Sheila Bair's Modest Proposal To Fix Everything: Hyperinflation

This one is actually quite funny, although we feel that the MMTers, the Neo-Keynesians, the Econ 101 textbook fanatics, and the government apparatchiks out there will fail to appreciate the humor...

Bill Buckler: "No Freedom - No Money - No Markets"

When Bear Stearns hit the wall, there was no talk of a federal government bailout because of what Mr Paulson had stated in public. The other US banks refused to lend because Bear Stearns had refused to participate in the bailout of LTCM in 1998. Bear Stearns was left with two options. It could sell the “assets” in the hedge funds or it could bail them out with its own capital. For the one and only time in the GFC so far, a money centre bank tried to sell Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) on an actual market. That attempt lasted hours. When the auction was closed, the bids were coming in at 30 percent of the face value of the paper. The jig was up, the valuation of the collateral underpinning the entire banking system was revealed as fictitious. Not much more than a year later, that collateral was transferred from the US banking SYSTEM to the Fed, which has maintained its fictitious “value” ever since. Europe dragged its feet, but at the end of 2011 it did the same thing in regard to its own banks.

Pento – Inflationary Death Spiral & The Global Credit Card

from KingWorldNews:
With investors nervous about the action in global stock markets, gold and silver, today Michael Pento, of Pento Portfolio Strategies, writes for King World News to warn that central planners have us headed into an “inflationary death spiral.” Pento had this to say about the situation: “The three primary factors that determine the interest rate level a nation must pay to service its debt in the long term are; the currency, inflation and credit risks of holding the sovereign debt. All three of those factors are very closely interrelated.”
Caesar Bryan continues @ KingWorldNews.com

Muppets Vs IG9 Tranches-Bernanke Puts Vs Portfolio Insurance

The markets are wobbly, but there is a great deal of confidence in the Bernanke “put” or the ones offered by other central bankers. Without a doubt the central bankers watch the stock markets and are willing to do things to support it. Great in theory, but can they react fast enough in a decline? How many investors are “long” risk because of the Bernanke put? I think a lot are. The problem with the Bernanke Put, is that it isn’t a real put. It is policy that attempts to stimulate the market. How useful is that in a sell-off? How many managers will risk losing more money waiting for the put to kick in? This is particularly true as we near month end. Hedge funds, for better or worse, have in many cases been forced to focus on monthly returns. Being long on the hopes of a put is not the same as being long with a real actual put. 

"There Is No Chinese Wall. Please. Come On. This Is Wall Street"

Remember the look on one's face when one hears there is no Santa Claus, or tooth fairy? That, more or less, is what the visage on everyone's favorite CNBC anchors Becky Quick, Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin was, when Chris Whalen matter of fact (because it is a fact) let a rare glimpse of reality on the NBC Universal distraction and entertainment show, when he said "There is no Chinese Wall. Please. Come on. This is Wall Street." Awkward silence follows. And why not: if the banks officially call frontrunning an "Asymmetric Information Initiative" to mask the simple illegality from the idiot regulators, why not call a spade a spade, and expose one more aspect of the lies and crime that is shoved down investors' throats every single day.

China Is The Wild Card

Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 1 hour ago

I think the economy globally is not recovering strongly and as I said the wildcard is China because the Chinese economy is a very large user of commodities and these days they use less commodities then the commodity producers around the world are affected and so my sense is that the catalyst to a more meaningful downturn could be a) some inflationary pressures that are creeping up including India and b) at the same time weakening economic growth. - in CNBC TV 18 *Related, iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF (FXI)* *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny pre... more »

 

MBA`s & Farming Degrees

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 1 hour ago

Someday it's going to be that America will be producing tens of thousands of agriculture graduates, as we did once upon a time, and there are not going to be many MBAs. - *in PR Newswire* *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.*

