January 4, 2011 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 . The following is the cumulative archive of blog posts / topics for 2010 as the new year starts anew: http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.htm or PDF formatted version
http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.pdf ]

Short-Term, High-Probability Mean-Reversion Indicator: Overbought Readings Continue to Increase Crowder ‘It was the best start to a year in over seven years, but I am not sure how long Monday’s gain will last, at least over the short-term.According to my High-Probability, Mean-Reversion overbought/oversold indicator, most of the ETFs I follow have pushed into a short-term “overbought” to “very overbought” state. As I have stated ad nauseum, when this many ETFs hit a short-term extreme the market typically takes a short-term reprieve (1-3 days).The XLB position that is currently held in the High-Probability, Mean-Reversion strategy moved in the red Monday although it was only a slight move. The position, in my opinion, still looks rather well-positioned given the short-term extreme overbought state of the market and XLB.Since I placed the trade there have been some incredibly large positions taken in XLB. Someone sure thinks the Materials sector (XLB) is headed south. Check it out here.The year ended with some nice gains as the High-Probability, Mean-Reversion strategy made 9.7% gains for the month to follow up the 3.7% in November. Not bad for the first two months of the strategy. Hopefully 2011 will bring allow for more gains in the strategy.As I stated last week, going back over the last seven years, if you purchased QQQQ on the 8th trading day of January and held until the end of the month, you would have had returns of -2.3%, -3.1%, -2.3%, -2.7%, -4.1%, -1.6% and -7.7%. The median maximum gain during those trades was +0.7% compared to a median draw down of -5.3%.

Short-Term High-Probability, Mean-Reversion Indicator – as of close 1/03/10

Benchmark ETFs

* S&P 500 (SPY) – 86.5 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 96.5
* Dow Jones (DIA) –79.5 (overbought)
* Russell 2000 (IWM) – 71.4 (overbought)
* NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ) – 74.5 (overbought)

Sector ETFs

* Biotech (IBB) – 62.5 (neutral)
* Consumer Discretionary (XLY) – 70.5 (overbought)
* Health Care (XLV) – 72.5 (overbought)
* Financial (XLF) – 84.2 (very overbought)
* Energy (XLE) – 89.5 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 98.8
* Gold Miners (GDX) – 48.5 (neutral)
* Industrial (XLI) – 80.1 (very overbought)
* Materials (XLB) – 91.4 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 95.7
* Real Estate (IYR) – 85.8 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 96.0
* Retail (RTH) – 76.2 (overbought)
* Semiconductor (SMH) – 61.8 (neutral)
* United States Oil Fund (USO) – 64.1 (neutral)
* Utilities (XLU) – 68.3 (neutral)

International ETFs

* Brazil (EWZ) – 82.0 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 98.7
* China 25 (FXI) – 72.2 (overbought)
* EAFE (EFA) – 77.4 (overbought)
* South Korea (EWY) – 91.9 (very overbought) / RSI (2) – 99.1

Commodity ETFs

* Gold (GLD) – 64.9 (neutral)

Ultra Extremes

* Small Cap Bear 3x (TZA) – 24.6 (oversold)
* Small-Cap Bull 3x (TNA) – 74.1 (overbought)
* UltraLong QQQQ (QLD) – 75.4 (overbought)
* Ultra Long S&P 500 (SSO) – 90.2 (very overbought)
* Ultra Short S&P 500 (SDS) – 10.7 (very oversold)
* UltraShort 20+ Treasury (TBT) – 43.5 (neutral)

Disclosure: I am short XLB.’

China Stocks’ Best Forecaster Predicts Further Slump in 2011

Mixed Finish for Stocks After Volatile Trading Day Midnight Trader ‘4:16 PM, Jan 4, 2011 --

• NYSE down 22 (-0.3%) to 8,022.18
• DJIA up 20.43 (+0.2%) to 11,691
• S&P 500 down 1.67 (-0.1%) to 1,270
• Nasdaq down 10.27 (-0.4%) to 2,261

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng up 0.99%
• Nikkei up 1.65%
• FTSE up 1.93%

UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) BP gaining but off early highs; subject of article about interest from Shell, reacting to presumed resumption of Gulf of Mexico drilling.
(+) WAG added to Goldman's Conviction Buy list.
(+) XOMA inks development commercialization pact.
(+) VECO upgraded.
(+) PLUG offers upbeat sales comments.
(+) CCL upgraded.
(+) RBS upgraded.
(+) DRYS inks new contracts.
(+) NTWK inks strategic understanding with SANY auto finance.
(+) RPC remains active gainer over several sessions.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) NKE removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy list.
(-) BGP down as financial situation remains in focus; some execs leaving; gets delivery pledge from vendor.
(-) NLY continues evening decline that followed planned share issuance.
(-) SJM downgraded, price target lowered.
(-) OPTR gets orphan drug status for Fidaxomicin.

MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks end mixed, off session lows, after digesting the afternoon release of December Federal Reserve meeting minutes that revealed a modest upgrade for the central bank's economic assessment and little reason for the Fed to modify its bond-buying plan. Investors generally embraced the lack of surprise in the minutes in what shaped up to be a volatile session for Wall Street.

Stocks gave up early gains to turn mixed around mid-session after inflation in Europe overshadowed new economic U.S. reports that saw an unexpected jump in factory orders and an increase in Christmas retail sales--both suggesting economic expansion. Materials shares and grocery stocks fell in the wake of analyst downgrades. A retreat for crude prices from two-year highs also nicked stocks earlier in the day.

On the economic front, US retailers saw sales rise 3.6% last week compared to the year-earlier period as shoppers took advantage of post-Christmas discounts according to an index of sales released by Goldman Sachs and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

November factory orders in the US rose 0.7% compared with a forecast for a 0.1% drop. Demand for capital equipment drove gains.

Commodities retrenched in today's trading with crude oil finishing below $90 a barrel while gold plunged on bets the economic recovery could have some staying power.

Crude oil for February delivery finished down $2.17, or 2.4%, to $89.38 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was down 1.82% to $2.50 a gallon while natural gas was flat at $4.65 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, gold futures ended lower after falling the most in six months as investors bet that the global recovery could suppress demand for bullion.

Gold fell the most in six months on speculation that a global recovery will curb demand for the metal

Gold for February delivery finished down $44.10 to $1,378.80 an ounce. In other metal futures, silver was down 4.8% to $29.64 a troy ounce while copper fell 1.5% to $4.39 a pound.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) is up 0.37% to $79.42.

In company news:

General Motors (GM) shares were higher after it reported a 7.5% increase in December domestic sales, lifting sales on the year to 2.22 million, up from 2.08 million last year. The automaker sold 224,185 cars and trucks. Ex discontinued brands, sales of GM's four remaining lines jumped 15.5% to 223,932 vehicles last month. Meanwhile, shares of Ford Motor (F) are just higher after the automaker reported that December sales jumped about 7%,

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) are higher even as copyright protection for the company's HIV drug Kaletra was rejected in India, which will allow other generic drug companies to manufacture copies, Bloomberg reports. The product generated about $1.37 billion in sales in 2009.

Coffee chain Starbucks (SBUX) is down following a Bloomberg report that says the company could miss a jump in home brewing unless it can break a pact that links it to Kraft Food's Tassimo machine, which competes with the best-selling Keurig home brewer. Under terms of the agreement, Starbucks can't put its coffee in the Keurig.

Dell Inc.(DELL) announced Tuesday its plans to acquire information-security services firm SecureWorks, Inc. The acquisition comes three weeks after DELL's announcement that it had agreed to acquire Compellent Technologies (CML) for $820 million. Financial terms for the ShareWorks deal, however, were not disclosed.

American Express (AXP) is up as shares get support from Jim Cramer at CNBC, who named the stock as one of his Dow Leaders in 2011. According to Cramer, AXP could jump 40% to $60 by the end of 2011 in a broad based advance for financial companies, based on improved overseas growth. The stock recently reported a 17% increase in year-over-year revenues, although Cramer cautioned that AXP is still "misunderstood and underestimated."

Shares of Celgene (CELG) are down after the biotech firm said it has submitted new marketing applications for its blood cancer drugs Revlimid and Istodax, Reuters reported. Revlimid - in combination with other drugs - treats multiple myloma. Istodax is for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Apple's (AAPL) iOS - the operating system for its iPhone smartphone - is still the No. 1 mobile operating system over Google's Android OS, according to the latest survey from Nielsen, as reported by Bizjournals.com Apple's iOS has 28.6% of the smartphone market. That was narrowly ahead of Research in Motion's (RIMM) Blackberry OS at 26.1% and Google's (GOOG) Android at 25.8%. Still, Google's Android is said to be the most popular among new smartphone buyers.

American International Group (AIG) shares are down after the firm received a proposal from a local Taiwan company to buy a stake in AIG's Taiwan unit, Reuters reported. AIG has been trying to sell the unit for 15 months. The proposal from home security company Taiwan Secom Group is seen as pleasing regulators but likely is contrary to what AIG is aiming to do.

BP (BP) ADRs are just higher following an earlier report from London's Daily Mail that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) is mulling an opportunistic takeover of BP because of its vulnerability following the Gulf of Mexico spill. The report says Shell's board decided against a bid due to its concern over legal liabilities but that it remains interested in a merger.’

Housing: A Drag on the Economy in 2011 (Part 2)

When the Going Gets Tough, Governments Seize Private Pensions Depew ‘If you were of an Austrian economics bent, and could read Polish, you'd find this article from Mises.pl, about governments seizing private pension funds to make up for revenue shortfalls, fascinating. But perhaps you cannot read Polish? Very well. The Christian Science Monitor has an English version of the article translated via The Adam Smith Institute Blog.

The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.

The Bulgarian government has come up with a similar idea. $300m of private early retirement savings was supposed to be transferred to the state pension scheme. The government gave way after trade unions protested and finally only about 20% of the original plans were implemented.

A slightly less drastic situation is developing in Poland. The government wants to transfer of 1/3 of future contributions from individual retirement accounts to the state-run social security system. Since this system does not back its liabilities with stocks or even bonds, the money taken away from the savers will go directly to the state treasury and savers will lose about $2.3bn a year.

I sure hope the U.S. government doesn't touch my private pension. Wait, I want a private pension!’ [They already have!]

Beware of the Wall Street Pump Job The Housing Time Bomb [ The old new pump and dump! ]’ Articles like the one below really bother me after the rally we have seen in the past two years:

Is the retail investor returning to stocks?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks just posted back-to-back years of strong gains, yet the small U.S. investor largely remained a spectator. Now financial advisers say investors, many of whom rode out the financial crisis in cash and bonds, are slowly regaining confidence."What I'm seeing now is there's a lot more talk about getting into stocks," said David Gottlieb, a Cleveland adviser for Edward Jones, a nationwide brokerage catering to middle-class Americans.Gottlieb, who for several months has encouraged clients to increase their stock allocations, advises reducing bond holdings and buying dividend-paying stocks.The Standard & Poor's 500 Index kicked off the new year by rising 1.1 percent on Monday, reaching levels not seen since the weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008. Large company shares, as a group, have nearly doubled since their March 2009 lows, reflecting two years of double-digit gains.Worries of a banking system collapse and the deepest recession in more than 70 years drove many retail investors out of the stock market back in 2008. And the May 2010 "flash crash," when stocks lost 700 points in minutes for no apparent reason, further undermined confidence.
Investors showed their dismay by pulling money from stock mutual funds month after month, opting for the perceived safety of cash and bonds.

My Take:
What's your point Reuters? Are you telling investors to buy stocks because confidence is slowly coming back? Is that a solid fundamental reason to buy?Is now really the time to buy stocks after the equity markets have basically doubled since the lows?There are just as many money managers advising caution in our current investment environment as there are money managers who are advising investors to take on more risk. There are severe structural issues with our economy that are not going away, and it angers me that just about every article out of the media slants their articles into suggesting that you should buy stocks.Shouldn't the media be totally skeptical of Wall St. after watching equities plummet 50% twice within the same decade? Also, let's not forget that these are the same criminals that just finished putting of millions of Americans into homes that they cannot afford which are worth 30% less than what they paid for them.Shouldn't the press be relentlessly hammering Wall St after causing Americans so much financial pain in the last decade? I don't get it:Why does Wall St. always get a free pass when they destroy America's 401k's? Why isn't the article above titled "Is Now the time to sell stocks after a 90% rally?" The media needs to understand that they have a responsibility when they write this kinda fluff. To be fair Reuters did toss in a paragraph in the middle of the piece warning of the risks of getting into stocks:

Still, some advisers are being very cautious.William Jordan of William Jordan Associates in Laguna Hills, California, says he is telling clients not to increase their stock exposures."As good as the past two years have been, you can't say the stock market is undervalued. I'm not bailing out, but I'm advising people to take some profits."Clients also are encouraged to stick with their investment plans. Scott Smallman, a Seattle broker for Wedbush Securities, said he has been checking to see if the stock market rebound has pushed some stock exposures too high."When markets are good, our job is to talk clients down from the ceiling," said Smallman, who on Monday encouraged some clients to consider buying municipal bonds."

