News Time!

Gotta be a quickie tonight - I am coaching coach pitch baseball (this will be the last year I think) and have to get to practice.

Mish has Commercial Real Estate Apocalypse in 2011-2012, an incredibly detailed post that will have you feeling less better after you read it (or better if you are a perma bear like me).

As we watch the EU implode, Mish pulled this one Italy a Bigger Threat to EU than Greece; Italian Derivatives Draw Scrutiny; Mundell Wants Cap on Euro Gains; Academic Wonderland he notes the conundrum facing each nation these days, "It is impossible for everyone to get what they want: a weaker currency vs. everyone else hoping to stimulate exports."


Since I brought up Wonderland, just what has been happening behind the curtains over there? ZH has The Chairman Of Goldman Sachs Bank, And Former FRBNY President, Says Many European Countries Used Comparable Debt-Hiding Swap Transactions     

TPC has THE ONE CHART THAT SCARES RICHARD RUSSELL most of us are salivation over TBT and where it may go one day. They are scared, I'm looking forward to it. USB (30yr) is set to bust one sooner than later. 


Several blogs covered this one, but WB's conspiracy tint is the best I think -McCain: Paulson and Bernanke Promised that the $700 Billion Troubled Asset Relief Program Would Focus on the Housing Meltdown

Ritholtz has Policy Errors Dog Treasury Secretary "Ignore that misleading headline — the article itself is not so much about the anger over the bailouts, but instead details the policy decisions and political choices Geithner made as Treasury Secretary. The litany is not pretty." That it is not. I found this one quite humerus.

Enjoy! See you in the am.

The Hits Just Keep Comin

The budget announcement was not digested enough for me to write about it yesterday, but the paint is dry now. Other intriguing developments include the global meltdown countdown and other fraud related items that are the standard fare. Oh, did I mention we're fucked? Get your air sickness bags out again.

Two items you must read from ZH. First a mind blowing post , Obama's Budget Has One Small, Missing Piece.... For $6.3 Trillion Dollars. WTF do they think we are, stupid? (don't answer that). Get this, "This amounts to a total of $6.3 trillion in liabilities which should be counted toward the budget. And yet, oddly, the error-checker somehow made this rather justifiable omission: after all if we were to look at a number which written out looks as follows $6,264,000,000,000.00, we would also probably just avoid it - it is somewhat difficult to hide a number that big even in the 1,420 pages of the budget's appendix." Just read it. Friggin fantasy land man. I'm telling you, these people are not in touch with reality. I guess when you are playing with numbers that big (they are dwarfed but the invisible derivatives quadrillion mess). And this, "What we definitely know is that we now live in a system where delusion is the norm: we have an administration that willfully and consistently deludes its population from representing just how bad our economic debacle really is, and we have a population, that willfully and consistently is happy to accept lies and delusions from every media and administrative outlet, and in turn deludes the administration that it will pays it taxes, or not walk away from yet another underwater mortgage. Rinse. Repeat." Just read it and then pay close attention to the next doozy I offer.

If you thought that was bad, try this one on for size. The Next Leg Of The Housing Crisis In Five Simple Charts is a delightful expose on how there will be no avoidance of the impending housing implosion. "A bearish report by CIBC 1captures precisely the highly unstable system that U.S. housing has become, and deconstructs it along the five key axes of weakness which while individually may be controllable to a degree, combined represent a recipe for disaster. CIBC's main sources of concern arise from:" This report is really scary. OK, now put the last two posts together and .....5 ...4....3.....2.....1.....BOOM! Also see, Obama's Two-Faced Poisonous Plan Sure To Please No One

Greece is getting interesting. Bailout, no bailout, leave EU, not leave EU, get expelled from EU, find an additional $40 billion in debt you never told anyone about? Say what? Yeah, uh, hey boss, what about this $40B we go over here? You recon we should tell everyone about that as well? Greece "Discovers" $40 Billion Of Previously Unknown Debt, CDS Gaps. Did we mention that Dubai is back under the gun as well? 


Sorry for the overly zealous ZH regurgitation but they happen to be THE ONLY SOURCE that makes this information available to the masses in a timely and informative manner. What else is on the web today? 


Since we are discussing housing collapses and other countries in trouble, this next story fits right in. Pool of Greater Housing Fools in Australia Finally Runs Out; OZ Dollar, Where to From Here? Surprise! "Today the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) unexpectedly held interest rates at 3.75%. No doubt this was in fear of the Australia's enormous housing bubble that exceeds the height of the bubble that long ago burst in the US. 20 economists predicted the RBA would hike. Not a single one predicted anything else." They have fed on China for so long and lived in disbelief that "this" could happen to them. Well, the insanity (definition - expecting a different result) award goes to Australia (followed closely by China), You just gotta shake your head.

You know I like to speculate about market maipulation and so does Denninger. Karl asks a valid question in Where Did They Get The Money? (BlackRock)? This one is quite funny when you think about it. "The underlying question remains - if and when something goes wrong, what does Blackrock have available to them to deal with it when they're managing an asset base larger than that of The Federal Reserve??" Just read it. 

 We'll end with this one from Ritholtz at The Big Picture - Botching Financial Reform "I understand that positioning for the next election, partisan politics and lobbying money are a deadly combination to any possible reform. But its so obvious to me watching these folks push and shove good ideas away that they: 1) are utterly clueless how all of this (credit crisis, recession, housing bust) happened; b) have absolutely no idea how to fix any of it; iii) are primarily concerned with getting re-elected." BINGO. The order of being saved: 1)TBTF, 2) be a representative, 3) be a GSE, 4) ...there is not a 4.

I agree with what you are thinking right now. How the hell? Right? It is mind boggling. Three points that I harp on a lot 1) we are ignorant and 2) they only care about getting reelected and 3) the market is rigged were covered nicely tonight. As I like to say, I don't make this shit up and neither do the blogs I read. It is truly amazing what the masters of fantasy believe. Sadly reality will slap everyone in the face eventually and the only things that won't change will the 1) we are ignorant and 2) they only care about getting reelected and 3) the market is rigged.

Have a great evening! 

More Of The Same?

TD at Zero hedge put it best, "Ben Shalom Bernanke reconfirmation now guaranteed. Sorry America - your senate has failed you. Enjoy the asset bubble and the coronation of the opaque US balance sheet as the biggest receptacle of toxic assets while you can - the next implosion will be the last." It will be the last. there can not be an exit strategy to get out from under the mountain of toxic assets they have accumulated. What is the best part? There is so much more toxic crap out there we either know or do not know about it really did not matter if they anointed Howdy Doody to run the Fed. End game is what it is. How did he get all of these votes you ask when apparently the public wants no part of him running the show anymore? Hypocrite Bernanke and his Political Pandering; Bernanke Buys Votes

The most disturbing news of the day is It's Official: Democrats Succeed In Pushing New Debt Ceiling To $14.3 Trillion Who wants to be a party pooper? We have bubbles to reflate! I guess this is where the new job stimulus is gonna come from? What, are they gonna subsidize employment? Will it be used to continue the short squeeze ramp job? Lord knows the PPT just got a huge shot in the arm. Bottom line is this is just another 1.9T (with a T) that WE have to pay back. The Debt to GDP ratio measures the financial leverage of and economy. Below 60% is good. So, if we are levered above 100%? This was the last straw.Chart from zFacts.com Learn more about Debt/GDP here.  

