Bill Cara’s Blog for Nov 11, 2010 [See post-close report]

ALOHA!!

From last night with a Tea Party slant ...

Who here has even been to a Tea Party rally? I would guess not many. I am not even sure if Noam ever went to one. The main theme of the one I went to can be summed up in one word ... "DISCONNECT"! There is a disconnect between what productive citizens want versus those who are unproductive. There is a disconnect in political representation in Washington DC. It was called "Taxation Without Representation" in the days of our Founding Fathers. There is a feeling that government has become too big and spendy, yet many, even some Tea Partiers will revert to NIMBY when speaking of spending cuts and reducing the size of government. I have to ask though ... Where is the Tea Party equivalent for all the detractors of the Tea Party? Aren't the "detractors" like Garafallo paying taxes? I know of not a single person in my network who is happy with government and taxes. Of course Warren Buffet is not in my network yet!

Mr Chomsky refers to the CIO, Congress of Industrial Organization, that led to the AFL-CIO and other unions, which was the Tea Party of the 1930s. This movement led to the Davis Bacon Act(DBA) which was a law enacted by a majority Republican Party in Congress along with a Republican President, Hoover, in 1931. I call DBA the 80 year old union TARP! As all Congressional laws do they start off small and then grow in size. First the DBA covered a "fair wage" back in the Depression, which was probably needed in some areas back then. Around 1964 the DBA morphed to include "Fringes", what we in the private sector call "Benefits". How many times have you walked through an airport and seen construction workers doing various tasks or driven past a road crew? There was a time when a "ditch digger" was synonymous with the lowest pay and most unskilled worker with the least education. Not many people would spend four years going to college to get a degree in "Ditch Digging", but if you look at the Davis Bacon wage and fringe tables you might want to re-think that stereotype. I looked up LABOR II in the DBA Wage Rates for the State Of Hawaii and found the following hourly rate, plus the hourly cost for "fringes". What are "fringes"? Here is a list direct from the DBA Resource Book:

- Life insurance
- Health insurance
- Pension
- Vacation
- Holidays
- Sick leave

DBA FRINGE LINK: http://www.aot.state.vt.us/civilrights/Documents/F...

Now here is the section under LABORER II that shows "ditch diggers" ...

General Excavation and Grading (all labor
connected therewith); Digging of trenches, ditches and
manholes and the leveling, grading and other preparation
prior to laying pipe or conduit for any purpose;
Excavations and foundations for buildings, piers,
foundations and holes, and all other construction;

I present to you the $86,924.44 Hawaiian ditch digger:

Laborers:
Laborer II

WAGE
$ 26.70

FRINGES
$ 15.91

DBA HOURLY LINK: http://www.wdol.gov/dba.aspx#0

It seems the cost for "fringes" is running about 60-65% of hourly wage rates in almost all labor and mechanic categories I looked at. That is a BIG change since I was a Public Works contractor in the 1980s and 1990s up to 2002. No worries though because all those costs are passed onto the US Taxpayer. In the good times when projects were plentiful with few bidders I was marking up my overall labor cost by up to 70%(usually just 50%) on some projects and still I was the low bidder! Yet the motto at every school district I ever did work for in California was:

"SPEND MORE THAN YOUR BUDGET OR ELSE YOUR BUDGET WILL BE CUT NEXT YEAR"

If you employ a ditch digger on a Public Works project in Hawaii for a year or any other laborer under the LABOR II category you would pay them in cash $86,924.44 per year. People wonder why governments are going broke? This is the type of DISCONNECT that the Tea Party rallies are upset about, not to mention the $90BIL in bonuses for Wall Street employees in 2010. How do you get a job that rewards you so handsomely for failing? I guess there must be a "bankers union" ...

Over all, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have set aside $89.54 billion this year to pay employees, 2.8 percent less than a year ago, according to data from the Japanese bank Nomura. Total revenue for the five firms has fallen about 4 percent this year.

So the inequality and disconnect in wages covers every kind of labor from the Wall Street CEO down to ditch diggers. All funded on the back of the US Taxpayers and OPM ...

