Thursday, May 31, 2012


Norcini – This May Accelerate Into Full-Blown Panic & Collapse

from KingWorldNews:
With global stock markets recently under tremendous selling pressure, today King World News interviewed highly acclaimed trader Dan Norcini. Norcini correctly predicted the current downturn in global markets back on May 11th and today he issued a further warning. But first, here is what Norcini had to say about the recent action in the markets: “There was a sea of red on the global stock markets today. We had a pretty good hit in the Asian and European markets. This was followed by downside action in the S&P and Dow, along with the Nasdaq.
John Embry continues @ KingWorldNews.com




United States is Going Down Slow, Debt Problem is Global

By UnpuncturedCycle, The Market Oracle:

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind. William James(1842 – 1910)
If you believe everything you read in the newspaper it appears that the U.S. housing market is finally rising from a long slumber. Yet real estate Web site Zillow reports that homeowners are still under water. Nearly 16 million homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their home was worth in the first quarter, or nearly one-third of U.S. homeowners with mortgages. That’s a $1.2 trillion hole in the collective home equity of American households. Despite the temptation to just walk away and mail back the keys, nine of 10 underwater borrowers are making their mortgage and home loan payments on time. Only 10 percent are more than 90 days delinquent. Still, “negative equity” will continue to weigh on the housing market – and the broader economy – because it sidelines so many potential homebuyers.
Read More @ TheMarketOracle.co.uk


The Monster Has Awakened

The most significant event of yesterday was not the Spanish banking system unlocking the door to the horror chamber and clicking the melt-down button that it found on the wall but what happened at the European Union. Brussels turned, and looking Berlin squarely in the eye, it used impolite words and gestures and essentially said: "Stick it." Brussels has now called for Eurobonds, has called for the ESM to fund the European banks and it a sign of their new felt independence, has thrown all of this squarely in the face of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland et al who are providing the money. The game has changed. It will no longer be push and shove and muddle through but convictions and ideology that are in stark opposition so that surprises and inflamed statements will become the order of the day and not the exception. If it is to be either Germany for the Germans or Germany for the citizens of Athens, make no mistake in your thinking; Berlin will prevail regardless of the outlying costs to either the nation or to the future of the Union that theoretically governs Europe.






I Want To Work At The Goldman Sachs


Three years of anti-Goldman bashing and exposing the company's legal and illegal dirty laundry have clearly had an impact on society:
*COHN SAYS SUMMER PROGRAM APPLICATION POOL WAS BIGGEST EVER
The Borg zombification shall continue until everyone wants to work solely at "The Goldman Sachs"




What if the gold megabulls are right?

by Lawrence Williams, MineWeb.com

The economic conditions that would precipitate the massive jump in the gold price that many of the megabulls are predicting could be horrendous, but perhaps the politicians can carry on muddling through and keep up perception that all is well..
There is a strong element, even among the respected gold bulls, which is not looking for, say, gold at $2,000 an ounce (more of a mainstream view supported by many banks) but continually preaches a much greater price for gold some as high even as $10,000 an ounce plus – and sooner rather than later.
Far be it from us to deride this position, although deep down we think it could be a step too far – primarily because the factors that could drive gold to this kind of level in the short term are almost too horrific to contemplate – but what if they are right? After all, it was only a few short years ago that $1,000 gold was considered totally unrealistic by the mainstream and here we are now with gold more than 50% higher than that level – and this in a downturn for precious metals.
$10,000 gold short term can only come about through total currency collapse – a possible scenario which must give the politicians of this world nightmares, not least because we are so awfully close to such a situation occurring.
Read More @ MineWeb.com






Nobody Likes Austerity, But You Have To Face The Facts

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 1 hour ago
Nobody likes austerity and I don't like austerity either. But sometimes you have to face facts. - *in Moneynews * *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.* 
 