The Bottom Line
In my opinion, this article is far from "fair and balanced". Reuters quoted 4 "pump monkey" advisers suggesting that everyone should be piling into stocks versus only 2 advisers that were "cautious". There were zero "bears" in the piece which is ridiculous when you look at Wall Street's performance over the last 10 years. You are down 20% if you listened to these bubble makers over the last decade. There are numerous potentially catastrophic risks that remain out there and they are rarely if ever laid out by the MSM. High unemployment, bankrupt banks, and insolvent countries are just just a few that come to mind.I am amazed at how short all of our memories are when it comes to Wall St. The financial system was brought to it's knees two years ago by these pigs, and it's still sitting there crippled as the Fed runs up the credit card pretending that the economy is recovering.The MSM should be ashamed of themselves for ignoring the financial fraud and printing pieces of garbage like the one above.What ever happened to hardcore journalism? Walter Cronkite must be rolling over in his grave. Sadly, our media outlets now have the attention span of an 8 year old with ADD. If the news is a week old then it's history in their books.’ [ If it was only attention that was lacking there’d be at least a modicum of hope. The really sadly here is that most understand so little of what’s going on and those that do (understand) are want to report it; you know, mum’s the word, code omerta, no party-poopers allowed, etc.. ]

Dodd-Frank and the Return of the Loan Shark Wall Street Journal | In the name of consumer protection, Congress has pushed more Americans outside the traditional banking system.

The Rise of the New Global Elite The Atlantic | Two separate economies are emerging from the economic crisis as the elite get richer and the middle class join the ranks of poor.

The Never-Ending “Business of Centralization” Damon W. Root | What’s wrong with placing a few limits on federal power?

Tipping Point: 25 Signs That The Coming Financial Collapse Is Now Closer Then Ever The financial collapse that so many of us have been anticipating is seemingly closer then ever. Over the past several weeks, there have been a host of ominous signs for the U.S. economy.

The Economic Collapse
Dec 17, 2010

The financial collapse that so many of us have been anticipating is seemingly closer then ever. Over the past several weeks, there have been a host of ominous signs for the U.S. economy. Yields on U.S. Treasuries have moved up rapidly and Moody’s is publicly warning that it may have to cut the rating on U.S. government debt soon. Mortgage rates are also moving up aggressively. The euro and the U.S. dollar both look incredibly shaky. Jobs continue to be shipped out of the United States at a blistering pace as our politicians stand by and do nothing. Confidence in U.S. government debt around the globe continues to decline. State and local governments that are drowning in debt across the United States are savagely cutting back on even essential social services and are coming up with increasingly “creative” ways of getting more money out of all of us. Meanwhile, tremor after tremor continues to strike the world financial system. So does this mean that we have almost reached a tipping point? Is the world on the verge of a major financial collapse?

Let’s hope not, but with each passing week the financial news just seems to get eve worse. Not only is U.S. government debt spinning wildly toward a breaking point, but many U.S. states (such as California) are in such horrific financial condition that they are beginning to resemble banana republics.

But it is not just the United States that is in trouble. Nightmarish debt problems in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and several other European nations threaten to crash the euro at any time. In fact, many economists are now openly debating which will collapse first – the euro or the U.S. dollar.

Sadly, this is the inevitable result of constructing a global financial system on debt. All debt bubbles eventually collapse. Currently we are living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world, and when this one bursts it is going to be a disaster of truly historic proportions.

So will we reach a tipping point soon? Well, the following are 25 signs that the financial collapse is rapidly getting closer….

#1 The official U.S. unemployment rate has not been beneath 9 percent since April 2009.

#2 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently 6.3 million vacant homes in the United States that are either for sale or for rent.

#3 It is being projected that the U.S. trade deficit with China could hit 270 billion dollars for the entire year of 2010.

#4 Back in 2000, 7.2 percent of blue collar workers were either unemployed or underemployed. Today that figure is up to 19.5 percent.

#5 The Chinese government has accumulated approximately $2.65 trillion in total foreign exchange reserves. They have drained this wealth from the economies of other nations (such as the United States) and instead of reinvesting all of it they are just sitting on much of it. This is creating tremendous imbalances in the global economy.

#6 Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were approximately 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

#7 The United States now employs about the same number of people in manufacturing as it did back in 1940. Considering the fact that we had 132 million people living in this country in 1940 and that we have well over 300 million people living in this country today, that is a very sobering statistic.

#8 According to CoreLogic, U.S. housing prices have now declined for three months in a row.

#9 The average rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage soared 11 basis points just this past week. As mortgage rates continue to push higher it is going to make it even more difficult for American families to afford homes.

#10 22.5 percent of all residential mortgages in the United States were in negative equity as of the end of the third quarter of 2010.

#11 The U.S. monetary base has more than doubled since the beginning of the most recent recession.

#12 U.S. Treasury yields have been rising steadily during the 4th quarter of 2010 and recently hit a six-month high.

#13 Incoming governor Jerry Brown is scrambling to find $29 billion more to cut from the California state budget. The following quote from Brown about the desperate condition of California state finances is not going to do much to inspire confidence in California’s financial situation around the globe….

“We’ve been living in fantasy land. It is much worse than I thought. I’m shocked.”

#14 24.3 percent of the residents of El Centro, California are currently unemployed.

#15 The average home in Merced, California has declined in value by 63 percent over the past four years.

#16 Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has come up with a new way to save money. He wants to cut 20 percent of Detroit off from essential social services such as road repairs, police patrols, functioning street lights and garbage collection.

#17 The second most dangerous city in the United States – Camden, New Jersey – is about to lay off about half its police in a desperate attempt to save money.

#18 In 2010, 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 were in the labor market. Ten years ago, that number was just 47 percent. More older Americans than ever find that they have to keep working just to survive.

#19 Back in 1998, the United States had 25 percent of the world’s high-tech export market and China had just 10 percent. Ten years later, the United States had less than 15 percent and China’s share had soared to 20 percent.

#20 The U.S. government budget deficit increased to a whopping $150.4 billion last month, which represented the biggest November budget deficit on record.

#21 The U.S. government is somehow going to have to roll over existing debt and finance new debt that is equivalent to 27.8 percent of GDP in 2011.

#22 The United States had been the leading consumer of energy on the globe for about 100 years, but this past summer China took over the number one spot.

#23 According to an absolutely stunning new poll, 40 percent of all U.S. doctors plan to bail out of the profession over the next three years.

#24 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.

#25 All over the United States, local governments have begun instituting “police response fees”. For example, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come up with a plan under which a fee of $365 would be charged if police are called to respond to an automobile accident where no injuries are involved. If there are injuries as a result of the crash that is going to cost extra.

16 Nightmarish Economic Trends To Watch Carefully In 2011 The American Dream Dec 15, 2010 ‘If you only watch the “economic pundits” on television, it can be very confusing to figure out exactly what is happening with the U.S. economy. One pundit will pull out a couple statistics that got a little bit better over the past month and claim that we have entered a time of solid recovery. Another pundit will pull out a couple statistics that got a little worse over the past month and claim that we are headed for trouble. So what is the truth? Well, if you really want to get a clear idea of what is really going on you have to look at the long-term trends. There are some economic trends which just keep getting worse year after year after year, and it is those trends that tell the real story of the decline of our economic system.

As you examine the long-term trends, you quickly come to realize that the U.S. is trapped in an endless spiral of debt, the middle class is being wiped out, the U.S. dollar is being destroyed and America is rapidly becoming a post-industrial wasteland.

Posted below are 16 nightmarish economic trends to watch carefully in 2011. It is becoming exceedingly apparent that unless something is done rapidly we are heading for an economic collapse of unprecedented magnitude….

#1 Do you want to see something scary? Just check out the chart below. Since the beginning of the economic downturn, the U.S. monetary base has more than doubled. But don’t worry – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has promised us that this could never cause inflation. In fact, Bernanke says that we need to inject even more dollars into the economy. So if you are alarmed by the chart below, you are just being irrational according to Bernanke….

[chart]

#2 Thousands of our factories, millions of our jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars of our national wealth continue to be shipped overseas. In 1985, the U.S. trade deficit with China was 6 million dollars for the entire year. In the month of August alone, the U.S. trade deficit with China was over 28 billion dollars. Nobel economist Robert W. Fogel of the University of Chicago is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040 if current trends continue.

#3 The United States is rapidly becoming a post-industrial wasteland. Back in 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of all U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented only 11.5 percent and it continues to fall. Sadly, the truth is that America is being deindustrialized. As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#4 The number of Americans that have been out of work for an extended period of time has absolutely exploded over the last few years. As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.

#5 The middle class continues to be squeezed out of existence. According to a poll taken in 2009, 61 percent of Americans ”always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck. That was up substantially from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.

#6 The number of Americans living in poverty is absolutely skyrocketing. 42.9 million Americans are now on food stamps, and one out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government. Unfortunately, many of those that have been hardest hit by this economic downturn have been children. According to one new study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.

#7 Many American families have been pushed beyond the breaking point during this economic downturn. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008. The final number for 2010 is expected to be even higher.

#8 The U.S. real estate market continues to stagnate. During the third quarter of 2010, 67 percent of mortgages in Nevada were “underwater”, 49 percent of mortgages in Arizona were “underwater” and 46 percent of mortgages in Florida were “underwater”. So what happens if home prices go down even more?

#9 More elderly Americans than ever are being forced to put off retirement and continue working. In 2010, 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 were in the labor market. Ten years ago, that number was just 47 percent. Unfortunately, it looks like this problem will only get worse in the years ahead. In America today, approximately half of all workers have less than $2000 saved up for retirement.

#10 In the United States today, there are simply far too many retirees and not nearly enough workers to support them. Back in 1950 each retiree’s Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers. Today, each retiree’s Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers. By 2025 it is projected that there will be approximately two workers for each retiree.

#11 Financial assets continue to become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. For example, the “big four” U.S. banks (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) had approximately 22 percent of all deposits in FDIC-insured institutions back in 2000. As of the middle of 2009 that figure was up to 39 percent.

#12 The Federal Reserve has been destroying the value of the U.S. dollar for decades. Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the U.S. dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power. An item that cost $20.00 in 1970 would cost you $112.35 today. An item that cost $20.00 in 1913 would cost you $440.33 today.

#13 Commodity prices continue to soar into the stratosphere. Ten years ago, the price of a barrel of oil hovered around 20 to 30 dollars most of the time. Today, the price of oil is rapidly closing in on 100 dollars a barrel and there are now fears that it could soon go much higher than that.

#14 Federal government spending is completely and totally out of control. The U.S. government budget deficit increased to a whopping $150.4 billion last month, which represented the biggest November deficit on record. But our politicians can’t seem to break their addiction to debt. In fact, Democrats are trying to ram through a 1,924 page, 1.1 trillion dollar spending bill in the final days of the lame-duck session of Congress before the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next year.

#15 The U.S. national debt is rapidly closing in on 14 trillion dollars. It is more than 13 times larger than it was just 30 short years ago. According to an official U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt is projected to climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

#16 Unfortunately, the official government numbers grossly understate the horrific nature of the crisis we are facing. John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics has calculated that if the federal government would have used GAAP accounting standards to measure the federal budget deficit for 2009, it would have been approximately 8.8 trillion dollars. Not only that, but John Williams now says that U.S. government debt is so wildly out of control that it is mathematically impossible for us to “grow” our way out of it….

The government’s finances not only are out of control, but the actual deficit is not containable. Put into perspective, if the government were to raise taxes so as to seize 100% of all wages, salaries and corporate profits, it still would be showing an annual deficit using GAAP accounting on a consistent basis. In like manner, given current revenues, if it stopped spending every penny (including defense and homeland security) other than for Social Security and Medicare obligations, the government still would be showing an annual deficit. Further, the U.S. has no potential way to grow out of this shortfall.

The more one examines the U.S. economic situation, the more depressing it becomes. The U.S. financial system is trapped inside a horrific debt spiral and we are headed straight for economic oblivion.

If our leaders attempt to interrupt the debt spiral it will plunge our economy into a depression. If our leaders attempt to keep the debt spiral going for several more years it will just make the eventual crash even worse. Either way, we are headed for a financial implosion that will be truly historic.

The debt-fueled good times that we have been enjoying for the last several decades are rapidly coming to an end. Unfortunately for the tens of millions of Americans that are already suffering, our economic problems are only going to get worse in the years ahead.’

Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read ‘… Unemployment is up again! That’s right – even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that “the recession is over”, the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher. So are you enjoying the jobless recovery? Economic Collapse Blog Dec 4, 2010 ‘Guess what? Unemployment is up again! That’s right – even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that “the recession is over”, the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher ... Times are really, really tough and unfortunately the long-term outlook is very bleak. We should have compassion on those who are out of work right now, because soon many of us may join them.

The following are 25 unemployment statistics that are almost too depressing to read….

#1 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate for November was 9.8 percent. This was up from 9.6 percent in October, and it continues a trend of depressingly high unemployment rates. The official unemployment number has been at 9.5 percent or higher for well over a year at this point.

#2 In November 2006, the “official” U.S. unemployment rate was just 4.5 percent.

#3 Most economists had been expecting the U.S. economy to add about 150,000 jobs in November. Instead, it only added 39,000.

#4 In the United States today, there are over 15 million people who are “officially” considered to be unemployed for statistical purposes. But everyone knows that the “real” number is even much larger than that.

#5 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.

#6 The number of “persons not in the labor force” in the United States recently set another new all-time record.

#7 It now takes the average unemployed American over 33 weeks to find a job.

#8 When you throw in “discouraged workers” and “underemployed workers”, the “real” unemployment rate in the state of California is actually about 22 percent.

#9 In America today there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone. In fact, there are now approximately 5 unemployed Americans for every single job opening.

#10 According to The New York Times, Americans that have been unemployed for five weeks or less are three times more likely to find a new job in the coming month than Americans that have been unemployed for over a year.

#11 The U.S. economy would need to create 235,120 new jobs a month to get the unemployment rate down to pre-recession levels by 2016. Does anyone think that there is even a prayer that is going to happen?

#12 There are 9 million Americans that are working part-time for “economic reasons”. In other words, those Americans would gladly take full-time jobs if they could get them, but all they have been able to find is part-time work.

#13 In 2009, total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined in the United States.

#14 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#15 The United States has lost at least 7.5 million jobs since the recession began.

