HAHA, gotcha bitch!
Asia is barely down and mixed. Here.
Futures are down, a lil’bit. Here
Europe? Only slightly down. Here.
Fuck you shorts, you are dead.
Comments »Monthly Archives: July 2012
Europe Heat Wave Wilting Corn Adds To U.S. Drought: Commodities
Comments »Heat waves in southern Europe are withering the corn crop and reducing yields in a region that accounts for 16 percent of global exports at a time when U.S. drought already drove prices to a record.
Temperatures in a band running from eastern Italy across the Black Sea region into Ukraine reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or more this month, about 5 degrees above normal, U.S. government data show. Corn, now in the pollination phase that creates kernels, risks damage above 32 degrees, said Cedric Weber, the head of market analysis at Bourges, France- based Offre et Demande Agricole, which advises farmers on sales.
Man Group Rises After Doubling Cost Cuts In Wake Of Outflows
Comments »Man Group Plc (EMG) surged as much as 12 percent in London trading after the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund manager said it would double its planned cost cuts and reduce reliance on products with steeper commissions.
Man Group plans to reduce expenses by $100 million over the next 18 months, adding to $95 million of cost cuts announced in March, the London-based company said in a statement today. The company also plans to sell fewer so-called guaranteed products, which produce high commissions for employees and have drawn subdued demand from customers.
Copper Gains With Oil As European Stocks Climb On China Data
Comments »Copper rallied from a three-week low while oil rebounded and European stocks rose as the outlook for China’s manufacturing improved. The yen strengthened on concern Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.
Copper in London gained 0.8 percent to $7,460 a metric ton at 8 a.m. in London, oil added 0.7 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SPX) climbed 0.4 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The Australian dollar increased 0.3 percent. The German three-year yield rose three basis points to 0.01 percent, above zero for the first time since July 18.
European Stocks Retreat For Third Day As Insurers Drop
Comments »European stocks retreated for a third day, their biggest three-day drop in more than three months, as insurance companies declined. U.S. index futures slid, while Asian shares were little changed.
Faurecia (EO) SA retreated 2.6 percent after cutting its full- year target after first-half profit fell. Elan Corp. tumbled 14 percent after the results of a study for an Alzheimer’s drug failed to show that patients improved. Swatch Group AG (UHR) gained 2.2 percent after posting sales and profit that increased.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) dropped 0.3 percent to 251.13 at 8:57 a.m. in London. The benchmark measure has slumped 4.4 percent over the last three days as concern mounted that Greece will default and more Spanish regions will follow Valencia in seeking a bailout.Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in September fell 0.3 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.1 percent.
Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had the outlooks for their Aaa credit ratings lowered to negative by Moody’s Investors Service after markets closed yesterday. The ratings company cited the risk that Greece will leave the 17-nation euro currency and the “increasing likelihood” of collective support for European countries such as Spain and Italy, according to a statement.
Army Designing Body Armor For Women
This was just kind of cool.
Female soldiers in the U.S. Army have spent years fighting on modern battlefields with body armor designed for men. But the Army plans to change that poor-fitting scenario by field-testing new female body armor starting next summer.
Male body armor poses problems well beyond fashion sense for the 14 percent of the Army that consists of female soldiers— the male body armor’s broad shoulders restrict their arm movements and the front armor plate’s length cuts into leg circulation when they sit. That led the Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) to begin making female body armor prototypes based on sizing and fitting tests.
“Most females tend to have a narrow or thinner waist as it relates to the chest area, so we pulled the waist area in,” said Lt. Col. Frank J. Lozano, the product manager for Soldier Protective Equipment.
“Some women will want more room in the waist area, so we allowed for adjustability in the cummerbund in the back, which can be pulled in tighter or let out more than on the standard [Improved Outer Tactical Vest].”
Read more:
Comments »Michael Savage on the Colorado Movie Theatre Tragedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gcvVJoxJeg&feature=g-all-u
Comments »Small Bombs (Hybrid Movers Under $10)
US Firms Issue Weakest Guidance in a Decade (VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXHWVQgu8Ws&feature=g-all-u
Comments »FLASH: CHINESE PMI HITS 7 MONTH LOW
19 Notable Quotes from the Book “Hedge Fund Market Wizards”
Via Ivanhoff, a great collection of quotes from the new Schwager release.
Read the quotes here.
Comments »Scientific Study Proves Energy Efficient Bulbs can Harm Human Skin Cells
Uh oh. Maybe the Democrats have been able to save energy and cull the population in one fell swoop?
Now, a group of scientists at Stony Brook University has proven that CFLs do emit ultraviolet (UV) light rays that can harm human skin cells.
Read the rest here.
