Saturday, April 30, 2011

HUMOR

A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job.


The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks "What do two plus two equal?" The mathematician replies "Four." The interviewer asks "Four, exactly?" The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says "Yes, four, exactly."

Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The accountant says "On average, four - give or take ten percent, but on average, four."

Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question "What do two plus two equal?" The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says, "What do you want it to equal"?



Q: How many conservative economists does it take to change a light bulb?

A1: None. If the government would just leave it alone, it would screw itself in.

WEEKEND SERMON "AMERICA IS WAKING UP"

Man on the street is dressed in fatigues, bought his pitchfork and has a good supply of tar. In the garage of the foreclosed house he is squatting in, he has a sturdy torch and with ample fluid and box of matches. America is waking up to the fact that the HAVES' are running amok and rising ever higher away from the middle class and the NOTS'.

This has been facilitated by the reaction to the previous Financial Crisis which was fostered by the housing BUBBLE and watched ever carefully by the FED and every govt org that could have intervened.....was it just GREED that kept them from stopping the madness before it went too far? Was it ignorance?

Bernanke is no dummy, he is a scholar, especially of the Great depression.

"Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, an expert on the Great Depression, made several observations in a 2004 speech at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., in explaining the catastrophic event:


“Rather than being the cause of the Depression, as popular legend has it…the stock market crash [of 1929] only worsened the economic situation, hurting consumer and business confidence and contributing to a still deeper downturn in 1930,” he said. As people hoarded their cash, “about half of U.S. banks either closed or merged with other banks.” And importantly, “the Great Depression was a worldwide phenomenon, not confined to the United States.”

**(may I add please that the greatest stock market RALLY in history has not even brought some measures of COnsumer COnfidence back to the WORST LEVELS after 911 !!) (NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON HAS BEEN PROSECUTED FOR ANY CRIME COMMITTED DURING THE WORST FINANCIAL CRISIS SINCE GREAT DEPRESSION.>>As MANY KNOWINGLY SOLD FAULTY MORTGAGES AS GOOD SOUND INVESTMENTS AND PROFITTED, THEN HAD TO GET BAILED OUT>>>>)

But the takeaway lesson from the crisis, he said, was that “In the end, Fed officials decided not to intervene in the banking crisis.”

Current FED policy is directed to get you to do exactly the opposite, turning your cash and savings into KRAP andFORCING you out of the SAFE rabbit hole, and into RISK ASSETS.

Any comments on how they want "strong US currency" is rediculous as our $ falls to the lowest levels in its history!

Higher gas prices have gotten only ONE response fromour elected LEADER...."F!!! those oil companies, Im going after their tax breaks......" DEAR SIR: I would like to bring to your attention the FACTthat our toilet paper fiat near worthless currency is being debased and pissed on by FED policy and unending govt deficits. Please stop LYING to the people, for the people, by the people who you are in charge of and are helping to screw....BECAUSE of the GRAND EXPERIMENT of inflation and US $ debasement, we are not seeing the fruits of our labors we are seeing the stains in our looms...and the American people are tired of grabbing our ankles.

We are not as stupid as we used to be...we did enough looking around at each other to know something if off key, and we want to know why we aren't feeling the love like it is advertised we are?

WHY is the 4 week average of unemployment claims at 409,000 this far into recovery while it is being reported that COMPANY PROFITS are soaring? WHY did over ONE MILLION unemployed people rush to fill only 60,000 jobs at McDOnalds? IS working at MCD's the anerican dream?

The sun is out but the skies are still gray.

"This is not going to be a V-shaped recovery but a more gradual improvement," says Penrod. "Slow growth is better for stability. We need a slow burn to maintain movement rather than a quick flash in the pan that isn't sustainable." Well we don't havce V-shaped recovery but do in stocks and GOLD and OIL....is what is going on today "sustainable" and why does FED keep saying the inflation is "TRANSITORY"....a big word they think we won't look it up?
Home /Business



By Jeannine Aversa

AP Economics Writer / April 29, 2011

WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday called for more lending to people and small businesses in lower-income neighborhoods, saying they've been disproportionately hurt by the recession.
Many of the nation's poorest communities were struggling before the downturn, Bernanke said at Fed conference on community development in Arlington, Va.

The recession officially ended two years ago. Bernanke said the national economy is growing at a moderate pace and that job creation is gradually improving, repeating comments he made earlier this week at a news conference after the Fed's policy meeting.

But the unemployment rate remains high. For many poor and working-class Americans, it doesn't feel like a recovery.

"Our economy is far from where we would like it to be, and many people and neighborhoods are in danger of being left behind," Bernanke said.

Indeed, housing is the place most Americans wealth resides, and it has not improved, only 54% of Americans own any stocks, but that is where the FLOW has gone and has done the most "good".

The MORE money diverted to speculation, the LESS is available to lend to worthy businesses and used for investment in job creating endevours.

THEY got a plan, it just doesn't include anything good for you and me...the avg people. FUNNY how this greatest ever stock rally, highest prices for things ever....this TRANSITORY INFLATION......is making the majority angry and feel desperate while the few think its the greatest thing since sliced bread....."don't fight the FED"....because you can't.


http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/alice-in-front-of-rabbit-hole9.jpg

Duratek

THE MYSTERY OF INFLATION

"Obama keeps up push to end gas, oil tax breaks"
"President Barack Obama says oil companies are profiting from rising pump prices and he wants Congress to end $4 billion in annual tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. Drivers in 22 states are paying more than the national average of $3.91 per gallon. In Alaska, California and Connecticut, it's $4.20 or more."

$4B is a drop in the bucket, this is just fluff for the avg American, so it can appear like he's actually doing something.

The value of our $ is behind the rising prices of things, as gold and silver jump 2%, gold now at all time high above $1,550. OIL approaching $114 and REG $4 a gallon....the $4B tax break did not do this....the OIL companies did not conspire to destroy the $......our Gov't if not aware that FEDERAL RSERVE POLICIES is 100% responsable then you can thank them come 2012.

Unnaturally LOW interest rates held for almost 3 years, has taken the legs out from the dollar, commodities are not rising to the moon for NO REASON, they are all priced in $'s.

HUGE deficits make for a never ending stream of treasury priniting, add the FED balance sheet has gone from $800B to over $2.5 TRILLION......there seems to be no end in sight.

Is it ANY wonder that while we are experiencing in REAL STATISTICS the MOST FEABLE RECOVERY from Recession in history, that we are experiencing the fatsest most dramatic STOCK MARKET RALLY in 100 years and new highs in most commodities....at the same time housing lays near dead uneffected.

There are lies and damned lies.....

D

WEEKEND DOUG NOLAND

http://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10531

Friday, April 29, 2011

HOUSING RECOVERY?

"2010 was the perfect opportunity for housing in desirable areas to turn up. Instead, price declines accelerated to the downside despite record-low mortgage rates and a supposedly "firming" economy. It looks as if home buyers are voting on the "recovery" story with their feet."

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogapril11/housing-recovery-4-11.html  Charles Smith site

WHAT HAPPENS TO STOCKS AFTER EARNINGS PEAK?

http://blog.yardeni.com/

Andrew Klavan: Obama's Beach Blanket Recovery: It's Happy, Snappy & Incr...

Latest Armstrong "How LOW rates can destroy the economy"

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Passing%20the%20Torch%20to%20Asia%2004-28-2011.pdf

NOT GOING TO SLOW THE PACE

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf

Don't look down.....since it began the most recent rise, there has not been a single week the base has not expanded.

Adjusted Monetary Base


"The Adjusted Monetary Base is the sum of currency (including coin) in circulation outside Federal Reserve Banks and the U.S. Treasury, plus deposits held by depository institutions at Federal Reserve Banks. These data are adjusted for the effects of changes in statutory reserve requirements on the quantity of base money held by depositories. They are updated monthly by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis."