#16 Today, only about 40 percent of Ford Motor Company’s 178,000 workers are employed in North America, and a big percentage of those jobs are in Canada and Mexico.

#17 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#18 Earlier this year, one poll found that 28% of all American households had at least one member that was looking for a full-time job.

#19 In the United States today, over 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees.

#20 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#21 As the employment situation continues to stagnate, millions of American families have decided to cut back on things such as insurance coverage. For example, the percentage of American households that have life insurance coverage is at its lowest level in 50 years.

#22 Unless Congress acts, and there is no indication that is going to happen, approximately 2 million Americans will stop receiving unemployment checks over the next couple of months.

#23 A poll that was released by the Pew Research Center back in June discovered that an astounding 55 percent of the U.S. labor force has experienced either unemployment, a pay decrease, a reduction in hours or an involuntary move to part-time work since the economic downturn began.

#24 According to Richard McCormack, the United States has lost over 42,000 factories (and counting) since 2001.

#25 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.

But this is what we get for creating the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world. For decades we have been digging a deeper hole for ourselves by going into increasingly larger amounts of debt. In America today, our entire economy is based on debt. Even our money is debt. We were fools if we ever thought this could go on forever. Just think about it. Have you ever gone out and run up a bunch of debt? It can be a lot of fun sitting behind the wheel of a new car, running your credit cards up to the limit and buying a beautiful big house that you cannot afford. But in the end what happens? It always catches up with you. Well, our collective debt is starting to catch up with us. There is a sea of red ink on every level of American society. It is only a matter of time before it destroys our economy. IF YOU THINK THAT THINGS ARE BAD NOW, JUST WAIT. THINGS ARE GOING TO GET A WHOLE LOT WORSE. A HORRIFIC ECONOMIC COLLAPSE IS COMING, AND IT IS GOING TO BE VERY, VERY PAINFUL.’

Howard Davidowitz on the Economy: "Here Are the Numbers ... WE'RE BROKE!" 11-25-10 ‘The U.S. economy "is a complete disaster," Howard Davidowitz declared here in July, the most recent in a string of dire predictions from Tech Ticker's most entertaining guest.On the eve of Thanksgiving, I asked Davidowitz if he had any regrets, or was ready to throw in the towel given recent signs of economic revival. Are you kidding me? "Here are the numbers...we're broke," Davidowitz declares, noting the U.S. government goes $5 billion deeper into debt every day and is facing $1 trillion-plus annual deficits for the next decade. "In other words, we're bankrupt."As with the economy, Davidowitz is unwaveringly consistent in his views on President Obama, calling him "deranged, dysfunctional and discredited."Results of the midterm election show "the people of this country think we are in a catastrophe," he says. "I'm with them."Check the accompanying video for more of Howard's unfettered opinions and stay tuned for additional clips from this interview. And...Happy Thanksgiving! Aaron Task is the host of Tech Ticker. You can follow him on Twitter at @atask or email him at altask@yahoo.com’

Timid Tuesday: Is it Safe? Davis ‘… 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! ‘

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.

Consumer confidence down, LiveLeak.com - Loonie closes above U.S. dollar … dollar for first time closes below parity on Canadian loonie … hey, hey, hey … 'Huge' stock decline — but not yet MarketWatch - Brimelow ‘Commentary: Adens … ‘mega trend’ looks grim … The Adens expect a hyperinflationary collapse … ‘ Oh come on! Manipulated dollar decline with inflated earnings, stock prices thereby, etc., … we’ve seen this all before … the last few crashes … Jobless rate jumps to 9.8% as hiring slows (Washington Post) [ The reality is not a mystery! The nation’s been thrown under the bus for the greater good (wealth) of the very few (frauds on wall street, etc.); wall street giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION: Come on! This is gettin’ even more downright ridiculous (if that’s even possible)! Pending home foreclosure / distress sales up, oil prices (and oil stocks) up, debased dollar down, plus a little familiar ‘better than expected’ thrown in along with prospects of a ‘no-recession bernanke’ market-frothing bull session on 60 minutes and, voila, suckers’ rally into the close to keep the suckers suckered! What’s good for the frauds on wall street is bad for just about everyone else which includes the vast majority of people and businesses, domestically and globally, as current dollar manipulation / debasement ultimately results in higher costs and loss of purchasing power (ie., oil, etc.). Clearly, this is one of those fraudulent wealth transfers to the frauds on wall street et als which will ultimately be paid for by those who least are in a position to afford it, courtesy of the ever more worthless Weimar dollar, etc., inflating earnings, eps, lowering p/e multiples, etc., see infra. This is an especially great time to sell / take profits while you can since there's much worse to come! 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 ]

(1-4-11) Dow 11,691 +20 Nasdaq 2,681 -10 S&P 500 1,270 -2 [CLOSE- OIL $89.38 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.00 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $3.20 REG./ $3.29 MID-GRADE/ $3.39 PREM./ $3.79 DIESEL) / GOLD $1,379 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $29.51 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,729 (+56% for year 2009) / DOLLAR= .75 EURO, 82 YEN, .64 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update 10 YR NOTE YIELD 3.35% …..… 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

Ron Paul Talks 2012 Presidential Run: “I am Involved In A Revolution” Steve Watson | The Congressman appeared alongside his son, Senator elect Rand Paul on CNN’s Anderson Copper 360 show.

The Global Elite’s “ENDGAME” for Humanity Infowars | Canadian author, blogger, and philosopher Stefan Molyneux of freedomainradio.com joins the show to discuss several key issues. Big Pharma is preparing to exploit the new swine flu scare, news on the economy, and more.

Keiser Report: Monsanto and the Seeds of Evil RT | This time, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, about the US State Department’s genetically modified retaliation against France, more missing billions in Afghanistan and shopping frenzies in Britain.

Gladio reprise: More False Flag Operations Wayne Madsen | There are already signs that the paradigm shift from Islamist terrorism to leftist anarchism is already occurring.

The Madness Of A Lost Society 2: Final Warnings Youtube | We didn’t stand up for truth, we didn’t stand up for the Constitution, we didn’t stand up for the rule of law. And now the day of reckoning is upon us. Please, prepare.

Obama Picks Mobbed-Up Wall Street Insider For Powerful Administration Role Reports that Barack Obama is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, to a powerful position within the White House, serve as a reminder that while posing as a squeaky-clean man of the people, Obama is the ultimate establishment lackey.

Falling birds likely died from massive trauma The thousands of birds that fell from the sky just before midnight New Year’s Eve in Arkansas likely died from massive trauma, according to a preliminary report released Monday.

Is The New Madrid Fault Earthquake Zone Coming To Life? What in the world is happening in the middle of the United States right now? Thousands of birds are falling dead from the skies, tens of thousands of fish are washing up on shore dead, earthquakes are popping up in weird and unexpected places and people are starting to get really freaked out about all of this.

500 Dead Birds Found In Louisiana Town Around 500 dead blackbirds and starlings have been found in Pointe Coupee Parish, according to state wildlife officials.

Lindsay Lohan Moves Out Of Hollywood & In To Venice, CA TV.com [ Public Enemy No. * - Right … No! This is ridiculous! In California of all places (where crime rates, including violent serious crimes, as in america generally are understated across the board and yet america can boast the highest crime rates in world by far. After all, didn’t that pathetic former male model / actor / pretender schwarzenegger cut by more than half the sentence for murder / manslaughter to politically juice his own end of days scenario. Schwarzenegger is living proof of the substantial brain damage attendant to steroid use. The ‘tough on crime change meister’ … What a total gutless wonder and fraud schwarzenegger turned out to be … and no small wonder he’s pluggin’ for a position in the wobama administration. ) ] Due to conflicting reports as to whether or not Lindsay Lohan is actually out of rehab right now, we aren't entirely sure where in the world the troubled starlet is at the moment. Palm Desert PD Gunning for Lindsay From the Get-Go TMZ.com People: Lindsay Lohan may go back to jail San Jose Mercury News

Drudgereport: NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $14 TRILL
OIL PRICE 'ENTERS DANGER ZONE'
FORTUNE: 2011: Year of the bank run?
Severed head hung from bridge in Tijuana...
Pakistani governor murdered -- by own guard...
Philippines politician takes photo of assassin -- moments before being killed...
POLL: Voter Concern About Economy Hits Highest Level In Over Two Years...
Unemployment up in two-thirds of metro areas; most since June...
UPDATE: BIRDS DROP FROM SKY OVER LOUISIANA...
MYSTERY...
Tens of thousands of small fish die in Chesapeake Bay...
Kentucky woman reports dozens of dead birds in her yard...
100 tons of dead fish wash up on Brazil's shores...
House Republicans move to repeal Obama healthcare...
...may starve financial reform of cash
House Republicans plan assault on Obamacare...
BOEHNER PLANS REPEAL VOTE -- IN WEEKS...
Issa: Obama administration 'one of most corrupt in modern times'...
...vows to take on White House over spending...
New Congress sets its eyes on oversight...
COMING SOON: THE INVESTIGATIONS
Israel preparing for 'large scale war'...
Iran 'shoots down Western spy drones' in Gulf...

What it took to get the defense spending bill passed (Washington Post) [ Given the defacto bankrupt status of the nation, I’d say, like the unprecedented and insurmountably great national debt, unprecedented and insurmountably great stupidity. Drudgereport: NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $14 TRILL

Howard Davidowitz on the Economy: "Here Are the Numbers ... WE'RE BROKE!" 11-25-10 ‘The U.S. economy "is a complete disaster," Howard Davidowitz declared here in July, the most recent in a string of dire predictions from Tech Ticker's most entertaining guest.On the eve of Thanksgiving, I asked Davidowitz if he had any regrets, or was ready to throw in the towel given recent signs of economic revival. Are you kidding me? "Here are the numbers...we're broke," Davidowitz declares, noting the U.S. government goes $5 billion deeper into debt every day and is facing $1 trillion-plus annual deficits for the next decade. "In other words, we're bankrupt."As with the economy, Davidowitz is unwaveringly consistent in his views on President Obama, calling him "deranged, dysfunctional and discredited."Results of the midterm election show "the people of this country think we are in a catastrophe," he says. "I'm with them."Check the accompanying video for more of Howard's unfettered opinions and stay tuned for additional clips from this interview. And...Happy Thanksgiving! Aaron Task is the host of Tech Ticker. You can follow him on Twitter at @atask or email him at altask@yahoo.com’

Timid Tuesday: Is it Safe? Davis ‘… 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! ‘
]

Israeli troops kill Palestinian man at checkpoint in West Bank (Washington Post) [ Could you imagine if it was a jew who was killed. Beyond the stereotype which is easily envisioned, you’d never hear the end of it. But israel sees no need to adhere to laws governing the civilized throughout the world, from illegal nukes, to u.n resolutions (ie., 343, 338, etc), international law, etc., and hence, the strife we see in the region and throughout the world. ]

U.S.-built infrastructure is deteriorating (Washington Post) [ At first glance, I thought this article was miscategorized as a national story in the World section. Indeed, there’s no denying the truth of the title as america generally, domestically. Yet, the tragedy is that the tainted, destructive, self-defeating wars for america have been a boon for war profiteers, frauds of all stripes, when this defacto bankrupt america is sorely in need of repair, replacement of its own shoddy, aging infrastructure suffering from the domestic equivalent of similar scams, kickbacks, shoddy workmanship and all. After all, it got to the point that they didn’t even go through the motions / façade and actually flew $12 billion in hundred dollar bills into Iraq which to this day is unaccounted for / unprosecuted … like the wall street frauds, since the worthless toxic paper cashed out by wall street is still out there in the trillions now marked to anything. ] Roads, canals and schools built in Afghanistan as part of a special U.S. military program are crumbling under Afghan stewardship, despite new steps imposed over the past year to ensure reconstruction money is not being wasted, according to government reports.

Bank of America settles loan dispute with Fannie, Freddie (Washington Post) [ Guess they’re just looking for some year end bonus money (maybe not, depending on the controls, if any, if enforced – they weren’t last year). After all, though I believe the wall street frauds have been cashing out, albeit somewhat surreptitiously by way of QEs 1,2, etc., and for ever more worthless over-printed fiat dollars, that ‘toxic’ worthless paper is still out there in the many trillions marked to anything. Indeed, Davidowitz adds that with record numbers of americans on food stamps, real unemployment at 17+, wall street is giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION …] Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have accepted $2.8 billion from Bank of America to largely put to rest claims that the bank sold them faulty loans.

