[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xUbvvRlN0U 450 300]
Comments »Ice – T Opines on Gun Control
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrJ3abcxXM 450 300]
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
In Play and On the Wires
DAVID TEPPER: The ECB Has Given Investors Another Free ‘Put’ And Nobody Has Even Noticed
“Hedge fund manager David Tepper is on CNBC, and he just made an interesting point…
The ECB has just given investors another free “put” in Europe, and nobody is talking about it.
Specifically, the majority of the ECB has voted to lower interest rates, although it hasn’t been done.
What it means is that Draghi can now lower rates anytime he wants….”
Comments »On the Matter of Gun Control
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABfACNfdRY 450 300]
Comments »Will We Learn Anything from the CT Mass Murdering of Innocence ?
Have you noticed that the only time we as a nation join in solidarity is when a tragic event occurs ?
From politics to sports we are generally at each others throats, at least verbally speaking. In some cases like when you see sporting events in Philly there will be more than just the occasional outbreak of violence over a stupid fucking game.
Is it in our nature to be like this ?
Can we not set aside chemically driven emotions to be more united as a country? As a world?
The tragedy of the school shooting in CT should be a marker for society to become more unified. Not for gun control or other political agenda, but for the sake of the nation.
Let’s face it, if you wish to conquer then it is wise to divide.
Our nation is so divided that we as a people can not get anything done unless it is by force , coercion, and spin doctor politics inserting laws within bills.
While i hold hope for this nation to rise above partisan politics, generated fear, greed, hatred, racism, and nation wide me-me attitude; I also harbor anxiety over the fact that things can spin out of control quickly.
If anything is to be learned from this tragic event, it is simply the fact that being a splintered society in every category known to man’s existence will only breed more opportunity for our nation and the world to crumble from within.
Solidarity can not prevent such an occurrence from happening, but it can bring forth a society that exudes love and humanity over greed, power, and money.
Solidarity from the start may help to prevent such weak minds from going astray.
If you enjoy a world of greed, disregard for humanity, and a society filled with glib, self serving, pie hole stuffing non empathetic life forms then continue as usual.
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axb2sHpGwHQ 450 300]
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Bridgewater’s Dalio: Expect Austerity, Rising Interest Rates in 2013
“Next year will bring austerity and rising interest rates, predicts Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund manager.
Plus, the Fed is out of bullets.
Speaking at The New York Times DealBook conference, Dalio said austerity is coming due to Washington’s inability to solve the fiscal cliff, Business Insider reported.
The Fed, meanwhile, has fired its “bazooka” and its continuing quantitative easing will have little impact.
Yields, already at rock-bottom levels, can’t go down any more and will begin rising next year, probably in late 2013, he said, according to Business Insider.
“We’re facing austerity. And growth is flagging. This is an unprecedented risk the economy is facing — a slowdown with very little room to maneuver.”
Comments »Money on the Sidelines, Should You Wait For It?
“Spend more than 10 minutes watching business television and you will undoubtedly be told that there’s a lot of money on the sidelines, everyone owns bonds, and once ‘some catalyst – election? fiscal cliff? year-end?’ is completed then that rush of desirous greedy capital will send Tom Lee’s own S&P 500 to new ‘giddy’ heights. Well, back here in reality-land (away from the total misunderstanding that the cash on the sidelines will always be there as the person you ‘buy’ your shares from is left with the same ‘cash’ you held before) it appears that these two charts suggest those sidelined investors are anything but. As Morgan Stanley notes, 77% of US investors are now bullish on US equities – near record highs– and if, like us, you prefer positioning (as opposed to sentiment) data, the net longs in S&P 500 futures are as high as they were in 2007 (right before the peak) and in late 2008 (right before the 27% plunge in the first quarter of 2009). But apart from that…
Sentiment…”
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
In Play and On the Wires
Merkel Says Tough, Painful Years Ahead for Euro Zone
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected suggestions on Friday that the worst was over for the euro zone, saying the currency bloc faced years of painful reforms, slow growth and high unemployment.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Merkel hailed agreements on banking supervision and the release of aid to Greece, but was cautious about predicting better times ahead.
“One reason I am careful with my forecasts is the adjustment process, the changes that we are going through are very difficult and painful,” Merkel said.”
Comments »S&P Ordered by Japanese Regulator to Improve Ratings System
“Standard & Poor’s Japan unit was ordered by the nation’s financial watchdog to improve its system for verifying and updating credit ratings in the regulator’s first action against a ratings company.
“Significant problems were identified with the company’s business operations from the perspective of the public interest and investor protection,” the Financial Services Agency said in a statement in Tokyo today. The regulator issued the order on Dec. 11 and gave S&P until Jan. 18 to submit its first report.
The rating company’s woes in Japan came to light less than a month after it was found liable by an Australian judge for issuing misleading ratings on securities bought by municipalities ahead of the global financial crisis. S&P failed to properly confirm information that would affect the ratings of synthetic collateralized debt obligations, the FSA said.
