DON'T BANK ON IT

CHINESE MARKET "WEDGE" STILL IN PLAY

IT'S JUST PAPER

In preperation for a potential full time endevour, I am briefly "paper trading" to test some of my trading ideas. This is a seperate account, time frame, and mindset to IT or longer term ideas and strategy. I don't even care, nor need to know anything about these companies, all I care is they meet my criteria for my trading style.

Paramount to success IMHO is the ability to SCAN for targets, then choose from that list the best candidates that offer the most potential for winning trades. ALWAYS EMPLOYING STOP LOSS to keep the losers from swamping any winners, very key....set goals before pushing any button.

If time permits I will post what I am doing here and keep score. I will also do my best to post the buys in REAL TIME and SELLS IN REAL TIME, I have no reason nor would I put bogus data up just to make myself look good.....but I would like to keep a public record of how I do and some insights on how I do it, maybe it will be helpful to someone and is another added feature to my site....and would be something when going LIVE I would reveal to my subscribers should I decide to go that path....lots up in the air right now...many potential paths I could blaze....

OK so far....at Thursday's close I bought (ALL 1,000 share lots....when I buy cheapies)

PZG Bought  $3.35 sold $3.46  less $14 commisions  NET GAIN $96
HDY  $4.43 SOLD $4.68  GAIN $236
MSO (YES MARTHA STEWART!!) $4.63 SOLD $5.14 GAIN $496
ZLC Bought $ 5.06 SOLD $5.73 GAIN $656

Total trading profits for Friday $1,484

I used a scan that showed me stocks in a "breakaway gap" pattern and I honestly didn't spend to much time picking these 4, and there were maybe 30 others to look at. I pared these down from a list of 6 mainly because there was really good volume, a plus for trading.

My contention was, there was a good chance there would be at least one more day of momentum to carry the stocks after breaking out in this manner. Friday happened to be an UP DAY for market, so that didn't hurt, what if the market had sold off? Don't know.....

Paper trading allows you to try your ideas, with NO RISK, hence NO EMOTION, so you will most likely DO what you WANT to do, and NOT overthink it. Size of your tardes could be determined by the amount of cash you are staking yourself with.

I had an awesome day, but this doesn't mean this system is either fool proof or will actually work, but 4 for 4 is pretty good start and so is $1,484 of profit LOCKED IN AT CLOSE as my goal is to not hold overnight unless establishing new positions.

GAP ups or DOWNS can go right thru stop losses, and leave you with MUCH MORE pain than otherwise....RISK is always there, your goal is to mitigate it.

I could have closed the trades at 10 am and made $430...with 2 up and 2 unchanged. That is not bad either. MY personal goal is to make $100K per year and that would be fine with me.....that's $400 a trading day...a modest goal. So if I have a great day like Friday, it could help even out things should I have one of those other kinds of days.

If the market goes more sour, I would look at SDS or other inverse ETF'S for that play, and would need to use different technical analysis to accomplish it.

My initial game plan going into this is to find momentum, and try to hard, nor overthink....so NO other TA was used, I relied mainly on the SCAN (which I also need to refine).

Have great weekend.

Duratek

Bursting Blue

Cosmic Rain CHECK OUT THIS DUDE! ANGEL RECA

WHAT IS AND WHAT IT SHOULD BE

Greek leaders fail to agree on austerity measures- AP

There will come a time when we can finally heal from this crisis, the longer those in positions of POWEr keep dicking us around, and pandering to the top 10%, the longer REAL RECOVERY WILL TAKE.
Mark my words, the stock market is inflated bag of HS and does NOT reflect the real world dangers here and lurking.

D

GOOGLE IS IN A BEAR MARKET

ONE WAY STREET

LESS BANG FOR THE $, MONEY MULTIPLIER CONTINUES ITS DESCENT!

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf  part of what is floating the boat

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.

BULLS BY THE HORNS

Until SPX 1294 is taken out, bulls are not going to get too worried, the VIX bears this out.......not one bull cares about QE2 ending, FED has given NO reason for them to think they can;t pull some other rabbit out of their hat......sellers have NOT gained control and have not stepped up their game...yet

We'll approach it from a TECHNICAL standpoint as little else matters

D

THIS STOCK WILL COLLAPSE IMHO IN THE COMING BEAR MKT !

SOME OF THE GENERALS ARE SLIPPING

COLLAPSE OF 2 YEAR NOTE YIELDS

You shouldn't see THIS in a "Recovery"....just want "return of my money..."

SOME RUNNING FOR EXITS

Back to 3% yields for the 10 year...why so worried or just FED QE2?

D

ECRI INDEX IS POINTING TO GLOBAL SLOWDOWN BY SUMMER

http://www.businesscycle.com/

"LIGHT GROWTH BIG DEBT"

http://briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm Here is the link to AM data just released, above quote from one of few truth tellers at CNBS Rick Santelli.

GDP revised? 1st qtr growth remains at 1.8%, this far into supposed recovery this is easily HALF of what it SHOULD be.....again UPWARD revisions to unemployment claims by 5,000 and this weeks figure solidly above 400,000 at 424,000....this must be some kind of NEW AGE RECOVERY.....but I guess it all depends on who you ask....ask the top 10% in this country and you will first have to figure out which mansion they are staying at....they will say "we're bitchin'!" and I suppose that makes us the other 90% their bitches?
A GRAND CANYAON type chasm has opened up between the HAVE'S and the NOT'S....for how long will they just sit around and take it?

Duratek

CONSUMER CYCLICALS

This BEARS watching, as chart shows, since 2002 there has been strong correlation between how it fairs and general market and economy.
The RISE (parabolic) from 2009 lows would make you think the recovery was one monster of a success

D

BLIGHT

Foreclosures represent 45% of sales in California and Arizona, and 28% of all existing home sales during the first three months of 2011.


"This is very bad for the economy," said Rick Sharga, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/26/real_estate/foreclosure_sales_report/index.htm

TO MY NEW READERS My 2007" Bear Alert"

http://contrarianadvisor.blogspot.com/2007/11/bear-alert.html  MY BLOG NOV 2007. Now, I also had subsequent posts continuing to warn of trouble and IMHO I was one of the few indepenant thinkers who began alerting way before the carnage, but SO early to look stupid...or cry wolf...as some did in 1998.

