Al Peia's Blog: April 25, 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 ]

Poll: Egyptians skeptical about U.S. Egyptians have an unfavorable view of the U.S., but they are also divided over Islamic fundamentalists. (Washington Post) [ Hey! … Guess what? … americans and the rest of the world (except zionist israel, zionists, and old biddy britain) are skeptical and have an unfavorable view of america. The Economic Collapse: 24 more signs of economic decline in America…

#1 On Monday, S&P altered its outlook on U.S. government debt from “stable” to “negative” ..at the rest of the world is losing faith in the U.S. dollar and in U.S. Treasuries.

#2 China has announced reducing their holdings of U.S. dollar

#3 .. “panic dollar selling is setting in” and U.S. dollar in for a huge decline.

#4 The biggest bond fund in the world, PIMCO, is now shorting U.S. government bonds.

#5 This cruel economy is causing “ghost towns” to appear all across the United States..

#6 There are now about 7.25 million less jobs in America than when the recession began back in 2007.

#7 The average American family is having a really tough time right now. Only 45.4% of Americans had a job during 2010. .

#8 Only 66.8% of American men had a job last year. That was the lowest level ever ..

#9 According to a new report from the AFL-CIO, the average CEO made 343 times more money than the average American

#10 Gas prices reached five dollars per gallon at a gas station in Washington, DC on April 19th, 2011. .. $6 gas soon

#11 .. 12 months the average price of gasoline in the United States has gone up by about 30%.

#12 Due to rising fuel prices, American Airlines lost a staggering $436 million during the first quarter of 2011.

#13 U.S. households are now receiving more income from the U.S. governmentthan they are paying to the government in taxes.

#14 1 of 4 dollars that the U.S. government borrows goes to pay the interest on the national debt.

#15 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

#16 Total credit card debt in u.s. more than 8 times larger than 30 yrs ago.

#17 Average household debt in the United States has now reached a level of 136% of average household income. In China, average household debt is only 17% of average household income.

#18 The average American now spends approximately 23 percent .. on food and gas.

#19 .. 74 percent of Americans said that they planned to slow down their spending in coming months

#20 59 percent u.s. receive money from the federal government ..

#21 average length of unemployment in the U.S. is now an all-time record 39 weeks.

#22 As the economy continues to collapse, frustration ..“random acts of violence”…

#23 Some Americans have become so desperate for cash that they are literallypopping the gold teeth right out of their mouths and selling them to pawn shops.

#24 ..u.s. people have been gobbling up larger and larger amounts of antidepressants and other prescription drugs. ..’ ]

Attorney General Holder defends his tenure (Washington Post) [ Defending the indefensible! Yes … there is no defending this ag … He should step down, forced to resign … 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. ]

Chernobyl, 25 years later (Washington Post) Following the nuclear disaster in Japan, the Chernobyl accident has a particular importance. Japan declares evacuation zone near nuclear plant (Washington Post) [ Wow! Sounds like a plan! … From the beginning, as I’ve written on my website, I’ve thought the catastrophic nature and impact of this disaster to have been underreported at the least … the Japanese uncharacteristically have adopted somewhat of a ‘if wishing could make it so’ tact in this sad crisis. Cesium 137 Threat Grows While Corporate Media Remains Mute The hereditary communist dictatorship in North Korea reports on the spread of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant, but it has all but fallen off the corporate media radar screen here. Monitoring stations across North Korea from April 11 to 17 detected iodine-131 and cesium-137 in the air above Wonsan in the southeast and Chongjin in the southeast, according to the country’s state-run media. 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”. Something Odd Is Happening at Reactor Number 4 The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is carefully monitoring the situation at the Number 4 spent fuel pool, where the water temperature is rising despite increased injections of cooling water. Helen Caldicott Talks About the Horror of Fukushima Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate Helen Caldicott talks about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and what we can expect. It ain’t pretty. Busby: ‘Can’t seal Fukushima like Chernobyl – it all goes into sea’ As world marks the Chernobyl anniversary, many say that the world has failed to learn the lessons on nuclear safety that the tragedy provided. RT talks to Professor Christopher Busby, Scientific secretary of the European Committee on radiation risks, for a little more insight on 21st century’s most serious nuclear crisis at Fukushima. Assassinate Qaddafi? Tyrants Beware – What Goes Around Might Come Around Lindsey Graham and John McCain, both of the meddling International Republican Institute implicated in funding and fueling the “Arab Spring” to begin with, have called for the assassination of Libya’s Qaddafi and members of his inner circle. The London Telegraph also reported that Foreign Secretary William Hague refused to rule out using US drones to assassinate Qaddafi. TEPCO finds radioactive concrete emitting 900,000 microsieverts per hour of nuclear radiation The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says that concrete debris emitting a high level of radiation has been found near the Number 3 reactor.

States face shortfall for retirees (Washington Post) Public workers’ retirement funds had a gap of $1.26 trillion at the end of fiscal 2009, a report says.

Study: Affordable rentals scarce (Washington Post) Share of renters who spend more than half their income on housing is at its highest level in half a century.

Poll: For Obama, low marks on Afghan war (Washington Post) More Americans disapprove of President Obama’s management of the war in Afghanistan than support it, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a finding that reflects the public’s broader concern over the course of the nearly decade-old conflict.

Fuel prices cut into Obama popularity (Washington Post) As gas prices bite into household incomes, Obama’s support takes a hit, according to new poll. The high fuel price dynamic is the slow / now faster motion, long predicted hyperinflationary consequence of failed fed, administration, congressional economic / financial / fiscal policy that essentially has been interposed for the (short-term particularly) benefit of the frauds on wall street (The frauds on wall street et als should be criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed), and have used the mideast turmoil to obfuscate their failure. 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! America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog / 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 Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar ... According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued …only time the markets have been more overvalued .. 1929 & tech bubble. http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_thumb1.png PRECHTER: We're Still In A Massive Bear Market And Stocks Will Crash To New Lows Davis ) Return of Inflation: 5 Worrying Signs From Friday's NY Times

Return of Inflation: 5 Worrying Signs From Friday's NY Times

Index Fund Rip-Off? Bartalos ‘Would you pay $5 for something that costs $1? Not if you could help it. However, that’s precisely what many investors are doing.

American Stock Ownership Declines

24 Signs Of Economic Decline In America ‘The United States is in the middle of a devastating long-term economic decline and it is getting really hard to deny it. Over the past year I have included literally thousands of depressing statistics in my articles about the U.S. economy. The Economic Collapse April 23, 2011

With Barbour now out, new questions for GOP (Washington Post) THE TAKE | Decision sets off scramble for parts of his financial and political network and raises questions about challenges party faces in unseating Obama.

Poll: For Obama, low marks on Afghan war (Washington Post) [ If only ‘wobama the b’ (for b*** s***) had been a man of his word and stopped these nation-bankrupting, murderous wars. ]

Drudgereport: TRUMP: Obama Not Worthy of Ivy Leagues... [ Talk about the pot calling the kettle black … trump’s b.s., low grade (penn) ivy league (courtesy of papa mobster trump who ‘twisted his arm to go’ so people would take him ‘seriously’ – papa mobster trump would pound the undistinguished academically / athletically, Donald with the mantra, ‘you’re a killer, you’re a king’ in film noir melodramatic fashion which proved too much for the more balanced and ‘chosen / favored’ elder brother trump who committed suicide. The old man also required trump to go to prep / military / boarding school where according to a classmate, Ted Levine, trump used to wet / pee in his bed. ) vegetable garden in the same manner as dumbya bush … mobster trump and people like trump are part of the problem (total b*** s***, fraud, etc., as in his home turf, mob-infested sinkholes, jersey / new york), not the solution. Indeed, trump is an interesting mental case in that he evolved from narcissist (those inflated grandiose moods coupled with feelings of inferiority – he loved to obsessively read those hitler speeches for inspiration and to pump himself up according to Ivana Trump) to severe case of antisocial personality disorder [ predatory disregard for and violation of the rights of others – hence, those sophomoric soundbite solutions to complex problems as, ie., taking oil fields(Libya), 25% tariff on Chinese (actually including american goods made in China), drug money laundering in his casinos, bribery, etc. http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ]

Financial Folklore: Tales from Wall Street to Main Street DeLegge April 22, 2011 SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) – ‘Throughout the ages, financial folklore has been handed down from one generation to the next as so-called wisdom. And our generation has been brainwashed with its fair share of folklore.

Let's consider some examples.

'Buying a home is the best investment anyone can make.'

The pummeled housing market should have put this particular fairy tale to rest, but there are a few holdouts that haven't gotten the message.

People, for example, that bought their home decades ago are often cited as proof that buying a home is still the 'best investment anywhere.' But before we count their profits, don't forget to deduct their insurance premiums, the cost of home maintenance, improvements and property taxes. Including these real life expenses into the equations portrays a far more realistic picture about the true investment value of home ownership. It's not as good of a deal as you've been sold.

But the real test of truthfulness behind this is to ask anyone that's purchased a home or condominium within the past 10 years. Ask them how profitable their foray into housing market has been and they'll tell you.

'Max out your 401(k) plan.'

Overstuffing your 401(k) plan with lots of money - is a good savings habits - but won't necessarily help you you're your investments more profitable. Why? It's because most 401(k) plans offer a diverse menu of rigged investment choices with unnecessarily high fees. It's the mutual fund industry's best kept secret.

What about the wonderful benefits of tax free growth and employer matches? Unfortunately, these 401(k) features are undermined by consistent underperformance by mutual fund managers, poor asset allocation decisions by plan members and compounding fees.

