October 30, 2010 posts

Business / Economic / Financial

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

U.S.A. - Home of Financial Absurdities Simon Maierhofer, On Friday October 29, 2010, 6:41 pm EDT Throughout mankind's history, scales have been a symbol of equality. As much as commoners rely on scales to be treated fairly, 'ueber commoners' try to escape the scales of justice and equality and want to be measured by different and better standards.In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln exhorted his listeners to ensure the survival of a government of the people, by the people, for the people. It seems like survival of the fittest like forces have turned a government of, by and for the people into a government of, for and by special interest groups.
No More Robin Hood
This week we read that even the Robin Hood of investors, creates his own rules. Warren Buffett - the only candidate to even remotely resemble a Robin Hood of Wall Street - had a friendly exchange with the SEC about the treatment of actual losses.Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway was sitting on $1.86 billion in losses caused by declining Kraft and US Bancorp stock. The losses were more than 12 months old and according to current accounting rules had to be written down. Perhaps Warren had seen how Wall Street is allowed to bend accounting rules to its favor (more about that in a moment) and thought: 'what they can do I can do better.' In short, Berkshire didn't write down the $1.86 billion in losses because ... drum roll ... as Berkshire's Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg's reasoned: ‘We believe it is reasonably possible that the market prices of Kraft Foods and U.S. Bancorp will recover to our cast within the next one to two years assuming that there are no material adverse events affecting these companies or the industries in which they operate.' In other words, Berkshire didn't want to write down losses, because under the right circumstances there's a fair chance that stock prices will recover.
Perfect Conditions - 100% Profitability
Of course, under the right conditions any loss could reverse itself. But, because we don't live in a perfect world, we have accounting rules. The final numbers are designed to help investors evaluate a company's current financial health. If the Doctor tells you that you have high cholesterol, do you tell him: 'Don't worry, under the perfect conditions I'll eat only raw vegetables,' when in reality you live on burgers and fries and should be on a double dose of cholesterol meds? Interestingly - and very smartly - Warren Buffett's new knight - Todd Combs - has stolen the headlight and absorbed the attention of what otherwise could turn into a full-fledged accounting scandal.
Further Implications
Courtesy of the post-2007 credit contraction, Wall Street Banksters, the administration, and reputable companies have become quite adept at the denial and cover up approach. Case in point, Fannie and Freddie. In 2008, management for the ailing housing giant denied financial trouble. On Sunday, September 7, 2008, the government seized control of Fannie and Freddie. Nevertheless, stocks rallied on Monday the morning after. Despite stock's (NYSEArca: VTI - News) party mood, the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter considered banks (NYSEArca: KBE - News) and financial institutions (NYSEArca: XLF - News) a 'downward spiral with no stop-loss provision' and predicted Dow (DJI: ^DJI) 7,500 previously in September 2008. As stocks quickly tumbled to Dow 7,500, the government became desperate. Real estate related losses were piling up; investors lost confidence in the financial system and drove Washington Mutual out of business. The problem was too big to fix, so the administration forced the Financial Accounting Standards Board to change rule 157. Obviously, the fix is only topical. If it wasn't, why would Fannie and Freddie need an additional $215 billion in aid? The 'new and improved' rule 157 allowed Banksters to value assets at what they might be worth in the future. If bank A purchased a portfolio of real estate (NYSEArca: IYR - News) for $10 million in 2006 and lost $6 million because the assets turned toxic, bank A is allowed to value the portfolio just below $10 million. The very real loss is not included in the current earnings numbers.
Can You Trust Earnings
The real question is whether you can trust reported earnings? If Berkshire, along with most banks and financial conglomerates, has the legal right to fudge their earnings we may rightly wonder who else is employing this convenient accounting trick? Some would call them stupid if they didn't. Ironically, Citigroup's profits exceeded estimates because they reduced bad loan provisions. JPMorgan on the other hand expects mortgage buybacks (related to the foreclosure disaster) to cost lenders $120 billion. To emphasize, Citigroup reducing its bad loan reserves would be like an insurance company reducing its natural disaster fund right before hurricane season. Be that as it may, the S&P (SNP: ^GSPC), Dow Jones (NYSEArca: DIA - News), and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: ^IXIC) continue to rally. The Nasdaq 100 (Nasdaq: QQQQ - News) has already shot past its April 2010 recovery high, while the Dow and S&P (NYSEArca: IVV - News) are within striking distance.
Expect the Unexpected Following a horrendous August, investors were expecting a terrible September and/or October. The opposite happened. As we approach November, we hear that this month usually kicks off the most profitable time of the year. Fourth quarter institutional cash inflows tend to result in the best consecutive three-month period. As we've discussed here in the past, institutions are not the only ones that provide liquidity right now. The Federal Reserve via its POMO purchases is another one (detailed analysis available in the November issue of the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter). This extra liquidity is not to be underestimated.
An Extra Black Swan
As we've experienced many times, the market tends to surprise the investing masses - most of which are bullish right now. A decline from current prices would certainly be a surprise. To the average investor, who's betting on QE2 to lift the economy and personal investments, a decline would indeed represent a 'Black Swan.' As noted in any chart, this season of the year, sentiment, and the market's behavior indicates that the next couple of weeks are likely to be pivotal for the upcoming months. As of yet, the market has not given away its true intentions, but it's sending subtle clues. Some recent support/resistance points are likely to turn into trigger levels, which once activated should fuel a move into that direction. The semi-weekly Technical Forecast (part of the ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter) includes the latest technical analysis along with trigger, target, safety and stop-loss levels designed to navigate the current environment profitably.

