February 24, 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 ]

Some now question U.S. deal that brought Gaddafi back into diplomatic fold (Washington Post) [ Oh, come on! At this point in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america’s intractable decline, naivity becomes no one! …Money, oil, arms change hands and no one’s the wiser … and those few are again substantially richer … it’s the fatally tragic ‘american tale’… Arms deals still made amid Middle East crackdowns (Washington Post) You bet your bippy … a raison d’etre, so to speak. ]ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - As Libya's Moammar Gaddafi ordered attacks on his own people this week, thousands of arms sellers from the United States and other countries hawked their aircraft, riot gear and rifles to Middle Eastern buyers at the Persian Gulf's preeminent arms show.

Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden (Washington Post) [ Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden Infowars.com [ No surprise here. As I’ve previously written, I’m against the censorship since one always, in the final analysis, must discern truth from falsehood, information from disinformation, reality from propaganda. In truth, I found it somewhat shocking and more than surprising that of all places ‘to escape to’, Assange chose Orwellian england, puppet to the u.s. and guarantor of servility to u.s./zionist interests, such is their own desperate circumstances. What was he thinking? ] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Assange will appeal, his legal team confirmed. If this is unsuccessful, he will be extradited to Sweden in 10 days. ] LONDON - Britain will honor Sweden's request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face sex-crime allegations, a British judge ruled Thursday.

Oil prices on the rise (Washington Post) [ And except when and for fraudulent / false / manipulated data, everything else down, dirty, and dismal: AP Business Highlights: February 24, 2011, ‘New-home sales in January drop 12.6 pct WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes fell significantly in January, a dismal sign after the worst year for that sector in nearly a half-century.New-home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 284,000 homes last month, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That's down from 325,000 in December and less than half the 600,000-a-year pace that economists view as healthy…’ (Washington Post) New-home sales fell more than forecast / FHFA: Home prices fell in fourth quarter Pro-government forces, rebels engage in battles for territory (Washington Post) [ The big story here, lost on mainstream media, was the manipulated stock / oil price fraud based upon false rumor of daffy gaddafi not ducking and having been shot. Remember: there’s no place for reality in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america and on fraudulent wall street particularly. STOCKS MAKE HUGE TURNAROUND ON STUNNING COLLAPSE IN OIL: BASED SOLELY ON NOW KNOWN TO BE FALSE TWITTER RUMOR! [ Don’t be surprised if the frauds on wall street initiated the rumors; their fraudulent manipulations have included far worse … put them in jail where they belong, with fines, disgorgement! ( ‘…an apparently Twitter-borne rumor started making the rounds that Qaddafi had been shot! There was no basis for it, but oil simply collapsed…’ ) ] Weisenthal, On Thursday February 24, 2011 Thank Twitter-borne rumors of Qaddafi's death for the fact that markets totally didn't get crushed today…’ ] Militiamen, mercenaries hit cities near capital while protesters seized air force base; U.S., other Western powers consider responses to situation. Gaddafi loyalists launch counterattacks ] Crude prices broke through the $100-a-barrel threshold as violence in Libya continued to shake markets.

Senate Democrats draft cuts in domestic agency budgets (Washington Post) [ Do these ‘too little, too late’ so-called cuts purport to make the nation ‘less bankrupt’? There’s no such thing … absolutely preposterous! And, Kotlikoff thinks so as well, see immediately hereafter… ] The plan will involve accelerating some of the $33 billion in program terminations and reductions included in Obama's proposed budget for next year.

When Pretending Fails to Hide Bankruptcy: Laurence Kotlikoff ( Today in the WashingtonPost.Com ) Laurence Kotlikoff Feb 22, 2011

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Our country is bankrupt. It’s not bankrupt in 30 years or five years. It’s bankrupt today.

Want proof? Look at President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget. It showed a massive fiscal gap over the next 75 years, the closure of which requires immediate tax increases, spending cuts, or some combination totaling 8 percent of gross domestic product. To put 8 percent of GDP in perspective, this year’s employee and employer payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare will amount to just 5 percent of GDP.

Actually, the picture is much worse. Nothing in economics says we should look out just 75 years when considering the present-value difference between future spending and future taxes. Over the full long-term, we need an extra 12 percent, not 8 percent, of GDP annually.

Seventy-five years seems like a long enough time to plan. It’s not. Had the Greenspan Commission, which “fixed” Social Security back in 1983, focused on the true long term we wouldn’t be sitting here now with Social Security 26 percent underfunded. The Social Security trustees, at least, have learned a lesson. The 26 percent figure is based on their infinite horizon fiscal- gap calculation.

But the real reason we can’t look out just 75 years is that the government’s cash flows (the difference between its annual taxes and non-interest spending) over any period of time, including the next 75 years, aren’t well defined. This reflects economics’ labeling problem. If you use different words to describe the receipts taken in and paid out each year by the government, you produce entirely different cash flows and an entirely different fiscal gap measured over any finite horizon.

Matter of Language

It’s only the value of the infinite horizon fiscal gap that is unaffected by the choice of labels of language. Take this year’s payroll tax contributions. Let’s call these transfers from workers to Uncle Sam “borrowing” by the government, rather than “payroll taxes,” since the money will be paid back as future benefits. If the future payback isn’t in full (equal to principal plus interest), we can call the difference a “retirement tax.” Presto! With this change of words, our 2011 deficit of about 10 percent of GDP is boosted another five points to 15 percent.

With one set of words, taxes are higher now and lower latter. With the other set of words, the opposite is true. But neither set of labels makes more economic sense than the other or changes what the government takes, on balance, from any person or business in any given year.

This is no surprise. The math of economics rules out an absolute measure of the deficit, just like the math of physics rules out an absolute measure of time.

Bottom Line

The bottom line, then, is that we need to look at the infinite-horizon fiscal gap not just for Social Security, but for the entire federal government. That analysis, based on the Congressional Budget Office’s long-term alternative fiscal scenario, shows an unfathomable fiscal gap of $202 trillion. And covering this gap requires coming up with the aforementioned 12 percent of GDP, forever.

If this gives you the willies, there’s a ready narcotic -- the president’s 2012 budget, which shows that most of our long- term fiscal problem has miraculously disappeared; the fiscal gap isn’t 12 percent of annual GDP. Nor is it 8 percent. It’s now 1.8 percent.

This fantastic improvement in our finances is due, we’re told, primarily to the Independent Payment Advisory Board. This board, to be established in 2014 (after the next election, of course) is charged with recommending cuts to Medicare and Medicaid providers when their costs grow too fast.

Repealing Cuts

We’ve had laws mandating such cuts for years, and they are routinely repealed. Indeed, President Obama signed the latest such repeal last June. But rather than laugh out loud at this cost-control mechanism, the Medicare trustees, three-quarters of whom were appointed by the president, assume in their 2010 report that these cuts will be made -- to the dollar. And the 2012 budget cites the report’s fictional forecast as its authoritative source.

No one takes the 2010 Medicare trustee report’s long-run projections seriously, least of all Richard Foster, Medicare’s chief actuary. Foster added this statement to the end of the report: “The financial projections shown in this report for Medicare do not represent a reasonable expectation…in either the short range…or the long range.”

This isn’t the first administration to conceal our long- term fiscal problem. Back in 1993, Alice Rivlin, then deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, asked me and economists Alan Auerbach and Jagadeesh Gokhale to prepare a long-term fiscal gap/generational accounting for inclusion in President Bill Clinton’s 1994 budget.

Politics Triumphs

We worked for months on the analysis, but two days before the budget’s release, the study was excised from the budget. We were shocked, but, in retrospect, the politics are clear. The Clinton administration wanted to claim it was fiscally prudent and the study, which showed unofficial debt growing at enormous rates, showed the opposite.

The fiscal gap’s next near appearance in a president’s budget was in 2003. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill commissioned Gokhale and Kent Smetters to do the study. It showed a massive $45 trillion fiscal gap -- not a great basis for pushing tax cuts or introducing the prescription-drug benefit for seniors, known as Medicare Part D. O’Neill was ousted on Dec. 6, 2002, and a couple of days later the fiscal-gap study was discarded.

I’m not sure whether censoring the fiscal gap is more dishonorable than fudging it. What I do know is that we can’t assume our problems away and that I expected far better of this president when I voted for him.

--Editors: James Greiff, Steven Gittelson

Pro-government forces, rebels engage in battles for territory (Washington Post) [ The big story here, lost on mainstream media, was the manipulated stock / oil price fraud based upon false rumor of daffy gaddafi not ducking and having been shot. Remember: there’s no place for reality in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america and on fraudulent wall street particularly. STOCKS MAKE HUGE TURNAROUND ON STUNNING COLLAPSE IN OIL: BASED SOLELY ON NOW KNOWN TO BE FALSE TWITTER RUMOR! [ Don’t be surprised if the frauds on wall street initiated the rumors; their fraudulent manipulations have included far worse … put them in jail where they belong, with fines, disgorgement! ( ‘…an apparently Twitter-borne rumor started making the rounds that Qaddafi had been shot! There was no basis for it, but oil simply collapsed…’ ) ] Weisenthal, On Thursday February 24, 2011 Thank Twitter-borne rumors of Qaddafi's death for the fact that markets totally didn't get crushed today…’ ] Militiamen, mercenaries hit cities near capital while protesters seized air force base; U.S., other Western powers consider responses to situation. Gaddafi loyalists launch counterattacks ] Crude prices broke through the $100-a-barrel threshold as violence in Libya continued to shake markets.

STOCKS MAKE HUGE TURNAROUND ON STUNNING COLLAPSE IN OIL: BASED SOLELY ON NOW KNOWN TO BE FALSE TWITTER RUMOR! [ Don’t be surprised if the frauds on wall street initiated the rumors; their fraudulent manipulations have included far worse … put them in jail where they belong, with fines, disgorgement! ( ‘…an apparently Twitter-borne rumor started making the rounds that Qaddafi had been shot! There was no basis for it, but oil simply collapsed…’ ) ] Weisenthal, On Thursday February 24, 2011

Thank Twitter-borne rumors of Qaddafi's death for the fact that markets totally didn't get crushed today.

But first, the scoreboard:

Dow: -39.13
NASDAQ: +16.16
S&P 500: -1.03

And now, the top stories:

• The "day" really started around 2:00 AM ET, when oil exploded higher in London trading. It was a vicious move, which sent instantly sent US futures sharply lower. The dollar got clubbed as well.

• (Rewinding for a moment, it was a generally bad day in Asia, with India, once again, taking the most abuse).

• Other than the fact that generally markets were down, Europe was fairly quiet.

• In the US the talk was oil, oil, oil. Everyone had something to say the impact of rising oil on the US economy, and the effect it would have on the consumer. Qaddafi spoke pre-market and sounded insane again.

• Futures were clearly lower in the very early going. Mediocre earnings from Target and GM didn't help at all. But then a strong initial claims report did help modestly.

• Still, stocks were down all day until just after 2:00 PM ET, when an apparently Twitter-borne rumor started making the rounds that Qaddafi had been shot! There was no basis for it, but oil simply collapsed. It helped that around the same time there was talk of the US cracking open its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Markets turned around violently on the news. Gold and silver slid as well.

• And that was basically it.

• Think inflation is going to be a major problem? Click here for 10 companies that will do great if inflation skyrockets >‘

February 22, 2011: Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO PIMCO predicts a period of, at best, stagflation; which of course is bad for stocks (and worse).

Narrowly Mixed Stock Finish as Oil Comes Off Highs Midnight Trader ‘4:25 PM, Feb 24, 2011 --

• NYSE down 16.63 (-0.2%) to 8,276.29
• DJIA down 37.28 (-0.3%) to 12,069
• S&P 500 down 1.30 (-0.1%) to 1,306
• Nasdaq up 14.91 (+0.6%) to 2,738

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng down 1.34%
• Nikkei down 1.19%
• FTSE down 0.06%

UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) PCLN continues evening gain after earnings beat.
(+) ROYL continues evening gain that followed new drilling announcement.
(+) TIV reaches favorable litigation settlement.
(+) DPTR among morning actives.
(+) KSS meets on Q4, sets mixed guidance.
(+) TGT lower then improves after disappointing earnings.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) GM gains after earnings report.
(-) SLXP says FDA may deem Xifaxan sNDA not ready for approval.
(-) ETFC selling shares.
(-) IDCC misses with Q4 earnings.
(-) CLMT selling shares.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stock averages end narrowly mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperforming the other averages. In a late reversal, crude oil closes lower, having crossed as high as $103 a barrel earlier.

