April 19, 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 (Only up to 3-11-11-you must be logged in - (Washington Post) [ Comments COMMENTS ARE CLOSED WHILE WE UPGRADE OUR SYSTEMS ] the comments are no longer archived on their site ) . The following is the cumulative archive of blog posts / topics for 2010 as the new year starts anew (and archived by quarter): http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.htm or PDF formatted version
http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.pdf ]

Obama faces fundraising test in California (Washington Post) [ Test? You mean intelligence test for those Californians? A cliché, aphorism is apposite: ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’. Now frauds on wall street got value for their bribes; viz., no prosecution of their continuing nation-destroying frauds, yet cleaning up the frauds with prosecutions was the presumption upon which their support was predicated , at least in part. Certainly Hollywood spoke with their academy award for ‘Inside Job’ . Roche 'The worst part of it ...Obama, who vowed change, has done almost nothing to fix any of it and in fact continues most of the policies that helped get us here in the first place’ ‘INSIDE JOB’ Ferguson wins Oscar for Documentary on the unprosecuted massive extant fraud in the (many) TRILLIONS by the frauds on wall street ( and declares with oscar in hand that not one high level wall street exec has been prosecuted … despite ‘earning’ billiions from the fraud ), the commentator / experts recommend getting rid of the corrupt eric holder ( what do holder and wobama have in common … wall street money? … a proclivity for jive-talking / b*** s*** ?...all/some of the above … or is it something else ... . UPDATE: MORE CLAIMS OF RACE BIAS AT JUSTICE... ‘In emotional and personal testimony, an ex-Justice official who quit over the handling of a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims ' Cases against Wall Street lag despite Holder’s vows to target financial fraud WP | Obama has promised to hold Wall Street accountable for the meltdown. I mean, what can he do for the siliconeheads? … act like some communist country and buy their sh**ty, unreliable, dysfunctional technology? ] The president will woo big-money donors this week in California in the first test of whether he can renew support from the entertainment and high-tech industries that helped him win in 2008. There have been some signs that fervor for Obama in Hollywood and Silicon Valley has ebbed.

S&P unmoved by U.S. entreaties (Washington Post) [ You really have to shake your head and wonder … The audacity, given the blatantly precarious (I'm being euphemistically kind) state of u.s. finances; viz., defacto bankruptcy. You have to give Standard & Poor’s credit here for not succumbing to the schmooze among fairly presumed other pressures; particularly from the ultimate, stereotypically fitting jive-talker, 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***). If anything, they should be faulted for being remiss in not so doing much earlier. Indeed, most financially attuned individuals, including yours truly have as Atlas, shrugged and with a yawn say, tell us something we don't know. Well, I will tell people now what they don't want to know; namely, they're just not going to get it done! It's all too little, too late. Moreover, absent prosecution, fines, jail and disgorgement first from the (continuing, complicit) frauds on wall street, it should not be done. It should be noted that very smart money, PIMCO, already sold off there once very large stake in u.s. treasuries. ] Obama looks to reassure on debt [ Come on! Who'd be foolish enough to believe anything 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) says? ] So, not only do we have a valuation bubble, but the earnings on which the projections are based are non-sustaining... same overvaluation situation as a few years ago … nothing fixed ...'

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! ‘ .

The Obama administration privately urged Standard & Poor’s in recent weeks not to lower its outlook on the U.S. — a suggestion the ratings agency ignored.

China’s $3 trillion dilemma (Washington Post) [ Pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america would love to have such a dilemma. And yet, China, already burned, stands to inevitably get burned in a very big way owing to imprudently large stakes in american debt. It should be noted that very smart money, PIMCO, already sold off there once very large stake in u.s. treasuries. Obama looks to reassure on debt (WP) Come on! Who'd be foolish enough to believe anything 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) says? ]

High oil / IBM worthless dollar (currency translation) rally … sounds like a real pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american plan! [ YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM ] :‘…natural resource plays provided an afternoon lift…’ …Riiiiight!
America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog | It’s now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted. http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm ]. Selling In May Is Very Good Advice This Year Harding / April Is a Good Time to Sell Adler ( I quite agree … overvalued to the hilt in this new manipulated bubble … at the least a 'sell in May and go away', but 'don't be mentally ill, sell in April!' ) Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar 'Despite the terrible economic performance of the past ten years, equity valuations are the 2nd largest bubble in U.S. history... the cause and the potential ramifications of this are astounding. . According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued The only time the markets have been more overvalued was a few brief months in 1929 and the tech bubble. [chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_thumb1.png ]

the markets have now surpassed the 1929 peak valuation by over 8%.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_q_ratio_thumb1.png ]

… bubbles turn a believable story/trend into an overvaluation. In the 1700s during the South Sea Bubble...Railroading prospects induced a bubble in the late 1800s ... In the 1920s, a bubble ...

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_gap_between_12_month_average_thumb1.png ]

growth in earnings have been artificially manufactured...

· The change in accounting rules for the financial sector by FASB has generated massive “false” account profits beginning in 2009.

· The extended (and then further extended) unemployment benefits have kept an artificially higher demand for consumer consumption. As a result, the US government has artificially subsidized corporate profits.

· The billions saved through “free loading” by homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages yet maintained their residence, thus living without a mortgage payment.

· The artificially suppressed interest rates.

Afghan vet­eran is called elsewhere (Washington Post) [ Is Mr. Jaffe dreaming here? Indeed, in looking away from the headline momentarily the image persisted and the latter part of the sentence became ‘he leaves with depth of experience few can DREAM OF’. Yes, dream, as in nightmare; as in death, destruction, pillaging and plundering for no good reason at all. I’ve previously said that beginning with clinton and on, all honorable, capable military brass either resigned or retired. Make no mistake, if large scale heroin production / distribution is the experience alluded to, then that otherwise preposterous statement would ring true. The Afghanistan campaign is unequivocally a disastrous self-destructive, nation bankrupting conflict for Afghanistan and the respective defacto bankrupt nato members. ! This is the grim economic reality [ http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm . Looking Like A Good Time To Sell Into Strength - Harding PRECHTER: We're Still In A Massive Bear Market And Stocks Will Crash To New Lows 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). In sum, who’d want to match or emulate that ‘depth of experience’. After all, how low can you go? Over the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost U.S. taxpayerswell over a trillion dollars.

So what have we gotten in return for a trillion dollars?

In Afghanistan, we haven’t even found the one man we supposedly went there to look for – Osama Bin Laden… set up a good form of government, right?

Oh yeah, we set up a really wonderful government. For example, they recently arrested a one-legged Afghan Red Cross worker and sentenced him to death for converting to Christianity…

The same thing is true in Iraq. Yeah, we may have gotten rid of Saddam, but the nation is now in far worse shape than before we went in…’ The End Of An Empire And The Beginning Of A Depression Since the end ofWorld War 2, the United States has been the leading military power and the leading economic power on the entire globe. Those days are done! By The American Dream These are a far cry from the brightest bulbs on the planet. ] As Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez departs theater, he leaves with depth of experience few can match.

High oil / IBM worthless dollar (currency translation) rally … sounds like a real pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american plan! [ YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM ] :‘…natural resource plays provided an afternoon lift…’ …Riiiiight! You can’t make this stuff up, you really can’t. How totally pathetic! ]
America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog | It’s now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted. This is the grim economic reality [ http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm ]. Selling In May Is Very Good Advice This Year Harding / April Is a Good Time to Sell Adler ( I quite agree … overvalued to the hilt in this new manipulated bubble … at the least a 'sell in May and go away', but 'don't be mentally ill, sell in April!' ) Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar 'Despite the terrible economic performance of the past ten years, equity valuations are the 2nd largest bubble in U.S. history... the cause and the potential ramifications of this are astounding. . According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued according to this valuation metric. The only time the markets have been more overvalued was a few brief months in 1929 and the tech bubble. [chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_thumb1.png ]

Exhibit 2: The Q ratio, which measures total market value compared to its replacement cost.

The Q-ratio data in the chart below dates back to 1900. According to the data, the markets have now surpassed the 1929 peak valuation by over 8%.

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_q_ratio_thumb1.png ]

… bubbles turn a believable story/trend into an overvaluation. In the 1700s during the South Sea Bubble...Railroading prospects induced a bubble in the late 1800s ... In the 1920s, a bubble … A similar life-changing invention – the Internet – swept the attention of investors in the 1990s ...

What is the story today? The prospect of inflation? High unemployment?

Exhibit 3: The gap between projected 12-month earnings against the 10-year average

... the market is stretching this reversion greater than 2000 and 2007!

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_gap_between_12_month_average_thumb1.png ]

... growth in earnings have been artificially manufactured...

· The change in accounting rules for the financial sector by FASB has generated massive “false” account profits beginning in 2009.

· The extended (and then further extended) unemployment benefits have kept an artificially higher demand for consumer consumption. As a result, the US government has artificially subsidized corporate profits.

· The billions saved through “free loading” by homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages yet maintained their residence, thus living without a mortgage payment.

· The artificially suppressed interest rates.

So, not only do we have a valuation bubble, but the earnings on which the projections are based are non-sustaining... same overvaluation situation as a few years ago … nothing fixed ...'

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! ‘ .

Lawyer charged with insider trading (Washington Post) [ Come on! Just enough for a few headlines so people think they're actually doing something. They could (but don't) bring a case as this or other wall street crime against a different wall street liar (sic lawyer) / fraud in that corrupt sinkhole new york (metro, ie., jersey, conn., etc.) every single day and bearly touch the tip of the iceberg. Is anybody foolish enough to think what goes on there is legitimate? Remember, still no pros for the huge debacle / fraud precipitatin the last and continuing economic / financial crisis. Chemist charged with insider trading (WP) [ This remains incredulous to me. Everyone but the big boys / frauds! The frauds on wall street et als should be criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed. Dave's Daily 'If you can keep interest rates this low this long, its inevitable cheap financing can allow companies to start cobbling each other up. Further Ben's policies allow companies like IBM to sell bonds at 1% and buy back shares with the proceeds (total paper bubble-scam). POMO is occurring almost daily and Primary Dealers can buy back their shares and pay dividends with what essentially is taxpayer money-- … an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits while you still can since there's much worse to come! This is the grim economic reality [ http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm . Looking Like A Good Time To Sell Into Strength - Harding PRECHTER: We're Still In A Massive Bear Market And Stocks Will Crash To New Lows 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). SEC: Wachovia cheated investors (WP) [ I truly can see decreasing the apple weighting, and increasing the oracle (open office, etc.), google (ubiquitous) weighting, but increasing dyingosaur microsoft weighting … I don't think so … something's gone awry here that smacks of desperation and an attempt to circumvent the visual effects on the nasdaq of a post-jobs apple, viz., over-priced apple sauce. Isn't that just like the frauds on wall street … to pad the nasdaq bubble based on a 1-stock story, and manipulate when that 1-stock story falls to earth! April Is a Good Time to Sell [ I quite agree … at the least a 'sell in May and go away', but 'don't be mentally ill, sell in April!' Adler ]

Loan Sharks Rejoice - Greece 2-Year Notes at 20% !

[video]Trader: S&P Downgrade A Game Changer NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ben Willis of Sunrise Securities is rethinking his portfolio after the downgrade from S&P.

Infographic: Easiest Way to Fix a Windows, Mac, or Linux Computer [ Yeah! ‘american technology’ (not really american anymore and that’s the positive, value-part of the equation) is really all that bad / overrated / overvalued. I believe most are afraid to admit that owing to an insecure fear that they’ll be pegged as among the ranks of the ubiquitous ‘computer illiterate’ (beyond the bells and whistles interface). But such is foolishness because ‘american technology’ is all that … BAD. …Really … bad news … kind of in the realm of that brilliant GM strategy of ‘planned obsolescence’ so they’d sell more cars as you’d need new cars to replace the shoddy old cars … sounds like … a defacto bankrupt american plan! Yet, fraud’s become pervasively corrupt america’s strongest suit. Day in, day out on wall street, that’s really what it is in the final analysis; viz., a huge, government-protected (through bribes, one way or another, and that ‘insecurity thing’ concerning their finance / economics illiteracy) foisted scam / fraud. I surprised these ‘american companies’ are still in business … including intel (they’re all wintel machines now, and they should know better). ]

Interest on National Debt is Biggest Projected Problem, Not Healthcare

Standard & Poor’s Outlook for U.S. Karen De Coster | Three largest rating companies failed to downgrade the obvious: failing insurance companies.

Total US Debt Now Officially Above The Ceiling Zero Hedge

Rand Paul: Spending cuts must include Pentagon Washington Times | Military spending will have to be cut if the country is going to get its debt problems under control.

Marc Faber: The Dollar’s Value In The Future Will Be Zero Dr. Marc Faber spoke with CNBC this morning about currency markets, notably the recent movements in the euro, global long-term position in the dollar, and the rise of gold and silver.

Economic Woes Created By Elitists Behind The Scenes Europe continues to struggle from one problem to another. The euro has been strong only because the dollar has been weak. The governments of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain continue their balancing acts on the edge of a financial precipice.