US $ HITS ONE YEAR LOW

Andnow it can SNIFF its ALL TIME LOWS just a hunt and peck away. While many seem to want to focus on a birth cirtificate, there are real issues out there, and that's what I will continue to focus on. You could come from MARS and if you could hell this country, come on down! The dude's President and guess what, he isn't going anwhere.

Trump for President? how about ZIPPY the circus clown instead...

D

Thursday, April 28, 2011

One Million Applications, 62,000 Jobs Served At McDonald’s « CBS Chicago

One Million Applications, 62,000 Jobs Served At McDonald’s « CBS Chicago

How sad is this????? Remember we are having this wonderful RECOVERY, where jobs are still being shipped off th India and China and any other cheap labor destination where those wonderful corporations here in the US can show higher profits, on top of the weaker $ adding to foreign currency profits,,,,,why not layoff 3 Americans and hire 3 Indian IT people? Isn't it the nice thing to do, see people all over the world kick our ass? As our people SWARM over McDonald's for 60,000 minimum wage part time jobs? that's progress for ya matey.

Now, I like a SPIRITED rally like the next guy, but I also like it when the growth you see is rooted in good fundamentals and is sustainable. A stock will keep going UP until the majority of shares are being SOLD instead of BOUGHT and thsi can happen at anytime, but is more likely to happen when profits are at risk of slowing or falling or the price gets so high there are no takers.....THIS MARKET IS NO LONGER, hasn't been moving on fundies, it is moving on emotion and greed....and because it is going higher.

there is little to choose from as an alternative. FED has made sure you CANNOT make a return from savings. Savings is being turned into some VILE and loathed asset class to be purged from society...this is the goal of YOUR FEDERAL RESERVE....and just a FEW people have the say so...of setting monetary policy and controlling currencies...........doesn't sound too smart to me.

D

OUTSOURCED ECONOMY AND GOOD PAYING JOBS

Finished talking to nice lady, her husband just retired 69 yrs old, worked for company did IT work for Care First BCBS in MD, ENTIRE contract for this work was given to INDIAN company who could provide 3 employees for the price of one here....BCBS had to cut costs.

It now doesn't matter what kind of news comes out of whic piehole, its all good to this market. VIX fear index down to 14, shows NO sign of fear of anything but missing rally. Fundamentally it doesn't matter anymore....one game, you playing or not?

D

STOCKS AT NEW LOWS

**CLICK ALL CHARTS TO ENLARGE

AM DATA SUGGESTS WEAKNESS CONTINUES< LET THE GAMES CONTINUE

http://briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm   always go here for AM DATA

Jobless claims SHOOT UP 25,000 to 429,000 and the 4 week moving average is now solidly above 400K at 409,000 !!! friends what kind of RECOVERY IS THIS?????

THE GDP 1st qtr plummets from 3.1% to only 1.9% and that can be revised downward further in the later revisions when no one is looking....WHERE IS THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RECOVERY?

WHERE IS THE RECOVERY WITHOUT 20% of consumer spending coming from govt transfer payments? NO WAGE GROWTH, didn't the FED say yesterday companies are hiring again? where in CHina? Greatest number in our hstory need some form of gvot assistance, lowest number on record 54% own stocks....most ever underwater in their homes....YET...GREATEST STOCK MARKET RALLY FROM LOWS IN 100 YEAR HISTORY>>> does this sound right to you?

But this is the formula that is used every time by FED, someone prints money...tries to paper over prior mess...on to prosperity...how does one spend themselves to prosperity? DO you solve a DEBT CRISIS by piling on more record debt?

DO you solve you problems by devaluing your currency and putting evcen more pressure on an already hurting consumer? DO you point out that IPODS have come down in price when refuting inflation is a problem?

Thevalue of the $ is collapsing, almost everything priced in dollars goes up....except the TREASURY MARKET??? yields have been falling...breaking DOWN....from a daily wedge pattern I have posted.....as long as FED keeps buying or I should say they are selling and the boyz are buying....S&P downgrades our debt with warning....we are issuing RECORD amounts of debt...our currency is diving....yet the yields keep falling???????????????

WHY should anything make sense? The FED has taken that fork in the road and decided all things are fixed by enhancing the top 10% of Americans who hold substantial amounts of stocks and ALL the Banksters
(not small regional banks).......

ANSWER? YOU WANT CHANGE REAL CHANGE???? VOTE FOR RON PAUL!!! He is ONLY one who gets it on monetary policy....will he screw everything else up? maybe we would find out what really happens in free market system....vote for ANYONE ELSE and get more of what they been giving you. period.

He sounds CRAZY sometimes because NO ONE else speaks truth TRUTH sounds CRAZY in the face of so many LIES!

Bernanke "printing money will solve everything, I am SCHOLAR of the Great Depression....they didn't print money FAST ENOUGH then,I WONT make same mistake...."  DO you see why the $ is being executed and WHY OIL, SILVER, WHEAT, COPPER, STOCKS....etc have risen? IF YOU dont play THEIR GAME, you LOSE.
You stay in savings (from which loans and investment USED to be derived) YOU LOSE....NOPE this assholes game is to FORCE you my fellow citizen into a RISKY ASSET CLASS..PERIOD....that is their recovery plan.

Underlying values of mortgages held by banks or whomever continue to erode.....HOW HEALTHY IS OUR GAMED SYSTEM REALLY?

This shit can go to the moon, and we can argue, well if you think or know that, the game is still ON.....get on that ship dude....caveat...will you know when to parachute?

TIMING IS EVERYTHING, NO its TIME IN THE MARKET?  what if you JUST enterred in 2000 and bought that top?

99% of investors cannot time anything,,,,,so the last 12 years have been the LOST YEARS for value...and when you throw in DOLLAR devaluation.....boy have you lost big.

If you think FED is the answer to every economic issue, so be it....I see them as insidous and THE PROBLEM.
Duratek

SUPPORT RON PAUL AND ABOLISH FEDERAL RESERVE?

Thomas Jefferson said, "If the America people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currencies, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their prosperity until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."


http://www.petitiononline.com/fedres/petition.html

HOW THE WEAK HAVE GOTTEN WEAKER

Here Mr President is your ONLY answer for why gas is so expensive and one of the casualties of FED policy.

D

ONE OF THE GENERALS HAS FALLEN

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

CLUES FROM THE CLUELESS

Bernanke offers clues about steps to raise rates


1 minute ago INO.COM

"At a historic news conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered clues Wednesday about when and how the Fed would begin raising interest rates. The Fed chairman also said any additional steps by the Fed to try to lower unemployment might raise other risks, such as higher inflation. If inflation were to accelerate, it could then reduce employment. That's because the Fed would have to raise rates to slow borrowing and spending and blunt price increases."

Really, is it the borrowing and spending that is creating the rise in things? Let's see right after the FED communique the us $ hit a new low for the move on way to its all time lows..ANYTHING denominated in $'s went higher....OIl, GOLD, SILVER.....

Of course our leaders at a quandry as to how to lower prices....Bernanke is going to keep this going until he kills us all...again savers and those not in risk get the WET SPOT!

D

FOMC STATEMENT

Release Date: April 27, 2011




For immediate release

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the economic recovery is proceeding at a moderate pace and overall conditions in the labor market are improving gradually. Household spending and business investment in equipment and software continue to expand. However, investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector continues to be depressed. Commodity prices have risen significantly since last summer, and concerns about global supplies of crude oil have contributed to a further increase in oil prices since the Committee met in March. Inflation has picked up in recent months, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable and measures of underlying inflation are still subdued.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The unemployment rate remains elevated, and measures of underlying inflation continue to be somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over the longer run, with its dual mandate. Increases in the prices of energy and other commodities have pushed up inflation in recent months. The Committee expects these effects to be transitory, but it will pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations. The Committee continues to anticipate a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.