Stocks chopped in mixed trading for much of the session as mixed corporate earnings and continuing Middle East turmoil off set new economic data showing a drop in weekly and four-week average jobless claims. Durable goods orders rose in line with expectations.

In a late reversal, crude oil futures settled lower. Oil fell back from the 28-month high hit this week as some investors grew concerned the market had run up too far, too fast.

News that Algeria had lifted decades-old political restrictions, coupled with earlier news that Saudi Arabia had announced a $36-billion aid package, soothed some fears of unrest contagion in the Middle East and North Africa, MarketWatch reported. Oil for April delivery fell 82 cents, or 0.8%, to finish at $97.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had traded past $103 a barrel earlier.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department reported that orders for U.S.-made durable goods rose 2.7% in January on stronger demand for civilian aircraft. The consensus was for a 2.5% gain, MarketWatch estimated, citing a poll of economists.

Meanwhile, new applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined last week by 22,000 to 391,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims in the week ended Feb. 19 to drop to a seasonally adjusted 405,000 from a revised 413,000 the week before. In addition, the four-week moving average, considered less volatile than weekly claims, fell to more than a two-year low, down 16,500 at 402,000.

In company news:

Shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) were down after it said it expects the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to decline approval of its drug Xifaxan. The drug is meant to treat non-constipation irritable bowel syndrome. The FDA reportedly does not think the medicine is ready for approval and sought additional information.

E*Trade Financial (ETFC) was down after announcing that Citadel Equity Fund Ltd., an affiliate of Citadel LLC, is offering 23,950,000 shares of E*Trade's common stock in an underwritten offering. The hedge fund has also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,592,500 shares of common stock. Closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about March 1, 2011, subject to customary closing conditions.

Shares of Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) were higher after the company announced late Wednesday record year-end 2010 proved reserves and reported record production and sales volumes for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2010.

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) were down after Bloomberg reported the media company is among other movie studios that lost a piracy lawsuit in Australia. The Federal Court of Australia Full Court upheld a lower-court judge's verdict that iiNet and local Internet companies aren't responsible for customers illegally downloading films.

Tri-Valley (TIV) said it won a favorable settlement of lease termination litigation brought in 2009 by the lessors of its Lenox Ranch oil and gas leases located in its Pleasant Valley oil sands project near Oxnard, Calif.

Chevron (CVX) shares were higher after Reuters reported the company has started to drill an exploratory well at a site in Bangladesh to determine if there are gas reserves there. Chevron is planning to drill the exploratory well up to a 4,500-meter depth. Development will start next year.

Corporate earnings continued:

--GM (GM) reports Q4 revenue of $36.9 billion and earnings of $0.31 per share. The Street view was $32.9 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.46 per share. It's unclear if the earnings numbers are comparable.

--DISH Network Corp. (DISH) reports Q4 profit of $0.56 from $0.40 a year earlier, topping the Street view for $0.53. Total revenue for the quarter rose 8.2% to $3.21 billion, in line with the Street view. The company said it lost around 156,000 net subscribers during the fourth quarter, giving the group around 14.13 million subscribers at year-end.

--Heinz (HNZ) expects full year EPS in the range of $3.04 to $3.10 per share, up from previous guidance of $2.95 to $3.05 per share. The Street is at $3.09 per share. For Q4, the company expects EPS of around $0.84 per share, vs. the Street view of $0.79 per share.

--Target (TGT) reports Q4 EPS of $1.45, which includes a 7-cent-per-share tax gain. The Street view was $1.40 per share, excluding items. Sales were $20.3 billion, just shy of expectations of $20.7 billion.

--ADRs of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are down after the bank swung to a Q4 profit of 12 million pounds ($19 million) from a loss of 765 million pounds a year earlier. The net loss for the year shrank to 1.13 billion pounds from 3.61 billion pounds, but was still worse than the 700 million pound loss analysts had been expecting, MarketWatch reported.

--IMAX (IMAX) reports Q4 revenue of $69.2 mln, better than the analyst consensus of $61 mln on Thomson Reuters. Reported EPS was $0.21, in line with expectations.

--Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) reports Q4 adjusted EPS $3.67 a share compared to $3.69 a year earlier, while the Street view is for $3.60. Revenue slipped less than 1% to $13.14 billion from $13.25 billion but topped the Street view for $13.02 billion. Late on Wednesday, Sears named Louis D'Ambrosio chief executive, succeeding W. Bruce Johnson, who had been interim CEO for three years. D'Ambrosio had been consulting to Sears for six months; prior to that he had been CEO of Avaya Inc.’

That House You Bought 10 Years Ago Is Worth Exactly The Same Now As It Was Then Depew ‘The chart below shows the median price for existing homes, which is down 3.7 percent year-over-year to $158,000. Some interesting things to note about this:

1) While existing home sales increased 2.7 percent, the percent of home sales which were distressed rose to 37 percent, an incredible amount if you stop to think about it.
2) Also, 32 percent of the existing home sales transactions were for cash.
3) Oh, and if you were thinking that the housing bubble collapse has exterminated all speculative activity in the housing market, consider that 23 percent of all sales went to buyers classified as "investors."
4) Finally, while the inventory of existing homes available declined to a little less than 8 months' worth at the current pace of sales, if you factor in the high percentage of distressed sales along with the fact that the National Realtors' Survey doesn't account for inventory listed by banks and private agents... well, you can see where this is headed. [chart]’

The U.S. Dollar Is No Longer a Safe Haven Daily Trader ‘The winds of change appear to be blowing! Some 6 months ago when world financial markets took fright, the average punter would rush headlong into the safety of the USD and US Treasuries.However, something different is now playing out. The USD has been broadly weaker against the "average" paper currency in the world. Yes that is correct, the USD has done rather badly against other currencies since the Egyptian crisis took hold. Over the last few days whilst the Libyan drama has progressed into a full blown crisis and perhaps a prelude to civil war, the USD has again depreciated against a broad basket of currencies. Note the behavior of our Proprietary Currency Index below (16 currencies against the USD). It is only a few "pips" away from breaking to a multi-month high. [chart]Now what if we do see the index above break to a new high and the USD Index to a multi-month low? What would be the implications for other markets like equities, commodities and Treasuries?As far as commodities go it does not take a rocket scientist to work that one out. I don't think a break in the USD would be very supportive for higher US Treasury prices.........after all when have rapidly rising commodity prices been positive for Treasuries?As for equities, well I think it is going to be highly dependent on which sectors you are in. I find it difficult to believe that commodity sensitive sectors like basic materials and energy would weaken. With correlations across stocks breaking down I think the coming months will be very favorable to diligent inflation-oriented stock pickers.’

Stocks Slide as Key Moving Averages Fail to Hold Suttmeier ‘…The ValuEngine Valuation Warning was at an extreme last Friday, and technicals were overbought on daily charts.
The 10-Year Yield -- (3.489) This yield tested its 50-day simple moving average at 3.446 on Wednesday after holding my weekly pivot at 3.529. The 200-day simple moving average is 3.007.
Comex Gold -- ($1410.8) Tested $1417.5 this morning above my monthly risky level at $1412.4. Gold is now overbought on its daily chart with the 50-day at $1373.5 and quarterly and semiannual risky levels at $1441.7 and $1452.6.
Nymex Crude Oil -- ($98.48) Tested the $103.41 this morning above my annual pivots at $99.91 and $101.92. My monthly pivot is $91.83 with semiannual and quarterly risky levels $107.14 and $110.87.
The Euro -- (1.3747) The 50-day is 1.3416 with my weekly risky level at 1.3868.
ValuEngine Valuation Warning -- A ValuEngine Valuation Warning occurs when more than 65% of all stocks in the ValuEngine universe are calculated to be overvalued. On Friday 68.6% of all stocks were overvalued, which was the highest of the year. Today 61.2% of all stocks are overvalued.
The Technical Warning -- All major equity averages ended last week with extremely overbought conditions noted on their weekly charts. This week’s weakness will keep all weekly charts overbought with the exception of Dow Transports, which has declining weekly MOJO.

• We are below all of this week’s pivots; 12,401 Dow Industrials, 1345.0 SPX, 2831 NASDAQ, 2405.1 NDX, 414.82 Utilities, 5241 Dow Transports, and 815.37 Russell 1000 and 483.39 SOX.

Key Levels for the Major Equity Averages

• The Dow Industrial Average (12,106) -- Closes below the 21-day simple moving average at 12,134 targets the 50-day at 11,851. My monthly value level is 11,759 with daily and weekly risky levels at 12,257 and 12,401.
• The S&P 500 (1307.4) -- Closes below the 21-day simple moving average at 1314 targets the 50-day at 1286. My quarterly value level is 1262.5 with daily and weekly risky levels at 1331.3 and 1345.0.
• The NASDAQ (2723) -- Given a close below the 50-day simple moving average at 2721 the risk is to my monthly value level at 2611. Daily, weekly, and quarterly risky levels are 2793, 2831 and 2853.
• The NASDAQ 100 (NDX) (2301) -- Given a close below the 50-day simple moving average at 2293 the risk is to my monthly value level at 2234.7. Daily, weekly, and quarterly risky levels at 2360.00, 2405.10 and 2438.3.
• Dow Transports (4986) -- Closes below the 50-day simple moving averages are 5130 indicated risk to my monthly pivot at 4962, which was tested on Wednesday. My quarterly value level is 4671 with my annual pivot at 5179 and weekly pivot at 5241. A close this week below the five-week modified moving average at 5098 shifts the weekly chart profile to negative.
• The Russell 2000 (799.64) -- Tested its 50-day simple moving average at 795.71 with this week’s pivot at 815.37. My quarterly value level is 765.50 with my weekly pivot at 815.37 and daily risky level at 836.03.
• The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) (444.27) -- Is approaching its 50-day simple moving 436.31. My monthly value level is 398.44 with a quarterly risky level at 465.93.

More Bad News on Housing -- Existing Home Sales rose in January, but the increase was led by rising foreclosures and all-cash buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors prices home prices slumped to a nine-year low. Foreclosure sales accounted for 37% of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million homes. Another 32% were sold in all-cash transactions. The decline in home prices was 3.7% year over year.Housing problems include tighter lending standards including a larger down payment, and higher mortgage rates. The potential inventory of existing homes remains quite high and banks have been slow to foreclose. High unemployment is still cited as an issue.
Some Key Points From the FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile for the Fourth Quarter of 2010

• The FDIC List of Problem Banks rose by 24 to 884 from 860, which is 11.5% of the 7,657 FDIC-insured financial institutions.
• Loan balances fell by $51.8 billion in the fourth quarter on loan write-downs, payoffs, and the slow generation of new loans.
• The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) narrowed its deficit to $7.4 billion from $8.0 billion. The total cost of bank failures through 2013 is projected to about $100 billion.

Libya’s Turmoil Leads to Highest February Gas Prices in 21 Years ABC News | Crude oil touched nearly $102 a barrel in Asia this morning amid fears that Libya could halt exports.

IMF Austerity Measures Lead to Violent Riots in Greece AFP | The confrontation occurred near the finance ministry.

Jobless youths trigger concerns in UK Press TV | A drought of entry-level jobs means door to work is closed to many young people.

Crude breaches $119 in frantic trading Brent crude had breached $119 a barrel during a period of frantic trading around 0745 GMT as industrial needs were hedged and traders exploited an explosion of upside momentum.

Stagflation 2011: Why It Is Here And Why It Is Going To Be Very Painful Are you ready for an economy that has high inflation and high unemployment at the same time? Well, welcome to “Stagflation 2011″. Stagflation exists when inflation and unemployment are both at high levels at the same time.

Oil Is Making Another Gigantic Move, And Now US Futures Are Getting Hammered Crude is having another huge. Brent is near $120. WTI is over $101. The spike happened right when London trading open.

Socialism Gone Apes**t: Obama Wants To Use Proceeds From $20 Billion Fraudclosure Settlement To Reduce Underwater Mortgages [ Yet he still reneges on his promise to prosecute the wall street frauds. ] Ever wonder why the banks have been stowing away cash as if in anticipation of a torrential rainy day?

ECONOMIC CRISIS ARCHIVE

(2-24-11) Dow 12,068 -37 Nasdaq 2,737 +14 S&P 500 1,306 -1 [CLOSE- OIL $97.29 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.17 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $3.56 REG./ $3.66 MID-GRADE/ $3.76 PREM./ $3.88 DIESEL) / GOLD $1,402 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $32.38 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,780 (+56% for year 2009) Metal News for the Day / DOLLAR= .72 EURO, 82 YEN, .62 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update 10 YR NOTE YIELD 3.45% …..… 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

Media Demonizes Gaddafi as Pentagon Prepares Attack Kurt Nimmo | Pentagon has announced it is looking at “all options.”