Is There a Financial Scam Behind the Rise in Oil and Food Prices? The global economy and its recovery, and the living standards of millions of plain folks, are now at risk from the sudden rise in oil and commodity prices.

(4-19-11) Dow 12,266 +65 Nasdaq 2,745 +9 S&P 500 1,313 +7 [CLOSE- OIL $108.67 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.82 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $4.20 REG./ $4.30 MID-GRADE/$4.40 PREM./ $4.54 DIESELL) / GOLD $1,497 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $44.26 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,779 (+56% for year 2009) Metal News for the Day / DOLLAR= .69 EURO, 82 YEN, .60 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ Interest Rates: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=yield 10 YR NOTE YIELD 3.39% …..… 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 The bull market that never was/were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ‘WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE EVER’ Must Read Economic / Financial Data This Depression is just beginning The coming depression… thecomingdepression.net 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

UK Sends In Troops As Ground Invasion Of Libya Accelerates Paul Joseph Watson | Pretext for deeper intervention required as globalist Al-Qaeda-backed rebels being soundly trounced by Gaddafi forces.

Alex Jones On EU Ground Invasion Of Libya Infowars.com | Alex Jones addresses the cynical, pre-planned announcement by the EU to officially launch ground forces in Libya.

Mother “Considering All Options” After TSA Groped Six Year-Old-Daughter Steve Watson | Parents say they have not ruled out legal challenge to “dangerous” TSA policies.

Obama Takes to the Road as Economy Begins Final Descent Kurt Nimmo | Obama to sell cutting granny’s Medicare while remaining silent on cutting the financing of the endless wars of the global elite.

Budget Cuts are Meaningless Without Fed Transparency Ron Paul | Recently the Fed was forced to reveal some details of loans given out during the financial crisis of 2008 and they are truly shocking.

Gold Tops $1,500 on Outlook for Escalating U.S. Debt, Dollar Gold futures rose to a record $1,500.50 an ounce as U.S. debt concerns weighed on the dollar, boosting demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment.

UK Sends In Troops As Ground Invasion Of Libya Accelerates Unleashing yet another deft salvo of Orwellian doublespeak, the British government announced today that it would be sending in military forces to “help” Libyan rebels while still insisting that it is not sending in military forces, as the EU gears up to dispatch a further 1,000 troops, also under the dubious pretense of preventing humanitarian suffering.

G. Edward Griffin: The Collectivist Conspiracy In this exclusive 80 minute video interview for Prison Planet.tv subscribers, legendary conspiracy author G. Edward Griffin explains how his research, which spans no less than 5 decades, has revealed a banking elite obsessed with enforcing a world government under a collectivist model that will crush individualism and eventually institute martial law as a response to the inevitable backlash that will be generated as a result of a fundamental re-shaping of society.

Libya vows to fight any foreign troops on its soil, rebuffs E.U. proposal The Libyan government on Tuesday firmly rebuffed a proposal from the European Union, saying it would fight any foreign troops that landed on its soil, even if they were supposedly there to escort humanitarian aid convoys.

UN-believable: Who sanctioned Gaddafi out? Russia’s Foreign Minister has joined the criticism of NATO’s strategy in Libya. The alliance wants Colonel Gaddafi out, and is supporting the rebels with aid and air strikes. But Sergei Lavrov says toppling Gaddafi is not sanctioned by the United Nations.

Pretext For War On Libya Proven Fraudulent By Casualty Figures As the EU prepares to invade Libya with ground troops under the contrived pretext of “humanitarian aid,” Texas University Professor Alan J. Kuperman highlights the fact that the entire justification behind the NATO-backed aggression has been proven fraudulent by casualty figures that clearly indicate Gaddafi has not deliberately targeted civilians.

War for Oil? Why, Yes, It Was Back in the heady, heated days before the invasion of Iraq, one of the quickest ways to be relegated to the margins of the debate was to claim that the financial interests of politically connected oil companies played any role in the considerations of the great statesmen of the West as they confronted the global menace of Saddam Hussein.

Send to a friendSarah Palin: Don't pick on Donald Trump Politico - ‎Even though Donald Trump has wholeheartedly embraced the wall-to-wall media coverage that's come with his promotion of the widely discredited “birther” issue, Sarah Palin argued Tuesday that the press is treating him ... Trump's business success claims questioned CBS News ‘…Trump hotels and casinos in Atlantic City have filed for bankruptcy protection three times. While Trump blamed market forces, he has long been chairman of the board for the casino businesses.In his defense, Trump said he "didn't run the company." Isikoff then asked why he was paid $2 million per year to chair the board of that business. Trump replied: "Excuse me. Because I'm a genius, okay."Trump said many different businesses license the use of his name, but he's not directly involved in their operations.Casinos have not been the only weakness in the Trump empire. There have been many high profile bankruptcy filings, bad real estate deals, and a trail of ongoing lawsuits accusing him of bad business practices.Another questionable move was "Trump University," an online, for-profit business education firm. The attorney general in Texas ordered him to stop using the word "university" in its title. Trump said his company was unaware of restrictions on the use of that word.Isikoff also said he asked Trump if he thought the state of Hawaii was lying in regards to Obama being born there, and he did not answer the question. In summation of his experiences that qualify him to be President of the United States, Trump told Isikoff: "My successes...have been vast. I don't even view myself as having failures, and I certainly learned from things that don't work out as well." ‘ As Trump rants, TV ratings slide Tampabay.com

Drudgereport: Debt Hits New High: $14.3 Trillion...
GOLD: $1,500 FOR 1ST TIME...
China warns US to protect creditors...
US hurries to sell GM stake...
More than $11B loss for taxpayers...
Brits join ground fight in Libya...
Military advisers to aid rebels...
Iran Considering Crackdown on Dog Ownership...[ I once had the unfortunate occasion to have witnessed an adult, pedigree german shepard take a dump on the floor and lap it up like it was the greatest, most delicious treat in all the world … how totally disgusting … a cat would never, never do that! ]

Forecast for Fed: No change (Washington Post) [ Well, what did you expect … after all, insanity has been described by some as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result … and we all know that nothing succeeds like failure in america (and frauds, the fraudulent wall street crimes / bailouts, etc.) … and the 'no-recession' fed's been great ... for fraudulent wall street … The End Of An Empire And The Beginning Of A Depression .. US has been the leading military.. and ..economic power on the entire globe. Those days are done!

The American Dream 4-16-11 'Since the end of World War 2, the United States has been the leading military power and the leading economic power on the entire globe. The U.S. has had the largest economy in the history of the world, the U.S. dollar has been used by nearly all of the nations on earth as a reserve currency and the U.S. military has had a physical presence in most of the countries on the planet. Today, the U.S. military is in approximately 130 different nations and it has a total of about 700 military bases around the world. But just like the Roman Empire, the U.S. empire has become overextended and it is starting to decline. Most of our politicians believe that we can continue to “police the world” and project our power to every corner of the globe, but the more we meddle the more the rest of the world hates us and the worse our financial problems get. America is now swamped with debts and our influence is fading. The truth is that what we are witnessing is the end of an empire and the beginning of a depression.

Over the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost U.S. taxpayerswell over a trillion dollars.

So what have we gotten in return for a trillion dollars?

In Afghanistan, we haven’t even found the one man we supposedly went there to look for – Osama Bin Laden. ..

But at least we got rid of the Taliban and set up a good form of government, right?

Oh yeah, we set up a really wonderful government. For example, they recently arrested a one-legged Afghan Red Cross worker and sentenced him to death for converting to Christianity.

Fortunately there was enough of an international outcry that Said Musa was not hung, but the fact that the Afghan government wanted to string him up is enough to show that we have completely failed over there.

The same thing is true in Iraq. Yeah, we may have gotten rid of Saddam, but the nation is now in far worse shape than before we went in.

Before the war Christians felt safe in Iraq. Now large numbers of them are fleeing Iraq as fast as they can. More than 80 Iraqi Christians were recently beheaded on a single day. All the Christians were trying to do was attend a church service...

Now .. a 3rd war in the MidEast...' ]

Robinson: Take Donald Trump seriously (Washington Post) [ Riiiiight! For Mr. Robinson an oft times wobama apologist whom I have invariably found to be but a disingenuous shill for what could be described in the absence of a better term, the black lobby, a trump candidacy would be a dream come true. Drudgereport: RASMUSSEN: Obama 49% Trump 34%... Yet, where is the objective analysis of wobama's betrayal of that very block among others, yet, you know, based on skin color alone, they will vote for wobama. Indeed, it is an inconvenient truth that I have found blacks to be as racially prejudiced based on skin color alone as any other race. UPDATE: MORE CLAIMS OF RACE BIAS AT JUSTICE... ‘In emotional and personal testimony, an ex-Justice official who quit over the handling of a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims ' Cases against Wall Street lag despite Holder’s vows to target financial fraud WP | Obama has promised to hold Wall Street accountable for the meltdown. Cohen: Donald Trump, the comeback huckster (WP) [On the other hand is the zionist shill Mr. Cohen who in his startling revelation states 'back in 1990, Ivana Trump told her divorce lawyer Michael Kennedy that “from time to time, her husband [Donald Trump] reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, ‘My New Order,’ which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed.” This information, which comes from a startling 1990 Vanity Fair profile of Trump …' . I must say that beyond his corrupt, mob related / type activities detailed on my web site, trump was 'naziish' in his dog-pack, bully mentality (sinkholes jersey/new yorkster). Certainly Steve Wynn who now successfully does business in Macau / Vegas can attest to same. To be sure, trump is a mental case … but, so is wobama … but, then again, mental illness is rife in pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless, defacto bankrupt america.

Roche 'The worst part of it ...Obama, who vowed change, has done almost nothing to fix any of it and in fact continues most of the policies that helped get us here in the first place’ ‘INSIDE JOB’ Ferguson wins Oscar for Documentary on the unprosecuted massive extant fraud in the (many) TRILLIONS by the frauds on wall street ( and declares with oscar in hand that not one high level wall street exec has been prosecuted … despite ‘earning’ billiions from the fraud ), the commentator / experts recommend getting rid of the corrupt eric holder ( what do holder and wobama have in common … wall street money? … a proclivity for jive-talking / b*** s*** ?...all/some of the above … or is it something else ... ]

S&P lowers its outlook on U.S. debt (Washington Post) [ My sentiments as artfully written by Dave: Reality Bites: Dave's Daily 'First, why do we depend on these fee-conflicted rating agencies who have dropped the ball repeatedly? Answer: because there are no other non-fee conflicted rating (ratting?) agencies that have also made serious mistakes. Is there something from S&P today regarding U.S. debt we didn't already know? Hardly, so no Black Swan here. We've just been on an "extend and pretend" path to see how much money we can make before "the you know what" hits the fan. And, for all we know denial will continue and we could close this week higher as we shrug this off as something "down the road". As we enter a short week, and with markets already weak from the get-go, the S&P outlook for U.S. debt as "negative" blind-sided investors. Markets sold-off sharply but then recovered much of the damage late which should surprise given the pervasive dip buying mentality. Bonds initially sold-off then rallied (the down the road mentality) while commodities were mixed with energy falling despite a cut in crude oil output by the Saudis while precious metals and grains higher. The dollar rallied off its critical support as investor's repatriated money, not necessarily to safe parking, but maybe to cover some margin calls. Some believe, and I have no credible information on this other than chatter, the Fed is selling puts on U.S. debt to pin interest rates lower. That's an interesting strategy and could consume an entire posting and then some. Earnings were posted for Citigroup(C_) and given all the adjustments, accounting games and what not, reported lower than expected revenues but beat earnings expectations by penny. The stock was flat and the reverse split will be coming shortly along with the symbolic penny dividend. The market remains extraordinarily manipulated. Note the headline DJIA ("the window dressing for the tourists") reclaimed the 50-day moving average. Volume was much higher on the sell-off as stops routinely get hit on these event-type days. As you would expect, breadth per the WSJ, was clearly as negative as you would expect. ' ]Agency warns status as world’s most secure economy could be lost if lawmakers don’t rein in debt.

[Suckers' rally into the close off lows for no reason at all but to keep the suckers suckered. But this tact, and the not good news is not news which though true for quite some time, has been conveniently ignored by the frauds on wall street: YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] '...sell-off came as a culmination of concerns stemming from speculation about debt restructuring for less fiscally responsible eurozone nations like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal and news that analysts at S&P lowered their outlook on U.S. debt to Negative...']