To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to continue expanding its holdings of securities as announced in November. In particular, the Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings and will complete purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the current quarter. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings in light of incoming information and is prepared to adjust those holdings as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period.

The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to support the economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Charles I. Plosser; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Janet L. Yellen.

"THE HOUSING BUBBLE BROKE THE MIDDLE CLASS"

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogapril11/housing-broke-middle-class4-11.html    while people waste their time on Obama's birth cirtificate, there are real isses and facts to be parused.  Broke Back Middle Class...

Duratek

"WHAT CAN PRES DO ABOUT HIGH GAS PRICES?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110427/ts_yblog_thelookout/what-can-obama-do-to-bring-down-gas-prices

"President Obama is coming under increasing pressure to do something—anything—about gas prices, which this week have surged to an average of $3.86 per gallon, thanks to ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and rising demand around the world. In some states, they're more than $4 a gallon.


The president, who faces re-election next year, has gone out of his way to show that he feels Americans' pain at the pump. "This is obviously something that is affecting everybody," he said in a recent interview. "And we are looking at every option that is out there in terms of dealing with it." Economists fear that the high prices are putting a damper on the recovery, by making Americans reluctant to spend money.

But what, if anything, can he actually do to fix the problem? Obama has acknowledged there's no "silver bullet" that can reduce the price of gas. But he has recently detailed several potential moves that could have an impact—even though none of them is likely to produce results as quickly as many Americans would like

Here's a rundown of what Obama might do to start bringing gas prices back to earth:

• Invest more in renewable energy sources. In a radio address Saturday, Obama called this effort "the key to helping families at the pump and reducing our dependence on foreign oil."
*This will take 10 years and in most cases cost more than existing technology, most will not stand on own without subsidies...does nothing to help right now.

• End the $4 billion in subsidies for oil companies. "Instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy sources, we need to invest in tomorrow's,"Obama has said.
THIS IS SO SMALL NOT WORTH MENTIONING, does nothing

• Root out fraud and manipulation in the oil markets. Obama has said he'll have a Justice Department task force probe whether oil market traders and speculators are "taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain."  SURE GO AHEAD...this is for show, no go, will do nothing


  •  Boost domestic oil production. "We don't want a repeat of the oil spill that we had in the Gulf last year," Obama said in an interview Tuesday. "But we've got to continue to make sure that U.S. production is strong." That might mean expanding drilling off the coast of Florida, or in Alaska.
Could help somewhat, but not significiantly
• Press oil-producing allies like Saudi Arabia to do their part. We need to "let them know," Obama said, "that it's not going to be good for the if our economy is hobbled because of high oil prices."
We surely have all the cards dont we?

• Work with automakers to increase fuel economy standards for cars and trucks."

OMG...what is this? not worth replying to

WHAT ISN'T MENTIONED? FED POLICY which drives down US $ value which makes everything cost more......what can the PRES DO??? YES WHAT CAN HE DO if acknowledgement of the ROOT CAUSE ZIRP and QE and so forth are not even mentioned..?

D

"SILVER RUSH"

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112618/silver-rush-stock-market-wsj?mod=bb-budgeting&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=

"day traders are going crazy"  thanks BEN!

JOBLESS RECOVERY

Look to see if Silver can hold $45 area and US $ below 74.00. Oil is above $112 and continues to beat on consumers.

The talk on CNBC from 'THE HAIR" is this astute trickster is asking when the FED is going to put the peddle down and help create jobs......last Recession on 2001 was known as the NON RECESSION(Consumer spending did not fall!) and subsequent recovery as the NON JOBS RECOVERY.

The MAIN and ONLY GOAL of the FED is to force savers OUT of their rabbit holes and into RISKY ASSETS, the GOAL of the FED is to RAISE PRICES OF STOCKS......didnt realize this was their mandate.

How can Consumer Spending hold up with 7 MIL losing jobs? GOVT PAYOUTS.....what a recovery

D

DESPISED

What is the most unloved, despised asset you can think of? Recent article said the Chinese wanted to UNLOAD about $2TRILLION of our wetbacks.......ANY RALLY here holding above 74.00 I would take note of......or much further collapse has it going into the abyss....who is left to sell this worthless piece of paper?

FED RATE decision today, expect NO CHANGE in worthless comments at 2:15......many have 1400 as SPX target.....on any further rally IMHO I would begin to lighten up....or you fully buy into recovery BS

D

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

YIELDS BREAK DOWN,NO FEAR. ALL THE SAME MARKETS



With new rally highs in most of the indexes, it is likely that the current bull mkt has further to go....todays UP volume was only 66% of total volume but volume has not been a problem for the rally since 2009.....this is the fastest rising bull mkt perhaps in history...and it has erased about ALL of the losses from the financial crisis had investors stayed put.

None of this would have happened with an almost $2 Trillion gain in the FED balance sheet, and a US $ that is close to its all time lows. Interest rates have also fallen during the most recent leg up in stocks.....even as the US had its debt downgraded!

If you are asking me to make perfect sense of all of this, I wont be able to do that from a fundamental standpoint. It does show what the FED can accomplish when it throws its weight and influence behind the stock market.

You may ask how are companies showing huge profits with so many still unemployed? costs are down, profits in INFLATED $'s look much better than they actually are especially for companies doing a lot of business overseas....that's right, more incentive NOT to expand here.

The rally has occurred with a housing market that has showed NO signs of improving, inflation in food and energy, consumer sentiment at Recession lows in Gallup and ABC, and well below 911 lows in other...like Michigan Sentiment....none of that seems to matter.

You STILL have ZIRP FED policy, and the WORST place to be is where many find themselves...IN CASH!  AND so we are told the world economies are on mend, corporate profits are rising.....and there is not a damn thing to worry about as even former HARSH CRITICS don't see a repeat of 2008 possible.

On the surface, the US is the place to be? THIS ALL KEEPS GOING MORE THAN LIKELY until the FED changes their current stauts quo....and NO ONE thinks they might ever do that...even 3 years into a RECOVERY...such as it is, with stocks regaining in some case ALL OF THE LOSSES......we are to be told that they cannot change course now and not for as far as the eye can see because???? of a still fragile recovery??????

In this case I will recover an over used phrase...."and pigs get slaughtered.."  This goes for investors who get TOO GREEDY and this may also hold true for A FED who keeps rates at ZERO and keeps pumping the primer for STOCKS in hopes of a REAL RECOVERY TAKING HOLD....and stay TOO LONG and create a truely hideous monster when pops....will bring true torture as if we havent already been through it.

It's time for the FED to come OFF the zero interest rate monetizing debt game or COME CLEAN on the real shape of the US economy...

D

HON IND. BREAKDOWN AFTER EARNINGS

BREAKOUT TO NEW HIGHS

Hey, and it’s not HIVES! Wow, indexes to NEW RALLY HIGHS…I can hardly contain my enthusiasm and its fun and wonderful to make money as our country goes down the toilet.


68% up NYSE volume on such an historic day, it all warms my heart so. For this is all proof positive we are IN a recovery and its all because all is getting better and we are heading in the right direction.

I’m all for “going with the flow” so let’s get that out there on the table.

Underneath of that you have lowest % of Americans owning stocks since 1999 at 54%, sadly most Americans wealth Was in their homes, how stupid can they be.

Why aren’t the sheeple jumping on this wonderful stock market that is so real you can taste it? Maybe because they are f’ing tired of being sheeple?

