Bill Cara's Blog for Sep 2, 2011

(EU) Key Europe and Peripheral spreads widen in early European tradingPeripheral Europe:
- The 10-year Spanish/German Gov't bond spread at approx 300 bps; wider by almost 15bps (highest level since Aug 5th)
- The 10-year Italy/German Gov't bond spread at approx 315bps, wider by almost 15bps;( highest level since Aug 8th)
- The 10-year Greek/German Gov't bond spread at approx 1,540bps, wider by almost 20bps Core Europe:
- The 10-year Belgium/German Gov't bond spread at approaching 200bps,wider by almost 10bps
- The 10-year French/German Gov't bond spread at approx 76bps, wider by over 3bps and at highest level since Aug 9th Outright Yields
- Portugal 10-year gov't yield at 10.30%; higher by over 10bps
- Italy 10-year gov't yield at 5.22%; higher by over 5bps

(GR) EU/IMF/EU statement on Greece: Confirms that the Troika mission has been temporarily suspended due to technical work on budget
- To return to Greece in mid-September

***Note that overnight there were financial press reports that the Troika mission had been suspended for 10 days due to deteriorating budget forecasts. Greece Fin Min Venizelos later stated that discussions with the Troika were cordial and denied that talks had been "suspended," claiming that the first phase of mission was complete and the Troika would resume work in 10 days time.

Good morning.

08:30 Nonfarm Payrolls
08:30 Unemployment Rate
08:30 Hourly Earnings/Avg. Workweek

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BA - CRT Capital Initiates with a Buy.

TD - Upgraded to Outperform @ Credit Suisse.

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"Labor was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased." ~ Adam Smith

http://on.ft.com/pG6WeK

Tourism is a big employer and contributor to GDP in Greece. One might say it is an obvious and rather soft target of the tax-raising authorities. The upshot here is that the tax rise could force independent café and restaurant owners out of business so their answer is simply to refuse to pay it. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen, but for a government which is finding it increasingly difficult to make the books balance, it represents another nail in the coffin.

Common Man!

thanks Vad. Econoday is swamped I think, couldn't access it. Certainly did the job of killing the market. Gonna be a decent gap down day me thinks.

TLT has now thoroughly broken that downtrend line of resistance posted yesterday.

$VIX will be worth checking in on at open. I suspect it has turned up again.

http://www.bls.gov/

Prior 117k? - prev revised DOWN to 85K from 117K

My favorite stock is down 7% premarket to 7.35. Something else is driving the move, however - it was down long before the NFP release at 8:30.

FD: short BAC

FT: US-based banks face mortgage lawsuits (Top Story)

(optionmonster Jon Najarian
Stepping in at below 1180 is far more interesting given the chance of rumors into this long weekend)

That's close to my original 1177 turn call but mine was before this ZERO jobs number - what rumors - I'll twitt him for this...
Earl

Art Cashin from UBS on CNBC said the market could re-group at the 1180 area but if it can't it could test the 1100 area - decided not to call end-of-year potential - sites pres speach on top of rep debate and football as not something viewed positively.

but one day you'll see prices falling with QE. then what?

For those humans who have been in a recession since 2008, nothing has changed, when these numbers are released and talking heads go on the rampage.

step back and look at the big picture. underemployment is at minimum 17% of the working population. soon enough this will go up to 20+, maybe 30%+.

There are millions of debt strapped kids enrolled in 4 yr college right now! all being educated on obsolete skills.

the pain to obey is becoming more painful than starting from zero.

Just repeating what I've seen.

$SVM falling apart in pre-market on allegations of wrongdoings, lots of put activity in the name recently

http://twitter.com/#!/OptionTactician

https://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/research/Stocks/N...

Can't login to those sites. Anyway here is the whole article:

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 2, 2011) - Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") (TSX:SVM)(NYSE:SVM) announces that there has been a dramatic increase in the short position of its shares over the past two months which is now approximately 23 million shares (Source: (http://www.dataexplorers.com/products/data), or 13% of the total outstanding shares.
Late yesterday afternoon, the Company was forwarded a copy of an anonymous letter dated August 29, 2011 addressed to the Ontario Securities Commission, the Company's Auditors, and various media outlets maliciously alleging a "Potential $1.3 Billion Accounting Fraud at Silvercorp". The anonymous author also stated that his firm held a short position in the Company's shares and intended to make his concerns known through internet postings. The Company has not confirmed whether the letter has been disseminated to all the addressees or if any postings have been made.
Recognizing that the anonymous letter may be disseminated the company wishes to proactively respond to the most serious allegations and has posted supporting information on its website to provide investors with comfort regarding the following allegations made in the anonymous letter:
1. The central allegation is that while Silvercorp reported net profit of US$66 million to the SEC in calendar 2010, financials purportedly available from the Chinese State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) shows "SVM" reporting a loss of US$0.5 million for calendar 2010. This allegation is false.
The SAIC website (http://wznj.saic.gov.cn, Attachment A) discloses the following for Silvercorp's four Chinese operating subsidiaries: (i) Henan Found filed net after income tax profit for Calendar year 2010 of RMB514,786,392; (ii) Henan Huawei filed a net loss of RMB6,091,388; (iii) Guangdong Found filed a net loss of RMB4,758,879; and (iv) Anhui Yangtze filed a net loss of RMB1,214,663. On a consolidated basis, the net profit of these four Companies is RMB502,721,462 (US$ 73 million). In addition on the cover of each filed SAIC document there is an anti-fraud code displayed which readers can use to independently verify those reports on the Chinese Certified Professional Accountant website (www.henicpa.org.cn). Further information to reconcile this China GAAP consolidated total net profit with the US$66 million figure will be posted on the Company's website. The anonymous author's numbers are clearly false.
As further evidence of Silvercorp's net profit, copies of the 2010 Annual Income Tax Filing Forms for Henan Found and Henan Huawei, which include a receipt chop issued by the State Tax Bureau of the Luoning County of Henan Province, is also attached (2010 Income Tax Filing Form, Attachment B). In the 2010 Annual Income Tax Filing Form, Henan Found reported net revenue of RMB964,812,316 (US$140.1 million), and a pre-income tax net profit of RMB590,727,919 and paid income tax payable of RMB74,441,229.
In China, on each sale of goods the seller must charge Value Added Tax, and the receipt issued for the paid value added tax must be approved and is stamped by the government. The Company is posting details on its website showing a reconciliation of the Value Added Tax paid by Henan Found on its revenues along with copies of the government receipts. (Attachment C)
2. The letter further alleges that the Company's cash position is grossly overstated. In fact:
(a) Silvercorp, as at June 30, 2011, had a cash position of $230.5 million - more than all the cash ever raised in the Company's history. Copies of Silvercorp's current bank statements (July 31, 2011) are available on the Company's website. (Attachment D);
(b) Since 2004 Silvercorp has raised in total $202.5 million through equity financings. Over the same period of time it has paid out $40 million in dividends, and has spent $31 million repurchasing its own shares, including $16.5 million in the currently ongoing Normal Course Issuer Bid announced June 17, 2011; and,
(c) The Company has $544.6 million in total assets and no long term debt as at June 30, 2011.
3. The letter also states that the grade of the Company's deposits is simply "too good to be true" compared to comparable companies. The Company acknowledges that its SGX Mine within its Ying mining district does have some of the highest grades in the industry. As disclosed in its most recent NI 43-101 report measured grades at the SGX Ying mine are 845g/t for silver. The mineral resource estimate for SGX was prepared by Mel Klohn L.P. Geol. of Spokane Valley, Washington, who is a Qualified Person with the firm of B.K Exploration Associates. Details of QA/QC procedures and assay lab information are described in the Technical Report filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile and available on the Company's website.
The Company has long established plans for an investor tour to the Ying mine site in the third week of September. All interested investors, analysts and media wishing to visit our mine site and view the ore and operations with their own eyes are asked to contact the Company to join the tour.
4. The anonymous author also alleges that Henan Found's 22.5% JV partner, the Henan Non- Ferrous Geological and Mineral Resources Co. Ltd., which is a state owned enterprise, sold a 5% interest in Henan Found for US$7 million, implying the Henan Found assets are worth only US$140 million. The anonymous author fails to mention that the transfer was to an affiliate. Based on the joint venture contract and articles of association of Henan Found, the 22.5% joint venture partner can assign its interest to an affiliate.
In accordance with good governance practices, the Company has established a task force of independent directors consisting of Dr. Robert Gayton, Paul Simpson, LL.B. and Earl Drake, Canada's former ambassador to China, to work with regulatory authorities to immediately investigate and discover the identity of the party behind these allegations. Silvercorp will pursue all legal options, whether in Canada, the United States, or China, to recover damages incurred by the Company as a result of these allegations.
Dr. Rui Feng, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, noted "this type of manipulative scheme is baseless and which depresses our share price and harms our shareholders. While we are fighting these manipulation schemes, we will continue with our ongoing share buyback program, increase our investor relations efforts, and continue to focus on growth through exploration, acquisitions, and mine development. We are pleased with our current operations and look forward to reporting another profitable quarter."
About Silvercorp Metals Inc.
Silvercorp Metals Inc. is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and mining of high-grade silver-related mineral properties in China and Canada. Silvercorp is the largest primary silver producer in China through the operation of the four silver-lead-zinc mines at the Ying Mining Camp in the Henan Province of China. The Company is developing its GC silver- lead-zinc mine in the Guangdong Province and recently acquired the BYP gold-lead-zinc mine in Hunan province. In Canada, Silvercorp is preparing to apply for a Small Mine Permit for the Silvertip high grade silver-lead-zinc mine project in northern British Columbia to provide a further platform for growth and geographic diversification. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange and are included as a component of the S&P/TSX Composite and the S&P/TSX Global Mining Indexes.
Attachments mentioned in this press release can also be obtained by visiting the Company's website, www.silvercorp.ca and clicking on the electronic version of this press release, or alternatively by calling the Company.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Silvercorp Metals Inc.
Rui Feng
Chairman/CEO
(604) 669-9397 or Toll Free: 1-888-224-1881
Silvercorp Metals Inc.
Lorne Waldman
Corporate Secretary
(604) 669-9397 or Toll Free: 1-888-224-1881
Fax: (604) 669-9387(FAX)
info@silvercorp.ca
www.silvercorp.ca
Source: Silvercorp Metals Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media Corporation

