01 April 2009

US financial rescue sheer size

An interesting article published yesterday on Bloomberg detailing the total size of the US rescue package so far: $12.8 trillion with $4.2 trillion already spent/committed! And counting... (see details at the end of this article)

No need to be a monetarist to see where the long term value of the dollar is going: south against many other fiat currencies in Asia and commodity based countries, not talking about precious metals.

Despite central banks and governments efforts to demonetize gold, reality is catching up quickly. The short term risk (and not long lasting beyond the announcement) is for Thursday G20 meeting to announce that the IMF will sell gold directly or indirectly. So far the US has been reluctant, but for a few and limited occasions since 2000, and hold a voting blocking minority. With the sheer size of the crisis and its fund rapidly dwingling, the IMF needs to raise additional funds (late last year Strauss-Kahn requested $500 billion and so far only got the Japanese committing $100 billion) with Eastern Europe requiring more funds and Mexico being the next in line with $47 billion.

IMF gold represents +/- $100 billion at today's price.

===========================================================
--- Amounts (Billions)---
Limit Current
===========================================================
Total $12,798.14 $4,169.71
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Federal Reserve Total $7,765.64 $1,678.71
Primary Credit Discount $110.74 $61.31
Secondary Credit $0.19 $1.00
Primary dealer and others $147.00 $20.18
ABCP Liquidity $152.11 $6.85
AIG Credit $60.00 $43.19
Net Portfolio CP Funding $1,800.00 $241.31
Maiden Lane (Bear Stearns) $29.50 $28.82
Maiden Lane II (AIG) $22.50 $18.54
Maiden Lane III (AIG) $30.00 $24.04
Term Securities Lending $250.00 $88.55
Term Auction Facility $900.00 $468.59
Securities lending overnight $10.00 $4.41
Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility $900.00 $4.71
Currency Swaps/Other Assets $606.00 $377.87
MMIFF $540.00 $0.00
GSE Debt Purchases $600.00 $50.39
GSE Mortgage-Backed Securities $1,000.00 $236.16
Citigroup Bailout Fed Portion $220.40 $0.00
Bank of America Bailout $87.20 $0.00
Commitment to Buy Treasuries $300.00 $7.50
-----------------------------------------------------------
FDIC Total $2,038.50 $357.50
Public-Private Investment* $500.00 0.00
FDIC Liquidity Guarantees $1,400.00 $316.50
GE $126.00 $41.00
Citigroup Bailout FDIC $10.00 $0.00
Bank of America Bailout FDIC $2.50 $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
Treasury Total $2,694.00 $1,833.50
TARP $700.00 $599.50
Tax Break for Banks $29.00 $29.00
Stimulus Package (Bush) $168.00 $168.00
Stimulus II (Obama) $787.00 $787.00
Treasury Exchange Stabilization $50.00 $50.00
Student Loan Purchases $60.00 $0.00
Support for Fannie/Freddie $400.00 $200.00
Line of Credit for FDIC* $500.00 $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
HUD Total $300.00 $300.00
Hope for Homeowners FHA $300.00 $300.00
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