Investors Must Own Gold, But Sentiment Is Negative

Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 3 hours ago
Investors must own some gold but as I have maintained for the last six months or so, we are still in a correction period and maybe gold breaks down below the low that we reach on the december 29th, 2011, which was 1522 USD/ounce. That's a possibility. Related stocks and ETF`s: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Newmont Mining (NEM), Goldcorp (GG), Barrick Gold (ABX) *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.* 
 

Announced U.S. Job Cuts Jump 67% From Year Ago, Challenger Says

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 4 hours ago
The public is beginning to realize what Insights readers already know, the labor market is weak and the economy is slowing. The slow uptick in the announced layoffs since 2010 illustrates this point (chart). Chart: Challenger, Gray, and Christmas Announced Layoffs (ALO) And YOY Change Headline: Announced U.S. Job Cuts Jump 67% From Year Ago, Challenger Says Job cuts... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]





Equities Underperform As Credit Roundtrips Ending Miserable May For Europe

It seemed the 'but but but we're oversold' argument was holding up in early trading in Europe as EURUSD, sovereign bonds, corporate and financial credit, and stocks rallied out of the gate. It didn't take long however for the technicals from CDS-Cash traders to wear off and Spain and Italy sovereign debt started to leak back wider. This accelerated pushing everything off the edge as European stocks and financials & investment grade credit fell to recent lows. Interestingly high-yield credit (XOVER) remains an outperformer. By the close, credit markets were pretty much unchanged from last night's close having given back all the knee-jerk improvements on the day but equities remained lower - with a late day surge saving them from total chaos. EURUSD gave back all of its early gains to end the European day lower once again - though off its lows - even as Germany 2Y trades with 0.2bps of negative and Swiss 2Y rates plunge below -25bps. For the month, EMEA stocks were a disaster - Italy and Spain down 12 and 13% and the broad Euro-Stoxx -8.3% (-8.7% YTD).





Income Disparity Solution: Restore The Minimum Wage To 1969 Levels


There is much hand-wringing about the vast income disparity in the U.S. between the top 5% and the bottom 25%, and precious little offered as a solution. Once again we are told the problem is "complex" and thus by inference, insoluble. Actually, it's easily addressed with one simple act: restore the minimum wage to its 1969 level, and adjust it for the inflation that has been officially under-reported. If you go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator and plug in $1.60 (the minimum wage in 1969 when I started working summers in high school) and select the year 1969, you find that in 2012 dollars the minimum wage should be $10 per hour if it were to match the rate considered "reasonable" 43 years ago, when the nation was significantly less wealthy and much less productive. The current Federal minimum wage is $7.25, though states can raise it at their discretion. State rates runs from $7.25 to $8.25, with Washington state the one outlier at $9.04/hour. In 40 years of unparalleled wealth and income creation, the U.S. minimum wage has declined by roughly a third in real terms. "Official" measures of inflation have been gamed and massaged for decades to artificially lower the rate, for a variety of reasons: to mask the destructiveness to purchasing power of Federal Reserve policy, to lower the annual cost-of-living increases to Social Security recipients, and to generally make inept politicians look more competent than reality would allow.





A Day In The Life Of A Swiss National Bank Trader


It's blood in the streets out there: nobody wants Euros because nobody knows if Greece will be in the EMU on Monday... Or Spain for that matter, which is now fresh out of towels. You just happen to have the position of an FX trader at the SNB and everyone wants your money. What do you do? What do you do?





Bonds Now Beating Stocks Year-to-Date

Presented with little comment - except to note the increasingly tight relationship between the price of the long bond and the USD as we see 30Y Treasuries up 4.40% YTD vs ES +3.7% YTD






Spanish CDS Over 600bps Sends S&P Under 1300

There is little doubt what the world's pivot security is for now - Spanish sovereign debt. 5Y Spanish CDS just broke above 600bps for the first time ever and S&P 500 e-mini futures reacted by breaking below 1300. Lots of moving parts in Europe's sovereign markets - Spanish bonds were modestly bid today even as CDS was gapping wider - but if one steps back and looks at the basis (the spread between bonds and CDS) this makes sense as it had reached almost 100bps offering basis traders the opportunity to buy bonds and buy protection. We suspect few are outright shorting Spanish bonds here now and the marginal offer is a long-seller but with basis traders still active, do not focus entirely on bonds as evidence of anything until the basis contracts.