Unless low cost index funds and ETFs are investment choices inside your 401(k) plan, overstuffing your 401(k) retirement plan with bloated contributions is probably not a good idea.

'Only invest in funds with managers that have a good track record.'

There are countless examples of how this piece of advice has been proven false more times than true. But since we don't have countless time or space, let's consider just one recent example - Philip Jabre.

Jabre is one of Europe's best known hedge fund managers and after posting a tranquil 3% gain during 2008's financial crisis, he followed it up with a handsome 46% gain in 2009. Surely investing money with Jabre - a seasoned professional with an impressive track record - was the smart thing to do, right?

In March, Jabre bought Japanese stocks (NYSEArca: EWJ - News) on news of the earthquake but got clobbered when the Nikkei Stock Average tumbled. Instead of staying calm, Jabre panicked and sold his shares before Japanese stocks bounced back, which netted his firm $300 million in losses. Hardly anyone could've foreseen this sort of meltdown from a guy with an amazing track record!

For anyone confiding in the false comfort of past performance, beware!

'Buy whatever Warren Buffett is buying.'

In the 1960s and 70s, youthful groupies would follow their favorite musical bands from city to city. Today, these same folks have graduated to following the financial moves made by investing legends like Warren Buffett. Are there guaranteed profits for those who ape the 'big money?'

Reuters looked at five recent acquisitions made by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A - News) to test out this theory.

Someone who bought 100,000 shares in stock in each of Berkshire's acquisition targets 70 days before Buffett announced a deal, would have made money in just three out of five tries. Not bad, but hardly a sure thing.

In this simplified case study conducted by Reuters, the reward for aping Warren Buffett's past five deals - or should we say, beating him to each deal by 70 days - was a complete wash. The profitable trades amounted to a gain of $3.256 million whereas the losses were $3.268 million.

So much for the false theory that copying financial titans delivers market beating results.’

Return of Inflation: 5 Worrying Signs From Friday's NY Times

Index Fund Rip-Off? Bartalos ‘Would you pay $5 for something that costs $1? Not if you could help it. However, that’s precisely what many investors are doing.

As financial advisers increasingly embrace a fee-based model based on the amount of assets overseen — instead of charging a flat fee — the portion invested in index funds is costing investors mightily writes Dow Jones columnist Ian Salisbury.

Salisbury notes that since 2006 “many advisers began charging smaller, but more regular, fees to manage a portfolio, often in the neighborhood of 1% a year.”

While 1% is a big improvement over the 5% fee that advisers often charged in years past, the savings that index funds offer in this context are effectively nullified.

The average expense ratio for U.S. stock index funds is 0.19%, versus 0.92% for actively managed funds, which have to charge for stock research and trading, according to investment researcher Morningstar Inc.

Individual investors can do better cost-wise by buying index funds directly from issuers.

However, it would be overly simplistic to focus exclusively on cost when considering the relative merits of using an adviser.

Advisers can add value by managing a portfolio’s asset allocation, both to take advantage of market trends and to grow more conservative as an investor ages. They often also provide extra services such as tax and estate planning.’

American Stock Ownership Declines

The United States is in the middle of a devastating long-term economic decline and it is getting really hard to deny it. Over the past year I have included literally thousands of depressing statistics in my articles about the U.S. economy. I have done this in order to make an overwhelming case that the U.S. economy is in deep decline and is dying a little bit more every single day. Until we understand exactly how bad our problems are we will never be willing to accept the solutions. The truth is that our leaders have absolutely wrecked the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen. Most Americans just assume that we will always experience overwhelming prosperity, but that is not anywhere close to the truth. We are not guaranteed anything. Our manufacturing base has been gutted, the number of jobs is declining, more Americans are dependent on government handouts than ever before, our dollar is dying and as a nation we are absolutely drowning in debt. The economists that are trumpeting an “economic recovery” and that are declaring that the U.S. economy will soon be “better than ever” are delusional. We really are steamrolling toward a complete and total economic collapse and our leaders are doing nothing to stop it.

The following are 24 more signs of economic decline in America. Hopefully you will not get too depressed as you read them….

#1 On Monday, Standard & Poor’s altered its outlook on U.S. government debt from “stable” to “negative” and warned the U.S. that it could soon lose its AAA rating. This is yet another sign that the rest of the world is losing faith in the U.S. dollar and in U.S. Treasuries.

#2 China has announced that they are going to be reducing their holdings of U.S. dollars. In fact, there are persistent rumors that this has already been happening.

#3 Hedge fund manager Dennis Gartman says that “panic dollar selling is setting in” and that the U.S. dollar could be in for a huge decline.

#4 The biggest bond fund in the world, PIMCO, is now shorting U.S. government bonds.

#5 This cruel economy is causing “ghost towns” to appear all across the United States. There are quite a few counties across the nation that now have home vacancy rates of over 50%.

#6 There are now about 7.25 million less jobs in America than when the recession began back in 2007.

#7 The average American family is having a really tough time right now. Only 45.4% of Americans had a job during 2010. The last time the employment level was that low was back in 1983.

#8 Only 66.8% of American men had a job last year. That was the lowest level that has ever been recorded in all of U.S. history.

#9 According to a new report from the AFL-CIO, the average CEO made 343 times more money than the average American did last year.

#10 Gas prices reached five dollars per gallon at a gas station in Washington, DC on April 19th, 2011. Could we see $6 gas soon?

#11 Over the past 12 months the average price of gasoline in the United States has gone up by about 30%.

#12 Due to rising fuel prices, American Airlines lost a staggering $436 million during the first quarter of 2011.

#13 U.S. households are now receiving more income from the U.S. governmentthan they are paying to the government in taxes.

#14 Approximately one out of every four dollars that the U.S. government borrows goes to pay the interest on the national debt.

#15 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

#16 Total credit card debt in the United States is now more than 8 times larger than it was just 30 years ago.

#17 Average household debt in the United States has now reached a level of 136% of average household income. In China, average household debt is only 17% of average household income.

#18 The average American now spends approximately 23 percent of his or her income on food and gas.

#19 In a recent survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting, 74 percent of Americans said that they planned to slow down their spending in coming months due to rising prices.

#20 59 percent of all Americans now receive money from the federal government in one form or another.

#21 According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of unemployment in the U.S. is now an all-time record 39 weeks.

#22 As the economy continues to collapse, frustration among young people will continue to grow and we will see more seemingly “random acts of violence”. One shocking example of this happened in the Atlanta area recently. The following is how a local Atlanta newspaper described the attack….

Roughly two dozen teens, chanting the name of a well-known Atlanta gang, brought mob rule to MARTA early Sunday morning, overwhelming nervous passengers and assaulting two Delta flight attendants.

#23 Some Americans have become so desperate for cash that they are literallypopping the gold teeth right out of their mouths and selling them to pawn shops.

#24 As the economy has declined, the American people have been gobbling up larger and larger amounts of antidepressants and other prescription drugs. In fact, the American people spent 60 billion dollars more on prescription drugs in 2010 than they did in 2005.’

Ecomonic Strength Is An Illusion Dohmen ‘There is a perception that economic growth in many countries is very strong. Is it? These countries have an accelerating inflation problem that is presenting an illusion of economic strength. Russia is running at 9.5%, India at 9%, Brazil 6.3%. China’s official inflation rate (CPI) just came in at 5.4%, higher “than expected by analysts.” Well, that number is a fairy tale. Actual inflation is mid-teens. “Official” food inflation year-over-year is 11%. Actual food inflation is probably twice that.

What always happens in such an environment is that the central bank hikes interest rates, but always too little, too late. The added cost of money raises the cost of business and is passed on as price increases, causing even higher inflation. The governments restrict credit only grudgingly because they don’t want the economy to weaken. That would make people unhappy and cause them to riot. Not pleasant for autocratic regimes. And that’s how these countries will eventually see double-digit inflation.

When that happens, they will become more forceful in tightening money, availability of credit, etc. And that eventually produces a recession, pain, and a financial crisis.

There is another aspect to this under-reporting of inflation: the GDP growth numbers of these countries are fictitious. Yet, money managers apparently believe them and are sending billions of dollars overseas into stocks in those countries. For example, let’s assume a country’s nominal GDP growth is 15%. Official inflation is 5%, which is deducted from the 15% to give headline GDP growth of 10%. But what if actual inflation is 10% instead of the “official” version of 5%? Then actual GDP growth is 5%. That certainly reduces the great growth stories of these emerging markets.

In the U.S., inflation is also far underreported. John Williams’ Shadow Government Statistics calculates the CPI before the “fudge factors” were introduced by Bush Senior and Clinton. According to him, the CPI now is at 10%.

If we use that number to convert nominal GDP to actual GDP, then we get negative, “real” economic growth. In other words, most or all of the reported GDP growth here and abroad reflects price increases, not genuine economic growth. Currently, nominal GDP growth is 4%. The CPI is 2.7%. That gives us “real” GDP growth of 1.3%, certainly not the 4% Wall Street had been predicting. If we use the GDP deflator of 3.6%, then we get “real” GDP growth of 0.3%, barely above zero.

I ask, how can this anemic growth, if any, give you the 20% corporate profit growth that Wall Street has been predicting? It would mean that companies can raise prices faster than their cost of supplies. That seems unlikely in the current high-unemployment environment except for consumer essentials, like food and energy. Beware of governmental statistics! As an investor, you can protect yourself against this hidden inflation via gold and silver.’