My posts contain emotion, sure, but when I make a call on LONG TERM TREND CHANGES it is based on technical analysis, then and only then do I add any fundamental issues....just thought I would remind you.

D

WHAT WE ARE TOLD VS REALITY FOR MANY

http://www.harfordcountymdforeclosures.com/xSites/Agents/LongFosterRealtors2/Content/UploadedFiles/Foreclosure%20Pic%20-%20Sad%20Girl.jpg  link for pic credit

Stocks Turn Higher as Crude Tops $100 a barrel- AP


"Stocks are closing higher for the first day this week, as rising oil prices offset worries about the global economic recovery.

Or how does this yhoo headline make any sense? what does rising oil have to do with health of economies? It's a speculative feeding ground, a toy for the money boys.

Here is the reality that I see, 700,000 jobs have been created by the "recovery" SINCE QE2, and if you divide them into the FED $600B QE2, they were born at $850,000 a piece! But wait, I showed you how 600,000 of these are most likely part time people put back to full time.

People taking almost ANY job they can, so many people out of work for as much as 2 years or more....they become LOST, no longer counted, invisable to employers who don't like hiring someone out of work for so long, how do they not sound desperate or pleading when doing an interview, if they even get one?

And MOST of the time these newly hired are woking for MUCH less than before. They fall behind UPTEEN bills, many losing their homes, their way of life may be changed forever. SO MANY AVG PEOPLE upside down in homes, no longer having equity, so many not able to retire or sell and downsize to retire like they had planned....this is one big cluster bang. May I also point out that MANY MANY (MORE THAN ANYONE WILL SAY) have been TAKING OUT of their retirement accounts....some taking 50% or draining it completely....that is the reality the avg American is faced with......not a free lunch as has been handed the Banksters.

Those in power aren't leveling with the people, and or they have not a darn clue as to what the avg persons life is like.
Those who cannot afford to LOSE, who don't own stocks....are getting flayed by FED ZIRP policy, savings get NO RETURN! what to do?

GOld, Silver, OIL markets are going through WILD swings....what to do....what to do. 10 year notes instead of RISING with recovery stand near their lows 3%...really 3%? no thanks, but that may be as good as it gets....in a normal recovery we aren't even talking about such things.

Employers are in driver seat, WHO is getting a raise? can you borrow against your house? What young person wants to BUY after what they HAVE SEEN.

All this effort, and by the FEDS own admission, they meant to stoke the stock market, they targeted the stock market....IMHO this and how we got HERE, an historic stock rally against a MYOPIC economic landscape...doesn't smell nor feel right to me..

I would TRADE IT..borrow it for a day, a week....not as an investment, no thanks.....the voting machine is broken, people don't trust it...when you LOSE TRUST...it is very hard to gain it back...maybe a generation.

Hey, stocks could mount another rally, if QE2 ends and fades away and the world doesn't end, that may embolden some......the market is supposed to discount the known and the unknown.....well it used to....

HFT computers don't even need humans anymore.....faster and closer to wall street the better....like free money.

Banksters win, you lose, NO ARRESTS, NO PROSECUTIONS OF COURSE....NO ONE SENT TO JAIL for the crime of the century, if not longer....it appears like they got away with it.....did they?

Is the Gov't serving the people, or are they serving them up?

Duratek

THAR SHE BLOWS

Yes……THINK OF HOW MUCH HAS BEEN destroyed….HOUSING FAR OUTREACHES MOST OTHER ASSETS THEY MANAGED TO RE-INFLATE….LIKE THE Hindenburg IT COULD BLOW

http://www.zerohedge.com/print/392046 Albert Edwards see SPX 400 and Deflation

ANYOE WHO READS ME KNOWS WHAT I have been saying, this is a mirage.....at some point.....yes we can build from the ashes....but for now..a stock market that has gone up MAINLY from QE liquidity flow and other gaming, a weak $ international flow......more debt piled up on the stuff hidden under the rug......a COMPLETE reckoning must precede a sustainable recovery....this oen is leaving out about 90% of those affected....even with a Dem at the helm,it really doesn't matter WHO

from Richmond Fed

"Current Activity In May, the seasonally adjusted composite index of manufacturing activity—our broadest measure of manufacturing—fell sixteen points to -6 from April’s reading of 10. Among the index’s components, shipments decreased nineteen points to -13, new orders dropped twenty-five points to finish at -15, while the jobs index held steady at 14. Other indicators were mostly weak. The index for capacity utilization moved down fourteen points to -12, and the backlog of orders index lost eighteen points to -19. The delivery times index declined thirteen points to end at 5, while our gauges for inventories were mixed in May. The finished goods inventory index edged up two points in May to end at 12, while the raw materials inventories index eased two points to 16"

Duratek

HON INC AS ECONOMIC PROXY?

Largest Mid Market Office Furn mf in US canary? Surely we have added tons of jobs? Need desks and chairs? Hmmmmm But 600,000 of the 700,000 added were part time people being put back to full time…..there’s your recovery

OH the recovery must be in housing? yeah we covered that.....recovery in govt debt? inflation? there it is!

It is sad to report the one person I did like at CNBS has passed away Mark Haines, may gd bless him and his family.....

D

NEW GLSKIN SHEFF ONLINE REPORT

http://www.gluskinsheff.com/pdf/USFiscalSolution.pdf

RETAIL HOLDERS ETF

Weakness here does not bode well for overall stock market IMHO.....toppy here as well

D

DURABLE GOODS FLAGGING

Sure looks toppy....what a surprise

CHYRSLER REPAYS LOANS IN JUST 2 YEARS!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110524/bs_nm/us_chrysler ISNT That amazing? just borrow from HERE and pay them over THERE

HOME SALES RECOVER, AND MY FUTURE

To annualized 323,000.........can you see it?

My loyal blogger readers, my circumstances are changing. I am leaving my current day job after 30 years....and a new chapter will begin.

One option is I continue writing, but develop a subscription service so I can continue to inform, educate, and help people steer clear of trouble, as I have and even more when I can devote 24/7 to the project.

Probably would run NO more than $199 a year. (details will be posted here when that happens) I promise it would be more than worth that price and my style and approach is different than most any other site or paid service.....just one option I am entertaining.