SPLC Report Lumps In We Are Change With Neo-Nazis, KKK Steve Watson | Suggets that grassroots citizen journalist group has “driven people to murder.”

Gas Prices Set to Rise Nearly 40 Cents in Coming Days Kurt Nimmo | Saudi Arabia in talks to boost oil production as situation in Libya deteriorates.

Exclusive Interview: Charlie Sheen To Appear On The Alex Jones Show 2PM EST Paul Joseph Watson | Actor to set the record straight on exaggerations, misinformation and outright falsehoods concerning his private life and career.

Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True Mark Dice | Tremendous advances in technology often come unforeseen consequences.

Media Demonizes Gaddafi as Pentagon Prepares Attack As we reported yesterday, the United States has specific instructions to intervene militarily in Libya under the cover of providing humanitarian assistance. Less than 24 hours after our report, the Pentagon has announced it is looking at “all options” in dealing with the Libyan crisis. In short, it is drawing up plans to intervene.

Charlie Sheen Unleashes On TSA Actor Charlie Sheen unleashed on the TSA during a wild radio interview on The Alex Jones Show today, raging that he would eat the hands of any TSA worker who tried to touch his children, in response to the story that TSA agents harassed travelers and groped children in Savannah train station earlier this month after the passengers had left the train.

Gas Prices Set to Rise Nearly 40 Cents in Coming Days Earlier this week, market analysts warned that the price of gas may reach $5 by the end of summer. Now they are saying we could see that price by Memorial Day as the situation in Libya deteriorates.

SPLC Report Lumps In We Are Change With Neo-Nazis, KKK The Southern Poverty Law Center has a history of declaring any protest group it sees as “anti-government” as an “extremist” hate group, without justification. Today it continues that trend with the publication of a report that throws in We Are Change members nationwide with racist Neo Nazi groups and Ku Klux Klan factions.

Governor Walker: “We Thought About” Infiltrating Wisconsin Protesters With Troublemakers During a prank phone call in which he believed he was talking to billionaire philanthropist David Koch, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker admitted that state authorities had “thought about” using troublemakers to infiltrate the crowds demonstrating against his effort to eliminate collective bargaining rights, proving once again that the use of agent provocateurs to discredit legitimate protesters is a common political ploy.

FLASHBACK: Gaddafi – Obama Is Friend, Black Man From Our Continent Of Arab Descent He said, “Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama.”

Drudgereport: GADDAFI SHOT?
Libyan uprising closes round Tripoli...
Crude breaches $119 in frantic trading...
CA Gas Station: $4.51 Gallon...
Feds: Food prices set to jump 3.5%...
'Extreme'...
Swiss franc touches record peak against dollar...
California's $800K city manager leaves court on gurney… [California’s extreme in this regard as I noted to a college instructor on coming out here, but aren’t they all overpaid, state and federal; indeed, these career gov’t ees have made over-priced gov’t jobs career goals of themselves which even three decades ago was unheard of other than as a sacrifice of earning power- definitely part of the problem – the overpaid, overpriced, overvalued bureaucrats. ] ...
$100.00
HIGHEST SINCE 2008
Saudi's $36 billion bid to beat unrest...
King offers financial package as opposition calls 'day of rage'...
Nervous China puts security apparatus into overdrive...

Gaddafi loses more Libyan cities...
FORCES DEFY ORDERS...
WH: Obama's 9-Day Silence Due To 'Scheduling Issue'...
Gaddafi relatives fleeing Libya?
State Dept tries to evacuate Americans by boat...
Turkey launches biggest ever evacuation...
AL-JAZEERA LIVE FEED... REUTERS WIRE...
OIL PRICE JUMPS 8.5% IN A DAY
Big Stock Sell Off...
Home Prices Hit Post-Bust Lows in Major Cities...
$4 Gasoline? Yes in California...
Highest Gas Prices in February Since 1990...
Iranian warships sail through Suez Canal for first time since 1979...

REPORT: Gaddafi orders sabotage of oil facilities...
Defies revolt with tanks, planes...
In rambling speech, blames 'tyranny of US,' free drugs for youth...
VIDEO: 'I Will Be A Martyr At The End' …(sounds more like an american hero every day; a martyr for himself!) ...
WH: Nothing to say on Libya...
MUSLIM BROS: KILL GADDAFI...
Intelligence agency 'jamming' TV signals...
Witnesses report bodies in streets...
Oil industry worries unrest could spread...
Russia blames GOOGLE for stirring unrest...
Medvedev sees 'fires for decades' in Arab world...
AL-JAZEERA LIVE FEED... REUTERS WIRE...
GADDAFI FLEES TRIPOLI
UK Foreign Sec: Gaddafi headed to Venezuela...
Chavez gov't denies...
Muslim leaders order followers to rebel...
Tribe threatens to cut oil exports...
REPORT: Military jets attack protesters in Tripoli...
Two pilots refuse, fly to Malta, defect...
Oil companies move staff...
U.S. military chief visits Gulf to urge restraint...
Khamenei: America must be removed from Islamic world...
AL-JAZEERA LIVE FEED... REUTERS WIRE...
ON THE BRINK!
Qaddafi's son warns of civil war...
Tribe threatens to cut oil exports...
Unrest in Iran, Algeria, Yemen, Morocco, China [and Wisconsin]...
U.S. military chief visits Gulf, to urge restraint...
Michelle Obama, Daughters Hit the Slopes on Ski Vacation ...
Vail...
Bidens vacation on Fla Keys...
FLASHBACK: Obama on tough economy: 'You might put off a vacation'...
'Everyone must sacrifice'...
RASMUSSEN: OBAMA APPROVAL SLIPS BACK TO 44%...
Gov't shutdown threat looms over budget fight...
Geithner Criticizes Spending Cuts...
SANTELLI: BUDGET CRISIS IS NEXT 9/11...

Gas prices skyrocket; up 55 cents from year ago...
Oil prices surge; Brent crude hits 2 1/2-year high...

GALLUP: Number of Solidly Democratic States Cut in Half From '08 to '10...
American Held in Pakistan Worked for CIA...
Egypt's activists skeptical about army intentions...
...ask West to guarantee reform
Wounded Iraq veteran jeered for speaking in Columbia University...
Sen. John Kerry attacked by anti-war protesters...
Reporter, camerawoman attacked by black mob... in California
WISC UNIONS OFFER CONCESSIONS
Gov. Walker Says No...
Dem Sen: We'll Stay Away For Weeks...
Court Rejects Madison School Effort to Get 'Sick' Teachers Back to Work...
Fake Doctor's Notes Being Handed Out at Union Rally...
VIDEO: 'Everybody is sick -- of Scott Walker'...
Thousands Pack Capitol Grounds...

Libya: Snipers shoot mourners, killing 15...
REPORT: 120 dead...
U.S. Warship Tracking Yacht Hijacked by Somali Pirates... [ I realize there are ‘laws of the sea’ / codified bodies of law within that broad yet very specific category called ‘maritime law’, none of which I know nor care to know (I’ll content myself to knowing and seeing to the enforcement of american law as pertains to me; viz., RICO http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm . I do know that these somali pirates need killin’ and I further believe that open season on them including using their boats in the water for target practice makes sense and certainly is morally justified. I’m tired of hearing about those little weasels … you know, ‘the skinnies’. ]

Ethics code urged for Supreme Court (Washington Post) [ Sounds like a plan! Come on! Wake up! After all, what can you expect from two guidos from ‘jersey (alito and scalia, colloquial – note that I have refrained from using what some might consider disparaging terms as w*p*, gui***s, or da***s … and let me state for the record that I truly loved and respected my grandmother who was 100% Italian/Bari,Italy and as well my grandfather/Lake Como,northern Italy with greek ancestral roots and thereby claim standing/right to posit the criticism in light of my direct experience. ). How ‘bout starting with enforcing laws as to judges, liars, etc., within the very corrupted american illegal system; and, particularly bribes which in one form or another are rampant . I don’t know about Thomas, but I do know about alito and ‘jersey … : 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).

] Group of law professors' appeal comes after controversies involving travel and appearances at political events by several justices.

16 miles away, Saudi Arabia's watchful eye looms over Bahrain unrest (Washington Post) [ I’m sure they are… with a microscope at that. Saudis Worried Protests Will Hit Home - saudi arabia; talk about do nothing hypocrites. How does one family claim ownership of all the oil reserves of a sovereign nation; I suspect only when foreign corporations say so For the sake of the saudi Arabian people, more than just protests should come to fruition! ] AFP | Saudi royal warns Arab world uprisings could cause harm unless they reform. Bahrain authorities launch surprise attack on protesters [There’s the america and saudi Arabia effect; far less than democratic and far more deadly in the mideast among other places; talk about hypocrites. How does one family claim ownership of all the oil reserves of a sovereign nation as the saudis; time for the saudis to go the way of dictator Mubarak and take the war criminal americans with them. ] Los Angeles Times Tear gas canisters bombard sleeping protesters in Manama's Pearl Square. At least two men are reported killed Video: Bahrain protesters look to emulate Egypt revolt euronews Riot Police Attack Bahrain Protesters Voice of America ‘Saudi Arabia sending troops to Bahrain’ Saudi Arabia is sending troops to Bahrain in a move to crack down on pro-democracy protesters who took to the streets in the capital Manama, a political analyst says. [SAUDIS TOLD OBAMA 'NOT TO HUMILIATE MUBARAK' [ Sounds like they’re hearing footsteps…Previous: Egyptian capital teeters on anarchy Mubarak asks cabinet to resign as anti-regime protests intensify (Washington Post) [ Mubarak should have been looking in the mirror as he asked his cabinet to resign … 30 years is a long time, and coincidentally, time for him to go. In Egypt: Access denied (Washington Post) [The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark [I disagree! Part of the internet didn’t die, but rather the order to so darken the nation heralded the demise, at 30 years and counting, of the so-called leadership in the persona of Mubarak. Time for him to go! After all, he’s been in a position, with Egypt among the only Mideast nations to have signed a peace treaty with israel, to have stepped up with substantial credibility in taking a strong position against israeli transgressions, violations of international law / u.n. resolutions, war crimes, etc., which beyond soft-touch, he failed to do. And, of all places, he sends his family to Orwellian england; he still loves those colonial masters … how pathetic. I mean, 30 years … how free-flowing does anyone think the election process is at this point … and one could ask the same regarding the entrenched powers that be in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, to be fair. Then there’s saudi arabia; talk about do nothing hypocrites. How does one family claim ownership of all the oil reserves of a sovereign nation; I suspect only when foreign corporations say so. The only Mideast nations showing backbone are Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria, and, of course the perennially propaganda painted bad-boy Iran among possibly some of the smaller emirates, ie., Qatar, etc., (I lack sufficient information regarding these other nations). ] (AP) Internet cutoff fails to silence Egypt protests (AP) - ]

]

A steep challenge for Arab world (Washington Post) [ I’m sure the rest of the defacto bankrupt world would love to have the lagging problem of the Arab nations of rich real assets as opposed to the fake fraudulent worthless paper assets the so-called ‘rest of the world’ is ‘sporting’. Economist: United States Worse Off than Greece Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff is an economics professor at Boston University. He says the Treasury and the government are fudging the national debt numbers. Kotlikoff says the United States is bankrupt and we don’t even know it. 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! ‘
] Despite the rich resources in the region, Arab nations lag behind rest of world economically.

Economic forecast (Washington Post) [ And you can take that to your local insolvent bank…or not even your local insolvent bank; but rather, your non-local insolvent bank that’s still carrying the toxic assets/paper/securities now marked to anything by way of FASB rule change, professional criminal courtesy via congress, as the the wall street frauds cash out for hard fiat currency. What do you expect them to say? This wasn’t even a recession to be, as per forecast. They haven’t the slightest clue what they’re doing other than the ‘narcotic effects’ of the non-stop printing press fiat currency ‘feels good’ and buys time, politically. ] White House policymaker predicts that the recovery should continue despite oil prices, European crisis.

