November 30, 2010 posts

Business / Economic / Financial

[ This link to a somewhat more cumulative blog posts page will precede current days news since most all topics remain current in terms of impact and longer-term effect and can be searched by topical index term more easily. The same is provided since the blog site http://alpeiablog.blogspot.com has just been censored as to size by google which is typical for google as nsa / cia / gov’t shill as more are becoming aware of. The same is true for microsoft, another co. that’s seen their best days and relies on the government to maintain their monopoly. Up to now the better page http://www.scribd.com/alpeia is provided for ease of formatting and clarity thereby while the Washington Post page is the real deal but without formatting http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/mypost/index.html?plckPersonaPage=PersonaComments&plckUserId=alpeia&newspaperUserId=alpeia ]

New Home Sales Fell 8.1% in October Suttmeier ‘For the 10-Year yield my annual value level is 2.999 with a annual pivot at 2.813, and quarterly and semiannual risky levels at 2.265 and 2.249. Gold remains above its 50-day simple moving average at $1345.8. My quarterly value level is $1306.4 with weekly risky level at $1401.6. Crude oil is just above my semiannual pivot at $83.94 with this week’s risky level at $84.89. The euro is below my quarterly pivot at 1.3318 and its 200-day simple moving average at 1.3129 on Monday. The Dow is below its 50-day at 11,062, which indicates risk to my semiannual and annual pivots at 10,558 and 10,379. My annual and semiannual pivots are 11,235 and 11,296. New Home Sales declined in October along with home prices.

10-Year Note – (2.826) My annual value level is 2.999 with daily, annual and weekly pivots at 2.855, 2.813 and 2.816, and monthly, quarterly and semiannual risky levels at 2.380, 2.265 and 2.249.

Click [chart] Courtesy of Thomson / Reuters

Comex Gold – ($1366.3) Quarterly, semiannual and annual value levels are $1306.4, $1260.8, $1218.7 and $1115.2 with my monthly pivot at $1373.0, and daily and weekly risky levels at $1381.7 and $1401.6. Watch the 50-day simple moving average at $1345.8.

[chart] Courtesy of Thomson / Reuters

Nymex Crude Oil – ($85.74) Monthly and annual value levels are $78.51 and $77.05 with semiannual, daily and weekly pivots at $83.94, $84.01 and $84.89, and semiannual and annual risky levels at $96.53 and $97.29.

[chart] Courtesy of Thomson / Reuters

The Euro – (1.3119) My monthly value level is 1.2709 with daily and quarterly pivots at 1.3321 and 1.3318, and weekly and semiannual risky levels at 1.3688 and 1.4733. The euro is below its 200-day simple moving average at 1.3129.

[chart] Courtesy of Thomson / Reuters

Daily Dow: (11,052) Monthly, semiannual, annual and quarterly value levels are 10,848, 10,558, 10,379 and 8,523 with daily, annual, semiannual, and weekly risky levels at 11,197, 11,235, 11,296, and 11,469. The Dow is below its 50-day simple moving average at 11,063.

[chart] Courtesy of Thomson / Reuters

New Home Sales Fell 8.1% in October - According to the Commerce Department New Home Sales fell 8.1% in October to a 283,000 annual rate, and sales are down 28.5% year over year. This report came out before Thanksgiving last week and followed a weaker than expected reading for Existing Home Sales.Home builders have slowed the pace of building as banks are stingy with regard to construction loans. There are only 202,000 new homes available for sale, the lowest since June 1968.New homes are under downward price pressures with the median price dropping a record 13.9% in October to the lowest level since October 2003. The price decline was 9.4% year over year.’

Street Renews Slump After Case-Shiller Shows Home Prices Slip Schaefer ‘… For the second straight day, stocks plunged into the red at the opening bell in New York Tuesday. The housing market's woes returned to center stage with the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which showed declines are accelerating in the largest U.S. cities. On a year-over-year basis, the index's 20-city gauge inched up 0.6% from a year ago in September, but the figure was down 0.7% from the month prior as 18 of the 20 cities saw declines. Prices were rising through July, buoyed by the government's home buyer tax credits, but have swooned in more recent months after the credits expired and could continue their slide into 2011 given the record number foreclosures that may further depress prices …’

Timid Tuesday: Is it Safe? Davis ‘Is it safe?

Is what safe?

Is it safe?

I don’t know what you mean. I can’t tell you something’s safe or not, unless I know specifically what you’re talking about.

Is it safe?

Tell me what the "it" refers to.

Is it safe?

Yes, it’s safe, it’s very safe, it’s so safe you wouldn’t believe it.

Is it safe?

No. It’s not safe, it’s… very dangerous, be careful.

One could only wish we could torture the MSM pundits the way the evil dentist tortured Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man - these guys cannot give us a straight answer and, frankly, we’re not even sure what the question is anymore. Is it safe to buy bonds? Is it safe to buy stocks? Is our currency safe? Are commodities safe?