Another Russian Chartered, German Ship Intercepted Delivering Weapons To Syria

Two months ago we explained very diligently, why courtesy of the strategic Russian Naval base in Tartus, Syria, the Russian regime will never, repeat never, let the Syrian government be replaced by various insurgent forces (very much like in other parts of MENA, which now are suffering from an absolute political vacuum and even greater corruption in the aftermath of the Arabian Spring). Subsequently there were various reports of Russian troops arriving in Tartus, both confirmed and denied by Russia, which were promptly forgotten: after all distractions from other, far greater problems can not become too repetitive or else the general audience will habituate. But all that was a month ago, and attention spans these days are short, so it is time to once again escalate, and sure enough yesterday the AP reported that Obama has approved an aid package to the Syrian rebels. Naturally, since this whole theater is all about severing strategic Russian national interests in the Mediterranean, and thus, into the Suez, Arabian Gulf, and ultimately Persian Gulf, German Spiegel reports of the immediate tat to America's tit (not to be confused with the Colombian legal prostitution tit, where it now appears whoregate is about to become a national pastime courtesy of upcoming congressional hearings involving the 12 men from Obama's staff who were Secretly Serviced on taxpayer dimes), as apparently yet another Russian-chartered, German ship has been intercepted carrying military equipment and munitions into Syria.

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Pakistan And India To Go To War Over Water?

A peaceful and stable Pakistan is integral to western efforts to pacify Afghanistan, but Islamabad’s obsessions with its giant eastern neighbor may render such issues moot.
Since partition in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought four armed conflicts, in 1947, 1965, 1971 (which led to the establishment of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan) and the 1999 Kargil clash.  With the exception of the 1971 conflict, which involved rising tensions in East Pakistan, the others have all involved issues arising from control of Kashmir. But now a rising new element of discord threatens to precipitate a new armed clash between southern Asia’s two nuclear powers – water.

Expect Another $17 Trillion of QE & War in Gold

April 15, 2012, at 9:12 am
by Eric King 

Click here to listen to the full audio interview on KingWorldNews.com…

Dear CIGAs,
On the heels of the Fed members commenting publicly, legendary trader and investor, Jim Sinclair, told King World News that even though we have already seen $17 trillion of money printing, we should expect another $17 trillion going forward.  KWN also asked Sinclair how he knew, from the beginning, that there would be ‘QE to infinity,’ before anyone else.  But first, here is what Sinclair had to say about the action in gold: “$1,650 is a comfortable number (for central planners).  Haven’t you seen the tremendous jawboning and market intervention to hold gold in that range at $1,650?  $1,764 and they lose control.  That begins the move which is exponential.”
Jim Sinclair continues:
“It’s a formidable challenge (keeping gold below $1,800).  The true range of gold is $1,700 to $2,111, but these guys are going to try to fight it like nobody’s business.  Do you think for a moment they are not listening to you and I speaking right now?  Forget it, Eric, we are the morning ‘Squawk Box’ tomorrow.
Now comes the payback.  The hope and desire that things would improve is ignorant because of the fact that the trillions which have come in have been to save the financial organizations, not Main Street…. 
Click here to continue reading the Jim Sinclair interview…

 

 

In The News Today

April 15, 2012, at 9:08 am
by Jim Sinclair 

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

An attempt to prevent "Hamas in the Box" has occurred on the last free and open elections in the middle East. You can’t call something Democratic that is clearly not.

Seeds of trouble are planted in this non-solution mirage of "Arab Spring."

Who is kidding who?

Authorities Bar 3 Leading Candidates in Egypt Race
From left: Khairat el-Shater, the leading strategist of the Muslim Brotherhood; Omar Suleiman, Hosni Mubarak’s former vice president and intelligence chief; and Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an ultraconservative Islamist. By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: April 14, 2012



CAIRO — The Egyptian election authorities eliminated three of the country’s leading presidential candidates in one broad stroke on Saturday night in an unexpected decision that once again threw into disarray the contest to shape the future of Egypt after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.
The High Election Commission struck down 10 candidates in all, including the three who have generated the most passion in this polarized nation: Khairat el-Shater, the leading strategist of the Muslim Brotherhood; Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an ultraconservative Islamist; and Omar Suleiman, Mr. Mubarak’s former vice president and intelligence chief.
A little more than a month before the vote begins, the ruling raised new doubts about the credibility of the election, which is supposed to inaugurate a new democracy after decades of authoritarian rule. It capped a year of opaque decisions behind closed doors, shifting ground rules and timetables, conspiracy theories about who holds true power, turbulence in the streets and growing political polarization during the military-led transition after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.
And it comes at a time when the stakes of the presidential race have risen higher than ever: the Islamist majority in Parliament has clashed with the liberal minority over the writing of a constitution and with the military over the control of the government. Some warned it could set off new street protests.
At the same time, the commission, composed of five senior judges appointed by Mr. Mubarak, appeared to prove its independence, shutting down the candidate most linked to the Mubarak government and defying an angry mob of Islamists outside its door. It disqualified each of the candidates on narrow, technical grounds.
More…





Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Just in case you have not heard on the MSM TV news channels.