Denninger finally got on the MM issue with Money Market Funds: No Longer Safe I repeat this topic cause I want it drilled into your head. "Investors no longer can reasonably rely on daily liquidity for these funds as a consequence of this change.  While under normal conditions daily liquidity remains available it is precisely under abnormal conditions that an investor is likely to most need access to this money instantly, for example to meet a margin call or for other emergency funding requirements." They have taken away your right to get your money. Get it? 

In case you forgot we had "elevated" jobless claims again this morning. What gets ignored (unless ZH pushes Liesman to cover it as best he can) is any analysis inside the numbers (don't look behind the curtain). Mish is always around to help (he does some great stuff on Thursdays).  4 Week Moving Average of Initial Unemployment Claims Rises 3rd Straight Week "From the report, there are 5,350,477 workers on emergency benefits, and another 4,669,250 workers on regular benefits. Thus 10 million people are out of a job who want to work, and that does not count the number of people who have exhausted regular and emergency benefits. Recovery? Where?"

"I am not suggesting that anyone purposely altered the numbers — but when the goal is no longer objective reporting of info, these things happen. And when you can’t trust the front page of a paper to do basic math, you can’t trust ANYTHING in it." said Ritholtz at The Big Picture. Who can you trust these days?


Let's see how long it takes them to get that 1.9T back into the markets. I'll put the over under on a week (give or take 6 days) and remember, I have not called a top yet. Here's to a stimulus subsidized job coming to your place of business soon (whether they are needed or not). 


Take care.


 

Around The Rim (And Down The Hole)

Busy earnings day and AAPL hits it out of the park. We don't own a mac yet, but we can't get off of iTunes. With the kids getting iTouches for Xmas, maybe the 1,000 songs/apps they have purchased since 12/25 put AAPL over the top (or my account under the bus?) Apple earnings jump on strong iPhone sales. The action of AAPL has been volatile with a surge to 208 and subsequent pullback to 200.


Looking into earnings some disturbing trends are being uncovered. With 20% Of S&P Reporting, YoY Ex-Fin Revenue Growth Is... Negative  - I've been speculating what's going to happen in a revenueless business environment. It will catch up eventually. Beating depressed low bar estimates is great, but when that bar starts getting lowered again (or at least quits getting raised) look out!


Being from Georgia this headline from Mish caught my eye, the rest of the post caught my attention. Hoschton Georgia Dissolves Police Department One would think in a country that is sure to face some serious rebellion within the year, uh, police may be important. How about with 18% unemployment that crime may become an issue? States and cities are desperately trying to balance their budgets and making some dramatic cuts. Just take a peek at what the Governator and Illinois are doing. Tax revenue is waaaay down. Just wait till Big Brother comes down from on high and starts hitting up the taxpayers left and right. the states will really be SOL then and so will we. This will get really ugly. (Hoschton is just north of the ATL - I had to look that one up)

More shenanigans in the reported numbers from Big Brother? ANOTHER revised number you say? No, kidding? It caught Mish's and Denninger's attention (and since you know I am large into manipulation), so I bring it to you. Mish has Charts of the Day: Durable Goods and Goods Employment In General and Denninger has Durable Goods "Mistake" Or FRAUD? You can't make this shit up, but THEY CAN!

Prag Cap brings us DICK BOVE: WE ARE ON THE PRECIPICE OF A POLITICALLY DRIVEN EQUITY CRASH  "Dick Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Research released an alarming report yesterday detailing the dangers of a politically driven market.  In his opinion, we could be on the verge of a market crash driven by the President’s financial reform bill and growing anti-business sentiment:" Combine this with Charles Nenner's interview here and you get a good mix of disaster preparedness. Of course Ritholtz had this to say about the Bove article - Most Irony-Impaired Wall Street Research Title. Ever.

Ritholtz has NY Fed Wanted National Security Exemption for AIG and Zero Hedge has Use of National Security Book Cooking Exception Not Looking So Paranoid After All I'm telling you that this thing is gonna blow up and the people will not be happy. IMO, EVERYTHING is out of control in Washington and it will all come out in the wash sooner or later. The fraud, lies and insider rigging has been rampant. This time it has gotten so big they will not be able to cover up this pile of poo. Someone will get strung up for this eventually.



That is enough for now. Do your homework and be prepared. Screw gold, ammo, water and seeds will rule the day in a year or two. 


GL!

Whuz Up Out There?

U.S. stocks helped by health-care sector is the headline on Marketwatch. "The rally in health-care stocks came as voters headed to the ballot box in a surprisingly tight race to replace the late Edward Kennedy. Democrats would lose their filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority in the U.S. Senate if Republican candidate Scott Brown wins. That could pave the way for legislative compromises that could defer more to the private sector. Read more about the contentious race." I'm sure you all know all about that now, but it deserves to be rehashed as this is a HUGE event. The irony that the bill that Sen Kennedy wanted so bad would be destroyed from his seat. Something tells me the HC stocks will win either way as we really have not other options and this administration (nor any other) is going to do anything to curb the cost of medical care. There is simply too much money in the business and they'll keep our faithful representatives stoked with cash to ensure nothing changes. The peripherals surrounding this election are enormous and what gets slammed thru congress in the next week may have your head spinning (Bernanke re-appointment?).

Why do I believe there will be a big P3? Cause what we have sewn will come to roost and the ensuing cover-up has only made issues worse and is simply delaying the inevitable. Oh, The Truth Is The Banks Are Insolvent? (Still) from the Market Ticker states, "The bottom line?  The banks are still insolvent, Treasury is still lying, the banks are still refusing to recognize losses that have already happened as a direct consequence of their intentional and outrageous conduct and all of this together will prevent any meaningful recovery the broader economy from taking hold." I can not agree more and thus the next Japan we will be. When QE is done, the jobless rate remains constant, the consumer savings rate spikes, the accounting fraud ends, taxes are raised across the board, how the heck are we gonna recover? 

The Pragmatic Capitalist found a doozie that I liked.GURU OUTLOOK: FELIX ZULAUF & THE SECULAR BEAR MARKET it is always a pleasure when you find a "guru" that agrees with your opinion. “we are in the early stages of a deleveraging process, which is marked by a shift from maximizing profits to minimizing debt. It is a multiyear process. The U.S. consumer is in bad shape, and the U.K. consumer is even worse.”  You go Felix! 

FT has a good post on How the big banks rigged the market. "The next stage must be scrutiny of the structural distortions that allow these institutions to rack up such huge profits. Broadly speaking, the leading players in at least three areas of investment banking – wholesale markets, underwriting and mergers and acquisitions – have been operating natural oligopolies." Control, control, control OF EVERYTHING. Lehman was whacked and the smaller competition is being weeded out. I would not be surprised to see them busted up in the future (if and only if we get some sort of honest representation). Until then, I believe it has been proven beyond any doubt that they run the show. 