All this uncertainty is certainly boosting gold and, although I am no fan of gold speculation, we did take a gold hedge in last Tuesday’s Alert to Members and on Wednesday our market hedge was a 500% hedge on the Russell that goes 100% in the money right about 730. Monday’s upside Alert play was a 1,000% payoff on FAS that’s already all in the money – it’s a crazy market when your longs and your shorts work at the same time!

That’s the sort of thing that gave us the confidence to restart the "$10,000 to $50,000 by Jan 21st" virtual portfolio as we were halfway to goal at $26,000 when we cashed out in early October. We didn’t like the market then for directional plays and we still don’t but now we’re taking the opportunity to practice our short-term trading techniques in this choppy market. As you can see from David Fry’s Nasdaq chart above, we’re in a critical zone and the chips are literally flying every which way – our job is just to reach in and grab a few.

Yesterday we focused on the DIA (always a favorite) $112 calls, which opened at .94 and we took 20 at the open and stopped out with a quick .10 loss ($200) just 10 minutes later as the Dow failed to hold 11,000. We took a re-load with 30 at .75 at 11:12, stuck out the dip to .70 and cashed back out at $1.05, for a very nice $900 gain on our second attempt. We need to average $500 a day to get to our goal by Jan 21st, so we’re off to a fine start already!

CHART

The key to day-trading options is paying close attention to your channels. In more certain market conditions, we would have rode out the initial drop and doubled down at .75 for a .80 average entry on 40 contracts but 11,000 was a key breakdown and we couldn’t be sure the S&P 500 would hold 1,177 so it wasn’t worth taking the chance.

CHART

As you can see from David’s S&P chart, we did get our hold at 1,177 and between looking stronger at the 1,180 line and our anticipation of the day’s POMO by the Fed, we were brave enough to test our buy premise for the 2nd time. We’re also getting used to these sell-offs into the close and we know to take the money and run sooner, rather than later. I called an end to this trade at 3:29 in Member Chat as we have no reason to be greedy on a 40% day’s gain.

That left us with a bearish play on one of our high flyers and a bullish play on the Financials as we need something to the upside, just in case but I can assure you our hearts are not in the bull side just yet because no one can answer the question – "Is it safe?"

That’s why we have 1,000% plays to the upside hedging 500% plays to the downside – we don’t know what’s going to happen but we sure do think something is going to happen pretty soon! So, we construct plays that give us great pay-offs in either direction which enables us to use just a little bit of our sideline cash on trades that can give us a 5x and 10x payoff. We don’t really care what the market does and, in fact, when it does nothing – as it has been for a week – we can win on both sides! This is what hedging is all about – striking a balance that allows us to take advantage of opportunities in either direction or no direction at all.

There is risk, of course, and the risk we take on these spreads is usually being forced to own the underlying stock or ETF at a discount (see "How to Buy Stocks for a 15-20% Discount"). This is just fine as long as you only play things you really do want to own at the assignment price so always keep that in mind – we expect to have the losing side put to us and we are pleasantly surprised if it isn’t but, if it is, we are happy to be long-term owners in, for example, QID.

Speaking of QID, it is the Nasdaq we’ll be looking to short if the Dow and the S&P 500 break down as they certainly have the most to lose next to the Russell, who we are already short on. We already have longer-term QID spreads, also in the 500% range, that we were using at the top to guard against a move back to $50 on the Qs. The Qs are always fun to play with as they have weekly options and we love our weekly option plays! Oil is another short play on our radar but we were hoping for a more bullish surge last night to give us a better entry than $86. Now the dollar is back to 81.40 and oil can’t even hold $85 – pathetic!

That’s not stopping gold as it is perceived as "safe" by millions of global investors who are liquidating their Euros. $130Bn floated to Ireland Monday morning didn’t even keep the EU markets up through lunch-time as they dropped about 2% on the day, closing at the lows. This morning, after gapping up (bouncing) half a point at the open, the EU markets are now down about half a point during lunch. As Martin Weiss points out:

The authorities had hoped that Irish bond yields would come down sharply, helping to avert a disastrous, additional interest burden for the government. Instead, bond investors have dumped Irish bonds with both hands, driving their prices down and yields up. Exactly seven days ago, on the morning after the big bailout announcement, the yield on Ireland’s benchmark 10-year government bond was near 8 percent. Now, it has surged by more than a full percentage point to 9.17 percent. That extra interest cost alone threatens to eat up a big chunk of the bailout money.

That doesn’t sound "safe" at all, does it? As I said to Members in my Weekend Post, where we examined the Dollar chart – "I’m not a TA guy, but dollar bears should be very concerned if we break up here as conditions are ripe for a big run." At the height of the last Greek debt crisis — on February 8, 2010, to be exact — the cost of insuring a €10 million 5-year Greek government bond reached a peak of €420,855. But last week, the cost on the exact same instrument had surged above €1,000,000! Who is going to keep their money in Europe under those conditions? Notorious bond pimp, Mohamed El Erian was on CNBC this morning, calling for action before his investments turn sour! Europe isn’t "safe", California isn’t "safe", giving money to Timmy certainly isn’t "safe" and borderlines irrational. Asia may not be "safe" either so where is a man with $1Tn under management supposed to go? I’ll be the first one to chip in to send El Erian and Bill Gross to another planet so they can wreck their economies for a change – who’s with me?