Economy is battering Obama in the polls (Washington Post) [ As indeed should be the case; yet, I'm constrained to say that I doubt that polls by Zogby, Rasmussen, Gallup would be as kindly / generous to 'wobama the b' (b*** s***) as the WP / ABC poll based on what he has done though promising not to do, and what he has not done though promising to do. Quite simply, you can't trust a word he says. In light of that reality, including the dire circumstances, in terms of pervasive corruption, defacto bankruptcy of the nation, financial, economic, political, geopolitical concerns, missteps, realities, a 'roll of the dice' with a new president is without risk; and hence, rational. ]

Pelosi, far from the helm (Washington Post) [ Oh come on! Mr. Milbank's once again starting to sound like a political school-child; and, embarrassing himself quite profusely as he does so. Indeed, making excuses for wobama is intellectually and journalistically dishonest. After all, wobama came in riding the wave of discontent with the easiest act in history to follow; viz., the undeniably failed presidency of war criminal / moron dumbya bush. Make no mistake, he ran on exactly that. Yet he's done the same (as bush), even as he similarly (as did bush) have the short-lived (for good reason) benefit of 'control' of both houses of congress. He had a mandate to do what he promised to do and didn't. Unbridled war spending continued in that new debacle called Afghanistan, no pros of the frauds on wall street, and on top of that, some excess spending of his own. Pelosi was, is a joke as they've all become, with 'wobama the b' (for b***s***) the biggest joke. He's really no more than a stereotype without any credibility whatsoever. He is pathetic; which, derivatively makes Mr. Milbank pathetic in making excuses for this morass of absolutely nothing, who stands for absolutely nothing, that nothing being 'wobama the b' (for b***s***) . No excuses … all wobama! Obama seeks spending cuts, taxes on wealthy (WP) [ Too little, too late for 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) ! After all, though contraindicated, he previously extended the war criminal, moron bush tax cuts to what is now realistically perceived as 'their base' (that top 1 percent). Wobama has no credibility whatsoever, wars and all. He's just plain done! Liberals worry Obama has given up ground (WP) [ Worried? Given up ground? Are they kidding? Is this some parallel universe they're operating in? Come on! Wake up! Wobama's done! Finito! He's been and is an abject failure as president; both by what he's done as not promised and not done as promised, viz., perpetual wars and overspending, etc., and no prosecutions of the frauds on wall street, etc., respectively. He is incompetent, a total failure, and an embarrassment to the presidency as was his predecessor. Drudgereport: RASMUSSEN: President hits new low

Lawmakers seize on S&P outlook (Washington Post) [ Ah! So reassuring! I mean, come on! There's no mystery here. I'd even say at this point the u.s. debt has become an insurmountable problem having come in the form of too little, too late. Budget passes, but conservatives let down (Washington Post) The compromise touted as cutting $38.5 billion would actually only cut $352 million this fiscal year, an analysis says. While that didn’t prevent the budget from passing, it could sour some Republicans. [ Come on! This 'budget deal' was a showboating scam ab initio … Davis gets this right: 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! ‘ . Obama seeks spending cuts, taxes on wealthy (WP) [ Too little, too late for 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) ! After all, though contraindicated, he previously extended the war criminal, moron bush tax cuts to what is now realistically perceived as 'their base' (that top 1 percent). Wobama has no credibility whatsoever, wars and all. He's just plain done! Liberals worry Obama has given up ground (WP) [ Worried? Given up ground? Are they kidding? Is this some parallel universe they're operating in? Come on! Wake up! Wobama's done! Finito! He's been and is an abject failure as president; both by what he's done as not promised and not done as promised, viz., perpetual wars and overspending, etc., and no prosecutions of the frauds on wall street, etc., respectively. He is a total failure and an embarrassment to the presidency as was his predecessor. He's totally incompetent with an innate predilection to 'zig when he should zag' … 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) is pathetic! Quite simply, for wobama, it's too late! … Drudgereport: RASMUSSEN: President hits new low Taxpayers foot $850M bill for Wall St.’s pension fees NY Post | New York City taxpayers are helping to pay $850 million in Wall Street investment fees. ]

Suckers' rally into the close off lows for no reason at all but to keep the suckers suckered. But this tact, and the not good news is not news which though true for quite some time, has been conveniently ignored by the frauds on wall street: YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] '...sell-off came as a culmination of concerns stemming from speculation about debt restructuring for less fiscally responsible eurozone nations like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal and news that analysts at S&P lowered their outlook on U.S. debt to Negative...'

Reality Bites: Dave's Daily 'First, why do we depend on these fee-conflicted rating agencies who have dropped the ball repeatedly? Answer: because there are no other non-fee conflicted rating (ratting?) agencies that have also made serious mistakes. Is there something from S&P today regarding U.S. debt we didn't already know? Hardly, so no Black Swan here. We've just been on an "extend and pretend" path to see how much money we can make before "the you know what" hits the fan. And, for all we know denial will continue and we could close this week higher as we shrug this off as something "down the road". As we enter a short week, and with markets already weak from the get-go, the S&P outlook for U.S. debt as "negative" blind-sided investors. Markets sold-off sharply but then recovered much of the damage late which should surprise given the pervasive dip buying mentality. Bonds initially sold-off then rallied (the down the road mentality) while commodities were mixed with energy falling despite a cut in crude oil output by the Saudis while precious metals and grains higher. The dollar rallied off its critical support as investor's repatriated money, not necessarily to safe parking, but maybe to cover some margin calls. Some believe, and I have no credible information on this other than chatter, the Fed is selling puts on U.S. debt to pin interest rates lower. That's an interesting strategy and could consume an entire posting and then some. Earnings were posted for Citigroup(C_) and given all the adjustments, accounting games and what not, reported lower than expected revenues but beat earnings expectations by penny. The stock was flat and the reverse split will be coming shortly along with the symbolic penny dividend. The market remains extraordinarily manipulated. Note the headline DJIA ("the window dressing for the tourists") reclaimed the 50-day moving average. Volume was much higher on the sell-off as stops routinely get hit on these event-type days. As you would expect, breadth per the WSJ, was clearly as negative as you would expect. '

Gannett's newspaper ad woes drag down 1Q earnings (AP) [ My experience with them is such that they should be out of business! ]

S&P threatens to cut U.S. credit rating on deficit (Reuters)

Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically (AP)

Wall Street falls on sovereign fears (Reuters) - S&P threatens to cut U.S. credit rating on deficit (Reuters) - Citi profit sags as revenue shrinks, expenses grow (Reuters) - Texas Instruments misses forecasts, blames Japan (Reuters) - Eliot Spitzer Wants Attorney General Eric Holder To Prosecute Goldman Sachs Right This Second - America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog | It’s now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted.

The End Of An Empire And The Beginning Of A Depression Since the end ofWorld War 2, the United States has been the leading military power and the leading economic power on the entire globe. Those days are done!

The American Dream April 16, 2011 'Since the end of World War 2, the United States has been the leading military power and the leading economic power on the entire globe. The U.S. has had the largest economy in the history of the world, the U.S. dollar has been used by nearly all of the nations on earth as a reserve currency and the U.S. military has had a physical presence in most of the countries on the planet. Today, the U.S. military is in approximately 130 different nations and it has a total of about 700 military bases around the world. But just like the Roman Empire, the U.S. empire has become overextended and it is starting to decline. Most of our politicians believe that we can continue to “police the world” and project our power to every corner of the globe, but the more we meddle the more the rest of the world hates us and the worse our financial problems get. America is now swamped with debts and our influence is fading. The truth is that what we are witnessing is the end of an empire and the beginning of a depression.

Over the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost U.S. taxpayerswell over a trillion dollars.

So what have we gotten in return for a trillion dollars?

In Afghanistan, we haven’t even found the one man we supposedly went there to look for – Osama Bin Laden. It defies comprehension how a man with a really bad kidney disease can hide in caves and evade the most powerful military on earth for nearly a decade.

But at least we got rid of the Taliban and set up a good form of government, right?

Oh yeah, we set up a really wonderful government. For example, they recently arrested a one-legged Afghan Red Cross worker and sentenced him to death for converting to Christianity.

Fortunately there was enough of an international outcry that Said Musa was not hung, but the fact that the Afghan government wanted to string him up is enough to show that we have completely failed over there.

The same thing is true in Iraq. Yeah, we may have gotten rid of Saddam, but the nation is now in far worse shape than before we went in.

Before the war Christians felt safe in Iraq. Now large numbers of them are fleeing Iraq as fast as they can. More than 80 Iraqi Christians were recently beheaded on a single day. All the Christians were trying to do was attend a church service.

Now we are involved in a third war in the Middle East. Even though Libya was no threat to the United States, Obama felt compelled to stick our nose into a chaotic civil war.

Now it looks like our involvement in Libya could last for a very, very long time.

In a joint op-ed piece in the New York Times, Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy declared that NATO military operations in Libya will not end until there is a regime change….

However, so long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO must maintain its operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds. Then a genuine transition from dictatorship to an inclusive constitutional process can really begin, led by a new generation of leaders. In order for that transition to succeed, Qaddafi must go and go for good.

So exactly who are we “helping” in Libya?

It turns out that we are providing “air cover” for many of the same people who were shooting at our troops in Iraq.

Yes, you read the correctly.

According to The Telegraph, the leader of the Libyan rebels is even admitting that his “troops” include jihadists that were firing bullets at U.S. troops in Iraq….

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

What type of government do you think they are going to set up once this is over?

And all of this meddling is turning the rest of the world against us in a big way.

Most Americans don’t realize just how much hatred there is for America in the rest of the world. There are millions upon millions of people out there that now hate us with every fiber of their beings, and every time we bomb someone else world opinion turns against us even more.

Sadly, our meddling goes well beyond the three wars we are currently fighting. The truth is that the U.S. military is actively “conducting operations” in dozens of different countries.

For example, most Americans don’t even realize what the U.S. is doing in Pakistan.

How would you like it if a foreign power was conducting missile attacks inside the United States over the objections of our national leaders?

Well, that is what we are doing in Pakistan and we are going to continue even though Pakistani officials are adamantly objecting.

According to AFP, the CIA intends to continue conducting operations in Pakistan no matter what the Pakistani government says….

The Central Intelligence Agency has no plans to suspend “operations” in Pakistan against terror suspects despite objections from leaders in Islamabad, a US official said Thursday.

This approach to foreign policy is absolutely foolish. Attempting to have an “iron grip” on the rest of the world is only going to cause the rest of the world to deeply hate us and deeply resent us. We like to think of ourselves as “do gooders” but most of the rest of the world considers us to be tyrannical. Eventually the rest of the world will lash out at us.

In addition, maintaining our vast empire is bankrupting us.

As I have written about previously, U.S. military spending is wildly out of control. The truth is that U.S. military spending is greater than the military spending of China, Russia, Japan, India, and the rest of NATO combined.

The United States already accounts for 46.5% of all military spending in the world. China is next with only 6.6%.

Just one day of the war in Afghanistan costs more money than it took to build the entire Pentagon.

So will reducing military spending solve all of our financial problems?

Of course not.

In fact, if you eliminated every penny of military spending we would still have a gigantic budget deficit.

And that is another reason why our empire is dying.

The United States has the biggest debt problem in the history of the world.

Right now the U.S. government is over 14 trillion dollars in debt. Our debt is increasing by over 2 million dollars every single minute.

Our politicians are running up the national credit card as if there will never be any consequences.

But a very serious day of reckoning is coming, and when it arrives the rest of the world is not going to be in the mood to help us.

It is being projected that by 2021, the U.S. will be paying $1.1 trillion a year just in interest on the national debt.

So how big is a trillion dollars?

Well, if you were alive when Jesus was born and you spent a million dollars every single day since then, you still would not have spent a trillion dollars by now.

Our national debt is now at a tipping point. A recently revised IMF policy paper entitled “An Analysis of U.S. Fiscal and Generational Imbalances: Who Will Pay and How?” projects that U.S. government debt will rise to about 400 percent of GDP by the year 2050.

So what are our politicians doing about it?

Nothing.

During the last election, the Republicans made a “pledge” to the American people to cut $100 billion from the 2011 budget if they were elected.

Then once they got in they told us that $61 billion would be enough.

Then John Boehner gave in and agreed to cut the 2011 budget by only $38.5 billion.

Well, now it turns out that even the $38.5 billion figure was not even real.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the “budget deal” will only slash $352 million (with an “m”) from the 2011 budget.

That is less than one percent of the $38.5 billion figure that was announced.

No wonder so many Tea Party activists are now declaring that John Boehner must go.

In the end, our politicians do not intend to do anything about our runaway debt.

The Democrats will shut down the government rather than allow serious cuts to social programs or entitlements.

The Republicans will never allow serious cuts to the military and they are pushing for even more tax cuts.

So how in the world is U.S. government debt ever going to be brought under control?

The sad news is that it is not going to be. It is just a matter of time before a great U.S. debt crisis strikes.

But the U.S. is not the only one with a debt crisis.

The European debt crisis just seems to get worse with each passing month. The bonds of several European nations have been significantly downgraded in recent weeks.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Moody’s actually downgraded Irish debt by two levels on Friday….

Moody’s Investors Service Inc. downgraded Ireland’s government debt by two notches Friday, taking the country to the brink of junk status, and kept its outlook negative.

Things are getting scary.

Bond yields all over Europe are going through the roof.

A year ago, the yield on 10-year Portuguese bonds was hovering around 5%. On Friday it reached 9.0%.

A year ago, the yield on 10-year Irish bonds was also generally in the neighborhood of 5%. On Friday it closed at 9.7%.

But that is nothing compared to what is happening to Greek debt. On Friday, the yield on 10-year Greek bonds skyrocketed to an astounding 13.83%.

Yes, a depression is getting a little bit closer every single day.

