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State of the Union: Triviality, Egotism, Irrelevance and Mass Delusion

“….In part one of this two part series – Hey You – I examined how an invisible government of wealthy, power hungry men have utilized the propaganda techniques of Edward Bernays and lured the American people into a narcissistic, techno-gadget, debt based servitude. Over the last one hundred years they have created a totalitarian state built upon egotism, material goods, and fulfilling our desires through Wall Street peddled debt and mass consumerism. It has been an incredibly effective form of control that has convinced the masses to love their servitude. The ruling oligarchs correctly chose the painless, amusement saturated, soft totalitarianism of Huxley’s Brave New World over the fearful, pain inflicting, surveillance state, house of horrors detailed in Orwell’s 1984.

“A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.” – Aldous Huxley – Brave New World

The nefarious establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913, launch of welfare programs in the 1930s, expansion of the entitlement state in the 1960s, creation of the credit card in 1970, mass media marketing propaganda, and the formation of an empire of debt laid the foundation for a society based on triviality, egotism, irrelevance and mass delusion. The conscious manipulation of the habits and opinions of the masses by an invisible government of powerful men using media propaganda and easy to access consumer credit has reached its mathematical limit. The oligarchs built a society dependent upon exponential growth. This unsustainable prototype began to show signs of strain in the 1990s. The powerful interests have been growing ever more desperate and blatantly obvious in their looting and pillaging of the debt bloated carcass of a country. They used their control of the political system to repeal Glass-Steagall, allowing the Wall Street banking cabal to become Too Big to Control. The oligarch puppets at the Wall Street controlled Federal Reserve did the bidding of their masters by reducing interest rates and expanding the money supply to create two epic bubbles.

The Dot.com bubble was created by Wall Street utilizing hype and misinformation to fleece millions into believing we had entered a new paradigm. The only people who got rich were the Wall Street hucksters, shysters and shills….”

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BIRINYI: Bears Will Capitulate, And Stocks Will Surge To A Record High In 2013

“Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will probably surpass its record high in 2013 as bears capitulate and the lure of a four-year bull market pulls “everyone in the pool,” according to Laszlo Birinyi.

Expansion in U.S. housing, recovering markets in Europe where bank shares have rallied 36 percent since June and buying by individual investors will push the advance in equities to its fourth and final stage, “acceptance,” said Birinyi, the president of Birinyi Associates Inc. The benchmark gauge for American equity is within 11 percent of its record after gaining 107 percent since March 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Birinyi, the former Salomon Brothers Inc. executive, is sticking to the bullish forecast he has given to clients of his Westport, Connecticut-based research firm since stocks hit a 12- year low following the credit crisis four years ago. The 69- year-old money manager says the bull market that began in March 2009 resembles advances that pushed equities up more than threefold in the 1980s and fourfold in the 1990s.

“We’re still very comfortable with the market,” Birinyi said in a telephone interview on Dec. 20. “Our view all along since 2009 is that we’re in the midst of a protracted bull market, similar to 1982 and 1992, markets that went on for four or five years.” ”

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Byron Wien Reveals 10 Surprise Predictions For 2013

“Byron Wien started predicting surprises in 1986 when he was the Chief U.S. Investment Strategist at Morgan Stanley.

He continues the tradition today as Vice Chairman at Blackstone.

His “Ten Surprises for 2013,” which he believes have a better than 50 percent probability of happening, have a bearish slant from the perspective of the U.S. investor.  He sees stocks falling while commodity prices rise.

His prediction for Iran may scare some people, but he is a bit more hopeful for immigration reform in the U.S.

Without further ado …”

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Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues to Develop for 2013

 

“Nearly three hundred years ago,Benjamin Franklin came up with an approach to changing habits that has yet to be surpassed. A young adult seeking to straighten out his act, Franklin developed a list of thirteen virtues, jotting down a brief definition of each. These were character traits he took to be important, but in which he found himself lacking. He knew that nurturing these habits would bring about positive change in his life.

Starting at the top of the list, Franklin spent one week working on each virtue. In the morning he thought about how he would reinforce the new habit throughout the day. During the day he looked at his notes to remind himself of the new habit. At the end of the day, he counted how many times he fell back into the old habit.

While Franklin was surprised at first to see how “faulty” his behavior was, he was so resolved that he pressed on, working through the entire list in a thirteen-week cycle, and completing four such cycles in a year. As for results, he noted in his autobiography that while perfection was unattainable, he could see big improvements.

Modern psychologists recognize three key elements in Franklin’s three-hundred-year-old procedure for changing habits:

  1. He started out committed to the new behavior.
  2. He worked on only one habit at a time.
  3. He put in place visual reminders.

Applying Benjamin Franklin’s Method ….”

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iSweat for the West

While this article says things are getting better, you have to ask why don’t companies and western governments make sure things are right to begin with. seems like an easy fix when they really do want our business so badly….