Next time you pause and watch a guy in a hole with a shovel on a Public Works project do not waste too much time feeling sorry for him because he is probably making more than you and your wife put together, along with some great bennies! In fact you may want to pull your kid out of college and send him or her over to the Laborers Union instead ... My oldest nephew graduated college this year and he said out of the ten friends that graduated with him only two have found a job and do not live with their parents. My nephew is one of those two who has a job right after college and who does not live with his parents. Problem is my nephew's job has nothing to do with his degree in Anthropology/Forensic Sciences instead he is a non-union $30,000 per year car mechanic ... You know, isn't part of the AMERICAN DREAM to go to college so you can get a better paying job, so you can pay more debt on a house the rest of your life? Righteous!

Good morning.

No POMO Scheduled For Today.

Cara 100 Earnings - After The Close: DIS

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COST - is cut to Market Perform from Outperform by brokers William Blair.

CSCO - estimates, target lowered at Goldman. Shares of CSCO now seen reaching $23. Estimates also cut, given the company's lower sales guidance. Neutral rating.

CSCO - Cisco downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich citing the company's weakening order rate and lower than expected outlook. The firm dropped its target for shares to $22 from $28.

CSCO - PT Lowered from $27 to $25 @ Stifel Nicolaus. Buy

CSCO - PT Lowered from $28 to $27 @ Kaufman Bros. Buy

CSCO - Cisco downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair
citing the company's order miss in Q1 and weaker than expected guidance for Q2.

CSCO - Cisco downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank and lowered its price target for shares to $22 from $28 following the company's weaker than expected outlook.

CSCO - Cisco downgraded to Hold from Buy at Lazard Capital citing the company's weak guidance. shares were also downgraded at Deutsche Bank, William Blair and Wunderlich.

GOOG - Google initiated with an Outperform at Macquarie. Target $725

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"Your ultimate success or failure will depend on your ability to ignore the worries of the world long enough to allow your investments to succeed. It isn’t the head but the stomach that determines the fate of the stock-picker."
--- Peter Lynch

No worries for those of us without the funds or inclination to walk in last night- the cover charge is now at a 15% discount. Funny thing about human nature, though- the lower the cover, the less interest I have in getting through the door.

CSCO - PT Lowered from $27 to $25 @ Wedbush. Outperform

INTC - Upgraded at Morgan Stanley. INTC was upgraded from Equal-weight to Overweight. $26 price target. Valuation call, as the stock is already pricing in risks to growth.

in the face of rallying dollar. My long dollar and short equity trades work OK, but not the copper/oil shorts. I don't understand the strength in copper and oil. Anyone?

Saw this earlier this a.m. FWIW.

Driving commodities higher this morning:

Mexico may allow pension funds, the nation's biggest institutional investors, to tap global commodities that are trading at near two-year highs.

Let's see what happens when Bachmann, and other tea party legislators, start voting down spending programs in their home districts. That is what I am looking for going forward. I say it's not going to happen, which is why the tea party is not going to solve the fiscal disaster that we are handing to our children.

I just pulled up Bachmann's web site- it is chock full of feel good stuff, "what can michelle do for you", "services for kids", etc. Take a look, it is a long list. Practically none of it is productive. What is needed on a legislator's website is a simple statement of intent, that for the sake of our kids, only essential government programs will be funded, common sense will be used, a lot will be cut especially for the rich or well off, and a lot of pain will be felt by society, including in her own district.

Now, I don't think that every government program should be cut. I guess Ms. Bachmann agrees since on her website she "laments the decision of the national park service to not build a new bridge in her district." maybe she is right, since I don't know the specifics. But perhaps the people living in her district should pay for the bridge, as opposed to people living in Florida. Then again, people in Minnesota should not pay for beach front storm damage in Florida. Ever hear of vote trading? We need common sense policies but to get them legislators will often have to vote against local concerns. Do you think it will happen? We will see, but from what I have seen so far, it is doubful.

