"What's different about Hurricane Sandy and why should we be afraid?" is the anxious question that Bloombergs' Tom Keene poses in the clip below. The answer - it's the size! The wind-field is considerably larger than normal with tropical storm strength winds (as the chart below indicates) extending over a very large area. As we warned yesterday, the storm surge in low-lying areas is the most threatening and the clarity of the problem is highlighted by the graphic below as Sandy approaches the Atlantic coast Monday or Tuesday. With the Atlantic unusually warm (meaning more fuel for the hurricane) and the new moon, the title of the Bloomberg clip says it all: "This is how scared you should be of Hurricane Sandy".
National Guard Whistleblower: “Doomsday Preppers Will Be Treated As Terrorists”
(Ed Note)...You better have a talk with your sons and daughters serving in the military...by Melissa Melton, SHTFPlan:
“I
do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of
the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”So begins the Oath of Enlistment for the U.S. military, but in an explosive interview with a National Guard whistleblower shown below, soldiers are now being advised they will be ordered to break that oath should civil unrest erupt across the country.
Referred to only as “Soldier X” under promise of anonymity, an Army National Guardsman spoke via phone with Infowars Nightly News Producer Rob Dew regarding a recent briefing his unit underwent on actions the military would take in the event that an Obama election loss sparked rioting in America’s streets.
Citing not only recent widespread threats to riot if Mitt Romney were to become the next U.S. president, but threats to actually assassinate him should he win, Soldier X’s superiors dispensed plans of how the National Guard would be responsible for “taking over” and quelling such unrest.
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com
September 30, 2012 US Debt-To-GDP: 102.4%
The
government may have been instrumental to the US economy growing in the
third quarter (did we say may: generating over 30% of the annualized
2.0% "growth" in Q3 probably qualifies as was absolutely instrumental
in this impartial, apolitical datapoint), but the bottom line is that
there was a cost. There is always cost. And a number: the number is $15.776 trillion,
which was the absolute GDP number as of September 30, 2012 (to be
revised lower in one month). This means we can now calculate what total
US Debt-GDP was as of 3 weeks ago. And with the DTS reporting that debt was $16.16 trillion as of the day the third quarter ended (net
of the SSN funding adjustment, which of course is always reported the
first day of the next quarter for window dressing purposes), it means that total US Debt-to-GDP was 102.4%. And
obviously rising much faster as since the Second Great Depression it
takes well over $2 in debt for every $1 increase in GDP. Because there
never is such a thing as a free lunch, especially when the government is
operating the soup kitchens... The True State Of Wall Street: Only +1,000 BBG Terminals Sold Through September
While bank CEOs are welcomed on to business media everywhere with their ever-sanguine views of the recovery in everything from bayonets to housing, the true state of the financial sector is nowhere more evident than in the growth of Bloomberg Terminals. The long-term contractual lock-up and relatively expensive nature of the must-have-terminal-if-you-are-serious information provider means it is not an easy decision and when push comes to shove, it seems, Wall Street is not as confident in its future as it perhaps portrays. As the NYPost reports, Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer conceded that the company grew its terminal business by a mere 1000 units in the first nine months of 2012 - compared to 13,763 in 2011 (which was itself short of the 15,000 goal). The company remains highly profitable but it would appear to us that between the job cuts we noted last night, CEO expectations of economic outlooks, and now this much more specific data point on Wall Street, that the future is far less rosy than the ebulient consumer seems to believe.
Citi Analyst Mark Mahaney Fired For Doing What He Refused To Do Last Time He Was Fired
It's not a good day for Citigroup tech analyst Mark Mahaney. Moments ago the WSJ reported that
the former "star Internet analyst" was fired from Citi for disclosing
public information about Facebook ahead of the IPO (surely he was the only Wall
Street sellside who did this). To wit: "Mr. Mahaney, a top-ranked
Internet analyst, was terminated Friday morning, according to a person
familiar with the matter. The state also said the senior Citi analyst
covering technology had given unpublished information about YouTube
revenue estimates to a reporter for a French business magazine. "In
an email to a Citi employee who questioned him on the communication,
he responded 'this could get me in trouble. Shoot,'" the state said."