We've Already Had the Bang. The Bucks Are Yet to Come

Gold Soars as the Fed Contemplates More QE

In Investment Survey, Gold Shines Brightest in Five- and Ten-Year Studies

What We're Thinking About in This Market Environment. (And Where Is the Market Headed?)

Surprise!!! Cash for Clunkers Didn't Work, Say Economists A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Atif Mian and Amir Sufi, titled "The Effects of Fiscal Stimulus: Evidence from the 2009 'Cash for Clunkers' Program," the authors make a crystal-clear case that the widely-derided Cash for Clunkers initiative didn't work.At all.In fact, it had the opposite effect than what was intended.Mian and Sufi write:"A key rationale for fiscal stimulus is to boost consumption when aggregate demand is perceived to be inefficiently low. We examine the ability of the government to increase consumption by evaluating the impact of the 2009 “Cash for Clunkers” program on short and medium run auto purchases. Our empirical strategy exploits variation across U.S. cities in ex-ante exposure to the program as measured by the number of “clunkers” in the city as of the summer of 2008. We find that the program induced the purchase of an additional 360,000 cars in July and August of 2009. However, almost all of the additional purchases under the program were pulled forward from the very near future; the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 – only seven months after the program ended. The effect of the program on auto purchases was significantly more short-lived than previously suggested. We also find no evidence of an effect on employment, house prices, or household default rates in cities with higher exposure to the program."

The scary actual U.S. government debt Neil Reynolds | The amount is $200-trillion — 840 per cent of current GDP.

The Fed Bought Fraud Greg Hunter | The Fed just spent the last 20 months buying a trillion dollars in mortgage fraud.

Worldwide Food Crisis Looms As Forecasters Predict Record High Prices PreventDisease | “World food price volatility remains significant and in some countries, the volatility is adding to already higher local food prices.”

Signs Hyperinflation Is Arriving Gonzalo Lira | The collapsing dollar will make 2012 the really really bad year of our Global Depression.

The Founding Fathers’ Vision Of Prosperity Has Been Destroyed Everyone knows that the American colonists revolted largely because of taxation without representation and related forms of oppression by the British. But – according to Benjamin Franklin and others in the thick of the action – a little-known factor was actually the main reason for the revolution.

Not Just Stocks … High Frequency Traders Might Be Manipulating Futures, Options, Bonds, Currency and Commodities Markets As Well We know that high frequency trading is used to manipulate the stock market. The prevalence of high frequency trading in other markets means that it might be used to manipulate those markets – perhaps virtually all markets – as well.

Exclusive: 4 Dealers Respond With “$1+ Trillion” To Fed Reverse Inquiry Into How Much QE2 Is Necessary Yesterday we made a big stink over the Fed’s reverse inquiry into the PD community over how much QE2 it should launch. Today, we find out what the distribution is: as Merrill’s Harley Bassman points out: “Four dealers are predicting a $1+ Trillion buy program.” It is good to finally know what the bogey is.

Gold Will Outlive Dollar Once Slaughter Comes The world’s monetary system is in the process of melting down. We have entered the endgame for the dollar as the dominant reserve currency, but most investors and policy makers are unaware of the implications.

Art Hogan of Jefferies, while being interviewed by Frank Motek indicated that next week will probably be a ‘sell on the news’ week, the absence of that rumor / b*** s*** story, viz., the election results, being the precipitating factor [come on …. Does anybody really believe that election results at this point in declining, defacto bankrupt america’s history means anything at all (bi-partisan corruption, perpetual war policy, incompetence, etc, in all three branches of government)]. He was promptly cut off [they probably used an att line ( corrupt jersey based att now owned by war criminal bushie bonkers Texas based sbc does the government bidding which impacts on service and privacy)].