Pressure mounts on Gaddafi (Washington Post) [ That he was always a caricature of sorts, there is no question. That he’s totally burned out, there’s also no doubt; though they might argue in his defense that so was dumbya bush … a point well taken … but look at the consequential pathetic state of pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america … with the unlit torch passed to wobama the b (for b*** s***) who pretends, or maybe in his alternate and fake reality just believes it’s lit. That he’s done, also fait accomplis, after 41 years … who cares. That he’s insane … now that’s quite another thing with greater worldwide implications, so, daffy… gadaffy… duck! Gaddafi vows to maintain hold on power Libyan strongman says he'll fight 'until the last drop of my blood' (Washington Post) [ His latter wish is the world’s command. ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a dictator, that wants them down’ … (Excuse me … I was thinking of walls and ‘Mending Wall’, Robert Frost). Libya Internet Shut Down Amid Protests, Per Multiple Reports [ Once again, as in Egypt, this, the internet, inherently global in nature is the lynchpin, tampering with or stifling same marking the end of any regime. Let this be a warning; viz., you cannot put the genie back in the bottle! 41 years? Gadaffy duck should duck ‘cause he’s done. I mean, look at him, he’s the singular equivalent of the multiple bushes. He’s totally burnt out (as much or more so than dumbya bush or mubarack) and quite done! ] Reports have emerged late Friday that Libya appears to have shut down its Internet due to widespread protests, less than a month after Egypt did the same. ] With rebels apparently controlling much of the eastern half of the country, the violence engulfing Libya is already the worst in more than a month of unrest that has toppled other regimes. ]

Bad News - Bullish Wall of Worry or Sell Signal? Maierhofer, On February 23, 2011, ‘When I published this article 10 days ago I received much criticism. After the biggest two-day sell off since August 2010, the commentary might be helpful in determining whether this is another flash in the pan mini correction or the onset of something more serious.If it's too obvious, it's obviously wrong. More often than not, this proverbial Wall Street adage has the last laugh. What's the prevailing consent on Wall Street? What's suspiciously obvious today?

- The Fed is here to help. As long as there's QE2 (or QE3, 4, etc,) prices will go up.

- January was positive. As January goes, so goes the year.

- This is the third year of the Presidential Election Year Cycle. There hasn't been a negative third year since 1939.

- There's no catalyst to send stocks higher.

While Wall Street analysts are trying to one up each other's positive forecasts, the Fear Index, VIX (NYSEArca: VXX - News) has fallen to a 3 year low. The last time the VIX was at a similar level was in April 2010, just before a literally fear-inspiring 17% correction and the May 'Flash Crash' (see chart below).The ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter didn't subscribe to the prevailing optimism in April 2010 and warned that: 'The message conveyed by the composite bullishness is unmistakably bearish. The pieces are in place for a major decline.'Does that mean that the bottom will fall out again within a matter of days? Not necessarily, but now is certainly not the time to be married to your holdings. Tight sell stops are warranted because any minor correction could turn into a large one. Why?

New Bull Market, or Mother of all Bear Market Rallies?

The devil's in the long-term trend. If we are in a new bull market, any dip would present a buying opportunity. If we are in the mother of all bear market rallies, every rally is a trap and represents a selling opportunity.How can one determine whether we are in a new bull market, or a bear market rally? [chart] It's said that bull markets climb a wall of worry. No doubt there was extreme pessimism surrounding the March 2009 lows. That's one of the reasons the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter sent out a strong buy signal on March 2, 2009.But pessimism at the bottom doesn't equal a wall of worry. In fact, following the initial bout of disbelief, investors embraced the rally rather quickly. In late 2009, sentiment readings became frothy, in January 2010 they rivaled 2007 extremes (stocks fell 9%), and in April 2010 they exceeded 2007 extremes (stocks fell 17%).About two thirds of the rally from the 2009 lows was accompanied by optimism. This is no wall of worry.

Glass Half Full Outlook

Think about it, even the truly big problems - unemployment and falling real estate (NYSEArca: IYR - News) prices - were sugar coated from the very beginning. The unemployment problem was charmingly called 'jobless recovery' and falling real estate prices were simply ignored.The Case-Shiller home price index is down four months in a row, but nobody is bothered. A few days ago, MarketWatch ran an article: '10 reasons to be bullish on housing.'Courtesy of the continuing real estate conundrum, the FDIC closed 157 banks in 2010, and 14 thus far in 2011. According to a Wall Street Journal article, the top 10 U.S. owned banks had $13.8 billion in unrealized losses.Those are not reflected in earnings numbers as long as financial institutions (NYSEArca: XLF - News) believe the investment will later rebound. Guess what? Banks are pretty darn sure prices will reclaim their 2006 all-time highs.In addition to the $13.8 billion in unrealized losses, the top 10 U.S. banks owned $360.7 billion in illiquid, hard to value assets (called level 3 assets). While paper earnings appear solid, it appears as if banks are hiding skeletons in their closets. But who cares, stocks (NYSEArca: VTI - News) are up.

Anomaly Explained

Ben Bernanke has openly admitted that asset inflation, or the wealth effect from rising stock prices, is the objective of QE2. Obviously, the money flow from the Federal Reserve over banks into the stock market has been the driving force behind this monster rally.Much of the Fed money has been funneled into commodities. Since QE2, net speculative positions in wheat and copper have doubled, oil soared 115%, soybeans 40% and corn 15%. Rising commodity prices are putting the squeeze on lower income Americans and will eventually lower profit margins for the materials sector.It's quite likely that this ripple effect will spill over into the retail (NYSEArca: XRT - News), technology (NYSEArca: XLK - News), and consumer discretionary sector. From there it's just a matter of time until it hits the broader Dow (DJI: ^DJI), S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC).Contrary to its objective, QE2 has also sent interest rates soaring. Higher interest rates tend to encourage the money to flow from equities into bonds. Higher interest rates put pressure on bond and stock prices alike.

Early Detection

The trend is your friend, but the trend is a fair-weather friend and can turn at any given time. The trend doesn't announce its intention to change direction. It switches back and worth as it pleases without your permission.Courtesy of your friend the trend, everybody is a genius in a bull market ... and a nave misguided trend follower when prices drop without prior notice.There is no foolproof way to find out when the market is about to change directions. There are, however, ways to put the odds in your favor.Watching support levels has proven a very effective way. A few months ago 1,170 was a crucial support level highlighted by the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter. The S&P tested this level no less than five times, but never broker below it and rallied over 10% since.Just recently, 1,270 was such a support level. The S&P tested it twice before moving into the 1,320 range. The market is dynamic and can change swiftly; therefore, it's the market that dictates support levels, not us. We just identify and use them…’

How Confident Are Consumers in the Future of the Economy? Harding ‘This is the time of the month when the consumer surveys come out measuring confidence in the economy’s future. There are three large surveys: Conference Board, Gallup, and the University of Michigan. They all try to measure our belief with regards to the future, and specifically whether or not we feel like spending our money. Today Gallup and the Conference Board came out with mixed results. On Friday the University of Michigan/Reuters survey comes out. (It has been showing a rising trend for the last four months.)Gallup does their own survey of 3,434 respondents. The result was that consumer confidence hasn’t improved for a year:[chart]Asked whether the economy was getting better or if it was poor, respondents answers were unenthusiastic at best:[chart][chart]The Conference Board had a different take on the future:[chart]That sure looks good but, looking closely: Optimism is no better now than it was a year ago, also suggesting that little progress has been made economically over the past 12 months. Up to this point in 2011, there seems to have been a relatively great amount of optimism about the US economy going forward. Whether last week’s deterioration in consumer confidence is the beginning of a new trend or just a short-term aberration remains to be seen. Also, from the Conference Board’s press release: Those stating business conditions are “good” increased to 12.4 percent from 11.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” was unchanged at 39.6 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was also more positive than in January. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” rose to 4.9 percent from 4.6 percent, while those stating jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 45.7 percent from 47.0 percent. Consumers’ short-term outlook was more optimistic than in January. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 24.4 percent from 24.0 percent, while those anticipating business conditions will worsen declined to 10.4 percent from 12.2 percent. This is their best reading in three years.I don’t know if this makes a difference, but the Conference Board just fired its former pollster and hired Nielsen instead. They surveyed 3,000 respondents. Their survey is billed as a leading indicator.Who do you want to believe? With 43.6 million Americans, or 14.1% of the population on food stamps, relatively flat wage growth, and a dour unemployment picture, I don’t think that only 17.3% of Americans feeling better about their future income potential versus the prior reading of 15.3% really means that much. Ditto with the percentage of those seeing business conditions improving going from 11.3% to 12.4%. 39.6% of respondents said they are worse, and the rest, or 48% see no change or have no opinion. Another way of saying this is that 87.6% of the respondents didn’t have a positive view of business conditions.The Conference Board’s statement that “Consumers’ appraisal of present-day conditions improved moderately in February” is true but I would question its relevance. At such low levels of enthusiasm among its respondents, a point or two doesn’t mean much. If you step back and look at what these results reveal, it doesn’t look to me as if consumers are more optimistic about the future. To say otherwise is just spin. I think Gallup has the better view right now.’

Double Top in Cyclicals? Elfenbein ‘The stock market is getting knocked again today, but the pain isn’t evenly spread out. Who’s up for another look at the relative strength of cyclicals? Great, me too! As long-term readers know, one of my favorite metrics to follow is the Morgan Stanley Cylical Index (^CYC) divided by the S&P 500 (^SPX). This is far from a comprehensive analysis, but it is a quick-and-dirty look at the “mind of the market.”Since late August, the market’s rally has been disproportionally powered by cyclical stocks. In fact, the ratio of the CYC to the S&P 500 reached an all-time high on February 11 (my data goes back to 1978).The ratio hit a previous peak on January 10 and, soon after, cyclicals dropped off sharply. I quickly jumped on this and thought it was the end of the cycle. Wrong! The ratio soon rallied and peaked on February 11, just a hair above the level for January 10 (0.8442 to 0.8441).The CYC is down again today (although many energy names are up). If today’s numbers hold up, the ratio will close below the low made on January 21.The reason these cycles are so important is that once they get going, they often last for a few years. Put it this way, if the Dow had kept pace with the CYC since the low from two years ago, the Dow would be over 24,000 today.[Click to enlarge] [chart] ‘

Will Oil Spike Renew Interest in Clean Energy Commodities? Handwerger ‘Many of the great declines in the stock market over the past 30 years have been related to oil (United States Oil (USO)). This week we have seen the major indices plummet on geopolitical chaos throughout North Africa, especially the large oil-producing Libya, as investors returned to gold (SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)), silver (iShares Silver Trust (SLV)), and oil. As the market reached record overbought territory, any excuse could begin a significant pullback in equities (SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)).

Investors are monitoring key assets in Egypt (Market Vectors Egypt Index (EGPT)). If either the Suez Canal or Sumed Pipeline come under attack, then we will see a major oil spike, possibly worse than in the late 1970s. Already Iran has taken advantage of the chaos and passed into the Mediterranean, further escalating potential conflicts between Israel (iShares MSCI Israel Cap Invest Mkt Index (EIS)) and the Iranian Allies of Hezbollah and Syria who want to take back control of the Golan Heights. This Middle Eastern instability may have deeper consequences and I don’t believe it will end anytime soon. In fact, it may even eventually spread to Saudi Arabia where the royal family maintains weak control and extremists are gaining popularity. In late January in an article entitled, Will Gold, Oil Prices Soar on Revolts in Tunisia, Egypt? I wrote about the domino effect hypothesis, stating that chaos would not be contained in Tunisia and Egypt. This spread of chaos, causing volatile power vacuums, could have a significant impact on gold and oil, especially now that the domino hypothesis is being confirmed. [chart]

At the end of January investors returned to precious metals. Gold has been on sale every six months. A January phenomenon occurs when mutual funds and institutional investors reposition their holdings, sometimes allowing investors to buy a sector on sale. At the end of January, gold and silver found support as geopolitical conditions worsened. The recent Libyan crisis has caused oil to jump which in turn has caused a decline in equities.

As much as the financial crisis and record government spending has helped gold soar to record highs, terrorism and war have been major drivers of the price since September 11, 2001. The Middle East possesses approximately 65% of the world’s oil reserves, and Egypt in particular has two key assets which effect the global oil trade: the Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline. Many analysts did not expect Libya to fall into civil war. Reports are showing that oil exports are being curtailed, sending oil into new 52-week highs.

The “Sputnik” moment which President Obama spoke about in his State of the Union address may come faster than expected out of necessity. Washington is actively pursuing supply of North American heavy rare earth assets to fast-track into production as top-secret defense technologies depend on it. Sanctions on China from the WTO will not be enough to meet the growing demand. Even China, which produces over 97% of the rare earths, has expressed interest in heavy rare earth assets globally. Hyundai, the latest company on the electric-car scene, recently commented that it was pursuing a rare earth supply as well.

Economies are growing and demand has increased since the last major Iranian Revolution in 1979 when oil spiked higher. An oil spike now could be much more detrimental 32 years later. The world is more dependent on fossil fuels and many nations are struggling with slow growth and huge debt burdens. An oil spike could cause a major setback for the global economic recovery unless governments initiate major alternative energy and clean energy programs. I believe these current events will create a more significant push into clean energy, non carbon energy. A few commodity sectors may benefit including uranium (Global X Uranium ETF (URA)), lithium (Global X Lithium ETF (LIT)) and rare earths (Market Vectors Rare Earth/Str Metals ETF (REMX)).