Incoming House GOP chairmen have a long list of issues to investigate (Washington Post) [ Yeah … Sounds like a plan! … One that requires backtracking at least to dumbya bush days and war based on a lie with wobama taking up where dumbya bush left off; viz, that perpetual war thing though the nation’s defacto bankrupt. Then there’s the still no pros for the largest and most massive securities fraud in the history of the world with consequences still extant to the tune of trillions in toxic / worthless paper now marked to anything they so choose as per legislative mandate via FASB rule change (bush’s and surprising to some wobama’s base) . A full plate, there is no doubt. But, butt, just posturing, politicking, don’t look for anything of consequence though there’s plenty there. Then there’s zionist peter king of the national sinkhole new york ( / new jersey- Bankrupt Government Has Plans For Your Unused Gift Cards. [Mob invested, (and like america, generally) pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless and defacto bankrupt toxic, disgusting jersey is just doing what they’ve done for at least decades … no surprise here. (see RICO case http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ) ] Jason Douglass ‘…Saving up this years gift cards to make a large purchase? You better use them up fast because state governments like New Jersey think they have a better use for that money. In an attempt to save themselves from obvious mismanagement, state authorities have begun steps to confiscate the balance left on your unused gift cards. Arguably, gift cards are one of the biggest scams going. Most consumers have been exposed to gift card’s eccentricities and know how impossible it is to use all the money on the card. Then, once the transaction is complete, it is twice as difficult to get the remainder of the balance left on the card in cash. Now our public officials want to get in on the scam.Large amounts of unused cash are locked away in these effective little marketing devices and New Jersey thinks they have a right to seize that money from you. In fact, they’ve already taken the steps to do just that…’ ]

Profit From the Rally's Inevitable End: My Correction Wish List Invest Chief ‘As we say goodbye to 2010, we look towards the future and what 2011 will bring. As you may or may not know, bullish optimism hit historical highs for the outlook of 2011. I mean you could find the wildest outlooks, such as Dow 20,000, housing crisis solved, unemployment 6%, etc.There was certainly no shortage of ridiculous claims that will not come true. The point is, the best way for success in the markets is to simply roll with the punches. Whether the Dow goes to 6,000 or 60,000, you must roll with the punches and profit from the changes. If you are too focused on a certain Dow level or other catalyst, you may be waiting for a long time, missing out on profits along the way.The first “punch” investors are going to get is a correction. The Dow had a huge run in December and investors will be taking profits as they had begun to do in the last few trading days in 2010. It is advised that you take profits and wait for the correction. While the correction is occurring, select a “wish list” of companies that you would like to snatch up at cheaper prices. That way all you have to do is place orders. The homework to value your stocks should be your reasoning to place them on your “wish list”.I have my “wish list” ready to go. Here are a few of my stocks that I am planning on buying during the correction:

• Royal Shell Corp (RDS.B)
• Harford Financial (HIG)
• Diana Shipping Inc (DSX)
• First Niagara Financial (FNFG).

Shell is one of the best integrated oil plays right now. It pays over 5% dividend, P/E of 13.3, financially stable, good cash flow. It should also be noted that Shell recently inked a huge deal with Qatar, which should help boost earnings no doubt.Hartford was devastated by the 2008 crisis, dropping from its high of $66 the stock now stands at 26.50. Hartford is the most undervalued company its industry, in cash flow. Also, it has a P/E of 11. Hartford has a good management team behind it and it will surely blossom as the economy recovers.

Diana Shipping has been catching big money’s attention lately. Diana is pretty undervalued with a P/E of 7.8. Diana outpaces the rest of its industry in ROE, debt/equity, growth, and cash flow. Diana is a great stock if you want exposure to bulk shipping. A well known competitor of Diana Shipping is DryShips (DRYS). Based on value, Diana is a better call.First Niagara is a regional bank with 171 branches in the Northeast United States. First Niagara is one of the stronger regional banks which makes it a good takeover play. First Niagara weathered the recession well and they pay a 4% dividend. The only major problem I have with FNFG is the fact that they have a sizable amount of debt on their balance sheet but like I said, this is a pretty good takeover play and they pay a nice dividend while you wait. Another regional bank I would recommend for 2011 is East West Bancorp (EWBC).The message I am trying to get across is that you should always have a list of desired stocks that you would like to pick up when a pullback occurs. Regardless, it is always important to do your homework on a stock to understand if that stock fits your investing style.

The best way to profit in the stock market is always being prepared for the inevitable. A correction is coming; stocks are just too expensive right now after the huge rally we have had. It is time to take some profits and wait patiently for a pullback and pick up some great names at a cheaper price…’

Market Crash on 1/31/11? Technical indicators suggest market collapse may begin by January 31^st

Is This a Major Market Top? [ Truth be told, there was a time when I read Barron’s with great regularity (no more). I never missed Alan Abelson’s incisively sharp wit and the market laboratory, the latter being supplanted by readily accessible numerical data on the web. I also don’t recall Alan Abelson ever being wrong and I don’t think he’s wrong here, particularly when you consider the costs, fraud, and insanity underlying this manipulated and inflated stock market which bubble is at best a (contrived) bull cycle in a secular bear market. ] Roche ‘With economic recovery still in doubt and sentiment readings at their highest levels since the S&P 500 topped in 2007, some market prognosticators find the latest surge in stocks to have been irrational. There is now a near universal belief that stocks have but one direction to go and that has some investors feeling uneasy. This weekend’s Barron's showed the diametrically opposing views as two of their leading columnists (Alan Abelson and Mike Santoli) discussed why they believe this is a major market top (or not).

Abelson refers to a certain veteran market technician (whom he doesn’t identify):

And he shares our concern about the epidemic of optimism that has gripped the Street, manifest in any number of wildly bullish forecasts for the market in 2011. It is the kind of explosive optimism that is usually witnessed, he says more in wonder than rue, at market tops, either temporary or something worse.

He doesn’t buy the argument that the huge stash of cash supposedly sitting on the sidelines is a guarantee of a steady source of fuel for the equity rally. Rather, he calls that hefty pile of cash, which is being augmented by a fresh infusion from fixed-income investors now that bonds are getting clocked, “scared money.” It belongs, he elaborates, to folks who all this time have been leery of committing their dough to stocks but, thanks to December’s quantum leap in share prices, have grown increasingly fearful of missing the next leg up, and are itching to put all that scratch to work.

That such nervous-newbie equity buyers will stay the course and step up their buying after the initial, inevitable correction is hardly a given. Our bet is that they would jackrabbit out at the first hint of trouble.

The peerless technician is also bothered by the leadership of the end-of-the-year rally. More specifically, the shares of commodity-related companies are in the vanguard of the advance at a time when China, the big global buyer of virtually every commodity known to man, is striving to rein in inflation. It is no accident, he suggests, that Chinese stock markets have been lagging, and he feels they may prove a pretty good precursor for our own dear market.

In sum, he sees stocks making at least a temporary top early in the new year. It’s hard to say, he readily admits, just how bad or enduring a setback equities will suffer. But obviously, he’s talking something more substantial than a flickering decline or a tiny crack.

Santoli’s case against a major market top has been more commonly discussed:

The reasons the bulls are bullish are also pretty universally agreed upon. The industrial economy has gathered some momentum, the emerging markets are surging, companies are flush, profits look set to rise decently again, the Federal Reserve is seeking new ways to penalize risk aversion, taxes won’t go up and the market tends to do well in the year after a midterm election.

And we can add to the list the likelihood that another financial-engineering cycle is just getting into gear, so expect lots of equity-friendly refinancings by stretched companies, re-leveraging by cash-rich ones and buyouts hither and yon.

The thing is, it’s all pretty much true. And because of that, and given that stock valuations are not excessive, it’s tough to think a likely pullback or worse would signal some major top.

Indeed, the happy feeling and the recent climb in margin borrowing and drop in short interest, by one way of looking at them, simply show that what has been a bull market for the better part of two years is finally being viewed as one. The last time we had such a run of investor optimism, indeed, was late 2004, before a calm but not terribly exuberant year.

The risk, then, is more about the near term, about expectations of ease meeting some unforeseen complication early this year, and that what’s likely to be a firm fundamental and technical case for riskier financial assets in 2011 has, to a fair degree, been priced in by the market lift of late 2010.

Interestingly, both appear to agree that the major risk is in the near-term. Santoli, however, clearly believes any sell-off will prove to be a buying opportunity. Abelson tends to still be in the bear market camp. Major market top or a prelude to a continuation of the bull market? Only time will tell.

Source: Barron's’

January Barometer - As January Goes, so Goes the Year? Simon Maierhofer, On Monday January 3, 2011, 6:40 pm EST Did you know that there are two seasonal patterns with an accuracy ratio of 90% or higher? This is no joke. The numbers don't lie, but there is one caveat.The January Barometer has a 90% rate of success. The essence of the January Barometer is simple, as January goes, so goes the year. If January is up, the entire year will be up and vice versa.

90% Accuracy - Too Good to be True?

From 1950 to 2008 this pattern has played out most of the time. There were only five times when it outright failed and seven times when it wasn't exactly accurate. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, the Barometer has a 90% accuracy ratio. In terms of odds, that's about as good as it gets.However, the January Barometer led investors in the wrong direction in 2001 when the S&P was down a full 13% at the end of the year after being up 3.5% in January. Again, there was a major misfire in 2003 when the S&P finished with a 26.4% gain after a 2.7% January loss.There was a minor misfire in 2005, but the Barometer couldn't have been more wrong in 2009 and 2010. In 2009 the S&P was down 8.6% in January but ended the year with a 23.5% gain. After a 3.9% January loss last year, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) finished with a 12.6% gain.It seems like the January Barometer has lost its mojo. In fact, five hits and five misses bring the last decade's success rate down to 50%, in line with random odds.

A New January Pattern

Every January is different, but over the past three years a new pattern has emerged. Christmas euphoria is followed by a New Year hangover. Let's see what the numbers say.On December 24, 2007 I was invited to share my 2008 outlook with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. At the time, the major indexes had just recovered some of their initial October/November losses and the percentage of bullish advisors polled by Investors Intelligence was 54.9%, very close to last week's 55.6%.My advice then was to employ strategies that benefit from a topping market. On December 24, 2007, the DJIA (DJI: ^DJI) closed at 13,549, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) at 1,496, the Nasdaq 100 (Nasdaq: ^IXIC) at 2,128, and the Russell 2000 (NYSEArca: IWM - News) at 794.Stocks (NYSEArca: VTI - News) suffered from topping action throughout 2008 before delivering a year-end rally. In fact, the 2008 Santa Claus Rally delivered the highest return in decades, 7.4% for the S&P.On December 14, 2008, I cautioned via the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter: 'Optimistic sentiment, which should be more visible above Dow 9,000, will give way to further declines. These should draw the indexes close to or below their November 21st lows of 7,445 for the Dow and 740 for the S&P.' Early January 2008 the DJIA poked above 9,000 three times before shedding 29%.2009/2010 was not much different than the previous two years. On December 17, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter stated: 'The days leading up to and following Christmas tend to have a bullish bias for stocks. Nevertheless, bearish forces are becoming more pronounced and stocks are facing stiff resistance at Dow 10,500 and S&P 1,120.' That stiff resistance led to a swift 9% correction.The chart below illustrates the pattern of December rallies followed by January sell offs. Of course this new pattern might disappear as fast as it appears, but my analysis shows that January 2011 will follow in the footsteps of the three previous Januaries. [chart]

Looking Beyond January

Let's say we get the expected January correction, then what?We would be in a pickle because according to the long-term track record of the January Barometer, stocks should continue weak throughout the year while according to the Presidential Election Year Cycle stocks should be up.The third year of the Presidential Election Year Cycle (such as 2011) is historically the strongest of the four-year cycle. This may sound like a too good to be true statistic, but there hasn't been a major loss in a pre-election year since 1931.In an effort to get re-elected, each administration is working overtime the year before elections to buoy whatever there is to buoy in order to create a setting that's conducive to winning as many re-election votes as possible.

A Premature Pop?

Courtesy of the 2008 financial meltdown, the administration and the Fed were forced to open the money spigot earlier than during the average Presidential cycle. Does that mean that the stock market has peaked pre-maturely? We don't know yet, but based on current sentiment readings it's a possibility that shouldn't be ignored.

Correction and Pop Protection

Since the market's internals today are similar to what we saw leading up to the April 2010 high and the previous three January highs, it isn't a far stretch to expect a similar outcome - a swift and largely surprising decline between 9 - 29%.The S&P hasn't reached our upside target level yet, so it's best to let the current rally do its thing. Once reversal levels are reached, the proverbial air pocket that's been supporting this creeping up trend is likely to bust and result in a downward jolt.Momentum is a fickle force. Just as momentum has carried stocks higher than expected, it may drive prices lower than any of the ueber-bullish Wall Street analysts expect.

Eliminating Variables

The big question is whether the Federal Reserve and Wall Street banks (NYSEArca: XLF - News) can manage and control any sell off. It surely seems like they were able to do so in January and April of 2010. However, they were powerless throughout 2008 and had to watch the market swallow up fellow competitors.It's no secret that my personal outlook is fundamentally bearish, but with the influx of QE2 liquidity and the bullish bias of the Presidential Election Year Cycle, it's prudent to listen to the market's vital signs.The ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter continuously monitors the market's breadth in connection with important support and resistance levels. Any trend change from up to down is most likely to occur against resistance. Once a reversal is in place, it's vital to watch how the market performs at support levels of various degrees.The ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter outlines the next major resistance level along with support levels the market has established over the past weeks, months and years. Nothing expedites momentum like a break below support. We all know what momentum can do.’

Robert Shiller's 2020 Target for the S&P 500

A Look at Base Metals: Dave's Daily ‘A FEW BULLS CHARGE OUT OF THE GATE It was an impressive ramp to start 2011 wasn't it? Inside the numbers there was again little volume. Markets are now much overbought and this low volume is worrisome as a cascade of heavy volume will no doubt appear from the sell-side as long as this continues. There was another round of POMO (nearly $8 billion) Monday to start the year which helps trading desks facilitate what the Fed wants -- higher stock prices. Of course the story making the biggest splash was Goldman Sachs wanting a piece of Facebook which would push the value of the company to $50 billion. Also, BAC settled some outstanding issues with FNM to the tune of $2 billion. Taken together this pushed the financial sector higher. Most economic news Monday like ISM Data was generally as expected, but higher prices in Europe spilled over early to New York. Most bulls believe a growing economy is in the works which should lead to better earnings and stock prices. That's the story, and bulls are sticking to it. The Interior Department will allow some deepwater drilling to resume oddly coincided with some selling in commodity markets, especially precious metals. But, the dollar was also somewhat stronger which would usually cause a decline…’

TrimTabs: “No Amount Of QE Will Be Able To Keep The Current Stock Market Bubble From Bursting” It was the night before Christmas Eve, and CNBC trucked out TrimTabs’ Charles Biderman to a de minimis audience, knowing full well that a man with his understanding of money flows would very likely repeat his statement from last year, that there is no real, valid explanation for the inexorable move in stocks higher, as equity money flows in 2010 were decidedly negative, and any explanation of the upward melt up would need to account for Fed intervention (and no-volume HFT offer-lifting feedback loops but that is a story for another day).