My oh my... your SDS calls should make for a nice day... !

I will look at this down turn in SVM as a buying opportunity. I feel like SVM's response was pretty straight to the point Mr. Feng seem very upfront and transparent in his company.

Interesting that this letter comes to light as SVM popped. The short speculator trying to regain some traction here? SVM risks a new loss of support this morning. 9.05 was an outstanding exit, 8.50 was satisfactory, but now...ugh

eom

Agreed, look how the price has rebounded so quickly into positive territory this morning with some nice volume being sold so low.

watching the price action in svm is eerily similar to watching download speeds. Just when you think you're getting a handle on the pattern...

1176.55 if it holds - pat pat... http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=%5EGSPC

Scott,

"Seems like the exodus of jobs has accelerated of late... good jobs that is not would-you-like-to-supersize-that jobs. I don't think the outlook will improve soon until we start producing a labor force that can compete..."

Look at it this way:
You can continue to employee people here or move operations to where there is...
• No minimum wage.
• No union
• No child labor laws
• No OSHA, EPA, FDA... Well, you get the idea.

Congress has been cheerleading the move to Globalization and passing legislation favoring those who leave.(See the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 which was really a tax break for offshore earnings.)

Remember how this was sold as "Only the low-income jobs will be lost,"? Remember Al Gore saying globalization was inevitable?

Lobbyists for the biggest corporations have made this the "new normal". So much so that you see it as our inability to compete.

Level the playing field — either drop all those protections which we used to enjoy or remove them from our domestic employers.

The candidate who favors this will get my vote. Nobody else will even if I don't vote for the first time since 1960.

Grym

Edit: Jack Welsh began to push his suppliers off-shore in 1973. GE paid zero taxes in 2010, but they did get $3.2 B in aid. Our Congress doesn't protect our borders, our health, our patents or our jobs. We need someone who will think about Americans first.

MAHIA!

We all agree we need jobs. Many of us probably agree that we need infrastructure upgrades.

But what really counts here? There is an insatiable need/demand among some for regime change and they will do "whatever it takes" to effect that. To me, that's more a simple observation of reality than anything else. Von Hayek was right that governments evolve... democracy to oligarchy to anarchy.

A vanishing middle class will make all of us losers.

This is precisely why we need transparency and those that say we're fine with self-regulation are playing in a sandbox.

This may seem convoluted but I would ask the question. Is Jim Chanos involved here? Isn't this very similar to what happened with Patrick Byrne at overstock. Isn't this what Mark Mitchel is saying "criminal organization" in the "The Miscreants' Global Bust-Out"?
http://www.deepcapture.com/?s=Jim+chanos&x=0&y=0

How does this sound:

Sell the Mar $8 puts for $2.65 and buy 2 Mar $12 calls at 1.30 each?

Just thinking out loud. 8 seems support and 12 seems resistance.

I substantially added to my position under $8.00. I put in garbage bids premarket and made out like a bandit. I have no fear on this company and will continue to add when the opportunity occurs under $8.00. There appears to be massive support at $7.70 so as long as that is the line in the sand, shareholders should be well rewarded! Good luck.

Backspread would limit your losses. Better perhaps?

Sell Mar12 $8 calls; buy 2x Mar12 $12 calls.

It occurs to me that posting "anonymous letters" is really shady. An anonymous whistleblower makes sense - it protects the whistleblower from retaliation. And the whistleblower is not seeking to make money.

Ah, but an anonymous short seller? That's a load of crap. Why be anonymous? Legitimate short sellers are not afraid to stand behind their work. Chanos comes to mind. He stands up, says "these stocks are crap" and shorts them. Same with the short sellers of the chinese companies with fraudulent accounting. Why not stand behind your work?
Perhaps that's why you say they are criminals - because they're acting like criminals.

