Chicago takes a page from Bloomberg…
Comments »Monthly Archives: March 2013
3D Printing of Your Own Medicine
62% of Americans Believe the Republican Party is Out of Touch, and 36% of Republicans Agree
“The Grand Old Party is not looking so grand these days in the eyes of most Americans, or even among a significant portion of their own party members.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 62% of respondents believe the Republican Party is out of touch with the rest of the country. Furthermore, 36% of Republicans feel the same way about their party.
The survey also revealed that a majority of Americans (56%) think the GOP is not open to change, and 52% say the party is too extreme.
Meanwhile, Republicans are losing the popularity contest versus President Barack Obama.
A new Bloomberg poll says 55% of Americans approve of Obama’s performance in office, while only 35% of respondent have a favorable view of the Republican Party….”
Comments »U.N. Calls on Obama to Publish Findings on Bush-Era Torture
“A United Nations human rights official wants the Obama administration to release a government report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret rendition program conducted during the George W. Bush era.
Ben Emmerson, UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, noted that under President Barack Obama, the government has withheld important information on what he said were illegal acts committed by CIA agents.
“Many of the facts remain classified, and no public official has so far been brought to justice in the United States,” Emmerson said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council. Speaking to that panel, he called the CIA torture program an “international conspiracy of crime.” …”
Comments »Strong Island Man Given Summons for Laughing to Loud in His Own Home
“There’s no pursuit of happiness for this Long Island man — local cops busted him for laughing too loudly in his own home.
Robert Schiavelli, 42, was recently slapped with two “absurd” summonses because his next-door neighbor complained that he could hear his hearty guffaws from across the driveway.
“I didn’t know it was a crime to laugh out a window,” said Schiavelli, who is considered disabled because he has frequent seizures and suffers from neurological impairments.
Schiavelli was chortling because he says his neighbor often taunts him due to his disability — and his best defense is to laugh him off….”
Comments »City of Nelson GA Looks to Make Gun Ownership Mandatory
“NELSON, Ga. — Every homeowner in a local town could soon have to own a gun or break the law. It’s a controversial new plan for the city of Nelson.
Leaders told Channel 2’s John Bachman the reason they need the law is because the city straddles Cherokee county to the south and Pickens County to the north.
That, they said, can lead to slower response times.
One police officer patrols Nelson, Georgia for eight hours during the day. That leaves 16 hours overnight when the city is basically unguarded.
“When he’s not here we rely on county sheriffs–however it takes a while for them to get here,” said Nelson City Councilman Duane Cronic.
That’s why Cronic proposed the ordinance.
“Every head of household will own and maintain a firearm,” he said.
Bill McNiff lives in Nelson, carries a pistol and supports the law….”
DHS Drones Track Your Cell Phone While Identifying if Your Packing Heat
“Recently uncovered government documents reveal that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unmanned Predator B drone fleet has been customize designed to identify civilians carrying guns and track cell phone signals.
“I am very concerned that this technology will be used against law-abiding American firearms owners,” said founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation Alan Gottlieb. “This could violate Fourth Amendment rights as well as Second Amendment rights.”
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland Security’s drone requirements through a Freedom of Information Act request; CNET uncovered an unredacted copy.
Homeland Security design requirements specify that its Predator B drones “shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not” and must be equipped with “interception” systems capable of reading cell phone signals…..”
Comments »Factory Orders: Prior 1.8%, Market Expects -2.2%, Actual -2%
Equity Allocations Hit 2 Year Highs
“Equity allocations nearly reached a two-year high last month, according to the February AAII Asset Allocation survey. Conversely, fixed-income allocations declined to a 10-month low.
Stock and stock fund allocations rose 1.1 percentage points to 62.5%. This was the largest allocation to equities since April 2011. The historical average is 60%.
Bond and bond fund allocations declined 1.0 percentage points to 19.2%. This is the smallest allocation to fixed-income since April 2012. It is also the first time in seven months that bond and bond fund allocations are below 20%. Even with the drop, fixed-income allocations are above their historical average of 16% for the 44th consecutive month.
Cash allocations slipped 0.2 percentage points to 18.2%. Cash allocations have been at or near this level during five out of the past seven months. This was the 15th consecutive month that cash allocations are below their historical average of 24%…..”
Comments »Recession Index Says Party Like its 1999
“One of the main indicators I rely on for the cyclical view of the markets is the Orcam Recession Index (which I update in the research regularly). It’s helped me keep from bring bullish into each of the last two recessions (though a bit early in the last one) and has kept me from being too bearish in the last few years despite working under the understanding of economic weakness due to the Balance Sheet Recession.
What’s it saying right now? Well, not much has changed since I started loudly saying that the ECRI and others were wrong about their 2011/12 recession calls. It’s still trending lower, but historically, the index hasn’t turned negative until about 6-12 months before a recession hits. The current reading of 1.5 is pretty healthy considering the average reading over the 30 year lifetime of the data is about 0.85….”
Comments »Wiedemer: Investors Buy Into Fed’s ‘100% Fake’ Recovery
“The stock market’s roar to record highs Tuesday reflected the Federal Reserve’s massive easing campaign, not the strength of the U.S. economy, says financial commentator Robert Wiedemer, best-selling author of “Aftershock.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 125.95 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14253.77, surpassing its previous record closing high of 14,164 set in October 2007.
“Fed money-printing is important” for the stock market, Wiedemer tells Newsmax TV. “The economy isn’t doing particularly well. This isn’t the economy of 2007; we all remember the boomy times then.”
Indeed, the economic recovery is “100 percent fake,” he says. “It’s built on Fed money-printing and government borrowing. Both are at record levels. That’s absolutely crucial to this market rally.”
