America’s Mysterious Third Largest Treasury Holder Ramps Higher

The “Shocking” Buying Spree Of America’s Mysterious Third Largest Treasury Holder Ramps Higher

I can not believe this. No way the small country of Belgium is buying all these Treasury Bonds. This may be worth researching for FED involvement. 

From: ZeroHedge
When we reported last month that in a shocking twist, “Belgium” holdings of Treasurys had soared by a massive amount in the past three months, making the tiny country the third largest holder of US paper, our Belgian readers took offsense alleging it is impossible that Belgium itself could be buying all this paper, explaining it was all Euroclear. Well, yes: we know and noted that, which is why those same readers probably should have actually read the part in the post which said: “our question is: just who is Belgium being used as a front for?
Recall that for years, the “UK” line item on TIC data was simply offshore accounts transaction on behalf of China. Of course, since China hasn’t added any net US paper holdings in the past year, the UK, and China, are both irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. ”
So yes, to clarify for our trigger-happy Belgian (non) readers: it is quite clear that Belgium itself is not the buyer. What is not clear is who the mysterious buyer using Belgium as a front is. Because that same “buyer”, who to further explain is not China, just bought another whopping $31 billion in Treasurys in February, bringing the “Belgian” total to a record $341.2 billion, cementing “it”, or rather whoever the mysterious name behind the Euroclear buying rampage is, as the third largest holder of US Treasurys, well above the hedge fund buying community, also known as Caribbean Banking Centers, which held $300 billion in March.
In summary: someone, unclear who, operating through Belgium and most likely the Euroclear service (possible but unconfirmed), has added a record $141 billion in Treasurys since December, or the month in which Bernanke announced the start of the Taper, bringing the host’s total to an unprecedented $341 billion!

Also of note: Chinese holdings of US Paper dropped by $2.7 billion to $1273 billion, offset by Japan’s $9 billlion increase in holdings to $1210 billion, as the convergence between the two countries resumes.
One thing that is certain: the mystery buyer is not Russia, which in February, or just as the Ukraine conflict was starting, sold another $6 billion, bringing the Russian total to $126 billion, the lowest since 2011, and the biggest annual drop, -24%, in holdings in history.

Banksters settling with regulators.

Banksters ripping off the public, settling with regulators for nothing.......and nobody goes to jail again.

Bank to pay $800 mln for credit card practices
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Bank of America Corp. BAC +0.12% has reached a settlement agreement for $800 million over its credit card practices with U.S. regulators, reports The Wall Street Journal. The bank is expected to settle with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over allegations it pushed customers to sign-up for extra credit-card products. The settlement is expected to be announced on Wednesday and marks the five settlement over credit card practices with a major bank. Last year, the CFPB settled on similar allegations with American Express Co.

Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S.

Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S.

Extreme weather has thinned the nation’s cattle herds, roiling the beef supply chain from rancher to restaurant.
LA Times
Come grilling season, expect your sirloin steak to come with a hearty side of sticker shock.

Beef prices have reached all-time highs in the U.S. and aren’t expected to come down any time soon.
Extreme weather has thinned the nation’s beef cattle herds to levels last seen in 1951, when there were about half as many mouths to feed in America.
“We’ve seen strong prices before but nothing this extreme,” said Dennis Smith, a commodities broker for Archer Financial Services in Chicago. ”This is really new territory.”
The retail value of “all-fresh” USDA choice-grade beef jumped to a record $5.28 a pound in February, up from $4.91 the same time a year ago. The same grade of beef cost $3.97 as recently as 2008.
The swelling prices are roiling the beef supply chain from rancher to restaurant.
Norm Langer managed to go two years without raising prices at his famed Westlake delicatessen.
But last week, he reluctantly began printing new menus showing a 50-cent increase for sandwiches at his 67-year-old restaurant.
Langer accepts it’s one of the perils of business when your bread and butter happens to be corned beef and pastrami. But he fears he may have to raise prices again, driving away customers.
“No beef, no delicatessen. That’s the bottom line,” Langer said after a typically frenetic lunch service. “Jewish delis aren’t vegetarian, they’re based on corned beef and pastrami. Things are beyond my control. With the price increase, I hope my customers are tolerant.”
Langer said beef prices are the main reason his wholesale food costs have risen 45% in the last two years — much of it passed from his longtime supplier, R.C. Provision Inc.
The half-century-old Burbank company prepares corned beef, pastrami, roast beef and chili for L.A. icons such as Canter’s Deli, Pink’s Hot Dogs and Original Tommy’s Hamburgers. All the restaurants have to do is heat it up or slice it to their liking.
It’s been an increasingly difficult endeavor, with slaughterhouses driving up their prices for brisket and navel, an extra fatty portion of the belly crucial for making unctuous pastrami.

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