Woopie to the new highs, suck my hind teet that its based on even a scintilla of real. Its based on an expansion of deficit spending and smoke and mirrors and I guarantee it, will end with more crocodile tears than can be found in the Amazon.

But remember, first and foremost….I’m ALL for riding the trend, its just I have a conscience. And I’m also sure there is nO WAY this is a game of musical chairs, this is real and will last for our lifetime…yehaaaaaa

Bernanke Was Wrong

"
" I DONT BUY YOUR PREMISE...." THIS GUY WAS SO wrong who would listen to him now? Has anyone ever played this back for him???

SO think about this when the jackall is talking to you today!  SUBPRIME..."we're monitoring it, not worried about...."  CONTAGION???????  "NOT MUCH INDICATION...that it would spread......."

Duratek

FED SPEAK

BErnanke will meet the press today.....surely he will let everyone know inflation is not a threat.....but don't expect him to react to rumors the CHinese want to DIVERSIFY $2T of the $3 T US $ reserves.....

In a Fortune interview Rob Arnott points out that a HUGE part of our GDP comes from GOVT SPENDING!  a debt induced consumptive spending binge has never led to prosperity."real per capita tax reciepts are at 1994 levels..."

AS I have pointed out many times, the avg AMericans wealth is in his or her home. In a recent Gallup poll the % of people in the stock market fell to its lowest point since the poll began just before 2000 at 54% !!!
SO the FED has been shoving all its efforts to the one thing Americans can gain very little from....but somebody IS !

Little commercial building keeping half of the Eastern memeber of Steelworkers Union out of work for 2 plus years....home building near non existant and 40% of sales are foreclosed properties, probably speculators.

Peoples attitudes if measured correctly would show a dire attitude and worry about current circumstances....most in last 2 years.

The U S$ is below 74.00 again this AM, it cannot seem to hold even that pathetic level, we have news that the CHinese want to unload some $2 TRILLION of the near worthless fiat......if this isn't near some kind of one sided opinion low what would it take?

D

Monday, April 25, 2011

Barney Frank caught in a lie

The problem with the internet is what you actually say is preserved.....we actually have numnuts like this governing us...

D

SPIKES

BIG reversal in commodities today, spiking to fresh highs but ending the session lower....could be short term top....some kinda top.

BIG DEAL FED meets Tue-WED..woooo BFD

All the TRILLIONS thrown at the housing crisis....so big banks still stand to do what? speculate on stocks and commodities? And how's the housing market doing? sorry I asked......was it their intent at all to help homeowners? or just bail out their Bankster buddies all along...

If I'm a little guy I am wondering if this stock market thingy is fixed game.....but they like inviting the marks to play along.....

D

SAME AS IT EVER WAS

Tech Bubble was replaced by the Housing/ Mortgage Bubble, which has been replaced by the the Gov't Finance Bubble.....while THE US is not Greece (as Doug Noland points out) where Sovereign debt collapse caused short term rates to rocket from 2% in 2009 to over 23% last week!......The S&P warning on our debt is not being taken seriously by the RISK markets..... I mean here we are issuing RECORD amounts of debt, and 10 year yields are below 4%..>WHY WORRY?

Gov't debt has taken the place of speculative mortgage debt, and with 2012 elections not that far away, what programs will officials agree to cut?

The MAIN driver of our economy is HOUSING, not the stock market, and it lies LIMP as a Chinese Pad Thai noodle. IN excess of $TRILLION was taken from home equity during the boom and used for consumption.....the FED and GOVT now conspire to fill the void....stock market gain are great, but it only covers a much smaller cross section of Americans.

We are 2 years plus into Recovery and still have a 4 week moving avg of unemployment claims near 400,000. Companies were eager to cut overhead and now reluctant to add them back.....if they believed we had a sustainable recovery would they hesitate?

Commercial construction is at a near standstill. Baby Boomers have lost big in their one main nest egg to retirement, their home equity.....and downsizing to retirement is on hold for many as they cannot sell their homes.

FED zero interest rate policies have not had the desired effect on housing so conspiring with the PLAYERS, their sights were set to where they could manipulate an outcome......when growth does not come from ORGANIC means, but from outside stimulus and manipulation it is doomed to fail.

Once supposed stabilization of Financial System was accomplished (outward appearance) why continue with FED GAMING? why not look for a more NORMAL functioning and FREE MARKETS?

WHY continue the policies of today when INFLATION is evident in every corner? SILVER Hit new high today rising $3 PLUS!! to over $50 an ounce...OIL is over $112 and other commodities as well near or at all time highs.

Is the FED still fighting DEFLATION and why....The answer might be as well as the time is here or near of the policies doing MORE HARM THAN GOOD, and in a corner they are with NO WAY OUT.

The FED might say they can UNWIND what they have done.....what is going to happen should they go to a net seller and not buyer of Treasuries through direct or INDIRECT purchases?

WHO will replace the $600B plus of Treasury demand.....and what is the likely course of interest rates down the road when the Gov't Finance Bubble POPS as all Bubbles do?

Europe weakness will send demand our way? We are not as bad off as them? (what many experts say). EVERY Bubble has limits, maybe we are not there yet, but it doesn't take much observation to see the NEGATIVE effects of the current policies and that they HURT not help the avg person.

If, like the GOOD OLD DAYS, you depended on getting a decent return for your deposits in savings, those days are dead and gone. There is ONE GAME in town, and that is the inflation play and forced entry into RISKY ASSETS or......THE US $ is again under 74.......anythnig we buy in US $'s goes UP as IT goes down....deleting much of the positive effects of said FEd and govt policy
Duratek

Sunday, April 24, 2011

VERY LONG TERM US $ CHART

How's that zero interest rate chart hitting you?
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2011/04/very-long-term-us-dollar-dx-index-chart.html

NICOLE FOSS INTERVIEW "PREPARING FOR THE NEXT TSUNAMI"

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/
"The Peaking of Oil Prices and the Coming Depression. Resource Wars to follow."


Oil in speculative bubble, supply and demand does not rationalize current price. Deflationary Depression is heading our way.

We will be watching US $ action VERY CLOSELY, not many $ bulls left, if any...set up is for a SURPRISE $ rally. IMHO if oil and commodities start to unwind....so might other asset classes.

Duratek

HERE'S A GOOD USE OF YOUR CRIME FIGHTING DOLLARS!! NOT

Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. school

By Liz Goodwin
 http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/homeless-woman-prosecuted-for-enrolling-son-in-conn-school

"Connecticut authorities have filed theft charges against Tanya McDowell, a homeless woman, alleging that she used a false address to enroll her son in a higher-income school district, The Stamford Advocate reports. If she's convicted, McDowell may end up in jail for as many as 20 years and pay a $15,000 fine for the crime.


McDowell is a homeless single mother from Bridgeport who used to work in food services, is now at the center of one of the very few false address cases in the Norwalk, CT, school district that is being handled in criminal court--rather than between the parent and school. Authorities are accusing McDowell of enrolling her 5-year-old son in nearby Norwalk schools by using the address of a friend. (Her friend has also been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.)


McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.
"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," the 33-year-old told the paper.
An education advocacy group, Connecticut Parents Union, is holding a fundraiser to help McDowell pay the possible fine."


And remember, here they have time to fuss with a poor homeless woman trying to give her proginy a chance at life....better schooling.......and she gets arrested.....while the BANKSTERS who killed our economy and made off with BILLIONS....resting in their mansions (plural) maybe even getting HUGE BONUSES and STOCK OPTIONS.....inflated stock prices from FED gaming and pumping....targeted to rise while middle class Americans get PUMMELED from inflation and hard to find jobs....low paying ones when they do.....and profits at banks SKEWED large by change in accounting rules which ALLOW hiding LOSSES from punk housing prices.....what a great wonderful fair world we live in....thank you fearless, clueless paid off leaders.