I just wish I could read chinese text. That's part of the problem, its tough for American investors like me to prove or disprove to our own satisfaction what's going on in a Chinese company with the paperwork written in Chinese.

How about the Shanghai Fly? Can you ask him to look into this?

One of my daughters is a merchant trainee at the home office in Columbus, OH. She loves her job and many of the people she works with. Even the trainees meet regularly with the CEO who is really hands on operations. One FYI...you can't wear black to work and ANF doesn't sell clothing that is black.

No position in ANF.

Dupe

This short piece by KJ Dell Antonia of Slate Magaine is a great add on to today's Hidden Truth post.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/08/31/a_...

It details the standards in the last 70's for children entering grade 1. Whats most shocking is the accpeted wisdon that a child in grade one could walk 4-8 blocks to school alone. This now seems to take place not until grade 5 and older. In spite of reduced crime rates, cell phones and host of measures that make things safer, and the ever-mentioned earlier maturity of children exposed to media, how is it they are on one hand growing up faster then they used to, yet are too infantile to walk home until 3 or 4 years older than a previous generation?

the youth paradox continues...

The proportion of S&P 500 shares outstanding sold short on Aug. 29 rose to 3.03 percent, the most since the end of November and up from 2.37 percent at the beginning of August, according to New York-based Data Explorers, which provides research on short sales and stock lending. Short selling of the gauge reached a three-year high of 5.52 percent in August 2008, before the worst financial crisis since the 1930s drove the stock index to a 12-year low in March 2009.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-02/short-sel...

CEF does a mid-afternoon moon shot. What's up with that?!

Adding to my SVM thanks to the short manipulation. Not going to wait for Bill's confirmation of the operations and comments from the CEO. I don't usually add to a losing position but this is pure manipulation by the press. What if I started to short BA on my concern that the dreamliner has a mystery flaw and I spread my fear as "Dr. Strangelove" and the MSM and CNBC take seriously because I agree to take Joe or Maira for a steak dinner? Isn't it obvious?

FD: Long CEF & SVM

On the P&F there is support at 6, today scored 7 1/2 to the downside, for those interested, last Sept came in at 6 1/2 to the upside. That is a very negative looking candle on the daily today. Be careful

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=svm

Anyone else think we see a soft settle into the close, and maybe end with the Dow down only 150 or so?

from Canada's Financial Post today, this comment is a little unnerving regarding Sino Forest:

"The Canadian-listed group, which has denied all wrongdoing, is the biggest of a number of Chinese companies listed on foreign stock exchanges to have been accused of misleading investors in recent months"

specifically the "which has denied all wrongdoing" part.

nervous on SVM, this scare tactic, if that's what it is, was perfectly timed. Odd though the massive short building.

It would be great for someone to comment on the treatment of SinoForest and what that could mean for Silvercorp. I don't know enough about the sinoforest issue, other than the articles I've read.

(EU) IMF releases "working papers" warning over potential spillover effect in financial markets
- Fiscal deterioration in EU has the potential for a Lehman-like event
- Spillover on fixed income markets is accelerated during financial stress

Forget traders. the majority of the middle class is getting slaughtered.

Problem found. Things are looking much better. Things will continue to improve as the various services are turned to the new hardware.

and just camp out on the lawn. imagine, 10M jobless flocking to DC until shovel ready jobs are given.

I cannot imagine what kids in college (freshman thru senior) with $40,000+ debt will do once they graduate in the next 4 yrs.

Bachelors in mocha latte.

Picked up TNA @ 40.75 and just out at 41.15
It was more a learning trade than anything else, so happy to cover cost.
In cash ahead of long weekend.
Safe travels, all.

According to Ubermensch Rickards as just posted over at KWN.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWe...

Wow. Pucker time for the paper game.

both leaders imho and showing potential ihs patterms on the 60m charts, with support so far at the 61.8 fib from Aug 23 low to Aug 31 highs.

SRO... Self Regulating Organization

The debt, imho, has been the result of bribery and illegal actions behind the curtain... so to speak.

Take earmarks... they should be called what they actually are... thank you cards for the contribution.

Agree life-long politicians should be abolished.

It is what it is... it's the environment we live and operate. Change needs to originate from citizens... not a political proposal. Change via politicians will be bad, very very bad. Dare I say, angry citizens will be those to take action while fearful citizens will give up liberty for the mirage our govt will protect and provide for them.

For instance, let us [the govt] have your 401k, SEP, IRA, etc and we [the govt] will guarantee you a 4% return.

For that to happen, investors need to be terrified to drink the koolaid. SPX crashes below 500, fear mongering will reach fever pitch, congress will pass legislation to take control of retirement accounts [first voluntary, then involuntary] and prosperity will be pushed out of reach for the masses.

I'd recommend moving your money now, before the rush. Why deal with the delay and hassle of FDIC insured.

Ok, C didn't invent the 1 for 10 reverse equity split as an accounting tool, but they sure have invented the dismal dividend.
Since the May 6 accounting trickery and the announcement of the one penny dividend... yes that's a one wheat penny dividend. Who in their right mind would be swayed to invest money in a company for a one penny dividend.
Even Warren Buffet wasn't fooled with the one penny dividend smoke screen.
From May 6, 2011 until today September 02, 2011 Citi has lost -1,830 pennies, how's that one penny dividend looking to investors in C today?
If Buffet will invest other peoples money in GS to the tune of 3 billion dollars and again in BAC to the tune of 5 billion dollars, seems ironic C has been omitted from Buffet's good ol' boys club.
Let's face the hard facts, C is in all reality a two dollar and eighty four penny equity, disguised as a twenty eight dollar and forty penny ponzi scheme!
Buyer beware, run..... don't walk away from a company that produces nothing for the people or the country, and sucks the life savings out of the working people's retirement accounts.
It's all good if your the mega million dollar CEO of C, especially if you can sell your hedge fund to C for 165 million dollars just before it goes broke!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/business/bank-su...

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

looks fine, as a regular follower I care, take care, Bear
E

Vad - Thanks for all of your trade screen-captures. They've helped me immensely. Truly a Schaum's Outline of Trading... Thanks Much. Kyle

Kyle, you've made my day. Thanks.

(had to look up Schaum's Outlines... Some references get lost on me :) )

Vad -

We may disagree on some of the HFT / Nanex stuff perhaps, BUT I appreciate all of your genuine efforts to help all of those struggling traders (like me) out. If your ever decide to write a more detailed 'Setups and Execution' type of document then I have many screen-captures of your trades in IB from the last 2-3 years, if that's worth anything. I work through your logs most every evening. Again, Thanks so Much. And Thanks for signing your TTR book for me in the '09 conference. Kyle

Vad -

Are you separating it by time-frame? There's this pre-market to 10:15 'Open Break' time-frame.
I noticed Trader-Mike in http://www.tradermike.net/2011/01/tools-of-the-tra... talks about

"As I think you all know, I typically don’t trade until after 10:15 (or 10:30 if there are econ reports due at 10:30). I wait until then to allow the 10:00 reversal to pass as well as to give me a chance to determine the day’s trend. I use the NDX / QQQQ as my primary trend indicator. All of my charts are 15 or 30 minute candlesticks with 5 and 10 period exponential moving averages on them."