President Obama has released this year’s budget and it was shocking. Many analysts were surprised by the huge amount of capital allocated to clean, alternative energy in order to spur innovation and job growth. In the recent budget, a $7500 tax credit will be given to car buyers who purchase an electric car. Obama has a goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Many analysts are predicting about a 10% increase in cars sold due to this legislation. However, tensions are escalating as Iran sticks out its tongue at Israel by passing through the Suez Canal. Oil prices could spike as turmoil spreads through North Africa and the Middle East. Legislators are sending a message that they want to wean themselves off of Middle Eastern oil and look into clean and independent energy.

Investors should expose themselves to the potential supply-demand constraints and rise in oil prices by purchasing developers with major assets in these clean energy mineral sectors or by diversifying into these newly created ETFS, such as REMX or LIT, which track these sectors. As oil spikes, these clean energy commodities should receive a renewed interest by legislators and investors who believe in clean energy power generation.’

North African Turmoil Could Rocket Crude to $220 Fox Business | May cause crude to spike from about $97 a barrel today to $220 a barrel.

Oil touches $100 a barrel as Libya standoff worsens Reuters | Oil surged to a 28-month high of $100 a barrel on Wednesday.

Wall Street Shares Fall Sharply Amid Libyan Unrest New York Times | Political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa continued to haunt financial markets

Korean Bank Run Spreading: Eighth Bank Closes Following “Massive Withdrawals” The quietest bank run that has so far completely evaded mainstream attention, that of Korea, is spreading, and an eighth bank has now shuttered after “Domin Bank, a savings bank with a capital adequacy ratio below 5 percent, voluntarily decided yesterday to suspend its operations temporarily because of massive withdrawals.”

Keiser Report: Fed’s Reign of Terror This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about the Fed’s reign of terror and an economist’s warning of revolution in America as Obama’s budget robs from the poor to give to the rich. In the second half of the show, Max talks to William D. Hartung, author of Prophets of War, about the cost of corporate welfare to the U.S. military industrial complex and the role of this welfare in the current Middle East unrest.

Highest Gas Prices in February Since 1990, Attributed to Libya Turmoil Weekly gas prices skyrocketed, according to the Department of Energy, driven by the popular revolts spreading across the Middle East.

ECONOMIC CRISIS ARCHIVE

National / World

Libya air raids death toll hits 1,000 Press TV | Hospitals have no electricity and no medicines.

WORLD AT WAR ARCHIVE

WORLD NEWS ARCHIVE

North African Turmoil Could Rocket Crude to $220 If the turmoil paralyzing parts of the Middle East and North Africa brings oil production in Libya and Algeria to a standstill, it could cause crude oil to explode to $220 a barrel, derailing the global economic recovery.

US & EU Prepare to Buy Off Post-Revolution Governments With Billions in “Aid” (Taxpayer Money) While the United States and Europe orders its own scum public to accept massive public spending cuts along with higher taxes on top of soaring inflation and food prices, it concurrently prepares to buy off post-”revolution” governments in the Middle East and North Africa with billions in “aid” (taxpayers’ money) in order to install fresh puppets who will graciously buy huge quantities of arms from the US-EU-Israeli military-industrial complex.

Leaked Memo: Government Considering Deploying Special Forces Troops On The Streets With Police The British government is considering plans to deploy crack trained SAS commandos onto the streets to work alongside police in “counter-terrorism surveillance teams”, according to a leaked memo unveiled by the Times Of London today.

We Called It: Forecast Of Huge Public Worker Protests, Age Of Rage, Oil Price Surge Unfolds Having often been accused of exaggerating, engaging in alarmism or outright fabrication by the establishment media, our regular readers will indulge us for tooting our own horn on the fact that we predicted the public worker demonstrations now happening in Wisconsin, along with the rage spreading across the Middle East, as well as soaring oil prices in June last year, and indeed as far back as February 2008.

US & EU to Buy Off Revolution Governments with Taxpayer Money Paul Joseph Watson | Public told to accept massive public spending cuts, higher taxes and soaring food costs while money is sent to purchase new dictators.

Oil Prices Skyrocket After Williams’ Latest Revelations Kurt Nimmo | The corporate media is getting Americans accustomed to the prospect of gas at $5 or more a gallon.

Seattle Business Refuses To Serve TSA Agents Paul Joseph Watson | Nationwide revolt against naked body scanners and invasive groping carried out by predatory thugs goes viral.

Defiant Libya Tony Cartalucci | The globalists want Qaddafi out and his defiance has conjured an almost tangible.

Milbank: Rush Limbaugh's unfair food fight (Washington Post) [ I’m no fan of limbaugh’s which can easily be discerned from my web site and posts thereon. But, truth be told, I’ve become even less a fan of the wobamas who have revealed themselves as so typically jive-talking b*** s*** that to most rational, civilized people, they’d be embarrassed. But not the wobamas the b (for b*** s***, their middle name). As I’ve said before, like water off a duck’s back is the effect of deserved criticism on wobamas and their ilk. They have become part of the problem, not the solution. Almost any criticism, by almost anybody is criticism deserved and welcomed (I previously excepted the BP scenario which was in my view undeserved criticism of wobama. But that’s it! I’m with Limbaugh on most any criticism of the wobamas. Drudgereport: Michelle Obama, Daughters Hit the Slopes on Ski Vacation ...
Vail...
Bidens vacation on Fla Keys...
FLASHBACK: Obama on tough economy: 'You might put off a vacation'...
'Everyone must sacrifice'...
RASMUSSEN: OBAMA APPROVAL SLIPS BACK TO 44%...
Gov't shutdown threat looms over budget fight... DEBT NOW EQUALS ENTIRE ECONOMY
OBAMA AGENDA IS OVER Obama refers to himself as 'The Gipper'… [ Riiiight! …anything you say wobmama the b for b*** s***… or maybe the bipper, the chipper, or the yankee clipper (the new joltin’ joe) …sounds like he’s losing it! ] ... ]

Deaths of four Americans reflect increasing violence of Somali piracy (Washington Post) [ Drudgereport: U.S. Warship Tracking Yacht Hijacked by Somali Pirates... [ I realize there are ‘laws of the sea’ / codified bodies of law within that broad yet very specific category called ‘maritime law’, none of which I know nor care to know (I’ll content myself to knowing and seeing to the enforcement of american law as pertains to me; viz., RICO http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm . I do know that these somali pirates need killin’ and I further believe that open season on them including using their boats in the water for target practice makes sense and certainly is morally justified. I’m tired of hearing about those little weasels … you know, ‘the skinnies’. ]

On Obama's jobs tour, unemployed have little voice (Washington Post) [ This of course is so true. That wobama’s done there’s no question. Indeed, despite the rhetoric, separate terms, hasn’t he proven to be, and isn’t wobama just a continuation of the NWO / NAFTAite regimes that landed the nation here in this foul, pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt position. How different are america’s entrenched corrupt bureaucracies / ‘leaders’ from the dictators and their corrupt bureaucracies being deposed today. If only wobama wasn’t the typical, jive-talikin’ wobama the b (for b*** s***) he is and did what he ran and was elected on, the outcome for fallen america would have been substantially better, though still dire, than that which lies ahead.

Obama’s 2012 Budget: Tool Of Class War Paul Craig Roberts | Continues Wall Street’s war against poor & middle classes. ] White House officials were unable to give a single example of him interacting, even in private, with a person who had recently lost a job.

State budget woes draw more protests (Washington Post) [ Obama joins Wisconsin budget battle Democratic lawmakers flee state in attempt to block anti-union bill (Washington Post) [ Looks like capital hill can pick up a few pointers from ‘dem dems … fleeing the state, that is … except in their case it’ll be fleeing the nation-state, or what’s left of same. Drudgereport: Michelle Obama, Daughters Hit the Slopes on Ski Vacation ...
Vail...
Bidens vacation on Fla Keys...
FLASHBACK: Obama on tough economy: 'You might put off a vacation'...
'Everyone must sacrifice'...
RASMUSSEN: OBAMA APPROVAL SLIPS BACK TO 44%...
Gov't shutdown threat looms over budget fight... DEBT NOW EQUALS ENTIRE ECONOMY
OBAMA AGENDA IS OVER Obama refers to himself as 'The Gipper'… [ Riiiight! …anything you say wobmama the b for b*** s***… or maybe the bipper, the chipper, or the yankee clipper (the new joltin’ joe) …sounds like he’s losing it! ] ...Debunking the 'Debunking Myths of U.S. Collapse' Post Ridder [ Stated another way, the collapse of the (dis)united states is at hand. Now, let me state, that doesn’t mean america will disappear from the face of the earth, but the reality truly is ‘death from a thousand cuts’. It’s not just China’s rise, but america’s decline and fall with the concomitant relative rise of other nations, regions. Quite simply, and historically factual reality has proven, nation-states cannot and have not survived the multitude of negative, destructive, and self-destructive things america has done and prosper as a leading nation. From perpetual war, to pervasive corruption, fraud, criminality across all stratum including institutions, government of american society, to what I believe as well to be an evolved genetic bias of inherent criminality/mental illness which is ill-adapted to the strictures of a more enlightened 21st Century by way of near instantaneously available information, with truth and factual reality being america’s greatest enemy. In support of the foregoing I will reiterate reasons, infra.] Debt relief for states proposed (Washington Post) [ I’ve heard of the ‘blind leading the blind’, but the ‘bankrupt borrowing from the bankrupt’ seems to be a nouveau american phenomenon destined for ‘clichedom’. Previous: Governors plan painful cuts amid budget crises (Washington Post) [ This truly is a disaster in the making, with consequences even more dire than the grim outlook set forth by Meridith Whitney, if that could even be fathomed. It’s really going to be all that bad…see infra, The Economic Collapse, ‘#10 The municipal bond crisis could go “supernova” at any time. Already, investors are bailing out of bonds at a frightening pace. State and local government debt is now sitting at an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP. According to Meredith Whitney, the municipal bond crisis that we are facing is a gigantic threat to our financial system….“It has tentacles as wide as anything I’ve seen. I think next to housing this is the single most important issue in the United States and certainly the largest threat to the U.S. economy.” Economist: United States Worse Off than Greece Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff is an economics professor at Boston University. He says the Treasury and the government are fudging the national debt numbers. Kotlikoff says the United States is bankrupt and we don’t even know it.

Obama: US needs better math, science education (AP) [Well, one thing we absolutely know as true is that there’s at least one person in america in need of better math skills and his name is’ wobama the b’ (for b*** s*** - despite campaign promises to the contrary he actually ramped up war spending also despite defacto bankruptcy of the nation – bush, if only it was just his math skills, ramped of war spending while cutting taxes … to his base, a wobama’s on the same page – how totally pathetic both of them are / were) … but let’s not kid ourselves, from capital hill to wall street, etc., math skills are indeed lacking. ]

Alan Greenspan Takes Credit For The Financial Crisis Levin “The morning after we learned of the news,” Greenspan said of the Dow Jones plunging 6.98 percent that day in September 2008, “I was able to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, not bad.’” Sure, if he’d tried just a little harder he could’ve done better– 10 percent would’ve been a dream– but really, all things considering, not bad! Solid B+ work. [NYU via BI]

Internet tool shows French web surfers 'Jewish-curious' (AFP) - AFP - An Internet tool that flags up popular search words has spontaneously revealed a deeper trend: French web surfers' exceeding curiosity about whether their politicians are Jewish. [ To their credit, at least in France it might matter … to america’s discredit and self-destruction, it doesn’t even matter … as Buchanan aptly put it ‘capital hill is occupied israeli territory and just proved it again with the foolhardy veto of the un resolution condemning illegal israeli settlements. ]

] The standoff in Wisconsin over budget cuts spread to other states on Tuesday as union leaders began to organize protests in other capitols and Democrats in a second state, Indiana, effectively staged a walkout.

Gaddafi vows to maintain hold on power Libyan strongman says he'll fight 'until the last drop of my blood' (Washington Post) [ His latter wish is the world’s command. ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a dictator, that wants them down’ … (Excuse me … I was thinking of walls and ‘Mending Wall’, Robert Frost). Libya Internet Shut Down Amid Protests, Per Multiple Reports [ Once again, as in Egypt, this, the internet, inherently global in nature is the lynchpin, tampering with or stifling same marking the end of any regime. Let this be a warning; viz., you cannot put the genie back in the bottle! 41 years? Gadaffy duck should duck ‘cause he’s done. I mean, look at him, he’s the singular equivalent of the multiple bushes. He’s totally burnt out (as much or more so than dumbya bush or mubarack) and quite done! ] Reports have emerged late Friday that Libya appears to have shut down its Internet due to widespread protests, less than a month after Egypt did the same. ] With rebels apparently controlling much of the eastern half of the country, the violence engulfing Libya is already the worst in more than a month of unrest that has toppled other regimes.