Things don’t look good in Asia either. Prior to the recent tsunami, the Japanese economy was the third largest economy on the entire globe.

But there are now very serious questions about whether or not Japan will ever fully recover from what has just happened.

The mainstream media has been really downplaying the economic damage that has been done to Japan, but eventually the truth will become clear. In a previous article, I contended that this was essentially a “death blow” for the Japanese economy….

The tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th swept up to 6 miles inland, destroying virtually everything in the way. Thousands upon thousands of Japanese were killed and entire cities were wiped off the map. Yes, Japan is a resilient nation, but exactly how does a nation that is already drowning in debt replace dozens of cities and towns that are suddenly gone? The truth is that thousands of square miles have been more completely destroyed than if they had been bombed by a foreign military force. The loss of homes, cars, businesses and personal wealth is almost unimaginable. It is going to take many years to rebuild the roads, bridges, rail systems, ports, power lines and water systems that were lost. Nobody is quite sure when the rolling blackouts are going to end, and nobody is quite sure when all of the damaged manufacturing facilities are going to be fully brought back online.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, the nuclear crisis at Fukushima just seems to get worse by the day.

According to the Los Angeles Times, seawater near the Fukushima nuclear complex was recently found to contain “iodine-131 at 7.5 million times the legal limit”.

Authorities in Japan recently upgraded the crisis at Fukushima to a “level 7″ nuclear disaster, and almost everyone is finally acknowledging that this crisis is as bad or worse than Chernobyl.

Many now fear that vast portions of northern Japan may end up beinguninhabitable after all this is over. The health effects and the economic effects from this nightmare are going to be felt for the rest of our lives.

But even if all of the things above were not happening, the rapidly rising price of oil could potentially be enough to push the world into a depression. The entire global economy is predicated on the ability to consume gigantic amounts of very cheap oil. Nobody has ever been able to prove that the global economy can continue to function normally if the price of oil stays above $100 a barrel for an extended period of time.

When oil goes up, people start staying home. Certain types of economic activity become unprofitable. The cost of transporting all goods increases. The amount of money being transferred out of the U.S. economy and into the hands of oil barons soars.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is now $3.81. It is about a dollar higher than it was at this time last year.

If the price of oil stays where it is right now, the global economy can probably handle it, at least for a while. However, if it explodes up to $150 or $200 a barrel it is going to unleash hell on world financial markets.

The world is becoming a very unstable place. The U.S. empire is crumbling and the global financial system is on the verge of a nightmare.

Hopefully the rest of 2011 will not be as eventful as the first part has. We could use some global peace and stability for a while. Unfortunately, that is probably not going to be the case.'

Shock employment figures: Fewer than 46% of Americans have jobs The percentage of Americans who have jobs has fallen to the lowest point in three decades and now hovers just above 45 percent of the total population, according to an analysis of labor data published by USA Today.

World Markets Retreat

[video] Trader: S&P Downgrade A Game Changer

Easy Money (2): U.S. Inflation Now at 4% - How Fed Dismisses the Signs Tobey 'In "Easy Money (1): Fed Touts Flawed/Risky Rationale," we discussed the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's (FOMC's) weak rationale for easy money.

Today, we'll cover how the FOMC dismisses clear signs of 4% inflation.

As FOMC members speak out, trying to deflate growing inflation worries, they are revealing weaknesses in their analysis. Judging by their comments, they are using selected data to support their arguments and dismissing other, better signs of inflation.

There are two important problem areas:

First, the FOMC's preferred price index adjustment (i.e., excluding food and energy) is misleading. It is resulting in significantly reduced price inflation readings in this economy.

Second, the official money supply numbers are too low. The FOMC's policies are creating the problem.

Today's write-up addresses the Fed's choice of an inflation measure. Money supply will be discussed in the following write-up.

CPI vs. PCEPI

To measure inflation, the FOMC prefers the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI) to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The PCEPI has a unique construction that makes it less effective than the CPI in measuring price inflation caused by money supply expansion. The problem is that it expands the parties involved beyond consumers and it allows the spending basket to continually change. These moving parts can disguise what we're looking for: fiat money inflation

Even at that, the two indexes are highly correlated, with the PCEPI being a bit less volatile. (And the FOMC likes less volatility, as will be discussed next.)

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306461217606-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

In addition, here is the comparison of CPI and PCEPI excluding food and energy (to be discussed next).

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306467435166-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

Note: For the rest of this write-up, I will be using CPI data because of the high correlation between CPI and PCEPI, CPI's better measurement of inflation and the availability of CPI component data.

Excluding food and energy is improper

The Fed and others defend taking food and energy out of a price index because they are so "volatile." Supporting this proposition is usually a graph like the following, showing 12-month price changes comparing with and without.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306471039341-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

That graph may look like the only effect is volatility, but it's not. Food and energy have their own price trends beyond those movements.

Importantly, food and energy, as key commodities, are at the heart of all long-term inflation studies. When inflation shows up, food and energy prices are among the first to react. They are even better measures today because these worldwide commodities can be both traded and transported among countries with relative ease. (Contrast food and energy price moves to other CPI categories such as housing, medical and education. These other items react slowly to inflation caused by money supply changes.)

Looking at the cumulative price movements, not a simple 12-month moving one, we can see a significant rise in inflation by including food and energy.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-13030647528933-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

Clearly, there has been more inflation in the U.S. than the Fed's measure is showing. The 11+ year 2.5% inflation rate is well above the Fed's "limit" of 2%.

Housing, the FOMC's inflation friend, should be excluded

Housing costs are slow moving and significantly affected by factors beyond money supply inflation. These characteristics are visible in the CPI-housing index.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306479786696-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

Note especially how the housing price index changed its shape in the past three years, during which housing costs were down or flat. As we know, this pattern reflects housing's supply/demand conditions – not the effect of the FOMC's easy money policy. Therefore, including housing in the price index hides what's actually happening.

All countries face the same problem. Therefore, a common CPI adjustment made outside the U.S. is to report CPI excluding housing. Such an adjusted index is thought to be a better measure of price inflation.

The preferred inflation measure: CPI excluding housing

So, let's adopt the international convention and examine CPI without housing. Although it is not a publicly released CPI number, we can approximate it.

Housing represents about 40% of the CPI basket (much higher if food and energy are excluded). By presuming a 40% weighting throughout the period (this isn't precise, but it is an acceptable approximation), we can use the CPI measures available to calculate:

CPI excluding housing = [(CPI * 100%) – (CPI for housing * 40%)] / 60%

Here is the result:

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-13030648510201-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306555644225-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

Comparing the price index numbers

Now let's compare all those different measures. Here are the different price index results for the entire period and sub periods.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/17/524222-130306512628397-John-Tobey.jpg
(Click to enlarge)

Note how many readings show inflation above the Fed's "limit" of 2%. The latest ones are the what's bothering investors - especially as the FOMC takes comfort in its single, low measure.

Final thought: Why only one index?

Looking at these different index results raises the question of why the FOMC publicly uses only one number to defend its easy money policy. Is it playing the old marketing game of cherry picking the statistic that best supports its position? Or is it myopic, focusing on its one choice, believing all other measures to be flawed and, therefore, not requiring presentation or explanation? Or is it simply trying to keep our confidence up and not adversely affect "inflation expectations?"

Good analysis is fulsome (looking at an issue from all sides), objective (not being influenced by other considerations) and unique (incorporating underlying conditions, not simply relying on a number). The FOMC's comments have not shown good analysis – and that is worrisome.

So … price index measures are showing inflation running well above the FOMC's 2% "limit." These measures lend support to the rising inflation concerns we read about, along with rising long-term interest rates (in spite of the FOMC's bond buying program). Only the FOMC seems relaxed - and that's causing even more concern.

Next … reported money supply numbers are too low.'

Top 3 Reasons Markets were as Negative as US Credit Outlook Wall St. Cheat Sheet Markets closed down on Wall Street: DJI -1.14% SP500 -1.1% Nasdaq -1.06% Gold +0.47% Oil -2.05 .

Markets got slammed today when the S&P (NYSE:MHP) came out of the blue and downgraded the US Credit Rating outlook to “Negative”. On the commodities front, Oil (NYSE:USO) got hit hard and slid $2 although OPEC said they won’t be increasing supply any time soon. Gold (NYSE:GLD) and Silver (NYSE:SLV) resumed their climb to the moon as investors are now fretting whether the US will receive a full downgrade.

Don’t Miss: Wall St. Cheat Sheet’s newest Feature Trades of the Month>>

Today’s markets were down because:

1) Yes, the US really just took a bullet in the armor. Many investors and analysts have been warning of a downgrade to the US credit rating, but it’s another phenomenon to actually see one in the wild. (Check Out: The Shocking S&P Note) Plain and simple: a lot of investors are reducing risk in case the next credit rating headline pierces the armor. But isn’t the US “Too Big to Fail”?

2) Earnings continue to come in mixed. Strangely, solid earnings from Citibank (NYSE:C) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) couldn’t drag indexes higher. The biggest miss of the day goes to drug company Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) which fought all day to make up ground on the earnings blunder. Get ready for the rest of the week as earnings just keep pouring in like Passover and Easter guests.

3) Everybody hates tax day. Too bad the Federal government didn’t shutdown. Taxes were due today and 55% of the nation should’ve been sending a check to Uncle Sam. On such a special day, Wall St. Cheat Sheet’s expert contributor Ed Dolan takes a look at whether Tax Reform is Real, or just more political B.S.'

Russian Finance Minister Kudrin Says US Won't Meet Budget Goals '...Russia, thanks to windfalls from oil revenues from its three state owned oil giants — Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft — coupled with a declining population will help the government meet its goal of eradicating its deficit by 2015. The government agreed to cut federal spending three fold by then. Kudrin also noted in his keynote speech at the Peterson Institute that his government is not treating the budget issue politically. “We have an economics department that handles this, and not a political party,” he said, in short.Russia’s federal budget deficit is expected to end the year around 1.5% of GDP. The US federal deficit as percentage of GDP is around 7% to 8%.'

Rand Paul: Spending cuts must include Pentagon Washington Times | Military spending will have to be cut if the country is going to get its debt problems under control.

IRS, CPA bureaucracy cost tax payers $431 billion a year WSJ | There is a lot more to taxes than simply paying the bill.

S&P Moves US Outlook To Negative, Gold Hits New Record CNBC | Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded the outlook for the United States to negative.

World Bank president: ‘One shock away from crisis’ The president of the World Bank has warned that the world is “one shock away from a full-blown crisis”.

Bank Of America Analyst Advocates The “Unthinkable” — An Intentional Default On US Debt We continue to be astounded by the emergence of the pro-default meme within financial circles.

(4-18-11) Dow 12,202 -140 Nasdaq 2,735 -29 S&P 500 1,305 -15 [CLOSE- OIL $107.78 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.82 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $4.20 REG./ $4.30 MID-GRADE/$4.40 PREM./ $4.54 DIESELL) / GOLD $1,493 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $43.20 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,768 (+56% for year 2009) Metal News for the Day / DOLLAR= .69 EURO, 83 YEN, .60 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ Interest Rates: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=yield 10 YR NOTE YIELD 3.38% …..… 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 The bull market that never was/were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ‘WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE EVER’ Must Read Economic / Financial Data This Depression is just beginning The coming depression… thecomingdepression.net 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

Fukushima Radiation Nightmare May Last Indefinitely Kurt Nimmo | TEPCO says the Fukushima facility should be in “cold shutdown” within nine months, a claim even the corporate media finds dubious.

Breaking: EU Preparing to Launch Ground Invasion in Libya Paul Joseph Watson | UN to rubber stamp occupying force in bid to goad Gaddafi into attacking western troops. EU Prepares To Invade Libya With Ground Troops Under “Humanitarian” Hoax The United Nations is set to rubber stamp an EU invasion force of ground troops that would be sent into Libya under the cooked up pretense of “humanitarian aid” and empowered to fight if Gaddafi forces threatened to impede their mission to “secure sea and land corridors inside the country,” another blatant attempt to legitimize the aggressive war by goading Gaddafi into attacking western troops and justifying a wider military intervention.

Congressman Calls for Bank Financed Drug Cartels to be Designated as Terrorists Kurt Nimmo | Banks will continue to be issued a free ticket to peddle poison.

Lou Dobbs Puts Geithner on the Hot Seat for Financial Terrorism Steve Watson | Treasury Secretary suggested armageddon is around the corner if administration’s policies are not implemented.

Cables Reveal State Department, CIA NGOs Fomented Syrian Unrest Kurt Nimmo | Syria regime marked for removal following the September 11 false flag attacks.

The West is to blame for regional unrest, Ahmadinejad says CNN | Ahmadinejad blamed the West for unrest throughout the Middle East and North Africa in a speech.

Afghan soldier kills 5 NATO troops and 4 Afghan comrades Washington Post | The bombing took place at the headquarters of the Afghan army’s 201st Corps.

