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Documentary: The Untouchables

Cheers on your weekend!

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Fun Times With Patents

“(NaturalNews) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control owns a patent on a particular strain of Ebola known as “EboBun.” It’s patent No. CA2741523A1 and it was awarded in 2010. You can view it here. (Thanks to Natural News readers who found this and brought it to our attention.)

Patent applicants are clearly described on the patent as including:

The Government Of The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary, Department Of Health & Human Services, Center For Disease Control.

The patent summary says, “The invention provides the isolated human Ebola (hEbola) viruses denoted as Bundibugyo (EboBun) deposited with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”; Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America) on November 26, 2007 and accorded an accession number 200706291.”

It goes on to state, “The present invention is based upon the isolation and identification of a new human Ebola virus species, EboBun. EboBun was isolated from the patients suffering from hemorrhagic fever in a recent outbreak in Uganda.”

It’s worth noting, by the way, that EboBun is not the same variant currently believed to be circulating in West Africa. Clearly, the CDC needs to expand its patent portfolio to include more strains, and that may very well be why American Ebola victims have been brought to the United States in the first place. Read more below and decide for yourself…

Harvesting Ebola from victims to file patents

From the patent description on the EboBun virus, we know that the U.S. government:

1) Extracts Ebola viruses from patients.

2) Claims to have “invented” that virus.

3) Files for monopoly patent protection on the virus.

To understand why this is happening, you have to first understand what a patent really is and why it exists. A patent is a government-enforced monopoly that is exclusively granted to persons or organizations. It allows that person or organization to exclusively profit from the “invention” or deny others the ability to exploit the invention for their own profit.

It brings up the obvious question here: Why would the U.S. government claim to have “invented” Ebola and then claim an exclusively monopoly over its ownership?

U.S. Government claims exclusive ownership over its “invention” of

Ebola…”

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More Fun Times Blowing Up Iraq

“The U.S. military has conducted an airstrike on Islamic insurgents in Iraq, the Pentagon’s press secretary said via Twitter on Friday.

In a later statement, he said the bombing took place around 6:45 am ET, targeting artillery being used to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil.

U.S. officials told NBC News that two U.S. Navy fighter jets based on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf dropped 500-pound bombs on Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham forces…..”

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Russia’s Sanctions on Europe May Bring a Triple Dip Recession

“Either Europe is run by a bunch of unelected idiots, or… well, that’s about it.

After blindly doing the US’ bidding over all propaganda matters Ukraine-related, and following just as blindly into round after round of US-inspired sanctions, sanctions to whose retaliation Europe would be on the frontline unlike the largely insulated US, Europe appears to be absolutely shocked and is apoplectic that after several rounds of sanction escalations, Russia finally unleashed its own round of sanctions and yesterday announced a 1 year ban on all European food imports, something which will further push Europe into a triple-dip recession as already hinted by Italy yesterday.

In fact, Europe is so stunned by this unexpected “politically-motivated” retaliation by Russia, it issued a press release.

Statement by Commission spokesman on the announcement of measures by the Russian Federation

 

The European Union regrets the announcement by the Russian Federation of measures which will target imports of food and agricultural products. This announcement is clearly politically motivated. The Commission will assess the measures in question as soon as we have more information as to their full content and extent. We underline that the European Union’s restrictive measures are directly linked with the illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of Ukraine. The European Union remains committed to de-escalating the situation in Ukraine. All should join in this effort. Following full assessment by the Commission of the Russian Federation’s measures, we reserve the right to take action as appropriate.

Surely, Putin is waiting for the European Commission to also issue a #hashtag before he starts shaking in his boots.

For an indication of just how clueless Europe is, we also read that it is ready to appeal to the World Trade Organization to have the Russian agriculture import bans lifted….”

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Jobless Claims Fall to 2006 Lows

 

“The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to a further strengthening of labor market conditions.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000 for the week ended Aug. 2, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

The prior week’s claims were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 305,000 for the week ended Aug. 2. Volatility related to the summer automobile plant shutdowns for retooling pushed claims to a 14-year low in July.