I have enjoyed running this blog for the last 8 years or so, and I might keep it going to some extent....it has taken a lot of effort and time. Imust provide for my family as well.

I won' make wild claims, I just know what I can offer and when you get me, you get  my network of traders, and gurus and all the info I can put into my own words from the different services I PAY FOR, that is worth  the price of anything I would charge just in that feature.
Now more than ever, if you do nothing more, you must be aware, and prepare..... I have called the last 2 Bear markets, one on this site, you can go back and see what I was saying and when, all public record. I use a combo of everyday real world observations and technical analysis to do my best NOT to get blind sided. NO ONE is pefect, there is NO secret, but 20 years plus of writing, reading, and reseach....knowledge most people would not attempt to accumulate or care to. There are financial advisors, and there are others seeking truth

Duratek

Moody's warns UK banks of potential downgrades

"Moody's warns UK banks of potential downgrades"
http://www.ino.com/?af


"Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has put 14 British banks on review for potential credit rating downgrades, citing the lack of any state-sponsored bailouts in the future. Moody's said the 14 lenders have levels of government support in their existing ratings that may be "too high for the evolving post-crisis environment."

Yesterdays SELLOFF lacked BIG VOLUME but had INTENSITY as it registered 89% down volume of total up and down volume. What this may suggest is that any rally from here will be weak and the selling has not brought a tradable bottom.

The VIX is just under 19 and that also does not show a huge ramp in fear. This also leads me to believe a test of that 1294 SPX area may be in the cards.

STOCKS no longer have a mouring to the real world, the FED fixed that, so only technical expertise can light the way...stay tuned. I have NOT called the end of the cyclical bull market, but it's LONG IN THE TOOTH and IMHO easy money has been made. LINKED IN mania shows animal greed has returned, another stone in the wall.

D

QE2 WAS A BUST!

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qe2-was-a-bust-2011-05-21  well explained article, hard to refute.

"The truth? QE2 has created a massive new bubble in dollar-based financial assets, from stocks to gold. Meanwhile, it has had zero visible effect on the real economy.


Take jobs. According to the U.S. Labor Department, since last August the number of full-time workers has gone up by just 700,000, from 111.8 million to 112.5 million.

At a cost of $600 billion, that’s $850,000 a job.

The picture’s even more meager. Over the same period, the number of part-time workers has gone down by 600,000. In other words, we’ve basically shifted 600,000 or 700,000 workers from part-time jobs to full-time jobs.

The percentage of the population in work is actually lower today — 58.4%, compared to 58.5% last August. The percentage of the workforce in actual work, the so-called “participation rate,” has fallen by half a percentage point."

SPX SHORT TERM SUPPORT

VIX fear index is still under 19, so we are not seeing a lot of fear induced selling. $ is rallying, and that spells trouble to the commodity sector, and signs of weakness in Euro sector

D

ALU UPADTE

Remember I posted a while back warning of possible top here....let's see how this one plays out, but the H and S formation has broken down. WILL THAT GAP BE FILLED?

HOW TO GET HOSED, AND BUBBLE MANIA FIRED UP!

THEIR LOSS IS OUR GAIN

WITH recent US $ strength befuddling some, it does seem to have come OFF the canvas. The reason is EURO issues with Greece, Italy, Portugal and maybe Spains debt....EURO weakness = $ rally....the "carry trade" may be ill prepared for this.

The game is no longer in the early innings, those sticking around holding may be sore losers in the not too distant future.

Futures point to triple digit swoon....Japan and Chinese markets continue to struggle. CASH may not seem like safe haven (but $ is in rally mode), as FED holds to their bendover ZIRP policies......the silence from the masses to this injustice emblodens the gamesters....

D

WEEKEND DOUG NOLAND

"As I noted above, the end of QE2 doesn’t have to mean liquidity issues for the marketplace.  Then again, the end of quantitative easing becomes a major market liquidity event if the marketplace is in the midst of a serious bout of speculative de-risking and de-leveraging.  Much to contemplate and analyze over the coming days and weeks."
http://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10536

ONLY TOP 10% SMILING! FEWER STOCKS PARTICIPATE IN RALLY

ONE OF THESE ARE WRONG

NO LAUGHING MATTER...POTENTIAL DOMINO

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fitch-cuts-Greek-rating-warns-rb-4091943276.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

"ATHENS (Reuters) - Fitch cut Greece's credit rating by three notches on Friday, pushing it deeper into junk territory, and warned of more downgrades if the EU and the IMF do not produce a credible plan for the debt-ridden country."

Yet GOOG can sell bonds for 2%???? for 10 years? the WHOLE system is out of whack...what is REAL and not?

GAP and retailers getting whacked.....maybe something posted SAT, charts what have you

D

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO!!! SAD STATE FOR LOW RISK INVESTORS AND SAVERS!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Google-bond-deal-sets-stage-rb-829260266.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
NEW YORK, May 20 (IFR) - "The pressure is on Apple and Amazon to consider the merits of issuing bonds for the first time in their corporate lives, especially now that Google has demonstrated how low investors will go on yield to get a rare slice of large-cap tech company debt."


"More than $9bn of orders flooded underwriters of the $3bn of three, five and 10-year notes Google offered earlier this week, which priced with coupons of just 1.25%, 2.125% and 3.625%." ??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST STATS, JUST STUPID STATS, TRUTH ALWAYS GETS IN THE WAY

"The drop in the leading indicators does not represent a negative turning point in the recovery. The drop is due to statistical issues rather than real problems."
Read more: http://briefing.com/GeneralContent/Investor/Active/ArticlePopup/ArticlePopup.aspx?SiteName=Investor&ArticleId=NS20110519105420HeadlineHits#ixzz1MthNVNiU

ON SECOND THOUGHT

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf we'll just keep priming the blasted pump!!!!  smart money (not you) is slowly backing out the back door....the transfer to weak hands almost complete.

How MSM played UP the DECREASE to ONLY 405,000 (close enough) unemployment claims Thursday......sure 2.5 years into supposed recovery... should be WELL BELOW 350,000...now if the yahooos were printing and distributing fairly.........