Pelosi, far from the helm (Washington Post) [ Oh come on! Mr. Milbank's once again starting to sound like a political school-child; and, embarrassing himself quite profusely as he does so. Indeed, making excuses for wobama is intellectually and journalistically dishonest. After all, wobama came in riding the wave of discontent with the easiest act in history to follow; viz., the undeniably failed presidency of war criminal / moron dumbya bush. Make no mistake, he ran on exactly that. Yet he's done the same (as bush), even as he similarly (as did bush) have the short-lived (for good reason) benefit of 'control' of both houses of congress. He had a mandate to do what he promised to do and didn't. Unbridled war spending continued in that new debacle called Afghanistan, no pros of the frauds on wall street, and on top of that, some excess spending of his own. Pelosi was, is a joke as they've all become, with 'wobama the b' (for b***s***) the biggest joke. He's really no more than a stereotype without any credibility whatsoever. He is pathetic; which, derivatively makes Mr. Milbank pathetic in making excuses for this morass of absolutely nothing, who stands for absolutely nothing, that nothing being 'wobama the b' (for b***s***) . No excuses … all wobama! Obama seeks spending cuts, taxes on wealthy (WP) [ Too little, too late for 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) ! After all, though contraindicated, he previously extended the war criminal, moron bush tax cuts to what is now realistically perceived as 'their base' (that top 1 percent). Wobama has no credibility whatsoever, wars and all. He's just plain done! Liberals worry Obama has given up ground (WP) [ Worried? Given up ground? Are they kidding? Is this some parallel universe they're operating in? Come on! Wake up! Wobama's done! Finito! He's been and is an abject failure as president; both by what he's done as not promised and not done as promised, viz., perpetual wars and overspending, etc., and no prosecutions of the frauds on wall street, etc., respectively. He is a total failure and an embarrassment to the presidency as was his predecessor. He's totally incompetent with an innate predilection to 'zig when he should zag' … 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) is pathetic! Quite simply, for wobama, it's too late! … Drudgereport: RASMUSSEN: President hits new low Taxpayers foot $850M bill for Wall St.’s pension fees NY Post | New York City taxpayers are helping to pay $850 million in Wall Street investment fees. ] Without a liberal rudder, Obama drifts to the center.

Parker: The GOP plays a crazy Trump card (Washington Post) [ I don't know what polls Ms. Parker's referring to; but unless she's referring to mobster trump apprentice news (trump was fired from his own casino company), that certainly doesn't comport with polls I've read. Moreover, like palin, trump's the joke that keeps on giving (for SNL, late-night talk hosts, etc.). Indeed, such a move by the GOP would almost guarantee a 3^rd Party shoe-in. After all, trump has as little credibility as wobama. My other t_rump posts won't fit here, but the latest from Drudge is noteworthy (note the date, inside parentheses my words) (4-15-11) Drudgereport: Flashback: Updated 11/11/2008 09:19 PM NY1 Exclusive: Donald Trump Slams "Evil" Bush, Praises Obama By: Dominic Carter 'If there's one thing certain about real estate mogul Donald Trump, it's that he (like Charlie Sheen) likes to win (duh … winning) ... even though he endorsed John McCain for president. "McCain, really, that was almost an impossible situation," said Trump. Bush has been so bad, maybe the worst president in the history of this country. He has been so incompetent, so bad, so evil that I don't think any Republican could have won

During an exclusive interview with NY1 in his Midtown office on Fifth Avenue, Trump slammed President George Bush's foreign policies.

"You know, you can be enemies with people, whether it's Iran, Iraq, or anyplace else and you can still have dialogue. These people wouldn't even talk with him. It's terrible," said Trump.

While he had harsh words for the outgoing president, he had a much different opinion of President-elect Barack Obama.

"I think he has a chance to go down as a great president. Now, if he's not a great president, this country is in serious trouble," said Trump.

"I think [Obama's] going to lead through consensus," continued Trump. "It's not going to be just a bull run like Bush did. He just did whatever the hell he wanted. He'd go into a country, attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with the World Trade Center and just do it because he wanted to do it."

Trump was then asked if he ever thought he would see an African-American president in his lifetime.

"They always said 100 years before a black man or woman could be elected president. And the 100 years turned out to be, like, one year. He's done an amazing job," said Trump.

An Associated Press GFK poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of people share Trump's approval of Obama...' trump:
'CARTER WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY'...
'BUSH WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY'...
'OBAMA WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY...
[ Clearly, like wobama, mobster trump is full of his own s***! ] ]

Rob Pegoraro logs off from The Post (Washington Post)After 11 and a half years, I’m leaving The Post. Here are six lessons I learned from my experience. [ Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of that 'latest new thing' technology orientation. Indeed, I was very wary of and opposed digitization of books only because of the ease by which ultimately these sources of knowledge could then be abridged, altered, to the point that the point therein was no point at all, which seems to be the direction of things, certainly within the last decade plus, frauds and all. I no longer care about that, because truly, that no longer matters (not enough time for significant evolutionary effect). I especially appreciate your 2^nd lesson which I repeat here for my record. It is interesting that you chose the apple power mac cube as but a impractical illusion:

'… Anything can look great in a demo. For many years, my signature bore the saying — a tweak on a quote from sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke seen online — that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.” While it’s not possible to make every botched product look good in a demonstration, a huge number of flops have looked fantastic and compelling in a precisely rehearsed demo. (I admit it: The Power Mac Cube looked magical and revolutionary at first.) And enough people will buy after that introduction to make the gadget look like a hit. As tech analyst Michael Gartenberg observes, “You can sell 50,000 of anything.” …'

I have sampled the apple products and have invariably concluded that they are overpriced, overvalued, and are but means of getting consumers to part with their cash (ie., exclusive, proprietary itunes prerequisites, etc.) owing to what I infer to be particularly influenced by Jobs' LSD induced empathetic feel for the 'pizzaz' that has invariably worked most applephiles into a frenzy with each 'new introduction' (the touch screen / ipad was an exception which though easily produced for far less gets an 'a' for pioneering). I further believe that apple's success is a testament to how dumb americans particularly have become. This is no shill for the pc which both as I write here and for other mundane tasks I've been constrained to use linux ubuntu (dual boot) for stability otherwise absent with xp (microsoft is a dinosaur). Given the state of the world, it is not so surprising that such obsessions with devices as those alluded to, the next new thing, etc., have a psychological component that does not bespeak mental well being / balance. This is not to say that I deplore technology in which to the contrary I have found great utility. What it is, since you mentioned Arthur C. Clarke, is what I perceive to be a new innate longing for HAL (and not IBM particularly), in one form or another. Ah! The wisdom of cats! Good Luck!

House passes GOP’s 2012 budget blueprint (Washington Post) [ Why am I skeptical? Well, this is early in that 'horse-trading' that they try to foist off as the 'american politcal process' that has failed so well in the past. But one thing can be said for sure, if, like wobama et als, the plan does not include prosecution of the (too big to fail) big frauds on wall street with jail, fines, disgorgement before even a penny is asked from the citizenry, then you're looking at a guaranteed 3^rd party victory in 2012. Budget passes, but conservatives let down (Washington Post) The compromise touted as cutting $38.5 billion would actually only cut $352 million this fiscal year, an analysis says. While that didn’t prevent the budget from passing, it could sour some Republicans. [ Come on! This 'budget deal' was a showboating scam ab initio … Davis gets this right: 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! ‘ . Obama seeks spending cuts, taxes on wealthy (WP) [ Too little, too late for 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) ! After all, though contraindicated, he previously extended the war criminal, moron bush tax cuts to what is now realistically perceived as 'their base' (that top 1 percent). Wobama has no credibility whatsoever, wars and all. He's just plain done! Liberals worry Obama has given up ground (WP) [ Worried? Given up ground? Are they kidding? Is this some parallel universe they're operating in? Come on! Wake up! Wobama's done! Finito! He's been and is an abject failure as president; both by what he's done as not promised and not done as promised, viz., perpetual wars and overspending, etc., and no prosecutions of the frauds on wall street, etc., respectively. He is a total failure and an embarrassment to the presidency as was his predecessor. He's totally incompetent with an innate predilection to 'zig when he should zag' … 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) is pathetic! Quite simply, for wobama, it's too late! … Drudgereport: RASMUSSEN: President hits new low Taxpayers foot $850M bill for Wall St.’s pension fees NY Post | New York City taxpayers are helping to pay $850 million in Wall Street investment fees. ]

Grants for housing counseling slashed / Job training feels budget ax (Washington Post) [ For what jobs? The 'new green jobs'? How is such an investent going to pass muster in rigorous financial analysis for profit? Where's the capital coming from? People must come to grips with the reality that the nation's defacto bankrupt and all that that entails.The news is bad, the reality daunting, yet stocks rallied … A mystery? … Yes, until you look up and see that blazing full moon. I was somewhat nonplussed by the suckers’ market bounce; and then, ‘Eureka!’ … there it was, staring down for all to see … a blazing full moon. Yes, they have such effects on lunatics as in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america et als; but particularly on wall street, and it certainly doesn’t take much to push the frauds on wall street over the edge and into their predisposed fraudulent madness. In fact, you could say, ‘it’s in their genes’ America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog | It’s now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted. This is the grim economic reality [ http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm ]. Selling In May Is Very Good Advice This Year Harding / April Is a Good Time to Sell Adler ( I quite agree … overvalued to the hilt in this new manipulated bubble … at the least a 'sell in May and go away', but 'don't be mentally ill, sell in April!' ) Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar 'Despite the terrible economic performance of the past ten years, equity valuations are the 2nd largest bubble in U.S. history... the cause and the potential ramifications of this are astounding. . According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued according to this valuation metric. The only time the markets have been more overvalued was a few brief months in 1929 and the tech bubble. [chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_thumb1.png ]

Exhibit 2: The Q ratio, which measures total market value compared to its replacement cost.

The Q-ratio data in the chart below dates back to 1900. According to the data, the markets have now surpassed the 1929 peak valuation by over 8%.

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_q_ratio_thumb1.png ]

… bubbles turn a believable story/trend into an overvaluation. In the 1700s during the South Sea Bubble...Railroading prospects induced a bubble in the late 1800s ... In the 1920s, a bubble … A similar life-changing invention – the Internet – swept the attention of investors in the 1990s ...

What is the story today? The prospect of inflation? High unemployment?

Exhibit 3: The gap between projected 12-month earnings against the 10-year average

... the market is stretching this reversion greater than 2000 and 2007!

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_gap_between_12_month_average_thumb1.png ]

... growth in earnings have been artificially manufactured...

· The change in accounting rules for the financial sector by FASB has generated massive “false” account profits beginning in 2009.

· The extended (and then further extended) unemployment benefits have kept an artificially higher demand for consumer consumption. As a result, the US government has artificially subsidized corporate profits.

· The billions saved through “free loading” by homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages yet maintained their residence, thus living without a mortgage payment.

· The artificially suppressed interest rates.

So, not only do we have a valuation bubble, but the earnings on which the projections are based are non-sustaining... same overvaluation situation as a few years ago … nothing fixed ...'

What was left out of this article is the point that the movie studio led an Oscar campaign for Natalie Portman based in large part emphasizing her development into a professional ballerina for the role and the majority of scenes in the movie they stated she danced herself. Sarah Lane has contested that she danced the majority and even the editor of the movie is on the record stating more of Sarah's dance scenes were included in the movie than the studio stated were. Sounds like the studio boondoggled the Oscar voters to get a win for Natalie. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1377550/Caroline-Davis-paid-250-act-Natalie-Portmans-body-double-Your-Highness.html#ixzz1Jli7GtVQ

GOP leader Marilyn Davenport e-mails photo of chimp-like Obama ...

Drudgereport: S&P SOUNDS ALARM ON USA
Worst since Pearl Harbor: Debt blow for economy...
Trump's Political 'Pit Bull'; Dem Op Has The Donald's Back...
Rove: 'Joke Candidate'...
TRUMP: SEIZE OIL FIELDS IN LIBYA...
RASMUSSEN: Obama 49% Trump 34%...
Anti-spending group blasts The Donald as 'tax-hiking liberal'...
Gas at $4 in nation's capital, 5 states...

____________________________________________

The news is bad, the reality daunting, yet stocks rallied … A mystery? … Yes, until you look up and see that blazing full moon. I was somewhat nonplussed by the suckers’ market bounce; and then, ‘Eureka!’ … there it was, staring down for all to see … a blazing full moon. Yes, they have such affects on lunatics as in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america et als; but particularly on wall street, and it certainly doesn’t take much to push the frauds on wall street over the edge and into their predisposed fraudulent madness. In fact, you could say, ‘it’s in their genes’ America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog | It’s now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted. This is the grim economic reality [ http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm ]. This manipulated bubble in this secular bear market based on b*** s*** alone and today’s short-covering / suckers’ rally provides an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits while you still can since there's much worse to come! Selling In May Is Very Good Advice This Year Harding / April Is a Good Time to Sell Adler ( I quite agree … overvalued to the hilt in this new manipulated bubble … at the least a 'sell in May and go away', but 'don't be mentally ill, sell in April!' ) Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar 'Despite the terrible economic performance of the past ten years, equity valuations are the 2nd largest bubble in U.S. history... the cause and the potential ramifications of this are astounding. Exhibit one: The cyclically-adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, or CAPE. This is not a “fad” valuation metric. CAPE dates back to 1871, offering 140 years worth of data, during which time, the mean price-to-earnings ratio is 16. According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued according to this valuation metric. The only time the markets have been more overvalued was a few brief months in 1929 and the tech bubble. [chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_thumb1.png ]

Exhibit 2: The Q ratio, which measures total market value compared to its replacement cost.