The Big Picture brings us The Anti-Fed Fact Sheet please read this.

A number that flew under the radar as the markets soared today was NAHB: Builder Confidence Declines in January (aside from the C report this am - how many billions did they lose?).

Look out for the banksters earnings in the am. Should be an interesting day. Before the bell we'll have BAC, MS, WFC and STT just to mention a few. Earnings calendar here.

I have no clue what happened to the font. blogger acted up the whole post and was a pain to deal with. Sorry.

Whutz In The Newz? (And A Bright Idea)

OK - INTC beats handily as markets set new highs. Intel posts sharply higher profit, tops views from Marketwatch. Looks like the earnings bar may be set low enough to allow the Fed and PPT to take a break for a week or two, let their fat fingered interns take a much needed break to heal the blisters on their thumbs and finally let some much needed irrational investors enter the market. Just wait till the banks knock the cover off of the ball as I expect a zero interest arbitrage, cash rich, non lending, equity pumped institutions should do.

The games our government plays to show a recovery when there is not one just don't seem to stop. Mish has Measuring the effect of stimulus: If you don't like the results, change the yardstick - "It would have been a lot easier on Obama if he simply made up numbers of jobs created without disclosing the methodology. Someone might have believed him. This Mickey Mouse manipulation in plain sight of inquiring minds just makes the administration look foolish." We are playing kick the can down the road and pull demand forward (with a sprinkling of Monopoly money and some BLS manipulation), you can't win at either game. You'll have to pay the band eventually. Sadly the band is not the Blues Brothers and we can't just fork over a case of PBR. Caught between a rock and a hard place they are, praying on their knees that if the good Lord will just let this bubble reflate one more time and make all of this bad mess go away they swear they will never let it happen again.

This one may seem a little off base but indulge me. naked capitalism has - Monsanto GM Corn Linked to Organ Damage in Animals. I am a pretty big believer that GM foods will be the "next big thing" once all this mess is over in about 10 years. You see, they are fucking with mother nature and might just put the royal fucking on our food supply. First, screwing with the genetic code of stuff and feeding it to us is not a good thing. You should check to see if what you are eating is GMO or not. Second, MON is one of the companies that I will be buying at the next low, because it is quite possible they will own a patent and get royalties on every food source grown on the planet. I'm not kidding. If you grow soybeans and the farmer next to you grows MON soybeans and they cross pollinate then the soybeans you plant  next year from the seeds have MON genetic code in them, you lose. You just stole their product and will pay royalties. Uh, yes, this is a real and not fictional problem. They own the code. Hell, they tried to corner and get the genetic code patent on pigs not to long ago - if they had won and you owned a pig - any pig anywhere - you were SOL. Their patent, thatnks for taking care of their pig. Not kidding again. Some great youtube vids on this stuff. MON is a bad, bad, bad company IMO.

THE RECESSION ON MAIN STREET CONTINUES from The Pragmatic capitalist hits a home run. "Unfortunately, the frustrations are likely to grow on Main Street for Wall Street isn’t a place that lives in the same reality as the rest of us.  Wall Street is a world based on expectations and as long as investors remain depressed and corporations continue to outperform these low estimates the likelihood is for a continued rise in stock prices.  Unfortunately, a recovery that doesn’t involve Main Street is destined to fail sooner or later." I could not have said it better myself. Mish also has Small Business Trends Suggest No Recovery On Horizon. You see, this manufactured rally is taking the SPX to the top and everyone else is getting the shaft. For this reason I will begin to track the $WLSH to see if the trickle up failure theory works from here. The market should start to rot at the bottom first. so $WLSH and then $RUT should begin to lag and not recover to the highs set by the big boys. Let's test that theory, shall we (that may have been a moment of sheer enlightenment).

Washington's Blog has If Government Won't Break Up the Giant Banks, Let's Do It Ourselves friggin brilliant! I aspire to be the news hound and avid reader that WB is. His here, here, and here links just blow me away. We all know that we are going to eventually have to take the bull by the horns if we want any control over our destiny, otherwise we become further entrenched in the bought and paid for, corrupt, manipulated, over lobbied, special interest driven, socialist state we have become. Give this one a read, take a few action items away with you and figure out your plan for doing your part to get our nation back. 

Zero Hedge has Amherst Securities Estimates Nearly Half A Trillion Cumulative Losses At Fannie And Freddie which is not really all that surprising is it. The lender of last resort that has played hoover sucking up every overvalued RE asset on the planet has a small $500B problem and its growing. "If Laurie is correct, not only will numerous additional episodes of housing-focused Quantitative Easing be needed, but such a deterioration, once it is acknowledged by the auditors who obviously have no interest in indicating how bad the situation is, would have significant political repercussions which would reverberate from the FHA all the way to the White House. Another implication is that the shadow inventory is likely to continue remaining unsold so as not to blow the bottom out of the supply side in the market, likely confirming that banks will continue to pretend the vast majority of real estate assets on their balance sheets are unimpaired when in actuality they deserve a haircut of 20%,30% or more." Marked to market is the great ghost haunting the government and they will do whatever it takes to keep it in the closet for as long as possible. 

From The Big Picture - How bankers think - 

Have a great evening.

Up In Smoke?

Somehow I never saw this one coming. Hit me like a truck smack in the face.California Grows A Brain? from The Market Ticker is a breath of fresh air (well, laced with THC that is). Bravo Karl! "Specifically, hemp makes an excellent biofuel feedstock, it is suitable for very high-quality paper production at lower cost than made from trees and the fiber is useful for a whole host of industrial and consumer end product uses, yet it is virtually impossible, given the insane "public policy" view toward the plant, for any of this to be exploited." You see, Karl gets it. It IS a viable plant that can assist society. Thomas Jefferson devoted 40 acres to growing this industrious plant. I assume some lobby that wanted to corner the paper market and a few other industries and were behind the illegalization of this plant. I now also assume Monsanto will be a leading seed developer and will have a patent on every form of DNA to the plant making it illegal to grow without them getting a cut of the action in about 10 years.

Up in smoke will go this bubble as well. Housing Bubbles, Global Household Leverage, Why Fed's Reflation Efforts Will Fail Mish delivers "Not only did the Fed enable the credit bubble, it blew the policy response. All it takes to prove that is another stock market plunge and credit crunch. Both are coming, we just don't know when."
  
Calculated Risk has Option ARM Recast Update - Thought you may have put this one on the back burner so let's shine some light back on the subject. Uh, bad. Really bad. They can not raise rates or the housing market collapses. It is that simple. Uh, it may collapse anyway when the next round of arms rolls thru anyway, so WTF right?

If you do not know who William Black is, you should. thanks to naked Capitalism for digging this one up. William Black” “Anti-Regulators: The Federal Reserve’s War Against Effective Regulation” William has been around the block a time or two and I'd say any analysis he does on regulatory failure is far better than you will get anywhere else.  

US Will Hit 94% Debt to GDP Ratio Next Year, Surpassing the Level Where Debt Starts Reducing Economic Growth so what's above 100%?