Comments »How Iran Silences Its Citizens on the Web
via mashable.com
Comments »Chris DeVito is the director of Iran180, a nonprofit seeking to change the Iranian government’s treatment of its citizens. His writing and analysis has appeared in major news outlets, including Foreign Policy and The Huffington Post.
Imagine you live in a country where there is heavily restricted access to the Internet. Websites deemed objectionable are blocked. Even when government censors don’t directly vet content, writers practice a high degree of self censorship. The few publications that deviate from this standard are regularly shut down, and those responsible for producing them face potentially serious legal repercussions.
This is the daily reality for citizens of Iran, where access to the Internet has been limited since the presidential elections in 2009, when Twitter and YouTube users informed the world about what was happening on the ground in Tehran. As the government in Iran faces increasing external pressure from a range of international actors, it is clearly grasping for any and all tools to assert its authority at home. This has meant cracking down on all online activity. The abuses fall into four distinct categories.
- 1. Censorship: The basis of censorship in Iran, both overt and self-imposed, lies in the law. The constitution makes clear that “publications and the press have freedom of expression, except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of [the state and religion].” Furthermore, writings “critical of the government and not in the best interest of the community” are illegal. Violating these provisions can be considered a capital offense. These standards are so broad, that any and all speech, including speech on the web, can easily be categorized as a violation.
- 2. Monitoring the Web: The Iranian government makes monitoring web activity an important element of its authoritarian toolkit. The government makes explicit use of web monitoring software, and actively tracks usage manually from public access points. It collects passwords, login details, and other information from individuals, and tracks social network usage.
- 3. Tampering with the Architecture: The Iranian government poses tremendous challenges to those seeking to transmit information online or even conduct a basic Google search. The government requires all internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain licenses. All ISPs must purchase their bandwidth via government controlled access service providers. These effectively government-controlled ISPs are also required by law to deploy filtering systems targeting content deemed “objectionable.” ISPs are then held liable if any “illegal” content ends up on a site. An inter-agency panel of political appointees determines what is acceptable. In Iran, home internet connections operate at a snail’s pace, with a maximum speed of just 128 kilobytes per second, and 56 kilobytes on average.
- 4. Distributing False or Counter Information: On top of all this, the few websites Iranians can view without obstruction feature content produced by government entities. The purpose of this effort is to make it clear to Iran’s citizens that the government’s authority extends everywhere, even cyberspace. Regime officials have claimed to sponsor more than 10,000 blogs.
These challenges are becoming more significant. In recent months, the government has announced that it intends to pursue a national intranet, which some believe is meant to replace the world wide web. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei also said that he intends to create a Supreme Council of Virtual Space to monitor and oversee internet policy, and digital rights activists have uncovered software designed to track Iranian dissidents.
Syria Plays WMD Card
Does Syria want to be invaded? Because Saddam’s threats of WMD’s kept us out of that country… The Middle East’s tyrants seem to have this knack for saying and doing all the right things to get us really interested in them for all the wrong reasons.
(CNN) — The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the country has chemical or biological weapons, but would never use them against its citizens — only against foreign attackers.
“Any stocks of (weapons of mass destruction) or any unconventional weapon that the Syrian Arab Republic possesses would never be used against civilians or against the Syrian people during this crisis at any circumstance, no matter how the crisis would evolve,” ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters.
“All the stocks of these weapons that the Syrian Arab Republic possesses are monitored and guarded by the Syrian army. These weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic,” he said Monday.
The United States called for Syria to never use the weapons and keep them safely stored.
Read more here.
Comments »Gun Control Opposition Driven By Fear
(CNN) — There will be no new gun laws after the Aurora shooting for the basic reason that the American people do not want them.
Over the past 20 years, support for gun control has collapsed in the United States.
Three-quarters of Americans want to keep the right to own handguns, weapons whose only function is to kill human beings at close range. In 1959, 60% of Americans wanted handguns banned outright for all but police officers.
Responding to public opinion, states have loosened gun laws to allow citizens to carry weapons with them almost anywhere they go. In Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee and Virginia, it’s legal to carry a gun into a bar. Guns and booze: What could go wrong?
But here’s the odd thing: At the same time as Americans have become more enthusiastic about gun rights, fewer and fewer Americans actually want to own a gun themselves.
In the 1990s, the proportion of Americans who kept a gun in the home tumbled from one-half to one-third. And while gun ownership has risen in the Obama years, it remains lower than in the 1960s when strong majorities of the American people demanded stricter laws.
How can we make sense of this weird divergence between beliefs and behavior?
Read here:
Comments »What Happens To US Cities After Bankruptcy
I was struck last week to hear that the city of San Bernardino, California is declaring bankruptcy. It follows similar moves in the past month by Mammoth Lakes and Stockton, also in California. Before them it was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Jefferson County, Alabama, Central Falls, Rhode Island – the list continues.
