Uncle Obama Wants You! ... To Bail Out Europe

Just the headlines. They speak volumes:
OBAMA SAYS U.S. `READY TO DO OUR PART' TO RESOLVE EURO CRISIS.
OBAMA SAYS SOLVING EURO CRISIS OF `HUGE IMPORTANCE' TO U.S.

 

 

 

 

Satellite Image Confirms Iranian Missile Base Was Destroyed

Today's curious news report posted by Iran's semi-official news agency Fars, which was promptly muted, only to be republished by Israel's Haaretz, of a major explosion near the Iranian city of Isfahan, has left many scratching their heads. As Haaretz reports: "Speaking with Fars news agency, Isfahan’s deputy mayor confirmed the reports and said the authorities are investigating the matter. However, after the incident was reported in Israel, the report was taken off the Fars website." Which led many to wonder: is this a real event or merely a provocation designed to make Iranians believe they were attacked? Further complicating matters is the just released news from Washington Post which shows satellite images of the aftermath of another explosion in Iran, this time from two weeks ago at an Iranian missile base. "The image of the compound, near the city of Malard, doesn’t provide any clues as to what caused the Nov. 12 explosion, which Iranian authorities described as an “accident” involving the transport of ammunition. But it does make clear that the facility has been effectively destroyed. Paul Brannan, a senior analyst for the Institute for Science and International Security, which specializes in the study of nuclear weapons programs, said it’s impossible to tell from the image whether the blast was caused by sabotage, as has has been speculated in this explosion and others at transport facilities, oil refineries and military bases in Iran. Brannan said ISIS had recently learned from “knowledgable officials” that the blast had occurred just as Iran had achieved a milestone in the development of a new missile and may have been performing a “volatile procedure involving a missile engine at the site.” So the question stands: is Iran being systematically attacked with the news being covered up for fear that it can not retaliate and thus seem week; is it being sabbotaged on a weekly basis, or is everything just one big media disinformation campaign designed to provoke Iran to lash out? We will probably know very soon, today's "oversold" and now completely disconnected from reality rally notwithstanding.

Former Head Of FBI To Probe MF Global Collapse

The judge in the MF Global disaster just got real. The assignment of Louis Joseph Freeh, former Director of the the FBI no less, somewhat assures that Corzine and crew will get their day in court - or at least be vilified enough that someone pays the real price for the wrongdoings. He is the perfect man for the job having investigated, among others, mob connections to Italian pizza joints.

 

 

Moving to Montana

noreply@blogger.com (Patrice Lewis) at Rural Revolution - 5 hours ago

A reader sent this hilarious YouTube clip called So You Want to Live in Montana? Did you know there are no paved roads in Montana? Or electricity? 

80% Of Bond Managers Expect QE3 In 2012, Says JPMorgan

Ever the contrarian, we were somewhat taken aback by the overwhelming majority of respondents to JPMorgan's fixed income manager survey who expect LSAPs in 2012. With 80% expecting QE3, a majority expecting to add to Agency MBS (and high yield and investment grade credit), it seems the Fed's bang for buck from actually enacting the balance sheet expansion will be significantly lower than it hopes. Maybe third time is the charm but it seems evident from discussions that traders have become numb to this manipulation - even if it does have short-term portfolio rotation impacts - but the difference between managers who expect to reduce EUR assets and those that expect to increase USD assets suggests everyone and their cat is waiting to jump in. The diversification/currency trade seems popular as local denominated EM assets are among the classes managers expect to add the most to but duration risk seems very evenly split as the great majority expect 10Y to hold the 1.5% to 2.5% range. Given the survey results, it seems the lack of belief in any significant fiscal stimulus is being discounted by the strong belief that the Fed will ride to the rescue once again.

America's Black Friday Frenzy As Seen From Abroad

Almost without exception, the situation gets worse every year. People get bruised and bloodied as crowds battle each other for deep discounts. Last year several people died… and in response, most of the major retailers adjusted their specials and staggered their stores’ opening times to reduce the crowd levels. It didn’t help much, as this year’s barrage of Black Friday incidents underscores yet again how hopeless the mindless culture of consumerism has become. People still trample each other, fight each other, etc. Now they are pepper-spraying each other… or even waiting in the parking lots to mug each other as shoppers exit the stores. (A friend even told me one unconfirmed story of a group of Wal Mart parking lot muggers who themselves got mugged by a rival group of Wal Mart parking lot muggers.) Then there’s this video showing the utter chaos and calamity that ensued when shoppers were fighting over towels put on sale at $1.28 each. Towels.

Douglas Adams Explains The Innate Fascination With Towels

Earlier today, we presented a clip that showed how civilized Americans at a Wal Mart approach the opportunity to save a buck on a towel. Some may have been surprised by the raw and concentrated ambition and fury exhibited by these specimen who would put any rioter in Athens' Syntagma square to shame. Luckily, we have Douglas Adams of the Hitchhiker's Guide fame to explain the implicit fascination with "the towel." After all, when given the opportunity to face the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal with a cheaper than market price self-defense mechanism, who can possibly say no?

Presenting A Full List Of The ECB's Non-Monetization Options

Without doubt the primary topic of "serious" watercooler discussion in the last several weeks, and likely to last for many months, is whether or not the ECB will print, and if not why not. We have discussed this issue extensively in the past and are confident that the ECB will not be involved before there are at least 2 or 3 major bank casualties, which allows Goldman to step in and claim the wreckage at pennies on the dollar. Naturally, once the dominoes start falling, most likely early next year, the ECB will have no choice as Germany itself will be threatened once every neighboring country is collapsing left and right. But what happens in the meantime: what are the ECB's options short of outright monetization? Below we present the full list of ECB "support measures" that can be implemented that won't infuriate Angela Merkel, as compiled by Reuters. The question of course is not whether any of these can be implemented, but what and how long their impact will be before the dreaded "half-life" phenomenon exerts itself. The other question, of how one can claim the ECB is not monetizing when it is in fact doing not only that, but doing it 30% more on a monthly basis than the Fed as shown earlier, is a completely separate one.

Guest Post: Unleashing The Future: Advancing Prosperity Through Debt Forgiveness (Part 1)

My last article on debt forgiveness, Endgame: When Debt is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness is the Last and Only Remedy must have struck quite a chord in discussions of the future of the economy. It was re-posted on scores of websites and received over 20,000 reads on Zero Hedge. It also resulted in a reference on the Max Keiser Report and a subsequent interview with Max Keiser. This led in turn to a popularization of a term I used, “fake assets,” to denote the true nature of “toxic assets”. The good news is that people are talking, attempting to assess the situation in real terms, and looking for an alternative to the broken system. The bad news is that this discussion has not been turned very much toward practical directions. The main contention in my original article on debt forgiveness and subsequent interview was simply that ignoring the mathematics of debt (where debt grows exponentially and real growth is limited), especially when magnified by tens, if not hundreds, of trillions of dollars of additional fraudulent debt, is a dangerous fantasy that worsens insolvency and accelerates collapse. “Extend and pretend” cannot provide an answer but can only amplify current destructive trends and delay serious preparation of an alternative.

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