Most of that volatility has worked its way through the data. …”

Full report

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Keep Calm & Carry On, S&P Could Rise Another 70%

“(Reuters) – Investors fretting about the possibility of a big reversal in global stock markets may just want to borrow a slogan from the British – and just keep calm and carry on.

It won’t be easy given the background noise. Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine on top of deepening chaos in the Middle East, and the bailout of a Portuguese bank, are all fueling the pessimism. Add in expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year for the first time since 2006, and concerns that the U.S. stock market has gone too long without a correction, and it isn’t surprising to see the glass half-empty crowd emerging from a long hibernation.

But some top investors and strategists in the U.S. and Europe say that there is little reason for alarm given the U.S. economy is picking up steam, rates are widely seen staying at low levels for several more years, and second-quarter earnings growth in both the U.S. and Europe is looking healthy…..”

Full article

A bronze sculpture of the New York Stock Exchange Bull is seen at the Museum of American Finance in New York

 

The case for a 70% uptick in the S&P

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Unintended Consequence

“The contributors are many as actors in the American Tragedy, to cause the systemic breakdown failed state. Faulty monetary policy, economic policy, and political policy have caused the resulting failure. The primary perpetrators are the central bankers, led by Greenspan and Bernanke. These two men have done more to destroy the USEconomy, the US financial structure, the US currency, than any two men of prominence. To be sure, the Bush, Clinton, and Rubin gang played a huge role in the collapse. Their supporting cast of destructive actors is very long, like the serial bank criminals residing on Wall Street. To be sure, the system itself has played a key role in the harmful factors. The two most apparent harmful resident factors are the strong US labor unions and the influential environmental movement, which together encouraged the vast outsourcing of US industry at first to the Pacific Rim, and then fanning across the developing world. Both workmen compensation and OSHEA regulations interfered with US cost settings, but not as much as USGovt corporate taxes. The textile industry went to India and Pakistan, even Bangladesh. Call centers went to India, Philippines, even Costa Rica. The culprits are too numerous to cite.

Corporations in general sought out any foreign nation with fewer rules, and weaker unions in which to conduct business at lower cost, with lower taxes and lower fences in regulatory oversight. In the last decade, the destruction of the US system, both financial and economic, has been in a greatly accelerated mode. Almost all actions by the USGovt to defend against defection and defiance have resulted in amplified reaction by the East in opposing the USDollar system and all its many features, devices, weapons, and subterfuge. The motive for actions taken are clearly in defense of the King Dollar Regime. The responses taken are clearly to reinstate the Gold Trade Standard and no longer deal with a toxic USDollar for trade and banking. The unintended consequences are uniform if not universal. The outcome will be to develop the Eastern Gold Trade Standard while the entire Western system crumbles, deteriorates, sinks, and implodes. Review a list of factors, events, and reactions, the common theme in unmistably fashion, is a tragedy extending from the original sin, breaking the Gold Standard. The United States has given the world two choices: war to defend the USDollar, versus work with Eastern Alliance toward the Gold Standard.  

The nations of the world will choose commerce and trade eventually, and turn their backs on the United States. They will return to Gold. The BRICS nations will in the next several months possibly install a gold-backed currency for usage in the Eurasian Trade Zone and elsewhere. The threat of a Returned Gold Trade Standard is cause for war with the United States. Thus the series of wars, in hidden defense of the USDollar, with distractions galore on declared reasons of thin type. The BRICS Development Bank is a cover for a Gold Central Bank. The interference is universal by the USGovt and Wall Street bankers in control. They risk sinking the entire global economy in order to preserve power. Before they chose to prop insolvent banks, instead of liquidating them. Now they choose to wreck the global economy. They want global fascism, a veritable hell on earth.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

1. Abandon the Gold Standard, begin clean economy initiative driven by financial engineering. Goal was to prevent gold depletion, while creating a utopia pristine economy. The outcome was a gutted USEconomy, stolen gold reserves, horrendous imbalances, and systemic failure.