And then there's this 11:30 Europe close deal. Do these time-frame partitions factor in your trading at all or is it just candle-stick / volume tape reading???

Vad -

That's kind of what I was asking. Trading these 'frantic' / wide-spread openings in SLW (as you've noted recently) vs the TNA / TZA 'milk-trades' which mostly occur later in the day seem different. The open-break trades are more challenging (for me as a new trader), but the later-in-the-day trades are more apparent. The SLW movement today at 13:00 and even the 14:45 reversal up was easier than the open break...

OK ... Thanks for all you do. I really appreciate all your tutelage. Kyle

Credit is given its due to James Turk and Jim Sinclair but I HEREBY DECLARE the Social Equity Enabler Bill Cara, Orchid Farmer Stephen Wellman (kaimu), GATA, and ex-con Martin Armstrong as those who provided the grist for the mill. We're on our way, gentlemen.

"For the first time in the infomercial CNBC’s 20-year history, the echo chamber of Wall Street’s tread-worn stock hucksters such as the likes of Morgan Stanley’s David Darst, decided it’s best to hedge its bet against plunging into the credibility abyss along side Morgan Stanley, or worse, Standard & Poor’s, by finally covering gold’s 11-year rally and by beginning to admit that the world may not be flat after all.

Gold’s emergence as a bona fide asset at CNBC is especially telling, as the duped legion of Lord Haw-Haws for the 40-year “in-crowd” intellectual dictatorship presently ruled by economist icons Paul Krugman, Ben Bernanke, Alan Krueger and other pseudo intellectuals at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School appear to sense that these despicable frauds will soon be exposed as a two-bit pack of 15th century shamans—at the very least!

And it could turn out that the year 2011 will be seen as the turning point of tyrannical rule of the U.S. dollar, in smaller part, in Libya and Egypt, but in a much more meaningful way in the fall of the evilest of empires of them all, The Fed—and just maybe a mass movement back to the principles of the U.S. Constitution is underway.

Jim Sinclair and James Turk are due some credit for their parts in exposing the most ruthless of tyrannies, The Fed, over the many years, and luckily have been afforded a mic now that the decade-long bull rally in gold has made their points illustrative."

http://www.beaconequity.com/on-gold-team-sinclair-...

Cheers.

Gotta love a good bear raid. It really twists down the spring coil.

If you have confidence in the company under attact, buy more. A LOT more!

My son is a CFA and earns his keep with judicial fairness opinions on big takeovers as well as fair value estimates for boards of companies seeking to maximize shareholder wealth. He is aware of 'Muddy Waters' and the other big red nosed short selling clowns that make a living by floating inuendos.

These idiots have found a niche. Chinese ner-do-wells who have been allowed to list on legit exchanges and whose businesses (assets) are at best suspect.
Hello! Is Mr. regulator at home? Mr. regulator PLEASE answer your phone!

If anyone wants to short a company with non-transparent accounting----try a freaking BANK! ANY BANK!

Speaking of banks. In 08 and 09, the Feds 'saved' the banks and IB's at the expense of savers and taxpayers. Now the Feds want to sue on behalf of the GSE's (government guaranteed) these same previously saved institutions. To me it smacks as the ultimate circle jerk. Take taxpayer money from the banks to give to the taxpayer funded GSE's and plead for the need of more taxpayer capital for both! It makes no sense! But it does.

Well, it can't hold a candle to the WIR, but the charts don't lie.

http://tinyurl.com/3s82an9

- Sectors
- VIX
- Breadth oscillator
- Point-and-figure charts and "return-free risk".

Perhaps too cynical, but can anyone fault us for being cynical these days?

Have a great weekend. The twins, the ANF retailer and the MS bankster are home for the long weekend. Good time to be the Dad.

Dr. Strangelove.
I think you are degrading Martin Armstrong to label him an ex con. I have read his story and what he says all adds up. Armstrong had the rug pulled out from under him by the NY banksters and did time, yet never commited a crime.
Bear E

Thinking about getting a tablet PC (no rush) for use on vacations/trips.

Anybody have strong opinions either way on the genre? Android OS vs the iPad category killer? Thanks.

Ron,

on a verge of making a choice too, and leaning Android, specifically - ASUS Transformer 2, slated to release this fall. First iteration attracted attention by having generous connectivity and "expandability" options and most of all - full size keyboard dock essentially turning it into netbook with much easier input than on-screen keyboard, doubling battery time, adding full size USB, etc. Thus device doubles as a tablet or a netbook.

Second iteration is supposed to have new much more powerful Nvidia processor and the next generation of Android. A few more are coming to the market nearest time, by Sony, Amazon, Lenovo... which will help keep prices down and offer even wider choice, with one of them maybe looking even more attractive.

I concur. I have read all the evidence and no rational person would conclude he did anything wrong except not to cave in to the Judge, Prosecuter and their controllers.

I communicated with Martin online in the old Prodigy XAU days. I can't remember how I got his email but he was in all my dealings a class act, who shared his knowledge of capital market experiences.

Mark Faber, Jim Sinclair and Jim Rogers are on a very short list in this Capital Market World.

Martin Armstrong deserves a pardon.
Jimymac

Yes,the BKX weekly hs top I have followed to fruition, I think I posted the FTSE chart here just before the breakdown,it was a near duplicate of the BKX pattern and the DJUSFN is another that was in sinc along with the tsx.

Some have met their po's or exceeded while others have not.

Bear E -

"I think you are degrading Martin Armstrong to label him an ex con."

It's not a label; it's a fact and it gives Armstrong CREED like it gives Nelson Mandela CREED for serving 27 years in prison and then becoming president of South Africa.

The Christians usurped the Romans' brutal empire through martyrdom. There was no way to defeat the promise of an afterlife so Emperor Constantine the Great simply gave up and converted in 313 AD. Armstrong is a brave and brilliant man who is lucky to be alive and free and it shows that the U.S. Constitution is not completely null and void.

Labels bad. Facts good. Let's not pretend he didn't do time TO PROVE A POINT as an innocent sole. It will work to his advantage as the NY cabal is exposed and dismantled for its destruction of the reserve currency and constitutional representation of our once great nation.

Cheers.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Silvercorp+Rebuts+A...

Decided that while I was on it, I better do it all at once... so, gave a new look and structure to the educational blog. Easier on eyes, easier to navigate, has all the sharing buttons so the person thinking that someone else could benefit from reading it can "like", tweet or mail it in one click - whole blog or particular post. I have to say, that the layman like me with no web design skill and html knowledge can do it all is nothing short of amazing. Coming from a Luddite that I am, folks that design these tools should take it as a compliment... :) All my blogs also have a mobile version for those who reach them from these devices... interestingly enough, about 5% of reads are coming from iPads and 2 - from iPhones. So, here is the result: http://blog.realitytrader.com/, with blog summary for easier navigation at http://blog.realitytrader.com/2009/12/blog-summary...

