Gilford Securities Issues Report on $VHC: $65 p/t

Judge Davis’’s action on January 4th was firm, in our opinion, establishing a tight framework for AAPL to provide additional financial/shipment data –– we viewed his action favorably as it implies he may be in a position to record an Entry of Judgment (final ruling) within a period of weeks, not months (likely triggering the appeals process). The specifics re the submission of materials (dates) eliminates the risk of lengthy legal tactics used to ““buy time””, and more importantly Judge Davis continues to remain deliberate and steadfast –– his consistent actions imply his language/opinions (embedded within the final ruling) may be stern but measured. We anticipate a final ruling to be recorded shortly after all data/motions (VirnetX) are filed, providing a greater degree of clarity for investors. In our view, all parties involved understand that it would be very beneficial for both Apple and VirnetX to resolve the situation, as a formal relationship/partnership is in the best economic interests of both parties for the long-term.

Construction – Judge Davis has a Degree of Latitude

The recording will address all post-trial motions/issues –– however, Judge Davis is afforded a degree of latitude allowing him to be ““creative”” so that he may ““inject”””” his own opinions/guidelines. Considering his knowledge of the situation, length of time involved, and prior actions/opinions, we believe his tone will remain consistent once again – his final ruling will likely be very firm but calculated.

Full Report

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“Lawmakers in Washington can at least take solace in the fact that they’re more popular than meth labs and gonorrhea.

But the fact is Congress’ popularity among voters continues to reach new lows, not just in terms of statistics but also when compared to unsavory aspects of life.

Public Policy Polling asked more than 800 respondents whom they liked more or less, and in many of the matchups, Congress lost.

Lawmakers were less popular than root canals (32% to 56%), lice (19% to 67%), colonoscopies (31% to 58%), cockroaches (43% to 45%), traffic jams (34% to 56%) and used-car salesmen (32% to 57%)….”

Read more of who congress lost out too

“As a state senator in Illinois, President Obama opposed legislation providing an exception to handgun restrictions if the weapon was used in the defense of one’s home.

Obama’s vote would have maintained the status quo, which made it a violation of municipal gun ban law to use a firearm to save your own life in your own home. But the bill was passed anyway without his support.

The vote is a sign of how committed Obama may be to strict gun control measures.

The Illinois vote is hardly ancient history, having occurred in 2004 as Obama was running for election to the U.S. Senate. In opposing the measure, Obama lined up well to the left of the mainstream, as the Illinois Senate included 32 Democrats to 26 Republicans but approved the bill by an overwhelming margin and subsequently overrode a veto by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich….”

“Ireland took over the presidency of the European Union on January 2013 for six months. Prime Minister Enda Kenny is thus in a unique position to try to find a solution to the banking crisis that has bedeviled Ireland since 2008. However, the job at hand is not going to be an easy one as reported by Christoph Pauley of Spiegel Online on the 7th. January:

“Ireland’s reform policies have been widely praised for helping it emerge from the crisis, but the truth is bleaker. If the government fails to get European taxpayers to assume some of the risk of its ailing banking sector, the country could soon require another bailout….”

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Get your private placements ready should the ‘preppers’ buy into this….

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“The 2012 to 2013 Flu Season is in full force and it looks stronger than we have seen in years. If you look at the Google map of the Flu season the outbreak map of the lower-48 states shows that “High” is for only 7 states and “Intense” is used for the other 43. That is bad news for you, your families, and for me. Flu season deaths are classified as being at epidemic levels right now. It is hard to take the financial angle of many tragedies, but the current flu season is likely to act as a boost for cemetery owners, funeral homes, and those supplying the death care industry…”

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“The trend in rail traffic has moderated substantially in the last few months as the 12 week moving average in intermodal traffic hit its lowest reading since 2011.  The current moving average of 1.34% is consistent with an extremely sluggish economy and one that has come well off the early boom period of the beginning of the recovery when rail traffic was consistently experiencing 10%+ year over year readings.

AAR has more details on this week’s data…”

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“Small investors are getting very bullish on the equity market again.  The latest reading from AAII showed the highest level of small investor sentiment since December which was the highest sentiment reading since early 2012.  As you can see in the chart below, this puts us above the “extreme bullishness” range that has typically been consistent with a risk equity market environment.

AAII has more details here…”

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$FB is up 75%+ since its recent lows…

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“(MoneyWatch) JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is likely to face a major regulatory actionconnected with firm’s anti-money laundering and compliance programs. The banks two main regulators, the Office of the Comptroller and the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve, are expected to announce the action as early as today, according to Reuters, which would likely be in the form of a cease and desist order. A cease and desist order is the harshest form of enforcement action that the OCC can issue. While the bank is not expected to pay a monetary penalty, the order could potentially limit the bank’s business activities and strategic opportunities. Additionally, the bank will be required to enhance its monitoring and risk surveillance systems and procedures.

JPM CEO Jamie Dimon can’t blame this on a “flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored” strategy, like he did when the bank lost $6.2 billion on the so-called “London Whale” trade, which was disclosed in May of last year. At that time, the lapse was described as an uncharacteristic black eye for its charismatic CEO.