– set nation on wrong course with fake money, debt saturation, counterfeit, capital ruin

– it took over a generation, but longest record for paper money currency was 33 years

– encouraged cabal to form deeper roots, undermine financial markets

– resulted in grotesque imbalances, lost manufacturing, reliance upon asset bubbles

– USGovt debt must be covered by caustic unsterilized hyper monetary inflation

– final phase is defense of USDollar with war, bank fraud, and hyper monetary inflation

– astonishing isolation is coming for the United States, as allies choose trade over war

2. Outsource industry starting in 1980 decade, using blinders on long-term effects. The gains were short-term while the damage is long-term. The outcome is a gutted USEconomy, absent legitimate income sources, steady deterioration, and systemic failure.

– at micro level, objective was reduced costs (low cost solution)

– at macro level, result was added dependence on asset bubbles (series bubble & bust)

– Emerging Markets are responsible for 80% of savings and majority of industry

– Eastern nations will lead the eventual disposal of the King Dollar Regime

– USEconomy lacks the critical mass from which to benefit from the 0% stimulus

– the United States urgently requires a new chapter of re-industrialization

– US has run out of activated asset bubbles, housing last, stocks & bonds now

– USTreasury Bond market is largest asset bubble in history, signals US failed state

– USEconomy has indications of being a Ponzi Scheme or debt and QE abuse

3. Chinese lease of Gold to Wall Street permitted the continued fiat paper USDollar game, with additional underpinnings in collateral declarations. The game was kept going another decade. The outcome is a more devastating transfer of US assets, for banks and commercial buildings, even farm property. The United States is on the verge of losing its sovereignty and becoming a vassal state.

– gold lease was hidden part of the Most Favored Nation grant by Clinton-Rubin Admin

– gold lease was reneged upon, due in 2007 probably, an expected default on gold return

– the subprime loan crisis was probably triggered by the gold lease renege

– China dumped many $billions of Fannie Mae bonds, starting the subprime fire

– gold lease had collateral derivative contract behind it, from Wall Street assets

– an IRS secure stream tax bond was very likely put in place, held by Chinese Govt

– the IRS derivative bond acted like a national aggregate mortgage, putting nation at risk

– Wall Street sold out the US population twice, once with MFN, twice with IRS bond

– speculation that IRS default entitled China to begin the collateral property seizures

– China took control of Wall Street properties such as One Chase Plaza (JPMorgan HQ)

– in all likelihood, China has a significant stake in the Federal Reserve ownership

– China is exercising its collateral seizure rights directly and indirectly

– China is fast converting its vast USTBond holdings into various commercial properties

– China is keeping the US propped up, so that it can convert its USTBond reserves

4. Quantitative Easing and rampant bond monetization, which also cover derivatives is the last act of desperation. Absent creditors put full reliance on hyper monetary inflation. Rather than stimulus, the outcome ruins the Body Economic by killing capital.

– QE forced higher cost structure across the entire global economy

– results in a propped USTreasury Bond market with no integrity, fully controlled

– direct bond monetization plus Interest Rate Swap derivatives keep the USTBond propped

– official debauchery of global currency reserve motivates all nations to depart USDollar

– motivates global initiative to develop and use an alternative to USD in trade and banking

– foreign financial entities respond by hedge against inflation, diversify out of USTBonds

– effects hard felt in food prices, initially for most vulnerable nations

– entire economies have higher cost structure, with immediate business income damage

– final demand prices rising, but kept subdued by business liquidations

– profit margins vanishing slowly but surely, including for gold & silver mining firms

– QE undermines value and integrity of USTreasury Bonds reserves held by nations

– nations have begun to diversify out of all FOREX reserves in sovereign bonds

– economic effect of wrecked capital causes a vicious cycle of economic destruction

– undermined value of bank reserves make a powerful motive to seek USDollar alternative

5. Ukraine War, Iran sanctions, with Syrian adventure and Cyprus actions all had hidden motives. The real factors indicate extreme USDollar weakness. The outcome is isolation for the United States, recognition of war to defend the USDollar, and lost allies. The East will band together to formulate a USDollar alternative, based in a Gold Trade Standard.

