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Comments »Monthly Archives: July 2012
FLASH: CHINA SECOND QUARTER GDP 7.6% As Expected
The Price of Gold Has Been Manipulated. This Is More Scandalous than Libor
The average Joe knows nothing of Libor. The average Joe knows a lot about gold. Manipulating the price of gold would certainly awake the masses.
As with everything in economics, there is a correctional market mechanism for this scenario – the flight to commodities, particularly precious metals like gold. Gold holds its value when paper money loses value, because it is beyond the gift of the government to simply will gold into being and give it to friends in high places or voters in low ones.
If gold has been manipulated downwards and if that process continues, then all recourse to a store of value (other than land and property) has been taken from the individual.
Read the article here.
Comments »Wall Streeters Seek an Edge Through Testosterone Treatments
via CNBC
Traders on Wall Street are always looking to get an edge and pull ahead, especially in this catch-a-falling knife market. The latest secret weapon isn’t some complex trade or computer algorithm, it’s something more primal — testosterone.
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M.G. Mooij | Getty Images
I can take this kid!
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Testosterone has been blamed for many a bar fight but some aging traders and executives — and aging on Wall Street means 30 and up — who feel these young kids breathing down their necks and the economic screws tightening, say boosting their testosterone levels has helped them get their edge back.
Testosterone levels in men tend to be anywhere from 150 to 850 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL), depending on age and other factors. Testosterone levels typically start to decline after age 30. For some men, as they get older, those levels fall to 200 or below. “Low T” as its been branded, has been attributed to that sluggish feeling, muscle aches, belly fat, low stamina, low sex drive and lack of focus that many just attribute to the aging process.
READ THE REST HERE
China GDP Preview by Wall Street Journal
Hat Tip: @StockSage1 on Twitter
China GDP: Just How Bad Are Things in the Middle Kingdom?
China dumps a load on data on the market on Friday in Beijing, which is actually late tonight New York time (10 p.m.), including second-quarter GDP, industrial production, and retail sales.
The numbers are likely to reinforce the notion thatChina’s economy is slowing down. By how much, and how much the leadership will admit to, and what they plan to do about it are the real questions.
Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao has made several very public comments about boosting the nation’s growth rate lately, including comment earlier this week. This has fueled some speculation that China’s economy is cratering faster and deeper than the Communist Party is admitting publicly.
That China’s both fueled massive malinvestment and is now trying to wind it down in a controlled manner are well known. Tonight’s data dump may illustrate how well they’re managing that.
READ THE REST HERE
Italy’s Bond Rating Cut By Moody’s On Contagion, Funding Risks
via Bloomberg
Italy’s bond rating was cut and its negative outlook reiterated by Moody’s Investors Service as the euro area’s third-biggest economy faces higher funding costs and contagion risk from Greece and Spain.
The ratings company lowered Italy’s government bond rating by two steps to Baa2 from A3, citing a greater risk of a Greek exit from the euro and the Spanish banking system experiencing greater credit losses, according to a statement released in Frankfurt today. That makes Italy’s rating the same as those of Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Brazil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Italy’s near-term economic outlook has deteriorated, as manifest in both weaker growth and higher unemployment, which creates risk of failure to meet fiscal consolidation targets,” Moody’s said. “Failure to meet fiscal targets in turn could weaken market confidence further, raising the risk of a sudden stop in market funding.”
The euro fell toward a two-year low after the downgrade. The 17-nation currency bought $1.2189 as of 9:06 a.m. in Tokyo, from $1.2203 yesterday in New York, when it touched $1.2167, the least since June 2010.
READ THE REST HERE
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DRUDGE EXCLUSIVE: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Top GOP VP Candidate
ROMNEY NARROWS VP CHOICES; CONDI EMERGES AS FRONTRUNNER
Thu Jul 12 2012 19:30:01 ET
**Exclusive**
Late Thursday evening, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a new fundraising drive, 'Meet The VP' -- just as Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal.
And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice!
The timing of the announcement is now set for 'coming weeks'.
MORE
It was Condi who received two standing ovations at Romney's Utah retreat a few weeks ago, and everyone left with her name on their lips.
Rice made an extended argument for American leadership in the world.
In recent days, she emailed supporters:
"2012 is perhaps a turning point for the United States."
"The upcoming elections loom as one of the most important in my lifetime," she warned. "I'm very often asked to speak about our current foreign policy and the challenges that lie before us. However, we, as a country, are not going to be able to address any of those international challenges unless we first get our domestic house in order."
Developing...
Asia Pushes Slightly Higher Ahead of China GDP Data
Asian shares edged up in cautious trade on Friday, as the market braces for Chinese GDP data that is likely to show a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Economists polled by Reuters expect China’s April-June economic growth, due around 0200 GMT, to have slowed to 7.6 percent from 8.1 percent in the previous quarter.
Worries are increasing that slower growth in top economies such as China will lead to more profit warnings, overshadowing hopes of any boost from additional policy measures around the world.
The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index [.FTFCNBCA 5824.04
0.18 (+0%)], which measures markets across Asia, was flat.
READ REST HERE AT CNBC
Comments »REVERSAL! Dow Erases Huge Deficit and is Now Ripping Tits to the Upside
Naturally, as soon as you read this message, the Dow will likely trade lower. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting, the initiative is now in the bulls court.
Developing…
Comments »CORN SURGES 3% ON DROUGHT CATASTROPHE
Market Update
The market continues to remain in negative territory for a fifth day. So far this week the S&P is down 3% or more and we have failed to hold some crucial support levels.
Europe is shutting down currently and is a bloody mess.
Resource stocks, banks, and large cap tech lead the way down.
Overall growth concerns remain, the fed is tight lipped, and the ECB has stopped paying interest on bonds.
This Morning’s Hybrid Movers
Can the National Budget be Balanced by Taxing the Rich ?
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5Gkox-1QY 450 300]
Comments »Industry Breadth
Incarcerating America
U.S. Military Heading to the Gulf in Force
The Developing New Age Ghost Towns
“Facing the same financial stressors that pushed San Bernardino toward bankruptcy, cities across California are slashing day-to-day services and taking other drastic actions to skirt a similar fiscal collapse.
For some, it may not be enough.”
Comments »The Market Has Spoken, and It Is Rigged
“Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management and co-author of “White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You.”
In the aftermath of the Barclays rate-fixing scandal, the most surprising reaction has been from people in the financial sector who fully understand the awfulness of what has happened. Rather than seeing this as an issue of law and order, some well-informed people have been drawn toward arguments that excuse or justify the behavior of the Barclays employees.”
Comments »Russell Wasendorf Sr., PFGBest Founder, Forged Bank Docs For Years In Massive Cover-Up
Maybe with all the money the government is raising with settlements they could do a little better of a job of catching crooks.
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