Oh well: surely one of the hedge funds that did not invest in the FB
IPO as a result of Mark's leaks will find him some mid-level analyst
position as gratitude. Where it gets seriously ironic is when one looks
back at Mark's career and stumbles upon this other WSJ pearl: "Mr.
Mahaney, age 46, spent the original dot-com bubble of the late '90s at
Morgan Stanley as MS -0.82% a junior analyst working with Mary Meeker,
then a star Internet analyst. He then did a stint at hedge fund
Galleon Group, whose founder was imprisoned after an insider-trading
conviction. One person familiar with the matter says Mr. Mahaney was fired from Galleon for "not getting enough edge" on stocks."
In other words, first Maheney was fired for not abusing inside
information, then he is fired for... abusing inside information. If it
is not too much to ask, could Mark's bosses please make up their minds
already?The Bears Never Seem To Anticipate Muddle Through
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 22 minutes ago
The US economy will continue defying the bears by muddling through as long
as nonresidential (chart 1) and residential (chart 2) fixed investments
maintain their upward march. Chart 1: Nonresidential Fixed Investment
(NRFI) As A %GDP and Nonresidential Fixed Investment (NRFI) As A %GDP
Average from 1947 Chart 2: Residential Fixed Investment (RFI) As A %GDP
and...
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content, and more! ]]
Video Interview, NewsMax TV
Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 2 hours ago
A recent video interview.
Topics: Commodities, agriculture, supply and demand, money printing, us
dollar;
*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.*
A Weak Yen Could Be A Trigger For Japanese Equities
Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 2 hours ago
The Chinese economy is slowing down rapidly. In my opinion, it is not
growing at any more than 4 percent now. The market was at 6000 in 2007, and
today we are down to around 2000.
Clearly, the market has already discounted a lot of bad news and if a junk
country like Greece could rally from the lows of 65 percent, we can expect
a trading rally in China of 20-30 percent over the next 4 or 5 months.
Additionally, the Japanese Yen has begun to weaken and that should be a
positive trigger for Japanese equities. - *in Economic Times *
*Marc Faber is an international investor known for hi... more »
Get Ready: Everything Is Going to Cost More Next Year
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 3 hours ago
That's how inflation works - everything costs more as time passes.
Headline: Get Ready: Everything Is Going to Cost More Next Year Consumers
will have to dig deeper into their pockets next year to pay for costlier
health care, more expensive grocery bills and higher taxes, an extra drag
on the country's already slow-moving economy. The additional outlays look
set to test the...
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content, and more! ]]
Be Prepared...
The Predator Versus Prey in Financial Markets
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 3 hours ago
"Do not be stampeded into turning over your gold investments to the greedy
shorts now open mouthed and waiting like a wolf for its prey." Good stuff!
The predator prey relationship has existed in financial markets since their
inception. A quick study of previous 1-2-3 delays in the AB transition
(magenta circles) suggests that the wolves have likely retreated from their
initial...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
content, and more! ]]About Raising Taxes As The "Solution" To The Fiscal Cliff...
Even
if we were able to squeeze some additional taxes out of the parasitic
Elites, their income stream is dwarfed by the Federal spending that
looms ahead. The top 1/10th of 1% cannot pay the rapidly expanding Federal benefits of the 99.9%,
even if we confiscated every dollar of their incomes. How can tax
revenues increase when household incomes are declining? Transfer more of
the national income to taxes and that leaves less for savings, investment and consumption. The economy contracts, reducing the workforce and wages further. If that isn't a death spiral, it is a close approximation of one. Bunga Behind Bars: Court Sentences Berlusconi To 4 Years In Prison
It
seems Berlusconi's recent comments on not running for office were very
prescient as he has just been slapped with a four year jail sentence
for tax fraud and banned from politics for five years:*EX-PREMIER BERLUSCONI GUILTY OF TAX FRAUD IN TV RIGHTS TRIAL
*ITALY EX-PREMIER BERLUSCONI SENTENCED 4 YEARS BY MILAN COURT
*MILAN COURT BARS BERLUSCONI FROM POLITICS FOR 5 YEARS :MS IM
Bunga Bugga? We do note the farce of all this as DPA notes: Berlusconi will not serve his sentence if he appeals against the first instance judgement.