There are many things that the federal government absolutely must do. We need an energy policy, we need clean energy alternatives to end the dependence on foreign oil and to reduce carbon emissions which the science says will lead to disasterous climate change (unless you don't believe the science, like Bachmann). To that I would say, "try reading a book on the subject." Perhaps Ms. Bachmann does not know how we recently put a big dent in acid rain. Our lakes in the northesast were being destroyed from coal emissions (carbon). The climate scientists studied it and put forth a solution- scrub sulfur from the coal or use low sulfur coal. Now our lakes are recovering. Anyone remember this? Ban the EPA? Do you want mercury in your fish? Of course those same scientists must be wrong about climate change. In other words, the federal government must do some things. One of them is to give us reasonable environmental regs, energy and climate policy. At the same time it should not bail out millionaires and knowingly give us a trillion dollar war based on false intelligence (good deal for the rich defense contractors).

I see that Bachmann is another "right to life" tea party person, life begins at conception. Isn't that a religious view? Isnt' she trying to bind all of society to her religious view? Anyone troubled? Do you want religious based government policy, or science based? Does it trouble anyone that many or most of the tea party people put forth a strong religious message, christian values, abortion ban for poor women. We just witnessed under Bush the complete corruption of the conservative and republican parties by extremist fundamentalist christians (while we fight extremist Islamists abroad). Now we get it in a new package (of tea)? If the tea party is about total fiscal prudence then do it, dont' talk religion. Instead, talk fiscal, vote down that bridge in your district, and don't push your personal religious views on me.

Buy-the-dip reflexes still in effect. Buying the first dip usually results in getting slapped- an entry below SPX 1200 (should one materialize today) is what I'm waiting for.

Jack, I took a haircut in SCO yesterday. Still a tad underwater with SCO this morning. I did see a report of a small draw in inventories that would suggest upward pressure. Here is a morning news release.
http://tinyurl.com/25swudv
J

My wife and I went to one here in Houston Texas. I agree with the assessments here. Phil Gramm said it best for me - 'this country has so much empathy for those riding in the wagon but it's amaizing how little empathy there is for those pulling the wagon'. He went on to say that today you can get $17500 dollars per child from all forms of government handouts - but for those pulling the wagon you can get $1000 credit on your tax form'. That my friend is a disconnect.

BTW, most of the people we've met in the Tea Party are small business people.

Everytime we have one of these G20 deals with the USD value under the scope they hold it up for a few days.

Then Timmy comes home and it continues it's downward slide.

Rock, meet hard place. Does anyone think they will meaningfully cut spending or raise taxes? The teaparty will be bought off with a few exceptions. Those who aren't bought will be slimed by their own somewhat whacky views on something other than fiscal matters, race, religion, "I can see Russia from my porch", whatever.

I agree with Kaimu, except ditches aren't dug by people anymore. A "ditch digger" runs a backhoe or a cat and is known as an "operator". He digs with a machine and levels with a machine. Someone may use a shovel for finish work and he usually answers to a Spanish surname and bacon davis is breakfast for him.
Even the Hawaiian version of a ditch digger makes a small fraction of what ultra-nonproductive corporate CEO's make. When we chisel away at the 98% of the wealth locked up in 2% of non-productive arrogant a-holes running companies into the ground along with the country, we can all be $87K ditch diggers.
When you get ready to do the deed let me know. I'm going to invest in a pitchfork and torch company and buy grease, tar, feathers and rails.

This is from Dave Rosenberg today.

"Oil is now challenging the $90/bbl threshold and this is more a reflection of the Fed’s quest to weaken the U.S. dollar than any incipient global economic boom.

The net speculative long position on oil contracts on the NY Mercantile Exchange
has doubled since the Fed first started talking openly about QE2 in late August at Jackson Hole, to a near-record 208,228 contracts (1,000 barrels per contract). "

nebish,

I'm only playing the ETFs right now (VTI LQD) no real conviction of a trend.

Jack,
That article also contained this "The current spike is largely a result of the dollar’s continuing decline against the euro, not changes in the supply/demand relationship in the market."
Contango in futures is mentioned as a pull (up).
I suspect I'm on the wrong side of the trade...momentarily.
J

Kaimu only scratches the surface!
Here's the current scheme.
Duke energy produces almost all of it's power with coal, fuel oil and NG, all of which emit CO2 and thousands of tons of other pollutants. In order to remedy the situation the powers that be came up with a market based scheme that worked, as someone else duly noted, with sulphur and acid rain. Carbon credits.
So far no problem, it's relatively neutral for industry and for customers.