Of course the boys from Pimpco are already trapped in their own little hell with pretty much every nation on Earth defaulting on debt. What, you say? Who is defaulting on debt? Pretty much everybody says I and so says the Market Oracle, who have a nice article with "eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence" that makes the very good point that inflation, quantitative easing or whatever you want to call it is simply a default on debt only it’s the kind of default where you pretend to pay back the debt but you pay it back with worthless bits of paper that in no way, shape or form resembles the value of the paper you were lent. That’s default folks!

How is it better to have a global policy of "extend and pretend" that amounts to nothing more than a multi-trillion Dollar massive default against bondholders (as their debts get canceled for monopoly money) than to just honestly restructure global debt so we can all see where we actually stand and reorganize (because that’s what bankruptcies are supposed to help us do) in order to move forward more responsibly in the future. It is not "safe" to pretend that the global markets are functioning correctly and to keep taking new investors capital in this global Ponzi scheme that is, in fact, collapsing right now!

What’s beginning to unravel, even in this "brilliant" scheme is that investors are starting to wise up and are reluctant to put more money into money-printing nations like the US, the EU and Japan. Even China had a failed bond auction last week and Spain is having them weekly with the last auction not filling at 5% and we’re already up to 5.25 with 5.5% likely on the next offering. At 6%, the wheels begin to come off the El Autobus and then all bets will be off in the EU.

The US has "solved" the problem of waning interest in our TBills by selling them to the Fed and I encourage anyone who has debts to try this at home. Simply take out your checkbook and give your spouse some deposit slips. Let them go upstairs so you don’t feel like it’s all being done in the same room. Then have your spouse put down whatever number you need as a deposit, which you can then immediately write checks against. If anyone wants to know where your wife got the money – she can say – well my husband clearly made an entry in his checkbook that we had the money and that’s the money I’m using to give him! See, who can argue with that kind of logic?

This is how we pay off our current debts and I think bondholders are simply happy to get anything out of a country that admits it owes $15Tn (1/4 of global GDP) but probably owes closer to $60Tn (entire global GDP) in the form of unfunded liabilities. The funniest thing about this (and you have to laugh) is to see Conservative pundits get on TV and talk about how we need to cut $100Bn worth of discretionary spending to "fix" this (while continuing to spend $1Tn on the military and $1Tn on tax cuts for the top 1% each year). There is no fixing this and even a Republican said you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

THIS HOUSE OF CARDS IS TEETERING FOLKS – PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! ‘

Are Stocks Cheap? [ Reality’s short anwer: NO! NO! NO! ] Simon Maierhofer, On Tuesday November 30, 2010 Are Stocks Over Loved and Over Valued? [ Is the Pope Catholic? Do bears s*** in the woods? … Reality’s short answer: YES! YES! YES! ]
Simon Maierhofer, On Monday November 22, 2010 ‘Momentum and perception are the big intangibles of the investing universe. Nobody knows exactly when the investing masses' mojo will turn on or off, overheat or over correct.Valuations, similar to gravity, are the big equalizer. In a world of uncertainty, valuations are the one thing you can rely on. Getting valuations right is one thing, figuring out when valuations will exercise their gravitational pull on stocks (NYSEArca: VTI - News) is another.
Using Valuations as a Guide
When planning a trip from point A to B, you need to know where A and B are. If you don't know your destination, you will most likely end up some place you don't want to be. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.Fair valuations are the final investment destination. If you invest in an undervalued market or stock and have the patience to let the market do its magic, your investment will be profitable 9 out of 10 times.If you invest in an overvalued market and don't get out in time, odds are that your journey will end in tears.
Asking the 'Valuation Guru'
Charles Dow, the founder of the Wall Street Journal and inventor of the Dow Jones Averages was an astute student of valuations. According to Mr. Dow, a correct understanding of valuations is the single most important ingredient to investment success. If Mr. Dow was still alive, what would he say about today's market? Would he tell you to buy or sell?Let's examine the most basic and probably purest measure of value: Dividend yields.Unlike P/E ratios, dividend yields can't be fudged and massaged. Companies with a healthy cash flow use their financial prowess to attract and retain buy-and hold type investors with juicy dividend checks.The dividend yield is expressed as a percentage of the stock price and can rise for two reasons: 1) stock price drops or 2) dividend payment increases. As a rule of thumb, the higher dividend yields, the healthier valuations.
Dividend Yield - Buy High, Sell Low
It's human nature to want what you can't get. Current yields are low, but everybody wants income, so investors are willing to risk the return of their money for return on their money. Current yields are close to an all-time low, so it's fair to assume that stocks are overvalued.The opposite was true in the first quarter of 2009. A variety of ETFs yielded close to or even more than 10%. The Financial Select Sector SPDRs (NYSEArca: XLF - News) and Vanguard Financial ETF (NYSEArca: VFH - News) paid more than 7%.Dividend ETFs like the iShares DJ Select Dividend (NYSEArca: DVY - News) and SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: SDY - News) had yields north of 6%, and even plain value ETFs like Vanguard Value (NYSEArca: VTV - News) and iShares Russell 1000 Value (NYSEArca: IWD - News) paid more than 4%.The problem at that time was that nobody was interested in yield. Investors shunned stocks and yields like cats shun water. Within a week of prices bottoming and stocks beginning to rally, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter recommended to load up on dividend-rich ETFs.Here's the newsletter's March 2, 2009 recommendation: 'This counter trend rally will have to be broad and powerful in order to relieve investor's pent-up urge to buy. Dividend ETFs with a higher allocation to financials are likely to rise higher than the broad market. Some of the dividend yields are quite juicy and can help to offset timing mistakes.'