– Cyprus was attack to obstruct Russian conversion of USTBonds to Gold

– Russia put on notice, their bank function through the Cyprus window was interfered

– Russia motivated to work with China, in further motivation to form USDollar alternative

– entire EU and NATO put at risk, both alliances to break apart, and isolate United States

– European nations will soon choose commerce over endless war

– Iran sanctions developed immediate workarounds with intermediary parties

– India bought Iran oil, used Turkey as intermediary in gold provision, paid Iran in gold

– the Gold for Oil trade was developed as a working prototype, avoiding USD settlement

– Syrian action made clear to Europe that their energy supply is at risk

– USGovt did not wish for European nations to be supplied by Iran natural gas

– Ukraine forces European nations to cut off energy supply to support King Dollar Regime

– Germany and France are the key nations for defection, choosing commerce over war

– Germany is under the microscope right here, right now

– the United States is going to lose NATO Alliance after damage hits Europe

6. Post-Lehman lashing together of big Western banks was the defensive posture to prevent the weaker banks from faltering. The goal is short-term protection, while the long-term risk is systemic. The QE effect results in weaker economies, which assures the impact of bank failures. They have begun. The outcome is systemic failure of the big Western banks from contagion.

– all big Western banks are tied together, using derivatives

– each big bank has several derivative contracts with a bigger bank for safety measure

– lashing is shipping term, tying men with ropes around waist and ship masts during storms

– if any major banks fail, then risk of contagion is enormous and difficult to halt

– QE has many destinations, mortgage bonds obviously too, but also huge derivative supply

– QE is the biggest backdoor banker bailout in modern history, for Wall Street benefit

– harsh effect, QE undermines the economies which must keep the big banks afloat

– derivative costs to sustain payments has wrecked big bank liquidity

– the big Western banks have been insolvent since 2007

– system cannot manage all the risks, like to intermediaries and mid-sized banks

– watch Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo and several other banks in Europe

– widespread reports that US banks cannot handle transfers when cash is on back end

– massive illiquidity in US banks has finally hit

7. Refusal to Repatriate German gold was a crime out of the gate. The motive was to conceal the appropriation (re-hypothecation) of German official gold accounts. The Germans are on notice of gold thefts by their own allies. Germany will work with the Eastern superpowers to develop a USDollar alternative and a Gold Trade Standard.

– the refusal event put Germany on notice that their gold was stolen

– perhaps the most significant of all indictments by Germany against US Bankers

– hastily produced wars like in Mali have been fashioned to compensate for gold delivery

– Germany motivated to work with Russia & China on alternative trade settlement

– Germany appears to be crafting four critical global indictments against United States

– Gold fraud, NSA espionage, Gazprom supply cutoff, EuroCB bond monetization

– Germany will leave the Euro, leave the EU, leave NATO, already been decided

– implementation is extremely complicated and will cause extreme bank losses

– critics overlook that Germany has two camps (commercial versus bank/politics)

– Germany will play the losing US hand until population and business leaders call halt

– Merkel premature resignation is shrill signal of winds blowing East from Germany

8. NSA espionage has a false motive to protect from terrorism. The actual motive is to control communications, to monitor anti-USDollar activity, to follow Eurasian Trade Zone progress, and to steal corporate trade secrets. The outcome will be profound US isolation, if not quarantine.

– hardly eavesdropping, the surveillance sparked tremendous distrust for USGovt

– has both political side and corporate trade secret side, with terrorism smokescreen

– the US leadership has no allies, and sees only targets to control and exploit

– Fascists attack enemies, defraud allies, gut banks, exploit subjects, kill economies

– motivates acceleration of alternative to USD in trade and banking

– the United States will be isolated in unspeakable manner like a diseased farm

– the difficult decision will be whether to convert it into a productive vassal state

– the difficult decision will be whether to liquidate the nation and its assets

– the difficult decision will be whether to euthanize its entire leadership elite class

9. Banker murders at middle level are hardly concealed anymore. They no longer appear as suicides. They have some common themes. The motive is to keep the rot concealed. The outcome is to reveal the pervasive widespread financial structure rot and systemic breakdown.