Economist: Bubble Warning The Big Picture dug this one up. I point it out because 7 out of 10 sights I have visited so far have something related to a "top" article on them. Either everyone is starting to figure this game out or a lot of people are wrong. Can't make that call till after the fact. Earnings season is upon us and the numbers will tell the story. Will the beat the number, but miss on revenue story again be enough to satisfy the market? Well, that is a mute point, cause GS is the market and they will direct it wherever they want it to go with your money via the Fed. 

Do you remember the recent problems with Greece? Guess what - Greece condemned for falsifying data  when it rains it pours and since Greece is a tiny little gnat on the global scale I expect them to the lion's share of the punishment (only to distract us from the troubles here at home).  Pay attention to the right hand. That's it look over here. No, no, no; don't look at the left hand. Look at the right hand. Gooood.

There you have it. Another wonderful day in the neighborhood. Can anyone point out what is missing from this post? No, not a rant or 4 letter words. Should be obvious. 

Have a great evening.

Is There Any Good News?

Trick question, it depends on if you are a bull or a bear. If you want to hear something good go back to watching CNBS or turn on CNN where you'll get some sort of sanitized feed that will keep you in the dark forever. If you want to hear me gloat in the impending doom of our democracy or hear me bash on a politician du jour, please read on.

I was going to try to string these few Zerohedge posts into a clever scentance, but could not pull it off. You 'll get the gist of what I was going to try to get across as Most Recent Insider Selling to Buying Ratio: 82:1 as Consumer Credit Contracts For 9th Straight Month, Non-Revolving Credit Increases, but since Cash is King  there is no need to worry about Fried Calamari? for dinner. Wait a minute - I did make a sentence out of it. Caution, that may become some sort of new game for Shanky to play with himself. I think Marla may appreciate that (the sentence - not the playing thingy).

Mish has a good one from the most corrupt city in the USA. We all know Chcago is a really screwed up place that has produced a litany of characters that leave much to be desired (most recently our president). So what do they do to balance their budget? Chicago Cannibalization: Mayor Daley's Budget Eats 75% of a 75 Year rainy Day fund in One Year You just have to read this one to believe it. Creative financing at it's finest. And some wonder why I am such a perma bear? Cities, states, federal governments are using every available crutch right now without regard to the future consequences to solve a variety of funding issues. You talk about a recipe for disaster. The dig drop, deflation, depression is coming folks. It is just a matter of time.

Since we're dissing local governments (like shooting fish in a barrel these days) why don't we try But Wait, How About The States? from Dennninger. "Things are probably worse than most people believe," state Sen. Mike Doherty told me the other day. "It’s questionable if we’ll even be able to meet payroll in a few weeks." Oh kay, so payroll may be a problem as well as some possible bond default issues (nothing to worry about- really ;-)). Don't say they did not tell you so and don't say I did not tell you so. It is only a matter of time and the ammunition used in reflation project 2009 is empty.

naked capitalism has a must read in Newsweek: Goldman Supplied 9 Pages of Proposed Changes to Derivatives Legislation. This one is a classic, "Newsweek’s “Why is Barney Frank So Effing Mad?” is supposedly about the Congressman from Fidelity but is really about how the banksters are succeeding in neutering financial reform. One Congressional staffer has told me that everyone involved recognizes the measures don’t go far enough, but feel they can’t do much more (Congress can step out only so far ahead of the Executive, and this one clearly is in no mood to take a more aggressive stand)."  You'll laugh and cry your way thru a great article that is filled with suspence (just how much of the recent legislation did GS actually write) and humor regarding the neuterization of everything in Washington. This one might actually make you scream.

The Pragmatic capitalist brings you 10 REASONS THE EQUITY RALLY IS OVER from Rosie. BUT, BUT, BUT - TPC has this to say, "In other words, we remain in a “beat and raise” world.  That is unchanged for now and will ultimately be the reason why David’s 10 reasons are wrong and why the unwavering bear will be wrong again about this market top…." I'll have to go comment on this one later on TPC's site. They do great work and maybe I need some clarification to his statement. I can actually go for a little more manipulated upside, but his "improvement in corporate margins" reasoning has me a bit miffed.

So, where do you stand? Washington's Blog has 79% of Americans Want an Audit of the Fed, Only 21% are in Favor of Confirming Bernanke, and Only 20% Think Geithner is Doing a Good Job. "Trust will not be restored until Bernanke and Geithner are replaced with people whose loyalty is to the American public and small businesses, rather than the Wall Street giants, and whose track record demonstrates that they will put the American people and entire economy as a whole - rather than the big boys - first."  I could not have said it better and the sooner we get these self serving bastards out of their posts the better off we will be. Oh, did you read where Kashkari is going to work? Now the Kashkari Puff Piece Makes Perfect Sense

The Big Picture has a nice post on Who Wins When the US Dollar Falls? that you should read.

That is enough for now. Yet another day without any good news (unless you want to count TPC's statement that I am ignoring). Market is very toppy now and teetering, but that is usually when the PPT/reinflation team is at their best. I am very suspicious of them letting the dollar breathe a little and then using it's powers to assist in halting any major down turns that may be imminent (note the market fell today 15min before the dollar reacted)

GL out there and happy holidays.

Just What The Heck Is Going On?

Let's cruz the nuz shall we.

Zero Hedge - Moody's CMBS Delinquency Tracker Hits Decade High  - We all now (and hopefully have not forgotten about the impending CRE crash. Yes, that issue still exists, although you may not know or remember as the MSM dose not discuss it and "they" want you to forget about it. Shhh, its a big secret. "So here is the data on the ongoing deterioration in CMBS, courtesy of Moody's, which data merely confirms data previously presented by RealPoint, the GSEs, and anyone else naive enough to care that this data set is relevant in Bubble Market 3000." The data in the report is astounding.

Mish  - GE CEO Plays Kiss Ass With Obama - Gotta love Mish when he is on a roll and in this one he does not hold anything back. I have been saying for years now just what Mish is saying, GE is a whore to the administration. "This just goes to show you, if you have enough clout and you are are willing to kiss Obama's ass, he just may be willing to kiss yours. This is the way the game works, so someone may as well be blunt about it." Mish does leave out one important point, CNBS and their government propagandist market cheer leading that is no doubt mandated from the top. How could they present anything bad about their sugar daddy?


naked capitalism -Bank of America Foreclosure Shenanigans? This is some real shit. "For the house I “rent” where the original mortgage was with Countrywide (and then transferred to B of A when B of A bought the property) this is simply a process for getting the house off of B of A’s books and back on Countrywide’s books (now BAC Home Loan Servicing). As I said, it is all charade or smoke-and-mirrors or a shell game." Plus the shell game inflates the existing home sales dramatically. What a crock. The more we dig the more we will find out about the bull shit that CD is allowing to go on all in the name of reflating and saving the TBTS's asses.

FOFOA -Is the Dollar "Good as Tungsten"?  I pulled this from the ZH comments section (where lots of good items can be found on a daily basis). This is a story about counterfeit gold. It is a conspiracy based story. I am emphasizing the word STORY. Why am I reporting this? Simply, because I do not personally believe that the gold supplies of any entity or country if audited would stand up to the test. I'm sorry I can not pull the post, but I read somewhere recently that they calculated all the gold ever mined and compared that number to the total reserves and guess what - they did not add up. So, this begs the question, if you say you have more gold than you do, then what do you do? Read on, you conspiracy nuts will love this one.


