Biden says U.S. needs more stimulus, business mad at S&P

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 28 minutes ago

QE(n) versus austerity. Either way, standard of livings across America will continue to decrease. No amount of political debate/action will change this fact. Astute readers of the market are beginning to see this message. Headline: Biden says U.S. needs more stimulus, business mad at S&P ON BOARD AIR FORCE TWO (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

 

Paul Woolley: "The Market Has Become Dangerous For Humanity...It Isn't Reaching Equilibrium, It Is Falling Into Chaos"

For anyone who is still confused why the tail-wags-dog reverse relationship of the stock market as a leading indicator to the economy, and to western civilization in general, can be a problem for said civilization (not to mention the former), once the current iteration of central planning loses control over everything, as it always does, here is an interview between German daily Spiegel and Paul Woolley, a one time fund manager, and currently head of the LSE's center for Capital Market Dysfunctionality (sometimes affectionately known as the Princeton Economics department). His message for anyone who thought that Irene may have been a risk: you ain't seen nothing yet: "The developments in recent weeks have made it quite clear that the markets don't function properly. Things are spinning out of control and are potentially dangerous for society. Only a fraternity of academic high priests connected to the finance markets is still speaking of efficient markets. Still each market participant is pursuing their own selfish interests. The market isn't reaching equilibrium -- it's falling into chaos."

 

Don't Get An MBA, Go And Get A Farming Degree

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 48 minutes ago

Well, governments are printing money again. It's a wrong thing to do but that's all they know to do. So between shortages of supply and money printing, if you want to be in the dynamic parts of the world economy, don't get an MBA and go to Wall Street, go and get a farming degree and move to Asia. *Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and is a regular guest on Bloomberg and CNBC.*

 

Charlie Reese | 545 vs. 300,000,000 People

Posted by : rcwhalen

Post date: 08/28/2011 - 09:31

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible... 

When you get tired of getting screwed out of your life saving...Watch this very long (3 1/2 hours) but informative video...It will explain everything... 
Hint...If you can't bother to spend the time to watch and learn...You will be Slaughtered with the rest of the Sheeplez... 

Challenge to the Old Rules Underway

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 22 minutes ago

Any investor with unrestricted access to gold that’s still buying bonds, it’s because the concept of opportunity cost eludes them. Long-Term U.S. Government Bonds Total Return Index (LTGBTRI) to Gold Ratio Big money unlike their retail counterparts is different. They must consider depth of the market as well as opportunity cost. The size of big money and ability of the bond market to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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We Have Huge Shortages Developing In Agriculture

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 1 hour ago

Farming has been a disaster for 30 years. The average age of farmers in America is 58 because it's been such a horrible business. The average age of farmers in Japan is 66. In Australia, it's 58. I could go on and on. In 10 years, those farmers are going to be 68 if they are still alive. We have huge shortages developing in agriculture and great fortunes are going to be made by the people who address those problems. *Related: Mosaic (MOS), Potash (POT), Agrium (AGU), John Deere (DE)* *Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor. He has been f... more » 

 

Gold Prices: I Hope It Will Drop 100 Or 200 Dollars

Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 2 hours ago

The gold price is coming down, and I hope it will drop 100 or 200 dollars. Not necessarily a prediction. I think we will go down in a correction because there has been too much enthusiasm recently. - *in Bloomberg* *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*

As Stock And Sector Correlation Hits Fresh 20 Year Highs, Here Is Who Is Benefiting

There was a time when being short was a bad idea. Not anymore. As David Kostin' summarizes in his latest weekly chart packet, the level of 3 month S&P and sector correlation is now at a 20 year high, an environment which never leads to good outcomes for long-only whales, and which has led to sizable outperformance for hedge funds due to their recent loading up on short positions. To wit: "S&P 500 three-month correlation is 0.73, the highest in at least the past 20 years, and up from just 0.44 at the start of August. Sector correlation is similarly high, with all major S&P sectors experiencing realized correlation above their 95th percentile since the late 1980s. While it is difficult to specify a cause for higher correlation, a spike in S&P futures and ETF trading volumes and parallel reduction in open interest held by institutional and levered funds as reported by the Commodities and Futures Trading Corporation (CFTC) indicate significant de-risking in August." What does that mean for recent performance? Nothing good if one is a mutual fund: "Elevated correlation is generally considered a poor environment for long-only fundamental investors. In highly correlated sell offs the market does not discriminate based on company fundamentals, reducing the value of stock picking. Recent performance trends support that case." As a result hedge fund LPs are doing ok: "The typical hedge fund has generated a 2011 YTD return of -1% through August 19 compared with a -10% decline for the S&P 500 and an -11% return for the average large-cap core mutual fund." Alas, if the hedge fund in question is Paulson & Co., this average statistic is very misleading.

Is The "Risk-on" / "Risk-off" Trade Starting To Fall Apart?

For awhile now, the market has loved to talk about risk-on or risk-off.  Occasionally a few outliers exist, but by and large that pattern of everything risky up or down together has been holding.  It felt like that is potentially starting to fall apart this week. The first thing that caught my eye, was the difference in performance between credit and stocks.  The CDX IG16 index was actually wider on the week.  It closed at 123 the prior week and finished this week at 126.25.   That is not a major move, but is in sharp contrast to the SPX which was up 4.7% on the week.
That relative out performance of stocks left many investors scratching their heads.  For all the talk about "credit" leading stocks, or warning signs in the credit markets, they were all ignored this week, at least in U.S. Stocks. Good luck, and hopefully the simplicity of risk-on or risk-off will return, otherwise I suspect this will get very messy as so many trading strategies have depended on it.

Total amount raised so far $60.00 

Thanks to Tim, Hui, and James.

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