– arouses suspicion, attention, and investigation by the population

– when more than one or two cases, a pattern emerges

– hide JPMorgan’s London Whale and $100 billion in Interest Rate Swap losses

– JPMorgan has biggest common thread in murders, both bankers and insurance heads

– London bankers and Swiss insurance executives have been murdered

– executives, directors, board members all protected at higher level

– lowest level workers know little, did little of systemic criminal nature

– midlevel bankers carried out projects with all the dirty details

– midlevel bankers know too much, like accounts, shell corporations, deals, funnels

– eventually formal investigations will come on patterned murders

10. Punitive motivated prosecution of PNB Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank each has hidden motives at work. They are well concealed. The final chapter of D-Bank attacks will reveal duplicity and corrupted financial structures. The outcome will be to anger Germany, to expose hypocrisy, and to act in forcing the split of Germany away from the US camp.

– each action incites immediate backlash by angry nation

– indications of Credit Suisse action to enable further Arab gold thefts

– forced folding of CS under UBS, where thefts are ongoing by US Bankers

– indications of BNP Paribas action to obstruct USTreasury Bond dumping

– forced folding of BNP under Societe Generale, which resides in the banker cabal

– SocGen already participates in FOREX & Gold market corruption

– French central bank head Noyer pledged to hasten efforts to avoid USD trade usage

– Switzerland is a lost cause of deeply rooted fascist banker thieves

– main Swiss value to East is from vast gold refinery business (recast gold bars)

– imminent USGovt legal attack on Deutsche Bank will be a very fatal error

– Deutsche Bank involved in falsified Euro Monetary Union qualifications (Maastricht)

– duplicity for attack of D-Bank for same violations done by Wall Street

– the double standard used against European banks, not used against US banks

– every big bank attack has a hidden motive in protecting the King Dollar Regime

UGLY CABAL SECRETS…..”

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Will Low Volatility Cause Us to Say “Do Svidaniya”

“Touchy, touchy. A stock market that could once be counted on to absorb any morsel of goodness and repel all the badness with vigor seems to be growing increasingly fussy as we hit the summer’s back stretch. After all, the catalyst for the latest retreat came from Poland.

Not the country you’d expect to bog us down. Investors have been ignoring this kind of thing for months, forging ahead and pushing markets to new highs. Yet this warning of a looming invasion in Ukraine was enough to overshadow the meat of a successful earnings season. Then there’s thedrip-drip of bad economic news out of Europe.

If this unsettling trend keeps up, all the wonderful gains we’ve reaped so far this year will disappear faster than you can say “do svidaniya”.

In fact, by one measure, they already have. With seven months under our belt in 2014, the average U.S. stock is down. Down, as in not up. The median total return of stocks in the Russell 300  RUT -0.29% comes in weirdly at a 1.7% decline this year,according to Charlie Bilello, director of research at Pension Partners.

He says persistent low volatility and the S&P 500′s historic streak of staying above its 200-day moving average for a whopping 426 trading days are the primary factors in soothing any bearish concerns that have picked up recently.

“Investors love nothing more than low volatility as it provides the illusion of safety and stability,” Bilello said. “Until the streak is broken, investors will naively assume U.S. equities are ‘risk-free’ and therefore preferable to all other asset classes.”

Speaking of “risk-free”, our call of the day says U.S. Treasurys are anything but.

Key market gauges: Russia, ugly Europe data, failed mergers are taking a toll on sentiment. Futures on the Dow  YMU4 -0.42% and the S&P  ESU4 -0.47% are in the red. Asia  XX:ADOW -0.29% closed down across all major indexes. Europe XX:SXXP -1.36% got tripled-socked by Russian worries, Italian recession news and disastrous German output data.

The quote of the day: “Better than tossing a coin? I think it may be worse … because….”

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State of the Union: Hopes are Dashed

“A new poll from WSJ/NBC finds a high level of dissatisfaction with the President, the U.S. political system, and the economy, and a stunning number of respondents see a grim future for their children.

Just 40% of respondents approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing, a level that matches an all-time low. On the matter of foreign policy — which is in the news a lot lately due to Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, and Gaza — the President’s approval is at a mere 36%, also at an all-time low.