The Q-ratio data in the chart below dates back to 1900. According to the data, the markets have now surpassed the 1929 peak valuation by over 8%.

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_q_ratio_thumb1.png ]

… bubbles turn a believable story/trend into an overvaluation. In the 1700s during the South Sea Bubble...Railroading prospects induced a bubble in the late 1800s ... In the 1920s, a bubble … A similar life-changing invention – the Internet – swept the attention of investors in the 1990s ...

What is the story today? The prospect of inflation? High unemployment?

Exhibit 3: The gap between projected 12-month earnings against the 10-year average

... the market is stretching this reversion greater than 2000 and 2007!

[chart http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_gap_between_12_month_average_thumb1.png ]

... growth in earnings have been artificially manufactured...

· The change in accounting rules for the financial sector by FASB has generated massive “false” account profits beginning in 2009.

· The extended (and then further extended) unemployment benefits have kept an artificially higher demand for consumer consumption. As a result, the US government has artificially subsidized corporate profits.

· The billions saved through “free loading” by homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages yet maintained their residence, thus living without a mortgage payment.

· The artificially suppressed interest rates.

So, not only do we have a valuation bubble, but the earnings on which the projections are based are non-sustaining... same overvaluation situation as a few years ago … nothing fixed ...'

10 Scary Charts: A 'Post-Recession' Economy Wake Up Call Kavadas 'I find the following 10 charts to be disturbing. These charts would be disturbing at any point in the economic cycle; that they depict such a tenuous situation now – 21 months after the official (as per the 9-20-10 NBER announcement) June 2009 end of the recession – is especially notable.

These charts raise a lot of questions. As well, they highlight the "atypical" nature of our economic situation from a long-term historical perspective. I regularly discuss many troubling characteristics of our economy in this EconomicGreenfield.com blog.

All of these charts (except one, as noted) are from the Federal Reserve, and represent the most recently updated data.

These following charts are from the St. Louis Federal Reserve:

Housing starts (last updated 3-16-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_houst_3_16_11.png

(Click to enlarge)

The Federal Deficit (last updated 2-17-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_fyfsd_2_17_11.png

(Click to enlarge)

Federal Net Outlays (last updated 2-17-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_fyonet_2_17_11.png

(Click to enlarge)

State & Local Personal Income Tax Receipts (% Change from Year Ago)(last updated 3-25-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_totll_4_11_11_1.png

(Click to enlarge)

Total Loans and Leases of Commercial Banks (% Change from Year Ago)(last updated 4-11-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_totll_4_11_11.png

(Click to enlarge)

Bank Credit – All Commercial Banks (% Change from Year Ago)(last updated 4-11-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_totbkcr_4_11_11_1.png

(Click to enlarge)

M1 Money Multiplier (last updated 4-7-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_mult_4_7_11_1.png

(Click to enlarge)

Median Duration of Unemployment (last updated 4-1-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_uempmed_4_1_11_1.png

(Click to enlarge)

This next chart is from the CalculatedRisk.com blog post of 4-1-11, and it shows (in red) the relative length and depth of this downturn and subsequent recovery from an employment perspective:

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_economicgreenfield_4_13_11_calcrisk_recession_job_losses_4_1_11.jpg

(Click to enlarge)

This last chart is of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index and it depicts broad-based economic activity (last updated 3-21-11):

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/14/saupload_cfnai_monthly_ma3_3_21_11.png

(Click to enlarge)

I will update these charts on an intermittent basis as they deserve close monitoring ...'

Consumers spend more, but on gas (Washington Post) [ Retail Sales Miss Expectations Wall St. Cheat Sheet On Wednesday April 13, 2011, 9:40 am EDT 'The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $389.3 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous month, and 7.1 percent above March 2010. Analysts were expecting a rise of 0.5 percent...' Retail sales? Where? The mall? If they can find one with stores … Drudgereport: Malls hit highest vacancy in 11 years... This is the grim economic reality http://albertpeia.com/grimreality.htm . A Trading System That Challenges the Efficient Market Hypothesis [ ...What parallel universe is McCurdy operating in? Even in the heyday of that so-called hypothesis, close examination of the data indicated that if you weren't timing the market you were, in a somewhat 'Charlie Sheenish' manner of speaking, duh! … losing! (my MBA Thesis, 1977, NYU GBA, Finance – which required study / mastery of such math intensive theory). Said 'hypothesis' wasn't true then and certainly isn't true today where complex computer-programming can and does artificially produce the various criteria / buy / sell / signals alluded to in the article (they're widely known / followed) creating the rigged / fraudulent trading game geared to maximized the 'churn-and-earn' commission profits (net negative in economic terms) and enabling the passing of 'those hot potatoes'/paper shares in a manner that resembles a game of musical chairs with those not in the loop winding up holding the bag (including pension funds, etc.); all the while funding those lavish lifesyles / over-compensation of the frauds on wall street along with the direct / indirect bribes inuring them from stigma and as well, insulating them from proper scrutiny and prosecution. Fundamentals, fundamental rational analysis has become virtually irrelevant to these now fraud-prone markets like never before in history facilitating frauds of magnitudes that have made the rationalization 'too big to fail' a byword... The frauds on wall street et als should be criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed. Dave's Daily 'If you can keep interest rates this low this long, its inevitable cheap financing can allow companies to start cobbling each other up. Further Ben's policies allow companies like IBM to sell bonds at 1% and buy back shares with the proceeds (total paper bubble-scam). POMO is occurring almost daily and Primary Dealers can buy back their shares and pay dividends with what essentially is taxpayer money-- … an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits while you still can since there's much worse to come! ]

Don't Be A Lemming, Keep Cash In Your Portfolio Dohmen 'My work shows that the rally going into early April brought bullish sentiment in the stock market to levels seen at extreme tops in 2000 and 2007. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we will have a crash, because the Fed would fight any strong market decline with everything they have. But it does say that a great amount of cash in your portfolio right now would be a good idea.

The low volume on the bounce since the mid-March low has been pathetic. Until the last two years, that was always a very important warning signal. Yet, most money managers don’t even analyze charts. The late March rally, which created so much enthusiasm, didn’t even bring the major indices such as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite above their February highs.

Mutual fund cash is now lower than at the top in 2007. Low fund cash positions correlate very well with market tops. Our astute colleague Alan Newman (www.cross-currents.net) points out that even with the rise in fund assets in January, the total outflow since February 2007 has been $213 billion. It appears that the average investor is gone, although in January there was an inflow of over $25 billion. Are they getting back in at just the wrong time?

Corporate insiders are selling at the heaviest pace since other major market tops. Obviously, they don’t agree with Wall Street about the euphoric outlook. Have you noticed that so many top company officials being interviewed make cautious remarks about “things are improving,” or “we see some positive signs, etc.” When there is genuine improvement, these people will shout it from the rooftops on national TV.

But in spite of this, investment professionals are super-bullish. Rydex is closing down 12 of its leveraged, inverse ETF’s, the ones that sell short, because of the low amount of assets. Could that mean that traders are not interested in being short? That’s often a very good contrarian signal.

Investors Intelligence, which surveys the sentiment of investment advisors, in their latest survey had the percent of bulls increase to 57.3% from 51%. That’s a huge jump and now is at levels seen at important market tops. The bears have plunged to 15.7% compared to 23.1%. The difference between bulls and bears is now at 41.6, which is in the “danger” zone (over 40).

Because so far the stock market has almost ignored some of the greatest global turmoil in many decades, including one of the worst natural disasters in Japan, money managers believe that the market cannot go down. So, they buy, which triggers buying by other managers, which then creates more buying. That continues, until they look and suddenly see that they are looking at themselves in the mirror and that there is no one to sell to.

The Fed’s QE2 is ending in June. That’s no secret. There is a big 86% correlation between the size of the Fed’s balance sheet–read security purchases–and the S&P 500. Therefore, if the balance sheet stops growing in June, so should the stock market rise. The bulls say that’s already in the market. That’s totally unrealistic. When suddenly $50 billion per month of liquidity injection is missing, there are consequences.

The large trading operations have to attract sufficient buyers from the sidelines to enable the “distribution” of their stock holdings. This is done by having produced that last gasp rally when the reluctant bulls can no longer stand being out of the market. At a top, these lemmings finally plunge in, allowing the smart money to make the turn.

Don’t be a lemming!'

U.S. bank failure tally hits 34 Regulators close six banks to bring the year’s tally of bank failures to 34, according to the Federl ...

Earnings stumbles to awaken bears (Reuters)

Sustaining Disbelief in the Face of Obvious Impossibilities / The Problem With Inflation Targets '... there are plenty of other elements of core inflation that are rising, and the uptrend is well-established...'

Stocks are Cheap, Buy Now! - Really? Maierhofer, April 15, 2011

'This is no time to sell stocks.'

'Evidence is building that we have a self-sustaining recovery.'

'We see accelerating growth around the globe.'

'This market looks cheap to us.'

'Dividends may increase to a record $31.07 a share in 2013.'

All the above quotes were taken from a recent Bloomberg article regarding the most explosive profit growth in the past century. This profit explosion is happening right here, right now.

'The gap between projected 12-month profits and average earnings over the last 10 years is set to widen the most since 1951,' continues the article. Projected earnings are expected to clock in at a record $91 for S&P 500 companies.

The Best 'Buying' Opportunity since 1951?

Before you trigger the 'buy everything now' button, think about the above statement for a second. If the gap between projected profits and average earnings is the biggest since 1951, it means that it's bigger than in 2000 and 2007. Could that be a contrarian indicator?

I purposely picked the years 2000 and 2007 because they marked major market tops and were followed by sizeable declines. The gap between projected and average profits today is, in fact, larger than it was in 2000 and 2007, although not by much.

If you graph this out, you would see three spikes; one pop in 2000, one in 2007 and one now. Every time the spread spiked to new highs, stocks fell hard.

In 2000, it was the post-tech boom (NYSEArca: XLK - News) crash. In 2007, it was the overleveraged financial sector (NYSEArca: XLF - News) that caused a nasty recession. Both times, the spread was the highest since 1951.

Keep in mind that the spread is based on projected earnings. Projected earnings are about as certain as a politician's promise.

Accuracy of Earnings Projections

Nevertheless, let's examine the accuracy of analysts and earnings projections.

'As earnings estimates are ratcheted down and hope for a quick economic fix fades, the once-inconceivable notion of returning to Dow 5000 or S&P 5000 looks a little less far-fetched.'

This quote was taken from a Wall Street Journal front-page article featured on March 9, 2009. If history isn't your forte, March 9 was the date the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI) bottomed at 6,470, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC) at 666, and the Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC) at 1,265.

Days before the March 2009 low, Goldman lowered its earnings outlook for the S&P from $113 incrementally to $40. Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered their estimate to $46 and Citigroup lowered to $51.

At the same time - on March 2, 2009 - the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter sent out a special buy alert and recommended loading up on broad market indexes, economically sensitive sectors, dividend ETFs like the iShares Dow Jones Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DVY - News), SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEArca: SDY - News) and leveraged ETFs like the Ultra S&P ProShares (NYSEArca: SSO - News), and Ultra Financial ProShares (NYSEArca: UYG - News).

The moral of the story is that analysts tend to be overly bullish at market tops just as they are overly bearish at market bottoms. Based on Standard & Poor's data, earnings actually peaked at $87 in 2006 and never reached Goldman's projected upside target of $113. Earnings also bottomed before they reached Goldman's projected down side target of $40.

Of course, even analysts have an accuracy sweet spot. This sweet spot is during extended trends. Analysts are correct as long as the trend persists, but as a group they never see a trend change coming.

Ready for a Curveball?

It seems like analysts have selective memories. Here is what Merrill Lynch's 2007 Global Market Forecast predicted: 'First, the global economy will continue to grow in 2007 - with no sign of a cyclical slowdown.'

Keep in mind that in 2007, there was no European debt crisis, unemployment in the U.S. was around 5% not 9%, housing prices were stable, there was no financial crisis, there was no Middle East unrest, there was no BP oil spill, there was no Japanese earthquake, Tsunami, and nuclear disaster, etc.

Rather than counting un-hatched chickens (projected earnings), let's take a look at P/E ratios with substance. The chart below shows a 110-year history of the Robert J. Shiller's cyclically-adjusted P/E ratio.

Chart http://www.etfguide.com//contributor/UserFiles/8/Image/CAPE%20PE%204%2011.gif

The red line marks the average since 1900. Professor Shiller considers the S&P to be 41% over valued.

Valuations are always mean reverting. As such, owning stocks at current prices is risky even though - or rather because - analysts expect earnings to rise.

Safety Locks

Whenever rich valuations rendezvous with optimism and complacency, investors should become extra cautious. The ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter identified three such occasions over the past 15 months - January 2010, April 2010, and February 2011.