D

MONEY LESSONS or SIMPLE SIMON SAYS

http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-112592-9401-3-money-lessons-we-should-have-learned-in-childhood?ywaad=ad0035
"If only our earliest encounters with money, like getting a quarter for cleaning our room or a whole dollar from the Tooth Fairy, taught us what we would need to know about personal finance. Instead, we learned the hard way by growing up.


A lightbulb flickered in my head in fifth grade when I realized my $10 weekly lunch allowance didn't need to be spent on cafeteria pizza. By saving $2 a week for two months, I could buy my first Backstreet Boys CD. It was a moment I'd never forget, for it finally dawned on me exactly what money was worth -- anything I wanted."

Gosh why do the economists make it sound so complicated.....we should all WALK TO WORK, save the $75 a week in gas......and put that towards your utility bills....or fresh underwear..your choice!

But it suddenly dawned on me, because of FED policy and GOVT bailouts and runaway deficits....I know what our money is worth also.....what I could afford yesterday I NO longer can today

Happy Easter

D

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Martin Armstrong's Latest

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Other%20Side%20of%20Inflation%20Martin%20Armstrong%2004-13-2011.pdf

"Nothing is certain except death, taxes and the other side of inflation"

"SOUND AND FURY" by Alan Abelson

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970204702304576257091077121376.html#articleTabs_panel_article%3D1    April 16th

"The chickens are coming home to roost, and the roosters are strutting their stuff in the coop. We indulge these metaphors with no offense meant to the poultry, but because they so aptly convey all the frantic clucking and insistent cock-a-doodle-do resounding in the White House and the hollow halls of Congress. The proximate cause of the clamor is the remarkable discovery by our civil servants that we face trillion-dollar deficits as far as their blood-shot eyes can see."

http://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10529   Weekend Doug Noland "S&P Commenses The Process"  (downgrade of US debt)


Duratek

ASTUTE MARKET TICKER RESPONSE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "$500 BILLION ADDED SINCE FIRST OF YEAR!":


Sorry to inform you have it backwards.(*I actually hadn't gotten it backwards as I just posted the madness of this expansion....as others have as well) The madness you describe has already happened aka extension of credit.(*In reality though, a HUGE amount of money resides as EXCESS RESERVES which the FED pays a small amount of interest on....so it is NOT getting LOANED OUT to where it might be needed) During 2002-2007 period credit was extended to even people with no jobs. (NINJA loans). The monetary base has NOTHING to do with lending. The monetary base increases come AFTER the extension of credit. This is where modern economists get it wrong. The peripheral banks extend credit first without reserves to back the loans. Once the bust comes the central banks "come to the rescue" by increasing monetary base.

http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2009/01/31/therovingcavaliersofcredit/

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/02/fiat-world-mathematical-model.html

Please refer to the articles for more on how the monetary system works in the real world as opposed to theory. So yes Bernanke is frantically increasing the monetary base but that has nothing to do with lending. The lending part has already been done and Bernanke is just playing catch up. What is happening now is the big players who know the game are positioning themselves so they benefit from the increase in monetary base. For example the Fed buys 10 billion in bonds from the market players (note that the fed is not buying directly from the treasury which would not help the big players). Now these market players will not use that money to build a factory to make goods or plant corn or do anything that will help the country. Instead they will use the cash to bid up say oil futures silver futures corn futures etc. So what happens is middle clas gets squeezed even more and the big boys get billions of dollars in bonuses. Its frustrating and wrong but nobody in Washington seems to care in the slightest.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=184722

Now Obama is asking a team to find source of speculation to explain rising oil prices. How moronic is that.

So to summarize the rise in monetary base is stagflationary (big boys bid up prices but the general population just gets squeezed more)but not inflationary (increase in 2 trillion in monetary base will NOT translate into 20 trillion in loans. The loaning part has already been done.) So if you are an average person living on a salary the vice just gets tighter around your nuts. Just pray they use some spit before they get rough with you! However if you have to savings to speculate you can use the ponzi scheme to make some money on the side. And help others with thig blog. *(thank you, that has been my goal for the last 8 years)

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article16563.html
"At any time, the FED can get all banks lending. All it has to do is impose a fee on all excess reserves. It can test each fee. It can keep raising this fee until the banks have withdrawn most or all of their excess reserves. To do this, they must lend the money. For every dollar of decrease in excess reserves, the bank must buy an asset to offset the bank's legal liabilities to its depositors. It must offset these liabilities with equal-valued (book value) assets: loans.



The FED is in complete control over excess reserves. It pays banks a pittance to maintain these reserves. It is legally authorized to impose fees.


Alternatively, it could decide, on its own authority, to lend out all of the money kept in excess reserves. It could buy T-bills. The government would like that. The money would flow back into the economy. It would be spent. The money multiplier would rebound and go positive. The offsetting excess reserves would no longer offset the increase in Federal Reserve credit. The M1 money supply would double. Within a year, prices would be heading for a triple-digit increase.


All of this is legally possible for the FED to do. It refuses to do it. Why? Because it likes the present policy. It does not have to wind down – sell off assets. It also does not have to face rising long-term interest rates that would result from a doubling of the money supply. It does not have to worry about a collapse of the housing market as a result of 25% or 40% mortgage rates. Also, the corporate bond market has not collapsed.


What has it cost the FED to allow excess reserves to rise by a trillion dollars? Only the interest on 0% to 0.25% interest payments to the banks. That's a low price."



JUST ONE SUCH RELATIONSHIP OF A FALLING DOLLAR

*click all charts to enlarge

"SEES NO MAGIC BULLET" HOW ABOUT THE TRUTH

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110423/pl_nm/us_obama_energy
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday there is no "magic bullet" to bring down high gasoline prices and said he wants to end what he called $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies.


Obama is feeling the heat from gasoline prices that are about $4 a gallon and may surge higher. A New York Times-CBS News poll found that 70 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track and analysts believe gas prices are a main reason.

The president devoted his weekly radio and Internet address to outlining his views on the U.S. energy predicament, saying clean energy is ultimately the way forward for a country long addicted to gas-guzzling vehicles."

Let me tell you what the problem is. The ZIRP policy by the Federal Reserve System that is GAMING assets across most sectors has been DESTRUCTIVE along with historic deficits and US DEBT DOWNGRADES to the US FIAT $...............EVERYTHING LIKE OIL is priced in US $'s.....so what MR PRESIDENT happens to the OIL when the US DOLLAR is thrown under the bus????????????????

The $4B in subsidies are a sideshow and meaningless....how about the MULTI BILLIONS keeping ethanol down in price or otherwise would be so expensive it would be rediculous to use...OH it does JACK up grain prices.......

When our FEARLESS LEADERS don't seem to understand the most simplest 1+1=2 math about economics and the push pull theory, or CAUSE AND EFFECT.....what hope for that hideous overused coinage "CHANGE" is there?

Drive the SUV off the cliff...jump out first...buy a Rabbit Diesel......the answer to MOST OF OUR ENERGY ISSUES already exists....CLEAN burning Diesel technology with many of the vehicles getting 40 Plus MPG......as good or better than the much HYPED hybrids....

OIL is the cheapest energy source on earth.....FED policy is changing that...as our currency falls to hell......and this is exactly what they want....YOU ARE HIDNG IN CASH? F you is what they are syaing F you....BUY INTO a RISKY ASSET class...or F you (my wife doesn't like my language....but you get a firey, caring Duratek here, what comes out is what comes out)

SO, everytime you pump your gas, pay your inflated utility bill, think about your clueless gov't telling you they don't understand what the problem is! Isn't Obama smarter than that? Isn't the ZERO RATE FED POLICY AND BANKSTER BAILOUTS DIRECTLY EFFECTING HIS STRONGEST SUPPORTERS??????

