• 1) High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War

“Even if fewer troops are sent, or their mission is modified, the rough formula used by the White House, of about $1 million per soldier a year, appears almost constant.”

• 2) U.N.: One billion worldwide face starvation

“The United Nations launched an online appeal for individual donations to fight hunger as donor nations tackle an economic crisis and, for the first time in history, more than 1 billion face starvation worldwide.”

• 3) UC to seek $913 million more from state

“UC President Mark Yudof said in a written statement he would ask the university’s Board of Regents this week to approve the request, which follows last week’s announcement that the California State University system would seek nearly $900 million more in the 2010-11 state budget.

Both systems have been hit hard by budget cuts the past two years. Without the additional funding, the UC budget deficit could grow to at least $1.2 billion next year, the university said.”

• 4) BlackRock says c.banks to be net buyers of gold

“SYDNEY, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Central banks will be net buyers of gold this year as they diversify away from the U.S. dollar, global commodities investment fund BlackRock said on Monday in comments that helped drive bullion to fresh record highs.

BlackRock is one of the world’s largest fund managers, boasting a total $1.4 trillion under management across all asset classes. It is manager and adviser to the U.S. Federal Reserve and its views can influence the direction of global markets.”

• 5) China plans to set up dedicated India fund

“Referring to the proposal for a dedicated India fund, Ma Delun, deputy governor of the Chinese central bank said, “As central bank of China, we will support anything that is facilitating economic and financial cooperation between India and China.”"..

“Contrary to reports, the Peoples’ Bank of China might not be keen to buy gold from International Monetary Fund (IMF) unlike the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that bought IMF gold worth $7.4 billion last month.

However, Ma indicated that the Chinese central bank would aggressively diversify its asset portfolio from that of the US greenback-dominated treasury investments.”

• 6) Dollar pressured after China official warns of risks

“TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The dollar slipped Monday, a day after China’s chief banking regulator criticized loose U.S. monetary policy as leading to increased speculation.

“The continuous depreciation in the dollar, and the U.S. government’s indication that, in order to resume growth and maintain public confidence, it basically won’t raise interest rates for the coming 12 to 18 months, has led to massive dollar arbitrage speculation,” Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said Sunday in Beijing at the International Finance Forum, according to news reports.”

• 7) Gold Advances to Record as Investors Seek Dollar Alternative (Bloomberg)

““Investors of all levels, from retail investors to central banks, are really diversifying their portfolios,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd. in Sydney.”

• Gold rises to new all time high of Rs 16,930 (India)

“Further weakness in the dollar could fuel further buying of the precious metals, as funds turn to hard assets as an alternative to the US currency.”

• 9) Barack Obama assures Asia that US borrowing will not spiral out of control

“The assurance comes amid growing doubts across the world over the wisdom of White House spending plans. The US Congressional Budget Office expects the deficit to remain around $1.8 trillion (£600bn) as far ahead as 2019 under current plans, pushing the US national debt into the danger zone.

China, Japan, and other Asian states with large holdings of US Treasury debt fear that Washington may be embarking on a course that will lead to “stealth default” through dollar debasement and creeping inflation.”

• 10) NY Governor warns next year’s deficit may be $2 billion larger than anticipated

“Meanwhile, on WBEN-AM Buffalo, Paterson said he’s already looking for options he can undertake if the Legislature fails to act this week. He didn’t specify.

He also warned that next year’s projected budget deficit could grow to $9 billion, up from the currently anticipated $7 billion.”

• 11) Taxpayers lost $25 billion on GM; GM’s pensions underfunded by $12.7 billion

“The U.S Treasury swapped about $43 billion of the loans for a 60.8 percent equity stake in GM; the Canadian federal and provincial governments hold an 11.7 percent equity stake in GM in exchange for most of their $10.5 billion in loans.

As a result, the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the $700 billion Wall Street and auto bailout fund, and former White House auto czar Steve Rattner all agree that taxpayers have lost billions in their investment — because the stock won’t be worth enough to cover the government’s investment.

Rattner said taxpayers have probably lost about $25 billion.”….

“Pensions still an issue

GM forecasts it will need to make $12 billion in pension payments over two years, starting in 2013, to shore up its underfunded plans.

GM’s pensions were underfunded by $12.7 billion as of Dec. 31.

“Some of our options would include looking at whether it makes sense for us to put some money into the pension plan this year. That’s something that we’re going to analyze over the next several months along with the new GM board,” Young said.”

• 12) Hollister Workers Take Demands Straight to CEO

“In the letter, Hispanic religious, political and labor leaders detail how workers from Hollister are seeking justice after a key Darden food supplier, San Benito Foods, decided to unilaterally eliminate the pensions and health insurance benefits of the 85 percent of the work force that is seasonal.

The decision by San Benito Foods will leave 400 workers, largely Latina women, without any form of health or retirement benefits. According to a press statement, the pensions were the workers’ only retirement savings.”

• 13) Flood of foreclosures in 6 months

“In a trend that began a few months ago, more Bay Area homeowners in October received a foreclosure notice compared with a year ago while foreclosed homes taken back by banks declined in response to the rollout of loan modification programs.

Last month, the three stages of foreclosure activity were at the lowest monthly point since the start of the year, with 5,604 homes in some stage of foreclosure, said a RealtyTrac.com report. That’s a 33.9 percent decrease from September, but 16.7 percent higher from October 2008.

But that overall number does not tell the whole story, given that foreclosure notices are rising while the number of foreclosed homes that become bank-owned properties are falling due in part to the administration of President Barack Obama’s loan modification program launched in March.

However, the expected failure of many loan modifications will set the stage for a flood of bank-owned foreclosures to hit the real estate market starting in six months as borrowers fail to keep up with modified payments, said Mark Hanson, head of Menlo Park-based Field Check Group, an independent real estate research firm.”

• 14)  Manhattan Institute Says “New York must declare a financial emergency” (Mish)

“E.J. McMahon, director at the Manhattan Institute says New York deficits amount to financial emergency.

New York state’s huge and growing budget gap requires government to take drastic actions to correct it, said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy at the Manhattan Institute.

McMahon spoke to the Council of Industry, a regional trade group, Friday at the Powelton Club.

He charted flat revenues against expected spending if nothing is changed and showed a $20 billion gap looming by 2012-13.”

……Once again the dollar is falling and is very close to its recent lows, while gold hits new highs. At least all that money printing by the Federal Reserve has the markets moving higher though.