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Americans Modestly Less Confident Than Expected, UMich Finds
In
a stunning development, and likely the result of the University of
Michigan no longer calling solely various number at the (212) 902-XXXX
extension, one data point has come below expectations and this is with
less than 2 weeks until the election: because whereas GDP was a
comfortable beat courtesy of the government spending to make itself look
better, today's UMichigan confidence print came at 82.6 on
expectations of a 83.0 print, and just barely down from 83.1 last
month. What was surprising too, is that hopium consumption, which has
been off the charts recently, also moderated, with not only conditions
declining modestly from 88.6 to 88.1, but expectations also down from
79.5 to 79.0. That said, and for popular media consumption, the
headline will be that the final expectations print (not prelim) has
been the highest since 2007. And in a sign that there is at least some
coordination between the various departments of truth, 5 year inflation
expectations finally rose from 2.6% to 2.7%. Recall that the whole
premise behind the "improvement" in the economy is due to QEtc, which
in turn implies a surge in inflation. Which explicitly means one can
feel good about today, but one has to expect spiking inflation in the
future. One can't have both. Today uMich finally got the memo.Hark! The Herald Angels Aren't Singing
You thought it was tough; it is going to get tougher. You thought that Europe would not affect America and that we lived in some sort of bubble over here; think again. You thought that the liquidity provided by the world’s major central banks would carry us across the divide and intact; keep dreaming. We are at the cross roads..."No matter where you stand, no matter how far or how fast you flee, when it hits the fan, as much as possible will be propelled in your direction, and you will not possess a towel large enough to wipe all of it off."
Muni Ratings Slump As Bankruptcies Rise, Surpass 2011 Total
Credit-rating
cuts were made on more than $200 billion of municipal securities in
the first nine months of this year, exceeding the total for 2011,
and there’s no end in sight. Bloomberg Brief also notes that it is not
just the weaker Californian cities (such as Fresno) but even Los Gatos
(an affluent town about 50 miles south of San Francisco, where Apple's
Steve Wozniak lives) is facing possible rating downgrades. Moody’s is
concerned that cities might skip debt payments in a cash crunch to
preserve services and meet payroll. The decisions to seek bankruptcy
“provide some indication that willingness to pay debt obligations may be eroding in the U.S. municipal market,”
according to the Moody’s report, especially since California
municipalities have limited ability to boost revenue. They can’t impose
higher sales taxes without going to voters. Meanwhile Chapter 9 Muni
petitions are now above 2011's YTD equivalent as California’s Mendocino Coast Health Care District became the 12th Chapter 9 petition filed year to date and the fourth from that state - up from just 5 Chapter 9s in 2010. Paging Ms. Whitney...One Quarter Of All Spanish Workers Without A Job: Female Unemployment In Ceuta Region Hits 57%
One
in four Spaniards are now officially out of work - well over double
the euro-area's average 11.4% rate. This is the highest rate of
unemployment since the Franco dictatorship ended in the mid-1970s as 5.8
million now stand idle. Perhaps more stunning is the fact that eight of the bailout-nation's regions have higher unemployment rates than the national average with Cueta at a stunning 41.03% (with
women's unemployment rate in that region an almost incomprehensible
56.92%)!! The YoY increase of almost 800,000 people unemployed leaves 1.74 million households with no members employed. As one would expect, loan delinquencies are also surging as Caixabank just almost doubled its pool of bad loans in the third quarter. While Rajoy fiddles...Q3 GDP Estimate Beats Expectations As Government "Consumption" Soars
The
preliminary look at Q3 GDP just came out and "beat" expectations of a
1.8% print, with a 2.0% reading (or just in line with stall speed, a
number which previously has been indicative of recessions). So far so
good, but as with every other pre-election economic data point out of
the government, one has to look behind the headline to get the true
picture. And the details are, as expected, ugly. Because of the 2.02%
annualized increase in GDP, over one third, or 0.71% (compared to a deduction of -0.14% in Q2), was contributed by "Government Consumption." This
was the biggest rise in government spending in 3 years, and only the
first contribution by Uncle Sam to its own GDP print since Q2 2010. So