DIDN'T THE EXTENSION OF THE BUSH TAX CUTS DIRECTLY EFFECT HIS MOST ARDENT supporters and slap them in the face? can you say SELLOUT? Where is the lower cost GOVT Health Insurance OPTION?  oh yeah, the republicans killed it? NO he didnt fight for it......it was the ONLY thing that mattered in the 2800 pages of the bill!! LOOK I wont vote for any of them...they are MORE THE SAME than different.

What HOPE is there that the leader of this country cannot articulate that a falling DOLLAR makes EVERYTHING PRICED IN IT MORE EXPENSIVE?????????????

Wait 2 more years and put another dumbass in there that wont do anything for the PEOPLE.....

Duratek

Friday, April 22, 2011

CLIFF DIVING?

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogapril11/oil-USD4-11.html  You can kick the can.....the rubber can and does meet the road eventually....and you do get a day of Reckoning once in awhile...SWEET SPOT IS GONE IMHO.....our economy is on the precipice...and those staying long stocks TOO LONG.....again IMHO will be crying crocodile tears....and never saw it coming

D

The Economic Recovery: Washington's Big Lie | John V. Denson

The Fed, Gold, and Troubled Times

$500 BILLION ADDED SINCE FIRST OF YEAR!

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf   NOBODY seems to care cept me! This is historic and unprecedented in modern times...and very dangerous...WHICH BATTLE is the Federal Rserve fighting?

This is sure madness...

D

DEBT DEBACLE by Martin Hutchinson And WEEKEND POST

Prudent Bear article MUST READ!

Today is Good Friday, and to all my friends who celebrate JC may you have the best day you can with friends and family! But I'm hardly in the mood to end my post here, and I appologize in advance, let's get to it.
The reason you SHOULD be reading articles posted here and elsewhere deemed reliable and worthy, is you cannot afford to lay dormant while the events of your lifetime are taking place. I am NOT saying you MUST confirm and come to the same conclusions as I do, we all process information differently, but it is important to be able to make informed conclusions of current events and be prepared.

We all know that there was a wild housing BOOM, that turned into a speculative BUBBLE, that burst seemingly without warning. Even as some in 2005-2006 were writing about the coming events....the same goobahs in position of power then are now...and they weren't listening as their Insider buddys were making money hand over fist and contributing to their re-election funds....

It seems, throughout our history, Recessions and other financial bouts of aingst have been met, especially since Greenspsn and Bernanke came on board, with SWIFT and AGGRESIVE FED monetary action. VOLKER stands out as the lone logical voice when he raised rates to 17% to battle raging inflation.....which when under control did set up the longest post war expansion into the 80's and 90's this country has seen. It also set up situation where for DECADES, interest rates have been falling, bond prices have been rising.

After battling a tech bubble (not effected financials) after 2000, the FED dropped their drawers to a jaw whopping 1% FED FUNDS RATE, the rate banks could borrow from the FED.....even though the fight was against over building and speculation in tech land.....the 1% rate was held for 2 years running and led to? OVER SPECULATION and a Housing DEBT BUBBLE (there is a FAMILIAR pattern here).

Now NO ONE in charge could see the ZILLIONS of Miami condo's going up with no one moving in, but a HORDE OF FLIPPERS? And in our history HOMES have been the #1 savings and retirmenet account for the average American......a nice steady rise was welcomed....and when it was time to retire...the sale and downsizing aided a comfortable retirement and achieving the American Dream....most held jobs, even with avg education (in manuf) usually for life.....all was good.

ALSO remember it was these same FED policies which led to the debasement of the $ and shipped all those HIGH PAYING jobs overseas and with the FLOOD of $'s fleeing this country to those manufacturing the cheap krap all seem to need to have....there went our jobs....and their went our status as worldd economic power and lender....we now enterred their pawn shops.....and with those new found $'s those who now had them began a BUYING BINGE of stuff and natural resource ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!! we did this!!!  ALSO remember if you spit in public a camera or CELL PHONE will capture it and you might land in jail! YET Those responsable for the worst financial crisis since Great Depression...not ONE has been prosecuted...how's that make you feel? I guess OK as long as you have your Mocha Latte'?

SAVERS actually got a return on the money they lent to banks, which in turn could use for investment, making loans....all was good. NOW SAVERS GET NADA> ZIPPO< ZERO on SAFE MONEY DEPOSITS....and believe it or not this is exactly what the FED wants.....that YOU CANNOT FIND A SAFE HAVEN, SAFE YIELD...YOU ARE BEING FORCED TO ENTER RISKY ASSETS...or because of the inflation they say is not here LOSE ON YOUR SAVINGS AS IT LOSES BUYING POWER!!!!!!!!!!!

Like the tech bubble, when the janitors were passing stock tips in the bathroom, people you hadn't heard from in years were offering partnerships in the FLIP THE CONDO BIZ.....I began warning in early 2007...trouble was coming...I'd seen this before.

The $ was 120.00 in late 2001, early 2002 just about the time the FEDERAL RESERVE aggresively lowered rates to what was then a near historical low 1%. BY 2005, even though the recovery was well in hand, the value of the $ dropped to about 80.00 GOLD WAS UNDER $300 when this all began!!!!
IN 2008 the US $ slid to nearly 70, finishing the month at 71.00. After briefly rallying to 88.00 the $ has now fallen to 74.00, only the 2008 lows remain between today and lowest value ever.....what lies beyond that?

A WEAK US $ makes everything denominated in it MORE EXPENSIVE, LIKE OIL......and other food COMMODITIES. Just this weak, some food chains incl McD's told of how rising prices are eating into profits and they would need to boost COnsumer prices...as did P&G.

The AIRLINES have been crushed by rising jet fuel prices and most have swung to losses.. PRICES AT THE PUMP have topped $4 a gallon...a BIG DEAL to avg Joe's..cost of transporting anything by truck is going through the roof, lots of which starts on West Coast and ends up on East Coast.

There has been NO HALT to rising health care costs.ALL the talk about alternative energy will be too little too late. MONEY SENT to states to create jobs went instead to plug some of their fiscal holes.

With so many STILL Out of work, housing values declining so property taxes will have to come down...and all those in foreclosure are not tax paying residences...Municipalities in are rough shape....money will have to be brought in somehow....taxes raised....stuff cut...layoffs

The Federal Gov't LIE about inflation, The FEDERAL RESERVE LIE about inflation.

As Hutchinson points out small business is starved for capital, these guys are the lifeblood of our economy, create jobs....but BIG BUSINESS it is said is at or near record profits...life is good....and they want it to stay that way....so if at all jobs added will come TOO SLOW to help most avoid financial destruction.

The efforts, in open speaches by the Federal Reserve are to RAISE ASSET PRICES....remember trickle down? it ain't trickling.....but the gulf between the haves and nots has never been greater.

2.5 years of a ZIRP FED policy...yet little if any headway for the housing industry can be seen..home values still falling most places......too many are upside down....equity has been VAPORIZED. Most of these avg Americans own LITTLE stocks to make a difference, yet THIS LIBERAL PRESIDENT extended the BUSH tax cuts! WTF????? WTF????? allowing those with BIG STOCK DIVIDEND positions to pay as little as 15% taxes!
LOOPHOLES or in some cases a chummy relationship with DC, like GE pay as little as 3% tax rate..how cool is that?

THOSE IN CHARGE decided in 2008-2009 it was good idea to take the BANK LOSSES and hoist them onto the public, in most cases ALL OF IT! You see they said it had to be done or ELSE. How well would you be doing if all your debts just vanished? Or in the case of the paper.....they just changed on the way the banks had to account for it...with PRESTO an accounting rule change....NO LONGER did those pieces of shit mortgages, now maybe worth nothing......the value of such could be made up by the banks...how convienent...they could show HUGE profits and pay HUGE bonuses, maybe to some of the same dudes in charge when this mess began.