D

WEAKENING TREND

This is not what the point totals imply

CAN CONSUMER SENTIMENT CALL A MARKET TOP?

http://www.market-harmonics.com/free-charts/sentiment/consumer_sentiment.htm

CS topped in 2000 and again in 2007, importantly though it made a lower high....even as stocks edged to NEW ALL TIME HIGHS, Consumer Sentiment did not even come close...and now with stocks soaring in one of the most dramatic rallies in 100 years......CS is not even close to the lowest levels after 911 !!

This suggests the 2009 rally is NOT a new secular bull market but a reaction to the extreme pessimism in 2009 and historic govt and FED intervention......which has propped up the markets, but it is a false dawn.

You don't cure a debt hangover by adding more debt and hiding the bad older debt by use of fraud (GAO accounting change).

SO sure this folly can last a bit longer, IMHO one should be making preperations for what will happen when this bull runs out of steam...and it will.

Because of LAX, LOOSE FED interest rate policies after 911, rates were held down at 1% TOO LONG....wild speculation followed, then housing CRASH....home values are STILL FALLING even if at slower rate. From 2003- 2007 many homes DOUBLED or TRIPLED in value!.....some including my nephew ( I SAID TO WAIT!!!) think because of current price correction NOW IS TIME TO BUY!......bubbles tend to retrace most of the gains.....housing most likely has not bottomed.....and all this occuring with near record LOW mortgage rates....

D

PHILY FED PLUMETS AT NEAR RECORD PACE

More evidence of recovery? Jokers want you to believe...

D

WHEN TALKING IS ALL YOU HAVE LEFT TO CONVINCE OF RECOVERY

Sec Treasurer keeps saying "we have a STRONG $ policy", yet their actions along with FED have substantially weakened the $ and cause commodity prices to skyrocket.

"Japan in recession after economy shrinks 3.7%- Bloomberg "
"Sears posts 1Q loss; Kmart, Sears sales weak- AP "
and do YOU really believe this?     "The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply for the second straight week, suggesting the job market is slowly recovering. " 



They say the economy is strong and creating jobs yet we have the weakest statistical recovery in history and 2 years in 9% "official" unemployment.

Now's a good time to buy a home they say, and rates are LOW, and prices have come down, the housing market they say is recovering.....yet we have the weakest housing data since it had begun to be recorded. And all this, housing Depression with historical efforts to resuccitate it.

Raise the deficit ceiling they say, but we have already maxxed out, even though they say there is wiggle room....when we already know MANY things don't even show up on the official spending scorecard, like certain costs of the war.

We were told Treasury needed a $trillion  to buy troubled assets to save economy and banking system, except once they got the money they gave it to the banks and instead passed an accounting gimmick that has allowed them to HIDE their losses from the falling home values which also INFLATES SPX FINANCIAL EARNINGS.

Lowest interest rates in decades, QE 1 and 2, and the only thing it inflated was stocks and commodities...speculators and the upper 10% CHEER the efforts, while savers and the other 90% see standard of living erode.

The $trillion stole from home equity spent on buying binge, is now supplanted by gov't deficits.....WHAT IS THEIR PLAN? SAME OLD PLAN, SAME OLD GAME...set match

Duratek

SOMETHING IS GOING TO HIT THE FAN

"There is no means of avoiding a final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved." -Ludwig Von Mises

http://www.shtfplan.com/category/harry-dent  

 

 

KEY SPX SUPPORT LEVEL

SLUMP CONTINUES ON MAIN STREET

Hewlett-Packard cuts outlook for year- AP


Wal-Mart 1Q earnings rise 3 pct; U.S. still slumping- AP

HOUSING STARTS DOWN 25% OVER LAST YEARS DEPRESSED LEVELS...this is recovery?

D

ON THE BACKS OF THE WORKERS, AND BUSTED VOTING MACHINE

"Instead of making any serious effort to address the deficit, Washington politicians have decided to take a second drink at the federal employees' well," said William Dougan, president of the 110,000-member National Federation of Federal Employees, which said it has met with the administration.


U.S. hits the debt ceiling  http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/16/news/economy/federal_workers_obama_debt/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

The two-year pay freeze was considered a preemptive strike against the burgeoning federal deficit and was carried out by the White House.

Now Vice President Joe Biden is working with lawmakers from both parties on a deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending at the same time."

TRUST should be a 4 letter word, that is what has been LOST in this crisis. The voting machine, the stock market is no longer valid, nor working. With PROGRAM TRADING and HFT dominating the landscape, machines do the bulk of the work, not individuals making informed investing decisions based on quality of company, earnings etc.

Change in accounting rules breeds mistrust of earnings data from financial institutions. MISDIRECTED TARP funds meant to cleanse systeme of bad paper instead went to bail out bad institutions, so no real reform has taken place.

A HUGE divide is being created between the have's and the not's, the connected and everyone else. NOT ONE SINGLE SHITHEAD has been brought to justice for what has been wrought upon us.

AS stocks fly, the main source of American value the home lays wasted and dormant trapping millions....and you will hear is political rhetoric and promises.

LARGE companies reporting BIG earnings, mostly got there by weak $ and cuts from overhead.....and are RELUCTANT to hire.....over 2 years into recovery so much more needs to be done....with no plan to do it.

$1.5-$1.6 TRILLION deficits as far as eye can see. We thought $600 Billion a year was bad...the EXTRA $TRILLION is taking the place of the private sector spending now GONE....recovery is a fraud.

D

BANKING INDEX TESTING 200 DAY MOVING AVG

MSM media continues to sell the recovery view......if there is one it isn't like any before it. STOCKS have re-inflated.....things cost more, and savers get hosed....never before has there been such a GULF between the TOP 10% and everyone else.

D

DESTRUCTION OF ECONOMIC FACTS

http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/11_19/b4227060634112.htm

ECONOMY ON SUSPENDED ANIMATION

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay11/suspended-animation5-11.html

"The Fed's policy of a top-down "wealth effect" is widening an already unprecedented gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the nation. This widening divide is no secret; it is simply another feature of our suspended animation.

Simply put: the present set of policies is a recipe for household and national insolvency."

WEEKEND DOUG NOLAND

 " It doesn’t – it wouldn’t – take much for huge positions to suddenly reside in “weak hands.” How much has flowed into any number of risk markets for the sole reason that these markets have been moving higher?   It's when highly speculative markets perceive – and presume – abundant liquidity that serious market liquidity issues tend to ferment."

http://prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10533

"Gilded Age Of Speculative Trading"

You can keep buying because prices are rising, and for NO other reason, but in the aim of fixing our economy we end up with aother BUBBLE ECONOMY.