in much the same way as the September jobs print soared courtesy of
government employee hiring, this same government is now juicing its own
numbers to make itself look better. The real question is what the
second and third Q3 GDP revisions will show, which both come, luckily,
after the election. Recall that Q2 GDP initially came out at 1.5%, then
was revised to 1.7%, until finally coming to rest at 1.25%.Greek Deadline - Sunday Evening
Tim Geithner's carefully scripted plan to avoid European "reality" until the US election is unraveling. While previously Greece was not supposed to be an issue until after November 6, the recent escalation with the Greek FinMin openly lying about a Troika interim bailout outcome (which may or may not happen, but only following yet another MoU which would see Greece fully transitioning to a German vassal state in exchange for what is now seen as a €30 billion shortfall over the next 4 years, and which would send Syriza soaring in the polls in the process ensuring that a Grexit is merely a matter of time) has forced a retaliation. According to the Greek press, the Troika now demands that Greece resolve its objections to labor reforms (which as reported earlier have forced the ruling coalition to split) by Sunday night, or else...Frontrunning: October 26
- Greece Faces Need for Additional Assistance: €30 billion (WSJ)
- Greeks fail to agree on bailout terms (FT)
- The report that got the NYT banned on the Chinese interweb: Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader (NYT)
- Bo Xilai: China parliament expels disgraced politician (BBC)
- Japan Adds Stimulus Amid Threat of Bond-Sale Disruption... $9.4 billion (Bloomberg)
- Hubbard Said to Prefer Treasury Chief to Fed If Romney Wins (Bloomberg)
- 9 More Banks Subpoenaed Over Libor (WSJ)
- Romney raises $112m in 17 days (FT)
- Amid Cutbacks, Greek Doctors Offer Message to Poor: You Are Not Alone (NYT)... no, we are all broke
- Muni Downgrades Top 2011 Total on Weak Economy: Moody’s (Bloomberg)
- Ireland urges ECB to commit to bond-buying (FT)
- Cameron and Clegg unite in EU demands (FT)
Today’s Items:
It is an open secret among precious metals
analysts and traders that the gold and silver markets are being heavily
manipulated to the downside. This is the makings of a scandal that
dwarfs the LIBOR rigging scheme. It is this untold truth that China
has been scooping up the yellow metal by the ton. When the hammer
falls, and it will, those holding the physical gold and silver will do
well. Those holding onto paper will be screwed.
Here are five…
1. China’s government dominates everything.
2. There is a lack of transparency in financial data.
3. Unfair advantages of state-owned companies
4. The 25-40% undervalued currency manipulation.
5. Common trade and labor violations.
1. China’s government dominates everything.
2. There is a lack of transparency in financial data.
3. Unfair advantages of state-owned companies
4. The 25-40% undervalued currency manipulation.
5. Common trade and labor violations.
Since everyone has begun to see how the
BLS reports are full of crap; the Obama administration, in trying to
pull a fast one, has decided to change what it means to work
full-time. Those who work 30 hours a week, according to Obamacare,
are considered full-time. The BLS Glossary defines full-time workers
as “Persons who work 35 hours or more per week”. More evidence that
facts coming out of Washington are anything but facts folks.
Thanks to inflation, taxes, or
legislation, everything from healthcare to grocery bills are going up.
All this, while the U.S. economy is recovering… If that is what you
want to call it. As an example of what one can expect to see…
Soybean and wheat prices shot up 40% and 50% respectfully over the
summer. Adjust those prices for early next year with inflation and
you get a fairly good idea how your grocery bill will soon look.
Maryland, Texas, Delaware, North Dakota, Mississippi, Virginia, Hawaii, South Carolina, Louisiana, and at number one…. Florida.
If you do anything online, make sure you have a good password. Here are top five worst passwords you could have…
password, 123456, 12345678, abc123, qwerty
Save yourself some trouble and use good passwords.
password, 123456, 12345678, abc123, qwerty
Save yourself some trouble and use good passwords.
Time magazine came out with a new Ohio
poll, showing that Obama ahead of Romney 49 to 44 points. The only
problem is Romney is winning independents by 15 points. Oops!!! It
appears the Time Magazine is doing the same kind of BS calculations as
those who put out the recent bogus BLS report. So, this is, yet,
another reason that the mainstream media cannot be trusted.
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