VIX at 34-Month Low - Time to Sell and Go Away Before May? Maierhofer, On Monday April 25, 2011,

‘This should be interesting. The VIX is at a 34-month low and stocks have been rising on anemically low volume, but the S&P is within points of breaking above the technically important neckline of an inverse head and shoulders bottom formation.

Of more immediate importance is the S&P's resistance at 1,339, which has rebuffed the S&P 500 on seven different trading days. And as if there wasn't enough intrigue to the current constellation, the S&P has an open chart gap right below 1,343.

Open Chart Gaps - Unfinished Business

The gap was caused by a February 22 gap down open that left a vacuum between 1,339 and 1,443. Concerning this chart gap, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter stated on the night of February 21:

'As of 11pm EST the S&P futures are down 15 points. Since there's a good chance of a gap down open, it would be timely to mention that the S&P has a strong tendency of closing open chart gaps sooner or later. If an early morning gap isn't closed right away, it might be closed sometime later this week, month or year.'

This open chart gap was one reason the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter speculated on March 20 that: '1,249.05 was the low of a 7% correction that will result in new highs around 1,3XX (target level reserved for subscribers) as discussed in the March ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter, page 3.'

What's it Worth? The VIX Sell Signal

As the S&P has come within points of closing this vexing chart gap, the VIX (Chicago Options: ^VIX) has dropped to a 34-month low. Not only that, the VIX has also dropped below the lower Bollinger Band. A close back above the lower Bollinger Band will trigger a sell signal for stocks.

There have been five such VIX sell signals since the March 2009 bottom. June 30, 2009 - January 12, 2010 - April 13, 2010 - September 4, 2010 - October 13, 2010. Discerning eyes will see that the market corrected sharply following the first three sell signals.

The S&P (SNP: ^GSPC), Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI), Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC), small caps (NYSEArca: IWM - News) and mid caps (NYSEArca: MDY - News) tumbled 15 - 20% from April - June 2010.

The April 2010 VIX sell signal was compounded by a 10-year low in the CBOE equity put/call ratio. A low put/call ratio means that only a minority of equity positions are equipped with a put safety net.

On April 16, 2010 the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter warned that: 'Once prices do fall and investors do get afraid of incurring losses, the only option is to sell. Selling, results in more selling. This negative feedback loop usually results in rapidly falling prices.' The market peaked six trading days later. The 'Flash Crash,' which temporarily reduced the Dow by 1,000 points, happened 14 trading days later.

As accurate as the June, January, and April VIX signals were, the two sell signals that occurred since QE2 was announced (September and October 2010) failed miserably.

Sector Discrepancies

Looking at a long-term chart, the S&P is short of reaching important Fibonacci and multi-decade trend lines and a potential head and shoulders target. Market technicians like myself, would like to see the S&P go higher before reversing meaningfully. With the VIX at a 34-month low, this may or may not happen.

It seems even the broad market is torn between bullish potential and bearish overtones. The technology sector (NYSEArca: XLK - News) is in the process of reasserting itself while the financial sector (NYSEArca: XLF - News) is trading near this year's low.

The new recovery high in the Dow Jones Industrial Average is thus far unconfirmed by the Dow Jones Transportation Average (NYSEArca: IYT - News), which is a negative according to Dow Theory (this could be resolved soon though). The S&P 500 futures rallied to a new 2-month high while the S&P 500 cash index did not.

Risk Assessment in a Nutshell

At least two technical chart formations suggest higher prices if we see a close above 1,340. The VIX suggests not only elevated complacency but the potential for a significant decline. Every decline below 15.5 for the VIX over the past 2 years was followed by a quick 7 - 17% decline for stocks. On Thursday the VIX closed at 14.69.

The positive seasonality of April is dwindling away and the summer doldrums often start out with the 'sell in May and go away' adage (that was certainly the case last year).

In a nutshell, the market appears to be at cross roads. To deal with it, stocks may continue churning for a bit longer but will eventually break out one way or another. Detecting the direction of the next big move early is key to capital protection and trading/investment profits…’

Beijing detains Christian church members on Easter (AP)

Hong Kong assets have ‘peaked’: analyst

Roadside bombs kill 3 NATO troops in Afghanistan (AP) - Roadside bombs killed three NATO service members and a gunman shot dead a prominent local official in southern Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghan and international troops are bracing for an e...

Economic Recovery Evades Fed and Congress Efforts Economic recovery does not seem to be taking effect in spite of more massive expenditures by Congress and the Fed. The IMF says financial stability has improved, but then again their vision is almost always clouded.

Will Adverse Regulatory Changes Cause Further Deterioration In Shadow Banking And Force The Fed’s QE Hand Again? Confused by the recent dramatic moves in General Collateral repo rates? Carry trade killing FDIC assessments got you down (and copycatting other blogs)? Still anguished by relentless end of quarter window dressing even as primary dealers reduce leverage to post crisis lows?

Gold and silver continue to surge Neil Dennis | Gold hit a record high, while silver surged more than 5 per cent to within a whisker of its all-time peak.

Don’t Like a Weak Dollar? Might as Well Get Used to It CNBC.com | Weakness in the US dollar, which is causing everything to go up.

Four Scary Words: “Silver Delivery Not Possible” The SHTFPlan’s Mac Slavo brings us the story of one Bill Cramer who decided to cash in on his silver profits after a nearly decade holding period (under the assumption he was receiving warehousing services considering he was paying storage fees), confident that he could simply receive the metal he held with a broker, until he heard the following 5 very disturbing words: “Sorry, delivery is not possible.”

British pound devalues by 94% in 50yrs A new survey shows that the value of money in the UK has dropped by 94 percent over the past 50 years, which means an 18-time increase in retail prices.

Financial Heist of the Century: Confiscating Libya’s Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) The objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters.

China Proposes To Cut Two Thirds Of Its $3 Trillion In USD Holdings

All those who were hoping global stock markets would surge tomorrow based on a ridiculous rumor that China would revalue the CNY by 10% will have to wait.

(4-25-11) Dow 12,479 -26 Nasdaq 2,826 +5 S&P 500 1,335 -2 [CLOSE- OIL $111.41 (-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 $45.93 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,798 (+56% for year 2009) Metal News for the Day / DOLLAR= .68 EURO, 80 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 3.36% …..… 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

Something Odd Is Happening at Reactor Number 4 The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is carefully monitoring the situation at the Number 4 spent fuel pool, where the water temperature is rising despite increased injections of cooling water.

Helen Caldicott Talks About the Horror of Fukushima Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate Helen Caldicott talks about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and what we can expect. It ain’t pretty.

Busby: ‘Can’t seal Fukushima like Chernobyl – it all goes into sea’ As world marks the Chernobyl anniversary, many say that the world has failed to learn the lessons on nuclear safety that the tragedy provided. RT talks to Professor Christopher Busby, Scientific secretary of the European Committee on radiation risks, for a little more insight on 21st century’s most serious nuclear crisis at Fukushima.

Assassinate Qaddafi? Tyrants Beware – What Goes Around Might Come Around Lindsey Graham and John McCain, both of the meddling International Republican Institute implicated in funding and fueling the “Arab Spring” to begin with, have called for the assassination of Libya’s Qaddafi and members of his inner circle. The London Telegraph also reported that Foreign Secretary William Hague refused to rule out using US drones to assassinate Qaddafi.

Small plane full of cocaine crashes in New Mexico lake A small planed loaded with bundles of cocaine crashed into a lake in northern New Mexico on Sunday morning, apparently killing all on board, according to the New Mexico State Police.

Wikileaks Gitmo Files: Corporate Media Reports Information We Brought To You Five Years Ago With much fanfare the mainstream media is today reporting on the Wikileaks guantanamo revelations, which highlight the fact that the US government knew there were no high ranking terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay.

Ron Paul To Announce 2012 Presidential Run Within Days Texas Congressman Ron Paul could be set to officially announce whether or not he is running for the Republican 2012 nomination this week with a series of back to back high profile media appearances.

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China. And it’s a lot closer than you may think.

Your Cellphone Has Been Tracking You For Nearly a Decade The controversy generated as a result of computer researchers discovering a hidden file that allows Apple to track the location of iPhone and iPad users has been treated as a shocking revelation by the media, and yet since October 2001, the FCC has mandated that all wireless carriers track the location of their users down to within 50 feet.

Ron Paul on The View: Whoopi Goldberg Frustrated When Audience Cheers Ron Paul Infowars.com | Whoopi appears to be incapable of understanding that big government destroys liberty and eventually impoverishes everybody.

The Decline of the Dollar Infowars | Weakness in the US dollar is unlikely to go away soon as selling frenzy hits.

Investigation: Government Ordered Cellphone Companies to Spy on Users Paul Joseph Watson | Under federal law, surveillance grid in place for 10 years.

Ron Paul To Announce 2012 Presidential Run Within Days Steve Watson | Congressman will meet criteria to participate in May 5th S.C. debate.

IMF: Age of America nears end MarketWatch | China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.

American Hellholes The Economic Collapse | The U.S. economy is slowly dying. The U.S. economy is dying and we are heading for the next Great Depression. The talking heads in the mainstream media love to spin the economic numbers around and around and they love to make it sound like the economy is improving, but the truth is that it doesn’t take a genius to see what is happening to the U.S. economic system.

Sen. Graham: Murder Gaddafi’s Inner Circle Infowars.com | Graham said that “it’s going to be hard” for the U.S. to achieve its national security interests if Gaddafi remains.