We can argue the FED had no other choices but to bail out the Fraudsters, and foist the losses on the public, lower rates to ZERO which stoked worldwide inflation, screwed less risky savers...so the MANY could pay for the ills of the few....but we won't argue that because WE know that isn't true.

During this time of crisis and supposed recovery the AVG person has seen their net worth crash as only 54% of AMericans even own ANY stocks, but near 30% or more are underwater in their homes where most of their net worth resides. Housing has NOT stabilized as yet, another 3 million homes are lined up for foreclosure.

Is it fitting that NOT ONE PERSON HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE FOR THE WORST FINANCIAL CRISIS IN HISTORY?

And how the media still thinks they can hoodwink us with THEIR truths and hand picked crony analysts? HARD, IN DEPTH reporting?...NOT.

You have to go elsewhere to get a glimpse of reality....maybe just going out your front door..

Duratek

SPX GETTING "TESTY"

ANOTHER LEG DOWN COMING FOR HNI?

Leader of the mid market office furniture manufacturers, weakness here is a warning for the overall markets and economy....my experience is HNI is a leading indicator, but it can come months from THE TOP...which was 3 months ago.

We are experiencing the weakest recovery in history from Recession, and now GDP has fallen to below 2%....it should easily be double that.

IMHO there are increasing troubling signs, including weakness in the banking sector....now is not the time to be bold

D

"SO YOU THOUGHT THE SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS WAS OVER?"

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/So%20You%20Thought%20the%20Sovereign%20Debt%20Crisis%20was%20Over%2005-10-2011.pdf   Martin Armstrong

Blogger has been offline for 2 days, will update this weekend.

D

ONE BEARISH CALL MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ

http://www.scribd.com/doc/55188703/GMO-Qtrly-Letter

IN A RECOVERY YIELDS USUALLY RISE

BANK INDEX ALSO RETRACED OUT A .382 FIB and appear to have topped.....people rush to Treasuries for SAFETY....

6 month notes yield a scant .07%

D

THE YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME CATEGORY

"By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press – Wed May 11, 7:06 pm ET


WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's main idea for getting quality health care at less cost was in jeopardy Wednesday after key medical providers called his administration's initial blueprint so complex it's unworkable."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110511/ap_on_he_me/us_health_care_setback

WHERE'S THE CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN?

OIL CONTINUES TO FALL

REALLY?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_ap_poll_obama_economy
WASHINGTON – "Americans are growing more optimistic about the U.S. economy, a sentiment that is benefiting President Barack Obama despite public disenchantment with his handling of rising gasoline prices and swollen government budget deficits.



An Associated Press-GfK poll shows that more than 2 out of 5 people believe the U.S. economy will get better, while a third think it will stay the same and nearly a fourth think it will get worse, a rebound from last month's more pessimistic attitude. And, for the first time since the 100-day mark of his presidency, slightly more than half approve of Obama's stewardship of the economy.


Both findings represent a boost for Obama, though he still must overcome ill will over government red ink and the price of gas at the pump, now hovering around $4 a gallon.


But the public's brighter economic outlook also could signal a boost to the current recovery, which relies to a great degree on consumer behavior. A public that is confident about economic performance is more likely to spend more and accelerate the economy's resurgence."

I find that insulting to my intelligence.....The house of cards the FED built is falling down......economies are becoming destabilized and so are the many things which have gotten JIGGY from the stimulus and low interest rates

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

WILD gyrations in the markets, oil, silver, corn and adding to what might be considered "normal" volatility is CME raising margin requirements to cool off one side of the speculation...2 $5 moves and a $10 move in oil in one week is rather extroadinary and destabalising

When I saw the US $ vault higher, off its oversold overbearish lows, and people bid up silver to near $40 again, I had feeling that wouldn't end well. Mining stocks reamined weak and under pressure.

How is that RECOVERY treating you? OH you work for the gov't....HOT MONEY flowing from the FEd for 2 PLUS years going here, there and everywhere.....that is their version of sound judgment and economic stability.....and how has FED policy been for housing? jobs? Value of currency? yield for savers?

Some smart money people I read are VERY worried about the future and are getting very defensive...maybe they will be wrong, but an already dissapointing recovery for everyone but the connected is geting even less so.

D

MARKETS ARE MANIPULATED AND PLAYGROUNDS

NOW IN WHAT UNIVERSE WOULD SILVER AND GOLD ROCKET HIGHER AT SAME TIME THE US $ DOES THE SAME?

OIL and GRAINS and STOCKS TOO, AND BOND PRICES.....only thing not going up is Consumer Confidence, Housing Prices, workweek, wages, and employment........

MORE HOT AIR TO COME

China's April trade surplus jumps to $11.4 billion


8 minutes ago ino.com
"China reported an unexpectedly large April trade surplus, likely fueling U.S. pressure over currency controls and market access as American and Chinese officials hold high-level talks in Washington. China's trade gap has angered Washington and other trading partners who blame currency controls and other policies they say are hampering trade and a global recovery."

Sure, let the US Officials jawbone in public, the injustice of it all, the currency manipulations...well we'll finally get those Chinese to DO SOMETHING about it!!!

And our currency woes have nothing to do with ZERO interest rates and runaway deficits, and a manufacturing base decimated by these policies. Free trade is for everyone but us. Well if the objective of US officials were to bring up 3rd world countries, we have, China is now #2 economy and in a few years will be #1. SO Iguess during the upcoming meetings, US officials will be pounding their chests so everyone can hear...the NEW PAPER TIGER

D

REASON FOR MONDAY RALLY

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/09/markets/markets_newyork/?iid=Popular
"After a sharp sell-off last week, commodities rebounded Monday. Oil jumped 5% to above $102 a barrel. Silver prices gained 6% and gold rose over 1%.


"Oil lifted this morning and, as a result, we saw a move back into the highly cyclical areas," said Kevin Rendino, a senior portfolio manager at BlackRock, pointing to companies in the energy and materials sector."

SO now OIL over $100 is good.....its the GAME they want to continue, the speculation game! THAT'S ALL THAT IS THERE IMHO!  SO now it's GOOD for OIL to drop $10 one day and vault $5 the next....glad we got that straight.