Now a BRILLIANT idea is being put forth that we just BULL DOZE most of these vacant homes...see that way they just dissapear from view....BRILLIANT!!!

HOW DID HIDING BANK LOSSES WORK FOR JAPAN SINCE 1990?

Inflation is better than Deflation? MAYBE SO, if you are connected insider...who has someone else pump their gas.....how many MILLIONAIRES reside in Congress?

WHAT would interest rates be if the FED hadn't bought $trillions of Treasuries? SAVERS GRAB YOUR ANKLES...or go into the STOCK market and buy pieces of worthless stock parchment.....so the INSIDERS can keep cashing out handing YOU the bag.

Maybe we should sell all our stocks and invest on basket of foreign currencies? HOW's GOLD AND SILVER DOING?
WHAT backs up our currency? Read what it says on the paper..."full faith........" but what about the soaring deficits...in what year will it improve? OH the S&P just issued a warning on the US a possible downgrade of our debt might be coming....
WHO CARES? not many obviously as stocks continued their historic march higher, like a meteor, like never before in history.....am I the ONLY one who thinks something is out of whack?

As DENT suggested, do we move higher but come Sept/Oct or earlier begin a viscous CRASH CYCLE TAKING US BACK TO NEAR 4,000????
It is true all bubbles retrace their origin. Tech lost nearly 90% from their highs of 2000....and even now are some 50% BELOW those highs some 10 plus years later!
The inflation may have given the appearence of Recovery and stabilizing what was ailing, banks have been able to borrow at 0% and then buy US treasuries and pocket the dif......a SURE THING means they don't have to take ANY chances with anyone else.

Inflation is rearing an even uglier HEAD in Asian and arab Nations who have been lending us plenty....and as all that DEBT they have gorged on.....it IS denominated in US $'s...which have been???????????? DYING AND UGLY LOSING VALUE DEATH......this...new money printed out of thin air....makes it MUCH easier to pay debts incurred at he OLD $ VALUE? see how the game is played?

THIS ABHORRENT MANIPULATION will bite us in the ass IMHO when US DEBT gets sold.....remember over last 6 months the FED has bought near $600B of debt.....with a little help from their friends, who in turn buy the SPX and other things......if you dont play along you get SQUAT!!!!! that simple, or worse.

When the end comes to this dangerous game, most likely outcomes could be MUCH HIGHER INTEREST RATES, the LOW LOW rates we currently see (EVEN AS COMPANIES ROLL IN RECORD PROFITS>???????? and almost 3 years into Recovery???) could vanish....taking it all down with it.....of course the FED says they have EXIT STRATEGY......mandate for stable currency by the FED must have been swept under the rug....all BUBBLES POP...GD help us.

Duratek

Thursday, April 21, 2011

"BUBBLES GO BACK TO WHERE THEY BEGAN"

....Harry Dent: “Major Crash” Coming for Stocks, Commodities Already Topping Out

By Aaron Task
Daily Ticker – Thu, Mar 31, 2011 11:07 AM EDT


"The first quarter comes to a close today with major averages at or near multi-year highs. Expect "substantial" further gains for stocks before a "major top" occurs in late summer, says noted forecaster Harry Dent, founder of HS Dent and The Dent Method.

The good news, for those long, is Dent predicts the Dow will trade as high as 13,200 by mid-summer and the S&P 500 as high as 1430, or more-than 7% above current levels. The bad news is "then we could see another major crash," Dent says, forecasting the Dow could trade as low as 3300 in a worst-case scenario. "Bubbles go back to where they started or a little lower," he says. "The stock market bubble started at (Dow) 3800 in late 1994."

While Dent predicts the Dow's crash will play out over several years, he sees clear and present danger in gold, silver, oil and other commodities. "All investors should lighten up on or sell oil, silver, and gold as the U.S. dollar looks like it has bottomed and should rise ahead," he writes in the March issue of HS Dent Forecast."

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION ECONOMY

Even after QE2 comes to an end, Bernake led FED does not intend to let nature take its course. The FED will continue to reinvest into Treasuries and continue its program of manipulation of the markets and interest rates.

It has come to an issue, where it can ill afford to discontinue operations when the patient has not really come out of its coma, the losses at the big banks have been both foisted onto the public and hidden by change in accounting rules...because since mark to market was extinguished in early 2009....appearences are everything.

With commodities seemingly hitting new highs every day, with the dollar hitting fresh lows at the same time, it is clear what the intention is, what the policies are meant for.

Gov't data on inflation, employment and almost anything is seasonably adjusted and revised the next week...continuously.

Understanding what the REAL issues are, and how we got HERE have me very defensive and I have said riding the trend has been fun, but this party is not built on sustainability or carefully thought out policy which will need to growth and a healthy economy.

On the contrary, the economy, and markets cannot stand on their own 2 feet, the CRACK ADDICT must have its FED Induced fix....or go flacid

D

REAL FOOLS GOLD

WHAT THE FED IS AFTER

Spike in fuel prices wipes out airlines profits- AP


"Soaring jet fuel prices are wiping out profits at the nation's biggest airlines. The world's biggest airline company, United Continental Holdings Inc., said Thursday that it lost $213 million in the first three months of the year after seeing its fuel bill spike nearly $600 million."

SOMEBODY IS LYING


EVEN the mainstream Consumer Sentiment picture has not even recovered back to theWORST IT EVER WAS in 2001-2003 bear market after 911!!
This is the most one sided manipualted recovery NOT this country has ever seen.
ONE MUST aske, WHY if the stock market reflects the economy, has gained almost 100% since its lows, would the SAME AGGRESIVE monetary expansionist policies still be in effect full tilt???

And from above link to Consumer Metrics you will see that ALL of the eso called expansion in Consumer spending and loans comes from "seasonal edjustements" WHAT IS WRONG with giving a RAW FIGURE? because it wouldnt look as good...economists are like a dime a dozne snake oil salesmen....
And LAST weeks unemployment claims QUIETLY gets revised UP anohter 4,000 when no one is paying attention......and the headline reads?
"UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL"    

WHAT is going to be the price of this FED orchestrated gambit of ZERO rates and monetizing the debt?
Watch value of your money....andd they are at same time trying to KILL the YEN vs the $.....because traders are short the YEN...cant have them hurt.
SO the way to a PROSPEROUS US economy is by targeting the value of our currency so exports will rise?
HELLOOOOOOO what about the wage disparity between them ans us? HOW many new factories being constructed here?
What about the price of everything we need food and energy?

IMHO, the RISE in stocks is directly attributed to FED policy and outright targeting of assets, there is NO FREE MARKET......NOW they cannot STOP, and they wont!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF WE HAD REAL RECOVERY, would we still need ZIRP and FED MANIPULATION??

Duratek

CNBC SHOULD BE PULLED OFF THE AIR

Is having a guest like Miskin former FED stooge really the best they can do? If anyone heard him talking this AM you know what I mean. If he opened his mouth any wider I expected to see another head come out...what a mindless jerk....and these kinds of people are and were running he FED.

"Well we don't target assets, but we want asset prices to go up....wed on't want a weak $ but we want manufacturing jobs to come back......" NOT A SINGLE CHORTLE from the ivory asshole about the OTHER things FED policy is doing....and they're not good.  INFLATION around the world, commodities rocking again this am as the US FIAT TISSUE PAPER ROLLS OVER AGAIN to fresh lows now solidly under 74.00
FRIENDS, IS THIS FED POLICY to destroy the $ and raise stock prices helping the economy? NO, its screwing savers, the middle class and creating an even wider gulf between the haves and nots....higher pump prices dont effect the dudes who dont even pump their own gas.