The Big Picture -Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana  Many of my friends will appreciate and visit this link (Do you think I'd "draw" more blog "hits" if I put legalizing marijuana in the labels every post?). Towlie, you getting this?

That is enough for now. GL out there. I plan on posting on the potential for more upside, gold and a potential set up in oil that might send it above $90.

GL trading!

Think We Are Looking For Some More Change?

Having assisted in the campaign for a local state senate seat recently , I am more than moved to hear about the ouster of some governors that have been in power. I am doing my part cause I want the right people representing me and you should too. We won but have to go to a run off cause of a lack of voters.

OK, do you think a lack of voters pissed me off? Well hell yeah it did. How? How in these times when getting the right people elected into office can you not make it to the polls to vote? This is more important than ever and people just don't give a shit. Folks, if you don't care and don't get involved NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE! I am on the side of the road with a campaign and vote today sign screaming my heart out to get people to vote (LOL - yes, me yelling at cars - maybe that was not the best idea), can you imagine that?

I want change (the right kind of change not to be confused with the change we already got). I am willing to work for change. I am tired of this shit. I want regulation. I want people punished. I want someone with a brain and ethics representing me. You should too, so get off your butt and do something about it. Make a phone call, donate, talk it up, get people to the polls, get a bumper sticker, just DO SOMETHING!

Replacing Democrats with Republicans is good only if the people replacing them are worth a shit. I have decided that party lines means little these days. Sure, you need balance but more importantly you need good, honest, hard working souls that have a ounce of common sense and actually care more about their constituents than their special interests and pocket books. If you do not do something about it and do not get involved nothing will change. Please, please get involved.

From Washington's Blog there is Will the Democrats Lose in 2010 (or 2012) Because They Won't Pass Real Financial Reforms? (this was covered by ZH and Naked Cap). "People are sick and tired of both parties' catering to the big boys. Indeed, given last night's election results and the Dems' utter failure to institute any real financial reform, trend forecaster Gerald Calente's prediction that a third party candidate will win the 2012 presidential election is sounding a little less crazy." repeat after me - RON PAUL - RON PAUL - RON PAUL!

Political Winds Shifting? from Denninger has, "It won't be an easy sell, but if they fail to make it, or worse, win on the back Obama's refusal to deal with the banksters and then continue the "anything goes in ripping off America" policies that both Bush and Obama have countenanced and in fact explicitly endorsed, we will suffer a political and economic collapse unlike anything previously seen in the world - a catastrophe worse than Germany in the 1930s."

Mish has a great piece on What is Money and How Does One Measure It? If you need an econ 101 refresher, please read it. With all the action in the dollar and its interaction with everything, I believe each of us could use a quick skim of this post as a refresher.

Prag Cap has ROUBINI ON THE DOLLAR CARRY TRADE & THE COMING CRASH. It is a must listen in my opinion.

The Big Picture and some others have covered the WSJ post on the economists "getting it wrong" in The Hubris of Economics Ritholtz gives his two cents. "This is not to say there are not good, even great economists (some are even friends of mine!) who foresaw the coming crisis and warned about it. Many are aghast at the rigor mortis in the academic establishment; some are horrified at how poorly the profession has done. Forget forecasting the future, too many economists cannot accurately describe what happened yesterday." Washington's blog covered this issues in Wall Street Journal Admits Economists Were Wrong, But Fails to Discuss their INCENTIVE for Being Wrong.

If I can remember I am going to start adding a daily story from Drew Curtis' www.Fark.com a site that covers some of the more bizarre stories of the day. Today's link is Iranians Rally on Anniversary of American Embassy Takeover. Apparently the government organized a protest against the Americans and all that showed up protested the Iranian government. LOL now that's funny.

GL out there.

The Smell Of .....

What is that smell? Does not smell quite like victory for the bears yet, but it is the 4th quarter with about 5 minutes to go. The Green team is out of time outs and clinging to a one point lead. Red team is finally moving the ball. Green team is tired and their defense is showing some weakness. The red team's time to march the ball down the field for the winning score is all but certain. The only question is do they kick a field goal or ram it down their throats and get the TD?

Understanding todays market actions you need to look at what happened with the EUR/USD. Nic Lenoir does this well and lays it out nicely in Where Are Central Banks When You Really Need Them on Zero Hedge. "In very short term trading we hit the support however of a potential sideways channel, and short term indicators are massively oversold, so we could well retrace to 1,052 in the near term. Bigger picture we have two supports at 1,025 and 986. The later is pretty much the key between retracing to 862 and making new highs past 1,100." Someone around here has been looking for 1051 if I recall.

How can you tell when trouble is brewing? Sticking with the football theme from above Mish brings us Citigroup's "Hail Mary Pass": How To Know Citigroup Is In Serious Trouble. "Perhaps what we're really seeing is a business reacting to hidden deterioration of asset bases that are not known by investors and the public due to the legitimation of bogus accounting that happened this last March, but which is known by company executives!" Now Mish, seriously, accounting fraud and insinuating that there are improprieties surrounding a balance sheet? Oh, OK, I guess in fantasy land anything is possible. If we could only get more people to believe.

Speaking of not believing, Edward Harrison posts on Naked Capitalism Why is Zero Hedge claiming the Fed is intervening in equities markets? in a rebuttal to TD's An Overview Of The Fed's Intervention In Equity Markets Via The Primary Dealer Credit Facility. On one side you have ZH and their belief (gloriously endorsed here at Shanky's blog) of Fed intervention via the PPT in the equity markets and Edward "The Party Pooper" Harrison countering with that thought being basically preposterous. I have this to say, sometimes things RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE are the hardest to see. Sure, the "theory" can not be "proven" at this time, but come on Ed, what the heck else could it be? Opening up your mind to something that "could be" is healthy. Give it a try sometime. Come on, you can do it.

On Friday Denninger put out Possible Credit Dislocation: Be Warned. Karl says, "I have reason to suspect that the "monetary transmission mechanism" is full of rocks (again), and we are about to have another instance of what could colloquially be called "fun." (Yes, that's sarcasm.)" and then lays out several interesting points you should read regarding credit and how it may affect you.

Prag Cap reminds us that INSIDERS STILL NOT BUYING THE RALLY. "Insider selling for the latest weak spiked to $846MM while buying remained abnormally low at $14.7MM. Selling spiked almost 3 fold, but was highly impacted by $330MM in selling in CBS by Sumner Redstone. Buying, however, fell from $32MM. Of course, it is the low level of buying that is particularly alarming. Insiders continue to exhibit an unusually low level of confidence in their own companies. As valuations spike, and the jobless/revenue-less recovery continues it’s not surprising to see insiders display a high level of skepticism in the rally that is most visible through the use of their own money." There are several other very useful posts there you should check out so hit the home button.

Funniest post of the day comes from The Big Picture - What’s in a Name? If you do not know what "tea bagging" is you should. Just look it up.

Have a great evening.

