World Economic News
Forced Auctions of Homes in Germany Reflect Record-High Bankruptcies
According to the economic research agency Argetra, there have been 47,000 auctions of homes in Germany following personal bankruptcies in the first half of 2004. This was the highest level ever recorded for a six-month period. Compared to one year ago, such auctions were rising at the fastest speed in the Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (+26.7%), Berlin/Brandenburg (+7.9%), and Saxony/Thuringia (9.6%). Concerning larger cities, the number of forced auctions had more than doubled in Frankfurt/Main compared to one year ago (+116%). However in absolute numbers, Leipzig (2,492 cases) is now by far the front-runner in revealing such depression symptoms.
'Invisible Hand' Manipulates S&P Futures Index
An Italian online newspaper, Wall Street Italia, published an interview with a trader at the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) June 23, exposing how the Standard and Poors 500 Futures Index is entirely manipulated by one single operator, whose identity is unknown. "Everybody here hates those people," says the trader. "Their clearing number (they do it through Gerber Trading) is 990N. That account is entirely responsible for the current S&P level. They keep up the futures even during the night (Globex). They stay on the offer price for the whole session, supporting the operativity of the market.
"All those traders I spoke to, believe that the market is being manipulated. They wait for the prices to go down, but this never occurs. Traders are astonished about the absence of volatility. They are furious. Each time, every time, the gentlemen of account 990N are there, waiting, they never leave. They absorb the entire operativity of the market and push the future price at the level they want. Incredible. I would really like to know who they are, these gentlemen of account 990N. All traders are terrified, nobody wants to take short positions, because each time somebody does it, he ends on the wrong side of the market."
The newspaper comments that if what the trader reports is true, then the aim of the manipulation can only be to keep things under control through Nov. 2, the date of the U.S. Presidential elections.
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