Observations On The Latest Debt “Inflection Point”, And Why Bernanke Has At Most 5 Months In Which To Announce QE3 Yesterday on Tom Keene’s always informative show, two of the world’s most important economists, Goldman’s Jan Hatzius and BofA’s Ethan Harris presented their respective defenses for why GDP in 2011 would rise by nearly 4% as per their recent predictions.

Oil Surges to Highest Year-End Price Since 2007 on Dollar Oil surged to its highest year-end price since 2007 as the dollar weakened and gasoline and heating oil futures climbed.

Is Gold – Or Fiat Currency – In a Bubble? Gold is not in a bubble, silver is not in a bubble, precious metals are in general terms not in a bubble.

China must Kill the Dollar Economic Assassin | In the hope of reducing their own inflation China must kill the dollar.

US Debt Limit Fight Would Be ‘Catastrophic’: White House Reuters | A top aide to President Barack Obama warned of catastrophic consequences if Republicans follow through on threats to reject an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit.

Jobs Are Trickling In, But Millions Have Given Up Looking For Work Reuters | U.S. private employers have recorded 11 consecutive months of job gains, yet the number of people who are so discouraged that they have given up searching for work stands at an all-time high.

War Causes Inflation … And Inflation Allows The Government to Start Unnecessary New Wars and Keep Us In Them For Longer than Needed War almost always causes inflation.

Never Forget The Fed Caused The Economic Downturn Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, would have us believe that if it were not for QE1 unemployment would have been considerably higher.

2011: Doom is Always 6 Months Away Since doom is always 6 months away, and I can write doom porn with the best of them, here we go…

National / World

Gerald Celente: What’s in store for 2011 RT | “Were going to see more and more cyber attacks, just like we saw with WikiLeaks,” explained Celente.‘What’s in store for the world in 2011? Trends forecaster Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute provided his insights on the year ahead. Will the people of the world wake up to a dire economic reality? Will the US dollar or the value of gold prevail? Will hardship-driven crimes be committed across the socioeconomic spectrum by legions of the on-the-edge desperate? Will the “War on Terror” morph into the “War on Crime,” where all Americans are suspects until proven innocent? Will governments try to eliminate free access to the web and literally shut down computers and websites they consider a threat to national security? Will the seeds of revolution be sown?Celente argued that all of the above will take place in some shape or form. There will be a wakeup call on the economy, a crack down on the people and a loss of liberty, and also an increase in Journalism 2.0, alternative energy and a growth in cyber war tactics. “Look what’s happening now. You name the city,” he said.“The people are getting hit on at every level.” The banks and governments are robbing the people and will continue to do so, he argued. “What they are going to do, is they are going to make up the slack by going after the little people at every level; licensing fees, parking fees, you name it, they’re going to squeeze every dollar out of the people,” Celente commented.“If you go five miles over the speed limit there’s a cop waiting for you.” Gold will run high in 2010, as the federal resave continues to dump US currency into the system gold will rise much higher, possibly even double in value over the next year. In the name of terror the government will clamp down on the people, crime will rise as dissatisfaction with the economy and government policies rise. “Big Brother will be watching!” Celente said. “We even have Wal-Marts as a rat for the homeland security division to call them up and let them know if anything is untore that they should know about and they are talking now about expanding homeland terrorist security in hotels and shopping malls.” The US government will be watching every move every person makes. “They are going to clamp down more and more as people continue to complain more and more about the injustices that are happening, particularly on the economic front,” he explained. “When people lose everything, and they have nothing left to lose, they lose it! As people keep losing it, the government will crack down even tighter.” Looking forward, cyber warfare will grow further, becoming a new type of warfare for the 21st century. Those in cyber industry have a strong future, he added.“Were going to see more and more cyber attacks, just like we saw with WikiLeaks,” explained Celente. “We’re going to see worldwide cyber crime. In the end, the world will end in 2011,” said Celente, but what that means exactly he wouldn’t say.’

Terrorist Watch List May Exceed US Population by 2019, World Population by 2023 A report from the Washington Post (brought to us via Infowars.com) says that the new official policy for the terrorist watch list is that a single ‘credible’ tip may deem you unworthy of (air) travel in the United States of America.

Pentagon’s propaganda in full view With the Afghanistan war going so poorly there has been an outpouring of emotions, an LA artist decided to make a mural depicting a dollar draped over a casket on a side of a building. Many believe this is revolting but some like Founder of Brave New Films Robert Greenwald says this indicates how brilliant the Pentagon has been at increasing censorship, so anything that goes against their propaganda will be shot down or in this case covered up.

Just 35 pct. of Americans support continuing Afghan occupation, poll finds A record number of Americans oppose the US war in Afghanistan, according to a recently released poll.

George Soros: The United States Must Stop Resisting The Orderly Decline Of The Dollar, The Coming Global Currency And The New World Order In the video you are about to see, George Soros talks about “the creation of a New World Order”, he discusses the need for a “managed decline” of the U.S. dollar and he talks at length of the global need for a true world currency.

30 Reasons Why 2011 Is Going To Be Another Crappy Year For America’s Middle Class Do you think that 2011 will be a good year for America’s middle class? Well, you might not be so optimistic after you read the 30 statistics posted below.

Preparing for the Financial Crisis The crisis in the US and world financial markets give us reason to make preparations for the foreseeable problems ahead.

Mass protest over Government cuts planned Unions are gearing up for a demonstration in the spring against the Government’s massive cuts in public spending, predicting it will be a “huge” national event.

Bankrupt Government Has Plans For Your Unused Gift Cards. [Mob invested, (and like america, generally) pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless and defacto bankrupt toxic, disgusting jersey is just doing what they’ve done for at least decades … no surprise here. (see RICO case http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ) ] Jason Douglass ‘…Saving up this years gift cards to make a large purchase? You better use them up fast because state governments like New Jersey think they have a better use for that money. In an attempt to save themselves from obvious mismanagement, state authorities have begun steps to confiscate the balance left on your unused gift cards. Arguably, gift cards are one of the biggest scams going. Most consumers have been exposed to gift card’s eccentricities and know how impossible it is to use all the money on the card. Then, once the transaction is complete, it is twice as difficult to get the remainder of the balance left on the card in cash. Now our public officials want to get in on the scam.Large amounts of unused cash are locked away in these effective little marketing devices and New Jersey thinks they have a right to seize that money from you. In fact, they’ve already taken the steps to do just that…’

Big Sis Photocopies Credit Cards, Confiscates Christmas Calendars Paul Joseph Watson | The agency is now instructing its airport security screeners to make photocopies of people’s credit cards, while Big Sis is also busy fighting terrorism and protecting America by confiscating chocolate Christmas advent calendars.

John Lott: More Guns, Less Crime Infowars.com | John Lott explains why guns bans only serve to increase gun crime rates.

TrimTabs: “No Amount Of QE Will Be Able To Keep The Current Stock Market Bubble From Bursting” Zero Hedge | If the money to boost stock prices by almost $9 trillion from the March 2009 lows did not come from the traditional players, it had to have come from somewhere else. We believe that place is the Fed.

More TSA Lies In Attempt To Cover Up Security Failures Steve Watson | Claims that leaked security failure figures are “outdated” are easily debunked.

Germany Hides Spy Satellite Under ‘Global Warming’ Umbrella. Jason Douglass | Wikileaks exposes an intergovernmental pact to disquise a spy satellite array as a tool to study ‘global warming’.

2010 in review: Here’s what happened in the world of natural health and health freedom Mike Adams | Still, 2010 was mostly a year of expanded censorship, attacks on health freedom and expansions of government tyranny.

Happy New Year: 19 killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan US drones carried out four strikes in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt today, killing 19 militants and injuring several more in the first such attacks of the new year, officials said.

Israel arrests 2 UK consulate workers in Jerusalem (AP)

Israel preparing for 'large scale war'...

Israel's Labor: We'll quit if no progress to peace (AP)

Treasury Department shifts its stake in Ally Financial (Washington Post) [ Oooooh! Sounds like a plan (with only those tiny pikers fannie and freddy to follow) … till the next debacle … which will be coming soon to a theater near you …

Tipping Point: 25 Signs That The Coming Financial Collapse Is Now Closer Then Ever The financial collapse that so many of us have been anticipating is seemingly closer then ever. Over the past several weeks, there have been a host of ominous signs for the U.S. economy… ] Decision could make it easier for the bailed-out lender to launch an IPO and repay its government debt.

Pakistan's top general vexes U.S. plans (Washington Post) [ Geeh! How dare that PAKISTAN General not jump on the war criminal american crazy train by putting the interests of his nation ahead of u.s. contrived interests and preventing Pakistan from being turned into a toxic wasteland, killing fields, etc., as in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.. ] Despite intense efforts, officials fail to persuade Gen. Ashfaq Kayani to undertake the administration's strategy of eliminating Taliban havens inside Pakistan.

Economic forecasters see growth in 2011 (Washington Post) [ Kind of like that prescient economic forecast of ‘no recession’ preceding this continuing financial / economic debacle of a magnitude exceeding that of the great depression from our ‘economist in chief’ helicopter ben … riiiiight! … And you can take that the insolvent bank! Stock markets weather a challenging 2010 (Washington Post) [ ‘Weather’, ‘forecasts’ … somehow those words taken together do not engender confidence. Yet, like today, there’s no shortage of that exuberance thing just as in 2007 preceding the last crash, or preceding the dot.com crash, etc., and this time will be no different and probably worse. Pay Attention to New Year Market Indicators [ The problem with these anecdotal, mechanized (and sophomoric) technical guidelines is that the frauds on wall street are well aware of them and with the current computer technology can easily program to meet them with the fraudulent hope they’ll become self-fulfilling. I disagree with the ‘everything coming up roses, green shoots and all’ scenarios being painted in typical self-interested fashion and hardly objective. Even near perma-bull John Augustine (speaking with Motek) looks for at a minimum, if things go well for the economy (not at all likely and no can do with real numbers / data) a 3-5% pullback / correction near term. Keep in mind all stock prices have been inflated by amounts exceeding the gains, viz., 13-17% by the debased dollar which of course is reflected in huge price increases for commodities across the board which will impact margins or consumption or both going forward. ] Plessis ‘If Santa has not yet made his way to your investment portfolio, don’t despair. According to Jeffrey Hirsch (Stock Trader’s Almanac), the “Santa Claus Rally” normally occurs during the last five trading days of a year and the ensuing first two trading sessions of the new year. During this seven-day period stocks historically tend to advance (by 1.5% on average since 1950), but when recording a loss, they frequently trade much lower in the new year.With four of the seven sessions behind us there has been little in it, with the S&P 500 Index marginally up by 0.09% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.03%.Another old stock market saw tells us the first five trading days of January sets the course for January (known as the “First Five Days Early Warning System”), and if the month of January is higher, there is a good chance the year will end higher, i.e. the so-called “January Barometer”. Every down January since 1950 has been followed by a new or continuing bear market or a flat year. “As January goes, so goes the year,” said Hirsch.Lastly, according to Hirsch, the “December Low Indicator" says that should the Dow Jones Industrial Index close below its December low anytime during the first quarter, it is frequently an excellent warning sign of lower levels ahead. The numbers to watch are those recorded on December 1: 1,206.07 for the S&P 500 Index and 11,255.78 for the Dow Industrial Average.The American benchmark indices will have to crash today in order to make 2010 a down year. Early indications therefore point to the January Barometer (with January having been a down month) this year failing investors. Looking ahead to 2011, time will tell whether the year-end/new-year indicators play out according to the historical pattern. Meanwhile, we’ll have some fun tracking how it pans out.’ ] In a year of political upheaval, fiscal crisis in Europe and the threat of a double-dip recession in the United States, the stock market weathered all challenges, plodding upward. Economic forecasters see growth in 2011

Private markets make up the core of Obamanomics (Washington Post) [ I doubt there is a core at all … nothin’ there … spend more than you take in … just smoke and mirrors … more bush*t … you know, froth the markets, fraud be damned but welcomed / protected … and, as before, this will end quite badly! But regarding the now ‘Klein Controversy’, the following: Wash Post Staffer: Constitution Impossible to Understand Because It’s Over 100 Years Old [ In a meaningfully lawless society as pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, constitution / laws have become irrelevant in application and effect. After all, even zimbabwe has a constitution / laws, but I dare say no one would suggest they have any practical effect in reality, as is also so in america. I therefore believe Mr. Klein is correct but for reasons other than age and malleability. Indeed, anyone who has written a legal brief and researched law in support thereof, ultimately realizes that almost invariably one can find some case / law in support of almost any position. In america today, it’s the bribe, one way or another, that carries the day and makes the difference. Ask sam alito et als. That’s just the way it is in a declining, fallen society as america, zimbawe, etc.. That’s certainly my direct, sworn experience with these corrupt courts constituting (in large part along with the other 3 branches) pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america’s illegal system. Senate convicts Clinton-appointed judge... [ Come on! One way or another they’re almost all getting bribed; including the initial lifetime appointment as alito, trump-barry, etc.. 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 ) End those lifetime licenses to steal. ] In earlier hearings, two attorneys who once worked with Porteous had testified that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash, including about $2,000 stuffed in an envelope in 1999, just before Porteous decided a major civil case in their client's favor. ] Breitbart | On word that the House will open its next session with a first-ever reading of the U.S. Constitution, blogger Ezra Klein suggests that the Constitution is irrelevant due to its age and politically-malleable language. ]Eight key economic decisions of the Obama presidency all point in one direction.