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GUNS, SECURITY, AND LIBERTY

“The Founding Fathers understood that the right to keep and bear arms was essential to the preservation of liberty. The British Empire understood it too, which is why it sought to quell the American Revolution by dispatching an army to seize the gunpowder stores controlled by the rebellious colonial militias at Lexington and Concord. The rest, as they say, is history.”

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German Business Confidence Rises for a Second Month

“German business confidence increased for a second month in December, signaling Europe’s largest economy may support a euro-area recovery next year.

The Ifo institute’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, climbed to 102.4 from 101.4 in November. That’s the second straight increase after sentiment dropped to a 2 1/2 year low in October. Economists predicted a gain to 102, according to the median forecast of 43 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. ”

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Home Builder Confidence Surpasses 2006 Highs

“WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A gauge of confidence among home builders rose in December to the highest level since April 2006, with respondents encouraged by declining inventory and good sales conditions, a trade group said Tuesday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose two points to a seasonally adjusted level of 47 — matching estimates from analysts polled by MarketWatch — from a downwardly revised 45 in November. A prior estimate for November pegged the level at 46. See economic calendar.

Despite eight months of gains, the confidence gauge remains below the key reading of 50. Readings over 50 indicate that more builders see sales conditions as good than poor….”

Full report

 

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Fed Assets Expected to Top $4 Trillion

“The Federal Reserve will amplify record accommodation tomorrow by announcing $45 billion in monthly Treasury buying that will push its balance sheet almost to $4 trillion, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Forty-eight of 49 economists predict the Federal Open Market Committee will purchase Treasuries to bolster an existing program to buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds each month. The panel pledged in October to continue that plan until the labor market improves “substantially.”

“It’s going to be massive and open-ended in size,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York and a former New York Fed economist.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his FOMC colleagues will press on with purchases at least through the first quarter of 2014, according to the median estimate in the Dec. 7-10 survey. They are expanding the balance sheet beyond $2.86 trillion in a bid to spur growth and lower an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent.

“They view this stimulus as what’s needed to sustain the economy” and reinforce improvements in industries such as autos and housing, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. home lender.

The FOMC gathers today for a two-day meeting in Washingtonand plans to release a statement on policy tomorrow at around 12:30 p.m. That will be followed by forecasts for growth, unemployment and inflation. Bernanke is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:15 p.m., after release of the forecasts.”

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Consumer Sentiment Plunges in December

“Americans’ outlook on the economy and their finances took a turn for the worst in early December due likely to anxiety about higher taxes from the budget stalemate in Washington, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading in the overall index on consumer sentiment plunged to 74.5 in early December, the lowest level since August.

It was far below November’s figure of 82.7 and the median forecast of 82.4 among economists polled by Reuters.”

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9/11 FEMA Videographer at Ground Zero Goes Public

“As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent an entire month filming: “What I saw at certain moments and in certain places … is very disturbing!” He never handed his 29 tapes over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile in Argentina, where he wrote “El Perseguido” (Persecuted). His recently-published book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by Voltaire Network.”

Full article and interview

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New Poll Reveals What Voters Want To See In The Fiscal Cliff Deal

“Voters support raising taxes on incomes above $250,000 and on capital gains but support few cuts to entitlements, a new poll from Quinnipiac University shows.

The poll comes as President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans are attempting to broker a deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

By a wide, 65-31 margin, they support Obama’s plan to impose higher tax rates on incomes above $250,000. And 47 percent of voters favor increasing taxes on capital gains, compared with 40 percent who are against it.

When it comes to potential spending, however, the poll basically confirms that Americans support the blanket idea of entitlement cuts but relinquish that support when faced with specific entitlements that could affect them.

Here’s a breakdown:

  • 70 – 25 percent oppose cutting Medicaid spending;
  • 51 – 44 percent oppose gradually raising the age for Medicare eligibility;
  • 55 – 41 percent oppose cuts in military spending;
  • 67 – 23 percent oppose eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction

That said, 66 percent believe the best way to reduce the deficit is a combination of tax increases and spending cuts….”

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Bullish Sentiment Rises Above 40%

“Bullish sentiment registered above 40% for the first time since August 23, 2012 in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Bearish sentiment continues to stay above its historical average, however.

Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, rose 5.1 percentage points to 40.9%. This reading ends a 13-week streak of optimism coming in below its historical average of 39.0%.

Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged over the next six months, edged up 1.3 percentage points to 24.7%. Even with the increase, this is the 10th time in the past 11 weeks that neutral sentiment is below 30%. The historical average is 30.5%.

Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, fell 6.4 percentage points to 34.4%. This is an eight-week low. Even with the drop, pessimism is above its historical average of 30.5% for the 14th consecutive week and the 30th out of the last 34 weeks.

More individual investors are describing themselves as bullish than bearish for just the second time in the past 10 weeks. The bull-bear spread, which measures the difference between bullish and bearish sentiment, is also at its most positive level since August 23, 2012. The current bull-bear spread is 6.5.”

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