IMF Blinks?

Headline crossing the tape:
  • DJ IMF: OPEN TO NEGOTIATING BETTER WAY TO MEET GREECE'S PROGRAM GOALS
Did Syriza, and the Greeks, just win the great blinking war of 2012? If so, Spain may have lost it:
  • IMF SAYS FUND NOT DRAFTING ANY PLANS FOR A SPANISH BAILOUT
Perhaps Spain needs to ramp up its defection stance a little more to pull a Greece next time...



 




Market Shocked By Recessionary PMI Print, Gold Pummeled, Apple Slides, FaceBerging Continues

Down. ES is testing 1300. Gold pushing back down to $1550 (and the rest of the commodity complex plunging with WTI at $86.60), credit gapping wider, Treasury yields plunging to new records (10Y <1.57%!! and 30Y -20bps this week). FB -2.8%, AAPL -1.2% (down $12 from opening highs), MS -1.3%. JPY below its 200DMA




G. Edward Griffin on Ron Paul’s ‘Restore America’ Plan






Killer Drones Are Coming to U.S. Skies: Medea Benjamin

 

The U.S. Dollar To Lose 90% Of Its Value

 

Bill Still: Gold As the ONE WORLD CURRENCY

 

The Three Trends Which Rule The Precious Metals Market, Part II

by Jeff Nielson, Bullion Bulls Canada:
In Part I, readers were presented with a list of the three trends which overwhelm all other factors and fundamentals in the gold and silver markets. The first and most dominant trend – the grossly excessive printing of (worthless) paper currencies – was explained to readers in detail.
Through elementary logic, we established that no rational investor would choose to hold these worthless paper currencies, rather than opt for humanity’s 5,000-year old safe havens: gold and silver. Specifically, with all our governments explicitly engaged in the monetary policy known as “competitive devaluation”, only an idiot would hold an asset where the producers of that asset are trying to drive its value to zero as rapidly as possible.
Read More @ BullionBullsCanada.com




Low Supply No Clear Sign for Housing Recovery

by Pater Tenebrarum, Financial Sense:
Housing Inventory
The year 2007 changed real estate forever. For the first time in modern history, not only have real estate prices since then declined, but it is a prolonged decline and one of substantial magnitude.
When we buy a car, we are trained to expect that the car will decline in value the second it is driven off the lot. When we buy a house, we are trained to expect that the value of the house will appreciate in the future – it is merely held to be a question of by how much and how soon. The entire real estate market was structured based on this belief, from mortgage financing to household financial planning.
Now that real estate price appreciation is no longer guaranteed, economists and housing analysts who continue to rely on what are probably obsolete indicators may be misled.
Read More @ Financial Sense.com




Gold Rises $40 As Markets Fall Sharply – Safe Haven “Tipping Point”?

from GoldCore:
Gold rose 0.38% or $6.00 in New York yesterday and closed at $1,564.80/oz. However the 0.38% gain does not convey the positive price action. This saw gold fall initially in unison with risk assets such as equities and commodities – including oil.
Yesterday may have been a form of ‘tipping point’ for gold whereby it again starts to display its safe haven status as it did soon after the initial price falls at the time of the Lehman financial crisis. The trading fundamentals look increasingly sound. The COT data is very bullish from a contrarian perspective with the net long position extremely low. Also, the large commercial traders are aggressively covering their gold and silver shorts which is always a good indication that the precious metals are close to bottoms.
Read More @ goldcore.com