Well, why not keep the party going through July at least, where we can count on like clockwork the Federal resrrve will buy $15Billion of assets so the fire of stupidity and seperation of social classes can continue...while NO REAL RECOVERY EXISTS.

D

CHINESE MARKET NEARING A BREAK

Hey folks, isn't it great to see out of control markets, all around us? OIL, SILVER.....as margins get raised to try to rein in the speculators......

D

HOW IS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ETF DOING?

BLOWBACK

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay11/blowback5-11.html  distortions by FED,GOVT and PRESS laid out here.

Silver bouncing back solidly from its lows.

Here's a blowback to reality annecdote.

I was going for some lunch with my son, I saw a US Postal man yucking it up with a Fedx lady.....I said to the postman as Fedx lady left "fraternizing with the enemy huh?"  he laughed.

I said "heh no big deal, there's plenty to go around"   He replied, " NOT ANYMORE!"

In the real world things are as they seem...just ask the people

D

Jimi Hendrix If 6 Was 9 cover funk version FOR SSKRAM SHAKE YOUR ASS!

DOUG NOLAND'S CREDIT BUBBLE REPORT

"It doesn’t – it wouldn’t – take much for huge positions to suddenly reside in “weak hands.” How much has flowed into any number of risk markets for the sole reason that these markets have been moving higher?   It's when highly speculative markets perceive – and presume – abundant liquidity that serious market liquidity issues tend to ferment." 

"The gilded age of speculative thinking" 

ARE WE IN A NEW SECULAR BULL MARKET?

..."Take those fat profit margins. They're near record highs. Now, unless you believe that the stock market fairy has somehow suspended the past 100 years of American corporate history, those profits – earnings – are unsustainably high and will most likely fall within the next few years.


When they do, those bullish P/E ratios will stop looking so wonderfully green and start flashing a cautionary yellow." Christian Science Monitor Don't be fooled...AGAIN!

http://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-dividend-yield/

Dividend yields historically are a very good measure of valuing the stock market, currently we are in one of the most SCANT dividend yield moments in SPX history at 1.75%, most market BOTTOMS were formed with 6% yields and TOPS at 3% !......we can argue that treasury yields are very low here, but that is not a price based on a FREE MARKET SYSTEM with the FED monetizing debt.

http://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-earnings/  It used to take 40 years to appraoch a prior Secular bulls cycle highs for earnings....this time it only took 2 years?????????????????? buying near cycle HIGHS in earnings ends in tears.

FINALLY early in 2001 much more money was flowing into stock funds vs bond funds, but that has switched back aagin with near $30 B vs $3B last month.....rallies come with lithe volume and high selectivity....the cyclical bull market is aging, but not shown dead but TA just yet, some believe we have enterred a NEW ERA and that justifies staying LONG STOCKS.....I say we have never dealt with the prior bust, we have now built a new speculative bubble which will burst and cause tons of harm....you can't sweep problems under the rug, nor pile on new fresh debt to cover up the old debt and print money and call that prosperity.

What is happening is the FED policies return ZIPPO to savers and reward risk takers but that is also creating huge inbalances and inflation in commodities, food and energy in particular.

We are over 2 years into recovery and the unemployment rate is 9%, this is an historical worst. Housing the victim has not recovered, and wont for many years. SPX profits are suspect because of financial firms accounting change from mark to market to mark to fantasy.....if the current SPX 500 companies were measured in 2007 $'s and accounting standards......we would see a MUCH DIFFERENT PICTURE.

As with silver, price dropping from $48 to $34 in a week about a 30% DROP! That isn't a NORMAL correction, that could signal change of trend, end of speculative bull....unless you think the $ rally is over after just a 2% rally or all of this is just manipulation, if so that makes it even harder for anyone to profit except those doing the hokey pokey.

A similar comeupins would drag the SPX 500 down below 1000.....of course that isn't going to happen anytime soon...

Final thoughts

We are also near PEAK earnings, these 2 combined don't offer much hope of amazing longer term returns in coming months. Maybe NO signals for Bear, maybe not for many months, but easy money has been made, there are little signs that there is sustainability in hiring and NO signs of housing stability (bubbles pop and return to origins...for that that would be near 2003 valuations....that a fur piece below current depressed pricing in most areas)


SURE, you can paper and inflate over some problems, and give illusion of prosperity (that's a word hardly appropriate here?), 2.5 years into OFFICIAL recovery you don't have 9% unemployment and historical HIGHS in Govt transfer payments for people needing govt assistance....this seems a rather one sided recovery leaving out the majority affected and helping the majority who caused it.

In the meantime, the USA grows weaker economically, and the 3rd world is set to topple the USA in GDP just years away...and all we will have left is a mountain of paper debt, lower living standards and a military.


Duratek

SOME SERIOUS GIDDYUP

From the EDGE OF ABYS the US $ has come roaring back to life....is it that most everything in paper like the euro or yen sucks worse?

A SERIOUS hangover HAMMER is lying there if the market doesn't come to life here, 15 SPX points vanished in a snap.....dont you believe in that jobs report? come on!

D

THIS IS RECOVERY?

Doesn't look like the rise in wages from 2003 recovery...

"seasonal adjustments BLAMED for high claims Thrus"

Nothing blamed on higher than expected job growth report.

9% UNEMPLOYMENT after 2.5 years of recovery????

MONEY VELOCITY IN REVERSE

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/usfd/page3.pdf  First DECREASE in MOney Base in over 4 months....this just happened to coincide with near historic price burst in silver, oil and other commodities bid up with FED money and specualtion and add in some HORDING....I don't see how recxent action can be seen as healthy and the drop in 10 year yields from over 3.7% to just above 3.1% over this same period is not a sign of strength but of a large mass of money fleeing other things in fear.

The reporting continues to go on at the HAIR CHANNEL for financial BS, and all the ghouls that show up keep chirping about US economic strength and a NEW GEAR of expansion......not much being reported on the claims 4 week moving avg above 430K...INCONSISTANT with expansion and job growth.

Shaded areas are economic contraction (Recessions) and in each case, though with some it is slight, you get a CONTRACTION IN THE VELOCITY OF MONEY (how fast it changes hands in the economy).....I can say with some ease of observation the current SLOWING in velocity is unprecedented.