[video] Weisberg: More Selling in Near Term

This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits! Suckers’ rally into the close to keep suckers suckered (easy for the wall street frauds to do with just a mouse click / push of the button). Keep in mind, the totally mindless blather from the ‘cottage industries’ of and fraudulent wall street itself in talking up lower P/E multiples when the same is a direct result of the debasement of the dollar and the consequent manipulation / translation (not real, see Davis, infra) which preceded the financial crisis / last crash. Unemployment, trade, deficit, etc., numbers continue decidedly worse than expected along with other negative data (and in the ‘wrong direction’, that spin accorded ‘down but not as bad as before’ b*** s*** ) yet the market has rallied like no tomorrow with used home foreclosure / distressed sales, though abated owing to ‘foreclosuregate’, the other ‘heralded’ good news. Moreover, the dumbo lemmings of Europe have jumped on the fraudulent defacto bankrupt american crazy train propelled to the precipice also as if no tomorrow. This is about keeping the suckers sucked in with the help of a market-frothing pre-election debased dollar for favorable currency translation and paper (but not real when measured in, ie., gold, etc.) profits which preceded the last crisis, inflating a bubble as in the last crisis to facilitate the churn-and-earn, particularly with computerized (and high frequency) trades and which commissions they’ll get again on the way down. There is nothing to support these overbought stock prices, fundamentally or otherwise. These are desperate criminals ‘at work’. Even wall street shill, the senile Buffett is saying we’re still in a recession (depression). Buffett: We're Still in a Recession [ Wow! A moment of lucidity from senile Buffet which belies his prior ‘rosy wall street shill talk’, but his greater candor is welcomed nonetheless although the ‘d’ (for depression) word is more appropriate and accurate.] Roche ‘Warren Buffett disagrees with the NBER. He says we’re still in a recession and likely to remain in a recession for quite a while. These comments are far more tempered than the ones that were published last week. Of course, my favorite part in this clip is where he says the U.S. government did the right thing in responding to the crisis. They certainly did the right thing for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) shareholders. Whether or not they did the right thing for America is a whole other story…’ [ And, of course we now know that it wasn’t the right thing for america … The question inevitably becomes, ‘Who’s manipulating who, what, and why? After all, we know defacto bankrupt america’s pervasively corrupt! ] Wall St advances on dollar weakness, Fed bets (Reuters) – [ Look at the aforementioned headline. Isn’t anyone getting the sense of how totally preposterous this is? Then there’s the ‘market frothing’ used home foreclosure / distressed home sales number … previous wall street b*** s*** story, the election and consequent gridlock story … as if they’re substantially different …perpetual war, runaway nation-bankrupting record deficit spending, incompetence, corruption (still no prosecution of the wall street frauds), etc. What total b*** s***! ] U.S. stocks rose to a five-and-a-half month high on Monday as a falling dollar, partly driven by expectations of further stimulus by the Federal Reserve, prompted investors to buy riskier as... [ Davis: ‘… all profits are inflated by 10% (from falling, debased dollar) and that 10% is the E that gets divided from the P and gives us a much better price/multiple to hang our hats on and that gets investors to BUYBUYBUY …’ Previous pre-crash: The bull market that never was / were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ] This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits (these lower dollar, hyperinflationary currency manipulations / translations to froth paper stocks will end quite badly as in last crash)! This is a global depression. This is a secular bear market in a global depression. The past up moves were manipulated bull (s***) cycles (at best) in a secular bear market. This has been a typically manipulated bubble as has preceded the prior crashes with great regularity that the wall street frauds and insiders commission and sell into. This is a typical wall street ‘programmed computerized high-frequency churn and earn pass the hot potato scam / fraud as in prior crashes ( widely reported, high-frequency trading routinely accounts for more than 50% of daily U.S. equity trading volume and regularly approaches 70%. )’. This national decline, economic and otherwise, will not end until justice is served and the wall street frauds et als are criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed.The Stock Market's Long Decline Has Begun Smith ‘The Fed's campaign to boost the risk-trade in equities by destroying the dollar has reached its limits. Now gravity will take hold as stocks enter a Long Decline.On Monday, Daily Finance published my article Is the Market Ready to Roll Over? These Signs Say Yes.

(10-29-10) Dow 11,118 +4 Nasdaq 2,507 +0 S&P 500 1,183 -1 [CLOSE- OIL $81.43 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.00 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $3.15 REG./ $3.29 MID-GRADE/ $3.39 PREM./ $3.79 DIESEL) / GOLD $1,356 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $24.56 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,703 (+56% for year 2009) / DOLLAR= .71 EURO, 80 YEN, .62 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ 10 YR NOTE YIELD 2.61% …..… AP Business Highlights ...Yahoo Market Update... T. Rowe Price Weekly Recap – Stocks / Bonds / Currencies - Domestic / International This Is a Secular Bear Market and The End of Buy and Hold … and Hope MARKET MANIPULATION AND HOW THE LATEST BUBBLE-FRAUD PRE-COMING CRASH IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED 3-11-10 6 Theories On Why the Stock Market Has Rallied 3-9-10 [archived website file] Risks Lurk for ETF Investors The bull market that never was/were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold Property Values Projected to Fall 12% in 2010 Jan 31, 2010 The Week Ahead: Risk Is Off the Cliff; Unwind Has Begun Jan 31, 2010 01-13-10 Forecast for 2010 from Seeking Alpha Contributor THE COMING MARKET CRASH / CORRECTION 1-28-10 Maierhofer (01-15-10) 11 Clear Signs Economy Sinking Economic Black Hole 1-22-10: 20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying And Is Simply Not Going To Recover Current Economic / Fiscal Charts Trendsresearch.com forecast for 2009 1-7-10 Crash is coming! ‘WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE EVER’ Must Read Economic / Financial Data This Depression is just beginning The coming depression… thecomingdepression.net MUST READ: JEREMY GRANTHAM’S QUARTERLY UPDATE 25 January 2010 (850 on the S&P) by TPC The Next Wave of Collapse is Coming Sooner than you think Sliding Back Into the Great Depression ABSOLUTELY, ABSURDLY, RIDICULOUS! SELL / TAKE PROFITS WHILE YOU CAN SINCE MUCH, MUCH WORSE TO COME!

National / World

Union Mob Surrounds We Are Change Member for Heckling Clinton Aaron Dykes | A gang of union thugs in yellow shirts literally surround and intimidate a man who heckled Bill Clinton with questions about the Federal Reserve.

Obama ‘Fake Terror’ Alert Story Hits #1 on Google Aaron Dykes | Efforts to warn the population that the Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration before it, has engaged in issuing fake terror alerts has gone viral.

Obama Issues Fake Terror Alert On Eve Of Elections Paul Joseph Watson | Establishment media fearmongers about “mail bomb plot” despite no bombs being found.

Corporate Media On High Alert Over “Manipulated” Toner Cartridge On UK Plane Kurt Nimmo | Officialdom and authorities jack up the scary pre-election rhetoric.

Rand Paul Surges Ahead Of Conway Despite Stomp Smear Paul Joseph Watson | Latest poll shows Paul 9 points ahead, illustrating futility of establishment demonization campaign

Obama ‘Fake Terror’ Alert Story Hits #1 on Google Efforts to warn the population that the Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration before it, has engaged in issuing fake terror alerts has gone viral, with the search term “fake terror” reaching #1 on Google Trends. It is yet another success in the Infowar, initiated on the Alex Jones Show.

Obama Issues Fake Terror Alert On Eve Of Elections As we predicted on four separate occasions would happen, the Obama White House has deliberately contrived a fake terror scare on the eve of the mid-term elections in an effort to subdue the rampaging political appetite for anti-big government candidates that threatens to sweep aside establishment incumbents next week.