And, since it's still a weekend, did the facelift to my photoblog: http://photography.realitytrader.com/. How do you like'em, irises? :)

I like those ballerinas....er.. Irises a lot. Some introductions to the pretty flowers of Canada would be a most welcome diversion when I finally get to a Cara Conference ;)

"I am working on BERNANKE'S BUCKET LIST for the Whistler Conference! I have a feeling he will be having a lot of time soon to reflect on his not so bright future! "

I hope you're right — and I hope we don't simply replace him with another. The Fed should be dead for good.

Grym

Rumor only; Mortgage rate cut for all puts money in everyone’s pocket? http://www.kereport.com/wp-content/uploads/0903-2-...

just a rumor

Earl

Game Over? Senior IMF Official - "I Expect A Hard Greek Default This Year" http://tinyurl.com/4ykt2ut

IMHO NG people are excellent geologists but poor managers, and not good at considering shareholders' interests. Barrick tried to buy them at one point, but they fought it tooth and nail, including exceptionally optimistic estimates for the cost of developing one of their properties. I think negotiating a tax free equity swap would have allowed NG owners to have benefited from the geologists at NG and the professional mine development skills of ABX.

Nonetheless, the chart is looking quite good. I think some large hedge funds were buying NG a few months back as a call on the gold price.
No position in NG or ABX.

Zerohedge is busy... Sounds like this is good for Gold anyway.
3. CHINA'S GOLD RESERVES

"China increases its gold reserves in order to kill two birds with one stone"

"The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal (Shijie Xinwenbao)(04/28): "According to China's National Foreign Exchanges Administration China 's gold reserves have recently increased. Currently, the majority of its gold reserves have been located in the U.S. and European countries. The U.S. and Europe have always suppressed the rising price of gold. They intend to weaken gold's function as an international reserve currency. They don't want to see other countries turning to gold reserves instead of the U.S. dollar or Euro. Therefore, suppressing the price of gold is very beneficial for the U.S. in maintaining the U.S. dollar's role as the international reserve currency. China's increased gold reserves will thus act as a model and lead other countries towards reserving more gold. Large gold reserves are also beneficial in promoting the internationalization of the RMB."

http://t.co/X7bMyfW

Solyndra Investigation: Probe Into White House Role in Massive Energy Loan - ABC News http://abcn.ws/pWe50r (via @ABC)

If this is routine for political officals we're doomed.

Kaimu, Grym;

Have you considered that the Feral Reserve has been highjacked and now set up as the straw man?

I must caution you; Dylan Ratigan's recent outburst screamed that O'bama should usurp the authority of Congress (via executive order?) and take control of the enormous raqueteering and organized crime by seizing power and enforcing a massive restructuring.

Althought the system has failed, that action would equate to a coup (I believe we already have an effective financial coup in congress, elsewhere)and a new position of unitary authority.

It is impossible to understand the world today without knowing what the ESF is and what it has been doing. Officially in charge of defending the dollar, the ESF is the government agency which controls the New York Fed, runs the CIA's black budget, and is the architect of the world's monetary system (IMF, World Bank, etc).

WARNING: Giant rabbit hole of vast consuming darkness.

http://www.marketskeptics.com/2011/06/the-esf-and-...

pulse

This does nothing long term. What he should say, if this is the plan = "Fellow Americans, every home owner will immediately see a 2.5% reduction if your interest on your next mortgage payment, for the next 30 yrs. You should spend less, and use the savings to increase your mortgage payment, in efforts to pay off your home quicker."

However you know what they want and people will do, is spend the approx $500-700 per month, on a new car payment that is same amount as the savings. Bling bling new mercedes lease baby!!!

the people who are on that link/radio show are idiots. the president is an idiot. we are all idiots for allowing this to happen. This plan, if true, is another kick the can down the road.

Pay off your debts
Own the home mortgage free if possible
live under your means and build real assets
learn trades/skills that can be used as barter
build your network of people you can count on in life/death situations

I just took a bath and an idea, better than the rumored idea, came to me.

Freeze of all mortgage payments, yet no increase in principal or interest balance, for 4 yrs.

thats right. you will not have to make any mortgage payments for 4 yrs. your mortgage repayment period will just be 4 yrs longer. simply like stopping time.

Make sure you use your saved cashflow on new toys.

But wait, you ask, "wont the banks just go bankrupt if their cashflow in dissapears for 4 yrs?" ahh that is the beauty! The Fed will make those payments for us, at a high interest rate to the govt/you and me.

booyah!

ALOHA!!

Dylan needs to get his facts straight!

This is how the ESF got started ...

The U.S. Exchange Stabilization Fund was established at the Treasury Department by a provision in the Gold Reserve Act of January 31, 1934. 31 U.S.C. § 5117. It was intended as a response to Britain's Exchange Equalisation Account. The fund began operations in April 1934, financed by $2 billion of the $2.8 billion paper profit the government realized from raising the price of gold to $35 an ounce from $20.67. The act authorized the ESF to use its capital to deal in gold and foreign exchange to stabilize the exchange value of the dollar. The ESF as originally designed was part of the executive branch not subject to legislative oversight.

The essence is indeed golden! Now we can see just how successful the ESF has been as they say ... "to stabilize the exchange value of the dollar"! Who really cares that the forex is stabilized as all I care about is what my USD can buy! Obviously the US FED and the ESF have been dismal failures at preserving purchasing power of the USD since 1934. If I did not know better I would swear that the ESF was put in place to destroy the long term store of value of the USD!

First you create an emergency and then confiscate the people's property and make it illegal for them to possess it for the next 40 years. Next you mark up the very same asset that is now illegal to own in order to raise funds that will be used against the very people you defrauded in order to convince them that you are their savior! Are we voters really that naive?

I'm very glad that so many American voters did not waste their vote on Obama and McCain like I wasted my vote on Ron Paul! Boy, I can hardly sleep at night thinking that I was such an idiot for voting for that un-electable Ron Paul. To think he might have gotten into power and ended this US FED "gravy train with biscuit wheels"! Where's my Ambien?

Yet another of the many failures of FDR and his policies from the 1930s that keep WE THE PEOPLE paying into infinity for the fraud that has become the largest ANTI TRUST monopoly since BIG OIL ... that would be the monetary cartel known as the US FED. By all means we must keep those banks alive by killing off everything America has stood for since 1776. It's oh so very cool to be a Nation of debt slaves!

at the end of the article the writer says, "Additional monetary stimulus is the last line of defense for the advanced economies today. G7 central banks should purchase more assets if we are to have any hope of our economies ever catching up."

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2011/08/31/t...

Gentlemen start your (gubermint) engines.

Pulse,

If the Fed is a straw man, I have a match ;-)

Under both Greenspan and Bernanke the Fed has done much damage, IMO. How a president could go about fixing this problem may vary. I would favor Ratigan's idea of appealing directly to We the People.

I believe since Congress has neglected their responsibility of oversight and spent us into this mess by serving special interests — both corporate and union — we should limit Congressional power with term limits and other curbs.

