Grant Williams: The 'next big trade' may be precious metals again

 

Sydney Morning Herald cites silver short-selling, quotes Ted Butler

 

Garry White: Obama's weak dollar, not 'speculators,' to blame for oil spike

 

Geithner Vs Gross Round 2: Is The Latest "Market Normalization" Proposal By The Treasury A Warning Shot Fired Straight At Alarmist PIMCO?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2011 12:39 -0400

For months Bill Gross has been very vocally antagonizing the US Treasury by telling anyone who cared to listen that US debt is nothing short of the world's biggest ponzi and that Ben Bernanke is satan. For the longest time Tim Geithner took this effrontery peacefully, always willing to offer the other cheek. Until last night. In what is quite possibly a direct warning shot fired straight at Pimco's primary revenue driver, the Treasury has made it clear Bill may want to focus on unicorns and rainbows in his next monthly letter.

The Feds Are Now Investigating The High Freaks For Quote Stuffing

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2011 08:02 -0400

About a year ago, we wrote an article titled "How HFT Quote Stuffing Caused The Market Crash Of May 6, And Threatens To Destroy The Entire Market At Any Moment" in which we advanced the proposal, first suggested by Nanex, that while High Frequency Trading was the primary reason for the May 6 flash crash, it was a specific aspect of HFT that permitted the Dow to drop 1,000 points in the span of minutes, namely "quote stuffing", or the process of blasting millions of bids and offers without and interest in executing a transaction, merely as a fishing expedition to isolate any "whale" orders and to front run them, making a few guaranteed cents in the process even as this materially distorts true market depth, liquidity and overall stability. And while we were not surprised that the toothless, incompetent and corrupt US securities regulator did take a passing interest in the issue, the topic of "quote stuffing" has finally attracted the interest of US prosecutors. From Bloomberg: "U.S. prosecutors have joined regulators’ investigation into whether some high-speed traders are manipulating markets by posting and immediately canceling waves of rapid-fire orders, two officials said...Justice Department investigators are “working closely” with the Securities and Exchange Commission to review practices “that are potentially manipulative, like quote-stuffing,” Marc Berger, chief of the Securities and Commodities Task Force at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, said today at an event in New York." But, the traditional red herring justification for this criminal behavior goes, they provide so much liquidity which would forever be gone if it weren't for the high freaks.

St. Louis Fed Stunner: Admits QE May Lead To Rise Rather Than Drop In Unemployment

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2011 09:45 -0400

"Permanent increases in the monetary base foreshadow eventual increases in inflation that can increase, rather than reduce, unemployment."So, the Chairman was....lying?

Opinions Vary On Silver

posted by Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 3 hours ago

The old World War II slogan "Loose lips might sinks ships" implied that unguarded talk might give useful information to the enemy. Loose lips are suggesting everything from a mania on the verge of collapse...

IceCap Asset Management April 2011 Market Outlook: "A Picture Is Worth 1.8 Trillion Words"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2011 03:40 -0400

Well, how will Obama balance his budget? Without cutting any spending, he could simply double taxes for everyone – but that wouldn’t work; he’d have to tax the poor and the rich. Since the top 5% of wealthy Americans are already paying over 58% of total US taxes collected, raising their tax burden will likely force them to move to Canada (the land of lower taxes and really good money managers). Meanwhile, raising taxes for the poor isn’t really a good way to get reelected in 2012. So, what does Obama do? Using his Nobel Peace Prize as inspiration, he crafts a plan that will cut spending by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. Then, using his teleprompter for guidance, he orates this plan to congress and the American public in the smoothest of silk possible. It was a great plan, until his very own Vice President, Joe Biden, falls asleep during the speech and on national TV at that. But in hindsight, this was actually smart as it deflected attention away from the details, and as we all know – the devil is in the details. 

Prosecutors investigate market manipulation through quote stuffing

 

My 6 year old computer... is acting like a 6 year old...