ISM, SEC , EEM, China and Super Rally In The News

Yes, I can do more than chart. You see, I have this bi-polar issue where the blog gets chart heavy then news heavy, sorry bout that. It has a lot to do with time available.

The Pragmatic Capitalist has an article that you EEM investors may be interested in, TRADE OF THE DAY: BIG MONEY BETS AGAINST EMERGING MARKETS "A massive chunk of put options purchased on the emerging markets fund this afternoon flies in the face of the 1.5% rally in shares during the session to $39.20. Approximately 95,000 put options were purchased at the November 35 strike for an average premium of 73 pennies per contract." Hmmm, maybe a look at EEV would be worth it.

Barry Rithholtz at the Big Picture comes to the SEC's rescue (as far as blog persecution goes) in Giving the SEC Teeth. So how does one go about fixing the SEC? First there is the soft, almost apologetic, Barry's way...

And then there is the apparently more effective, down to earth, no apologies accepted Zero Hedge Way, More Pain For Humiliated SEC After Disclosure It Ignored Moody's Whistleblower Warnings. "As if the SEC could be humiliated any more, another piece of disclosure now highlights that Mary Schapiro's useless organization was unresponsive to whistleblower overtures by former Moody's employees attempting to warn the regulator "about Moody's weak compliance department and ratings process."" I prefer the ZH manner of addressing the issues with the most inept government subsidized regulatory unit.

Mish does a good job of covering the unexpectedly horrible PMI number this morning (did someone mention unemployment surprise today as well?). Reflections on the Unexpected Negative Surprise in Chicago Purchasing Index PMI highlights some of the rosy, green shoot bullshit reports that try to gloss over the number and then Mish delivers, "Fundamentally and technically the market is prime for a huge correction. Sentiment is extreme and the viewpoint expressed by William Dwyer above is consensus. However, it is important to keep in mind that as long as the corporate bond market stays healthy, stocks will likely have a bid. How much longer that remains is anyone's guess." Tomorrow's national ISM # and the non-manufacturing on Monday may be more fuel for the bear's fire (if you don't get your reports from Liesman on CNBS).

Bloomberg brings us U.S. Stocks Fall, S&P 500 Trims Best Two-Quarter Gain Since ’75. "“We’re in the faith part of the economic cycle,” said Ralph Shive, manager of the $1.3 billion Wasatch-1st Source Income Equity Fund, which has beaten 96 percent of competing funds over the past five years. “All of us to some degree are guessing how strong the recovery is or how long it will take. Market prices have anticipated a decent recovery at this point. At some point we need to see earnings turn.” " Look, I don't need to be messing with Ralph, but he needs to be spilling the beans. Earnings suck and will get worse IMO because they can't squeeze any more blood out of the turnip. Unemployment is getting "better" cause businesses are as lean as they can get. When you have dumped 16% of the workforce on their ass, you can't cut much more. It is only a matter of time before the reflated bullshit recoveryless recovery comes full circle.

The financial Times has a good one on China to cut back industrial expansion. "But over the past three months many government officials have begun to publicly warn that the credit binge could create overcapacity in heavy industry, which could produce a new round of bad bank loans."
Remember, they have built empty malls and bridges to nowhere to no end. LOL, and you thought our reinflation efforts were screwed up? Well, since you can not trust anything coming out of big red (much less here for that matter), I would say they are gunning for implosion #2. The only difference with them is they did not protect their banks in round one. Big trouble in little China lies ahead IMO, and that may have a direct influence on their deposits here.

I'm looking forward to the ISM numbers tomorrow and Monday. The market is topping (or has topped). When they lose the market they lose the public. When the public goes ape, it is all over. That is all that is left. I can't say when this will happen, but both you and I can see the pressure building. They are one slip or one "external" event from this collapsing in a dramatic fashion. If you have not noticed, everything is happening at such a rapid pace and there are so many balls in the air that something will be dropped and the house of cards will come crumbling down. Don't you wonder about the dollar, deflation, the lack of regulatory actions, monetization, TARP transparency, the Fed, and on and on? Tick, tick, tick....

Frustrating As Hell, Isn't It?

Zero Hedge - Michael Pettis Extended Interview. Want to know about China being totally screwed no matter which fiscal policy it decides to take? This is a must watch. Really good.

The Market Ticker - CORRUPTION: Reverse-Insurance?! (FDIC). "In the world we live so-called "government officials" of the FDIC feel free to engage in such sham transactions, smug in the knowledge that The American Sheeple, along with their handmaidens in Congress, can be counted on to allow a blatantly-fraudulent exercise such as this to be consummated - where the banks that are beneficiaries of FDIC insurance (and whom have also issued literally billions of dollars in covered bonds on an issuance-insurance program that has no legal basis in the foundational principle of the FDIC in the first place) not only do not have to pay for the insurance coverage they enjoy, but actually get paid to have it instead. I couldn't make stories like this up if I tried." It is shit like this that makes your head spin. This story can be read on almost every link I have in my blogroll, all with equal disdain.

Mish - "Buy The Dip" Mentality Fully Entrenched. "Thus, suggestions to "Buy the Dip" based on sideline cash not only shows a lack of understanding about how markets work, they also show a lack of understanding about how extreme sentiment is among retail investors and fund managers, even as insiders (who likely know much more about business fundamentals) are selling hand over fist. Risk is not high, it is extreme." LOL, this is the shit your fund wholesalers bring into your office to sell your advisors on.

PragCap brings us “THE FUTURE WILL BE A TOTAL DISASTER” interview with Marc Faber on Yahoo Tech Ticker. At least I know I am not the only total doomsdayist on the planet.

Via The Big Picture's daily readings you get Market Talk's The Pinocchio Recovery. A delightful little post with, "Now, I see a recovery that looks like Pinocchio: it wants to be a real little boy, but it’s really just a wooden toy that moves only when somebody pulls its strings. But everywhere, we hear people talking up the recovery as if the economy is sprinting into a new bull market."

One last post about IMO the greatest deceiver of them all. Zero Hedge - Themis Trading Responds To Jim Cramer. (Cramer video here - if you can handle it.) Will someone please que John Stewart again please.

That is enough for tonight. Fraud, lies, criminal activity, and outright lawlessness rules the day. I told you they would protect the market at all costs. It is all they have left between them and total anarchy. Expect the bullshit to continue. Quit being surprised at every ramp job. They are backed into a corner and have all guns ablazin. Don't stop being outraged at the rape of our financial system, our futures and our constitution.

GL trading.

Teetering At The Top? This Is One Heck Of A Balancing Act!

But the top of what? Is the game coming to an end? The end Tom Brokaw says that we're too ignorant to see, and that we can't figure out on our own on the Internet without mother media being the deliverer of such news? The end CNBS refuses to report? The end the government and TBTF banks refuse to allow? The end the Fed may have allowed to happen? The end that was inevitable since this credit bubble was unleashed? The end that was foretold before fractional reserve banking was allowed?

More and more this appears to be a time to socialize, or to further the process of socialization begun many years ago. Everywhere you look this once great nation of nations is becoming one massive government sponsored program after another. Unfortunately they have failed at a high majority of these and hopefully this is just the end of a cycle. A time of purging excess from the system.

