Hedge Funds Reduce Wagers After Longest-Ever Rally

Hedge funds trimmed bets on a commodity rally for the first time in nine weeks as signs of U.S. growth and speculation that central banks will do more to stimulate economies drove prices to a three-month high.

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It had the makings of a scandal: Paul Ryan traded banking stocks during the financial crisis the same day as a meeting with top Treasury Department officials, a Virginia blog wrote Monday. But the rumor, which spread rapidly across the Internet, doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

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An exhaustive investigation conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity found that the two competing firms together have received or are promised more than $2.2 billion from American taxpayers over the past 15 years.

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Ever wonder why corporations and their CEOs seems to not really give a fuck anymore about the goings-on in Washington?

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Unreal. America, bend over. This is your future:

Antonopoulos and his partners spent hours collecting papers from tax offices, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the municipal service where the company is based, the health inspector’s office, the fire department and banks. At the health department, they were told that all the shareholders of the company would have to provide chest X-rays, and, in the most surreal demand of all, stool samples.

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I really really like this relationship but wish someone would chart it back much further.

Want to know what’s going to happen in the stock market (and by extension the Presidential election)?

Just keep your eye on weekly initial jobless claims.

The recent improvement in claims perfectly mirrors the recent improvement in the stock market, and going back over 5 years, the relationship remains pretty much perfect.

See the article and graph here.

Germany will block any new aid to ailing Greece if Athens does not fully comply with the terms of previous rescue packages, even if other countries support unlocking funds, a senior lawmaker said Sunday.

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A great post by the Conversable Economist:

Everyone knows that the future of the U.S. economy and standard of living is tied up with how well Americans are educated. Everyone is right! But the U.S. education system has been stuck in neutral for decades, while other countries have been moving ahead. Martin West summarizes some of the evidence in “Global Lessons for Improving U.S. Education”, which appears in the Spring 2012 edition of Issues in Science and Technology.The questions that follow are mine: the answers are excerpted from the article. I add a few remarks at the end.

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Generally, when platinum is at a discount to gold, it points to concerns about the economic outlook, given that 60% of demand for platinum comes from the automotive industry. But when platinum moves above gold, it tends to indicate that investors expect the economy to pick up. Gold also tends to trade as an alternative to traditional currencies, such as the dollar, in times of market nervousness or as a hedge against inflation.

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Most economists surveyed by USA TODAY have little faith a divided Congress will adequately address looming tax increases and spending cuts, significantly hampering economic growth well into 2013.

The standoff in Washington, along with the global economic slowdown, threatens a U.S. economy that otherwise would be gaining steam on a strengthening U.S. housing market and improving private-sector balance sheets, economists say. The survey of 50 leading economists was conducted Aug. 3-8.

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Obama’s expressions during Ryan’s speech are priceless.

Looks like the Department of Homeland Security could be renamed the Department of Hyper Sexuality.

A blistering federal discrimination suit accuses agency honcho Janet Napolitano of turning the department into a female-run “frat house” where male staffers were banished to the bathrooms and routinely humiliated.

James Hayes Jr., who now is New York’s top Homeland Security cop, claims Napolitano filled top spots in Washington, D.C., with two of her gal pals who were bent on tormenting male employees.

Weisenthal is out with some interesting comments from Andrew Tilton.

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Rob Hanna from Quantifiable Edges is out with an interesting study that examines what happens when 10 year bond rates hit a new 50 day high at the same time the S&P 500 is making a new 50 day high. Well worth a read.

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America used to be the land of opportunity, and in perverse a way, it still is. Obamanomics creates abundant opportunity — if you want to go on welfare.

In 2005, just $900 million in child tax credits went to families of illegals. In 2012, due to an increase in the number of illegals and growing fraud, the amount is $7.4 billion — an increase of 722% in just seven years.

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Great post by Investing With Options. Take a look at the rotation and then consider his picks to capture the moving money.

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Speculation that nations are stockpiling oil at the fastest rate in 14 years is fanning expectations for Brent crude to drop below $100 a barrel.

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Peter Brandt asks,

The metals are coiling ever so tightly. But, can a breakout of these coils be trusted?

Read his article here.

Ask Fly about his deer problem…

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