What in the world is going on? Companies go bankrupt all the time – but what happens when a city goes under?
In reality, the two aren’t that different. Companies file for what’s known as “Chapter 11” – a provision which enables them to renegotiate deals, to downsize, to fire people. But filing Chapter 11 also gives them the option of liquidating – or breaking up. That would be essentially impossible for a city – it also happens to be unconstitutional. So cities go for “Chapter 9,” which covers municipalities: that’s cities, but also towns, villages, taxing districts and utilities.
641 cases of municipal bankruptcy have been filed since Chapter 9 was created. Most have been smaller cases involving utilities. But when an entire city goes bankrupt, things are much more complicated. It affects public sector jobs and vital services like fire and police departments.
Now, naturally, we assume all bankruptcies are a bad thing. They’re humiliating, they impact business, they’re difficult to recover from. The situation is far from ideal. But it’s actually not without its benefits.
Take for example San Bernardino. It was running a $45 million deficit (on a $130 million budget.) But its creditors – workers and retirees – were unwilling to help out. The best the unions were able to do was to offer what they thought was a major concession: allowing newly-hired public safety workers to retire with 90 percent of their salary at the age of 55 – instead of 50, which had been the earlier deal!
That won’t work in a chapter 9 bankruptcy. An independent judge brings all parties to a table where an agreement has to be reached – no matter how painful. And, we need some of those painful decisions – not just at the federal level, but at local and state levels as well. At its heart, the bankruptcies you keep hearing about these days aren’t about taxes being too low or spending on city services being too high – they’re about pensions.
Read the rest here:
Comments »House GOP Lashes Out At Work Requirement Change In Welfare
House Republicans said Monday they were “disappointed” with the Obama administration’s plan to waive mandatory work requirements for welfare and questioned the legal grounds being used to make such changes.
“We are disappointed to see that the administration through this action and others seems intent not on helping to get Americans back to work,” said the letter signed by 76 House Republicans.
The one-page letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also states the administration is instead intent upon increasing Americans’ reliance on welfare and other government programs.
The work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families legislation were signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996.
The letter points out the addition of the work requirement had bipartisan support in Congress and that President Clinton upon signing them said the act “honors my basic principles or real welfare reform.”
The changes were detailed in a July 12 “information memorandum” from HHS telling states they could seek a waiver from the TANF program’s strict work requirements.
Among the legal questions raised in the lawmakers’ letter Monday to Sebelius were whether waivers are applicable to the Social Security Act and what legal authority allows for such “underlying flexibility in federal law.”
Two Republican governors already differ on the issue.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has lashed out at the plan, suggesting the administration has exceeded its authority, while Florida Gov. Rick Scott has suggested the flexibility would allow him to keep the work requirement.
Read more:
Comments »The Bears are Fucking Dead
After a horrendous morning the markets bounced off the 1340 support level in the S&P and made up most of the losses throughout the day. Being down over 2% in early trade a close of 1% or less was welcome news for the bulls.
Conglomerates, services, energy, and transportation were the worst performing sectors.
HEY SHORTS…YOUR FUCKING DEAD!
DOW down 101
S&P down 12
NASDAQ down 35
WTI $3.42
Gold down $6
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9sGd-JLvNA 450 300]
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Why Theater Gunman’s Online Ammo Purchases Went Unnoticed
via mashable.com
Comments »Government officials do not have the hardware or the authority to collect and analyze the artillery receipts, health records and other data that could have signaled a threat was headed toward an AMC movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last week, former federal officials said.
Nor do Americans have the stomach to grant the government such intrusive powers, they added.
Experts point to a review of the FBI’s handling of the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas massacre, which was released hours before the Colorado shooting. The report revealed the FBI did not have the technology to perform the kind of analytics that could have raised red flags about Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the psychiatrist charged with murdering 13 soldiers and civilians at the Army’s most populous military base in November 2009.
Both Hasan and the suspected theater shooter, James Holmes, a neuroscience graduate student, were trained to save lives, not take them. On the surface, they seemed unlikely criminals.
There were signs of abnormal behavior in Holmes before he allegedly murdered at least 12 moviegoers. CNN reported that Holmes bought online more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition, a Blackhawk urban assault vest, a Blackhawk Omega Elite triple pistol magazine, a Blackhawk Omega Elite M16 magazine pouch and a Blackhawk Be-Wharned silver knife.
Bernanke to the Rescue ?
The clam has to consider how much is too much when buying treasuries. Some do not expect any action until September or later. As the clam stated last week he would like to see congress get its act together and stop playing politics in a election year.
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