Zero Hedge has Excess Liquidity Game Is Coming To An End. I which TD brings us this from David Rosenberg's daily notes, "In his daily notes, Rosie looks at what is sure to cause a few sleepless nights to all trend chasers who believe that the trillions in excess liquidity will be there to forever prop up artificially high stock prices. News flash - it won't, and it has already started to contract aggressively, yet computers seem to have problems with pulling down St. Louis Fed time series in their quest to constantly front-run one another." David, Big Ben is "making it rain" man just like Packman does in Vegas. Don't you ever get out to have any fun? What's so wrong with a little excess funds floating around?

David has been spot on thus far and his exit from Mother Merrill was timely and I would love to know the true reasons as to the timing of his exit. His successor surely is towing the corporate line as ZH brings us Rosenberg Replacement Reaches For The Stratosphere, Sees 1,200 S&P On "Strong Earnings Growth". "The Chief US Equity Strategist and Rosie replacement sees an S&P earnings of approximately $70, or roughly a Div/0 compared to the most recent negative trailing EPS for S&P companies. How Bianco sees earnings growth on limited cost extraction and a persistently declining top line is just slightly beyond our meager calculating skills." Another glowing report from ML! Surprise! Someone care to do the math on a 1200 P/E for the market? Did you hear about the JPM upgrade of GE? This is NUTS!

Then from The Market Ticker Denninger delivers FLASH: Consumer Credit RECORD Contraction. "The inevitable contraction that is necessary to put the financial system back into balance is happening - whether The Fed wants it to or not." What Karl, you mean the reflation trick isn't working anymore?

Mish tells us the great news in Job Creation Down 35%, Consumer Spending Down 33% From Year Ago. "Bear in mind I think unemployment is going to continue rising for another year, then come back down slowly and reluctantly as noted in Structurally High Unemployment For A Decade. Thus a jobless recovery is a given, assuming there even is a recovery worth mentioning." I would love to get Mish geeked up on about five 5hr energy drinks before he does his next post. Nah, that would make him more like me and we don't need another me.

The Big Picture has a great post New Week, New Links where you can glean such delightful tidbits like, 86% of all mortgages are taxpayer backed in some form or another or Study Says World’s Stocks Controlled by Select Few and The Sorry Tale of America’s Out-of-control Spending. This post summarized all sorts of delightful information of our green shootless economy.

Folks, I have not mentioned the dollar, treasury auctions, gold, oil, FNM, RE, CRE, CDS, MBS, China, medicare, social security or pick a war that were funding. That is a huge heap of shit we're dealing with and our president has time to have a twenty minute 9/11 conspiracy interview with Charlie Sheen (not really). The purging of excesses is JUST underway and will continue till some form of sustainable measure is attained. Remember without a gold standard of valuation you can exponentially expand your lending capabilities to exponential proportions and we have done just that. There is more shit off balance sheets than we can count.

Our government has allowed the vastly unregulated banks to run all over us. You were given the keys to the kingdom in exchange for allowing (unintentionally) them to rape you of your financial freedom all for greed, profit and power. The house of cards is teetering and will crumble soon. It is inevitable. Just be ready when it hits. It may be sooner than you can imagine. Tom Brokaw will let you know when.

Tee 'Em Up - We'll Knock 'Em Down

As the top churns the news becomes more unrealistic by the day. Let's just jump right in.

The WSJ has Geithner Pushes for Tough Global Capital Rules. When is this moron on a power trip gonna get a clue? We should not be kissing butt, but we sure as hell don't need to be pissing off anyone right now. "U.S. officials have called for tougher capital requirements for months, but Mr. Geithner’s detailed proposal comes as many European leaders have shifted their focus on bank regulation to things such as limiting the size of banks and caps on bonuses. So the U.S. proposal could be controversial and set up a clash of top regulators as fault lines form over the best way to supervise banks." You see Timmay is so deep in the pockets of the corporate financial behemoths that he is not taking an agenda to the meeting for us, he's taking one to protect the banks and allow their "to big to failness" the grow even larger. WTF is this guy thinking?

Perhaps everyong but Timmay has read this, Prag Cap brings us THE STIMULUS CAN’T SAVE THE STOCK MARKET…. This is my kind of article, "In fact, you could argue that much of what governments have done have actually made the problems worse. Unfortunately, we haven’t solved the problem of excess debt and all the stimulus does is prolong and delay the eventual day of reckoning with this mountain of debt. Comstock does a wonderful job of detailing these long-term issues." Now you are talking. Someone telling it how it is. "It is unlikely that we’ll solve these problems until we admit we have a problem, bite the bullet and begin focusing on the real problems that got us in this mess to begin with. Printing more dollars and encouraging more reckless lending is not part of that solution…." Talk about ringing the bell - give that man a prize.

At Trim Tabs they are following the Fibonacci retracements for insider selling moving from 31 times to the full 61.8x retracement exiting August. As usual, TD and the gang dig up the truly dreadful stuff we all love to read. In Insider Selling/Buying Ratio Doubles to 61.8x TD has, "TrimTabs earlier disclosed that the ratio of insider selling to buying had averaged about 31x for August, with $6.3 billion of insider sales matched by only $210 million on insider buys." You'd think you should hear this news somewhere other than on Zero Hedge.

The Big Picture has Personality, Emotion, and Trading Performance. "In that study, we found, no single set of personality traits was significantly correlated with favorable trading outcomes. Rather, it was emotional reactivity overall that seemed to best predict profitability." I suggest you read this. With all the emotion I read in the chat rooms and get in emails it could only help. Behavioral finance is cool shit. Really.

FT.com brings The global consensus is starting to crack to the table. Ok, I read this and thought I was reading a CNBS script. Nothing in this article sounds correct to me. "The novelty is wearing thin. The eager anticipation and diplomatic hoopla that attended the London summit has given way to a certain weariness ahead of this month’s gathering of the Group of 20 leading nations. Back in the spring, leaders of the biggest economies could claim to have saved the world. What on earth do they do for an encore?" Encore? Fucking encore? Saved the world? And "That said, officials preparing the summit fear it will be something of an anti-climax. In part, that is inevitable. When the leaders last met, many saw a risk that the global financial crisis could yet trigger a 1930s-style depression. For once, a summit communiqué actually mattered. But the point of maximum danger has passed." What? The point of max danger has passed? What the hell is this dude smoking? Apparently he believes in the finance fairy and that all the off balance sheet assets that have been GAPed away will never reappear. Sorry, the usually reliable FT screwed the pooch on this one. Please remove all cool-aide from the building immediately.

And one last post from ZH, cause I can not resist - A must watch vid that will leave your jaw on the floor - Congressman Pete Stark Explains Leverage, Tells Reporter To "Get The Fuck Out"

Look for my morning post.

GL trading.