Each time, stocks (NYSEArca: VTI - News) declined between 7 - 20%. However, all three declines turned out to be head fakes and optimistic analysts' projections haven't been as reliable as contrarian indicators as they were in March 2009 and late 2007. I suppose this is due to the Federal Reserve's QE2 liquidity.

Just as QE2 is a plus for equities (and commodities) right now, it is likely to eventually turn into a double or triple minus as individual and institutional investors start unloading some of their positions. Eventually, the 'too good to be true' syndrome will multiply like a malignant cell and overwhelm the exchanges with sell orders.

This doesn't mean stocks can't go higher in the short-term. In fact, it would be great to see the S&P rally to its ideal target range. The ideal target range is comprised of a multi-decade trend line and important Fibonacci resistance. If the S&P is able to rally into that range, it would have exhausted its up side potential and has no obvious reason to come back anytime soon...'

Why Options Traders See a 10% Market Correction Rama 'The Teflon market began chipping on April 7 after another earthquake hit Japan, threatening to bring a second tsunami.

The tsunami alert was a false alarm, but the S&P held a 4-day losing streak till Wednesday. Try as investors may, however, they haven't been able stay away from stocks. With all that easy money flying around and few other options for high returns, equities have held their year-to-date gains despite mounting geopolitical troubles that threaten to derail the recovery.

But a big trade Thursday in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF [SPY Loading... () ] shows stock investors' nerves of steel are faltering. The trade, called a put fly, positioned for a gain if the S&P 500 breaks through the key 1304 technical level and plunges 10% from there to 1180 (a 118 level on the SPY).

"To me it seems interesting that people are concerned with downside more than they were," said Jim Iuorio, Director at TJM Institutional Services. "There are a lot of dark clouds gathering, oil, labor numbers, there are more nerves," he added.

The put fly turned out to to be a bad trade for Thursday because the S&P broke through the 1304 level and rejected it, ending higher. That was a moderately positive signal for the index, Iuorio noted, but the trade belies the persistently low volatility index, which is holding below 17 despite investors' growing skittishness.

Iuorio expects volatility to shoot higher once Fed liquidity dries up, so he says it's prudent to buy it now that it's cheap.

"If you keep preventing a correction through government liquidity, when that correction finally comes it, it could be more dramatic than normal," the Options Action contributor said. '

Gold Celebrates Complete Lack Of Inflation By Surging To New Record Zero Hedge | Gold takes a new all time high of $1,481.46.

Rand Paul: ‘Pentagon thinks it’s too big to audit’; no serious budget cuts proposed in Washington Infowars | Senator Rand Paul said the Washington shutdown was threatened over nothing, because no serious cuts were proposed.“We threatened to shut down Washington over nothing, because we’re not cutting spending in any serious way…” that was just one part of Senator Rand Paul’s fiery floor speech blasting both sides of the isle for failing to make a sober effort to operate from a balanced budget.

America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime It is now mainstream news that none of the big financial criminals have been prosecuted.

Oil Hits 32-Month High As Unrest Persists in the Middle East Marin Katusa | For at least the rest of the year, uncertainty is the most reliable aspect of oil.

35 Statistics That Show The Average American Family Has Been Broke Down, Tore Down, Beat Down, Busted And Disgusted By This Economy The economic statistics that you are about to read are incredibly shocking, but they are also very, very real. Tonight there are going to be millions of men and women all across America that cannot sleep because they are consumed with anxiety about their financial problems.

ECONOMIC CRISIS ARCHIVE

National / World

Complaining About TSA Molestation Will Get You Profiled as a Terrorist Kurt Nimmo | Objecting to TSA goons molesting your six year old daughter is characterized as “contempt against airport passenger procedures.”

“Outraged and Disgusted” Congressman Introduces Legislation To Bar TSA From Groping Children Steve Watson | “I am so furious with them I can’t even see straight,” Chaffetz said.

It’s Official: “Arab Spring” Subversion U.S. Funded Tony Cartalucci | We must see the global corporate-financier empire as the source of the problem and its removal and replacement as the solution.

Obama Budget Plan: Higher Taxes on Small Businesses American Small Business League | Fortune 500 firms and other corporate giants are the actual recipients of most federal small business contracts.

Banksters Cook Up Economic Snake Oil for Egypt Kurt Nimmo | A cabal of banking interests led by the World Bank prepares “action plan” for the impoverished country.

Why an Income Tax is Not Necessary to Fund the U.S. Government Devvy Kidd | Where do your “income” tax dollars go?

Our Income taxes go to the private group called the Federal Reserve Steve Balich | Do you want to know where your tax dollars really go?

20 Signs That A Horrific Global Food Crisis Is Coming The Economic Collapse | The world is on the verge of a horrific global food crisis.

Obama says ‘birther’ talk will be a liability for GOP (The Ticket) [ Listen to 'wobama the b' (for b*** s***) … having b*** s***ed everybody else, he’s now resorted to b*** s***ing himself … the story of his life! ]

CIA will not halt operations in Pakistan: official AFP | CIA has no plans to suspend “operations” in Pakistan despite objections from Islamabad leaders.

Russia: NATO gone too far in Libya Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says NATO’s military intervention in oil-rich Libya has gone far beyond the mandate authorized by the United Nations.

Libya: The Hard-Sell is Coming When presidents are writing editorials in newspapers a hard-sell is just around the corner. Judging by the recent tripartite op-ed in the New York Times by Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron regarding Libya, the hard-sell is most likely a protracted air campaign above Libya with an ever increasing ground presence below possibly leading to an all out invasion. Clearly the operation in Libya will exceed the “days or weeks, but not months” we were told it would take.

Now it IS regime change: Cameron, Obama and Sarkozy promise to keep bombing Libya until Gaddafi is gone David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy upped the stakes in the Libya conflict last night as they vowed to fight on until Colonel Gaddafi is ousted.

Radiation Monitor in Richland Not Working Properly Air, water, and milk, the feds are watching closely for any spikes in radiation following the nuclear fallout in Japan. KEPR uncovered a flaw in the system. The air monitoring station in Richland isn’t working properly.

Japan Forces Top Official To Retract Prime Minister’s Comments That Fukushima Permanently Uninhabitable Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has apologized to the public over media reports about the long-term inhabitability of areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Groundwater radiation level at nuke plant rises: TEPCO The concentration levels of radioactive iodine and cesium in groundwater near the troubled Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have increased up to several dozen times in one week, suggesting that toxic water has seeped from nearby reactor turbine buildings or elsewhere, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday.

Somali pirates keep Indian hostages after ransomSomali pirates keep Indian hostages after ransom ... Navy reasons to summarily shell and sink, without taking prisoners, more pirate boats. ... http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2705523/posts Somali pirates keep Indian hostages after ransom - Yahoo! News Apr 15, 2011 ... Somali pirates keep Indian hostages after ransom .... and night vison equipment to free the captured and kill the pirates, no prisoners! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110415/ap_on_re_af/piracy [ I really must say that I am amazed that these somali pirates are not bombed out of the water, and then bombed in their safe-haven homelands … Indeed, those 18 dead rangers over a decade ago on a humanitarian mission in Somalia who were paraded around by the skinnies garnered a similar response from me … a bombing from which no somalians would have walked away … you know, 'parking lot style'. Unlike the war crimes / war profiteering / self-destructive / self-defeating / nation-bankrupting wars in the mid-east, this would be action that needs doin’! I'm at a total loss for words. ]

Drudgereport: OBAMA BACK TO GALLUP LOW...
'YOU THINK WE'RE STUPID?'
Disappointed With Lack of 'Cool' Phone in Oval Office...
HOT MIC: GOP tried to 'sneak' agenda into budget...
CARNEY: 'Miscommunication'...
HOUSE PASSES $6 TRILLION SPENDING CUT PLAN...
U.S. gas prices pass $4 in some states...'...The national average has increased for 24 straight days, hitting $3.82 per gallon on Friday. Motorists in Connecticut, Illinois, California, Hawaii and Alaska now pay more than $4 per gallon. A gallon of regular cost an average of $3.979 in New York and $3.999 in Washington...'
PUSH CONSUMER PRICES HIGHER...
Feds Shut 6 Banks...
It's 2016: Dow's at 4000, gas prices sky-high: 'ATLAS SHRUGGED' hits the screen...
Will Conservatives Make Film A Hit?
STUDY: Nearly half of US meat tainted with drug-resistant bacteria...
Flashback: Updated 11/11/2008 09:19 PM NY1 Exclusive: Donald Trump Slams "Evil" Bush, Praises Obama By: Dominic Carter 'If there's one thing certain about real estate mogul Donald Trump, it's that he (like Charlie Sheen) likes to win (duh … winning) ... even though he endorsed John McCain for president. "McCain, really, that was almost an impossible situation," said Trump. Bush has been so bad, maybe the worst president in the history of this country. He has been so incompetent, so bad, so evil that I don't think any Republican could have won.

During an exclusive interview with NY1 in his Midtown office on Fifth Avenue, Trump slammed President George Bush's foreign policies.

"You know, you can be enemies with people, whether it's Iran, Iraq, or anyplace else and you can still have dialogue. These people wouldn't even talk with him. It's terrible," said Trump.

While he had harsh words for the outgoing president, he had a much different opinion of President-elect Barack Obama.

"I think he has a chance to go down as a great president. Now, if he's not a great president, this country is in serious trouble," said Trump.

"I think [Obama's] going to lead through consensus," continued Trump. "It's not going to be just a bull run like Bush did. He just did whatever the hell he wanted. He'd go into a country, attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with the World Trade Center and just do it because he wanted to do it."

Trump was then asked if he ever thought he would see an African-American president in his lifetime.

"They always said 100 years before a black man or woman could be elected president. And the 100 years turned out to be, like, one year. He's done an amazing job," said Trump.

An Associated Press GFK poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of people share Trump's approval of Obama...' trump:
'CARTER WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY'...
'BUSH WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY'...
'OBAMA WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY...
[ Clearly, like wobama, mobster trump is full of his own s***! ]

'Black Swan Dance Double: Filmmakers Are "Completely Lying" - In a new 20/20 interview airing tonight (4/15/11), Natalie Portman's dance double from Black Swan...

Eye on entertainment (Washington Post) [ I don't ordinarily 'do entertainment' but I'm compelled to comment that I was taken in on the following (I was somewhat amazed by what I falsely presumed to be Portman's 'quick study' ballet performance … not! … eh ... what can you expect from someone born in israel), but not taken in as so many in the latter concerning that highly publicized 'threat to society'; the infamous Lindsey Lohan. ‘Black Swan' double claims Portman did only 5% of dance shots...'The ballerina who served as a dancing double for Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winnning role in Black Swan tells EW she has been the victim of a “cover-up” to mislead the public about how much dancing Portman actually did in the film. “Of the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie,” says Sarah Lane, 27, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who performed many of the film’s complicated dance sequences, allowing Portman’s face to be digitally grafted onto her body. “All the other shots are me.”

Lane’s claim follows a March 23 L.A. Times article in which Portman’s fiancé and Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied said Lane’s work in the film was far less significant. “There are articles now talking about her dance double [American Ballet Theatre dancer Sarah Lane] that are making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio,” he said. “Honestly, 85 percent of that movie is Natalie.”

Lane disagrees. “The shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie,” she says. “But that doesn’t show the actual dancing.” Lane admits that she was never promised a particular title for her six weeks of work on the film, though she was disappointed to see that she is credited only as as “Hand Model,” “Stunt Double,” and “Lady in the Lane” (a brief walk-on role).

Lane also says that Black Swan producer Ari Handel specifically told her not to talk about her work to the press, even though she claims there was no such stipulation in her contract. “They wanted to create this idea in people’s minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar,” says Lane. “It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. I’ve been doing this for 22 years…. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you’re a movie star?”...'' ]

[ Give Lane a break! This in no way disparages nor diminishes Portman's acting performance or the film which I found to be superb (which I attribute to my own personal fascination with viewing female ballet dancing) though my pick for Oscar was 'Inception' by Nolan. ] [ Drudgereport: FADE: OSCAR RATINGS DOWN 10% ...
Injury Added to Insult... [ In terms of production value (rich in content in every way), I believe this to be as good and in my view better than ever as award ceremonies can be without the inimitable Bob Hope. I believe any falloff can be directly attributable to last year the academy’s egregious misstep in overlooking ‘Avatar’ / Cameron presaging a similar fate concerning my clear choice of ‘Inception’ / Nolan ( Truth be told, I’ve yet to see ‘The King’s Speech’ failing to muster any enthusiasm for seeing a film centered around a ‘so-called royal’ trying to over-come a speech impediment, albeit a minor one, regardless of circumstances; viz., stuttering, though I would concede that it was probably well done. We all know of the problems attendant to english royal inbreeding…ho hum…) I did find ‘The Black Swan’ superb but attribute same to my own bias and fascination with viewing female ballet dancing). Bob Hope: Academy Awards, ‘passover’ … very funny! ]

Lohan rejects judge's plea offer in theft case (AP) [ It is common practice in the entertainment industry for 'loaners' far more expensive than the subject 'costume piece' here, to garner the benefit of the 'show and tell', particularly for this little hole in the wall in Venice. I mean, come on; this was hardly a surprise taking in a bustling store overrun by customers. Then there are the 'evidentiary' problems attendant to the venal motives of the store itself and monies received. In all, one must conclude that these invariably corrupt judges / prosecutors as corrupt steve the cooley (check out those land deals) like to bully the girls, ie., Lindsay Lohan, Winona Ryder, etc.. I'm not going to mention the guys of late who got a pass. Blatant misogyny? What else can you call it; particularly since they're letting scores of far more serious criminals out of jail, and we all know the numbers of serious violent criminals walkin' the streets with impunity in so-cal. Paris Hilton prosecutor arrested for buying cocaine (Reuters) ]

Penn State wins first title since 1953 Nittany Lions lead four schools with five All-Americans Roger Moore, NCAA.com [ I'm totally astounded … never woulda' thunk it … but with a mascot like a lion … how could they lose! ]

2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA USA
March 17-19, 2011

Outstanding Wrestler - Anthony Robles, Arizona State, 125 lbs.