TSA: An Army of Pervs and Criminals Kurt Nimmo | Organs of police state control and intimidation invariably hire perverts and criminals.

Corporate Media Refuses to Report Truth About NATO Contras in Libya Infowars.com | Like the attack on Iraq, the attack on Libya is based on a series of lies and fabrications.

Will governments confiscate gold? Alasdair Macleod | The situation today is very different from that of 78 years ago when Roosevelt confiscated gold.

Short Life Expectancy for BP Whistleblowers? Pat Shannan | Mysterious deaths have befallen at least 9 whistleblowers reportedly connected to the gulf oil spill.

‘No sign Gaddafi bombed Tripoli – NATO wages war on false claims’ Sukant Chandan, who has just returned from a monitoring mission in Libya, believes there’s no justification for NATO’s actions.

US carries out first drone strike in Libya: Pentagon The United States carried out its first drone strike in Libya on Saturday, the Pentagon said, two days after approving the use of pilotless aircraft to aid rebels fighting Moamer Kadhafi’s forces.

TEPCO finds radioactive concrete emitting 900,000 microsieverts per hour of nuclear radiation The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says that concrete debris emitting a high level of radiation has been found near the Number 3 reactor.

Japan: Fukushima 50 criticise ‘inconsistent’ information The Fukushima 50, emergency nuclear plant workers in Japan, have accused the government of inconsistent handling of data in relation to radiation exposure.

TSA officer charged in distributing child pornography A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show.

Heroes Villainized: FBI to investigate 9/11 first responders for terrorism A provision in a new draft of the 9/11 healthcare bill will force the FBI to investigate tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others for ties to terrorism by comparing names to those on the Terrorism Watch List.

Helen Caldicott Talks About the Horror of Fukushima Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate Helen Caldicott talks about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and what we can expect. It ain’t pretty.

Fukushima Evacuation area officially expanded The Japanese government has announced the official expansion of the evacuation zone around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to selected areas beyond the existing 20-kilometer radius. Residents of the new areas are being asked to evacuate by the end of May.

Short Life Expectancy for BP Whistleblowers? Pat Shannan | Mysterious deaths have befallen at least 9 whistleblowers reportedly connected to the gulf oil spill.

Using police to enforce a Big Pharma medication agenda violates civil rights Mike Adams | I do not remember any cops swearing an oath to protect and serve the interests of the pharmaceutical corporations.

Jobs Bill? The Government Passed a Jobs Bill Years Ago … Just Not for US Washington’s Blog | So stop whining, we’ve already got a jobs bill … it’s just not for you and me.

ElBaradei urges ICC trial of Bush Press TV | The so-called hunt for WMD in Iraq yielded no results.

Video Reporting Possible CIA/Saudi Snipers in Syria No sooner was “Color Revolution’s Mystery Gunmen” posted, when a reader sent in a news clip from Iran’s Al-Alam News Network reportedly indicating Saudi/CIA snipers are in Syria taking out protesters. Al-Alam broadcasts throughout the region, in Arabic.

Normalizing Evil: The NY Times’ Curious Take on the Gitmo Files

Britain, the Traitor Nation: Media Disinformation and Crimes against Humanity in Libya

Drudgereport: RON PAUL: HE'S IN!Killer Combo of High Gas, Food Prices at 'Key Tipping Point'...
AAA Sees 18% Increase In Roadside Calls For Drivers Out Of Gas...
$5.69 GALLON IN ORLANDO -- FOR REGULAR...

Dollar's Decline Speeds Up...

IMF: AGE OF AMERICA NEARS END...
Dollar's Decline Speeds Up...
China planning to cut U.S. reserves by two-thirds?
Gold and silver continue to surge...Reid's China junket sked kept secret over 'security concerns'... WASHPOST: If the trip's so dangerous, why are senators spouses tagging along?

TRUMP: Obama Not Worthy of Ivy Leagues... [ Talk about the pot calling the kettle black … trump’s b.s., low grade (penn) ivy league (courtesy of papa mobster trump who ‘twisted his arm to go’ so people would take him ‘seriously’ – papa mobster trump would pound the undistinguished academically / athletically, Donald with the mantra, ‘you’re a killer, you’re a king’ in film noir melodramatic fashion which proved too much for the more balanced and ‘chosen / favored’ elder brother trump who committed suicide. The old man also required trump to go to prep / military / boarding school where according to a classmate, Ted Levine, trump used to wet / pee in his bed. ) vegetable garden in the same manner as dumbya bush … mobster trump and people like trump are part of the problem (total b*** s***, fraud, etc., as in his home turf, mob-infested sinkholes, jersey / new york), not the solution. Indeed, trump is an interesting mental case in that he evolved from narcissist (those inflated grandiose moods coupled with feelings of inferiority – he loved to obsessively read those hitler speeches for inspiration and to pump himself up according to Ivana Trump) to severe case of antisocial personality disorder [ predatory disregard for and violation of the rights of others – hence, those sophomoric soundbite solutions to complex problems as, ie., taking oil fields(Libya), 25% tariff on Chinese (actually including american goods made in China), drug money laundering in his casinos, bribery, etc.http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ]

In a rational nation that wasn’t in decline as pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america, trump and sister Maryanne would both be in prison.

'Terrible student,' not good enough for Harvard... Biden daughter trashes Trump...
Bill Cosby slams: 'He's full of it!'...
Trump Takes On NYT, Gail Collins...
Admires her for surviving 'so long with so little talent'...
NBCWSJ POLL SHOCK: TRUMP #2 GOP [ NBC where t_rump has his Jerry Springer derivative shock-jock show and sinkhole new york's fraud street journal … poll? … Don't make me laugh … Lawrence O'Donnell insists parent company NBC consider firing Donald Trump Daily Caller ... Milbank: Donald trumps CPAC | Gibbs gone (Washington Post) [ Trump’s a loser, dressed up and propped up by and to shill for a declining, fallen nation in the most corrupt regions (ie., new york, jersey, etc.) of the country (every fallen nation has such); of that there is no question …"Over the years I've participated in many battles and have really almost come out very, very victorious every single time," the Donald said. (Except for the bankruptc[ies], that is. [ trump’s never won a battle that wasn’t fixed in advance (including the ‘pre-packaged bankrupcies’ crammed down the throats of objecting creditors – jersey general ] He also with his corrupt mob ilk 'chased' Steve Wynn out of jersey – Steve Wynn's doing extremely well in Macau and Vegas.) "I've beaten many people and companies, and I've won many wars," he added. (Though he didn't serve in the military.) "I have fairly [according to mobster rules; ie., bribery, money laundering, etc.] but intelligently [ as any other mob boss … trump is total b*** s***, a fraud, and lightweight … and, despite the façade, quite insecure … trump’s a total mental case … He truly is the ‘poster-boy’ of american decline and part of the problem, not the solution! …trump also said america’s become the laughingstock of the world … true enough … and trump the biggest joke … NEWS FLASH: Direct from Lost Angeles Learning Annex – Presenting mobster t_rump of new yoke, new joyzey, and now caleefornia mob fame with his continuing message for the past several years: buy real estate (and watch the values go down…..riiiiight!).
Bank sues Trump over Chicago tower loan...
Trump casino to miss interest payment...
trump’s fired (from ‘his own company’)

Gunfire Erupts Inside trump Taj Mahal Casino, 1 Dead - Second Such Incident In A Year At N.J. Mainstay Ends With Employee Killed – What else would you you expect from a mobster’s casino in mob-infested jersey!

Trump luxury resort folds, leaving buyers defrauded…litigation has commenced…send for sister maryanne, the corrupt federal judge to preside, coverup, etc., she’s in n.y./n.j./pa 3rd circuit ct appeals, understands drug money laundering/fraud and handles her own motions to recuse her and like mobster trump should be in jail ... (see RICO Case)] earned many billions of dollars [ at whose expense ], which in a sense was both a scorecard and acknowledgment of my abilities [ to fool most of the people, all of the time. ] ." TRUMP DRAWS CHEERS, BOOS AT CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE... PONDERING PRESIDENTIAL RUN... [Don’t make me laugh! … Donald T_rump Would Impose 25% Tax on China Imports if President [ trump also said america’s become the laughingstock of the world … true enough … and trump the biggest joke … Indeed, that trump even posits the possibility of a run when he should be in jail is a testament to just how big a laughingstock pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america’s become! [ If he was mobster in chief, mobster and scoundrel trump wraps himself in populist american flag and offers up an (too little too late – typical lightweight) implausible solution to keep ‘the juice’ flowing though he’d already be in jail in a rational, non-declining nation with meaningful laws. All China has to do is dump (and not prospectively buy) their ever more and declining in value day-by-day (from dollar debasement policies) u.s. paper / bonds and overnight and the u.s. economy consequently thereby collapse. [ When you come right down to it, this has been america’s most significant export. Indeed, this irrevocable structural shift, hailed by cia men hw bush and clinton (clinton couldn’t have survived with them) by way of NAFTA as the greatest thing since sliced bread was indeed in no uncertain terms condemned and warned against by Perot, a man of honor who, unlike his opponents, could not be bought, which is the reason, in pervasively corrupt america, he could never have been elected. Interestingly, you may have noticed the good (but not great, other than the spotlight on pervasive bribery including judges, police, politicians, etc., being far too light) the film ‘The Untouchables’ getting a wide re-airing of late, purporting to be a significant part of american folklore / history / culture. However, the reality is that in america, and certainly today, the real story with impact is that of ‘The Touchables’. The reality is that Elliot Ness died a broken man; bankrupt, unable to even win election to the mayoralty of his then current hometown. He was incorruptible; and hence, in the real america, unelectable at the least if not also all but unemployable (he and his are among those few genetic anomalies in america as I’ve previously alluded to. How far america has fallen from even false perception! Pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless america can’t even fake it anymore. See, for example, http://albertpeia.com/CIAAgentAffidavit1.jpg http://albertpeia.com/FBIAgentAffidavit11.jpg , and of course, corrupt legal / judicial processes, etc., Defacto bankrupt, fraudulent america also spends more on offensive (defensive a misnomer / propaganda) military spending than all the nations of the world combined, and by a large margin at that. Do you see a pattern emerging here [ I unfortunately only belatedly did, and the feds, fed employees, cia, all 3 branches of the u.s. government, etc., are included in this evolved american trait of inherent criminality in the most nefarious sense … The pervasively corrupt american illegal system … corrupt u.s. courts / (lawyers) / judges: Their lifetime plush appointments should be abolished, which corrupt entities are unheard of in productive societies as China, Japan, etc.. Time to abolish these drags on society and eliminate their lifetime stipends and costly bureaucracies. Rules of law mean nothing to these typically corrupt americans. Most, including sam alito of the u.s. supreme court, concerning drug money laundering and obstruction of justice in the 3^rd circuit ( also maryanne trump barry who covered-up drug money laundering through her brother’s casinos in a civil RICO case) should have gone to or belong in jail. Contrary to popular belief, they do it for the money, personal money, big, cash, untraceable money. The fog of war is great for such things (360 tons $100 bills flown into Iraq and missing, etc.). [ http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ]. america’s just a fraudulent and failed defacto bankrupt nation. ] “I would announce, without equivocation, a 25% tax increase on anything purchased from China.” ]