Beware of the Yields Trap

Since then, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) has risen as much as 84%, the performance for the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC) has been similar. What about dividend yields?If the March 2009 lows marked a true market bottom, dividend payments should have increased somewhat proportionally to stock prices. They didn't. In fact, yields today are lower than they were at the March 2009 bottom.In March 2009 the dividend yield for S&P 500 constituents was 3.6%. By multiplying 3.6% with the March 2009 low of 666 we arrive at a dividend yield of 23.98 points. In October 2010, the S&P yielded 1.97%. Based on an S&P at 1,200 points, this represented 23.64 points, 0.34 points less than at the March 2009 bottom.Hunting after yield without considering the risk at current prices is similar to maxing out your credit cards just to rack up frequent flier miles. The return comes at a (long-term) cost.Beware of the Earnings TrapIn my humble opinion, earnings are more than just a trap, they are a minefield. According to the numbers we are fed, earnings have already surpassed the threshold reached at the peak of the dot-com bubble and are projected to eclipse even the 2007 all-time record high in 2011.If this doesn't strike you as odd, take a moment to examine the chart below. Leading up to the 2007 stock market and earnings high, we had consistent GDP growth (not historically great but steady). The real unemployment rate (U-6, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) was 8.4%.[chart]Today, GDP is sputtering (and inflated by government subsidies) and U-6 unemployment has more than doubled to 17%. For those who prefer to go by the media's more palatable U-3 jobless number, it has soared from below 4.7% to 9.6%. Does that look like the kind of environment that would produce record high earnings?I don't think it would be presumptuous to wonder if financial engineering and massaging the books has something to do with high earnings. Remember the 157 rule change which allows banks (NYSEArca: KBE - News) to hide real estate losses (see June 2010 ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter for a detailed analysis).Even when assuming that current earnings are for real, the P/E ratio (high earnings translate into a lower P/E ratio) is still historically elevated. Admittedly not as much out of line as a year ago, but still high.

Don't Bet Against Valuations

Buying into an overvalued market and expecting a long-term gain, is like sowing seed in the winter and expecting to reap in the summer - it doesn't work that way.Of course, over the short-term, markets can defy valuations and make disciplined investors look like temporary fools. But, as the 2000 and 2008 declines have shown, there are no shortcuts to long-term success.The most intriguing facet of dividend yields and P/E ratios is that they tend to pinpoint major market bottoms. All historic market bottoms had one thing in common: super high dividend yields and ridiculously low P/E ratios.Based on this historic clue, the March 2009 bottom looks more like a fake than a major bottom. Just as ice doesn't thaw unless the temperature rises above 32 degrees, the market doesn't bottom until P/E ratios and dividend yields signal that a valuation reset has occurred.The December issue of the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter includes a detailed analysis of P/E ratios, dividend yields, and two other benchmarks of value-based forecasting plotted against historic charts of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones.A picture paints more than a thousand words, and the featured chart shows how overvalued stocks are and how far they have to drop before a sustainable new bull market can begin.’

Guess Who’s Paying For The Greece Bailout? That’s Right — YOU Business Insider | The US supplies almost 20% of the IMF’s funding (per quotas). So that means US taxpayers are providing ~$8 billion of the $145 billion going to kick the Greek can down the road.

Why Poverty Spreads Across America Sherwood Ross | Pockets of poverty, like the sores of some malignant disease, are spreading across America, as its states and cities go broke and bankrupt.

Europe’s Debt Domino Effect CNBC | Insight on Europe’s debt debacle.

Ireland’s Debt Servitude Stripped to its essentials, the €85bn package imposed on Ireland by the Eurogroup and the European Central Bank is a bail-out for improvident British, German, Dutch, and Belgian bankers and creditors.

Gold Is Going Nuts, Stocks And The Dollar Are Tanking But what we’re seeing now is mega buying in gold and major selling in equities. This is real flight-to-safety stuff we’re seeing right now.