Then politicians get involved. What do they see? A way to suck more money from the taxpayers....a carbon TAX.
The politicians are lobbied by Duke and other energy firms (the nuke co's are on the other side of this) to 'grant' them carbon credits and 'subsidies' to build "clean energy" projects. The states see this and they get involved with their own energy tax offsets, credits, fuel offsets, etc. etc.
Are you hiding your wallet yet? Got gold?
Then they decide that burning wood is going to be their big 'clean energy' idea. Where to get enough wood? YOUR national forests of course!
And the government will PAY THEM to burn YOUR forests.
Then Obama decides we need 'shovel ready' "green energy" jobs, so those projects get a 30% subsidy. The end result?
We get woody biomass plants emitting more carbon than coal, we award a $75M subsidy to Duke and Areva Nuclear to build ONE plant (there are literally hundreds slated for this goldrush all over the country), they bribe the locals with DAVIS BACON union wages and jobs for apprentices (don't ask what they are apprenticing for once the rush is over), the fuel, roads, electrical infrastructure, schools, police, fire dept., social services, etc. is paid for by the taxpayers, and Duke and Areva get BILLIONS in carbon credits.
We get the highest priced electricity possible and energy we can't sell elsewhere because the grid is incapable of carrying more load.
Welcome to America.
Has anyone seen my wallet?

Geez, no sooner do I post it and I get more news of being bribed with my own money!

ADAGE Parent Company Announces Community Workforce Agreement to Support Mason County Biomass Project Written by Dedrick Allan

Thursday, 11 November 2010 07:52

"AREVA, the parent company of ADAGE (edit: along with Duke), announced Wednesday it has signed a Community Workforce Agreement with the Olympia Vicinity Building and Construction Trades Council to support construction of a biomass fueled generating plant in Shelton. A news release says the agreement “ensures that the hundreds of jobs created during construction of the facility will be filled with local labor from the area's 15 construction trade unions.” The news release goes on to say “Under the agreement, labor activities include site preparation, construction of the biomass boiler, steam turbine, and balance-of-plant mechanical equipment, and electrical installation for the power block.” ADAGE officials say the $250 Million project is expected to create more than 400 direct jobs during construction and more than 100 direct jobs during permanent operation. The 55-megawatt plant is proposed to be built on an 87-acre parcel at the Port of Shelton's John's Prairie Industrial Park."

Better get packing $87,000 ditch diggers!

I spoke with my dad last night regarding this 'misssile'. He's retired USAF, Bird Colonel, project mgr for old LTV and later with Loral Aerospace Corporation - I'll take his word for it. The US used to remove the warhead from an ICBM and launch one, once a year just to test them - not sure if they still do but he did say if it was ours we would have confirmed it - so it belonged to some one else. It was a cruse missle there is little doubt.

“Huge, cruise type missile- this was no ‘aircraft contrail or illusion, optical or otherwise, and it was not ours…’”
“The Pentagon knows exactly where it came from. Information ‘blackout’ called deliberate, unprecedented.”

– U.S. Intelligence official

In the commentary at the top of the page.

ALOHA!!

Now that my nephew went to college for four years and spent $100,000 of his parent's money to be a car mechanic I think he needs to go over to OTIS and be an elevator mechanic.

Meet the $140,000 Hawaiian Elevator Mechanic ...

Here is the DBA on ELEVATOR MECHANIC ...

ELEVATOR MECHANIC

WAGE
$ 48.23

FRINGES
$ 20.05

Total annual cost to the US Taxpayer is $139,291.20 ...

Craig ... the problem is the Duke stuff is just recent, but the Davis Bacon costs have been digging into the US Taxpayer wallet for 80 years now. Imagine what the cumulative cost to America has been over that 80 year span and the amount of DEBT that has been generated on behalf of union members and the union reps. I started in Public Works in 1983 and virtually went all over California hopping from one project to the other until 2002. That was about 20 years of insider experience that has shown me the huge amount of waste in government. I have been on projects ranging from water treatment plants, water reservoirs, prisons, schools and colleges, and I have even built a City Hall from the ground up! My range of projects has all been in the State Of California from Pelican Bay down to Los Angeles.