SHOCK VIDEO: ANOTHER MCDONALDS BEATDOWNDad who broke up fight in MCDONALD'S shot dead... A DAD-of-four who split up a fight in a McDonald’s was shot dead moments after being told he wouldn’t see the morning.

Raymond Mitchell, 34, had only popped into the restaurant to buy a hot chocolate.

But he apparently caused offence after splitting up two men fighting in the queue.

One of them, who had several gold teeth, shouted at Raymond: “You are gonna die tonight, you are not gonna see the morning.”

The thug is then said to have phoned an accomplice to fetch a gun, yelling into his mobile: “Bring me that thing.”

Raymond left the 24-hour McDonald’s but was chased into a cul-de-sac. The gun was then delivered and Mr Mitchell was beaten and pistol-whipped before being shot three times in an alley in Brixton, South London, at 6.50am on Sunday. Raymond, nicknamed Brown, was taken to hospital but died hours later.

One neighbour, who saw the shooting but was too terrified to be named, said: “He was begging, literally begging for his life. I didn’t dare look out my window in case they saw me. I heard them laughing and swearing at him, calling him a ‘b***h’. I heard them laughing afterwards as well.”

Raymond’s partner, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m terrified. They’re still out there and they’ve not been caught. I’ve been told how they were laughing, actually laughing after they beat him and shot him. How could anybody do something like that?”

Pakistan: U.S. missile strike near border kills 25 (Washington Post) ‘ ISLAMABAD — U.S. drones fired a volley of missiles into a militant-held Pakistani region close to the Afghan border on Friday, killing 25 people, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike came a day after Pakistan’s army chief denounced such attacks, and could further sour deteriorating relations between Washington and Islamabad. …Three children and two women were believed to be among the dead, they said…’ [ Winning hearts and minds … yup … that’s what pervasively corrupt, war mongering, defacto bankrupt, war crimes nation is doing, alright … riiiiight! Pakistan Tells U.S. to Halt Drones Pakistan has privately demanded the Central Intelligence Agency suspend drone strikes against militants on its territory, officials said. U.S. role in Libyan conflict widens (Washington Post) Buoyed by Obama’s deployment of armed drones and a visit by Sen. John McCain, rebels expressed hope that increased support will help turn the tide in the conflict. [ As if we didn’t see that coming! With Iraq saying thanks, but no thanks to continued american ‘help’, despite defacto bankruptcy of the nation, america’s looking for new war horizons. Now that ‘sounds like a plan’! ]

Obama misleads on oil (Washington Post) [ Oil? If oil was the only thing ‘wobama the b’ (for b* s) misleads on, the future would look at least a wee bit better than horrifically dismal. Obama likes Facebook (Washington Post) And Facebook likes Obama. [ I believe Mr. Milbank has found a fit … a group that like him, is totally full of sh! Now I can see people shunning the republicans … but for a 3rd party candidate which is more real a possibility than most can imagine. But ‘wobama the b’ (for b s***)? How totally embarrassing for facebook across the board.. Barack Obama: The Naked Emperor Shocking but true revelations from David Icke (a must read) | ‘…He has been covertly funded and supported ever since by the Trilateral Commission and its network of foundations connecting into the Ford Foundation, for whom Obama's mother worked... Does anyone really believe that someone, a 'man of the people', would simply appear from apparently nowhere to run the slickest and best-funded presidential campaign in American history? He was chosen long ago by those who wish to enslave the very people that Obama says he wants to 'set free'. The sources of Obama funding read like a Wall Street Who's Who - Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and so on. No wonder he went back on his pledge to accept the limitations of public funding .. It was they who kept his many skeletons under wraps, like the gay sex and crack cocaine allegations of Larry Sinclair (from affidavit: 1. Who is Ron Allen that claims to be with your Presidential camp, who is alleged to claim that someone claiming to represent me called asking for $100,000, to keep me from coming forward about our (Obama and I) November 1999 encounter of sex and cocaine use?), and they will continue to do so as long as he jumps to their bidding. Obama is just another Banksters' moll prostituting himself for fame and power, and that's why he supported the grotesque bail-out of the banking system and why he will always put their interests before the people. .. The very people who caused the financial crisis are being appointed by Obama to decide how to respond to it (more taxpayers' money for them and their friends) `CIVIL RIGHTS PANEL TO PURSUE FED PROBE IN BLACK PANTHER CASE... ‘`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 Obama has promised to hold Wall Street accountable for the meltdown. ):

‘THE OBAMA DECEPTION’ http://albertpeia.com/obamadeceptionhighqualityversion.flv

]

Milbank: Andrew Breitbart and rifts on the right (Washington Post) [ Ah, yes! Disarray on on the right … Mr. Milbank’s wet dream … Come on! … What does that matter? Moreover, what isn’t in disarray in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america. Then there’s the pervasive incompetence, left and 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! ‘ . ]

U.S. role in Libyan conflict widens (Washington Post) Buoyed by Obama’s deployment of armed drones and a visit by Sen. John McCain, rebels expressed hope that increased support will help turn the tide in the conflict. [ As if we didn’t see that coming! With Iraq saying thanks, but no thanks to continued american ‘help’, despite defacto bankruptcy of the nation, america’s looking for new war horizons. Now that ‘sounds like a plan’! ‘Mission creep’ feared in Libya campaign The National | US maintains it will not send any ground troops into Libya. Libyan War Gets Weird: Defending the Indefensible Even those who have studied for years the criminal consolidation of this planet under the global corporate-financier oligarchy may be noticing that the war in Libya is turning into something new and unprecedented. Roberts: Pentagon budget is the result of corruption Half a century ago, president Dwight Eisenhower issued a warning to the American nation about growing military industrial complexes being a threat to democracy, and now it seems as though Eisenhower’s warning has become reality. US is the modern world’s biggest military spender. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan administration official and a columnist, shares his opinion on RT. Libya: Increased Airstrikes, Ground Troops, Contractors, Civilians Killed, Deadly DU Munitions – Can We Call This A War Yet? The globalist coalition refers to it as ‘kinetic military action’, yet as more civilians are killed in NATO bombings, and with experts adamant that deadly Depleted Uranium weapons are being used by Western forces, the conflict in Libya looks a hell of a lot like the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq all over again.]

The U.S. dollar, no longer almighty [ Talk about understatements … and not just the dollar that’s not almighty in pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america. ] (Washington Post) Amid talk of deficits, investing gurus, such as Warren Buffett, are betting against the dollar. [ Duh! Winning! (As per Charlie Sheen). But are they? I don’t think so … Indeed, senile buffet had in the manner of a ‘lovefest’ expressed his unbridled enthusiasm for favorable prospects for the u.s. economy. Yet, at this rate, buffet et als won’t be declaring ‘mission accomplished’(as per dumbya bush) and complete victory until loaves of bread are going for $100 a pop and near everyone has stopped looking for those non-existent, fleeting, fleeing jobs enabling them to declare near 100% employment. Indeed, such mundane considerations worry buffet not … ‘cause the frauds on wall street got his back … Why? … ‘cause he’s got their backs and shills for them in that homespun, country bumpkin kind of way. And, with manipulated frauds as are ubiquitous on wall street, reality impacts them … almost not at all. Suckers’ rally into the close to keep suckers suckered on really bad news : Philadelphia Fed Depresses Economists Durden ‘4-21-11 And here comes the first indicator that Q2 GDP is about to be mass revised by everyone, courtesy of Japan, and ongoing inflation pressures: the Philadelphia Fed collapsed from a revised 43.4 (a 27 year high) to 18.5, the lowest since November 2010. ‘…natural resource plays provided an afternoon lift…’ … This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits while you still can since there's much worse to come! Remember: ‘Sell in May and go away! … ]

America Is a Failed State Because It Won’t Prosecute Financial Crime Washington’s Blog.. 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 Equity Valuations Are Forming the Second Biggest Bubble in U.S. History Kaspar ... According to Yale University’s Dr. Robert Shiller, the market is now 41% overvalued …only time the markets have been more overvalued .. 1929 & tech bubble. http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/12/saupload_cape_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...]