Definition  "Rate at which money circulates, changes hands, or turns over in an economy in a given period. Higher velocity means the same quantity of money is used for a greater number of transactions and is related to the demand for money. It is measured as the ratio of GNP to the given stock of money. Also called velocity of circulation."

KEEP IN MIND the HISTORIC FED and GOV intervention during this crisis, and the growth in the FED balance sheet from $800B to $2.5 TRILLION and the MULTI TRILLION $ deficits in curred by the govt for stimulus and bailouts......can you say LESS BANG FOR THE BUCK?

All the while, on the HAIR CHANNEL we keep getting reports of rising corporate profitability and earnings!!?? How is it thatbanks have been able for the most part to decrease their loan loss reserves and show mortgage backed paper at or near FACE VALUE when the REAL DEFLATION is in full swing at a home near you? can you spell FRAUD?

The change in direction in silver and oil market (and other commodities) has been nothing short of dramatic.....and at this time a full explanation cannot be given. WAS it just WILD SPECULATION that finally BURST? bringing about a COLLAPSE In pricing?

I can tell you this, wild speculation as avg Joe is on sidelines in the stock market with HISTORIC price rise from the lows of 2009....does not seem consistant with the real world economic data....I see the stock market as VERY DANGEROUS and just as commodity longs recently found out, can turn on a dime ....

D

RESPECT TRADING RANGE BREAKS

PS...the US $ rallied not long after it pierced 73.00 and where could you even find a SOLE ALIVE that said the $ was worth more than wiping your keester with it?  You getting the idea here of how to invest? buy what nobody wants...at the right time haaa its that easy.....(facetious)

When price rises too high above 200 SMA OR EMA you got a potential comeupins lurking....

WILL ANYONE EVER PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO THIS COUNTRY?

*do not read on if easily offended.

No one ever will, as no one will do hard time for fing us in the ass for this financial crisis…. I see mkt reaction like today, transports ripping it up 1.5%.....no panic…even with the claims 4 week now FIRMLY in recession territory, maybe it only came out and under 400K “transitory-like” for a few weeks……let’s see just keep thinking of ALL the people that have jobs, not the ones who never will… and you see why the polls say from THE PEOPLE think “market is rigged” and that is why after 10 years of games…they have gone and may not ever come back…..leaving only that Banksters and Gamesters to play with themselves!

Let me hear ALL the damn excuses why the unemployment claims hit 474,000 this week...come on  throw them at me......so when we get UPWARD revisions from what looks like decent numbers no one will be actually looking or paying attention.

ARE U kidding me…OIL under $100 (was $114) and silver below $35 (was $50) in HOW MANY DAYS???? That’s some deleveraging, well that can never happen to stocks……and is all this, as some claim, because of a 1.46% move in $?? Come on…gee….who can feel safe really ….but now here will come hallaluyah gas prices will fall this will fuel bull some more….I guess that’s why transports rocked…gosh

10 year yields topped at 3.74% in FEB (all experts predicted DEATH OF BONDS! haaa dummies)  now 3.168% !!! what is there to be afraid of for the dive back into bonds? IS this the FED at work here piling in MOMO QE 2.....

SPX below its April peak of 1339 a level I will watch...all take care. AND lots of THIS ACTION after Osama was killed...what happened to the rejoicing ?

D

"SURPRISE" VAULT IN UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits surged last week, the government said Thursday.




The number of initial claims rose to 474,000 in the week ended April 30, up 43,000 from the week before. It was the highest level since August, and a big surprise to economists, who were expecting initial claims to drop to 400,000 in the latest report.

OK, can we now drop importance of ANYTHING an economist might have to say? I have been harping things are worse than reported and not what they seem.....SHOULD AT some point the labotimized lemmings rush for the exits....could be brutal.

Trend lemmings continue to get clobbered as OIL off over 43 to $105 area, and Silver continues to slide now around $38.....something is afoot

The 4 week moving avergae for claims is now 434,000 !! this should dispell ANY notion of recovery and make anyone wonder how the stock market has risen for a DOUBLE off the 2009 lows.....well maybe a few are still wondering....

realtycheck.com HOUSING DOUBLE DIPS
And this should also dispell any notions of a hosuing comeback and also make any person awake wonder how the banks or anyone HOLDING mortgage backed paper could possibly be lwoering loan loss reserves to increase earnings forecast and also be valuing their portfolio at ANYWHERE near face value......SPX profits are a SHAM IMHO as soon as mark to market value accounting was dropped!

D

ISM SERVICES BELOW EXPECTATIONS

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

PRESSURE TO THE METAL

ECB to signal more rate hikes despite Greek woes


"The European Central Bank will underline its determination Thursday to keep raising interest rates as it tries to restrain inflation, even though higher borrowing costs will add to pressure on the debt-laden economies of Greece, Ireland and Portugal."

Some stats that might be helpful.

18% of Americans personal income comes from Gov't assistance. Actual workers pay (wages) hit a low not seen since 1929 at 51% share of income.

A whopping 27% of all homeowners are underwater.

AFter the bursting of the housing bubble, Americans lost about 50% of their net worth. ONLY 54% own stocks ( a low since 1998) SO the stock BUBBLE RALLY, yes this one, is not helping them much...nor is the assult on savings which now if you add inflation is negative returns.

Mortgage debt is being HIDDEN by fast Eddie's accounting change in 2009 and there has not been the needed deleveraging to recover.

Top 1% own almost half of our entire wealth....this has GROWN since 2009......

D

RIMM SHOT

What happens when you overstay your welcome in a stock....ot stocks.

D

SILVER PRICE MANIPULATION?

http://silverinvestingnews.com/312/silver-price-manipulation.html  AUG 2008

Fast forward to today and there is a disparity between paper silver/ETF'S and comex silver prices and what you might pay should you be able to find PHYSICAL SILVER.

"Once the bottom is in for the silver price, the bullion banks are going to have to cover shorts by buying longs...and away the price will go again to the upside."
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/home  'There are NO markets anymore, just intervention"

D

PRICED BEYOND PERFECTION, MARKET IS SET TO RETURN TEARS

 Art Cashin....."Banks buying treasuries, worried about economy...mainstreet is NOT BORROWING...." some rally....4 week MA of claims above 400,000 NOT conssitant with any recovery thesis. INDIA raises interest rates 50 basis points to fight inflation, Chinese wage growth 14% !!! in 2010.....you have been sold a bill of goods on this market but IMHO hold 2 week old bananas......soft, brown, mushy.....spoiled.