“Investors often rely on ratings by agencies like S&P for complicated securities such as CDOs,” Tsuyoshi Ueno, a Tokyo- based senior economist at NLI Research Institute, said by telephone. “Now what can they trust?”
Credit rating companies face increased regulation after a U.S. Senate panel found they provided inflated grades for risky mortgage bonds, helping cause the credit crisis in 2007 and 2008 that tipped the global economy into a recession.
In Europe, they may face curbs on when they can assess government debt and restrictions on their ownership as the European Union seeks to limit the industry’s influence and tackle conflicts of interest.”
Comments »Is Housing in a Real Recovery or Temporarily Driven Higher by Investors ?
“(Moneywatch) Even as U.S. economic growth stutters, the housing market is showing real signs of a rebound: home prices are up, pending sales and constructing activity is rising, and the number of existing homes for sale continues to drop. The big question, amid slow job growth and stagnant personal income: Will it last?
If the housing upswing does continue, it will likely because of the trend’s unique characteristics, with investors, more than consumers, sustaining momentum.
The indicators of a housing recovery are both plentiful and nationwide. According to the most recent Fiserv Case-Shiller data, the real estate market during the spring and summer this year was the strongest since the peak of the housing bubble in 2006. Other green shoots for housing:
- Fiserv reports that average U.S. home prices have increased 1.2 percent since summer 2011
- Home prices were up in more than one-half of the 384 metro area markets in the second quarter of 2012
- Many of the biggest price increases have been in markets hardest hit by the housing crash, including Phoenix (14.5 percent), Detroit (11.6 percent) and Miami (6.9 percent)
- Home prices in October rose 6.3 percent over a year ago, according to research fire CoreLogic
- Pending sales of existing homes were up 5.2 percent in October, according to the National Association of Realtors
- Overall housing inventory is down 22 percent year-over-year and probably at the lowest level since the early 2000s, according to DeptofNumbers.com
Despite the positive signals, analysts are tempering their enthusiasm, nothing that the recovery in housing is only relative to the calamity that befell the real estate sector during the financial crisis…”
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
In Play and On the Wires
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: America is Going to Crash Big Time
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGujjO_Za2c 450 300]
Comments »Wiedemer: More Fed Easing Is ‘Insurance Policy’ Against Market Collapse
“The Federal Reserve’s decision to beef up an existing monetary stimulus program may in reality be little more than a move to prevent stock prices from collapsing, said Robert Wiedemer, financial commentator and best-selling author of “Aftershock.”
At its December monetary policy meeting, the Fed announced plans to bolster its current quantitative easing (QE) program, a monetary stimulus tool that sees the U.S. central bank buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities a month from banks on an open-ended basis to spur recovery.
Going forward, the Fed will now purchase an additional $45 billion in Treasury holdings from financial institutions alongside its purchases of mortgage debt.
QE functions by pumping liquidity into the economy in a way that keeps interest rates low to encourage investing and hiring, with rising stock prices and a weaker dollar as side effects….”
Comments »Dempsey: Fed Aims to Inflate Stocks To Help Baby Boomers Retire
“The new policy unveiled by the Federal Reserve Wednesday likely aims to push up stock prices to appease Baby Boomers, many of whom are invested in equities, said Edward M. Dempsey, founder of Pension Partners LLC.
At this week’s monetary policy meeting, the Fed unveiled plans to beef up its current quantitative easing program, a monetary stimulus tool that sees the U.S. central bank buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities a month from banks on an open-ended basis to spur recovery.
Going forward, the Fed will now snap up an additional $45 billion in Treasury holdings from financial institutions alongside its purchases of mortgage debt.
Watch our exclusive video. Article continues below…”
El Erian Explains Why the Markets Faded the Fed Announcement
“Analysts will be hard pressed to explain how equity markets ended unchanged on the day of an unprecedented policy announcement from the Fed. Rather than resort to cliches, they could consider the competing emotions felt by a patient taking an experimental drug that has not been through clinical tests. Let me explain.
The “expected and therefore fully priced in” excuse for an unchanged market does not work. A notable component of today’s Fed announcement – the shift to quantitative (employment and inflation) thresholds – was a surprise. Most had expected this would not occur until March 2013 at the earliest; and the few outliers had mostly opted for January.
The second traditional explanation – compensating news – also does not work. Away from the Fed, it was a relatively quiet day.
A better answer can be found by considering the competing emotions a patient feels when confronted with news of a new drug that is yet to go through clinical testing.
Professional investors welcomed the news that the Fed is “all in” when it comes to trying new drugs to stimulate the economy. And they fully understand that the transmission mechanism runs right through the equity markets. As Bernanke has stated, the Fed is looking to “push investors to take more risks.” Hence the initial positive reaction to the announcement.
Later in the day, however, and especially when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke answered questions, the enthusiasm dissipated. There are reasons for this too.
As the day proceeded, investors realized that, like any experimental drug, there is a material risk of complications. After all, the Fed’s operational modalities are not straightforward; the analytical underpinnings are far from robust; and the Fed’s prior experimental measures have not succeeded in generating sustainable growth…”
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