And though the stock market remains close to record highs, while unemployment has dropped considerably, widespread pain is still being felt economically. Sixty-four percent of respondents still say they are feeling the effects of the economic collapse, and nearly half believe the economy is still in recession.

But perhaps the worst stat shows the extent to which Americans have lost faith….”

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World Markets & U.S. Futures Fall Into a Murderhole

“Markets around the world are coughing up gains on fears of how Russia might respond to the latest round of Western sanctions, and on nasty data out of Europe.

The Wall Street Journal’s Patrick O’Connor reports that Russia may be considering restricting parts of its airspace to Western airlines, which could significantly drive up the cost of flying. O’Connor cites a Russian newspaper report, while Moscow has so far denied that that is an option.

But that they will respond is not in doubt. “The government of Russia has already proposed a series of retaliatory measures against the so-called sanctions of certain countries,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said recently according to O’Connor. “I think that in current conditions, with the goal of protecting the interests of domestic producers, we could certainly think about that,” he added.

Russia has also now amassed 20,000 troops on the Ukrainian border after declaring the eastern part of that country to be on the verge of a “humanitarian disaster.”

Meanwhile…”

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U.S. Trade Deficit Hits a 5 Month Low

“The trade deficit in the U.S. unexpectedly narrowed in June, reflecting the biggest drop in imports in a year as the economy moved closer to energy independence.

The gap shrank 7 percent to $41.5 billion, the smallest since January, from May’s $44.7 billion, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 66 economists called for a deficit of $44.8 billion. The drop in purchases of foreign goods included declines in autos and cellular phones, while petroleum imports were the lowest in more than three years.

Demand for goods made overseas will probably rebound in coming months, helped by growinghousehold spending and business investment. Exports were little changed at a record, a sign markets overseas will represent less growth for American factories as Europe’s economy struggles to pick up and geopolitical tensions mount.

“Imports are going to bounce back because of the strength of the U.S. consumer,” said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The U.S. is doing better than most advanced countries.” While exports also may rise, “overall, trade won’t add a whole heck of a lot to economic growth,” he said.

Stock-index futures held earlier losses after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing in September dropped 0.4 percent to 1,905 at 8:48 a.m. in New York as a buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border intensified investor concern that the crisis will escalate.

Bloomberg survey estimates ranged from trade deficits of $41 billion to $46.7 billion. The Commerce Department initially reported a $44.4 billion shortfall for May.

Fewer Imports…”

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Words by Stefan Molyneux

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Finding Alternative Exotic Investments

” “I am a musician, and the monkey is a businessman. He doesn’t tell me what to play, and I don’t tell him what to do with his money.”

David Bonderman, co-founder of private-equity firm TPG Capital, is doing his best French accent for the Beverly Hills crowd, parroting a blind organ grinder confronted by Peter Sellers’s Inspector Clouseau character in the 1975 film “The Return of the Pink Panther.” The audience, gathered in April for the Milken Institute Global Conference, erupts in laughter. So does Leon Black, founder of Apollo Global Management (APO) LLC, who is seated next to Bonderman.

Bonderman’s message is clear, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its September issue. Like the film’s monkey and organ grinder, alternative-asset managers and their investors depend on each other. ….”

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DOW Theory Shows Bulls are Firmly in Control

“CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — The Dow Theory—the oldest stock-market timing system in widespread use — remains bullish.

The Dow Theory, for you history buffs, was introduced gradually over the first three decades of the 20th century in editorials in the Wall Street Journal by its then editor, William Peter Hamilton. The three preconditions for a sell signal that he set out are:

  1. •Step #1: Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Transportation Average must undergo a “significant” correction from joint new highs.
  2. •Step #2: In their subsequent “significant” rally attempt following that correction, either one or both of these Dow averages must fail to rise above their pre-correction highs.
  3. •Step #3: Both averages must then drop below their respective correction lows

To be sure, though these steps might appear to be clear enough, they still leave room for interpretation. Among the three Dow Theorists I follow, for example, there is disagreement about whether step #1 has even been satisfied by recent market action.

That’s because it’s not clear whether the stock market’s recent decline qualifies as “significant.” It sure felt significant last week, especially on Thursday when the Dow fell by more than 300 points.