Hysteria Runs Rampant, Terrorists Win: NORAD escorting aircraft to New York’s JFK airport Shame NORAD wasn’t so alert on 9/11, allowing Flight 77 to fly half way across the country and back before it slammed into the Pentagon. They weren’t so keen to intercept airliners then.

James Cameron and Google CEO: Questioning Warming Science is “Criminal” Google CEO Eric Schmidt and film director James Cameron recently concurred that people who question the science of anthropogenic global warming are, in their opinions, “criminal”.

Bad Attitude Toward Officialdom? No Second Amendment in New York In New York, you may be denied your Second Amendment right to own a rifle if administrative officials decide you are not of good moral character.

Rand Paul Surges Ahead Of Conway Despite Stomp Smear Despite the Conway campaign shamelessly exploiting the notorious stomp on MoveOn activist Lauren Valle for political grist, while failing to mention that Valle herself attempted to assault Rand Paul before the fracas, Paul has surged ahead of his opponent in the latest poll, which shows the Kentucky candidate leading the race by nine points

Drudgereport: BUCHANAN: The country is up for grabs... ‘…Consider the critical issue facing America today – the budget and trade deficits, the soaring national debt, an unemployment near 10 percent for 14 straight months – and how neither party seems to have the cure. While George Bush's tax cuts did not cause this, they did not prevent it. And if Republicans believe that his deficits did cause it, why have those Republicans not addressed the causes of those deficits – Bush's (and wobama’s) wars, Bush's tax cuts and Bush's social spending on No Child Left Behind and Medicare drug benefits? Yet, if liberal Democrats are right and deficits are the correct Keynesian cure for recession, why have Obama deficits of $1.4 and $1.3 trillion failed so dismally? … The Federal Reserve, having used and broken every tool in its toolbox, including doubling the money supply and setting interest rates at near zero, will now bet the farm on inflation, starting Nov. 3. Both parties have lost the mandate of heaven, and neither knows if its economic philosophy even works anymore. We are in uncharted waters. The country is up for grabs.’
ROUBINI: A PRESIDENCY HEADED FOR A FISCAL TRAINWRECK...
Europe 'dismayed' as midterms highlight Obama's struggles...
POLL: 65% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress...
POLL: Majority Wants Obama Fired In 2012...
Democrat predicts GOP takeover in the House...
Candidates use children to make final pitch...
Politicians use PIs to unearth their own skeletons...
JET INK BOMB ALERT...
SINISTER PACKAGES ON CARGO PLANES...
Al Qaeda suspected...
'Syringe, powder and cell phone components'...
BIG SIS: Expect Extensive Pat-Downs To Become The Norm...
MILBANK: Obama is the last laugh... (Washington Post) [ Quite right! Wobama’s so pathetic … I believe most would find even wobama’s post-office perks objectionable … he was given the benefit of every doubt and support following what has to be considered the easiest act in the world to follow (dumbya bush) and has failed miserably, marking the beginning of a long overdue reality check and national blackout in america. ] Milbank ’On Comedy Central, the joke was on President Obama Wednesday night. The president had come, on the eve of what will almost certainly be the loss of his governing majority, to plead his case before Jon Stewart, gatekeeper of the disillusioned left. But instead of displaying the sizzle that won him an army of youthful supporters two years ago, Obama had a Brownie moment. The Daily Show host was giving Obama a tough time about hiring the conventional and Clintonian Larry Summers as his top economic advisor. "In fairness," the president replied defensively, "Larry Summers did a heckuva job." "You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart recommended with a laugh. Dude. The indignity of a comedy show host calling the commander in chief "dude" pretty well captured the moment for Obama. He was making this first-ever appearance by a president on the Daily Show as part of a long-shot effort to rekindle the spirit of '08. In the Daily Show, Obama had a friendly host and an even friendlier crowd…’

Vietnam jails bloggers, sentences activists (Washington Post) [ What is it about the allure of ‘everyone’s equal b*** s***’ inherent to pure, unadulterated totalitarian communism. Always the same story and quite a pathetic one at that. (Previous, infra.) As for cuban rhetoric, I don’t take anything they say seriously (I remind people that if you said something anti-government in cuba, you’d be dead or in jail), although I’m not hesitant to include a good point if made (ie., castro recently talking about nuclear holocaust risk, etc.). Disclaimer: I have been and continue to be opposed to an end to a trade embargo on cuba; not because of their communist system (I’m staunchly opposed to communism – ‘everybody’s equal except some bureaucrats are more equal than others’, etc.), but solely because of their grant of asylum to a black panther member who murdered a state trooper. ] In the run-up to a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the actions have threatened the significant progress between the U.S. and Vietnam in recent months. Black Panther case reveals schism (Washington Post) [ I mean, really … You’d think a black president and black ag would have more sense … Drudgereport: WASHPOST: Black Panthers case taps deep racial divisions at Justice... Previous: UPDATE: MORE CLAIMS OF RACE BIAS AT JUSTICE... CIVIL RIGHTS PANEL TO PURSUE FED PROBE IN BLACK PANTHER CASE... ex-Justice official 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 US v. AZ... Cases against Wall Street lag despite Holder’s vows to target financial fraud Obama broke promises ) Disclaimer: I have been and continue to be opposed to an end to a trade embargo on cuba; not because of their communist system (I’m staunchly opposed to communism – ‘everybody’s equal except some bureaucrats are more equal than others’, etc.), but solely because of their grant of asylum to a black panther member who murdered a state trooper: ‘Assata Shakur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Assata Olugbala Shakur (born July 16, 1947^[1] as JoAnne Deborah Byron, married name Chesimard^[2]) is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army (BLA). Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes, of which she would never be charged, and made the subject of a multi-state manhunt.^[3][4] In May 1973, Shakur was involved in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike, during which New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur were killed and Shakur and Trooper James Harper were wounded.^[5] Between 1973 and 1977, Shakur was indicted in relation to six other alleged criminal incidents—charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, bank robbery, and kidnapping—resulting in three acquittals and three dismissals. In 1977, she was convicted of the first-degree murder of Foerster and of seven other felonies related to the shootout.^[6] Shakur was then incarcerated in several prisons, where her treatment drew criticism from some human rights groups. She escaped from prison in 1979 and has been living in Cuba in political asylum since 1984.’ - The black panthers are not a bunch of ‘warm and fuzzy’ people. As for cuban rhetoric, I don’t take anything they say seriously (I remind people that if you said something anti-government in cuba, you’d be dead or in jail), although I’m not hesitant to include a good point if made (ie., castro recently talking about nuclear holocaust risk, etc.). Suit over voter intimidation -- reported by poll-watcher Chris Hill, above -- roils Justice Dept.