The Triumph of Modern Schooling & Academia

by Jorge Gato, Dollar Vigilante:
Many argue that modern schooling has failed to achieve its goals. On the contrary, it has been extremely triumphant. From students who can’t read or add two and two to the brainwashed Marxist internationalists, it is has been a resounding success.
One can compare academia today to the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s mythological purpose had been to fix the economy and provide the everyman with the illusory “American Dream”. However, its real purpose was to consolidate power and allow a global plutocracy to take over the nation and ultimately, the world.
Read More @ DollarVigilante.com




When the Pain From Spain Moves Across the Plain

By Greg Canavan, DailyReckoning.com.au:

Here we go again…
Markets are under heavy selling pressure…the fear is back. And once again Europe is the flashpoint. Spain’s economy is on the brink of a bailout, set to join Greece, Portugal, and Ireland in the pauper’s club.
But the Spanish economy is in a different league to the others. Greece and Portugal’s government finances had grown out of control and needed reining in. Ireland’s government was travelling ok until it decided to bailout the banking sector following the property boom and bust there. The assumption of those debts crippled it and shut off access to external funding.
Spanish Government Debt
Spanish government debt is not too bad…in a relative sense. Its debt-to-GDP ratio is around 80%. But its banking system is busted…insolvent. Unlike Ireland, it won’t be able to mortgage its taxpayers’ future wealth to recapitalise the banks. Don’t worry – it’s not through want of trying. The Spanish government would love to bailout the banks. But the ‘markets’ won’t let it.
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com.au




The Inexplicable American Consumer Hits A Wall

from Testosterone Pit.com:
The strongest and toughest creature out there, and maybe the smartest one, that no one has been able to subdue yet, the inexplicable American consumer has hit a wall. And it showed up in a prosaic but ugly 8-K filing by Visa.
Credit cards are a true anomaly in these crazy times of ours. The yield on 10-year treasury notes swooned to a new record low of 1.61%. Interest rates on savings accounts and most CDs are so close to zero that you can’t see the difference on your statements once you round to the nearest dollar. 30-year mortgages come with rates of under 4%. And yet, credit card interest rates are where they’ve always been: high. In many cases well into the double digits.
Consumers have struggled with them. Before the Great Recession, when credit was unlimited and easy, consumers charged the cost of improving their lifestyle to the future to make up for the long decline in real wages—that haven’t kept up with inflation since the wage peak of 2000. Read…. “Confiscate, Secretly and Unobserved.”
…Then it all ended.
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com




Bilderberg 2012: Secretive summit kicks-off in Virginia

from RTAmerica:

For a little over 50 years, an elite organization has met all around the world in total secrecy with nearly zero press coverage. On Thursday, the annual Bilderberg Conference will take place in Chantilly, Virginia where the world’s leaders are believed to make decisions that could possibly have an effect on the world. Abby Martin looks closer at Bilderberg’s global policies for a new world order as RT readies to cover this year’s event later this week.




Color Commentary: Greenspan

by Fred Sheehan , SafeHaven.com:
Encounters with a young Alan Greenspan have floated around the Internet lately. Why do they matter? Most importantly, because what is being said is how Greenspan was known in the 1960s. Before quoting Michael Hudson and Pierre Rinfret, a comment on why this matters today:
The following is rechoreographed from a talk by Frederick J. Sheehan to the Committee for Monetary Research and Education dinner at the Union League Club in New York, on May 17, 2012:
“It is timely to talk about the consequences of Alan Greenspan tonight.
Not so much the man as the degradation in our halls of leadership. At the
top, he was, first – welcomed, then – venerated. He personifies many characteristics
that befoul the United States today: cutting corners, shirking responsibility,
deflecting blame, outwitting the legal system – in general, our lack of discipline,
our lack of will.
“The unwillingness of leaders to address our perilous conditions – today
– runs part-and-parcel with sanctifying an errand boy who deflected attention
from America’s social and economic corrosion. Greenspan wormed his way to
the top – but then, so did our current political, academic, and celebrity
leaders who have done so well for themselves specifically because
first – Greenspan, and now – Ben S. Bernanke, have furloughed leaders from
responsibility.”
Read More @ SafeHaven.com


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