“Epic Rant. Everyone’s favorite Bay Area truthsayer is back and this time he is taking on the general ignorance of an indoctrinated mainstream media and the brainwashed investing public. Dismissing the nonsense of one media blogger’s belief that the ‘Euro would be better off without the meddling Germans’ – implying that once the ECB was left to follow the path of stupidest resistance of printing and spending that all will be well with the region, Biderman conjures Lewis Black (spit and all) in the incessant belief that more debt can solve a problem of too much debt. Furthermore, the expectation that a European QE can bring rates down for Europe (without a German pillar of sanity) is ludicrous: ”
Comments »Do Not Bet Against Mother Market and Central Banks Say Bearish Analysts
The markets have confirmed again that central banks have the power to shape the future dramatically. While the news is dire; it is hard to bet against the markets in a central bank controlled environment.
Comments »Can We Say Goodbye to a Global Deflationary Vortex ?
“Slowing growth as well as deficit and debt problems in the Eurozone, U.S., China and the emerging nations increases the odds of a deflationary global recession and a renewed down leg in the ongoing secular bear market.
The Eurozone crisis is worsening as economic growth is being hit by front-loaded austerity measures that is exacerbating budget deficits and reducing tax revenues. The southern-tier nations, particularly Spain and Italy, cannot get credit as interest rate spreads have widened to unsustainable levels.”
Comments »The Bow Tie Says You Can Not Avoid ‘Financial Armageddon’
“A much-hyped decision by European leaders allowing banks to tap bailout funds to recapitalize won’t halt the advance of a “Financial Armageddon,” says international investor Jim Rogers.
European Union leaders at a summit voted to give their bailout fund, European Stability Mechanism (ESM), power to lend directly to countries to prop up banking sectors.
Under previous rules, bailout money went to countries, who then funneled the funding to recapitalize banks, which added to a country’s overall debt burden.”
Comments »Elliott Wave’s Prechter: Another US Credit Downgrade Looms
” Last August, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. government from its triple-A rating, sparking a plunge in stocks. Robert Prechter, founder of Elliott Wave International, says another downgrade is likely in the cards.
“One is pretty likely eventually, because there’s plenty of [government] borrowing continuing and not much plan about how to pay it back,” he tells Yahoo.
“That’s the normal course of business in terms of governments all over the world. Some are a little faster than others, such as Greece, Spain, and Italy, but we’re in the same pack. Our government spends money it doesn’t have.”
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
Will the Hopium Rally Last ?
Credit Suisse Puts Out a Report on the 25 Best Stocks in America
Hot off the press with markets waiting for you to buy today’s gap up; here are some ideas for your portfolio.
Comments »Did Merkel Just Get ‘Merkeled’ ?
It seems Merkel just got everything she did not want. Surely her swagger has been reduced to a church mouse walk after this recent EU announcement.
Comments »Relaxed Repayment Rules For Spain and Italy Gets Equities in Full Retard Mode
World markets rallied on news that the ECB will be less stringent on the repayment rules for countries like Spain and Italy. A head line just surfaced stating that Germany may delay a vote on this new proposal.
The new proposal brings the EU one step closer to not seeing a breakup and thus the markets are very happy.
Comments »Commentary: Why Roberts Did It
by Charles Krauthammer
It’s the judiciary’s Nixon-to-China: Chief Justice John Roberts joins the liberal wing of the Supreme Court and upholds the constitutionality of Obamacare. How? By pulling off one of the great constitutional finesses of all time. He managed to uphold the central conservative argument against Obamacare, while at the same time finding a narrow definitional dodge to uphold the law — and thus prevented the court from being seen as having overturned, presumably on political grounds, the signature legislation of this administration.
Why did he do it? Because he carries two identities. Jurisprudentially, he is a constitutional conservative. Institutionally, he is chief justice and sees himself as uniquely entrusted with the custodianship of the court’s legitimacy, reputation and stature.
As a conservative, he is as appalled as his conservative colleagues by the administration’s central argument that Obamacare’s individual mandate is a proper exercise of its authority to regulate commerce.
That makes congressional power effectively unlimited. Mr. Jones is not a purchaser of health insurance. Mr. Jones has therefore manifestly not entered into any commerce. Yet Congress tells him he must buy health insurance — on the grounds that it isregulating commerce. If government can do that under the commerce clause, what can it not do?
“The Framers . . . gave Congress the power to regulate commerce, not to compel it,”writes Roberts. Otherwise you “undermine the principle that the Federal Government is a government of limited and enumerated powers.”
KEEP READING HERE AT WAPO
Comments »
Wall Street and Short Term Focus
“Fortune — Here we go again. Wall Street has a history of not focusing on bad news until it’s too late. Then panic ensues. We might be seeing that pattern again with the so-called fiscal cliff.
A recent survey found that 93% of top Wall Street strategists and economists still aren’t factoring into their estimates for next year the epic mix of tax increases and spending cuts that are expected to kick in January 1. The question is whether Wall Street is correctly handicapping the fiscal cliff, or just being ignorant.
“It’s clear that a large percentage of Wall Street doesn’t expect us to go over the fiscal cliff,” says Randell Moore, who is the editor of the Blue Chip Economic Indicators, which runs the highly regarded monthly survey of Wall Street strategists. “That may be optimistic, but that’s their forecast.”
Comments »Cleveland Fed President: Education, Better Work Skills Spur Growth
Leon Cooperman: Earning 13% Annually in Stocks Takes ’Average IQ’
Anecdotal Evidence: Put Lipstick on the Pig
Retailers and Small Biz Complain About Today’s Health Care Ruling
“A Supreme Court decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will punish businesses of all sizes, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said Thursday.
The Supreme Court upheld the law, including its mandate requiring individuals to buy health insurance and employers with 50 employees or more to provide insurance to their workers.
“As the voice of retailers of all types and sizes, we’re disappointed by today’s ruling. The Court missed an opportunity to redress the many shortcomings of the law,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.”
Comments »BofA-Merrill Lynch Analysts: Fed to Prop Up Economy in September
Pimco’s Gross: Decades Needed to Normalize From Too Much Debt
“Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said economies and their financial markets take decades to return to normal after the havoc caused by too much debt.
An authentic debt crisis, which the world is experiencing, can only be ultimately cured by default or printing more money in order to inflate it away, Gross said in his monthly investment outlook posted on the Newport Beach, California-based company’s website.
The U.S. Treasury market is considered the cleanest “dirty shirt” for investors, Gross wrote.”
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
Android Reaches 400 Million Device Activations, Adds 1 Million Per Day
“Here are some big numbers for Google’s Android platform out of the company’s developer conference today in San Francisco: Android has seen 400 million device activations and is adding 1 million per day. That’s up from the 100 million number the company announced last year around the same time.
That’s 12 new Android devices every second, said Hugo Barra, who serves as a product management director of Android at Google.
How does that compare to Apple’s iOS platform? Well, earlier this month, Apple said it had cumulatively sold 365 million devices. Although we don’t know the active installed base of both platforms, this presumably makes Android’s footprint larger — especially since its growth spurt has been more recent.”
Comments »