My mother's uncle was a part of Teddy Roosevelt's team which we called "Trust Busters". His assignment was the Chicago meat packing trust.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h951.html
From the article:
"Trust-busting was not a term the president favored. He believed the offending corporations needed to be regulated, not destroyed. Many of his big business critics, however, failed to note the difference."

Grym

http://tinyurl.com/3quf6dm

“People who say we should get the inflation rate up to 5 percent forget that there’s a second half of that policy: bringing it back down again”

Does anybody know if the executives of SVM owns some shares of the company?
And what about insider trades?
I have an important share, and it would be "nice" to learn that the management has also some shares of the company, considering the situation.
I can't find any information in the web about this, or better the few (free) data I found show no insider ownership.

ALOHA!!

Add the TOP TEN off the SVM website...

Royce & Associates, LLC-6,892,350 4%
BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited-4,541,677 3%
Van Eck Associates Corporation- 2,670,000 2%
Highstreet Asset Management Inc.-2,436,592 1%
Renaissance Technologies Corp.-2,385,100 1%
U.S. Global Investors, Inc.-2,088,000 1%
Manulife Asset Management Limited-1,955,173 1%
UBS Securities LLC-1,936,160 1%
Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Mgmt., Ltd.-1,763,700 1%
PSP Investments-1,665,700 1%

It seems this TOP TEN group would want to share in Bill and the SVM CEO concerns. I never have believed in the concept of "silent shareholder"!

FD: I own no shares of SVM.

ALOHA!!

Well, at least the Israeli students do! LOWER COST OF LIVING & SOCIAL JUSTICE ... It seems the Arab dictators have something in common with Israeli leadership; abuse of the people! Heck, what government anywhere in the World does not abuse its Middle Class if it has one? It would be interesting to know how many of those protesters are bankers.

Biggest rally in Israel's history presses PM
By Ari Rabinovitch
September 4, 2011

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands marched Saturday for lower living costs in the largest such rally in Israel's history, bolstering a social change movement and mounting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take on economic reform.

Protest leaders called it "the moment of truth" for the grassroots movement that has swollen since July from a cluster of student tent-squatters into a countrywide mobilization of Israel's middle class.

"An entire generation wants a future," read one banner as demonstrators flooded the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and cities throughout Israel, shouting "the people demand social justice."

Organizers said over 450,000 people took part in the demonstrations. Police put the number at least 300,000.

Protests on that scale in Israel, with a population of 7.7 million, are usually held over issues of war and peace.

"Tonight is the pinnacle moment of a historic protest," Amir Rochman, 30, an activist from Israel's Green Party said.

I wonder how much worse their cost of living would be without US foreign aid. Then again I wonder how much worse our cost of living would be without China's foreign aid.

Wonderful, Kaimu

A delicate line to walk with ANY criticism of the Jewish State. The rumblings are originating from an educated, youthful and comparatively (see 'Arab' neighbours) advantaged sector of the region.

At this precise location, our futures could be changed - either way. Fully 4% (6% est. by organizers) of the ENTIRE population was able to geographically assemble and protest in this growing environment of deeply committed hypocrisy. Yet, there is a vocal and persistent challenge - that cannot be legitimately silenced.

These demonstrations and frustrations are only the first steps in an inevitable journey of change; a crumbling of the status quo's foundation has occurred, their legitimacy will not return.

The youth offer a peaceful path of redemption to our failed generation of many who claimed to stand for peace and prosperity in their own younger and idealistic years.

Goals of harmony, lasting ambitions and wisdom will be difficult to retrieve. Not, impossible.

This is a multi-generation war.

pulse

Grym wrote;

" I would favor Ratigan's idea of appealing to We the People."

I think the people's anger here in the US might possibly swell in the next 18-24 months to a level not seen in my life. That will most likely embolden some DC Creeps and terrify others. "It really comes down to jobs." It will be interesting to see how the economic situation is spun by those Creeps and printed by the Corporate Media. The hysterical election cycle will be nauseating this year as both parties put up their bought and paid for candidates and prey on the dumb voting public ( which I might add is wising up slowly but still too busy working and living to find real honest information.) Thankfully endeavors like Bill and Kaimu's web tv venture is spreading and getting geared up. To appeal directly to The People in 24 months might look ugly for the DC Creeps. However, a good old fashion lynching might appease the masses... :-) Obama would never appeal to "The People". He is a most arrogant elitest. His jobs speech will most likely be a classic butt-head performance.

My outlook is some what pessimistic; I see a Republican president elected who is as misinformed and loyal to the "old guard" as Obama. Most American's I rub shoulders with here in Mid-America say they want "change" but (count me cynical) really most want a job and an ability to buy things. Equity and justice seem too lofty or ideal for them to worry about or see it as something they can affect.

Who ever creates jobs will be seen as a Savior. I hope to God it's not a war that does it.

Marches on Washington helped envigorate change in the 60's, why not now?

I won't go for Ipad. I am pretty much leaning on ASUS now. Just wait for a better price. Apple controls your any activities. all multimedia files have to go its itune. it does not support flash. another expensive extra charge if you want usb.

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/chris-p...

PMI in most major economies has stalled. Italy has actually contracted. If the German Constitutional Court gives some bad news or the ECB doesn't wave a magic wand (see the above Ambrose link) then outright contraction could occur.

Of interest is the couple of PMI charts in Puplava's article. I put in some lines roughly marking the beginning and end of market rallies. Interesting to note that as soon as the market gets a whiff of PMI contraction it sells off.

As soon as the market gets a whiff of PMI expansion, risk is back on. I guess we're to wait on the next PMI numbers, if this correlation holds even just a little water. See attached.

--------------------------------

I don't know if consumer sentiment is a chicken or egg but the link I posted above and the Michigan survey don't get much worse than where we are now:

"The Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for the mid-August reading plunged 8.9 points to 54.9 which is just below levels during the worst of the 2008 meltdown. This is nearly a record low, being the lowest reading since May 1980 during the period of the Iranian hostage crisis and 1980 recession. The expectations component, which is the leading component, fell 10.3 points to 45.7, a level that is severely depressed and near a record low. The current conditions component fell less severely, down more than six points to 69.3."

http://mam.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=44...

Note that it is expectations, a leading component, which is at record lows. I wonder how much CNBC et al. are responsible for that...

ALOHA!!

"Gold to me is a neutral currency. While the metal looks good over the last ten years (and I became bullish on it in 2002 in this letter), over the last 32 years it has not had all that much luster. Bonds have been much better as an investment. It is all about timing."

Maybe Mauldin needs to define what "currency" is in his book. What we have now is certainly a currency that is a medium of exchange and a unit of account and fungible, yet it has no long term store of value. It totally leaves out that function of money. To me that is the entire basis of what money should be! Its absolutely criminal to override that function with government largess ...

LONG TERM STORE OF VALUE ...
To act as a store of value, a money must be able to be reliably saved, stored, and retrieved – and be predictably usable as a medium of exchange when it is retrieved. The value of the money must also remain stable over time. Some have argued that inflation, by reducing the value of money, diminishes the ability of the money to function as a store of value.