I knew there was something especially (but typically) not right in Friday’s (and Thursday’s) trade; and, sure enough, it was a full moon Friday as per lunar calendar (a must in today’s markets owing to the prevalence of lunatics / criminally insane on wall street).

Have Stocks Really Moved Sideways Since 2000? McCurdy ‘Last week, we reviewed the inverse secular relationship between stocks and the price of gold. Stocks have been in a secular downtrend since the bull market from the 1980s terminated early last decade, while gold has been in a secular uptrend. Many analysts do not like to label the current secular environment in stocks as a bear, instead referring to it as a "sideways" market. Indeed, a quick review of the S&P 500 index monthly chart shows that it has essentially bounced sideways for the past 11 years.

[Click all to enlarge]

[chart}
Since the secular peak in 2000, the S&P 500 has produced a compound annual return of 0.6%, so any long-term investors who bought at the top would appear to have broken even. Have they really? It is important to note that we are talking about nominal values and returns. When you compare stock market performance to hard assets like commodities and gold, you see a very different picture.

[chart]

[chart]

Since 2000, the S&P 500 index has experienced a persistent decline in terms of the Continuous Commodity Index (CCI) and the price of gold. The CCI ratio chart has decreased by 72% and the gold ratio chart has decreased by 82%. Suddenly that "sideways" market doesn't look so sideways. If you extend both charts back to the beginning of the previous secular bull market in equities, you see what you would expect: A persistent rise in stock market valuations until the secular peak early last decade (note that we have replaced the CCI with the CRB index in the following chart for display purposes, since the available CCI data do not cover the entire secular bull).

[chart]

[chart]
Both ratio chart downtrends are currently healthy, with the CCI ratio recently experiencing another long-term breakdown and the gold ratio forming a consolidation pattern since early 2009. Until these secular declines form confirmed bottoms, the secular bear market in stocks will remain in control.

[chart]

[chart]
Despite mainstream assertions to the contrary, the issues that led to the market crash in 2008 have not been materially addressed. Our historically excessive public and private debt remains, festering beneath the surface of this "strong" economic recovery. As usual, we have chosen the quick fix route and kicked the proverbial debt can down the road, hoping that the underlying problems will somehow cure themselves without requiring us to make the hard choices that have always been required in the past. The continuing strength in the gold market indicates that no such magic resolution process is currently underway.

[chart]

When was the last time a strong, healthy secular uptrend in gold provided an all-clear signal for the economy and suggested that the structural problems that have been plaguing it during recent years have been resolved? The answer to that question is never. Perhaps this time is different. We will see.’

Weighing the Week Ahead: The Beat Goes On Miller ‘…The explanation is much simpler. The Beat Goes On.

The grocery store's the supermart, uh huh.
Little girls still break their hearts, uh huh.
And men still keep on marching off to war
Electrically they keep a baseball score
{Refrain}
Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce
Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss
The cars keep going faster all the time
Bums still cry, "Hey buddy, have you got a dime"

Sonny & Cher may not have been market gurus, but the song captures the current market action. The "drums keep beating."

… The Bad There was some important bad news for the economy. The story is rarely one-sided. There is a continuing problem on several fronts, a widely known "wall of worry" that is already reflected in current market prices.

• HOUSING SALES OVERSTATED. The most important bad news of the week came from the CoreLogic Year-end Summary of Trends. I read their reports, and so should you. Calculated Risk has a nice summary, showing that the existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors may be overstated by 15%. Consistent and aggressive critic (another of our featured sources) Barry Ritholtz has this take.
• RETAIL SALES. This was a big disappointment.
• INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS. The highly volatile series moved higher, but the trend continues lower. It is not good enough to improve the employment picture…’

Correlating U.S. Demographics, Trade Deficits and Employment Lounsbury’ Recent analysis found that the U.S. trade balance deficit for manufactured goods was the equivalent of almost 29 million jobs over the past 19 years. The analysis referred to these as exported jobs.

What if some of the manufacturing jobs had been retained? How would U.S. employment have been affected? Would we have anything like the high unemployment rates experienced over the past two years?

The following analysis shows that the U.S. simply didn't have the population needed to produce what we have been consuming. The trade deficit is actually a demographic problem as well as a global competition problem for the U.S.

Labor Participation Rate

First let’s look at the labor participation rate over the past 60 years.

click to enlarge images

[chart]

Over the last 25-30 years the institution of two wage-earner households became entrenched and the labor participation rate rose above 65% as of 1985. In 2010 the participation rate fell back below 65% as a result of severe employment dislocations produced by The Great Recession.

The following graph focuses on the years starting with 1992. Two arbitrary areas are identified by the author, a “peak” participation rate and a “healthy” rate. These arbitrary definitions may be subject to debate.

[chart]

These two definitions are used to examine counterfactual participation rates in the following discussion.

Manufacturing Jobs Have a High Multiplier

In the previous article a graph was presented which showed the number of manufacturing jobs “exported” each year starting with 1992. What was not discussed in the previous article is that jobs have multiplier factors. If one person receives a wage much of that money is spent and that creates additional jobs. For each person working in a particular job, other people are employed in support industries. The total of all these additional jobs is what comprises the jobs multiplier. The mathematics can be reviewed here.

The multiplier varies for different types of jobs and is determined by collecting experimental data in the actual economy. Manufacturing jobs have high jobs multipliers. A table of jobs multipliers is shown in the following table:

[chart]

A number of data sources have been reviewed for the value of the manufacturing job multiplier in the U.S. These are shown in the following table.

[chart]

Active links from the table:

Connecticut.gov

Economic Policy Institute

Content First

Washington State.gov

California.gov

A jobs multiplier of 3.0 means that each job represents a total of three jobs: the original job plus two others that exist only because that original job is there. One estimate for all employment is an average multiplier of 1.9. For manufacturing the multiplier is close to 3. For every manufacturing job gained or lost directly, two other jobs, on average, are gained or lost.

For the rest of this article we will use the multiplier of 2.9. Using that value, the number of jobs lost each year since 1992 because of the trade deficit for manufactured goods has been calculated and is shown in the following graph. The lowest line represents the number of direct manufacturing jobs exported. The second line is the number of dependent jobs lost and the top line is the total number of jobs, direct and indirect, that were exported.

[chart]

What If All “Jobs Exported” Had Been Retained?

If all the direct and indirect jobs that have been ‘exported” had been retained, what would the unemployment picture have been forth past 18 years? This is displayed in the following graph.

[chart]

There are two shaded areas in the graph. The blue area encompasses all the commonly accepted values for NAIRU. The salmon area defines where labor shortages would occur, the lower the percentage the greater the shortage.

The red line shows the counterfactual case calculated for the “exported jobs” being retained and the labor participation rate staying at the peak (67%). The green line shows the counterfactual unemployment rate provided the participation rate actually experienced is used.

A reasonable conclusion from this graph is that, to retain the number of jobs estimated, labor would have to be imported or the labor participation rate would have to rise above the all-time peak. Without some combination of those two factors there would have been labor shortages 14 of the last 16 years (1994-2007)

Note: NAIRU refers to a Milton Freeman defined term: Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment

What If “Jobs Exported” Had Been Reduced by Half?

The next counterfactual situation examined is the case where half of the “exported jobs” were retained each year. The following graph shows the official unemployment rate average each year (blue), with two counterfactual unemployment rates.

[chart]The red line shows the counterfactual case calculated for ½ of the “exported jobs” being retained and the labor participation rate staying at the peak (67%). The green line shows the counterfactual unemployment rate provided the participation rate actually experienced is used.

What If 25% of “Jobs Exported” Had Been Retained?

The following graph shows official and counterfactual unemployment rates if 25% of the “exported jobs” had been retained.

[chart]

Even if 75% of the “exported jobs” had occurred, the U.S. would still have had labor shortages almost in seven of the past 19 years. The unemployment rate would have been below 4% for1997-2000 and 2005-2007. If the labor particpation rate had remained at peak (67%) throughout this time period, there would have been labor shortages only in the last four years of the 2oth century.

Caveats

There are many assumptions to be questioned in this analysis. A few are listed here:

• Would our trade surplus in services have been less (thereby reducing service employment) if there had been no deficit for goods?
• Would FDI (foreign direct investment) in the U.S. have been less? See Elliott Morss. FDI in the U.S. creates jobs.
• Would the FDI by the U.S. have been reduced to offset any loss of FDI in the U.S.?
• Is the multiplier for manufacturing jobs accurate for the type of manufacturing that was "exported"?
• Are the assumptions about peak and healthy participation ratios really appropriate?

I expect there are many more open issues here and I expect that readers will eagerly point them out to me.

Conclusion

The U.S. has been on a consumption binge. The examination discussed here indicates that the country has been living beyond its means to produce what it consumes. That doesn't even consider that we have to import more than half of the energy used. If the production of even part of the production of goods that have been imported over the lat 14 years had been retained domestically, there would not have been enough labor available to fill the jobs that would have been required.

So the U.S. has been living beyond its means in three ways:

1. Beyond its means to provide energy used;
2. Beyond its means to pay; and
3. Beyond its means to produce what it consumes.

Further work is in progress to examine:

• How much more labor force participation would have been needed to prevent labor shortages from occuring; or
• How much labor would have had to have been imported; or
• What combinations of the two would have done the trick.

There is one additional area being studied: How does the undocumented worker influx that has occurred over the past two decades interact with these labor requirement scenarios.

More articles on this topic will be forthcoming in the next few weeks…’

Buy the Dips or Sell the Rally - The One Indicator that Knows Maierhofer, February 22, 2011, 5:51 pm ‘Low-Risk. The term 'low-risk' has the same appeal in the investment world as the enticing little word 'free' in the advertising world.Some advertising executives claim that 'free' is the most powerful word in the ad world. 'Low-risk' might be the most powerful concept in the investing universe.If you read the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter you are very familiar with the term low-risk entry. If you don't, here's a quick summary and crash course of an indicator that's been 100% accurate over the past 6 months.Low risk entries for various indexes are identified or triggered by a relative strength indicator called percentR. PercentR is expressed on a scale from 1 - 100. Readings above 80 are considered overbought, readings below 20 oversold.If you read the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter you are very familiar with the term low-risk entry. If you don't, here's a quick summary and crash course of an indicator that's been 100% accurate over the past 6 months.Low risk entries for various indexes are identified or triggered by a relative strength indicator called percentR. PercentR is expressed on a scale from 1 - 100. Readings above 80 are considered overbought, readings below 20 oversold.

Uncannily Accurate

A picture says more than a thousand words and the chart sheds more light on the value of percentR. As you can tell by the red line, following the W bottom in November (not shown in the chart), percentR spiked above 80 (first yellow circle) around S&P 1,210. This was the initial buy signal. [chart]With two exceptions, percentR remained above 80 ever since. The two dips below 80 (yellow circles) on January 19 and 28 triggered a low-risk entry. Even though investors were worried about riots in Egypt, according to percentR it was time to buy.This bullish low-risk entry is valid as long as the underlying index (in this case the S&P 500) does not close below that day's low (white line). In both instances, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) stayed above that low and went on to rally over 5%.

Other Low-Risk Entries

PercentR works with stocks and indexes alike. Similar low-risk entries were identified by the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter for the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI), Nasdaq-100 (Nasdaq: QQQQ - News), Nasdaq Composite (Nasdaq: ^IXIC), and the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF - News) on January 28. The Russell 2000 (Chicago Options: ^RUT) was the weakest index and registered its low-risk entry sooner.

Corrections are Healthy, if ...

'Corrections are healthy' is one of many ambiguous Wall Street sayings. If you judge the current 'bull market' purely on this statement, this market is one sick puppy - there hasn't been more than a 2.5% correction in nearly a quarter - and needs a serious correction to be jolted back into healthy territory.Put yourself in a time capsule and zoom back to April 2010 when the major U.S. indexes declined nearly 20% before the promise of QE2 resurrected stocks. There was little conviction then that corrections are healthy. The correction had rattled the investing masses and shaken out many stockholders before the market went on to rally again.PercentR is the canary in the coalmine that identifies a deeper correction. No significant sell off happens without a failed low-risk entry.A failed low-risk entry occurs when the indexes close below the low of the day that triggers the low-risk entry (white lines on the chart). The last failed low-risk entry happened in November 2010 when stocks chopped around for a few weeks and ultimately lost about 5%. Another failed low-risk entry flashed a sell signal on August 11 and ushered in a 21 day, 8% sell off.