Team Standings - 3/20/2011

1 - 107.5 - Penn State
2 - 93.5 - Cornell
3 - 86.5 - Iowa
4 - 70.5 - Oklahoma State
5 - 65.0 - American
6 - 62.5 - Arizona State
7 - 61.0 - Minnesota
8 - 58.5 - Lehigh
9 - 57.5 - Boise State
10 - 54.5 - Wisconsin
11 - 44.0 - Stanford
12 - 43.5 - Nebraska
13 - 39.0 - Central Michigan
13 - 39.0 - Northwestern
15 - 38.5 - Michigan
16 - 38.0 - Oklahoma
17 - 37.0 - Kent State
18 - 35.5 - Maryland
19 - 35.0 - Missouri
20 - 31.5 - Iowa State
21 - 26.0 - Oregon
22 - 25.0 - Illinois
23 - 24.0 - Edinboro
23 - 24.0 - Virginia
25 - 23.5 - Indiana
26 - 22.0 - Hofstra
27 - 21.5 - Rutgers
28 - 21.0 - Wyoming
29 - 20.5 - Ohio State
30 - 18.5 - Utah Valley University
31 - 17.5 - Pennsylvania
32 - 17.0 - Cal Poly
33 - 16.0 - Virginia Tech
34 - 15.5 - Pittsburgh
35 - 12.5 - Harvard
36 - 11.5 - Bucknell
37 - 11.0 - Navy
37 - 11.0 - Old Dominion
39 - 9.0 - Buffalo
39 - 9.0 - Columbia
39 - 9.0 - Purdue
42 - 8.0 - Boston U
43 - 7.0 - Michigan State
43 - 7.0 - North Carolina
45 - 6.0 - Lock Haven
46 - 5.5 - Air Force
46 - 5.5 - Northern Iowa
48 - 5.0 - Clarion
48 - 5.0 - Duke
48 - 5.0 - Rider
51 - 4.5 - West Virginia
52 - 4.0 - North Carolina-Greensboro
52 - 4.0 - North Dakota State University
54 - 3.5 - Bloomsburg
54 - 3.5 - Northern Illinois
56 - 3.0 - Appalachian State
56 - 3.0 - Binghamton
56 - 3.0 - North Carolina State
56 - 3.0 - Ohio
60 - 2.0 - Drexel
60 - 2.0 - Northern Colorado
62 - 1.0 - Army
62 - 1.0 - Cal State Bakersfield
62 - 1.0 - Gardner-Webb
65 - 0.0 - Campbell
65 - 0.0 - Chattanooga
65 - 0.0 - Eastern Michigan
65 - 0.0 - Franklin & Marshall
65 - 0.0 - Liberty
65 - 0.0 - Millersville
65 - 0.0 - Princeton
65 - 0.0 - The Citadel
65 - 0.0 - VMI

MEDALISTS

Wt. 125
125 1st: Anthony Robles (Arizona State)
125 2nd: Matt McDonough (Iowa)
125 3rd: Brandon Precin (Northwestern)
125 4th: Ben Kjar (Utah Valley University)
125 5th: Zachary Sanders (Minnesota)
125 6th: Ryan Mango (Stanford)
125 7th: Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma)
125 8th: James Nicholson (Old Dominion)

Wt. 133
133 1st: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State)
133 2nd: Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State)
133 3rd: Andrew Long (Penn State)
133 4th: Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan)
133 5th: Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
133 6th: Mike Grey (Cornell)
133 7th: Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra)
133 8th: Bernard Futrell (Illinois)

Wt. 141
141 1st: Kellen Russell (Michigan)
141 2nd: Borislav Novachkov (Cal Poly)
141 3rd: Michael Thorn (Minnesota)
141 4th: Montell Marion (Iowa)
141 5th: James Kennedy (Illinois)
141 6th: Todd Schavrien (Missouri)
141 7th: Zack Bailey (Oklahoma)
141 8th: Zack Kemmerer (Pennsylvania)

Wt. 149
149 1st: Kyle Dake (Cornell)
149 2nd: Frank Molinaro (Penn State)
149 3rd: Jason Chamberlain (Boise State)
149 4th: Ganbayar Sanjaa (American)
149 5th: Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State)
149 6th: Andrew Nadhir (Northwestern)
149 7th: Kevin LeValley (Bucknell)
149 8th: Derek Valenti (Virginia)

Wt. 157
157 1st: Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State)
157 2nd: David Taylor (Penn State)
157 3rd: Steve Fittery (American)
157 4th: Derek St. John (Iowa)
157 5th: Adam Hall (Boise State)
157 6th: Jason Welch (Northwestern)
157 7th: Bryce Saddoris (Navy)
157 8th: Walter Peppelman (Harvard)

Wt. 165
165 1st: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska)
165 2nd: Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma)
165 3rd: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
165 4th: Colt Sponseller (Ohio State)
165 5th: Shane Onufer (Wyoming)
165 6th: Josh Asper (Maryland)
165 7th: Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh)
165 8th: Paul Gillespie (Hofstra)

Wt. 174
174 1st: Jonathan Reader (Iowa State)
174 2nd: Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford)
174 3rd: Edward Ruth (Penn State)
174 4th: Mack Lewnes (Cornell)
174 5th: Colby Covington (Oregon State)
174 6th: Christopher Henrich (Virginia)
174 7th: Mike Letts (Maryland)
174 8th: Ben Bennett (Central Michigan)

Wt. 184
184 1st: Quentin Wright (Penn State)
184 2nd: Robert Hamlin (Lehigh)
184 3rd: Grant Gambrall (Iowa)
184 4th: Steve Bosak (Cornell)
184 5th: Christopher Honeycutt (Edinboro)
184 6th: Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming)
184 7th: Travis Rutt (Wisconsin)
184 8th: Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota)

Wt. 197
197 1st: Dustin Kilgore (Kent State)
197 2nd: Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State)
197 3rd: Cam Simaz (Cornell)
197 4th: Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin)
197 5th: Luke Lofthouse (Iowa)
197 6th: Zack Giesen (Stanford)
197 7th: Sonny Yohn (Minnesota)
197 8th: Matt Powless (Indiana)

Wt. 285
285 1st: Zachery Rey (Lehigh)
285 2nd: Ryan Flores (American)
285 3rd: Dominque Bradley (Missouri)
285 4th: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan)
285 5th: Ricardo Alcala (Indiana)
285 6th: Spencer Myers (Maryland)
285 7th: Anthony Nelson (Minnesota)
285 8th: Levi Cooper (Arizona State)

Session V Team Standings

2. Session V Brackets

3. Session V Match-by-Match

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Penn State University math majors were working during Saturday’s first session.

With the program’s first championship since 1953 within reach, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when.’

When Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff beat Cornell’s Mike Grey for fifth place at 133 and PSU’s Andrew Long rallied to beat Central Michigan’s Scotti Sentes for third at the same weight, the Nittany Lion lead was 102.5 to 88.5, a 14-point advantage ahead of Cornell.

Fittingly, when Penn State’s Ed Ruth and Cornell’s Mack Lewnes didn’t end with a pin – in Lewnes’ favor – the team title was mathematically clinched.

“This is a real tough tournament. Things go your way sometimes and sometimes they don’t,” said second-year Nittany Lion coach Cael Sanderson after Ruth’s victory against Lewnes. “You just have to want it and you can see it the kids’ eyes before they wrestle. I really liked the way guys wrestled this week.

“Our guys today did a great job. They made it really easy for our guys in the finals. Now they can just focus on going out there and chasing their dream.”

Ruth had to injury default his quarterfinal match to Stanford’s Nick Amuchastegui on Friday morning. There was questions as to whether he could come back.

Ruth, the No. 2 seed at 174, came back with a 7-6 win and a 42-second pin on Friday night. After beating Virginia’s Chris Henrich, he finished off Lewnes and Cornell.

“It’s a big honor [to clinch the team title],” Ruth said. “I was thinking of my knee and all the things that could go wrong and all the things that could go right.”

Added Sanderson, “To do that as freshman, to have that kind of frustration and then come back to beat some tough kids, it really shows a lot of who Ed Ruth is. Just really proud of him.”

The battle of attrition was all-but-decided on Friday night when the Nittany Lions pushed three into the finals and the Big Red saw Lewnes, third-seed Steve Bozak and No. 1 seed Cam Simaz lose back-to-back semifinal matches.

PSU, Cornell, Iowa and Minnesota all finish with five All-Americans with Oklahoma State and American leading a pack of 10 with three apiece.

“This tournament is going to take five or six All-Americans [to win],” said Oklahoma State coach John Smith before the tournament. “And you have to have high All-Americans, a couple of guys in the finals and two or three high finishers. If you have less than five you aren’t going to have a chance.”

The Cowboys put two in the finals but only managed one other All-American – 149-pounder Jamal Parks.

Penn State’s Frank Molinaro, David Taylor and Quentin Wright still have a match to wrestle in the finals Saturday night. Sophomore 133-pounder Andrew Long bounced back from a semifinal loss to win two matches, including a pin of Cornell’s Mike Grey Saturday morning. Long, a transfer from Iowa State, lost in the 125-pound final in 2010 and finished third in 2011.

“(Long) has been a big part of this team,” Sanderson said. “He brings intensity everyday, a good attitude to practice. He was a big addition to our program.”

Iowa, winners of three consecutive team titles from 2008 to 2010, pushed just one to a final and saw Montell Marion, Derek St. John and Grant Gambrall take fourth place.

The first
Utah Valley’s Ben Kjar finished fourth at 125 pounds. The senior dropped a 4-2 decision to top-seeded Anthony Robles of Arizona State in Friday’s semifinals. After winning a bout Saturday morning, Kjar lost to Northwestern’s Brandon Precin in the third-place match.

Kjar (30-8) is the first Division I All-American in program history.

“I’m happy for the program,” said Penn State assistant coach Cody Sanderson, who was the school’s first coach in 2003 when wrestling was added. “It’s important for a young program like (Utah Valley) to have All-Americans. It’s not easy at a place like that, it takes a lot of work.

“I’m very happy for (Kjar).”

Four-timer
American’s Steve Fittery finished his career as a four-time All-American, twice in Division II for Shippensburg (Pa.) State and twice in DI for the Eagles. The Pennsylvania native, who finished this season 33-1, took third at 157 after beating Boise State’s Adam Hall and Iowa’s Dan St. John on Saturday.

Three-timers
Minnesota’s Zach Sanders, Northwestern’s Brandon Precin, Illinois’ James Kennedy, Wisconsin’s Andrew Howe, Virginia’s Chris Henrich each picked up their third All-America medal this week. Sanders, fifth at 125 pounds, and Howe, third at 165 after winning the title in 2010, will be back for one more season.

The next one?
University of Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates announced his retirement earlier this season. The Division II champion for Slippery Rock as a student-athlete in 1973 and Division I finalist in 1974 saw Jarrod Patterson, seventh at 125, and Zack Bailey, seventh at 141, finish as All-Americans in his final season.

Spates will coach one last time on the big stage Saturday night when Tyler Caldwell faces Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs in the 165-pound final.

Word around Philadelphia is that former world champion and current assistant coach Sam Henson will take over the program which has won seven NCAA championships, the last in 1974 under Stan Abel.

Iron Man Award(s)
Maryland heavyweight Spencer Myers lost a 9-7 overtime match to Indiana’s Ricky Alcala in the first round on Thursday morning. The freshman from Selinsgrove, Pa., came back to win five matches before falling to Missouri’s Dom Bradley in the wrestleback semifinals.

Myers (30-11) wrestled seven matches in three days and took home a sixth-place medal after falling to Alcala again in the fifth-place match.

Northwestern 149-pounder Andrew Nadhir, the 11th seed, was pinned by Lehigh’s Joey Napoli in the first round. Nadhir, a senior from Michigan, had to go overtime to beat Pitt’s Dane Johnson in his first wrestleback, and again against Wyoming’s Cole Dallaserra two rounds later, on his march to a sixth-place showing.

Like Myers, Nadhir (34-7) wrestled seven matches in the tournament, losing to Oklahoma State’s Jamal Parks in the fifth-place contest. '