I have only mentioned the laborers and the unions. I have not even touched on the bribes and graft from the public officials and manufacturers and architects and engineers. Then you cannot leave out the "contractors" themselves who are raking in huge profits off these taxpayer funded projects. I once was paid $5,000 to glue up 5 pieces of 1" PVC at a school project in Tracy, CA. It took about ten minutes. It is amazing what you can do with a case of beer! Its almost as corrupt as the US FED and Congress, but at least something is getting built that will be useful. Congress and the US FED are in the "demolition" business! And, hey, business is GREAT! The corruption is massive and is much more widespread than any American citizen can imagine. Most of us sit there in our daily commute and we drive on roads that were built by Public Works contractors and we go into buildings built by Public Works. It is all around you including the very water you drink at your home and office. People just don't comprehend the depth ... They do not comprehend this has been ongoing for 80 years now. The US FED has been ongoing for nearly 100 years. Its massive and it is embedded very deep. Try taking that away and see what happens. This is why I can only conclude the entire system must collapse in order to make any "real" and long lasting CHANGE! The monetary system must change. To me it is a huge waste of time trying to make markets and politicians honest, because as long as we have corrupt money we will have corrupt markets and politicians. Certainly 100 years must be some evidence of that. EYES WIDE SHUT!

Although somewhat dated, still instructive. Trimmed SLW.

http://screencast.com/t/tAqAaqhgOLY

"I once was paid $5,000 to glue up 5 pieces of 1" PVC at a school project in Tracy, CA." - kaimu

"As a contractor I made a rule for myself never to gouge." - Bear E

Bear E -

His point was that $5,000 to glue up 5 pieces of 1" PVC at a school project is a standard union wage. The beers were used to slow the process to 100 hours of union equivalent labor @ $50/hour with the glue and PVC tossed in as a gift to the kids.

Even someone with a public education can do that math.

Cheers.

I agree with Craig that the inequitable distribution of wealth is one of the main problems our society faces.
The Japanese have a law that the top executive may not make more than a fixed percentage of what the other workers are paid. Their culture favors social harmony over individual greed.... something we could have more of. Instead we have politicians who are paid by the elite to run the country in their favor.

When 1.3 million people own 90% our society's wealth, there is bound to be trouble. Millions are enslaved by debt
now find themselves cut off from earning enough to maintain their servitude. 20-25% are dependent directly on
government payments for their existence, producing animosity for those who pay the bill. The one percenter's
don't care much as it doesn't affect their lifestyles.

When we were young, fresh from our fathers and brothers saving the world from Hitler and Hirohito, we were told ours was the greatest country in the world. We were pretty good back then. Vietnam was I think a turning point and has brought us to where we are today. The conscripted were sent off to die for the benefit of the elite who generated
huge profits from supplying the war machine. The politicians squandered the nations wealth on war and then the economic downturn of the 1970's. Workers were laid off while most white collar workers kept their jobs. Those who rail against unions should realize they were fighting for their jobs. Their leadership was then co-opted by the elites
and off-shoring began. Now most of our factories are gone while the elites continued to make big profits. We have been engaged in the Iraqi/Afghani war for a decade, longer than the VietNam war, but our military is staffed by paid mercenaries which continue to fund the profit of the elites who own the military industrial complex. Sadly those paid mercenaries of today are mostly just ordinary Americans trying to work and feed their families. From Korea through Vietnam, they were forced to do the dirty work of the military. Today, they just need a job and guess who's hiring.

This Veteran's news today is full of blind patriotism, asking us to respect and honor the military. I'm sure many are deserving of some respect, especially those who gave their lives or minds under conscription, but it is hard to extend it to those who were not forced to participate. I will exempt those who work in the strategic defense of our country such as submariners and the rest who man the nuclear weaponry and related support. I feel sorry for those who
were forced to give their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan just to earn a living.

I think we should focus on the elite who's greedy and borderline treasonous behavior has brought us to the verge of collapse and don't give a rat's ass about the rest of us.