Pay Attention to New Year Market Indicators [ The problem with these anecdotal, mechanized (and sophomoric) technical guidelines is that the frauds on wall street are well aware of them and with the current computer technology can easily program to meet them with the fraudulent hope they’ll become self-fulfilling. I disagree with the ‘everything coming up roses, green shoots and all’ scenarios being painted in typical self-interested fashion and hardly objective. Even near perma-bull John Augustine (speaking with Motek) looks for at a minimum, if things go well for the economy (not at all likely and no can do with real numbers / data) a 3-5% pullback / correction near term. Keep in mind all stock prices have been inflated by amounts exceeding the gains, viz., 13-17% by the debased dollar which of course is reflected in huge price increases for commodities across the board which will impact margins or consumption or both going forward. ] Plessis ‘If Santa has not yet made his way to your investment portfolio, don’t despair. According to Jeffrey Hirsch (Stock Trader’s Almanac), the “Santa Claus Rally” normally occurs during the last five trading days of a year and the ensuing first two trading sessions of the new year. During this seven-day period stocks historically tend to advance (by 1.5% on average since 1950), but when recording a loss, they frequently trade much lower in the new year.With four of the seven sessions behind us there has been little in it, with the S&P 500 Index marginally up by 0.09% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.03%.Another old stock market saw tells us the first five trading days of January sets the course for January (known as the “First Five Days Early Warning System”), and if the month of January is higher, there is a good chance the year will end higher, i.e. the so-called “January Barometer”. Every down January since 1950 has been followed by a new or continuing bear market or a flat year. “As January goes, so goes the year,” said Hirsch.Lastly, according to Hirsch, the “December Low Indicator" says that should the Dow Jones Industrial Index close below its December low anytime during the first quarter, it is frequently an excellent warning sign of lower levels ahead. The numbers to watch are those recorded on December 1: 1,206.07 for the S&P 500 Index and 11,255.78 for the Dow Industrial Average.The American benchmark indices will have to crash today in order to make 2010 a down year. Early indications therefore point to the January Barometer (with January having been a down month) this year failing investors. Looking ahead to 2011, time will tell whether the year-end/new-year indicators play out according to the historical pattern. Meanwhile, we’ll have some fun tracking how it pans out.’

Happy New Year! Here Are The Final Numbers For 2010 White, On Friday December 31, 2010

‘Indices mixed today, but not for the year. Stocks weren't the real winner, however, with commodity prices booming.

First, today's scoreboard:

• DOW up 0.08%
• S&P 500 down flat
• NASDAQ down 0.38%

Now, the final scoreboard for 2010:

Equities:

• 2010 DOW up 10.94%
• 2010 S&P 500 up 12.72%
• 2010 NASDAQ up 16.9%

Check out the best and worst performing global equity indices in 2010 >

Commodities:

• 2010 Gold up 30%
• 2010 Copper up 33%
• 2010 Oil up 15%

Check out Societe Generale's guide to commodities in 2011 >

Bonds:

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Index rose 4.7% this year.

• 2010 Year end 5-year treasury yield 2.00%
• 2010 Year end 10-year treasury yield 3.28%
• 2010 Year end 30-year treasury yield 4.33% …’

The Shadow Banking System: A Third Of All The Wealth In The World Is Held In Offshore Banks Economic Collapse Blog | You and I live in a totally different world than the ultra-rich and the international banking elite do.

Entire American middle class will fall under the poverty line in five years Press TV | “The middle class, I am afraid, in the United States is not going to exist in another five years and everybody is going to be driven down to the lower poor class,” said Wayne Madsen.

Home foreclosures jump in 3rd quarter: regulators Reuters | U.S. home foreclosures jumped in the third quarter and banks’ efforts to keep borrowers in their homes dropped as the housing market continues to struggle.

Must See: Howard Davidowitz Destroys The Recovery Illusion, Debunks The Consumer Renaissance Today’s must see TV comes from the following interview of Pimm Fox on the consumer and the economy with retail expert Howard Davidowitz, who in 10 minutes provides more quality content and logical thought than we have seen from CNBC guests in probably all of 2010.

Oil Could Push to $110: Charts It’s “certainly possible” that the price of a barrel of oil will push above $100 a barrel, Daryl Guppy, CEO of Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Thursday. “Once you move above $100, then $110 is just clear freeway straight to that level,” Guppy added.

Eurozone ‘has 80% chance of losing the single currency in next decade,’ claims think-tank There is an 80 per cent chance that the euro will not survive in its current form, a leading think tank has warned.

Metals from copper to silver hit record highs Copper has hit yet another record high in a strong morning for metals trading, as commodities shook off China’s efforts to halt inflation by raising interest rates on Christmas Day.

Washington's Revolving Door: Minimalist Approach to Wall Street Reform Leaves Business as Usual, Author Says - Gross

Peter Schiff: Here’s Why Home Prices Have To Decline At Least 20% And Probably More House prices have to decline at least another 20.3% to come back to the historical trend and may have much further to fall, according to Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital.

2010 worst year for bank failures since 1992 More banks failed in the United States this year than in any year since 1992, during the savings-and-loan crisis, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

ROBERT SHILLER: If House Prices Keep Falling This Fast, The Economy Is Screwed He also says that if house prices keep falling this fast, the economy will face “serious reasons to worry” (which, for Professor Shiller, is an apocalyptic statement).

National / World

Washington Uses Arms Sales To Achieve Ever Fleeting Purported Global Supremacy Rick Rozoff | The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) documents that the United States accounts for 43 percent of world military spending and 30 percent of global arms exports.

Will It Be A Happy New Year For the Global Resistance Against the New World Order? Paul Joseph Watson | 2010 was a year of worldwide awakening, 2011 will go a long way to proving whether or not the resistance has teeth.

MSNBC Analyst: Constitution Has “No Binding Power On Anything” Kurt Nimmo | For the establishment political class, the Constitution is completely irrelevant.

What Kind Of Mood Are The American People In As We Enter 2011? The American Dream | The following is a compilation of recent poll results that show just how frustrated and angry the American people are becoming as we enter 2011.

10 Modern Methods of Mind Control Nicholas West | We have entered a perilous phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state.

Wash Post Staffer: Constitution Impossible to Understand Because It’s Over 100 Years Old [ In a meaningfully lawless society as pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, constitution / laws have become irrelevant in application and effect. After all, even zimbabwe has a constitution / laws, but I dare say no one would suggest they have any practical effect in reality, as is also so in america. I therefore believe Klein is correct but for reasons other than age and malleability. Indeed, anyone who has written a legal brief and researched law in support thereof, ultimately realizes that almost invariably one can find some case / law in support of almost any position. In america today, it’s the bribe, one way or another, that carries the day and makes the difference. Ask sam alito et als. That’s just the way it is in a declining, fallen society as america, zimbawe, etc.. ] Breitbart | On word that the House will open its next session with a first-ever reading of the U.S. Constitution, blogger Ezra Klein suggests that the Constitution is irrelevant due to its age and politically-malleable language.

Euro has 1-in-5 chance of lasting decade: UK think-tank Reuters | The Center for Economics and Business Research said Spain and Italy would have to refinance over 400 billion euros ($530 billion) of bonds in the spring, potentially sparking a fresh crisis within the 16-nation euro area.

Will It Be A Happy New Year For the Global Resistance Against the New World Order? 2010 was a year of extremes – a clear intensification of the tyranny being metered out in pursuit of a new world order, but also a tipping point in the accelerating awakening of human consciousness to the reality of the agenda for global serfdom.

Man strips to underwear, socks in protest at airport security checkpoint A man protesting airport security measures was arrested after he stripped down to his underwear and socks.

NYC Police Tightens Security for New Years Eve Hundreds of radiation detectors will be dispersed throughout the area, along with devices that can detect biological contaminants. Crowds will be shepherded into closely scrutinized pens where backpacks and big bags are banned.

MSNBC Analyst: Constitution Has “No Binding Power On Anything” [ In a meaningfully lawless society as pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, constitution / laws have become irrelevant in application and effect. After all, even zimbabwe has a constitution / laws, but I dare say no one would suggest they have any practical effect in reality, as is also so in america. I therefore believe Klein is correct but for reasons other than age and malleability. Indeed, anyone who has written a legal brief and researched law in support thereof, ultimately realizes that almost invariably one can find some case / law in support of almost any position. In america today, it’s the bribe, one way or another, that carries the day and makes the difference. Ask sam alito et als. That’s just the way it is in a declining, fallen society as america, zimbawe, etc.. ] Now that Republicans have a majority in Congress, they are pretending to be constitutionalists. In order to demonstrate this, they will theatrically read aloud the Constitution from the floor of the House next week.

TSA Wants To Expand Groping Of Vaginas The TSA agent used her hands to feel under and between my breasts. She then rammed her hand up into my crotch until it jammed into my pubic bone … I was touched in the pubic region in between my labia.

As Frustration Grows, Airports Consider Ditching TSA Some of the nation’s biggest airports are responding to recent public outrage over security screening by weighing whether they should hire private firms such as Covenant to replace the Transportation Security Administration.

China Makes Skype Illegal [ China, the current creation and envy of destructive / self-destructive poppy bushies, clintonistas, wobamanoids, et als americans, is so pathetic in their own special totalitarian communistically sad way. ] THE Chinese regulator has declared Internet phone services other than those provided by China Telecom and China Unicom as illegal, which is expected to make services like Skype unavailable in the country.

Drudgereport: Medicare Bound to Bust 'by 2017' as First Boomers Hit 65...
POLL: Only 21% Want FCC to Regulate Internet...
Fear of Political Agenda...
Next Year's Wars: 16 brewing conflicts to watch...
VIDEO: Oil Could Push to $110...
Berlin sees most snow in December since 1900s...
White House Plans to Push 'Global Warming' Policy, GOP Vows Fight...
FLASHBACK: Gore Reports Snow and Ice Across World Vanishing Quickly...
Top China blogger forced to shut down magazine...
Non-US banks gain from Fed crisis fund; Half of emergency credit facility cash went to foreign institutions...
Backlash...
THE MAN WHO TOOK ON BIG SIS... Pilot angered TSA with video... ‘…News10 established a relationship with the Liu family last July after their rental home in Sacramento's Oak Park was destroyed by an arsonist. Four firefighters were injured when the house exploded…’
Oil rises near $92...
Ex-SHELL president sees $5 gas in year...
MATTHEWS: Why Doesn't Obama Just Release The Birth Certificate?
NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming...
Obama Reading List: Book on Reagan... [ Reagan would absolutely detest, hate (yes, Reagan could hate ) wobama and did detest, hate people like failed president like no other in history, wobama]
Duma Disses Obama, delays START vote...
Assange fears death in a US jail...
OPEC Members 'Target $100'...
China, following pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless, defacto bankrupt american example, bars political dissident access to lawyers...
Indefinite detention possible for suspects at Guantanamo Bay...
DARK SIDE OF SIS: AGENTS RAID HOME OF PILOT CRITICAL OF TSA...
Posted Video Exposing Airport Security Flaws...
PUNISHED...
DEFICIT HITS RECORD...
MINORITY REPORT: Spielberg advising on rebranding Dems... [ Come on! You can’t unring the bell on the damage they’ve done by particularly doing the opposite of what they said, from perpetual war, to no prosecutions of the wall street frauds now marked to anything as per criminal courtesy via FASB rule change, etc.. They b*** s*** like their mascot, ‘wobama the b’ (for b*** s***); not that the republicans are substantially different … they’re incompetent, corrupt, etc... They’ve embraced the ‘history of decline and fall of nation-states’. ]
TODAY: Obama pledges 'singular focus' on economy...
ONE YEAR AGO: 'Obama to focus hard on economy'...
TWO YEARS AGO: Obama to put 'renewed focus' on economy...
US press should fear being targeted: Assange...
BLOWOUT: Government liabilities rose $2 trillion for year...
PEOPLE: 308,745,538
DEBT: $13,868,461,000,000
STATE OF THE NATION: Census shows slowing US growth...
GOP-leaning states pick up seats in Congress...
NY, OH, IL, MA, NJ and PA lose seats...
FCC Gives Government Power to Regulate Web...
Agency splits along party lines...
DeMint vows to reverse 'Internet takeover'...
AP: TOP 10 STORIES OF 2010...
MOODY'S May Cut US Rating on Tax Package...
New spending bill totals $1.1 TRILLION!
Congress Job Approval Rating Worst in GALLUP History...
FLASHBACK: Obama Promised 5-Day, Public Review of Bills Before Signing; Signs Tax Bill Within Hours of House Vote...
13 million get unexpected tax bill from 'tax credit'?
Pelosi skips vote on tax bill, then shuns signing ceremony...
House votes to extend gov't funding -- through Tuesday...
OBAMA FALLS TO 40% APPROVE IN FOXNEWS POLL...
The FCC's Threat to Internet Freedom...
Dems play politics with 'net neutrality' vote...
'Sweeping new rules'...
REGULATE...
SHUT: Music Web Sites Dispute Legality of Their Closing...
UK ministers threaten: Censor web, or we will legislate 'to protect children'...
Plan to block all online porn...
Hugo Chavez defends plan for web regulations...
Venezuela tightens Internet regulation...

THEY'RE COMING FOR THE INTERNET!
JULIUS SEIZURE

$2 trillion debt crisis threatens to bring down 100 US cities...
States face $140 billion in budget shortfalls...
32 states borrow billions from feds to cover unemployment benefits...
Friedman: America the Stupid...

French AAA Grade at Risk as Downgrades Sweep Europe...

Oil Heads Toward $100...
Chavez defends plan for Internet regulations...
UK ministers threaten: Censor web, or we will legislate 'to protect children'...
The FCC's Threat to Internet Freedom...
Dems play politics with 'net neutrality' vote...
'Sweeping new rules for the Internet'...
SKorea detains Chinese fishermen...
Security Council meets on tensions...
North Threatens More Attacks...
... says war would go nuclear
China warns of escalating arms race...