Suckers’ rally into the close to keep suckers suckered on really bad news : Philadelphia Fed Depresses Economists Durden ‘On Thursday April 21, 2011, 1:32 pm EDT And here comes the first indicator that Q2 GDP is about to be mass revised by everyone, courtesy of Japan, and ongoing inflation pressures: the Philadelphia Fed collapsed from a revised 43.4 (a 27 year high) to 18.5, the lowest since November 2010. … sounds like a real pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american plan! ‘…natural resource plays provided an afternoon lift…’ …Riiiiight! You can’t make this stuff up, you really can’t. How totally pathetic! … This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits while you still can since there's much worse to come! Remember: ‘Sell in May and go away! … ]

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 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 ]

Philadelphia Fed Depresses Economists Durden ‘On Thursday April 21, 2011, 1:32 pm EDT

And here comes the first indicator that Q2 GDP is about to be mass revised by everyone, courtesy of Japan, and ongoing inflation pressures: the Philadelphia Fed collapsed from a revised 43.4 (a 27 year high) to 18.5, the lowest since November 2010.

And here is why even the Philly Fed admits “indicators suggest slower growth” – “The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 43.4 in March to 18.5 this month (see Chart). The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, showed a similar slowing: The index fell 22 points, following seven consecutive months of increase.

The shipments index declined 6 points and remained at a relatively high level….A majority of firms continue to cite price pressures, and a significant share of firms reported higher prices for their own manufactured goods again this month.” Translation: Wall Street Q2 GDP revisions coming en masse: the podium is yours Jan Hatzius.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Philly-Fed-April1.jpg

Alas, as companies are only starting to recall, inflation is sticky and takes far more than 15 minutes to fix:

Firms Report Higher Output Prices

Firms continue to report price increases for inputs as well as their own manufactured goods. The prices paid index declined 7 points this month but remains about 45 points higher than readings just seven months ago. Fifty?nine percent of the firms reported higher prices for inputs this month, compared to 64 percent last month. On balance, firms also reported an increase in prices for their own manufactured goods: The prices received index increased 5 points and has steadily increased over the last eight months. Thirty percent of firms reported higher prices for their own goods this month; just 3 percent reported price reductions.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Philly-Fed-April-Index2.jpg

Tyler Durden is the founder of Zero Hedge.’

Where Did All the Bulls Go?

Clock Still Ticking on Greece and Portugal Default Inflation Trader ‘The clock is clearly ticking on Greece and Portugal’s default or severe restructuring, and the clock seems to be speeding up. Yesterday Greek 10-year yields rose to 14.75% and 2-year yields soared past 22%. If you think Greece is not going to default and force significant haircuts on its bondholders (including the ECB), you have a great opportunity to buy a 22% note that will pay off at par! Portuguese 10-years are at 9.28%; 2-years at 10.5% (see Chart below for the 2yr, click to enlarge). The Irish 2y and 10y are both over 10% as well.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/21/saupload_portublech.png

Portuguese, Greek, 2y or 10y. It doesn't matter, they all look this bad. This happens to be the Portuguese 2-year note yield.

This is starting to be an all-the-king’s horses situation. With all the powers that can be brought to bear on the problems, all of the ECB secondary market support, all of the rescue packages and promised rescue packages – and even after Spain and Portugal both successfully sold bonds overnight – these markets are in free-fall.

One reason for it is that investors are newly skeptical that the European Financial Stability Facility, and its successor European Stability Mechanism, are going to work because of one little design flaw: the fact that member countries must cough up the dough. Well, make that two design flaws: member countries are by and large democratic, and the ‘little people’ seem to object to coughing up the dough. We saw the recent German election results, and the Finns this week gave a lot of votes to a “euro-skeptic” protest party (although a Finnish friend of mine thinks it is unlikely that party will end up as part of the ruling coalition). Today, the ruling party in Slovakia declared that it won’t support the creation of the ESM, which means that two minority parties will need to form a coalition if Slovakia is going to participate. The words of the ruling party’s chairman resound:

We are here to defend interests of Slovak citizens, not the interests of foreign banks, which have for a long time made profits on high interest on loans to irresponsible countries.

Investors are gradually coming to realize that the cacophony in Europe right now isn’t merely distracting, but destructive to the notion of a unified eurozone. And that is causing them to separate the (German) wheat from the (periphery) chaff when it comes to periphery markets. This may ironically be good for the euro if only the periphery are jettisoned, but the behavior of the euro bond markets look much like a film of the mid-1990s “convergence trade” being run in reverse.

Having a bailout mechanism that requires consensus of the members appears to be simply not workable. By contrast, the U.S. bailouts do not require state approval, nor Federal approval. The Fed just prints the money and voila! And so far, it has worked.

It has worked, that is, except for the fact that the dollar’s downtrend periodically threatens to become disorderly. Yesterday the greenback reversed the rest of Monday’s rally and went to new lows on the year. It is challenging 2009’s low now. Partly as a consequence, commodities rallied again yesterday, with NYMEX Crude Oil setting its second-highest close of the year (above $111). Softs, Precious Metals, and Industrial Metals all rallied.

The dollar’s problems and the imminent shuttering of the debt markets to Portugal and Greece didn’t impact the equity markets. Stocks soared overnight and then traded sideways on light-to-medium volume throughout the day. Supposedly this was due to Intel’s (INTC) generous outlook in their earnings release Tuesday. I’ve never understood why Intel’s earnings, or those of almost any other single company with the possible exception of a megaconglomerate like GE, matter to the other 5000 stocks, but this was the excuse. Stocks are back up near the 2011 highs again! I suspect that we’ll need some actual good news, rather than scattered positive quarterly earnings reports, to propel stocks much higher but to be honest I’m not sure why they’re levitating now.

Bonds sold off slightly, with 10y nominal Treasuries at 3.40% and the 10y TIPS at 0.78%. Today the Treasury auctions $14bln new 5y TIPS at 11:30ET ahead of the early close and Good Friday holiday.[1] The new TIPs will have a coupon of 0-1/8%, the lowest ever auctioned, and if they still issued paper bonds I’d buy some just to frame for that reason. They’ll be auctioned at a premium at that coupon, because the real yield will be negative. It doesn’t light my fire unless and probably only unless your alternative is the nominal Treasury note. The market needs inflation-linked paper because of all of the money flowing into inflation-linked bond strategies, but I think there’s a chance this one is sloppy and needs to be cleaned up next week.

The economic data yesterday didn’t do much to push the inflation outlook higher. Existing Home Sales were somewhat above expectations (although, as with Housing Starts, the current level isn’t impressive), but the inventory of existing homes rose slightly to 3.549mm units. That implies CPI Shelter over the next 12 months should be expected to be roughly +1.1%, all else being equal (see Chart, click to enlarge).

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/21/saupload_hafsshelt.png

Housing Inventory like this augurs something like 1.1% Shelter inflation in the year ahead.

All else, of course, is not equal and this is a very simple regression. CPI Shelter could well be higher and could possibly be lower. But if CPI for Shelter is only +1.1% over the next 12 months, it will be difficult for overall inflation to really blast off. Still, if core CPI ex-Shelter continues to rise, it will still feel bad.

Today, we have another Initial Claims figure (Consensus: 390k from 412k), with the consensus hoping…praying…that the jump last week was an aberration. If we get another number around 400k-410k, bonds might get a bid into the long weekend. Also today is the Philly Fed index (Consensus: 36.4 vs 43.4), which should remain fairly strong, and some home price data. As noted, it is also a short trading session (in the bond market). I will write a comment after today’s session (or on Friday), but then I am out of the country for a week and will not be writing commentary from the beach. The next installment of this serial, after tomorrow, will be on or around May 2^nd. Happy Easter.

[1] SIFMA, the self-regulatory body that ‘recommends’ early closes and holidays for the bond market, made a decision in 2009 to de-emphasize early closes and holidays. Oddly, although Good Friday isn’t always a holiday (unlike Christmas) in the market, they’ve decided this year that it should be even though they’re trying to make bond traders work harder. I don’t understand why, but I’m grateful.’

The Myth of 'Inflation Proof' Stocks

AAII Sentiment Survey: Bullish Sentiment PLUNGES

Profit Margin Squeeze and Inflation Risk

Oil Up, Dollar Down Reuters | Factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region fell in April.

US jobless claims stick above 400,000 FT.com | The number of people claiming unemployment benefit stayed above 400,000 for the second week in a row.

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

University Of Texas Fund CEO Shares His Views On Gold, Explains Why He Took Delivery Of $1 Billion In The Precious Metal Over the weekend, University of Texas made headlines after disclosing it was the first major institution to take delivery of $1 billion in gold, although still keeping it in the Comex system.

$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.

Even Ben Stein Is Warning That An Economic Collapse Is Coming He sure has come a long way since “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. During a recent television segment for CBS, Ben Stein declared that “the tea leaves are ominous” and he warned that an economic collapse may be coming.