Live: Co-ordinated Afghan attacks
Key points
Taliban militants say they have launched several attacks across Afghanistan.
The parliament, US, British, German and Russian embassies as well as Nato heaquarters and a hotel in Kabul are among the targets.
Militants say they have also targeted sites in Logar and Paktia provinces. There are also reports of suicide attacks in Jalalabad.
1445:
According to unverified report, from Afghan broadcaster channel Shamshad TV, eight people were wounded, and two militants killed, in the attack in the eastern city of Gardez, in Paktia.
1443:
According to the eyewitness six attackers opened fire on a convoy of French troops on the road to Jalalabad. They returned fire with heavy machine guns before the Greek base itself came under attack from small arms and rocket propelled grenades. The Greek troops returned fire and "repressed" the attack. Two attack helicopters were called in but did not open fire.
1435:
An eyewitness at the Greek base in Kabul reports that Nato troops returned fire after coming under attack.
1432:
An update on the situation in Kabul comes in a statement from the office of the city’s police chief. ”As a result of the shooting by the Afghan National Security forces, three suicide attackers are killed and the remaining two are still fighting."
More…

Ron Paul Wins Majority of Delegates Out Of Yakima County, Washington

 

Ron Paul Revolution: “God Damn, We Will NOT Stand For it. WRITE RON PAUL IN!!”

from tmotofga:

This is War – Vote Ron Paul or Watch this Country Die!

David Morgan: The Whole Global System Needs a Realignment with the TRUTH

 

Colonel Douglas Macgregor on Two Failed Wars and Why He Supports Ron Paul for President

from The Daily Bell:

The Daily Bell is pleased to present this exclusive interview with Colonel (ret) Douglas Macgregor (left).
Introduction: Colonel (ret) Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, the author of four books. He is also Executive Vice President of Burke-Macgregor Group LLC, a consulting and intellectual capital brokerage firm based in Reston, Virginia. Macgregor was commissioned in the US Army in 1976 after one year at the Virginia Military Institute and four years at West Point. Macgregor has testified as an expert witness on national security issues before the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Relations Committee. He is a supporter of Ron Paul  (R-Tex) and a spokesperson for veterans’ groups that are organizing marches and demonstrations on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Ron Paul.
Daily Bell: Give us some background on yourself and the US military-industrial complex.
Colonel Douglas Macgregor: Let’s be clear. I think we are spending far more on defense than we need to and that’s been true for a very long time. It’s become a self-perpetuating industry, sometimes referred to as a self-licking ice cream cone.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com

A Visual Tour of the Fuel Pools of Fukushima

Do You Know What the Fuel Pools Actually Look Like?
from Washington’s Blog:

You already know that Fukushima’s fuel pool number 4 may be the single greatest threat, but that pool number 3 is very dangerous as well.
You’ve heard that unit 3′s fuel pool contains less radioactive material than unit 4 … but still a tremendous amount of radiation. Scientific American reported last year:

The pools at each reactor are thought to have contained the following amounts of spent fuel, according to The Mainichi Daily News:
• Reactor No. 1: 50 tons of nuclear fuel
• Reactor No. 2: 81 tons
• Reactor No. 3: 88 tons
• Reactor No. 4: 135 tons
• Reactor No. 5: 142 tons
• Reactor No. 6: 151 tons
• Also, a separate ground-level fuel pool contains 1,097 tons of fuel; and some 70 tons of nuclear materials are kept on the grounds in dry storage.

You’ve learned that unit 3′s reactor was the only one at Fukushima which burned plutonium. As Japan Times notes:
Read More @ WashingtonsBlog.com

Judge Napolitano Last Week

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