The Right Tool for the Job

Any craftsman will tell you that there are limitations to any tool, but there's a tool for each job. percentR is the right tool for the current job.After a parabolic rally, the job at hand is to distinguish whether pull backs are a buying opportunity or a warning signal. Should you buy the dips or step on the sidelines (or even short the market)?The ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter consistently monitors percentR as part of measuring the health of the market and sends out special alerts when a low-risk entry (or failed low-risk entry) has been triggered. Considering today's sell off, it sure will be valuable to see what percentR has to say. Buying opportunity or time to sell?’

"Are Your truly dead?" The IMF, Watson and Schrodinger's Cat. [ On forbes, of new york / new jersey the hotbed of mob / wall street fraud and corruption and leading sinkhole of the nation, and of failed capitalist tool fame, do they waste an article and time on fraud / spam as a matter of course. I get a few or more of these routed to my spam box each day. Moreover, invariably upon visiting the forbes site / article my anti-virus picks up and blocks numerous malicious adware, url, etc., queries (it’s become pathetic the number and amount of s**t, ads, scripts that are crammed into some web pages these days); and, almost invariably, coming from the forbes ny / nj faux capitalist tool sight, all for nought! What a waste of time forbes et als are! ]

US Taxpayers Give $150 Million to Post-Revolutionary Egypt Zero Hedge | Taxpayer funds go to buy the love and admiration of a society in transition.

Obama’s 2012 Budget: Tool Of Class War Paul Craig Roberts | Continues Wall Street’s war against poor & middle classes.

Geithner Helping the Chinese? Reuters | Diplomatic cables lay bare China’s growing influence as largest U.S. creditor.

Insider Report: US Government Will Confiscate Gold When It Touches $2000 It’s no secret that the US government is broke, the US dollar is crashing and losing credibility globally, and the IMF, China, France and others have publicly stated their desire to eliminate the dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency.

Barclays bank forced to admit it paid just 1% in corporation tax in 2009 Barclays Bank has been forced to admit it paid just £113m in UK corporation tax in 2009 – a year when it rang up a record £11.6bn of profits.

Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Is A Tool Of Class War Obama’s new budget is a continuation of Wall Street’s class war against the poor and middle class. The effect of the Federal Reserve’s “quantitative easing” on inflation, interest rates, and the dollar’s foreign exchange value are yet to hit. When they do, Americans will get a lesson in poverty.

Is China Hoarding Gold In Anticipation Of A Global Financial Implosion? 10 Facts About Gold Fever In China That May Surprise You China officially has gold fever. Chinese demand for gold in 2011 is being called “explosive” and “voracious”. China imported five times as much gold in 2010 as it did in 2009, and this year gold sales in China are projected to easily set another new all-time record.

Valuations for Five Major Banks with Bearish Warnings Bauer ‘…The general market is currently over-valued, over-bought and is showing signs of deterioration, especially in the area of breadth. Interest rates are on the rise and inflation is already a serious problem. This means that you must consider holding cash or perhaps taking bearish positions…’

World Oil Prices Soar After Libyan Unrest

VOA News | World oil prices rose sharply on Monday as violence in Libya sparked worries that energy supplies could be disrupted.

Max Keiser on Revolts: Americans Joining Middle East Uprising Trend

Dozens of people have been reported killed in the Libyan capital Tripoli overnight as violence continues to spread across the country. Key administrative buildings have been set on fire, with thousands of anti-government activists still on the streets calling for an end to the 41-year rule of Colonel Gaddafi. To find out more about how the Middle East upheaval is impacting global economic patterns, we’re joined live now by RT’s financial guru Max Keiser…

Oil Jumps to Two-Year High, Gold Reaches $1,400 on Mideast; Stocks Decline

Oil rose to a two-year high and gold rallied for a sixth day surpassing $1,400 an ounce, as tension in the Middle East escalated. Stocks fell for the most in a month as Eni SpA led companies with operations in Libya lower.

The Simple Reason A Bahraini Revolution Could Trigger A Brand New Financial Crisis

As if geopolitical instability in the Mideast weren’t inherently reason enough for investors to worry, here’s another angle to consider.

Ongoing Overnight Short Squeeze Takes Silver To Fresh 31 Year High

Silver takes out $33.10, hitting a fresh 31 year high, as the relentless short squeeze leads to more body bags, and the only flight to safety currency is now the non-dilutable one (with gold on the verge of $1,400).

Wall Street Shares Fall Sharply Amid Libyan Unrest New York Times | Political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa continued to haunt financial markets

Europe Stocks End Lower As Libya Worries Escalate Dow Jones | The Stoxx Europe 600 index shed 0.6% to close at 285.38.

Gold, Silver, Crude Oil Sharply Higher As Violence in Libya Climbs Forbes | Stand-off in Libya has triggered renewed speculation in precious metals and crude oil prices.

Cables show China used debt holdings to press US Leaked diplomatic cables vividly show China’s willingness to translate its massive holdings of US debt into political influence on issues ranging from Taiwan’s sovereignty to Washington’s financial policy.

Oil Goes Berserk In Electronic Trading As WTI Passes $98 As Zero Hedge advised in early January when the severity of the Maghreb revolution was made all too clear to anyone not willing to stick their head in the CNBC sand, oil could well be the buy of a lifetime ahead of a downward spiral of unprecedented geopolitical proportions.

Parabolic Flight To Silver, As April Crude Touches $98.48, Irrelevant Dollar Unch There was a time, long ago, when the dollar was a flight to safety instrument. Those days are gone. DXY barely budging as the overnight session begins, while silver has already put $34 in the dust. Last: $34.26 and parabolic.

Central Economic Planning at its Worst Last week, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) presented its results to the Financial Services Committee. As with most other politically-appointed commissions, the results of the FCIC’s investigation were easy to predict.

National / World

Gaddafi vows to maintain hold on power Libyan strongman says he'll fight 'until the last drop of my blood' (Washington Post) [ His latter wish is the world’s command. ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a dictator, that wants them down’ … (Excuse me … I was thinking of walls and ‘Mending Wall’, Robert Frost). Libya Internet Shut Down Amid Protests, Per Multiple Reports [ Once again, as in Egypt, this, the internet, inherently global in nature is the lynchpin, tampering with or stifling same marking the end of any regime. Let this be a warning; viz., you cannot put the genie back in the bottle! 41 years? Gadaffy duck should duck ‘cause he’s done. I mean, look at him, he’s the singular equivalent of the multiple bushes. He’s totally burnt out (as much or more so than dumbya bush or mubarack) and quite done! ] Reports have emerged late Friday that Libya appears to have shut down its Internet due to widespread protests, less than a month after Egypt did the same. ] With rebels apparently controlling much of the eastern half of the country, the violence engulfing Libya is already the worst in more than a month of unrest that has toppled other regimes.

Gaddafi Defies Revolt With Tanks, Planes Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to fight a growing revolt, witnesses said on Tuesday, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.

Libyans say Gaddafi “butcher”, flick V-for-victory The Libyan side of the Egyptian border was controlled on Tuesday by anti-Gaddafi rebels armed with clubs and Kalashnikov rifles who welcomed visitors from Egypt, a Reuters correspondent who crossed into Libya reported.

Middle East Uprisings: Order Out of Chaos Kurt Nimmo | An Islamic consolidation of power will feed the paranoia of the West and initiate the plan for a new war.

Globalists Seek To Hijack Middle East Revolution To Topple Iran Paul Joseph Watson | US military-industrial complex looks to exploit demonstrations to weaken Ahmadinejad’s regime.

Wisconsin’s economic protests will spread as health care costs bankrupt states Mike Adams | Today’s pharma-centric medical system would rather kill the patient than lose its monopoly.

Commodities Explode as BP Prepares to Evacuate Staff From a Burning Libya Zero Hedge | Is this one of those “who could have possibly seen it coming” moments?

Libya Conquered in the Dark Tony Cartalucci | The Egyptian and Tunisian protests are entirely the result of Western meddling.

Libya air force bombs protesters heading for army base Haaretz | Libyan military aircraft fired live ammunition at crowds of anti-government protesters in Tripoli.

Gaddafi flees Tripoli as protesters set the Libyan parliament building alight Mail Online | Anti-government demonstrators breached the state television building and set government property alight.

Gaddafi’s Israel Threat Linked To Libya Riots? Is it merely a coincidence that less than a week after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi threatened Israel by calling on Palestinians to capitalize on the wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of the Zionist state, his own regime is teetering on the brink of extinction following massive anti-government riots in Benghazi and Tripoli?

Reports Suggest Libyan Airforce Is Using Fighter Jets To Fire At Protesters Reports have begun circulating that suggest the Libyan airforce is attacking protesters with live ammunition from jets. Are these the desperate last throws of tyrants or propaganda from the elite overlords hanging them out to dry?

‘Bilderberg Hand’: Deadly chaos in Libya, Bahrain as Wave of Rage spreads Regional expert Adrian Salbuchi says that global dominance groups are behind the wave of revolts.

In Libya Revolution, nearly 400 killed The International Federation for Human Rights says as many as 400 pro-democracy protesters have been killed so far in the popular Libyan Revolution.

Globalists Seek To Hijack Middle East Revolution To Topple Iran While the current global revolt sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa is born out of a universal human cry for freedom, food security and a decent standard of living, it is important to understand that the global elite are waiting in the wings to exploit the chaos as an opportunity to re-order the geopolitical landscape in their image, particularly by exploiting the demonstrations as a vehicle through which to weaken and topple the Iranian government.

The Popular Uprising in Egypt. The Military Machine Remains Intact. The Political Status Quo Prevails The same group of Egyptian generals running Cairo presently formed the backbone of the Mubarak regime. There has been no real change in government. The military junta represents a continuation of the Mubarak regime. The previous so-called civilian administration and the Egyptian High Council of the Armed Forces are virtually the same body.

Protests spread to Libyan capital, troops defect ABC News | Demonstrations have begun in Tripoli and witnesses say security forces are using live ammunition and tear gas on protesters.

Mubarak and Ben Ali comas: What would Tacitus say? The Times | Will desposed dictator syndrome become contagious?

Egyptians Return to Street to Push Army on Reforms WSJ | Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians rallied Friday to celebrate former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

The Middle East and Then the World Activist Post | The globalist fueled color revolutions are attempting to profoundly transform entire regions of the planet in one sweeping move.

Bahrain uses UK-supplied weapons in protest crackdown Guardian | The British government has launched a review of arms exports to Bahrain.

Alex Jones: NWO orchestrated protests RT America | Protests were orchestrated by the NWO and use this as fury in the streets to roll in another layer to the police state.

Why can’t the US legalize drugs? There’s ‘too much money in it,’ Clinton says Raw Story | Asked by Denise Maerker of Televisa what she thought of drug legalization, Clinton said it was unlikely to work.

Public Worker Protests Spread From Wisconsin to Ohio In what union leaders say is becoming a national fight, protests against legislation to restrict public employees’ collective-bargaining rights spread from Wisconsin to Ohio.

The Middle East and Then the World Beginning in North Africa, now unfolding in the Middle East and Iran, and soon to spread to Eastern Europe and Asia, the globalist fueled color revolutions are attempting to profoundly transform entire regions of the planet in one sweeping move.

CIA Coup-College: Recycled revolutionary “props” Tony Cartalucci | Suspicious similarities between Egyptian unrest and known US-backed uprising in Serbia.

The Hidden Weakness of Natural Health Laws Brandon Turbeville | The U.S. has seen increasing interest in natural healthcare, vitamin and mineral supplements.

Libya defiant as hundreds of protesters feared dead Guardian | Witnesses describe ‘massacres’ as Libyan troops shoot unarmed demonstrators in Benghazi

Iran Naval Ships to Cross Suez Canal on Monday Reuters | Two Iranian naval ships will sail through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean on Monday.

Will The Great Firewall Of China Prevent Tomorrow’s Beijing “Jasmine Revolution”? Zero Hedge | There are postings from Chinese activists calling for protests in major cities.

Widow: Pentagon aide Wheeler ‘killed by hitman’ UK Daily Mail | Prominent Washington aide John Wheeler was assassinated by a hitman in a targeted killing, his widow has claimed.