Craig mentioned pitch forks and tar... I was thinking the other day I would like to build a large guillotine,
perhaps one with five ports and a nice shiny chrome blade, put it on a large flatbed trailer and tow it around
Washington DC for a week or so. I'd bet I would disappear shortly thereafter for being a suspected terrorist and
end up in Guantanamo.

Side note:

We have become our enemy.

This week, the TSA has initiated new policies which give you the choice of either getting your genitals (+breasts for women) groped or submit to a scan of ionizing radiation to board an airplane. We are no longer free to travel unless
our government grants permission. More government run amok. They listen to our phone calls, read our emails,
grope our private parts, control our travel, take half of our money each year. This is not America. The Stazi would
be envious. As we honor those who were lost today, we should mourn the loss of our rights, like the 4th amendment. We should fear if this government behavior continues... we will have lost all that those before us fought for and gave their lives for.

End of my Veteran's Day rant

Allow me to provide the link to my original post:

http://caracommunity.com/content/bill-cara%E2%80%9...

That was purely trading-related post, and I want to return it into intended venue. Practical point for traders is: most post-factum explanations by analysts are false. They create impression that there is direct link between reason and outcome in the market.

If it were so, those same analysts would be capable of accurate predicting the outcome as soon as they see a reason. Instead what we see is: they explain any price movement with "because" or "despite," inserting them depending on which way price has moved. "Shares of XYZ rose thanks to upbeat earnings/dropped despite upbeat earnings" kind of thing.

By providing this kind of useless comments, they impose wrong outlook on newer traders. Reading such explanations, traders try to act in this straightforward fashion - buy on good news, sell on bad. The result is nothing short of disastrous (and couldn't possibly be any different). In this particular case, it's those same analysts that forecast dollar drop after QE2 announcement and now scramble for explanation for a rise, while traders knowing how market works were expecting a rally.

Buffett debunks the "buy on good news, sell on bad" best-

"be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful"

yeah you're right Vad- edited my post away here. Will try to focus on trading related ideas. (My post was another tax rant).

I once worked on a manual for the USAF — the project cost was at least 5 times what it could have been done for without the stupid, rigid government specs. The book of specifications was two times as many pages as the manual we were making.

The manual must have been written by lawyers (aren't all legislators) who knew absolutely nothing about type. (Back then it was all cast in lead and there were standard sizes measured in points.) The sizes specified were in decimals of an inch and there was no type to match, so everything had to be resized photographically.

After I went into business for myself I refused all job offers from any government agency. Money isn't everything.

Grym -

I remember replicating a HUD form on Excel for some Section 8 subsidized housing requirement after searching for the actual form for a day with no joy. HUD accepted it, not knowing it was a fake, and I was a hero for making the deadline.

http://tinyurl.com/2gxa476

If the judge in his case makes the right move, it will be 6 months probation + state-funded counseling.

The things in life that can break us down- well, that's one of them. Another would be taking a financial hit so crippling we can't see our way out- not an uncommon occurrence among day traders.

It matters zip how 'strong' someone is (or thinks he is)- the human spirit can be broken.

When you sense you're closing in on that state of mind, I'll tell you what works for me:

(a) Sleep on it. A good night's sleep can work a '180' on your outlook. It may be the last thing you want to do at the time- all the more reason to 'just do it.'

(b) Catch a movie. There's something about getting caught up in someone else's story that transports you out of your funk long enough to make it bearable. It's usually good for at least a '90' degree change in outlook.

(c) Listen to music. Sound works on the brain at a subliminal yet powerful level. Depending on one's response to music, anywhere from 90 to 180.

(d) Take a walk. The exertion alters brain chemistry enough to elevate your mood.

All of the above work as well when trying to sort out a bad trade.

No trades today. I thought hard about taking a position in CSCO, but elected to wait another day or two.

I say we close down three digits on the DJIA Friday. Since I have no skin in the game, you could say it's an empty bet. Just saying.

Let me refine the take a little by saying the EOD buying was a bull trap.

