BBC Releases Official Statement On Alessio "The Trader" Rastani: He Is Perfectly Legit And The Interview Was Not A Hoax

Zero Hedge's post yesterday of a trader telling the BBC how he (and everyone else) really feels about the current cataclysmic situation, went viral, and as of this writing, was about to generate 100,000 hits (legit ones: no slideshows were massacred in the creation of a some CPM abortion). Needless to say, the trader in question, Alessio Rastani, very suddenly and violently entered the public's eye, the most amusing side effect of which was the emergence a fringe group claiming that just because he looks like some other guy, that he is a spoof, and this was immediately used by the conventional media to attempt to discredit him. And as usually happens, this has backfired. The BBC has just released a statement confirming that Rastani is, indeed, a trader, and that all those (Forbes) who have nothing better to do than to attack the messenger and not the message, may be better advised to taking a Math 101 class and realizing why we are all scroomed, instead of polishing their character assassination skills. To everyone else who attempted to marginalize Rastani, "suck it" is not exactly what we would like to say, but it sure does the job. And to that we would like to add that just because Larry Summers is a spitting image of Jabba the Hut, that does not make him an automatic member of the "Tattoine Men" comedy troupe.

FT Report That Greek Bailout Package On The Verge Of Collapse After Surge In Greek Funding Needs Sends Stocks, Euro Plunging From Highs

Wondering what just caused the market to slump? Take a wild guess. That's right - Greece. Minutes after Greece passed a vote in which it promised to promise to promise to consider collecting 1998-1999 taxes (even as all of its tax collectors are about to go on permanent strike), the FT was breaking news that while the Troika was "bailing out" Greece in the past years, the country was spending itself into an  even greater oblivion. As a result, the terms of the July 21 Second Greek Bailout will most certainly need to be renegotiated, with banks having to take even greater write downs on the bond exchange, and with far more capital having to be injected into the country. The result is the France and the ECB are panicking because as we all know, any additional write downs will expose just how undercapitalized French banks already are (no need to even mention the world's most toxic hedge fund: Trichet et Cie). Should this story pick up traction, look for Europe to open limit down again tomorrow.

Presenting A Post Mortem Of "Anonymous" First Trade Reco: Anon To Give Muddy Waters A Run For Its Fraudbuster Money

Yesterday we reported on the historic transition of Operation Anonymous from a loose, disorganized, and quite dangerous hacker collective, to a (substantially more) organized, opaque, unregulated, and seemingly, quite effective and just as dangerous research organization. As Zero Hedge first reported, yesterday Anonymous (which is now known as Anonymous Analytics) came out with a report on (then) $HK 8.5 billion Hong Kong agri-firm Chaoda, alleging the company is a total fraud, and that its stock will soon be delisted. So how did Anon do when the stock opened for trade late last night Eastern time? See for yourself. It looks like Muddy Waters has finally got some competition. We can't wait until these dedicated short sellers finally shift their attention away from China, and start taking down the ponzi monstrocities of our own stock market...

Won't Get Fooled Again...

Today feels just like it did in 2008. We had almost as many manic up days back then as crazy down days. Remember how we were saved when Fannie and Freddie got put into conservatorship? Remember how all was good when AIG was taken over by the government? Then we sold off the day that TARP failed, but rallied when it passed? Though by the time it was signed into law, the market was already selling off again? Or that weekend when the TARP infusions were made? That suddenly TARP was available to shore up the capital of banks? And the FDIC put in the Temporary Loan Guaranty Program so that banks could issue bonds guaranteed by the FDIC and that the depositor insurance amount was increased? And reflecting on today's price action in Europe, maybe credit just started to realize that the backdoor tricks to increase the size of EFSF are unlikely to work, and that the guy with the credit card (Germany) seems reluctant to let everyone use it. Maybe they actually like being AAA!

Group Breaks Down U.S. Debt Into Family Budget

Without the zeros, U.S. debt looks like a household budget — but would you let your finances look like this?

Fed's Fisher Comes Clean On Moral Hazard and 'Twist' Ineffectiveness

While Fed's Lockhart earlier opined on his 'hope' that rates will drop under 'Twist' (and we remind him that all but the 30Y are now higher in yield than before Twist was announced) but expects its impact to be modest, Fed's Fisher just lost-the-plot with his truthful explanation on why he dissented. Speaking in Dallas, Bloomberg reports some rather refreshingly honest headlines from the outspoken Fed President:

*FISHER SAYS FED POLICY `HAS YET TO SHOW EVIDENCE OF WORKING'
*FISHER SAYS BENEFITS OF OPERATION TWIST DON’T OUTWEIGH COSTS
*FISHER SAYS RECENT FOMC POLICIES LIKELY TO BE INEFFECTIVE
*FISHER SAYS FOMC POLICIES MAY WORK AGAINST JOB CREATION
*FISHER SAYS OPERATION TWIST WILL INCREASE INCENTIVES TO SAVE

Gold Chart and comments

Trader Dan at Trader Dan's Market Views - 1 minute ago

I am basically reposting the 4 hour chart that I sent up yesterday as it has been a good guide for locating resistance levels and support levels. I noted yesterday that gold would run into selling near the $1680 level, the location of the former gap and go region. That is where it ran in today's session before the sellers showed up. A probable bottom has been put in down near $1535 based on today's followthrough buying but there remains a fair amount of technical damage that will require repairing before anyone can start talking about a new leg higher. I do like the action howev... more » 

Europe As A Whole Is Not Nearly As Deep In Debt As The U.S.

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 2 hours ago

Europe's got some bad problems but the entity as a whole is not nearly as deep in debt as the U.S. They don't have a huge balance of trade deficit, like we do. - *in CNBC europe* *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.*

Rosenberg Explains What (If Anything) Has Changed

Still confused by the 500 DJIA point rally in 48 hours? You are not alone. Here is David Rosenberg guaranteeing that your confusion will be even greater when you realize that nothing has really changed, suffice to say that the record confusion has provided the best smokescreen for nothing short of a collusive global window dressing session for massively underwater hedge and mutual funds.

Guest Post: Look What I Got For Three Hours, Six Security Checkpoints, And $82…

If you’ve followed this letter for any length of time, you know that I tend to roam around the world with great frequency; we’ll typically have these conversations across 40 to 60 countries in 6 continents over a year’s time. Lots of international travel means lots of silly stamps, seals, and stickers to fill up the visa pages in my passports. Even though I have multiple passports, they tend to fill up within 18-months or so given my travel schedule. My current US passport, for example, was issued last February while I was in Thailand. By late summer, there was barely a single square inch of space remaining, so today I had the unfortunate displeasure of heading down to the US consulate in Cape Town to have them insert more pages. Each time I’m forced to demean myself in this way– sitting around those sterile government waiting rooms and filling out useless paperwork only to justify the salary of some bureaucrat– I have plenty of time to reflect on the nature of this system.





Trading Analysis, Recommendations and Market Commentary From Eurocalypse - 9/27/2011

Posted by: Reggie Middleton

Post date: 09/27/2011 - 10:33

The following is an excerpt from the contribution from BoomBustBlog resident trader Eurocalypse

Squeeze continues, but don't get carried away.....

Posted by: thetrader

Post date: 09/27/2011 - 08:55

Squueze we said squeeze it was, now what?

 

Another big month at Geithner’s whorehouse bank

Posted by : Bruce Krasting

Post date: 09/27/2011 - 08:07

Just who is watching who? We're watching them is the answer

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