But the rule of thumb that many Dow Theorists employ is that, to be “significant,” the correction needs to last at least three weeks and retrace at least one-third of the previous move.

That would rule out what we’ve seen since the July market highs, of course; that decline so far has lasted just eight trading sessions for the S&P 500 SPX -0.32% and 13 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.28% — and led to losses of less than 4% for each index.

On that interpretation, therefore, not even the first of this three-step process has been triggered. Richard Moroney, editor of Dow Theory Forecasts, is in this camp, writing that the Dow Theory is “unambiguously bullish.”

Jack Schannep is also bullish, though he does think step #1 has been satisfied. That’s because he believes that, in order for the Dow Theory to be relevant to the 21st century, it must be modified to acknowledge that market movements — even significant ones — occur more quickly than they did when Hamilton introduced his theory a century ago. And Schannep’s modified version of step #1 has been triggered; he is therefore focusing on the second of the three-step process for a sell signal.

Reasons for optimism….”

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S&P Agrees with the IMF, Bifurcation Hurting the Economic Growth Cycle

“Economists have long argued that a rising wealth gap has complicated the U.S. rebound from the Great Recession.

Now, an analysis by the rating agency Standard & Poor’s lends its weight to the argument: The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has made the economy more prone to boom-bust cycles and slowed the 5-year-old recovery from the recession.

Economic disparities appear to be reaching extremes that “need to be watched because they’re damaging to growth,” said Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at S&P.

Terri Henderson, 6, center, whose mother is El Salvador, attends a rally with members of Congress at Union Station's Columbus Circle to announce the Restore Opportunity, Strengthen, and Improve the Economy (ROSIE) Act, July 29, 2014. The legislation provides incentives for government contractors to pay a living wage and other benefits that would help low-income workers.

Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images
Terri Henderson, 6, center, whose mother is El Salvador, attends a rally with members of Congress at Union Station’s Columbus Circle to announce the Restore Opportunity, Strengthen, and Improve the Economy (ROSIE) Act, July 29, 2014. The legislation provides incentives for government contractors to pay a living wage and other benefits that would help low-income workers.

The rising concentration of income among the top 1 percent of earners has contributed to S&P’s cutting its growth estimates for the economy. In part because of the disparity, it estimates that the economy will grow at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the next decade, down from a forecast five years ago of a 2.8 percent rate.

The S&P report advises against using the tax code to try to narrow the gap. Instead, it suggests that greater access to education would help ease wealth disparities….”

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Curiously Strange Evidence Surfaces on Flight MH17

“The tragedy of Malaysian MH 017 continues to elude any light of clarity being cast over it.

The flight recorders are in England and are evaluated. What can come of it? Maybe more than you would assume.

Especially the voice recorder will be interesting when you look at the picture of a cockpit fragment. As an expert in aviation I closely looked at the images of the wreckage that are circulating on the Internet.

Peter Haisenko in Cockpit of Condor DC 10

First, I was amazed at how few photos can be found from the wreckage with Google. All are in low resolution, except one: The fragment of the cockpit below the window on the pilots side. This image, however, is shocking. In Washington, you can now hear views expressed of a “potentially tragic error / accident” regarding MH 017. Given this particular cockpit image it does not surprise me at all.

Entry and exit impact holes of projectiles in the cockpit area

Source for all photos: Internet

I recommend to click on the little picture to the left. You can download this photo as a PDF in good resolution. This is necessary, because that will allow you understand what I am describing here. The facts speak clear and loud and are beyond the realm of speculation: The cockpit shows traces of shelling! You can see the entry and exit holes. The edge of a portion of the holes is bent inwards. These are the smaller holes, round and clean, showing the entry points most likely that of a 30 millimeter caliber projectile. The edge of the other, the larger and slightly frayed exit holes showing shreds of metal pointing produced by the same caliber projectiles. Moreover, it is evident that at these exit holes of the outer layer of the double aluminum reinforced structure are shredded or bent – outwardly! Furthermore, minor cuts can be seen, all bent outward, which indicate that shrapnel had forcefully exited through the outer skin from the inside of the cockpit. The open rivets are are also bent outward.