20 Statistics That Prove That Global Wealth Is Being Funneled Into The Hands Of The Elite – Leaving Most Of The Rest Of The World Wretchedly Poor Today global wealth is more highly concentrated in the hands of the elite than it ever has been at any other point in modern history. Once upon a time, the vast majority of the people in the world knew how to grow their own food, raise their own animals and take care of themselves.

France, Ireland and Hungary Seize Pensions As Part of Move By Governments to Use Long -Term Assets to Fill “Short-Term Deficits” France is apparently following the example of Ireland and Hungary and seizing pension funds.

Come on! Suckers rally into the close off lows to keep the suckers suckered! Previous: Rosy numbers on consumer sentiment, unemployment (far better than private forecasts) from the government prior to the holiday so-called ‘shop till you drop’? How can anyone believe anything they say? Najerian interviewed by Motek chimes in with the reason for good retail cheer; viz., people have stopped paying their mortgages and are using the funds to purchase retail goods; while Davidowitz adds that with record numbers of americans on food stamps, real unemployment at 17+, and wall street giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION … the high end stores / jewelers will do well … daaaaah! And, with insiders and wall street frauds selling into the bubble as preceded last crash, this is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits! Suckers’ rally on light volume, full moon, and government complicity (false data / reports) to keep suckers suckered (easy for the wall street frauds to do with just a mouse click / push of the button – and, they know all those technical trade lines that are easy to program in this current phase of the scam/fraud with the debased dollar). Keep in mind, the totally mindless blather from the ‘cottage industries’ of and fraudulent wall street itself in talking up lower P/E multiples when the same is a direct result of the debasement of the dollar and the consequent manipulation / translation (not real, see Davis, infra) which preceded the financial crisis / last crash. Unemployment, trade, deficit, etc., numbers continue decidedly worse than expected along with other negative data (and in the ‘wrong direction’, that spin accorded ‘down but not as bad as before’ b*** s*** ) yet the market has rallied like no tomorrow with used home foreclosure / distressed sales, though abated owing to ‘foreclosuregate’, the other ‘heralded’ good news. Moreover, the dumbo lemmings of Europe have jumped on the fraudulent defacto bankrupt american crazy train propelled to the precipice also as if no tomorrow. This is about keeping the suckers sucked in with the help of a market-frothing pre-election debased dollar for favorable currency translation and paper (but not real when measured in, ie., gold, etc.) profits which preceded the last crisis, inflating a bubble as in the last crisis to facilitate the churn-and-earn, particularly with computerized (and high frequency) trades and which commissions they’ll get again on the way down. There is nothing to support these overbought stock prices, fundamentally or otherwise. These are desperate criminals ‘at work’. Even wall street shill, the senile Buffett is saying we’re still in a recession (depression) [ Davis: ‘… all profits are inflated by 10% (from falling, debased dollar) and that 10% is the E that gets divided from the P and gives us a much better price/multiple to hang our hats on and that gets investors to BUYBUYBUY …’ The bull market that never was / were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ] This is a great opportunity to sell / take profits (these lower dollar, hyperinflationary currency manipulations / translations to froth paper stocks will end quite badly as in last crash)! This is a global depression. This is a secular bear market in a global depression. The past up moves were manipulated bull (s***) cycles (at best) in a secular bear market. This has been a typically manipulated bubble as has preceded the prior crashes with great regularity that the wall street frauds and insiders commission and sell into. This is a typical wall street ‘programmed computerized high-frequency churn and earn pass the hot potato scam / fraud as in prior crashes ( widely reported, high-frequency trading routinely accounts for more than 50% of daily U.S. equity trading volume and regularly approaches 70%. )’. This national decline, economic and otherwise, will not end until justice is served and the wall street frauds et als are criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed.The Stock Market's Long Decline Has Begun Smith ]

17 Things Worrying Investors Lloyd's Wall of Worry

Worry Count: 17


CHINA: 1,330,044,605 people can’t be wrong.

The PIIGS: Fasten your seatbelts. It’s gonna be a long, bumpy, expensive, weird, (insert your own adjective here) freak show of a ride.

CALIFORNIA AND THE OTHER 49 STATES: Not yet as dire as “The PIIGS”. Might I suggest the classier moniker of “The Prosciuttos” for the American basket-case states?

QE II: Gobble?

U.S. ECONOMY: The “Punky Brewster” of the global economic landscape.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Only thing worse than losing your job, losing your unemployment check. At least there’s the holiday season to cheer everyone up (read: heavy sarcasm).

TAXES: Praying to the Financial Market Gods that we don’t have another TARP-like vote fiasco.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PART II: Still two years before the Pres. election and the peanut gallery is already pleading for a Hail Mary Pass to get them back in the game.

HFT: Instead of beating up these liquidity supplying traders, let’s honor them with their very own stock exchange. But wait -- with no retail saps to pick-off they will never get that Day 1 opening bell tick. Perfect.