In the Loop: Obama mentor Laurence Tribe unfiltered - and on paper (Washington Post) [ Let’s give him an S (for stupidity) for Courage in admitting to being connected to or a mentor of such a smashingly bad and failed president as wobama. I actually had to read a book by Tribe in law school and though my initial thoughts of the irrelevance of constitutional law to the actual practice of law as later confirmed in practice ( I worked full-time at a law firm during the day and attended law school in a 4 year program evenings – due process, rules of law, obstruction of justice, etc., mean almost absolutely nothing to these corrupt political hacks in deciding most cases as became chrystal clear in my own practice [ http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm ] , etc. ) , I was surprised that though irrelevant and taught by a pretty tough professor, by the second semester it had become interesting to me if only from a behavioral / historical perspective. An example was that seminal case best known for establishing judicial review criteria (among the branches of government, if my memory of this trivial point serves me) which was shrewdly decided by John Marshall. Indeed, he well knew that the executive branch would ignore his decision if adverse, so fashioned a rationale that comported with a favorable decision for the executive / legislative branch(es?) (I wouldn’t even waste my time to check this distinction though simple enough to google). The point is that today, a similar but far more self-interested dynamic is at work, ie., money, bribes, cover-up, more money, etc., and justice is the last thought / thing served by the now pervasively corrupt american judicial system. Moreover, that initial marshallian impotence has evolved to the point of equipping these pathetic figureheads with knee pads as an alternative to the monotony of constantly bending over.

Title insurers drop demands on lenders in foreclosure cases (Washington Post) [ Somewhat meaningless since, while nice to have from their perspective, their demands were somewhat redundant and unnecessary inasmuch as any litigation would include crossclaims for indemnity and / or third-party pleading (impleader) as a matter of standard practice / procedure. ] Mortgage servicers push back attempt to make them explicitly responsible for title problems resulting from handling of foreclosure paperwork.

Warren: Technology is key to new consumer bureau (Washington Post) [ No it is NOT! Talk is much too cheap and plentiful in america and certainly no deterrent to the massive frauds effected by these criminally insane lunatics on wall street along with accomplices (ie., all three branches of the u.s. government, fed, etc.) of a magnitude unprecedented in scope and size (shootin’ for that too big a fraud / scam to fail or be prosecuted … absolutely preposterous!) The key from attorneys general, federal and state, to the SEC, to individuals (RICO, etc.) are actions / prosecutions both criminal and civil ( widely reported, high-frequency trading routinely accounts for more than 50% of daily U.S. equity trading volume and regularly approaches 70%. )’. This national decline, economic and otherwise, will not end until justice is served and the wall street frauds et als are criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed. ] Elizabeth Warren wants Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be a nimble, sophisticated watchdog.

Drudgereport: MILBANK: Obama is the last laugh... (Washington Post) [ Quite right! Wobama’s so pathetic and a total joke … I believe most would find even wobama’s post-office perks objectionable … he was given the benefit of every doubt and support following what has to be considered the easiest act in the world to follow (dumbya bush) and has failed miserably, marking the beginning of a long overdue reality check and national blackout (‘you know, the energy thing’) in america. ] Milbank ’On Comedy Central, the joke was on President Obama Wednesday night. The president had come, on the eve of what will almost certainly be the loss of his governing majority, to plead his case before Jon Stewart, gatekeeper of the disillusioned left. But instead of displaying the sizzle that won him an army of youthful supporters two years ago, Obama had a Brownie moment. The Daily Show host was giving Obama a tough time about hiring the conventional and Clintonian Larry Summers as his top economic advisor. "In fairness," the president replied defensively, "Larry Summers did a heckuva job." "You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart recommended with a laugh. Dude. The indignity of a comedy show host calling the commander in chief "dude" pretty well captured the moment for Obama. He was making this first-ever appearance by a president on the Daily Show as part of a long-shot effort to rekindle the spirit of '08. In the Daily Show, Obama had a friendly host and an even friendlier crowd…’
BUCHANAN: The country is up for grabs... ‘…Consider the critical issue facing America today – the budget and trade deficits, the soaring national debt, an unemployment near 10 percent for 14 straight months – and how neither party seems to have the cure. While George Bush's tax cuts did not cause this, they did not prevent it. And if Republicans believe that his deficits did cause it, why have those Republicans not addressed the causes of those deficits – Bush's (and wobama’s) wars, Bush's tax cuts and Bush's social spending on No Child Left Behind and Medicare drug benefits? Yet, if liberal Democrats are right and deficits are the correct Keynesian cure for recession, why have Obama deficits of $1.4 and $1.3 trillion failed so dismally? … The Federal Reserve, having used and broken every tool in its toolbox, including doubling the money supply and setting interest rates at near zero, will now bet the farm on inflation, starting Nov. 3. Both parties have lost the mandate of heaven, and neither knows if its economic philosophy even works anymore. We are in uncharted waters. The country is up for grabs.’
ROUBINI: A PRESIDENCY HEADED FOR A FISCAL TRAINWRECK...
Europe 'dismayed' as midterms highlight Obama's struggles...
POLL: 65% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress...
POLL: Majority Wants Obama Fired In 2012...
Democrat predicts GOP takeover in the House...
Candidates use children to make final pitch...
Politicians use PIs to unearth their own skeletons...