'Don't ask' repeal moves toward law...
DREAM OVER: Senate Blocks Bill for Illegal Immigrants...
Budget Brawl Looms in Congress...

Michelle wears $2,500 purchased dress to Christmas concert...
Senate Plans Weekend Votes on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Amnesty Bill...
Senator: Gay ban tied to Russia treaty...
UN PLANS INTERNET REGULATION [ Those who can’t do … work at the u.n., in the u.s.; after all, for the first time in human history, the internet has for the most part enabled an unfettered look at the truth and truthful reasons for the unequivocally sad state of the world. That a supposed world body should support and potentially facilitate the encroachment upon such global communication is reason enough to dismantle such an already discredited body which arbitrarily seeks enforcement of some ‘resolutions’ as to some but not others ( ie., israel, u.n. resolutions 242, 338, etc., israeli and american war crimes, etc..) Raison d’tre … I don’t think so! Quite the contrary! ]
Regulators close banks in GA, FL, AR, MN... [ Regulators shutter 3 small banks in Ga., 1 each in Fla., Ark., Minn.; 157 banks closed in 2010 ]
Payrolls Drop in 28 States, Joblessness Rises in 21...
Nevada rate to 14.3%...
Rhode Island City Nears Bankruptcy...
Ireland Debt Downgrade...
IMF chief worried about Europe domino effect...
Senate clerks preparing to read 1,924-page spending bill on floor -- for 50 hours!...
Senator: 'There's No Way' To Read Entire Bill Before Vote...
KERRY: 'Why Would We Have To Read Something?'
McConnell offers 1-page resolution in place of 1,924-page spending bill...
SHOWDOWN: Gingrich Urges Fillibuster...
Biden To GOP Opposition: 'Get Out Of The Way'...
Reid: Earmarks are 'what we're supposed to do'...
Ban on Gitmo transfers vanishes...
Omnibus bill loaded with goodies for abortion industry...
PRIORITIES: House approves bill to make hybrids louder...
23% Say USA Heading in Right Direction, Lowest Since Obama Took Office...
POLL: Just 29% think Obama will be re-elected...
Is America the sick man of the globe?
BUCHANAN: Is this our America anymore?
UK Red Cross Bans Christmas to Avoid Offending Muslims...
SALVATION ARMY bell ringer caught stealing from kettle...
Deputies suspended after getting into brawl at party...
2 women charged with robbing 74-year-old...
Hundreds of gifts for kids stolen from 'Toys for Tots'...
Thousands of dollars in donated toys ruined after skunk attack...
Grocery prices grow by 1.5 times inflation rate...

Socialist president plays host to capitalism...
REPORT: Obama told lawmakers not passing tax deal could end presidency...
A $48 billion earmark...
PAPER: Year of bullying, bluff and bailouts leaves euro fighting for its life...
Reeling from riots, Italy faces uncertainty...
Greek anti-austerity strike turns violent...
VIDEO...
MORE UNREST: 2011...
$575 million PER PAGE...
6,488 earmarks...
McConnell fumes: 'No one has seen it'...
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year...
Intelligence Reports Offer Dim Views of Afghan War...
HOLBROOKE LAST WORDS: STOP THIS WAR!

UPDATE: RUSSIA TO USE CHINA CURRENCY IN TRADES...
UK GRANTS ASSANGE BAIL; SWEDEN APPEALS...
Release delayed...
Lawyer: Secret Grand Jury Meeting Outside Washington on Leak...
CHRISTMAS CRIMES: Drive-By Purse Snatcher Terrorizing Women In NJ...
2 women charged with robbing 74-year-old...
Hundreds of gifts for kids stolen from 'Toys for Tots'...
Thousands of dollars in donated toys ruined after skunk attack...
Copper thieves burn down city's Christmas tree...
Burglar steals family's gifts -- and its dog!
Grave robbers steal 400 urns from cemetery...
'Grinch' Steals Packages Off Doorsteps, Signs For Deliveries...
Home Invaders Tie Up 12-Year-Old Boy, Take Video Games...
90-Year-Old Man Put In Choke-Hold, Robbed Of $370...
'Tea Party' anger simmers over backroom deal; Ramps up efforts...
2 Bank Failures Bring Year's Tally To 151...
COPS: Madoff's son hangs himself with dog collar in SoHo apartment...
...gave mechanic $400 tip day before suicide
Madoff Trustee Launches $19.6 Billion Lawsuit; 60 accused of participating in 'illegal scheme'...
Pump prices close in on average $3 a gallon...
FLASHBACK: $1.81 when Obama took office...
BLOW TO O: JUDGE RULES GOV'T CAN'T MANDATE CITIZENS BUY HEALTH CARE...
Cantor: Direct Appeal to Supremes...
POLL: Support For Obamacare Hits New Low...
Pelosi: 'Are You Serious?'
Obama: 'I'm itching for a fight'...
U N C O N S T I T U T I O N A L
Barbara Walters: 'This Guy (wobama) Has an Emotional Problem' [ Yes, it’s true, babawawa … wobama has substantial mental problems which along with inherent criminality are pervasive in america which also includes boner, and where were you in discussing such, babawawa regarding psychopaths bush, clinton, etc., or even former beau, senile greenspun ]...
DEFICIT HITS RECORD...
Putin Slams West for Assange Arrest...
US cable: Cuba to be insolvent within 2-3 years...
Assange Lawyers Prepare for U.S. Spying Indictment...
Teen Arrested in Hack Attacks...
Donations to WIKILEAKS are Tax Deductible -- in Germany...
Anonymous cyberwarriors stun experts...
Media outlets may be probed over WikiLeaks stories, joe ‘zelig zionist incompetent and corrupt‘ lieberman in Campaign To Trample The First Amendment claims Can the US government prosecute media outlets that reported on the WikiLeaks cables? According to joe ‘zelig zionist incompetent and corrupt‘ lieberman in his Campaign To Trample The First Amendment, the answer is maybe.
Home Values May Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year...
UNEMPLOYMENT WEEK: DOWN TO 421,000; REVISED UP LAST WEEK 438,000...
POLL: Most Americans Say They’re Worse Off Under Obama...
F O [Related: Olbermann: Obama Is ‘God Damned Wrong’ ]
REVENGE OF THE WIKIS!
Army of hackers targets the Swedish government...
Take down MASTERCARD site...
...VISA
PAYPAL...
AMAZON braces for hactivist attack...
Palin under cyber attack...
Assange's 'poison pill' file impossible to stop...
MOSCOW: Give Assange Nobel Peace Prize...
SENATE REJECTS REPEAL OF DON'T ASK DON'T TELL...
House Dems push through massive budget bill...
Final House Race Decided; GOP Net Gain: 63 Seats...
Ron Paul, Author of 'End the Fed,' to Lead Fed Oversight Panel...
Student protesters in London turn violent over tuition hikes...
Thousands try to break through police barricades at Houses of Parliament...
...attack car containing Prince Charles, Camilla...
Rolls Royce hit with paint; rear window smashed...
US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off since LEHMAN...
Prices Plunge for 2nd Day on Deficit Fears...
Rattles investors...
Oil tipped to bubble over $100 barrel...
Food Stamp Rolls Continue to Rise...
SHOCK POLL: Americans Believe China Has Surpassed USA in Economic Strength...
'U.S. fiscal health worse than Europe's'...
Sorkin: Palin TV show is 'snuff movie'... [ Yeah … ‘she’s really all that’ and worse … I have great difficulty getting past the fact that she’s so incredibly dumb … not just ‘nonintellectual’ … butt really dumb! ] ‘… Sorkin, writer of the recent Facebook movie The Social Network, also accused the Fox News contributor of making a "snuff film" after the latest episode of Sarah's Palin's Alaska featured the politician going hunting with her father and shooting a caribou. He described Palin as "deranged", a "witless bully" and a "phony pioneer girl". He also said The Learning Channel, the US cable network, "should be ashamed of itself" for broadcasting her "truly awful reality show"…’
Senate convicts Clinton-appointed judge... [ Come on! One way or another they’re almost all getting bribed; including the initial lifetime appointment as alito, trump-barry, etc.. 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 ) End those lifetime licenses to steel. ] In earlier hearings, two attorneys who once worked with Porteous had testified that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash, including about $2,000 stuffed in an envelope in 1999, just before Porteous decided a major civil case in their client's favor.
Assange could face espionage trial in USA...
Palin under cyber attack...
1st Amendment issues...
Assange's 'poison pill' file impossible to stop...
WIKILEAKS: Stop Us? You'll Have to Shut Down Web...
Berkeley 'resolution' honoring leaker...
Scientologists outraged over spoof Christmas play... [ Hubbard was such a total fraud! Scientologists are delusional! ]St. Petersburg, Florida – ‘A controversial holiday musical production is set to open at American Stage Theatre in St. Petersburg. Photos: Pictures of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" is a musical play designed for the holiday season, but this play will not focus on Jesus Christ, but instead the story is about L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church Of Scientology…’
NO BAIL...
Assange 'sabotaged condom' during one night stand...
Refused to wear one during another...
Stockholm police: Both women are victims...
INTERPOL WARRANT FOR NOT WEARING PROTECTION?
ASSANGE UNDER ARREST:
'HE DIDN'T WEAR A CONDOM'
Under arrest, will Assange dump the Doomsday Files?
Assange: Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths...
FLASHBACK: HILLARY COMPLAINS GOVERNMENTS BLOCK FREE FLOW OF INFO ON INTERNET...
WIKILEAKS: LIVE UPDATES...
FCC push to regulate news draws fire...
Lieberman: NYT may have committed crime by printing WIKILEAKS docs...
US to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011 … [ What a total travesty! The u.s. as host … What a cruel joke! ] ...
OBAMA RACES TO CUT TAXES BEFORE REPUBLICANS: 6.2% Social Security tax would drop to 4.2% for workers for one year... MORE
THE NEW OBAMA!
SURPRISE TAX CUT MOVE [ As with defacto bankrupt america generally, more defacto bankrupt social security system, etc., are distinctions without significant differences. ]
OIL HITS $89...
Pump prices hit 2-year high...
Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency, Proposes $9.9 Billion In Cuts...
Top Democrats defect, join unified GOP...
WIKILEAKS' Assange Will Release Encrypted Files If Arrested...
Cables Reveal How US Manipulated Climate Accord...
Cable: China Leaders Ordered Hacking on GOOGLE...
Meddling by Neighbors Adds to Iraq's Woes...
Government Workers Ordered Not to Read Cables...
Gingrich: Leaks Show Admin 'Shallow,' 'Amateurish'...
McConnell: Assange a 'High-Tech Terrorist'...
List of facilities 'vital to US security' leaked...
Mirror Sites Appear by the Hundreds...
Assange Speaks...
Hillary Jokes...
US forced to shake up embassies around world...
THE DOOMSDAY FILES
PAPER: Wave goodbye to Internet freedom...
[ I’m absolutely astounded that the world is not profoundly grateful to Assange et als for providing insight into the machinations and insanity of pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, et als who wreaked havoc on the world as they pillage, plunder, and destroy (lives, nations, etc.). ]
+39,000 JOBS IN NOVEMBER...
BOEHNER: Dem Leaders Should Stop Wasting Time on Tax Hike Votes...
HALPERIN: Dems 'In Midst of Nervous Breakdown'...
Obama Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan...
Flies 7,000 miles -- talks to Karzai for 15 minutes on phone!
Forgets the Coast Guard...
Leaves Biden behind to handle 'disappointing' jobs report...
Reid, funded by casinos, pushes online gambling...
ABCNEWS accused of breaking embargo...
2010 death toll of US troops nears that of 2001-2008 combined...
OBAMA SPEECHWRITER JOKES ABOUT TSA GROPING: Allows 'defrocked priests to give back to society'...
US Deficit-Cutting Plan Falls Short of Needed Votes...
UNEMPLOYMENT UP TO 9.8%
HILLARY: Secretary of State will be 'my last public position'... ... PITCHE$ $IGNED DVD ON HOME $HOPPING NETWORK..
US TO BAILOUT EU [ Riiiiight! Sounds like a plan! After all, in defacto bankrupt america money does grow on trees … derivatively (pun intended) that is … you know … that ever more worthless fiat paper currency … and ultimately, existentially, philosophically, doesn’t paper come from trees … sure it does …so, no problemo since money grows on trees. ]
BOMBSHELL: European banks took big slice of Fed aid...
Hundreds of billions of dollars...
Fed reveals global extent of its backing... ]Funds went to stalwarts of American industry including GE and Caterpillar and household-name companies such as Verizon, new data show.
GEORGIA: HUNDREDS LINE UP IN COLD FOR HEAT HELP...
Assistance Funds Quickly Depleted...
'Almost like being in soup line during great depression'...
VIDEO...
DELAYING TAX VOTE COULD 'CRASH STOCK MARKET' STARTING 12/15 [ Come on! There’s no way to justify the tax cut to the top 1% including the frauds on wall street … their threats don’t hunt no more … the nation’s defacto bankrupt … see Davis, supra! ]
Chase Bank orders branch to remove Christmas tree...
Cyber attack forces WIKILEAKS to change web address...
Respected media outlets collaborate with organization... [ Said outlets and other disseminators and of course Wikileaks deserve accolades for the advancement of first amendment liberties in the name of an informed global body politick for all.]
UPDATE: Latest developments...
Foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys'...
Embassy cables portray Karzai as corrupt, erratic...
CIA drew up UN spying wishlist...
Assange speaks...
UPDATE: Latest WIKILEAKS developments...
Foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys'...
Embassy cables portray Karzai as corrupt, erratic...
CIA drew up UN spying wishlist...
SANTA CLAUSE: FED AID WENT TO COMPANIES, BANKS, OFFSHORE...
SECRETLY BAILED OUT GE -- GE NEWS OUTLETS FAILED TO REVEAL IN FED COVERAGE...
SANTA CLAUSE: FORD, BMW, TOYOTA Took Secret Government Money......
Fed Created Conflicts in Improvising Financial System Rescue...
Tax Breaks for Bailout Recipients Spark Debate...
MORE SECRETS: Fed Withholds Data for $885 Billion in Loans...
RUSSIA TO HOST '18 WORLD CUP FINALS...
Qatar selected '22 host over USA, others...
'AMERICAN PSYCHO' musical in works... [ I recommend the derivative films, American Psycho and American Psycho 2, for insight! ]
National Board of Review: SOCIAL NETWORK named best film... [ National board of what? ‘Inception’ is by far and away the ‘Best Film’ across the board, in all categories, and on the list! ] LIST...
BANK OF AMERICA Becoming 'Bank of Asia' as Revenue Increases 30% ...
RESET: PUTIN CRITICIZES USA OVER WIKILEAKS … [ Putin deserves the greatest deference in matters of global concern in light of his greater rationality; america’s self-serving accusations are merely envy and projection / displacement (in psychoanalytic terms) of america’s pervasively corrupt, criminal, broken system which is a far cry in reality from defacto bankrupt america’s propaganda.]...
REWARD: [ The payoff. Bribe complete! Next bribe scenario … ] CITI to Hire Obama's Ex-Budget Chief Orszag...
FLASHBACK: Rubin and friends ride NY-DC shuttle...
ZUCKERMAN: Watching America's Decline and Fall [the moral authority of the West has dramatically declined in the face of the financial crisis. It has revealed deep fault lines within Western economies that have spread to the global economy. The majority of Western governments are running fiscal deficits of 10 percent or more relative to GDP, but it is increasingly clear that there will be no quick fixes, that big government and fiscal deficits will not bring us back to the status quo ante. Indeed, the tidal wave of red ink has meant that the leverage-led or debt-led growth model is dead. Developed countries will be forced to deal with their debt on every level, from the personal to the corporate to the sovereign. Being able to borrow may have made people feel richer, but having to repay the debt is certainly making them feel poorer, particularly since the unfunded liabilities that many governments face from aging populations will have to be paid for by a shrinking band of workers. (Ecoutez, mes amis!) Demography is destiny. As a result, there is a burgeoning consensus that we are witnessing an inevitable rise of the East and a decline of the West…( Harry Dent, Jr. Economy will be in a Depression by 2011
The worst of this next depression is likely to hit between mid-2010 and mid-2013, especially around early 2011, but if the banking system continues to implode a deep downturn or depression could begin sometime in 2009 instead of 2010.
Dow will Fall to 3,800 – 4,500 by 2012
Nasdaq will Fall Below 1,100, its 2002 low, by late 2010 or mid-2012 at the latest.
Inflation will Increase until mid- 2010 and then turn to Deflation
Interest Rates will Increase
U.S. Dollar will Decline
Housing will Decline by 40 – 60% from Today’s Levels
Greatest Economic and Banking Crisis since the 1930s will Occur Between 2010 and 2012). ) ]...
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 forum discussion of ‘bystander effect’ / diffusion of responsibility. ) - Having had occasion to have run down a mugger in newark, n.j. who apparently 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 ) ]
Nation's '2nd Most Dangerous City' (camden, new jersey) To Lay Off Nearly Half Of Police Force...
Chicagoland: Vandals torch Christmas charity van...