Americans hold dim view of U.S. economic outlook: poll Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are more pessimistic about the US economic outlook than they have been since the start of the Obama administration and most believe the United States is on the wrong track, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll ... Nation's Mood at Lowest Level in Two Years, Poll Shows New York Times Poll: 45% of Republicans don't think Obama was born in the USA Los Angeles Times

(4-21-11) Dow 12,506 +53 Nasdaq 2,820 +17 S&P 500 1,330 +7 [CLOSE- OIL $112.29 (-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 $1,509 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $46.65 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,813 (+56% for year 2009) Metal News for the Day / DOLLAR= .68 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 3.42% …..… 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!

ECONOMIC CRISIS ARCHIVE

National / World

Are You Scared Yet? Big Sis To Beam Terror Warnings To Your iPhone Steve Watson | The government will tell you when to stay indoors.

Easily Duped Islamists Demand Blind CIA Operative Be Released from Prison Kurt Nimmo | The fact Abdul-Rahman worked with U.S. and British intelligence should send up a red flag for any self-respecting Islamist.

Lukashenko: Globalists Are Preparing To Strangle Belarus Paul Joseph Watson | “They want to force us to be just like everybody else….we will resist.”

Gingrich: Ben Bernanke Has “Done a Terrible Job” Real Clear Politics | Newt Gingrich was very critical of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

DHS Launches New Alert System Designed to Terrorize Public Kurt Nimmo & Alex Jones | The government wants the war against manufactured terror in your face 24-7.

‘Mission creep’ feared in Libya campaign The National | US maintains it will not send any ground troops into Libya.

Lukashenko: Globalists Are Preparing To Strangle Belarus Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned today that the globalists were preparing to strangle his country because of its refusal to join the new world order, with Belarus set to become the latest target of the contrived “Arab Spring” riots as the NATO powers further encircle Russia and China.

Are You Scared Yet? Big Sis To Beam Terror Warnings To Your Iphone The Department of Homeland Security is beefing up it’s terror alert warning system in a move that will see terror alerts, whether real or phony, issued via the mainstream media and directly to your phone or computer over social networking sites, and possibly even via Emergency Alert broadcasts.

Silver surge prompts conspiracy theorists In 1980 it was the Hunt brothers. In 1998 it was Warren Buffett. And in 2011? For anyone unversed in the history of the silver market, those dates refer to market squeezes that caused surges in the silver price. The talk among some conspiracy-minded traders and analysts is that something similar could be happening today.

Silver Surges Over $46.25/oz As Rumours Of A Short Squeeze And Cornering Market Gain Credence Traders and technically minded investors are firmly focused on silver’s record nominal high of $50.35/oz. Some with a longer term fundamental focus continue to see silver in triple digits if it is to match the real record highs of $130/oz seen in 1980.

Soros Event Sets in Motion New Attacks on Dollar It’s been two weeks since George Soros bought himself a major economic conference designed to remake the entire global economy. Just because the event received little major news attention, it still had an impact Americans might be reeling from for years.

Nanny State Gone Wild A shocking acceleration of the nanny state in recent months confirms that the government has launched a total takeover of society under the pretext of keeping everyone safe, when in reality the move is a calculated coup d’état against individuality and is designed to oppress and enslave the American people.

Libyan War Gets Weird: Defending the Indefensible Even those who have studied for years the criminal consolidation of this planet under the global corporate-financier oligarchy may be noticing that the war in Libya is turning into something new and unprecedented.

NYC budget cuts include closing of 20 fire stations, while millions of dollars in toxic fluoride keep flowing in the water supply Following years of cuts to its police force, New York City is now choosing to cut the ranks of its fire department as well.

10 Examples That Should Convince Anyone That We No Longer Live In The Land Of The Free And The Home Of The Brave Do you know people that still believe that America is a free country? Do you have friends or family that are proud to live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”? If you do, just show them this article.

Oil Crisis Just Got Real: Sinopec (Read China) Cuts Off Oil Exports As if a dollar in freefall was not enough, surging oil is about to hit the turbo boost, decimating what is left of the US (and global) consumer. Xinhua, via Energy Daily, brings this stunner: ” Chinese oil giant Sinopec has stopped exporting oil products to maintain domestic supplies amid disruption concerns caused by Middle East unrest and Japan’s earthquake, a report said Wednesday.

Lies about the war on Libya It has been said that truth is the first casualty of war. The Libyan military operations and Resolution 1973, which functions as their legal basis, are not an exception to the rule.

Besieging Belarus: Next on the Globalists’ Chopping Block With Libya preparing to face Western troops, and Syria fending off an overtly foreign-backed uprising, other nations long accused of being “rouge” by the global corporate-financier oligarchy are bracing for what is inevitably to come.

Drudgereport: Debt Hits New High: $14.3 Trillion...
FOLLOWING YOU: APPLE RECEIVES IPHONE LOCATIONS

Dollar plunges to 2½-year low...

NYTCBSNEWS POLL: Nation's Mood Lowest in Years...

OIL DRAMA CONTINUES...
Killing Spring Breaks...
Obama to investigate...Gold Rallies to New Record for Fifth Straight Trading Session...

REPORT: Man Kills Parents Over $5 in Gas Money... CA's Criminal Alien Population Leaps... SUPPORTERS HECKLE OBAMA: 'WHERE'S OUR CHANGE?'
Darling Obama Becomes 'Snarling' Obama...Dollar Continues Slide...

$6 GAS BY SUMMER?
Federal Borrowing on Pace to Hit Debt Limit in Less Than Week...
CANTOR: No more borrowing without major cuts, reforms...
OBAMA'S DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN 'FALLS SHORT'
GOLD: $1,500 FOR 1ST TIME...
China warns US to protect creditors...
US hurries to sell GM stake...
Agency/NASA loses (stolen) large amounts of high-tech equipment; Vanished...
Calls GOP proposal 'radical'...
BOOK TO REVEAL OBAMA'S TRUE IDENTITY?
HITS #2 AMAZON... ' BOOK TO REVEAL OBAMA'S 'TRUE' IDENTITY?
Wed Apr 20 2011 10:35:52 ET

**Exclusive**

This year's high stakes publishing project quietly went to press this week, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

After years of research and digging by the nation's top private investigators, here it comes:

"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President."

MORE

The street date is a LONG month away, and author Jerome Corsi, the man who torpedoed John Kerry's presidential dreams with SWIFT BOAT, has gone underground and is holding his new findings thisclose.

"It's utterly devastating," reveals a source close to the publisher. "Obama may learn things he didn't even know about himself!"

MORE

Does Corsi definitively declare the location of Obama's birth?

Will the president's attorneys attempt to interfere with the book's distribution? [The publisher vows to vigorously fight any legal action that may be taken.]

Will the book finally -- once and for all -- put an end to the growing controversy?

Or will it just ignite new ones!?

"When Donald Trump said he sent PIs to Hawaii to get to the bottom of all this, he meant this book," declares an insider.

[THE CASE ranked #1,341 on AMAZON's hitparade late Wednesday morning.]

Developing... '

U.S., Europe step up efforts to aid Libya rebels (Washington Post) U.S. and its allies enter a new stage of involvement, sending assistance and advisers directly to opposition forces, who are still fighting to break Gaddafi’s grip. [ Ah! Riiiiight!…’new stage of involvement’ … so that’s what they’re calling it … I wonder what they called such … in Vietnam, etc.. Wow! And defacto bankrupt america / nato friends can really afford it! Total US Debt Now Officially Above The Ceiling Zero Hedge

Libya Proxy Cold War Between China & West? Many share the opinion that Washington is pursuing a larger goal than just regime change across the Arab world. RT crosses live to Brazil to speak to Asia Times correspondent – Pepe Escobar – about the role some countries are playing in the uprisings.

Libyan Rebels Fighting the Globalists’ War As the global corporate-financier oligarchs prepare the way rhetorically and logistically to send in the ground troops we were told would never set foot on Libyan soil, in a war that was only to last days, then weeks, but now over a month, the discernment, ambition, and true intentions of the Libyan rebels must be called into question. U.S. Credit Downgrade: A Game-Changer in Progress Alexandre 'We heard about the threat of a credit downgrade for an extremely long time, but it never occurred, and we became somewhat complacent about the issue. Now it’s here, although in its mildest form, and markets reacted in unexpected ways…’ 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 Drudgereport: Dollar Continues Slide...

$6 GAS BY SUMMER?
Federal Borrowing on Pace to Hit Debt Limit in Less Than Week...
BOOK TO REVEAL OBAMA'S TRUE IDENTITY?
HITS #2 AMAZON...

After years of research and digging by the nation's top private investigators, here it comes:

"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President."
Missing Records in Hawaii, Missing Records in Kenya, Missing Records in Indonesia

"It's utterly devastating," reveals a source close to the publisher. "Obama may learn things he didn't even know about himself!"

Renewed Recession, Housing Bottom, and the Faux Chinese Luxury Bubble Adler, Winter, Krowne ]

Japan declares evacuation zone near nuclear plant (Washington Post) [ Wow! Sounds like a plan! … From the beginning, as I’ve written on my website, I’ve thought the catastrophic nature and impact of this disaster to have been underreported at the least … the Japanese uncharacteristically have adopted somewhat of a ‘if wishing could make it so’ tact in this sad crisis. Cesium 137 Threat Grows While Corporate Media Remains Mute The hereditary communist dictatorship in North Korea reports on the spread of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant, but it has all but fallen off the corporate media radar screen here. Monitoring stations across North Korea from April 11 to 17 detected iodine-131 and cesium-137 in the air above Wonsan in the southeast and Chongjin in the southeast, according to the country’s state-run media. 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. 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. ]

Tech firms’ optimism fuels markets Companies not only reported strong profits but also raised their expectations for the future. (Washington Post) [ They’re dreamin’. Sounds like the dot com b*** s*** bubble, along with america’s now defacto bankruptcy. The earnings are totally manipulated; a combination of ever more worthless, overprinted fiat currency to prop the ever more worthless paper stocks for the churn-and-earn fraud; FASB rule change fraud-prone manipulation; illusory currency translation profits; etc.. High oil / worthless dollar (currency translation) / manipulated earnings rally … sounds like a real pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american plan! ‘…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 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... potential ramifications of this are astounding . 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 markets have now surpassed the 1929 peak valuation by over 8%.

today? The prospect of inflation? High unemployment?