Govt. "Diverging from Reality", U.S. "At Risk of Downward Spiral," Sachs Warns Sachs ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are under assault in this country as our political system has basically taken the American people hostage. That was a key tenet of an impassioned speech by Professor Jeffrey Sachs’s at The Economist’s Buttonwood Gathering earlier this week.“The U.S. is at risk of a downward spiral because we are diverging from reality," Sachs says, citing a "profound failure on many fronts." Sachs, who is director of The Earth Institute and author of several books, gave a laundry list of problems plaguing America that are being ignored: a crumbling infrastructure, severe poverty, debilitating budget deficits, failing education, climate change, energy policy…the list goes on. Despite these huge, structural challenges, America is obsessed with the short-term...and the next election, Sachs laments. “We are not looking at anything aside from who’s up, who’s down for November and we are only looking from that moment on [to] who is going to be up for 2012.”As a result of the two-year political cycle, Sachs argues that we’ve become way too shortsighted in our policymaking, or lack thereof. “Strangely missing,” he says, are "government program and plans set before the American people. What we have is relentless backroom negotiations with interest groups.”The American people have essentially been forgotten as politicians continuously vie for the support of special interest groups. “It is staggering the vested interested and the large money pouring into the campaign,” he says.Recalling Rahm Emanuel's famous quip that a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Sachs says leadership in Washington is key to getting us back on track. He feels the financial crisis could have been used to fix many of our long-term problems (see list above) but President Obama and his party fumbled the opportunity. Still, Sachs has no great faith in the GOP either…’

Street Sags As Earnings Outweigh Drop In Jobless Claims [ Come on! Days before the elections … do you really think those much better than expected unemployment claims numbers were real? ]

Bullish Sentiment Near 2-1/2 Year High [ As it was just before the last crash! ]

‘WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new Congress that begins in January will confront an economy and a job market that will improve only slightly next year, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists that found them gloomier than they were three months ago…’ [ Still way too optimistic! They’re all still dreamin’. ]

Art Hogan of Jefferies, while being interviewed by Frank Motek indicated that next week will probably be a ‘sell on the news’ week, the absence of that rumor / b*** s*** story, viz., the election results, being the precipitating factor [come on …. Does anybody really believe that election results at this point in declining, defacto bankrupt america’s history means anything at all (bi-partisan corruption, perpetual war policy, incompetence, etc, in all three branches of government)]. He was promptly cut off [they probably used an att line ( corrupt jersey based att now owned by war criminal bushie bonkers Texas based sbc does the government bidding which impacts on service and privacy)].

[video] Weisberg: More Selling in Near Term

This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits! Suckers’ rally into the close to keep suckers suckered (easy for the wall street frauds to do with just a mouse click / push of the button). Keep in mind, the totally mindless blather from the ‘cottage industries’ of and fraudulent wall street itself in talking up lower P/E multiples when the same is a direct result of the debasement of the dollar and the consequent manipulation / translation (not real, see Davis, infra) which preceded the financial crisis / last crash. Unemployment, trade, deficit, etc., numbers continue decidedly worse than expected along with other negative data (and in the ‘wrong direction’, that spin accorded ‘down but not as bad as before’ b*** s*** ) yet the market has rallied like no tomorrow with used home foreclosure / distressed sales, though abated owing to ‘foreclosuregate’, the other ‘heralded’ good news. Moreover, the dumbo lemmings of Europe have jumped on the fraudulent defacto bankrupt american crazy train propelled to the precipice also as if no tomorrow. This is about keeping the suckers sucked in with the help of a market-frothing pre-election debased dollar for favorable currency translation and paper (but not real when measured in, ie., gold, etc.) profits which preceded the last crisis, inflating a bubble as in the last crisis to facilitate the churn-and-earn, particularly with computerized (and high frequency) trades and which commissions they’ll get again on the way down. There is nothing to support these overbought stock prices, fundamentally or otherwise. These are desperate criminals ‘at work’. Even wall street shill, the senile Buffett is saying we’re still in a recession (depression). Buffett: We're Still in a Recession [ Wow! A moment of lucidity from senile Buffet which belies his prior ‘rosy wall street shill talk’, but his greater candor is welcomed nonetheless although the ‘d’ (for depression) word is more appropriate and accurate.] Roche ‘Warren Buffett disagrees with the NBER. He says we’re still in a recession and likely to remain in a recession for quite a while. These comments are far more tempered than the ones that were published last week. Of course, my favorite part in this clip is where he says the U.S. government did the right thing in responding to the crisis. They certainly did the right thing for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) shareholders. Whether or not they did the right thing for America is a whole other story…’ [ And, of course we now know that it wasn’t the right thing for america … The question inevitably becomes, ‘Who’s manipulating who, what, and why? After all, we know defacto bankrupt america’s pervasively corrupt! ] Wall St advances on dollar weakness, Fed bets (Reuters) – [ Look at the aforementioned headline. Isn’t anyone getting the sense of how totally preposterous this is? Then there’s the ‘market frothing’ used home foreclosure / distressed home sales number … previous wall street b*** s*** story, the election and consequent gridlock story … as if they’re substantially different …perpetual war, runaway nation-bankrupting record deficit spending, incompetence, corruption (still no prosecution of the wall street frauds), etc. What total b*** s***! ] U.S. stocks rose to a five-and-a-half month high on Monday as a falling dollar, partly driven by expectations of further stimulus by the Federal Reserve, prompted investors to buy riskier as... [ Davis: ‘… all profits are inflated by 10% (from falling, debased dollar) and that 10% is the E that gets divided from the P and gives us a much better price/multiple to hang our hats on and that gets investors to BUYBUYBUY …’ Previous pre-crash: The bull market that never was / were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ] This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits (these lower dollar, hyperinflationary currency manipulations / translations to froth paper stocks will end quite badly as in last crash)! This is a global depression. This is a secular bear market in a global depression. The past up moves were manipulated bull (s***) cycles (at best) in a secular bear market. This has been a typically manipulated bubble as has preceded the prior crashes with great regularity that the wall street frauds and insiders commission and sell into. This is a typical wall street ‘programmed computerized high-frequency churn and earn pass the hot potato scam / fraud as in prior crashes ( widely reported, high-frequency trading routinely accounts for more than 50% of daily U.S. equity trading volume and regularly approaches 70%. )’. This national decline, economic and otherwise, will not end until justice is served and the wall street frauds et als are criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed.The Stock Market's Long Decline Has Begun Smith ‘The Fed's campaign to boost the risk-trade in equities by destroying the dollar has reached its limits. Now gravity will take hold as stocks enter a Long Decline.On Monday, Daily Finance published my article Is the Market Ready to Roll Over? These Signs Say Yes.