Ross,

Are we to assume that Ilya is your new moniker? Just asking. Not a problem as long as I know who it is from TX that is talking. Sorry if I missed any announcement of name change. Keep it up from TX whomever you are.

Here in central Illinois the corn crop is dry and mostly harvested as opposed to last year.

MOKATs tirade was one of the stupider things I have read on this blog. He states "This Veteran's news today is full of blind patriotism, asking us to respect and honor the military. I'm sure many are deserving of some respect, especially those who gave their lives or minds under conscription, but it is hard to extend it to those who were not forced to participate. I will exempt those who work in the strategic defense of our country such as submariners and the rest who man the nuclear weaponry and related support. I feel sorry for those who
were forced to give their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan just to earn a living" Keep in mind that I served in the US Air Force which has always been an all-volunteer force to my knowledge. Obviously the several years I spent in nuclear equipped B 47s & B52s were OK for MOKAT. Incidentally we were told while standing alert in England in B47s that tankers would probably not be available after we exited Russia and had designated "safe areas" in northern European countries where we could punch out to await recovery. Always wondered about my "survivability" in 30' snow drifts in the winter. I am truly sorry that my tours in Vietnam offended his sensibilities and am truly ashast at the pride I felt while wathing my grand-son "troop" with other fine young men and women at their graduation ceremony at Ft Brag last year. The #1 & 3 armored vehicle (which he was driving) were hit by mines/eds last month in Afganistan but everyone survived (US Army has got some really survivable equipment finally). Everyone is entitled to our feeling .....that is the main reason we volunteered and we will defend your right to say anything you want but your soap-box rant on this day written about the same moment that I was thinking of two members of my squadron who were shot down in Vietnam and last seen being marched down a NVN road with their hands on their heads who are now listed on the wall at our nations capital was truly offensive to me.........

Below are excerpts in no particular order that i noted to have caught my attention.

"For most people, the former bit about homeowners not paying their damn bills is the important part, while the latter, about the sudden and strange inability of the world's biggest and wealthiest banks to keep proper records, is incidental. Just a little office sloppiness, and who cares? Those deadbeat homeowners still owe the money, right? "They had it coming to them," is how a bartender at the Jacksonville airport put it to me.

But in reality, it's the unpaid bills that are incidental and the lost paperwork that matters. It turns out that underneath that little iceberg tip of exposed evidence lies a fraud so gigantic that it literally cannot be contemplated by our leaders, for fear of admitting that our entire financial system is corrupted to its core — with our great banks and even our government coffers backed not by real wealth but by vast landfills of deceptively generated and essentially worthless mortgage-backed assets.

You've heard of Too Big to Fail — the foreclosure crisis is Too Big for Fraud. Think of the Bernie Madoff scam, only replicated tens of thousands of times over, infecting every corner of the financial universe. The underlying crime is so pervasive, we simply can't admit to it — and so we are working feverishly to rubber-stamp the problem away, in sordid little backrooms in cities like Jacksonville, behind doors that shouldn't be, but often are, closed.

That's what this foreclosure crisis is all about: fleeing the scene of the crime. Add into the equation the fact that some of these big banks were simultaneously betting big money against these mortgages — Goldman Sachs being the prime example — and you can see that there were heavy incentives across the board to push anyone in trouble over the cliff.

Why don't the banks want us to see the paperwork on all these mortgages? Because the documents represent a death sentence for them. According to the rules of the mortgage trusts, a lender like Bank of America, which controls all the Countrywide loans, is required by law to buy back from investors every faulty loan the crooks at Countrywide ever issued. Think about what that would do to Bank of America's bottom line the next time you wonder why they're trying so hard to rush these loans into someone else's hands."

"On Friday November 12, 2010, 12:32 am
By Kevin Plumberg

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The euro extended losses on Friday on fears Ireland may need a bailout just like Greece, while commodities eased as the U.S. dollar rose, hitting the pause button on a rally that pushed copper to record highs.

Traders slowed their selling of euros a bit after knocking the currency down 4 cents in the past week, squaring up before a statement about Ireland that may be issued by Britain and France later in the day.

Asian stock markets were mostly lower as traders took profits on gains this week heading into the weekend.

