was love. double the yield little bit less of a risk remapped. gerri: i want to hear what you have to say about the new york stock exchange. they said the people who work here are not going to be safe unless they can stay home and not worry about it. we make of that? >> i think it makes sense. i agree. i think they would have been in harms way. but the question is did you really need those people down there or it. >> exactly. >> there is a report from just a couple weeks ago, year-over-year volumes is down 35%. exchanges like direct editor taking all that off the floor.

u.s. treasuries another great example you know u.s. skyrocketing you know people almost as a knee jerk reaction jump into these things because in times gone by they provide a safe safe haven but in terms going by the debts and the problems we're not on government balance sheets so least visas from still provide that so you know as we've seen you know the the wild card it gets big taken on to these public balance sheets that people are running into that. it's crazy you know the swiss swiss farms the swiss of k. dick currencies and you're emplaced to print unlimited amounts of swiss francs in order that people pay and yet the swiss can also borrow money from the public society is negative rights so the price is clearly wrong and all those things. and it's just a question of when they fall over but imminent is not the same as leverage for them while these things are inevitable they will also understand this a value we just don't know when that's going to happen and with that in the fair value is there any way to even begin to ascertain wh

u.s. treasury checks sent to them. north miami beach neighborhood where the money avenue gang operates, tax refund fraud has replaced drug dealing. so in the cars you pull over, do you find bricks of drugs? do you find bricks of debit cards? >> debit cards. and the other thing that we find we get lucky on sometimes is the actual ledgers of the names, socials and date of births. >> that they've stolen? >> they've stolen. >> no one is safe. these two detectives among four in the unit who fight this very crime are themselves victims of tax refund fraud. detective denise love got a call just hours before our interview that someone had filed a tax return under her name. >> here we are living a legal life and working a job, you know, and these crooks are rolling around in $100,000 cars and staying in penthouses on miami beach and throwing money at strip clubs and everywhere else. >> with your money? >> with my money. >> detective jose marin got this chilling message when he tried to file his return this year. someone else ha

u.s. treasury for the first time in its 78-year history and happy birthday to baggy. she turns 35 today. you can stay on top of the latest developments and those stories and others as they break on msnbc and tonight be sure to watch "nbc news with brian williams." here's a look at what's coming up later today on the "today" show. lauren scruggs opens up to savannah about life after the propeller accident that almost killed her. keep it on this channel follow continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station. have a great weekend. >>> new this morning, air raid

u.s. treasury says the u.n. is still undervalued but stopped short of labeling china a currency manipulator. it says china has allowed the u.n. to appreciate 20% since 2010. >>> a new report suggests the u.s. treasury has fewer tools available to stave off a default that it did in 2011. if congress fails to increase the debt ceiling by year end. the bipartisan policy center says the u.s. will hit the $16.4 trillion limit in the last week of december with big payments due -- get this -- on new year's eve. >>> there's still time to scrounge up $2 if you're in the u.s. and go buy a power ball lottery ticket. the jackpot for tonight's drawing, which will take place at 10:59 p.m. eastern, is a record $500 million. it swelled in the past few days. earlier, the megamillions lottery hit a previous record jackpot of $656 million. the power ball is played across 42 u.s. states and the odds of winning it all are one in 175 million. now, if only that could help us solve the fiscal cliff and our debt ceiling issues, then it

u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner has echoed president obama on the importance of raising taxes for the wealthy and continuing tax cuts for the middle class. that's to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff which is a scenario that an automatic surge in tax cuts and fiscal spending payments may drive the economy into recession. >> let's extend the tax cuts removing the potential uncertainty and damage from the fiscal cliff. >> he urged congressional leaders to reach an agreement before tax cuts expire and automatic spending reductions take effect around year end. meanwhile, the republicans continue to oppose tax hikes for the rich but they have expressed a willingness to cut tax cuts and loopholes. they would not secure sufficient revenue but it is important that the opposition is willing to allow some tax increases. >>> now let's get a check on the markets. first the currency. the dollar rose against the yen to one week high level to around 80 yen. that's after the prime minister noted he may dissolve the lower house this week. >>> the dollar yen currently changing hands at 80.06 to 11.

u.s. treasury: we're nearing the debt ceiling, hitting a limit on how much the nation can borrow to keep the government running.m treasury says we'llikely reach that borrowing limit, of $16.4 trillion near the end of this year. the agency says it can use extraordinary measures to gainre some headroom, and keep borrowing into next year. but economists expect negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, will get tied up in the fiscal cliff debate, which is expected to take center stage in w hington, after next inek's election.el >> to tomorrow on "n.b.r." its the nation's financial capital, wrolook at the challenges and cost of getting new york city moving again.lo >> susie: all of this is happening on hallowee. that's nightly business report for wednesday, october 31, halloween, have a good and safe evening everyone. >> tom: goodnight susie, we'll see you online at: www.nbr.com and back here tomorrow nieet.w captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> join us anytime at nbcom. there, you'll find full episodes of the program, complete show transcripts

ok whatever will now treasuries have a new rival for safe haven status and u.s. companies exxon and johnson and johnson bond trading with gold below comparable treasuries money is pouring into corporate bonds what do you think this says corporations are more powerful than governments yeah and no quick point as i said before contrary to popular belief in point of fact if the federal reserve were not buying treasuries the yields in my opinion on those traders would be lower because the fed is keeping the roof up on there are people able to speculate out in other in other assets including heart of corporate debt which is perform better than equities and sovereign debt we have a five seconds i would like you to tell our audience well because i had i had this little thing on facebook when i was talking about a disney float disney sort of some ten year bonds or twenty year bonds out and then compared to the french you know i seconds or i don't talk laura do you don't go to our facebook if they want to see what he's talking about because that is all we have time for than