Dollar Crushed On QE2 Expectations The dollar weakened and Treasuries halted a six-day slide as the Federal Reserve sought input from bond dealers about the size of asset purchases, bolstering speculation policy makers remain open to a large round of quantitative easing. U.S. stocks declined.

McGrath: ‘Austerity Will Hit America Like An Eight Pound Sledgehammer’ Charlie McGrath of Wide Awake News warns that things are going to change after the election – for the worse. While the movement across America to stop an out of control Congress in its tracks will likely lead to Republican victories and control of at least the House, the idea that this will somehow change the economic outlook for the better is conjecture.

Why Did Banks Give Home Loans to People Who They KNEW Couldn’t Pay? William K. Black – professor of economics and law, and the senior regulator during the S & L crisis – explained last month before to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission why banks gave home loans to people who they knew couldn’t repay.

Fed Strategy The Wrong Way For Growth As the Friday Night Financial Follies continues regulators on Friday shut down two small banks in Florida and two in Georgia, lifting to 136 the number of U.S. banks that have fallen this year as soured loans have mounted and the economy has sputtered.

Is hard currency on its way out? Introducing the new virtual world currency. Christian Science Monitor | The new virtual world currency is an index of the world’s 15 largest economies, weighted by their gross domestic product, adjusted for purchasing power parity.

Fed-Induced Rally Makes Riskiest Debt Priciest: Credit Markets Bloomberg | The lowest-rated junk bonds are the most expensive corporate debt following a Federal Reserve- induced rally in high-risk assets, adding to concern fixed- income securities are overvalued.

American Job Loss Is Permanent Now that a few Democrats and the remnants of the AFL-CIO are waking up to the destructive impact of jobs offshoring on the US economy and millions of American lives, globalism’s advocates have resurrected Dartmouth economist Matthew Slaughter’s discredited finding of several years ago that jobs offshoring by US corporations increases employment and wages in the US.

JPMorgan, HSBC Accused of Manipulating Silver Futures HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were accused in an investor’s lawsuit of placing “spoof” trading orders to manipulate silver futures and options prices in violation of U.S. antitrust law.

National / World

WeAreChange Assaulted by Daily Show Staff WeAreChange NY | With that in mind many people may scratch their heads wondering why comedic talk show host Jon Stewart would be the recipient of serious questions regarding his stance on the events of September 11, 2001.

Former Hitler Youth Whistleblower Warns Of America’s Nazi Future Paul Joseph Watson | Von Campe warns Obama administration more closely resembles Nazi Party than founding fathers.

Jack Conway Takes Money from Criminal Drug Company Kurt Nimmo | Reporter reveals Jack Conway accepted money from company that pushes OxyContin.

American Job Loss Is Permanent Paul Craig Roberts | The correct conclusion is that the U.S. trade deficit with China is the result of “globalism” or jobs offshoring, not Chinese currency manipulation.

New Video Shows MoveOn Activist Attempted To Assault Rand Paul Paul Joseph Watson | Valle shoved sign in Paul’s face before stomping incident in footage media refused to broadcast.

Obama visits India’s IT sector as U.S. jobs continue shrinking Reuters | An increase in U.S. visa fees, a ban on offshoring by the state of Ohio and the industry’s portrayal in campaign ads as a drain of U.S. jobs has set a frosty tone ahead of Obama’s visit to India in early November.

Military wants to scan communications to find internal threats The Pentagon wants computers to see into the future — and stop crimes before they happen.

Bush Thought Flight 93 Had Been Shot Down On 9/11 “The president reveals he gave the order to shoot down planes on September 11 — and at first thought the plane in PA had been shot down,” reports Matt Drudge in an exclusive story about George W. Bush’s upcoming book Decision Points, set to be released on November 9.