XMAS 2010: As my professor friend Nick says, “Nowadays Americans are dining off of two menus – The Million Dollar and the $0.99 Cent.” And both are pissed about it.

CURRENCIES: Poor Mr. Greenback. Does someone need a hug?

HOUSING CRISIS: Price Stabilization – Are we there yet? Just a little bit more. Are we there yet? Just a little bit more. Are we there yet? Just a little bit more….

INFLATION/DEFLATION: Fed Chief Ben B. comes out swinging from his heels in defense of inflation promotion. Don’t punch yourself out as this one is likely to go the distance.

COMMODITIES: Corrected but still sky high; fortunately these prices are only affecting core, basic, life-sustaining necessities and sparing our electronic gadgets and plus-sized SUVs. Whew!

INSIDER TRADING: Another black eye for Hedge Funds. I estimate that makes black eye number 6,597.

INTEREST RATES: South Korea and China slowly turning up the dial to “11”. On the other hand the U.S. has removed the dial altogether. This never ends well….

NORTH KOREA: Here we go again.

Robots Don’t Need Us Anymore (PC World) Daw ‘ Here is your daily warning of the coming technological singularity: Robots have begun creating themselves with no direct human intervention. And, shockingly, it’s even weirder than it already sounds. These robots aren’t just built independently of humans using a 3D printer; they’re designed independently by a software algorithm that creates its own best robot for a given task. Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute calls its creations "genetic robots." The algorithmic software used in the project creates several different designs and then decides which is most fit for the task. While similar projects have existed in the past the Fraunhofer algorithm takes into account physical laws and environmental factors. All of this allows for unprecedented variation and even a kind of mutation in the output of the robot designs. The chosen design is then created on a 3D printer and sent on its merry way. At the moment the robots are fairly simplistic little guys with ball and socket joint parts to allow for the many variations spat out by the genetic algorithms, so the fear of robot revolution may be a bit premature. Still, the completely independent design and creation of robots paves the way for some pretty freaky stuff. How long before a robot is created using this method that doesn’t just imitate human design, it surpasses it? ‘

(11-30-10) Dow 11,006 -46 Nasdaq 2,498 -27 S&P 500 1,180 -7 [CLOSE- OIL $84.11 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.00 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $3.15 REG./ $3.29 MID-GRADE/ $3.39 PREM./ $3.79 DIESEL) / GOLD $1,386 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $28.22 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,665 (+56% for year 2009) / DOLLAR= .76 EURO, 83 YEN, .64 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update 10 YR NOTE YIELD 2.80% …..… AP Business Highlights ...Yahoo Market Update... T. Rowe Price Weekly Recap – Stocks / Bonds / Currencies - Domestic / International This Is a Secular Bear Market and The End of Buy and Hold … and Hope MARKET MANIPULATION AND HOW THE LATEST BUBBLE-FRAUD PRE-COMING CRASH IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED 3-11-10 6 Theories On Why the Stock Market Has Rallied 3-9-10 [archived website file] Risks Lurk for ETF Investors The bull market that never was/were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold Property Values Projected to Fall 12% in 2010 Jan 31, 2010 The Week Ahead: Risk Is Off the Cliff; Unwind Has Begun Jan 31, 2010 01-13-10 Forecast for 2010 from Seeking Alpha Contributor THE COMING MARKET CRASH / CORRECTION 1-28-10 Maierhofer (01-15-10) 11 Clear Signs Economy Sinking Economic Black Hole 1-22-10: 20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying And Is Simply Not Going To Recover Current Economic / Fiscal Charts Trendsresearch.com forecast for 2009 1-7-10 Crash is coming! ‘WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE EVER’ Must Read Economic / Financial Data This Depression is just beginning The coming depression… thecomingdepression.net MUST READ: JEREMY GRANTHAM’S QUARTERLY UPDATE 25 January 2010 (850 on the S&P) by TPC The Next Wave of Collapse is Coming Sooner than you think Sliding Back Into the Great Depression ABSOLUTELY, ABSURDLY, RIDICULOUS! SELL / TAKE PROFITS WHILE YOU CAN SINCE MUCH, MUCH WORSE TO COME!

National / World

Americans Trample One Another To Get Their Hands On Cheap Foreign-Made Plastic Crap The American Dream | As this latest Black Friday clearly demonstrated, Americans are literally willing to trample one another to get the best deals on cheap foreign-made plastic crap.

Hapless Senator Admits Obvious: Political Process a Rigged Game Kurt Nimmo | Occasionally the shadowy machinations of the secret government and the elite are exposed.

Google Blacklists Prison Planet.com Paul Joseph Watson | You Tube freezes Alex Jones Channel as web censorship accelerates.

Climate Alarmists Push Forced Relocation At Cancun Summit Paul Joseph Watson | Green movement channels Nazis as authoritarian march to global government bares its teeth.