While Mauldin scoffs at gold's lack luster performance over the past 32 years I have a different view. He has conveniently chosen 1979, the "spike year" for such a statement. However if you were buying gold in the early 1970s then you were buying below $100 and for the most part around $50USD. Even at 1979 prices which were $217USD(London Fix) at the low you would have a 870% return as of last Friday,which is an average 27% annual return for 32 years straight. Specify which month in 1979 you are talking about John! If you bought in the $50 region back in 1972-73 then you have a 3700%+ return over 39 years or a 95% average annual return. Say you bought at the peak around $825USD in 1980, yeah I guess 7.3% annual return is lack luster, but today anyone with a 7.3% annual return is considered a genius!

I think Mauldin should ask the ex-employees of Enron, Lehmans and Bear Stearns and the millions in pension funds that held those stocks what their view are on gold's lack luster performance for 32 years. Those who held gold for 32 years no matter what price they bought in now have their principle and a whole lot more. Millions of Americans have lost their principle thanks to the experts who have totally misunderstood the role of gold in portfolios as money. Now if you bought in at $825 in 1980 then sold at $300 the following year/years you lost. Just like those who bought AAPL at $31 in 2000 and sold at $12 the same year! The share price of AAPL in Jan 1985 was $3.70. In Dec 1997 it was $3.28, twelve years of zero gains. In Dec 2002 it was $7.16, so AAPL shareholders made a 190% gain after 17 years of buy and hold. With those types of selective analysis you can make all kinds of Mauldin assumptions even on the most beloved Tech Kings! You had to wait until Jan 2005 to just break even on buying AAPL at the height of the Tech Bubble in 2000.

Yeah its all about timing isn't it? Still more to the point it is more about REAL MONEY!

The number of "experts" who now continually come out of the wood work and put this kind of blurb in their articles amazes me ...

"(and I became bullish on it in 2002 in this letter) ..."

Well John GLD was not around back in 2002 so what was your bullish strategy then? As far as I can read John Mauldin rarely mentioned gold in any of his articles until more recent times. What about silver John? What about gold stocks and juniors? TSX or ASX? GoldMoney? Perth Mint? Where's your 2002 gold strategy?

Its been harder to make returns more recently ...

Go here: http://tinyurl.com/3ql9lt6
Click on the 2Y after the 5Y chart. See!

Where's Mauldin? Its about prices right?

Believe this link is to the interview, if you can wade through the intro crap...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44391034/ns/meet_the_p...

here's some of the text... 4 major points... sorry for the copy and paste but I don't know any other way to do it...

MR. TOM FRIEDMAN: Well, David, what I and my co-author Michael Mandelbaum from Johns Hopkins are basically arguing is we've got good news and bad news. The bad news is this problem didn't start in 2008 with the subprime crisis. This problem, in our view, started at the end of the Cold War. The good news is, there is a way out if we understand exactly where we are. I beg four big points, basically.

First of all, we made the worst mistake a country or species can make at the end of the Cold War, we misread our environment. We interpreted the victory in the Cold War--for the end of the Cold War as a victory and not understanding it's actually an onset of one of the biggest challenges we've ever faced as a country. We had just unleashed two billion people just like us. But the '90s turned out to be quite a party, thanks to the peace dividend, thanks to the massive productivity boost of the Internet, and thanks, most importantly, in many ways, to the collapse in oil prices, which was like a huge tax cut. Then that brings us into the 21st century. So really the '90s was like a 3,650-day victory parade for the United States.

Start with the 2000s, 9/11, which we're going to talk to here. Tragically, 9/11 set us on a really bad course. We spent the last decade, in many ways necessarily, many ways excessively, chasing the losers from globalization rather than the winners. And we made up for a lot of the fall behind there by basically injecting ourselves with steroids. Just as baseball players did it to hit home runs, we injected ourselves with credit steroids, created a huge housing boom and construction boom to create jobs.

The third, I think, big change is a big technological change. The world--we, we--the grid of the world, basically, the number of people who can compete, connect, and collaborate exploded in the last decade. You know, I wrote a book in 2004 called "The World is Flat," which is about this connecting of the world. We've gone from connected to hyper-connected in terms of the people who are now competing with us and connecting with us. When we sat down to write this book, I actually went back to "The World is Flat." I looked in the index, and I realized that Facebook wasn't in it. When I said the world was flat, Facebook didn't exist--or for most people it didn't exist, Twitter was a sound, the Cloud was in the sky, 4G was a parking place, LinkedIn was a prison, applications were what you sent to college and for most people, Skype was a typo. OK. That all happened in just the last seven years, David. And what it's done is taken the world from connected to hyper-connected. And that's been a huge opportunity and a huge challenge.

Lastly, I just say one thing, all of this is overlaid--and I'm interested in Doris' view on this, in particular--with a generational shift. We went from the greatest generation, whose philosophy was basically save and invest--and we are still living off their saving and investing--to basically the baby boomer generation, whose philosophy turned out to be borrow and spend. And we've really shifted from a generation born in the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War--these were serious people; they wouldn't think of shutting down the government for a minute, OK--to a generation basically that is much less serious. We've gone from basically the values of the greatest generation where--which were what my philosopher friend Dov Seidman calls sustainable values, values that sustain--to a baby boomer generation whose values are situational values. Do whatever the situation allows. You put them all together and I think you really account for a lot of the hole we're in right now structurally.

MR. GREGORY: That's the big picture, which we'll unpack a little bit.

ballena -

Be aware that the DOW will also rise at some point in the QE to infinity end game since the BIG MONEY will flee gov't debt for real assets including blue chip equities with giant PP&E on their balance sheets.

Would you shift your billions into certificates of this as Old Man Buffett did with another railroader:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=UNP+Balance+Sheet&...

Or this:

http://worldbanknotegallery.com/countries/note.php...

Billionen translates from german into english as TRILLION.

Flood of cash into equities happened during Great Depression leading to spectacular volatility.

"During this new stage of the depression, the refugee gold and the foreign gov't reserve deposits were constantly driven by fear hither and yon over the world. We were to see currencies demoralized and gov'ts embarassed as fear drove the gold from one country to another. In fact, there was a mass of gold AND SHORT-TERM CREDIT [emphasis mine] which behaved like a loose cannon on the deck of the world in tempest-tossed era." - Herbert Hoover from The Memoirs of Herber Hoover, The Great Depression 1929-1941, Vol. 3, published 1952, MacMillan Co., NY.

Gonna be hard to accummulate physical bullion by the BILLIONS with the BIG MONEY this time around so equities will be the next best thing. Gold is my dry powder.

Cheers.

I am not sure of anything here. I am not a fan of the club that believes in QE to "infinity" (are they theoretical mathematicians?) and as long as the US indices do not make new highs they are still in a bear market started about ten years ago, despite a mountain of QE and ZIRP for almost 3 years already. I am not saying USA is Japan, but it sure did not help there. 20 years later Nikkei is still nowhere near its ATH.

PS. Japan got a new Prime Minister again! 7 in 6 years? They change so fast that I am not even able to remember the name of them before they get a replacement.

I had to step out and do some electrical work at the store and so much to catch up with now...