u.s. treasury and will is currently a $28.8 billion cap for the amount of money the flood program can borrowthe government. let's watch the daily show's take on that divide we just talk about between those in new york city with power and those stuck in the dark. >> millions tonight still without power, water, thousands displaced. in manhattan, the power is still out downtown or as we refer to it now little north korea. for more on the city and the after effects of shushg sandy, we go to al in battery park city. we'll start downtown with al. al, what's the scene like downtown, al? >> jon, downtown still devastated. many tunnels filled with seawater. grocery stores are empty. and there's been no electricity since the substation exploded just around there up 14th street. >> al? what is that on your back. >> it's a machete, jon. see, there are two types of folks still down here in no juice town. people with machetes and dead people without machetes. >> all right, al, we'll come back to you. >> we're going to go to john albert uptown. what are things like up there? >> it's a total great day here.

u.s. treasury yields collapse by over sixty percent since the two thousand and eight crisis to a new record lows and we've seen these trends in the face of public debt that continues to mount and a credit rating downgrade in the summer of two thousand and eleven as we were beginning to be loyal to sleep by the constant hum of fiscal cliff warnings we thought it was worth asking whatever happened to hyperinflation we asked peter schiff c.e.o. of your pacific capital and author of the book how an economy grows and why it crashes what about hyperinflation because i just you know this is something that you have been hammering on since two thousand and eight and i know that you're saying you can't predict when this is going to happen but why haven't we seen that happen well you know i guess i still say the hyperinflation is a worst case scenario so i never say that we're going to have it for sure we will have the first sure if we continue to do what we're doing now so which is why you mean that the fed printing money is that what you're basing that on is the fed printing money and government gro

u.s. treasury the u.k. go the most assets on us and we also want to get funds so it's not any great vested interest in public goods i mean use on five and ten year treasuries and then you gills and now below where they were in the great depression well you know things might be better than. ok let's get back to gold and silver so there's traditionally a ratio between the two. right now it's a belief fifty two to one over to gold or the other price basis that's very extended in not the norm talk about that. depends how far you want to go back to try and guess what the norm is. if if we're correct what we're saying is in that in a bull market will go up a lot more and go then the ratios obviously going to move a lot more if so well that drives part of this rally and is that the compression of that ratio so it goes back to more historical sixteen to one or so if you know other things as well china for example has just introduced a new futures exchanges which with much lower denomination contract. there's lots of

u.s. treasuries and it seems to me at the moment the european companies that are vulnerable also they're buying up these lucrative companies to good prices so the end of the day as far as persia is concerned they've got to pay their staff and as far as these russian state owned companies are concerned they want to diversify they water expands and they want to look good as far as their balance sheet is concerned to. least for the time being looks like a win win situation there katie pavlich thank you very much well let's move over to the markets now consumer confidence in the u. . u.s. is at the highest level in five years but apparently that's not enough to impress investors stateside u.s. markets are hesitant as to how to react to a broader i.m.f. a deal for financial targets for greece we've been talking about earlier on r.t. now some analysts say the deal may not be more than just another short term fix and it seems a deal on the other hand could make greece much less of a risk factor for at least the next couple of months so european markets managed some gains at the close as you can see th

u.s. treasury but there is a yield curve out there we have treasuries going all the way out to thirty years well in the same in the same vein we can extrapolate volatility going from one month all the way out ten years and when you look at volatility today although spot fall attilla be at one month level might be very inexpensive volatility going out one year or two years is very his historically expensive actually at some of the highest levels in the history of the derivatives market in terms of its relationship to to spot fall so you have you have cheap spot or near term volatility but a very expensive projection of longer term volatility and i think that's something the media tends to tends to forget or ignore and let's let's see what that looks like because we have one of your charts which is the excuse there is curve comparison and this i think is an example of extrapolating out if we could throw that up so this looks at the price of buying the vix when it was at a five year low just recently in august and then september two thousand and eight. people were obviously freaking out and fe

u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner. different things doesn't work and we've had several periods now where there was a choice made to defer. and this political system again. with all the to safer america decides to defer again in the hopes that americans give us more time to come together i think you. mistake. i think timothy geithner could use some poker talks he was hardcore on the for the with the guy has to speak no one that's what i was just like getting back to defer will so be it with the president i know i think you know not a good idea well turbo tax what he. what he can do if he so chooses if it comes to this if the president and congress fail to come to an agreement is he can evidently affect what is withheld from people's paychecks you know even if we go off the fiscal cliff of a deadly timothy geithner can say oh you know what don't withhold is much from their paychecks as these tax cuts adjusted expired would have typically do but he doesn't want you know it's you know this is interesting because it's a sta

u.s. treasuries ad equally china open up to u.s. companies? >> i think those are the big issues. luckily the election is over now. obama has been reelected, he doesn't have to run for election again. so to a certain extent, he almost has to be mindful of constituencies at home, but he can drop the rhetoric. and we have a new leadership in china. so to a certain extent, they can sort of stop making noises, as well. but on the other hand, and the two of help do need each other, as you said, the u.s. would like to you buy more. the u.s. is the biggest trade partner for china. and there's a lot offen investment going back and forth. so sort of the basis is there for a corporation, but there will be tensions about strategic interests and also about the investment question, whether the u.s. allow chinese companies to buy in the u.s., those are the issues that will now need to be discussed and hopefully resolved. >> just one final thought here. we've seen the iea reports. we've talked about the u.s. will become a net exporter of oil. we've seen what's happening with shale gas. that pres