Google Blacklists Prison Planet.com In a damning new lurch towards web censorship, Google’s news aggregator has blacklisted Prison Planet and Infowars despite the fact that both websites are internationally known and now attract more traffic than many mainstream media websites, while Google-owned You Tube has frozen the Alex Jones Channel based on a spurious complaint about showing Wikileaks footage that has been carried on hundreds of other You Tube channels for months.

Mother Kept In “Glass Cage” For Almost An Hour By TSA For Resisting Over Breast Milk The latest case of TSA tyranny to hit the headlines comes in the form of a young mother who was subjected to enhanced groping and then shut inside a screening box for almost an hour by agents after she refused to allow them to put her breast milk through an X-ray device, a legitimate request that is even written into the TSA’s own guidelines.

Hapless Senator Admits Obvious: Political Process a Rigged Game Colorado Democrat Senator Michael Bennet made the mistake of admitting what many of us already know – the political process in the district of criminals is a rigged game.

Drudgereport: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange [ They just can’t take the truth! ] ...
US cuts access to files [ Think about it. Really think about it. Their policies are in the tank, along with the nation and the rest of this world as a consequence. Don’t those so detrimentally affected (everyone) have a right to know? I think in light of the global frauds, contrived perpetual wars though defacto bankruptcy of this and other nations, pervasive corruption and crime, failed policies domestically and geo-politically while serving the very parochial interests of the self-interested few, the answer is an unequivocal, YES! I believe that world history will write Mr. Assange as a hero in the truest sense. He should be given a medal; and, certainly, since mr. b*** s*** wobama undeservingly got a ‘nobel peace prize’ (what he does, not what he says, ie., Afghanistan, etc.), who more than Julian Assange is deserving of that and more? Cover-up / propaganda … thy name is fallen america.]...
WIKILECTURE: 'HILLARY SHOULD RESIGN' ‘…Hillary Clinton, Julian Assange said, "should resign." Speaking over Skype from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, the WikiLeaks founder was replying to a question by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel over the diplomatic-cable dump that Assange's organization loosed on the world this past weekend. Stengel had said the U.S. Secretary of State was looking like "the fall guy" in the ensuing controversy, and had asked whether her firing or resignation was an outcome that Assange wanted. "I don't think it would make much of a difference either way," Assange said. "But she should resign if it can be shown that she was responsible for ordering U.S. diplomatic figures to engage in espionage in the United Nations, in violation of the international covenants to which the U.S. has signed up. Yes, she should resign over that."…’
CITY ON EDGE: Cash-Strapped Newark, new jersey Forced To Lay Off 14% Of Police Force... [ From decades old (1978-1985) direct personal experience with newark, n.j., the police are the absolute last cuts that can be afforded to be made. Indeed, while walking through Military Park (a sliver of a “park” - more a pedestrian thoroughfare/cement walks) in newark, new jersey on the way to the bank during lunch hour, I heard the clearly audible screams/cries of what turned out to be an old lady on the ground with blood streaming from her mouth. I ran toward the sound of the cries, the source of which I could not see because there were so many people in and about this thoroughfare so as to block any vision of the source of the cries. When I came to the woman, on the ground, blood streaming from her mouth, I asked what happened, to which she responded she had been hit in the mouth and knocked to the ground, her purse stolen/put inside her shopping bag, and she pointed out the criminal casually now walking across the main street. Nobody stopped to help her, many having passed her by. I slammed the thug to the ground so hard that, in light of all the blood and confusion (limbic system / adrenalin flow) I thought I had been stabbed (the blood was from his elbows hitting the pavement so hard - no one helped / a crowd gathered / an undercover cop happened along). When I testified at the Grand Jury Proceeding I made sure his threat on my life was set forth in prima facie fashion so as to maximize the DA’s position with both felonies ( he went to prison – pled out ). The other case I wrote about here ( This was included on my website in the Psychology discussion of ‘bystander effect’ / diffusion of responsibility. ) - Having had occasion to have run down a mugger in newark, n.j. who apparent had followed a girl from the bank on her way to the bursar to pay tuition, though in pretty good shape, I was astounded by how totally exhausting such a pursuit was, how much like rubber my arms were when I traded punches with the perpetrator, and truth be told, if I had a flashlight on my belt, I have little doubt that I would have probably used it to subdue the perp. The girl was not that seriously injured, did get her pocketbook and tuition back, and the criminal went to jail. The other thing about such a pursuit that amazed me was that no one else assisted the girl or me despite being in a position to do so). (Other newark / new jersey and new york, n.y. metro, viz., ie., connecticut, and of course, d.c., d.c. metro, viz., ie., virginia experience … corrupt federal judges as maryanne trump barry, sam alito, shiff, matz (california), hall, underhill, dorsey, etc.. Defacto bankrupt america’s so-called system is pervasively corrupt and broken (AP) Abolish the corrupt, costly, economically wasteful lifetime extravagantly appointed federal courts - see RICO case http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ) ]