Kaimu;
(By all means we must keep those banks alive by killing off everything America has stood for since 1776. It's oh so very cool to be a Nation of debt slaves!)

That's probably better than being abject slaves, which could be right around the corner. For all its faults this country has had a pretty good run with some of the highest living standards every known.

regards,
Earl

Amen to that Grym

(This is why I believe the most important issue is a Constitutional change to limit and eliminate lifetime professionals from the Congressional system. It will not be easy, but unless we do it we will simply continue on the same path as the last many decades and lose all the principles which have made this country unique and great.)

Good Lord Dr. the TLT is at its 52wk high. I must look into this…
Bellena, thanks.

Henry George was a failed politician, Black Irish sympatico, yellow journalist, Marxist Commie PIG who would have been right at home in Lenin and Stalin's workers paradise where land was held in the people's common and there were no taxes on labour..

That worked out well! Is forced labour a tax? Nah. From each according to etc.

Social equity is defined by what I say it is. Or it is defined by what You say it is. Get the top politicos from every country in the world in one room to agree 'what is' social equity and like all the economists strung together will never reach a conclusion. Social equity is a chimera chased in a dream by the worthiest thinkers but has no and never will have any reality in fact.

If I never ever hear anymore references to the pseudo psycho babble pretenses of a Henry George or Alsia Rosenbaum, I will know that this cycle has run its course also. They all do.

The hoi poloi from the richest states to the muddy footed humped back rice planters are all in rebellion because......fill in the blank. Because it is where we are in a cycle.

If you want to know progress, try Schumpeter. If you want to know the definition of 'fair price' read the edicts from the good Monks of Salamanca U. circa 1250.
If you want to know some really stupid abstracts about the way a bearded dead Austrian sees practical life, read Von Mises. He wrote a thousand pages of 'Human Action" Duh! If you want a PhD in the way the world works, read Spengler. And read him again.

I suppose I've offended Mr. Bill, Kaimu, Ron Paul and no doubt all other defenders of free choice, free sex and nickle beer. I've always been free choice. However free beer and nickle sex would have saved me more money over time...

But we are all here to make mega bucks in the markets and shower the world with social equity at hopefully someone elses tax expense.

Five years ago if some seer had laid out the events that we have all experienced and told you that as a consequence that U.S. ten year T-Trash would be trading through 2%, you would probably have dismissed that as a 1 in a thousand bet. What odds will you give me that the DOW will not trade through 40,000 in the next five years?

Wealth, so called is not just digits in some 'fiduciary' institution. Wealth is the extent of holdings with no service or observence paid to 'price.'

Lloyd George, Henry George or Boy George can propose to tax me anyway they see fit but I decide if I will pay or no. That's MY social justice.

Just kidding Mr. Feds. My checks are in the mail!

packaged for your viewing convenience from TraderFlorida.

http://chart.ly/kqpsr9r

http://chart.ly/idg48yk

I didn't enter Friday as false breaks can reverse real quick. Show me good vol. & price Tuesday and I'll look at getting on board.

This I was watching Friday and continue to watch today. Uncle Buck against multiple currencies. Look at the gaps down in Euro, GBP, $A. Something's on the move:

http://www.finviz.com/forex_charts.ashx?tf=h1

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DBK.DE

NY traders do have a crystal ball. DB support was lost Friday in NY.

Shanghai loss of support following the bounce. New lows today.

http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/npage/2_3051.html...

gold reaching for new highs.

.: A very nice short clip from BBC; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14678859 ///these were the author's words, not mine, ominous or depressing fits this labor day missive better...........going to go "labor" on two rental houses today. Just relized I am not contributing to the carpet installation workers anymore as I have slowly changed main corridor/common areas into tile/hardwood and buy remnant carpet to glue down in the bedrooms. Hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday and gets "girded up" for should be an event-driven week.........toby PS can see plumes of smoke from three of the rent houses, 300 houses burned near Bastrop, 360 closed and at least 25 houses burned in Steiner Ranch, brush fires out of control near Liberty Hill......fingers crossed (and prayer naturally), so far so good for me and mine and no bad injuries/fatalities reoported

ALOHA!!

"If you want to know progress, try Schumpeter."

And if you want to know who Schumpeter stole his treatise from then go back to Leon Walras and general equilibrium. The whole basis is dependent on the entrepreneur so while you're at it throw in Joseph Campbell who clearly says the entrepreneur is THE HERO! Its not the unions or the government that create jobs which in turn expand economies and wealth. One more DUH for your other DUH, eh?

"read Spengler. And read him again."

Well I guess Mises and Spengler have some commonalities since they both had to flee Nazi Germany, but at least Mises was smart enough not to vote for Hitler before he left! So are you saying you would have voted for Hitler? Its easy to operate in hindsight and its easy to pick and chose who to believe but the rule of thumb is that pretty much every economist, past and present, has borrowed or been influenced by their predecessors. You have to start somewhere and the business cycle continues on through the works of many, many economists today. You could skip most of Ilya's recommendations and simply read SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT by George Orwell to see the mechanics of how Empires collapse. Its a short story so it isn't even a 1000 page eco-historian opus, maybe its only $1.50 on your Kindle!

Either way you slice it and no matter who's dirty ginsu you use it is plainly obvious that the Keynesian path of today is not working. Look where you may, but I always look where the herd is not. It is time to give some Austrians a chance instead of the usual suspects from the UK and the USA! Today 99% of Americans think Mises is plural for mouse! Of course once you read Mises it comes with the others like Rothbard and Hazlitt, more worthy than the Rohmers and Rogoloffs! How many Keynesian forts all along the ivy league watchtower? Yet only one Mises Institute in Georgia. Where do we have to go for the Schumpeter and Spengler Institutes?

Then of course you could go to the Bill W Institute in every major US city and read AA and learn how to "Take what you want and leave the rest". Or perhaps the oft quoted, "All your best thinking got you here!" will inspire you. Well, in the case of America ... "All your best voting got you here!" says it all ...

It is what it is ...

Kyle,

I really can't comment with authority on Friedman's newest book, but I did read "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" and "The World Is Flat". In both of those I found him to have chosen a catchy title and set out to prove it so. His narrow focus and aim of proving his major premise caused him to ignore some of what I felt were other important aspects.

I can agree with his view expressed in your example re: the Greatest Generation's character strengths. But I don't like to label the current generation as "much less serious" — this ignores a major change in the "ground rules" currently in place.

Post WWII the US was THE manufacturer for the world. All others were devastated by the war and we had the whole world market producing jobs for us. I was a member of the "Luckiest Genertaion". I got my first job in 1955 and NEVER applied for a job I didn't get. Ran my own business for over forty years — until virtually all my clients went to foreign countries. So a combination of off-shoring CEO greed, technological instant access and Congressional special interest catering has made this into "A Brave New World" (Auldous Huxley) where we are hampered by protective regulations (good ones like EPA, OSHA, minimum wage, etc.) while our competitors have few if any.

The push to globalization (Which Friedman lauds in "The World is FLat") has made individuals into billionaires while strangling the US job market.

Grym