In sifting through the available images one thing stands out: All wreckage of the sections behind the cockpit are largely intact, except for the fact that only fragments of the aircraft remained . Only the cockpit part shows these peculiar marks of destruction. This leaves the examiner with an important clue. This aircraft was not hit by a missile in the central portion. The destruction is limited to the cockpit area. Now you have to factor in that this part is constructed of specially reinforced material. This is on account of the nose of any aircraft having to withstand the impact of a large bird at high speeds. You can see in the photo, that in this area significantly stronger aluminum alloys were being installed than in the remainder of the outer skin of the fuselage. One remembers the crash of Pan Am over Lockerbie. It was a large segment of the cockpit that due to the special architecture survived the crash in one piece. In the case of flight MH 017 it becomes abundantly clear that there also an explosion took place inside the aircraft.

Tank destroying mix of ammunition

Bullet holes in the outer skin

So what could have happened? Russia recently published radar recordings, that confirm at least one Ukrainian SU 25 in close proximity to MH 017. This corresponds with the statement of the now missing Spanish controller ‘Carlos’ that has seen two Ukrainian fighter aircraft in the immediate vicinity of MH 017. If we now consider the armament of a typical SU 25 we learn this: It is equipped with a double-barreled 30-mm gun, type GSh-302 / AO-17A, equipped with: a 250 round magazine of anti-tank incendiary shells and splinter-explosive shells (dum-dum), arranged in alternating order. The cockpit of the MH 017 has evidently been fired at from both sides: the entry and exit holes are found on the same fragment of it’s cockpit segment!

Now just consider what happens when a series of anti-tank incendiary shells and splinter-explosive shells hit the cockpit. These are after all designed to destroy a modern tank. The anti-tank incendiary shells partially traversed the cockpit and exited on the other side in a slightly deformed shape. (Aviation forensic experts could possibly find them on the ground presumably controlled by the Kiev Ukrainian military; the translator). After all, their impact is designed to penetrate the solid armor of a tank. Also, the splinter-explosive shells will, due to their numerous impacts too cause massive explosions inside the cockpit, since they are designed to do this. Given the rapid firing sequence of the GSh-302 cannon, it will cause a rapid succession of explosions within the cockpit area in a very short time. Remeber each of these is sufficient to destroy a tank.

What “mistake” was actually being committed – and by whom?….”

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Corporate Debt Ballons, Should You Be Concerned ?

“It’s not just the stock market we have to worry about. It’s also the bond market.

For the past five years, U.S. corporations have been living in a financial paradise. Interest rates have been on the floor. Wages have been flat. Companies have been able to lay off workers and slash costs. Profits have skyrocketed to record levels. And they’ve spent almost nothing on new capital equipment, either.

And what effect has this had?

In 2007, at the peak of the last credit mania, U.S. nonfinancial corporations owed $7.2 trillion according to data compiled by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Today? After years of this bonanza, those debts have tumbled all the way down to… er… $9.6 trillion.

All that talk you hear about how corporate balance sheets are in great shape is a bunch of hooey.

Corporations borrowed $993 billion just in the first quarter of this year. Corporate debts have actually doubled since 1999.

Yes, during this time corporate assets have also gone up. Companies have built up some cash reserves (mostly offshore, to avoid the taxman). But the overall picture is alarming.

Today U.S. non-financial corporations are carrying debts equal to 50% of their actual net worth. That is near record levels, and far above historic averages.

In 1950 companies barely owed 20% of their net worth. In the early 1980s it was a little over 25%. Even in 2007 it was below 40%.

And this, note, is after years of record profits. Companies have used their profits, and their borrowings, to drive up their own stock prices.

The picture isn’t much better when you look at U.S. households. In a nutshell, a lot of households have reduced their debts — often by defaulting on their mortgages. But at the same time households have been ramping up more debts — in student loans, in car loans, and on their credit cards. In the first quarter of this year households actually increased their debts by $267 billion — even after you count an $84 billion reduction in mortgage debt. Total debts, after tumbling in the early years of the recession, stopped falling in 2012, and have actually been rising again since early last year….”

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