Without extreme intervention, and subsequent FED policy actions and forced liquidation of savings into risk assets, funneling of Treasuries into stock options and commodity speculation......without the preception of the FED has your back and QE programs.......without the easing of mark to market accounting, would we have a rally at all?

With the continuation of ZIRP policy, it is clear to me, the FED feels the economy and more so the STOCK MARKET cannot stand on its own 2 feet.....and this bubble activity should lead to economic stability.....on the contrary we are headed for instability and the policies have been mostly ineffective towards the ROOT of the problem.

Just as Japan has done for almost 20 years, banks are HIDING their losses....with an accounting gimmick...turned legal by the GAO.

Rising prices are cutting into corporate profits and consumer spending. A $ rally was due and its up this AM, but the US $ has been rapidly falling in lock step but opposite direction to stock gains.

Policies and speculation go rampant and unchecked again, margins raised for 3rd time on the metals.....silver has turned into a bubble and may have finally POPPED.....many have called for buying the dip....they have already lost money on that call...WAY TOO early to tell and currently commodities on my sell signal.

Banks have recently stepped up their Treasury purchases, buying $65 BILLION in the past 7 weeks, this is a defensive move and is it because of the WEAK GDP data?

$ appreciation is against current policy endevors and everything bought with $'s may do a jiggy reversal....in data I watch I neither have seen spirited buying nor selling and the premkt OSAMA IS DEAD BUY THE MKT HYPE didn't even last the day....nothing has changed much.

It has compressed 2 years of gains what might normally take 5.....the market is NO LONGER ATTRACTIVE for longer term gains at current levels, IMHO. DUMMIES ONLY BUY MOMO and don't consider risk reward scenarios....this is NOT 2009 anymore, not by a long shot....only you and financial advisor can determine your next actions, but at some point reality will strike....read DR Hussman's report I posted and decide for yourself.

D

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Beazer Homes posts a loss in fiscal 2Q ino.com


Beazer Homes USA Inc. is reporting a $54.6 million loss for its fiscal second quarter, weighed down by inventory impairment charges. The company also says it cut about 130 jobs and reported a decline in new orders and closings.

GOLD AND SILVER LOOK TO BE ROLLING OVER

My GUT says so is the general market.....greed is RAMPANT with manipulation, lack of participation from the general public, these YAHOOS are playing against themselevs in a lot of cases.

D

"EXTREME CONDITIONS AND OUTCOMES" by Dr Hussman

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc110502.htm

OH THE PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR BELOVED DOLLAR

GREENSPAN FED CHAIRMAN 1987-2006   line that up with the above chart and value of the US $......WE ARE AT DEATHS DOOR WITH BERNANKE AND $ value......

This has helped ruin our manufacturing base and decline standard of living for MOST Americans (only 54% own stocks, lowest level in 13 years), and build CHINA as a world power who WILL eclipse the US in GDP in a few years....THANKS FOR NOTHING....THANKS FOR DESTROYING THE MIDDLE CLASS, and for your feckless reckless monetary policies that have helped put us down that rabbit hole

Duratek

OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD

For those who lost love ones 911, this is time to rejoice...a job well done by CIA and a brave few armed men who made this happen....to all those who have given their life for this country....and to Obama for keeping the pressure going and making this a priority.

My other point is the silver market was off 11% well before this came official.......how interesting...fair, free markets?

D

SILVER DROPS 10% OVERNIGHT

"Now even The Grandich Letter Editor Peter Grandich, a self-proclaimed former “raging bull” on silver from under the $10 level, is saying “sell all silver holdings.”

“It’s not that it can’t go higher but I can’t first start buying it here, and I learned it’s best to consider selling when you can’t buy anymore,” he said. So, “if you like crowds, feel free to stay on board. For me, around $50 is a lovely destination to get off for a trip now eight years in the making.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/silver-mania-may-come-to-an-abrupt-end-2011-04-29?link=MW_story_popular

good call

IMHO stocks are also already or very close to the same consideration.....show me a stock at a REAL VALUE? smart money has already or is making their way to the exits, letting the foolish fight for the last run to THE TOP....where it will IMPLODE like a DEATH STAR....it got to where it is on a floatila of funny money and ZERO INT RATES....its a bloated carp lying in the summer sun on an oil soaked beach.....

"BEN LAYS AN EGG"

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970203579804576285032227534572.html   If you subscribe to Barrons online this is a must read, if you do not this will be in public domain in about a week...search for it a read.

Beginning in 1998 when we had the Long Term Capital fiasco, the FED pumped the market with liquidity and that created the 1998-2000 Tech Bubble...we know how that ended. Now that was a MILD Recession as far as they go, but NO PAIN should be shared when FED action and speculation go foul.....so we had even a heavier hand by the FED in 2001-2003 with 1% rates and the EASY MONEY flowed into Real Estate, and we also know what happened because of that.

WILD SPECULATION in housing and upward SPIKES in prices wnet completely unchecked, and even the FED when asked about housing "SAW NO PROBLEMS, NO RISKS"....see my Bernanke video.

OK, now we also know what has happened since the most recent FED action, I'll see you one better lowering of funds rate to 0%, and taking their own balance sheet from $800B to over $2.5 T...this year alone pumping $600B into the treasury market and beyond...

Randall Forsyth concludes "....and memories are too short to recall that liquidity-driven speculative frenzies tend to end badly."

With only 54%, the lowest on record owning stocks, we can summise who is doing OK with a $4T increase in equity prices since 2009....it's not you or me.

What you and me got is lower real wages, much higher prices ad near 0% returns on our savings, seeing our standard of living downgraded.

SO WHAT we had a Bernanke press conference, NO ONE will bother to ask the tough pertinent questions, and we will continue to getthe same policies which are harming the avg American...."for an extended period of time."

Just a FEW people have the power to redistribute wealth and it isnt going in the direction of the Middle Class.

In Maryland the funds for roads has been transferred to the general accounts to help balance the States shortfalls. There is now talk of RAISING GAS TAXES to help put money back for road repair etc....

Duratek