Jack Conway Takes Money from Criminal Drug Company The more you look at Jack Conway, the worse it gets. Yesterday we reported on Conway’s effort to obstruct justice in a criminal drug investigation of his brother. Today we report that Jack Conway accepts money from a company that pushes a dangerous drug, OxyContin.

Drudgereport: BUCHANAN: The country is up for grabs... ‘…Consider the critical issue facing America today – the budget and trade deficits, the soaring national debt, an unemployment near 10 percent for 14 straight months – and how neither party seems to have the cure. While George Bush's tax cuts did not cause this, they did not prevent it. And if Republicans believe that his deficits did cause it, why have those Republicans not addressed the causes of those deficits – Bush's (and wobama’s) wars, Bush's tax cuts and Bush's social spending on No Child Left Behind and Medicare drug benefits? Yet, if liberal Democrats are right and deficits are the correct Keynesian cure for recession, why have Obama deficits of $1.4 and $1.3 trillion failed so dismally? … The Federal Reserve, having used and broken every tool in its toolbox, including doubling the money supply and setting interest rates at near zero, will now bet the farm on inflation, starting Nov. 3. Both parties have lost the mandate of heaven, and neither knows if its economic philosophy even works anymore. We are in uncharted waters. The country is up for grabs.’
ROUBINI: A PRESIDENCY HEADED FOR A FISCAL TRAINWRECK...
Europe 'dismayed' as midterms highlight Obama's struggles...
POLL: 65% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress...
POLL: Majority Wants Obama Fired In 2012...
Democrat predicts GOP takeover in the House...
Candidates use children to make final pitch...
Politicians use PIs to unearth their own skeletons...
MILBANK: Obama is the last laugh... (Washington Post) [ Quite right! Wobama’s so pathetic and a total joke … I believe most would find even wobama’s post-office perks objectionable … he was given the benefit of every doubt and support following what has to be considered the easiest act in the world to follow (dumbya bush) and has failed miserably, marking the beginning of a long overdue reality check and national blackout (‘you know, the energy thing’) in america. ] Milbank ’On Comedy Central, the joke was on President Obama Wednesday night. The president had come, on the eve of what will almost certainly be the loss of his governing majority, to plead his case before Jon Stewart, gatekeeper of the disillusioned left. But instead of displaying the sizzle that won him an army of youthful supporters two years ago, Obama had a Brownie moment. The Daily Show host was giving Obama a tough time about hiring the conventional and Clintonian Larry Summers as his top economic advisor. "In fairness," the president replied defensively, "Larry Summers did a heckuva job." "You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart recommended with a laugh. Dude. The indignity of a comedy show host calling the commander in chief "dude" pretty well captured the moment for Obama. He was making this first-ever appearance by a president on the Daily Show as part of a long-shot effort to rekindle the spirit of '08. In the Daily Show, Obama had a friendly host and an even friendlier crowd…’

Comment on: U.S. military campaign to topple resilient Taliban hasn't succeeded at 10/28/2010 5:35 AM EDT

Afghanistan: U.S. military campaign to topple Taliban hasn't succeeded (Washington Post) [ The really tragic thing about all the death and destruction inflicted by america for no good reason is that one with even a modicum of sense of military strategy / history could have easily (as here warned on this site) predicted this failed outcome; and then, there’s america’s defacto bankruptcy, their greed for their resurgent heroin trade dollars which the Taliban had all but eradicated, and that in this as in most instances, america’s clearly the bad guy. ]

Comment on: E.U. rules let Iran import, export oil, creating possible split from U.S. policy at 10/28/2010 5:23 AM EDT

New E.U. rules let Iran import, export oil, gas (Washington Post) [ Probably too little, too late to save the eu from pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt american insanity, from mark to anything valuations, Weimar dollar type currencies, perpetual wars, etc., yet this is at least a step in the right direction for the eu.] The United States and Europe have worked cooperatively on Iran policy since President Obama took office, but a small crack might have begun to open over sanctions that are beginning to pinch ordinary Iranians. Iran connects U.S./israel to deadly blasts I believe Iran! ‘West, israel linked to SE Iran blasts’ A ranking official with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has implicated “the us, israel and some european countries” in the deadly blasts in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan.

Comment on: Federal bailout oversight panel raises alarms over foreclosure crisis at 10/28/2010 5:15 AM EDT

Bailout panel raises alarms (Washington Post) [ Whew! Just in the nick of time … really dodged a bullet … NOT! …They’re as late as they’ve been complicit in every problem this nation has, particularly with their cozy relationship with the frauds on wall street (still unprosecuted) who’ve benefited mightily from these continuing scams / frauds at everyone’s expense. ] Repercussions of the foreclosure crisis worry lawmakers.

Comment on: Wells Fargo acknowledges problems in foreclosure paperwork at 10/28/2010 5:11 AM EDT

Bank finds paperwork flaws (Washington Post) [The obviousness of this headline brings to mind such rhetorical queries as ‘do bears s*** in the woods’ and ‘is the Pope Catholic’, etc.. This is pervasively corrupt, defacto bankrupt america; home of the frauds, fleeced, and f*** ups! ] Lender has stood by its foreclosure paperwork for weeks as other banks discovered errors and halted sales.

Comment on: Most Americans worry about ability to pay mortgage or rent, poll finds at 10/28/2010 5:06 AM EDT

Are you like most Americans? (Washington Post) [ Oh come on! If mortgage payments were all americans had to worry about in this fraud-rampant, pervasively corrupt (all 3 branches of u.s. government), defacto bankrupt nation they’d have reason to jump for joy. ] A new Washington Post poll reveals that most Americans worry about making mortgage payments.