The possibility of a bailout for Ireland has significantly widened the difference of bond yields of high-risk European countries over those of Germany, and overshadowed a Group of 20 leaders' summit in Seoul, where a breakthrough on resolving global economic imbalances amid incongruent policies looked unattainable.

"The effects of euro zone peripheral bond concerns are spreading through euro zone markets and hitting risk appetite in the process. The euro is a clear casualty, having dropped further against the U.S. dollar and versus other currencies," Mitul Kotecha, global head of currency strategy with Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

The resurgence of fears about Europe's sovereign debt has added to a shift back into dollars and out of riskier assets.

"

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Irish-debt-woes-hit-...

Agreed - Shanghai down 4%, commodities down across the board.

Fascinating soldier Ross, thanks for mentioning the name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

tobyt-

I think I understand both perspectives. The ideals of service to country, the desire to stand in line and protect your community are very generous and noble instincts, and are to be honored.

It is really unfortunate that our national policy has not evolved to a point where such sacrifice happens in honorable causes. The troops have to go where the leaders send them, and the leaders are chosen and influenced by a select group who are only interested in the bottom line - these days, it is banking. In previous ages, it was industrialists. The faces change, but the concept remains the same.

I always think of my uncle on this day. He served in Vietnam, as a grunt in the army in a unit in the jungle in 1967-1968. I honor his service, but I mourn at the same time that he was sent there, what that war did to both Vietnam and America. I have heard his stories, and visited the war memorials in both Washington and Saigon, and talked with people on both sides. It is hard to honor everyone's experience but I try.

I just wish our leaders, the elites, and their policies were worthy of the people they send off to die. I guess it has always been like this.

this is the first time I can recall seeing lack of coherency in USD trade. USD/CAD green, USD/CHF flat and black, USD/YEN red. NZ and AUS both sliding against $ as well. Would like to better understand this loss of coherence.

The G20 agreed to implement market-determined exchange rates. This suggests that the Chinese yuan will no longer be pegged and rise against other currencies. As the Chinese are raising interest rates to quell inflation, it may slow their economic growth and effect the NZ/AUD. Investors also may be cashing in on their Chinese investments on Goldman's recommendations. Just my read.
Bruno

I lost on short bets in Sept, Oct and Nov; gave up. Likewise I have no positions open. Yet, nothing motivates me into going long here. It's definitely a market for savvy traders, which effectively puts me on the sidelines.

My best trade this year was a 1968 Joe Namath football card; set me back $40 on eBay, and I'm quite happy with it.

Tobyt and Mokat,

First off let me say thanks to all who've served. We may never know what terrors may have been ours without the threat of massive retaliation or the knowledge that any attack would be met with a stronger one. Neither are we likely to ever have full knowledge of the data (true or not) which decided the action.

Mokat seems to be expressing some of the same frustration and ambivalence I have had. I agree the Viet Nam era was a turning point of sorts. But... an examination of history will show it was not unique.

We have had conscription or enticements in all wars since day one. People have served with wide ranging motivation. Remember these quotes? "My country right or wrong," or, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." On the other hand, Washington had those who rebelled executed.

Throughout our nation's history there have been many times when those in power led us into questionable conflicts. In each case I'm sure they had mixed motives also. Some were profiteers and others genuinely believed action was needed and totally justified. I sincerely doubt anyone who has experienced the horrors first hand would enter into such lightly.

More than once I have had my own emotions reverse as time and information presented a different picture of the "need" for action. The Iraq War is only the most recent.

None of the above changes the extent of my gratitude and appreciation for the men and women who gave their time (at my age I realize how precious time is) and risked life itself for our nation's benefit. If this is identified as "Patriotism" I'm all for it.

There have been times when doubts were raised that the younger generation was too pampered to ever be expected to meet the same challenges as earlier citizens — this has always been proven wrong.

To expect perfection and purity from a country is beyond reason. The best we can do is to try to elect people of character and honor to make the necessary decisions.

BH,

How about a garbage compactor to press it into manageable blocks which can then be carried with ice tongs? Reduces the effect of windy days on the way to the supermarket.

There must be multiple manufacturing possibilities to invest in.