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

... 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 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.

a valuation bubble, earnings on which the projections are based are non-sustaining... same overvaluation situation as a few years ago … nothing fixed ...']

Obama likes Facebook (Washington Post) And Facebook likes Obama. [ I believe Mr. Milbank has found a fit … a group that like him, is totally full of sh! Now I can see people shunning the republicans … but for a 3rd party candidate which is more real a possibility than most can imagine. But ‘wobama the b’ (for b* s***)? How totally embarrassing for facebook across the board; and, though previously neutral, I’m now constrained to dislike facebook (you couldn’t place comments or even reply – I tried – totally ‘set to music’, controlled, contrived – how pathetic. Barack Obama: The Naked Emperor Shocking but true revelations from David Icke (a must read) | ‘…He has been covertly funded and supported ever since by the Trilateral Commission and its network of foundations connecting into the Ford Foundation, for whom Obama's mother worked... Does anyone really believe that someone, a 'man of the people', would simply appear from apparently nowhere to run the slickest and best-funded presidential campaign in American history? He was chosen long ago by those who wish to enslave the very people that Obama says he wants to 'set free'. The sources of Obama funding read like a Wall Street Who's Who - Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and so on. No wonder he went back on his pledge to accept the limitations of public funding … Soros, the multi-billionaire associate of Brzezinski and closely involved with the funding and marketing of Obama…a major insider' …Obama is just more of the same, a big smile with strings attached, and controlled completely by the Illuminati networks that chose him, trained him, sold him and provided his record funding. It was they who kept his many skeletons under wraps, like the gay sex and crack cocaine allegations of Larry Sinclair (from affidavit: 1. Who is Ron Allen that claims to be with your Presidential camp, who is alleged to claim that someone claiming to represent me called asking for $100,000, to keep me from coming forward about our (Obama and I) November 1999 encounter of sex and cocaine use?), and they will continue to do so as long as he jumps to their bidding. Obama is just another Banksters' moll prostituting himself for fame and power, and that's why he supported the grotesque bail-out of the banking system and why he will always put their interests before the people. His financial advisors are straight from the Wall Street 'A' list, … Another Wall Street insider, the Zionist Timothy Geithner (Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations), was appointed by Obama to be his Treasury Secretary, a former employee of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the appalling Kissinger Associates. Obama's Treasury team locks into the inner circle around the Zionist Robert Rubin, Citigroup, co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, and economic advisor to Obama. Rubin, ..Illuminati Bilderberg Group, was the man behind Citigroup's strategy of expanding its risk in debt markets which forced it to be rescued by taxpayers' money. The very people who caused the financial crisis are being appointed by Obama to decide how to respond to it (more taxpayers' money for them and their friends) `CIVIL RIGHTS PANEL TO PURSUE FED PROBE IN BLACK PANTHER CASE... ‘`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 Obama has promised to hold Wall Street accountable for the meltdown. ):

‘THE OBAMA DECEPTION’ http://albertpeia.com/obamadeceptionhighqualityversion.flv

]

Obama seeks friends for deficit plan (WP) Obama ramps up his criticism of the Republican budget: “radical”/“not courageous” at Facebook. [Obama likes Facebook (WP) Facebook likes Obama - Mr. Milbank has found a fit - a group that like him, is totally full of sh! I can see people shunning the republicans … but for a 3rd party candidate which is more real a possibility than most imagine. But ‘wobama the b’ (for b* s***)? How embarrassing for facebook; though previously neutral, I’m now constrained to dislike facebook (you couldn’t place comments or reply – I tried – totally ‘set to music’, controlled, contrived – how pathetic. Barack Obama: The Naked Emperor Shocking but true revelations from David Icke

High oil / worthless dollar (currency translation) / manipulated earnings rally … sounds like a real pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american plan! ‘…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%.

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 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 ...'

Al Peia's Blog

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

April 25, 2011 Posts

Business / Economic / Financial

Index Fund Rip-Off? Bartalos ‘Would you pay $5 for something that costs $1? Not if you could help it. However, that’s precisely what many investors are doing.

Index Fund Rip-Off? Bartalos ‘Would you pay $5 for something that costs $1? Not if you could help it. However, that’s precisely what many investors are doing.

Hong Kong assets have ‘peaked’: analyst

Economic Recovery Evades Fed and Congress Efforts Economic recovery does not seem to be taking effect in spite of more massive expenditures by Congress and the Fed. The IMF says financial stability has improved, but then again their vision is almost always clouded.

China Proposes To Cut Two Thirds Of Its $3 Trillion In USD Holdings

Something Odd Is Happening at Reactor Number 4 The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is carefully monitoring the situation at the Number 4 spent fuel pool, where the water temperature is rising despite increased injections of cooling water.

Helen Caldicott Talks About the Horror of Fukushima Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate Helen Caldicott talks about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and what we can expect. It ain’t pretty.

Ron Paul To Announce 2012 Presidential Run Within Days Texas Congressman Ron Paul could be set to officially announce whether or not he is running for the Republican 2012 nomination this week with a series of back to back high profile media appearances.

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China. And it’s a lot closer than you may think.

Ron Paul on The View: Whoopi Goldberg Frustrated When Audience Cheers Ron Paul Infowars.com | Whoopi appears to be incapable of understanding that big government destroys liberty and eventually impoverishes everybody.

The Decline of the Dollar Infowars | Weakness in the US dollar is unlikely to go away soon as selling frenzy hits.

Ron Paul To Announce 2012 Presidential Run Within Days Steve Watson | Congressman will meet criteria to participate in May 5th S.C. debate.

IMF: Age of America nears end MarketWatch | China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.

Sen. Graham: Murder Gaddafi’s Inner Circle Infowars.com | Graham said that “it’s going to be hard” for the U.S. to achieve its national security interests if Gaddafi remains.

TSA: An Army of Pervs and Criminals Kurt Nimmo | Organs of police state control and intimidation invariably hire perverts and criminals.

Corporate Media Refuses to Report Truth About NATO Contras in Libya Infowars.com | Like the attack on Iraq, the attack on Libya is based on a series of lies and fabrications.

Will governments confiscate gold? Alasdair Macleod | The situation today is very different from that of 78 years ago when Roosevelt confiscated gold.

Short Life Expectancy for BP Whistleblowers? Pat Shannan | Mysterious deaths have befallen at least 9 whistleblowers reportedly connected to the gulf oil spill.

‘No sign Gaddafi bombed Tripoli – NATO wages war on false claims’ Sukant Chandan, who has just returned from a monitoring mission in Libya, believes there’s no justification for NATO’s actions.

US carries out first drone strike in Libya: Pentagon The United States carried out its first drone strike in Libya on Saturday, the Pentagon said, two days after approving the use of pilotless aircraft to aid rebels fighting Moamer Kadhafi’s forces.

TEPCO finds radioactive concrete emitting 900,000 microsieverts per hour of nuclear radiation The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says that concrete debris emitting a high level of radiation has been found near the Number 3 reactor.

Japan: Fukushima 50 criticise ‘inconsistent’ information The Fukushima 50, emergency nuclear plant workers in Japan, have accused the government of inconsistent handling of data in relation to radiation exposure.

TSA officer charged in distributing child pornography A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show.

Helen Caldicott Talks About the Horror of Fukushima Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate Helen Caldicott talks about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and what we can expect. It ain’t pretty.

Short Life Expectancy for BP Whistleblowers? Pat Shannan | Mysterious deaths have befallen at least 9 whistleblowers reportedly connected to the gulf oil spill.

Using police to enforce a Big Pharma medication agenda violates civil rights Mike Adams | I do not remember any cops swearing an oath to protect and serve the interests of the pharmaceutical corporations.

Jobs Bill? The Government Passed a Jobs Bill Years Ago … Just Not for US Washington’s Blog | So stop whining, we’ve already got a jobs bill … it’s just not for you and me.

Normalizing Evil: The NY Times’ Curious Take on the Gitmo Files

Britain, the Traitor Nation: Media Disinformation and Crimes against Humanity in Libya

Even Ben Stein Is Warning That An Economic Collapse Is Coming He sure has come a long way since “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. During a recent television segment for CBS, Ben Stein declared that “the tea leaves are ominous” and he warned that an economic collapse may be coming.

DHS Launches New Alert System Designed to Terrorize Public Kurt Nimmo & Alex Jones | The government wants the war against manufactured terror in your face 24-7.

NYC budget cuts include closing of 20 fire stations, while millions of dollars in toxic fluoride keep flowing in the water supply Following years of cuts to its police force, New York City is now choosing to cut the ranks of its fire department as well.

Besieging Belarus: Next on the Globalists’ Chopping Block With Libya preparing to face Western troops, and Syria fending off an overtly foreign-backed uprising, other nations long accused of being “rouge” by the global corporate-financier oligarchy are bracing for what is inevitably to come.

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