The Fed has added more than $2 trillion to its balance sheet over the past five years through quantitative easing and has pushed short-term interest rates down to near-record lows.
Still, the economy expanded only 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. “And more important for companies reporting earnings, much of the world is in recession, and that’s affecting a lot of S&P 500 earnings,” says Wiedemer, a regular contributor to Financial Intelligence Report, the flagship investment newsletter of Newsmax Media….”
Comments »$85 Billion a Month Boils Down to $118 Million Hour, $1,966,666 Per Minute
“$118 Million Dollars An Hour
That is how much money the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States is creating as you wake, work or sleep. That is $85 billion a month and the stuff must go somewhere. It pours out like sugar upon the markets, each market, every market and it is no wonder that the American stock markets are hitting new highs. The spice must flow.
In the bond markets it is low interest rates and compression, a vice closing in progress, as each sector of the Fixed Income markets grinds closer and closer to Treasuries. It is real, it is not an avarice, but it is also the most manipulated market in the history of our country and something that could not be accomplished in other responses to Recessions because the world’s central banks had never worked in this kind of collective action before. It is not earnings and it is not technicals; it is just money and vast quantities of it that come pouring out of Washington each day. The United States found manna from Heaven.
The initial call had been for Inflation, even Hyper-Inflation from some well-known thinkers. It has not happened and the reason, I postulate, isbecause the underlying economy is in far worse shape than the numbers indicate or most think. The earnings at corporations also rely upon this injection of capital and so the whole boats floats but the underpinnings are shaky, risky and fraught with danger. Any hint of curtailment by the Fed throws out tremors as everyone wonders for how long this will go on and will the rising tide turn to a flood and upset the American boat. It is a very good question. The other possibility is an “Event;” some shattering moment that punctures the hull and sends the whole enterprise into a waterspout where the boat is sucked up into a vortex that will certainly not be Oz.
I play the game. The Rule is to win and not to be eventually right and lose your capital during the process. The compression in bonds has been an absolutely winning hand and in many cases a better bet than equities have been. One of the interesting reasons for this has been the structure of bonds as compared with equities or preferred stocks. Bonds accrue interest every day while dividends are paid quarterly with no accrual. Consequently if you are trading bonds and taking advantage of what you can the accrual part of the equation can add to your winnings in a substantial fashion when interest rates are this low….”
Comments »$C Say $APPL Will Miss Its Own Revenue Guidance
“Citi is now calling for $40.45 billion in sales for the March quarter. Apple guided to between $41 and $43 billion in sales for this quarter. If Citi’s forecast is accurate, then Apple would miss its own revenue guidance…”
$C Says sales of iPhones & iPads are falling
Comments »ACHUTHAN: Look At These Charts And Tell Me We’re Not In Recession
“Since 2011, Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) has been taking a lot of heat for his controversial call that the U.S. economy would fall into a recession.
In an apperence with Bloomberg‘s Tom Keene last November, Achuthan clarified that based on the four official recession indicators considered by the NBER — the folks who date recession — the U.S. fell into recession in July 2012. He also said we would know that the U.S. fell into recession by the end of 2012.
Since then, the ECRI head had been off the radar.
Today, Achuthan emailed to Business Insider a brand new presentation titled “The U.S. Business Cycle in the Context of the Yo-Yo Years.”
In 17 pages, Achuthan makes his best effort to defend his recession call….”
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
In Play and On the Wires
The DOW is Down 50% Since 2007 in Au Terms
“Dow Down 50% Against Gold Since Last Record Dow in October 2007
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,574.00, EUR 1,207.98 and GBP 1,043.42 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,584.25, EUR 1,214.82 and GBP 1,044.33 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $28.68/oz, €22.10/oz and £19.09/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,596.70/oz, palladium at $736.00/oz and rhodium at $1,200/oz.
Gold rose $1.20 or 0.08% yesterday in New York and closed at $1,575.00/oz. Silver surged to a high of $29.07 and fell down to $28.51, but it still finished with a gain of 0.42%.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold edged higher in Asian and European trading today, supported by modest physical demand in Asia and from central banks. This continuing demand is creating expectations that prices will consolidate at current levels before moving higher again…”
Comments »$SPLS Posts Lower Than Expected Earnings
“Staples, the largest U.S. office supply chain, reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and forecast weak full-year earnings as corporate customers and other shoppers in Europe and North America reduced discretionary spending.
Many investors look at office-supply retailers as a barometer of economic health because demand for their products is closely tied to white-collar employment rates.
As customers increasingly buy office supplies online or at mass merchants, these chains are fighting a battle for relevance. Analysts have called for consolidation as sales crumbled after the recent U.S. recession.
Office Depot and OfficeMax last month decided to combine in a $976 million all-stock deal. The deal is subject to investor and regulatory approval.
Same-store sales at Staples’ North American stores fell 5 percent in the fourth quarter, while in Europe it decreased 9 percent, mainly due to fewer customers visiting its stores, the company said.
Staples outlined a plan last year to cut costs by closing stores, but that blueprint did not pass muster with some on Wall Street who were looking for deeper cuts in North America and Europe.
Overall, sales rose 3 percent to $6.56 billion, but missed Wall Street’s average expectation of $6.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company forecast full-year adjusted earnings of $1.30 to $1.35 per share, which trailed analysts’ expectations of $1.43 per share.
Net income fell to $78.1 million, or 12 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, from $283.6 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier….”
EU Antitrust Regulators Fine $MSFT $731 Million
“EU antitrust regulators fined Microsoft 561 million euros ($731 million) on Wednesday for breaking a promise to offer European consumers a choice of web browser.
Microsoft had made the pledge in 2009 in settling an antitrust investigation in Europe, where the software group’s regulatory troubles date from the last decade and have cost it a total of 2.16 billion euros, including the latest fine….”
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