Calling all P3ers. Your Day Is Nearing. (T-Minus 42 Days to My Target)

Let's start with Impending Crash? from Denninger at The Market Ticker. In a simple post Karl makes some nice points without calling a top (emphasis mine). "Nobody - and I do mean nobody - is talking about what this sort of volume pattern means. Well, I will: this is the sort of pattern that precedes an all-on equity market collapse. It strongly implies that the only volume support that the market has is from "hot money" speculators. Lest you think this is sustainable let me point out that just a few weeks ago the very same so-called "commentators" said the same thing about China's market."

Karl's post follows the sentiment of many of my posts over the past couple of weeks and my sentiment regarding some of the "advisers" that I hear stories about via email and conversation. You all know that I began moving clients to cash at 936. A bit early and still not 100% there, but the idea of anyone buying anything here? Sheer stupidity. Still being long here, OK, but buying? To those of you that use an "adviser", please be careful and remember they have two mortgages and 4 car payments that you are responsible for. What do you need to do - have a set plan for each purchase, stick to it and always use stops. You two have different agendas. Don't forget that.

TD at Zero Hedge has a nice post on Head Of China Sovereign Wealth Fund Openly Admits Asset Bubble Addressed By Creation Of More Bubbles. "In a phenomenal demonstration of frankness and true economic assessment, the head of the China Investment Council, Lou Jiwei, who controls China's $298 billion sovereign wealth fund, admits the ponzi nature of today's markets" What the heck? Ponzi nature of today's markets? Heloooo - TARP MONEY. Let me ask you one freaking question. Why the FUCK do we have to hear this out of China? Congratulations, our representatives and current administration have corrupted this nation so bad we now have to hear truth out of China.

We here at Shanky's Tech Blog have been discussing the fraudulent and irresponsible actions of the Fed, Treasury and Congress since my first post. It has been so clear that they have been doing nothing but trying to re-inflate the bubble to delay or somehow prolong the bubble instead of simply taking their medicine. Actually all they have done is waste trillions of our wealth dumping good money into a bad situation. If they had just made the banks RESPONSIBLE for their bad loans and not the people our futures would be much less hyperinflated and much more enjoyable.

Want a good laugh - well not really - want a good look at some figures behind the savings rates in this country? What is it you won't hear from the 1% CNBS pundits? Naked Capitalism has a nice guest post from Andrew Kaplan - Guest Post: “The Savings Rate Has Recovered…if You Ignore the Bottom 99%” (emphasis mine) "If we expand our survey to the top 1% of all households, we find an average income of $1.36 million for 2007. These folks had an average federal tax burden of just under 33%, so their after tax income averaged $916 thousand. If you assume this group had a savings rate of 33%, you get total savings of $452 billion (remember, $171.5 bn of this comes from the top 0.01%, we’re assuming a savings rate of around 25% of after tax income for the “poorer” 99% of the top 1%) This is more than 100% of the personal savings of the entire population, according to the BEA data. It implies that 99% of the US population still has, on average, a negative savings rate of around 1.3%. If you subtract the next nine percent, which likely still has a positive savings rate, the data for the bottom 90% becomes even more depressing, implying a negative savings rate of close to 5%." Now get you some of that green shooters. That deserves a Nature Boy Rick Flair WOOOOOOO! "To be the man you gotta beat the man."

One last post from TD at ZH - This Should End The Semantic Debate Over Whether The Fed Is Monetizing. So they are or are not monetizing the debt? Of course they are, but they think the sheeple are ignorant morons and have no clue what is going on not just under their noses, but right in front of their faces. How else do you classify the Feds repo of the treasuries from the PD's?

On the market - As long as SPX holds 1015 the bulls have a chance. Ramp jobs galore at that number. You would not think the PPT would be participating at the top. Wonder what they are protecting up here? The Big Picture has a good post today on Recent Concentration of Volume in Financial Stocks: Coordinated Capital Infusion? that you need to read. "I’m not inclined toward conspiracy theories, but it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which this is not a (frighteningly necessary) coordinated capital infusion, with taxpayer dollars ultimately at work in financial markets." (emphasis mine)

UPDATE: ZH pulls out this doozy on insider selling and the levitation act - TrimTabs' CEO Charles Biderman Discusses Massive Insider Selling. This is must watch IMO. If you are not a believer in manipulation and the pump and dump, maybe this will help change your mind.

It is very toppy and the consolidation in the past 7 days between 1020 and 1032 screams the bears may have run out of steam. Problem is the sellers are not showing up and the volume is not there. I'm still looking for a higher high (but playing it as the top may be in) as the weeklys don't have the necessary divergences and the sucker rally blow off top total enthusiastic gazmotron top has not been set. The vampire squid has not fully drained its victim just yet. Let 'em print one more statement at QE in September, then look out.

On a side note the computer at work is finally fixed. I never got rid of the virus and trashed everything. Luckily I had a virus free data backup where I did not lose too much work. I also entered the world of dual monitors today. Wow, somewhere near heaven is all I got to say. Sorry I resisted it and then procrastinated on this one. Simply awesome.

GL trading.

Cry Baby Timmay And Some Other Items

No time tonight for a lot of extras. I clipped some of the best stuff I could find from the usual suspects today. I'd read it from bottom up (it is better that way). I am leaving the Ben rehired off the list, cause it was expected. They would not do anything to disturb the markets now. I do expect him to be fired before O's first and only term is up.

Mish - Talks about the wizardry of the grand illusionists and how they have all (well, most) of us fooled in Buying into the Rally, Hook, Line, and Sinker, "Whatever those earnings expectations are, disappointments are likely. Either earnings will miss targets, or the stock market will sink anyway because the earnings and then some have long been priced in. However, that is tomorrow's business. Today's business is about buying into the rally hook line and sinker, just as the charlatan wizards have hoped."

Prag Cap - Has an unusual Grantham bear quote? This is strange and almost makes me want to be bullish. JEREMY GRANTHAM SAYS STOCKS ARE OVERVALUED BY 15%. I guess he has to say this once every 10 years. "Mr. Grantham sees “seven lean years” of a sluggish market ahead, to atone for what the firm believes was a long era of overpriced stocks, according to his newsletter."

Naked Cap - A little diddy on the BDI in Baltic Dry Index Down 45% From High in June "Chinese imports have been a driving factor in commodities demand, which drives the BDI. The price of imported iron ire has dropped below $100 a ton and may fall further."

The Big Picture - A good chart of the BDI since we are on the subject Daily Baltic Dry Index Volatility.

Clac Risk - This is a good one. With the "positive Schiller numbers out today, this brings you back to reality nicely. Misc: A possible 1991 House Price Headline, and Falling Rents in NYC. "Imagine a headline in June 1991 (if Case-Shiller was around): "House Prices increase at 11.6% annualized rate in June!" The horrible price declines were over ... right? Nope. Real house prices declined for almost another 5 years. Just something to remember."

The Market Ticker - I'll let Denninger handle the rosy Consumer Confidence numbers. August Confidence and Richmond Fed "If we had learned ANYTHING from the 2001-2006 debt bubble it should have been that such "programs" make the inevitable collapse WORSE."

And last but not least, from Zero Hedge - Cry baby Timmay interview where he goes into Geithner: "Fed Audit Would Be Problematic For The Country". I think a little justice wouldn't hurt, don't you? (well, it may hurt someone, but it won't be us)

GL Trading