Arrested US official is actually CIA contractor (AP) ‘…Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who left the military in 2003, shot the men in what he described as an attempted armed robbery in the eastern city of Lahore as they approached him on a motorcycle. A third Pakistani, a bystander, died when a car rushing to help Davis struck him. Davis was reportedly carrying a Glock handgun, a pocket telescope and papers with different identifications…’

Libya, Bahrain, Iran, Yemen and Other Arab Governments Killing Protesters Mubarak was not the only brutal dictator in the Arab world.

Bahrain uses UK-supplied weapons in protest crackdown The British government has launched a review of arms exports to Bahrain after it emerged that the country’s security forces were supplied with weapons by the United Kingdom.

Libya unrest death toll reaches 84: HRW At least 84 protesters have lost their lives and hundreds wounded in Libya in three days of pro-democracy protests in the African country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

Gadhafi's hold on Libya weakens in protest wave (AP) Deep cracks open up in Moammar Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigning, air force pilots defecting and a fire raging at the main government hall after clashes in the capital Tripoli. Protesters called for another night of defiance in Tripoli's main square despite the government's heavy crackdown.

Rumsfeld says $2.3 Trillion never lost, just untracked (yeah … riiiiight! Untracked into their pockets … untracked WeAreChange | Activists confront Rumsfeld on missing Pentagon funds.

Muslim Brotherhood Cleric Calls for Fatwa on Gadhafi UPI | “It is not heroism to fight your people and to hit them with missiles,” Qaradawi said on al-Jazeera.

Muslim Brotherhood: Gaddafi’s son wounded, dictator has fled International Business Times | The report says Gaddafi, his wife and daughter have fled the country.

Medvedev Warns “Fanatics” Will Take Over Middle East Kurt Nimmo | Says color revolution will not be tolerated in Russia.

Medvedev: Revolutions Could Lead To “Disintegration” Of Middle East Paul Joseph Watson | Aftermath of revolts could “set the region on fire for decades to come,” warns Russian President.

Defiant Gaddafi vows to die as martyr Reuters | Gaddafi vowed to die in Libya as a martyr in an angry television address.

Police Would “Absolutely” Use Force On Wisconsin Protesters Paul Joseph Watson | Despite publicly condemning Governor Scott Walker’s proposal, troopers would obey orders to crush dissent.

Alex Jones: The “Justin Biebler” Rant Infowars.com | Alex talks about real heroes, not manufactured plastic heroes pushing carbon taxes.

Rising food prices nearing danger point: World Bank World Bank president Robert Zoellick warned leaders of the top global economies Saturday that the world is reaching a danger point where soaring food prices threaten further political instability.

UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST Bahrain military retreats after shootings (Washington Post)

• In Cairo, crowds press military for more reforms
• Scores reported killed in Libya | Algerian unrest
• OPINION: In Mideast, it's not a Facebook revolution
• Full report | Interactive map: Mideast in turmoil

U.S. vetoes Security Council resolution denouncing Israeli settlements (Washington Post) [ Drudgereport: Hillary Clinton: Israeli Settlements 'Illegitimate'… [We know that hill … We’ve known that for quite some time along with their illegal nukes, war crimes, etc…The whole world knows that hill… so don’t just talk about it … DO SOMETHING! ] ... Yes! … in pervasively corrupt, defacto america’s self-defeating, self-destructive way they are doing something … U.S. vetoes Security Council resolution denouncing Israeli settlements … Sounds like a plan! … right! ]

SEC names Sean McKessy to head new whistleblower office (Washington Post) The appointment sets off alarm bells among whistleblower advocates. [ Indeed it should, regardless of ‘who’. In pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america there is always that pre-calculation: juice / no juice, payer (bribes/contributions) / non-payer, potential after gov’t job opportunity / no job opportunity, etc.. Video: Why Isn’t Wall St. in Jail? [ This truly will prove to be the story of the century (albeit an abbreviated one and a turning point toward america’s intractable decline) owing to what will ultimately be the lynch-pin of global economic / financial collapse ushering in an era of great scarcity in more ways than can be imagined. The pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american nation / government has literally underwritten this massive fraud at the expense of the vast majorities directly and indirectly, precluded prosecution while obfuscating the substantial crimes, literally becoming accomplices thereby. There is absolutely no excuse for what is essentially a defalcation and abrogation of duty. I was watching a somewhat obscure film recently which (though elsewhere on this page and site I’ve set forth alarming crime statistics clearing showing america as number 1 in all categories by wide margins) which set forth the statistic that america has 85% of the world’s serial killers (and I’d go further in saying it is likely that america has a similar lead in war crimes, etc.) ] MSNBC | Cenk Uygur talks to Matt Taibbi about his latest Rolling Stone article. …… I mean, give me a frickin’ break! Let’s get real here … probably the most egregiously dangerous years for whistleblowers were the clinton years when even potential whistleblowers were targeted; ie., Mary Mahoney, former clinton security team members, etc., see http://albertpeia.com/bodycount.htm ie., Mary C. Mahoney: 25, murdered at the Georgetown Starbuck's coffee bar over the 4th of July '97 weekend. She was a former White House intern who worked with John Huang. Apparently she knew Monica Lewinsky and her sexual encounters with Bill Clinton. Although not verified, it has been said that Lewinsky told Linda Tripp that she did not want to end up like Mahoney…Steve Willis, Robert Williams, Todd McKeahan & Conway LeBleu: Died Feburary 28, 1993 by gunfire at Waco. All four were examined by a pathologist and died from identical wounds to the left temple. All four had been body guards for Bill Clinton, three while campaigning for President and when he was Governor of Arkansas.They also were the ONLY 4 BATF agents killed at Waco…, etc. but the bushies / cia / wall street are comparable and as well in some different, more subtle ways; ie., discrediting, false charges, etc.. ] The appointment sets off alarm bells among whistleblower advocates.

A frayed alliance: Obama and unions Wis. budget impasse deepens (Washington Post) [ Frayed? How ‘bout flayed, fillet, and souffled … Or, screwed, nude, and double chewed … Drudgereport: OBAMA BACKS UNION UPROAR
PELOSI BACKS PROTESTERS: 'I STAND IN SOLIDARITY'...

DEBT NOW EQUALS ENTIRE ECONOMY
OBAMA AGENDA IS OVER
Obama refers to himself as 'The Gipper'… [ Riiiight! …anything you say wobmama the b for b*** s***… or maybe the bipper, the chipper, or the yankee clipper (the new joltin’ joe) …sounds like he’s losing it! ] ...
BUDGET WOES FORCE STATES TO CONSIDER ABOLISHING '12 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES...
STATE BUDGETS ON THE BRINK: CA, TX, IL, NY, NJ...
WISC GOV: 'NOT GOING TO BE BULLIED, INTIMIDATED'...
Orders state troopers to bring Dems to Capitol...
'There Is Fear For Scott Walker's Safety'...
Dem Sen: We'll stay away for weeks...
WALKOUT: Milwaukee Schools closed; teachers call in 'sick'...
REPORT: Average city teacher compensation tops $100,000...
PAPER: GET BACK TO WORK!
DNC playing role in protests...
Jesse to the Rescue: Jackson rallies protesters...
'A real Martin Luther King moment'...
Union Fight Heats Up...
Republicans vow to cut spending in state capitols...
Protests Spread to Ohio...
Michigan...
'Coming To Minnesota'...
Idaho offical target of threats over education reform plan...
Egypt in America?
'Day of Rage' Hits Wisconsin over state unions...
Madison schools closed; 1,100 teachers call in 'sick'...
Obama: 'Assault on Unions'...
Obama-founded OFA spearheading effort to defeat bill...
Boehner: 'Suspend these tactics'...
DEMS FLEE STATE HOUSE
SENATE DEMOCRATS FOUND -- AT A RESORT IN ILLINOIS!
Gov. Walker calls on Dems to return, vote...
Protesters, supporters clash in Ohio over union bill...
Activists swarm Boehner's Capitol Hill home; Chant 'don't tread on DC'..
Carney: Stimulus 'Goals Have Been Met'...
GALLUP: Unemployment hits 10%...
Feds Borrow Additional $29,660/Household Since Obama Signed Stimulus...
Ratings Downgrades Loom for Cash-Strapped States...
Hillary Clinton: Israeli Settlements 'Illegitimate'… [We know that hill … We’ve known that for quite some time along with their illegal nukes, war crimes, etc…The whole world knows that hill… so don’t just talk about it … DO SOMETHING! ] ...

Offended Mubarak refuses calls from Obama...
Ahmadinejad: Obama can't spell his own name (True … it’s ‘w o b a m a’ with ‘the b for b*** s***’ his surname … he’s so pathetic and a total caricature / joke!) ...
Egypt's protests flare despite military warning...
Libya set for 'day of anger'...
Thousands of police confront protesters in Yemen...
Riot police storm Bahrain camp; 2 reported dead...
ABCNEWS Correspondent Beaten...
100 Egyptians reach Italy amid Arab exodus...
CARTER: Muslim 'hood nothing 'to be afraid of'...
PAPER: Senate hearing turns into farce as American ignorance on Egypt revealed...
USA TO REBUKE ISRAEL AT UN
Poll: Majority of Republicans Doubt Obama's Birthplace...
Agents Shot in Mexico...
WORRIES OBAMA OFFICIALS...
ICE IN VICE...
GAO: Feds have 'operational control' of 44% of border; just 15% 'air tight'...
DAY 3: 'Watson' the computer creams human 'JEOPARDY!' champs...
REPORT: Steve Jobs receiving treatment at cancer center... PAPER: 'Reportedly sicker than previously admitted'...
ISSA MAKES A MOVE: New subpoena seeks records on sweetheart loans...
U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

'Kill Switch' Internet bill alarms privacy experts...
GOP BLASTS FCC NET RULES...

TSA agents busted at JFK for stealing $160,000 from bags...

Hillary Clinton donors indicted...
Man mugs 96-year-old -- for $5...
France Wants New Global Finance System; End of Dollar Dominance...
Fannie, Freddie bailout: $153 billion and counting...
GALLUP: Unemployment at 10.3%...
Muslim Bros plan political party...
Present Two Faces...
Pakistan Islamists warn of protests if US prisoner freed...
SECSTATE JR: Sen Kerry arrives in Pakistan, expresses 'regret', 'sorrow'...
GADDAFI TELLS PALESTINIANS: REVOLT AGAINST ISRAEL
World Bank: Food prices at 'dangerous levels'...
Gov't Motors to pay out $189 million in bonuses; some workers to get 50% payoffs..
Deficit Expected to Jump to $1.65 Trillion...
...'slow train wreck coming'
BUDGET BLOWOUT: How big is $3.73 trillion? $12,000 from each American...
ANALYSIS: $1.5 trillion tax hike over 10 years...
AIRLINES: New fees would be $2 billion tax increase on flyers...
Sessions: Obama failed on budget...
Long Spending Fight...
Produce prices to skyrocket with freeze in Mexico, Southwest...
Clothing Prices to Rise 10% Starting in Spring...
China Replaced Japan in 2010 as Number 2 Economy...
China plans Colombian rail link to challenge Panama canal...
The March On Berlusconi...
Berlusconi indicted in prostitution probe...

Malware 'Aimed at Iran Hit Five Sites'...

Mubarak 'falls into coma after final speech'...
Egyptian military orders last protesters out of 'Liberation Square'...
Consolidates power...
Delivers ultimatum...
Boy wrestler forfeits match to female opponent... [ What a homo! Wow! I feel sorry for those guys she actually beat (20 of them – her record was 20 and 13) … they’ll probably never get over it … nor should they … I have to rethink my regard for Iowa, Iowa state wrestling now presuming such stalwart championship teams to be the products of out-of-state imports … as for the guy who forfeited, he could have easily and gently taken her down (you can easily do that with a lesser opponent), got her in a double grapevine and grind her in a certain way into the mat, and when she was in the throws of convulsive orgasm, she’d unwittingly arch her back, thereby pressing her own shoulder blades to the mat, thereby pinning herself, thus enabling the homo to say in a manner of speaking that he was making heterosexual love not war with her ……… how pathetic and preposterous this was … and, let me remind the homo that God doesn’t care that you wrestle a girl who wants to wrestle! ]

]

House approves dramatic cuts in federal spending Vote sets up showdown with Dems; threat of shutdown looms (Washington Post) [ As they say on SNL, ‘What’s up with that?’. Come on! Wake up! That doesn’t even cover the interest on a $14 trillion debt. And, how disingenuous of the author to write, ‘largest cut of its kind since WWII’… Not in percentage terms by a long shot! … 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! ‘ ] After all-night debate, House votes 235-189 to approve plan to cut $60 billion in federal funding in what'd be the largest cut of its kind since WWII.

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

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