Businessman gets harsh prison term (Washington Post) [ Come on! Quality of justice concerns by pervasively corrupt / defacto bankrupt america (I’ve seen this first hand and have sworn under penalty of perjury to the readily discernible corruption in the ‘so-called judicial process’ / american illegal system; and Orwellian britain / european illegal systems little better as toadies to the criminal americans)? Don’t make me laugh? The u.s. illegal system is a cruel joke! What parallel universe / fantasy land are they living in? ] A Moscow judge's decision to impose the harshest possible penalty on Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky signaled that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin intends to keep a firm grip on power and is unwilling to bend to American and European concerns about the quality of Russian justice.

October 15, 2010 (*see infra)

Steven M. Martinez, Assistant Director In Charge
Federal Bureau of Investigation, USDOJ
11000 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1700

Los Angeles, CA 90024

Dear Sir:

I enclose herewith 3 copies of the within DVD rom autorun disk (which will open in your computer’s browser) as per your office’s request as made this day (the disk and contents have been scanned by Avast, McAfee, and Norton which I’ve installed on my computer to prevent viral attacks / infection and are without threat). I also include 1 copy of the DVD as filed with the subject court as referenced therein (which files are also included on the aforesaid 3 disks in a separate folder named ‘112208opocoan’). The (civil) RICO action (as you’re aware, the RICO Act is a criminal statute which provides a civil remedy, including treble damages and attorney fees, as an incentive for private prosecution of said claims probably owing to the fact that the USDOJ seems somewhat overwhelmed and in need of such assistance given the seriousness and prevalence of said violations of law which have a corrupting influence on the process, and which corruption is pervasive). A grievance complaint against Coan was also filed concurrently with the subject action and held in abeyance pending resolution of the action which was illegally dismissed without any supporting law and in contravention of the Order of The Honorable Robert N. Chatigny, Chief Judge, USDC, District Connecticut. The files below the horizontal rule are the referenced documents as filed. (Owing to the damage to the financial interests of both the U.S. and the District of Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, viz., Los Angeles, the Qui Tam provisions of the Federal False Claims Act probably would apply and I would absent resolution seek to refer the within to a firm with expertise in that area of the law with which I am not familiar).

The document in 5 pages under penalty of perjury I was asked to forward to the FBI office in New Haven is probably the best and most concise summary of the case RICO Summary to FBI Under Penalty of Perjury at Their Request (5 pages) [ ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://albertpeia.com/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf ].

The correspondence I received from the Congresswoman by way of email attachment (apparent but typical problem with my mail) along with my response thereto is included on the 3 disks as fbicorrespondencereyes.htm . With regard to the calls to the FBI’s LA and New Haven, CT offices: There was one call to the LA office and I was referred to the Long Beach, CA office where I personally met with FBI Agent Jeff Hayes to whom I gave probative evidentiary documents of the money laundering which he confirmed as indicative of same (he was transferred from said office within approximately a month of said meeting and his location was not disclosed to me upon inquiry). The matter was assigned to FBI Agent Ron Barndollar and we remained in touch for in excess of a decade until he abruptly retired (our last conversation prior to his retirement related to the case and parenthetically, Rudy Giuliani whose father I stated had been an enforcer for the mob to which he registered disbelief and requested I prove it, which I did – he served 12 years in prison, aggravated assault/manslaughter? – and no, there is no Chinese wall of separation – Andrew Maloney’s the one that prosecuted gotti).

In contradistinction to the statement in said correspondence, there is a plethora of information including evidence supporting the claims set forth in the RICO VERIFIED COMPLAINT (see infra). Such includes and as set forth in the case, inter alia,

1. A judgment had been entered in my favor in the case, United States District Court Case #3:93cv02065(AWT)(USDCJ Alvin Thompson), worth approximately now in excess of $300,000 remains unaccounted for and which could be used for payment to creditors, Los Angeles, etc..
2. Counsel Robert Sullivan on my behalf documented by way of certification upon investigation that Alan Shiff, USBCJ, had falsely stated a dismissal upon which false statement he predicated a retaliatory and spurious contempt proceeding against me causing substantial damage, and for which he sought Judicial Notice of those and related proceedings as did I in some of my filings.
3. The Order of Dismissal With Prejudice by Alan Shiff, USBCJ, owing to Defendant Coan’s failure to file anything whatsoever by the court’s deadline causing creditors and me substantial damages: [ Shiff Order of Dismissal With Prejudice on Coan’s Failure to File Page 1 Page 2 ]
4. Defendant Coan had filed an action against me to prevent me from suing him which necessitated me to fly to Connecticut for a hearing before The Honorable Robert N. Chatigny, Chief Judge, USDC, District of Connecticut, who denied Coan’s requested relief as to Coan but precluded my action against Shiff (although there is no immunity, judicial or otherwise, for criminal acts, ie., fraud connected with a case under Title 11, USC, etc.) . [ transcript in pertinent part - crossexamofcoanbypeia.pdf ]
5. Newly appointed judge, Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump’s sister, was assigned the RICO case despite the conflict of interest in light of hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal (drug) money being laundered through the Trump casinos by the RICO defendants, and despite my motion to recuse her which motion she heard herself and denied, and U.S. Trustee Hugh Leonard with whom I met personally refused to join or file a separate motion to recuse and not long thereafter left said office for private practice at Cole, Shotz, et als on retainer with the RICO defendants as his primary client.
6. Probative and evidentiary documents, affidavits, exhibits, including those turned over to FBI Agent Jeff Hayes in Long Beach, CA, had been given to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lacey with whom I met personally at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, N.J., at which time Samuel Alito was U.S. Attorney, and went over said documents and their probative value with him. Within approximately a month thereafter upon inquiry I was told that Jonathon Lacey was no longer with the office, that the file/documents could not be located, and that there was no further information available concerning contacting him or his location. I thereupon delivered by hand, copies of said documents to the office of then U.S. Attorney Alito, addressed to him, with assurance they would go directly to him. In addition to being inept [ I looked in on the one mob case he had brought, bungled, lost (accidently on purpose?) since I was suing some mob-connected under RICO and the court (I had known / previously met outside of court the judge Ackerman through a client) was absolute bedlam and a total joke since incompetent corrupt Alito brought in all 20 mob defendants (rather than prosecute one or a few to flip them first) who feigning illness had beds/cots in the courtroom along with their moans during testimony and had the jury in stitches. As much as I hate the mob, it truly was funny, if not so tragic.], Alito is also corrupt (and maybe corrupt because he is inept). After a reasonable (but still rather short) time I called to determine the status and was told that Alito was no longer with the Office of the U.S. Attorney, that he was (appointed) a federal judge, and that neither the documents nor any file or record of same could be located. Alito did parley the same / cover-up into quid pro quo direct lifetime appointment to the Court of Appeals, 3^rd circuit, despite the absence of judicial experience or successful tenure as U.S. Attorney (Maryanne Trump Barry as well). This is the same Sam Alito that now sits on the purported highest court in the land. The real application of the illegal rule ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.

There is applicable insurance / surety coverage and neither LA, nor creditors, nor I should continue to have been damaged by this brazened corrupt and illegal scenario, which should be resolved in accordance with the meaningful rules of law apposite thereto.

Sincerely,

Albert L. Peia

611 E. 5^th Street, #404

Los Angeles, CA 90013

(213) 219-**** (cell phone)

(213) 622-3745 (listed land line but there are unresolved problems with the line, computer connection may be the reason but I hesitate to chance greater non-performance / worsening by their ‘fix’ so cell phone best for contact).

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*The foregoing and as indicated therein was previously send 9-14-10 but delivery confirmation was flawed as set forth below and my inquiries to the u.s. postal service rebuffed (I believe tampered with inasmuch as your office could not locate same). This cover letter (9-13-10) is on the 3 disks with navigable hyperlinks to the subject files for ease of reference, including the files in the RICO action as indicated. (10-15-10) I spoke with Rose, FBI, ADIC Secretary, who indicates once again that your office has not received the aforesaid and which can reasonably be presumed to have been tampered with, and hence, a violation of the federal statute concerning same. ]

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Former president convicted of rape (Washington Post) [ Between the orgies, war crimes, assassinations, etc., what a bunch of sick perverts, criminals the israeli operatives / powers that be and their friends are; see, ie., Victor Ostrovsky Mossad ebook download in PDF format September: Victor Ostrovsky, a former Mossad trainee, publishes his book By Way of Deception ... Israel's Mossad has regularly faked Australian passports for its. spies, … 1 http://khup.com/keyword/victor-ostrovsky-mossad-by-way-of-deception.html 2 http://khup.com/keyword/page-2/victor-ostrovsky-mossad-by-way-of-deception.html 3 http://khup.com/keyword/page-3/victor-ostrovsky-mossad-by-way-of-deception.html ] An Israeli court finds former president Moshe Katsav guilty of rape, indecent assault and sexual harassment of female subordinates, the most serious conviction of a former top official in Israel's history

A villain in foreclosure crisis (Washington Post) [ Villain … as in singular … as opposed to plural in a very big way … I don’t think so … We can hear new words ringing and put to that once popular theme, formerly of love but now of fraud, ‘Where do we begin, to tell the story of how great and massive frauds can be, that great fraud story that spreads from sea to sea, in defacto bankrupt america and the futures taken from we … Yes, ‘Fraud Story’ … the forever american story… It’s really that bad and worse than could be imagined at this immutably intractable juncture. I mean, what isn’t fraudulent in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america today, from courts, to government, to policy, etc., ie., inter alia see infra, Senate convicts Clinton-appointed judge... [ Come on! One way or another they’re almost all getting bribed; including the initial lifetime appointment as alito, trump-barry, etc.. 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 ) End those lifetime licenses to steel. ] In earlier hearings, two attorneys who once worked with Porteous had testified that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash, including about $2,000 stuffed in an envelope in 1999, just before Porteous decided a major civil case in their client's favor. ] A registry with 67M mortgages on file shoulders much of blame in the uproar over the paperwork mess.

Go to following pages for above links:
http://www.albertpeia.com/currentopics2ndqtr10108.htm
http://www.albertpeia.com
http://www.albertpeia.com/alresume.htm
http://www.scribd.com/alpeia
http://alpeiablog.blogspot.com

http://www.albertpeia.com/wallstreetlunacy2ndqtr10108.htm

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