Weekend shopping rises, exceeding expectation (Washington Post) [ Riiiiight! That ‘exceeding expectations stuff’ … who says you can’t, for bad or good, learn somethin’ from the frauds on wall street. I don’t buy it! Here’s why among other reasons … ‘Najerian interviewed by Motek chimes in with the reason for good retail cheer; viz., people have stopped paying their mortgages and are using the funds to purchase retail goods … sounds like a plan! ]

CBO: TARP costs limited to $25B (Washington Post) [ Wow! Talk about a ‘shill piece’ for fraudulent wall street! I mean, $144 billion in bonuses the wall street frauds this year alone, do you think ‘money grows on trees’? It has to come from somewhere even as those computerized high-frequency commissioned churn-and-earn fraud eating away at nations’ productive capability / resources, as well as embarking on new frauds, enabled by the too big to fail or jail mindset. Previous: Najerian interviewed by Motek chimes in with the reason for good retail cheer; viz., people have stopped paying their mortgages and are using the funds to purchase retail goods; while Davidowitz adds that with record numbers of americans on food stamps, real unemployment at 17+, and wall street giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION … the high end stores / jewelers will do well … daaaaah! Contrary to popular … propaganda, there is such thing as cause and effect. What has and continues to be the cost of their debacle / fraud. Don’t forget, the worthless toxic paper / assets / securities from the last fraud are still out there and marked to anything, even as I believe they’re getting hard (albeit fiat Weimar paper) currency for said worthless toxic paper / assets / securities. $25 billion? I don’t think so! ]

Banks' halcyon days may be over (Washington Post) [ Yeah! This is really the truth; especially when you take into account the fact that the worthless toxic paper / assets / securities from the last fraud are still out there and marked to anything, and the world is catching on to the computerized high-frequency commissioned churn-and-earn fraud eating away at nations’ productive capability / resources, as well as new frauds. Then there’s the ‘other stuff’. I invite attention to the unheralded film, ‘The International’ which focuses on the world destabilizing, war enhancing activities of the big banks. Clearly, for Naomi Watts these are adversaries more formidable than that ‘love interest’ King Kong, and for Clive Owen, he’s still not quite ‘James Bond’ in gettin’ things done. But hardly their fault inasmuch as this thematically realistic and well-researched film unfortunately falls short on the tiny details; ie., bank CEOS dispensing with security (I don’t think so!), etc.. Still, what can you expect in 2 hours; but very worthwhile for the reality of the legally impenetrable nature of these banking monoliths with their monied connections. Great films sweat the details. ]

Bush's fantasy world (Washington Post) [ I’m frankly surprised to see cohen bite the hand that feeds zionists( ie., dumbya bush, et als). After all, I’ve never seen cohen not like a pro israel policy, regardless of the cost to this nation in blood, sweat, tears, and geopolitical and general decline, particulary economic / financial; nor like a pro-american policy that negatively impacts israel. I think america particularly, and the rest of the world have sacrificed enough for the greedy, blood-thirsty, lawless israelis. ] Cohen: WikiLeaks shows the unreality of a presidential memoir.

WikiLeaks founder could be charged by Feds (Washington Post) [ He deserves a medal! I think they should start prosecuting american war criminals, frauds on wall street, $12 billion $100 bills flown into and missing in Iraq, RICO litigation http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm .

Wall Street Is Laundering Drug Money And Getting Away With It Zach Carter, … etc. … Drudgereport: CLASSIFIED NO MORE: USA RACES TO LIMIT WIKILEAKS DAMAGE [Publishing the Wikileaks is the right thing to do; after all, one cannot possibly look to even one rationally correct strategy, domestically, globally, geopolitically that would justify continued hiding/cover-up of the failed strategies, their genesis, flawed rationale, etc., which has cost this nation and the world dearly] ...
WIKILEAKS: We've been hit with 'mass distributed denial of service attack'...
MOST EMBARRASSING, DAMAGING DISCLOSURE IN DECADES...
SENATORS: PROSECUTE THE LEAKERS!
NYT EXPLAINS: THE DECISION TO PUBLISH … [The NYT clearly did the right thing to publish; after all, one cannot possibly look to even one rationally correct strategy, domestically, globally, geopolitically that would justify continued hiding/cover-up of the failed strategies, their genesis, flawed rationale, etc., which has cost this nation and the world dearly]...
SKorea says sound of artillery heard on island...
US, SKorea start major naval drills...
China issues warning...

TO THE BRINK

DHS SEIZES DOMAIN NAMES...
EU Debt Crisis Escalates...
6 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan...

Next Debt Crisis 'May Start in Washington'...
WIKILEAKS TURNS ON OBAMA! … [ Like who hasn’t, and for good reason! Publishing the Wikileaks is the right thing to do; after all, one cannot possibly look to even one rationally correct strategy, domestically, globally, geopolitically that would justify continued hiding/cover-up of the failed strategies, their genesis, flawed rationale, etc., which has cost this nation and the world dearly] ]
] Authorities are investigating whether Julian Assange violated criminal laws, including possible charges under the Espionage Act, sources say.