It's time to be heard, its not time to sit on your hands.Talking to friends and anyone you meet about REAL ISSUES and what is going on is a start.

SO I HAD NO IDEA the way to fix a credit and housing bubble bust was to kill your currency.....and DIRECTLY manipulate asset prices in an attempt to influence asset prices for one sole purpose WEALTH EFFECT.

MY my smiling jackals...it does have unintended consequences.....and go f yourself for those! 4 week moving avg for unemployment claims rose to near 400,000 this far along INTO "RECOVERY" is another historical first....

D

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

HEY I FOUND A BEAR

"Things are certainly speeding up, and it is my conclusion that we are not more than a year away from the next major financial and economic disruption."


http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/breakdown-draws-near/56594

US $ at 74.12 (was 74.099) breaking 09 lows, now only 08 lows remain....shouldn't we rejoice....for the in crowd? I am HAPPY for them, they got bailed out, they got richer....life is good...NO arrests for the financial crisis evil doers....WTF?

D

US $ NOW ON PAR WITH CHARMIN!!!!

HOW DO YOU GET ALL things TO RALLY? KILL THE $

Has fallen to 74.16 in AH trading, not there is JUST one more monthly low to hurdle and the US $ can find itself a new hole to crawl into.

WHY WOULD THE FED, mandated to support a stable currency, continue policies that are doing just the opposite?

WHY are record numbers on GOVT assistance while the stock market soars to new highs?

D

D

YIELDS FORMING A WEDGE

HOUSE OF CARDS

S&P 500 AT PREVIOUS RESISTANCE

CNBC reports that the way to heal housing is to have the government " bulldoze foreclosed and abandoned homes" thus shrinking supply......gosh what a brillaint idea...in the meantime the charade called Recovery goes on at the cost of inflation here and abroad and the destruction of our currency, hope its worth it

D

US $ TANKING

AM print 74.35 new low for the move, ALL ELSE UP SHARPLY, OIL....and GOLD SILVER to fresh highs....OH Stock futures are roaring big time....the "BUYERS" must be back....you know how the companies are beating to smithereens the expected earnings....surely overseas profits in weaker US $'s has nothing to do with it as our economy is RED HOT!!!

WHat a farce, what a pile of shit, follow the trend.. great move KILL the $, make everything else look great......if you sit tight you lose....RUN DONT WALK TO RISK....that's the message

D

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

FRAUD: Federal Reserve Is Selling Put Options On Treasury Bonds To Drive...

Orig shown here http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-far-can-fed-go-in-manipulating.html

GRAIN ETN

Resistance as shown, will it rise up to fill gap at $55.50-$56?

D

HOUSING RECOVERY

TURN this upside down and you have the stock market and gold, oil since 2009! This also looks like the path of the US $.
We are still in the cyclical bull market, selling has not been intense enough to shake off the fleas.And as you understand I could be TOTALLY WRONG, but investing is about managing RISK, IMHO the easy MONEY HAS BEEN MADE.
There has NOT been a lot of conviction from the bulls or the bears lately.....if LONG not much fear being shown, still near rally highs. If betting the TOP IS IN, we are at bottom of trading range even as more BAD NEWS arises......yesterdays selling lacked intensity except for point losses....out of the gate she fell, but made a low very quickly and stabilized thereafter.

As above chart illustrates, and this is before the 8:30 DATA, there is NO recovery of substance where we need it the most.

NO COMMON sense plans are to be seen to handle our rising deficits and other structural issues. S&P warning on our debt is laughable, really? we have debt issues?
By KILLING the $ and giving away and printing like it was free, $ weakness masks other structural problems. ALLOWING an accounting gimmick doesn't make the problem go away or the banks to lend....or sell the houses.

$4 GAS doesn't help build confidence with Consumers. SIMPLE fixes for SS wont even be considered like taxing all wages, not stopping at $90K or do as they do now and SS debits dissapear fro the wealthy....what they rather do is tell you you can't colelct until your 80 and you aren't going to get as much...well at least we have SOME PROGRESS!

Duratek

Steve Miller RARE live show--cash aint nothing but trash

THIS SONG SEEMS TO FIT

Monday, April 18, 2011

SIGN OF TIMES

  • Builder outlook falls ahead of spring season- AP

  • Citi's Q1 profit falls 32 percent on lower loans- AP

  • Drugmaker Eli Lilly's 1Q profit falls 15 percent- AP


  • The market made its lows not soon out o the gate, but did little after that. Large point losses hid lackluster selling, it was a day the buyers didnt show up with much conviction.

    And that's why the SPX came back above 1300. Sideways action can frustrate longs but I don't see ANY throwing in of towel. I'm not sure a meteor hitting DC would stop the funneling of $'s into risky assets as long as no other game in town.
    WHat an amazing unwinding its going to be though. JJG caught a bid today, may chart later on.

    D

    LET'S LOOK AT S&P 500 ACTION

    The VIX closed under 17 (after rising to 19), so there is little fear in todays selloff...I mean WHO on Earth doesn't know the US is broke? BIG DEAL?

    US $ gained, bonds gained, gold gained, corn and soybeans were higher.....OIL lower.

    SO what the US had their debt downgraded......maybe the 2 wives from GS were back in the market near the close to make it look like the correction had no teeth......who knows anymore, the stock market is broken as a voting machine

    D

    WHAT'S WRONG WITH PALLADIUM?

    RICH SEE TAXES PAID FALL DRAMATICALLY

    "Schoenberg, who now teaches a business class at Columbia University, said his income is usually "north of half a million a year." But 2009 was a bad year for investments, so his income dropped to a little over $200,000. His federal income tax bill was a little more than $2,000.







    "I simply point out to people, `Do you think this is reasonable, that somebody in my circumstances should only be paying 1 percent of their income in tax?'" Schoenberg said."

    Over the weekend, a friend suggested we fix SS by removing level of pay where you stop getting taxed......

    D

    Saturday, April 16, 2011

    WHAT DOES GAS COST IN YOUR STATE?

    http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/MDavg.asp  It's up about a $1 from one year ago, this is a real shock to most consumers.

    The stock market is stuck in a trading range of about 1300-1339. It's a stalemate, but the longs feel NO pressure.
    The fear index, the VIX fell below 16 Friday signalling traders are not worried enough to buy puts for protection.

    The US $ is in full scale death watch mode and is in danger of collapsing. Sometimes that just when it may surprise and get happy feet.

    Just ate at Jack's Deli, awesome! IMHO it KILLS Panara by a mile, BETTER FOOD, BETTER ATMOSPHERE, they bring your food to you, many HEALTHY selections.

    Its TAX TIME.....Monday is due date.

    From Doug Nolands Credit Bubble Report

    "At the same time, expectations for ongoing near-zero Fed funds place a low ceiling on Treasury (and related) yields. I would argue that a heavily distorted “Bubble” market for determining U.S. Treasury yields disregards risks associated with U.S. structural debt issues and a rapidly deteriorating inflation backdrop. One of these days, China and fellow Brics nations may arrive at the conclusion that the best hope they have for reining in “hot money,” surging commodities prices, and increasingly unwieldy inflation is to back away from supporting our debt markets."



    BY DAVID BENOIT AND MATT JARZEMSKY


    "Bank of America Corp. closed the first quarter with revenue down sharply across the majority of its businesses, sending profit falling 36%.


    The nation's largest bank by assets is struggling to right the ship, saying Friday that it changed its chief financial officer, Chuck Noski, after less than a year on the job, as well as naming a new legal chief. Chief Risk Officer Bruce Thompson will succeed Mr. Noski by the end of the second quarter." full story for members at WSJ.COM