In many ways, the current potential regulatory action is worse than any trading loss, because it indicates a systemic lapse in controls. Regulators, who heightened scrutiny in this area months ago, appear to have found a company-wide lapse in procedures and oversight connected to anti-money-laundering (AML) surveillance and risk management. AML controls are intended to deter and detect the misuse of legitimate financial channels for the funding of money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal acts.

The JPM sanction would be the fourth major AML action in the past 12 months….”

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“An incredible and a rare site in the Holy Land: The biggest snowstorm in decades covered Jerusalem with a blanket of white Thursday, paralyzing the city, but thrilling residents.

Looking out at the hills around the ancient city is more like looking at Colorado or Switzerland than the arid Middle East. Cars, pine trees and palm trees are all covered with snow.

The city was completely shut down, schools closed, businesses closed. Snow is so rare in Jerusalem that it essentially brings an unscheduled national holiday…”

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“Despite the supposed end of the PC, I’ve been noticing some very interesting behavior in the semiconductor space, as its performance echoes the late-2010 period of strength in risk assets.

Semis are generally perceived to be an aggressive way to play equities because of their more cyclical nature within the technology space, and their outperformance provides some insight into the nature of risk-sentiment, as well as the potential duration of strength.

Markets love symmetry, and to that end, the relative behavior of the industry now is important to watch. Take a look below at the price ratio of the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH -0.12%  relative to the S&P 500SPY -0.15% . As a reminder, a rising price ratio means the numerator/SMH is outperforming (up more/down less) the denominator/SPY. For a larger chart, visithttps://twitter.com/pensionpartners/status/289704766269956096/photo/1 .

Leadership off of the mid-October low has been fairly powerful as semis began leading, and the trend higher appears very much to be intact…”

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Source

“SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Ford Motor Co. F +1.05% said Friday that it’s planning to hire 2,200 salaried workers in the U.S. this year to support the introduction of new products. The job additions announced Friday were the company’s largest increase in new salaried workers in more than a decade, it said. Ford is now more than halfway to reaching its target of creating 12,000 hourly U.S. jobs by 2015, it said.”

“Although it might not pass as willful financial manipulation, hedge fund actions are influencing gold prices, according to Mike Swanson, founder and chief editor of WallStreetWindow, an online community of independent investors and analysts.

The price gold is being suppressed as poor-performing hedge fund — and there are many of them — are forced to meet investor redemptions, he says

But gold will rise again when those redemptions end in a week, predicts Swanson, himself a former hedge manager….”

Read more

“The government reports that consumer prices rose 1.8 percent in the year through November. But don’t believe that hype, says Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital.

“The CPI [consumer price index] isn’t an accurate measure of inflation,” he tells Yahoo.

“It’s sheer propaganda. Prices are rising at a much more rapid rate than the CPI would suggest.”

He offered the example of the prices of newspapers and magazines. The government says their prices have risen 35 percent over the last 12 years. But looking at cover prices, Schiff and his colleagues found that prices rose 135 percent.

“How can you believe the statistics when the numbers are so flawed?” Schiff says. To be sure, it’s possible that the newspapers and magazines lifted their subscription prices far less than their newsstand prices.

“I don’t care what the government is telling me. If the government weatherman tells me it’s a sunny day and I can see it’s pouring rain, I’m not going to believe the government, I’m going to go outside with an umbrella.”

As for the true level of inflation, “If it’s not 10 or 11 percent, it’s certainly 7, 8 or 9 percent,” Schiff says. “It’s going to get a lot higher. If we keep printing money, … we’re going to have a huge inflation problem.”

Plenty of economists disagree with Schiff….”

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Source

“(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc said it would withdraw its cholesterol drug Tredaptive from markets worldwide after European regulators recommended that marketing of the drug be suspended.

The drug was under review in Europe after the failure of a major study raised safety concerns.

Merck recommended that physicians stop prescribing the drug and review treatment plans for patients taking it.”

“TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner jet suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday – the latest in a series of incidents testing confidence in the sophisticated new aircraft.

All Nippon Airways Co said a domestic flight from Tokyo landed safely at Matsuyama airport in western Japan after a crack developed on the cockpit windscreen, and the plane’s return to Tokyo was cancelled.

The same airline later said oil was found leaking from an engine of a 787 Dreamliner after the plane landed at Miyazaki airport in southern Japan. An airline spokeswoman said it later returned to Tokyo after some delay. No one was injured in either incident.

The world’s first carbon-composite airliner, which has a list price of $207 million, has been beset by problems this week. Some analysts say these are normal teething issues as a new plane enters service under close scrutiny. Others say the incidents could erode public confidence in the mould-breaking aircraft.

U.S. transportation officials will hold a press conference in Washington at 0930 EDT (1430 GMT) to discuss issues related to recent electrical problems on the new plane, one person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bloomberg News said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would announce a review into the jet’s power system.

U.S. regulators have raised questions about the plane’s reliability on long transocean routes, the Wall Street Journal reported….”

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