JOY TO THE WORLD!

The world has become such a joyeous place lately...

...With Wall Street soaring, and investors not only fighting the FED...but actually ignoring it...!

So, I've decided to close this blog: ....UNTIL MAY 1, 2006...

This will give reality a chance to set in again...

Because, when things get THIS HAPPY.... I'm really at a loss for words...!

Who knows Bush's approval ratings may be in the mid 40's by the end of April, if things stay this giddy!

But stay tuned...read the archieves, and visit the links in the side bar...

I've even got a link to J. Peterman...for all of you Seinfeld fans! And we know you're out there...

BULLS BEWARE... I'LL BE BACK...

Postscript: Persons desperately needing their "daily gloom" can still read my "open thread" postings at DailyKos, simply...CLICK HERE.

Back May 1st...by then the markets will likely have decided to "get rational" again. Because all the tax season suckers will be "in." But 'til then, Be Happy!

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY ON WALL STREET LOOMS...

There really seems to be no end to the happy news on Wall Street these days... In fact one has to wonder if any "shorts" are left! (Other than the market masters)

Of course "the shorts" come in handy when the market finally does go down...providing sort of a "braking action"...but alas, now even the shorts are gone...!

So, when all of "the happiness" is finally priced into the market, and the "profit taking" starts...(I love that pharse...especially if your the "last sucker" to buy just before the drop)...who'se going to stop the fall?

GOOGLE BLOATS THE FLOAT...?

MARKET MASTERS IGNORE GOLD SPIKE...?

The market masters ignored gold and oil today and concentrated on restoring the Bubble in stocks.

Clearly, this foundation work was left until later so the Spring Sucker Fleecing could continue with little fanfare...

Bernanke was ignored... Bonds dropped and headed for 5%...

But perhaps the feeling was: Why Bother with these details and technicalities...because this rally has a "shelf life" of a loaf of bread anyway... In another month it will be over.

Let gold soar. And let oil do whatever it will....

The market masters aren't investing in this disaster...they are simply speculating in it...until the "real numbers" come in later in the 2d quarter...

And a lot of "creative accounting" going on tonight...as corporations "fix" their numbers...to "beat by a penny," or maybe two. And don't worry, everyone will "make their numbers" one way or another... They always do, no matter what.

Even if the Feds have to build a "CEO Wing" at Sing-Sing!!

J. PETERMAN CATALOG NOW IN SIDE BAR...

Yippee eye okyay... Taking mail order to a new level since the 1980's!

FORGET IRAQ...A SECOND WAR WILL START THIS SPRING.

EVEN ISRAEL LURCHES TO THE LEFT...

Can the US electorate be far behind...?

BIG GOLD SELL OFF LOOMS....?

Bernanke gave the market masters their marching orders yesterday...ATTACK THE GOLD MARKET...or face higher rates forever!

It's the sine quo non for stocks this year!

HIGHER RATES? SO WHAT! LETS TRADE STOCKS!

Alas, even the FED chairman gets no respect...

When there are stocks to sell and suckers to buy them!

Some of the yada yada today will be...Let's trade stocks;

Because Bernanke will "protect us from inflation..."

And bonds will be down...so "the money has to go somewhere."

And if rates are going up it "means the economy is strong and profits will be high."

And the higher rates will "help the dollar" making US investments "more attractive."

You know the usual stuff...we've heard it all before.

The real proof of the pudding will be if the market masters can drive gold down hard and for more than one day...?

For Wall Street to "satisfy" Bernanke that inflation is "not a problem" the market masters simply must attack the gold markets... The gold market is thinly traded, unlike oil and other industial commodities...

If the market masters can not drive down gold...the FED will keep raising rates...or at least that's the "short term" idea.

And of course on the Street these days everything is short term...

Sell the suckers, pocket the profits, and do it again tomorrow...

GOOD MOANIN...MAKE IT YET ANOTHER HAPPY DAY ON WALL STREET.

'Cause...they ain't gonna let the suckers off that easy...!

Today, Bernanke is just another one-day-wonder...yesterday's "data point."

This market simply can not go down...on any sustained basis until after May 1st...that's really Wall Street's "problem" today.

I would look for a big attempt to drive down gold today... The FED only mentioned "commodities" but the market masters know, or think they know, that this really means gold, the "king pin commodity." At least until the recent oil run up....

My hunch is that we could see a huge sell off in gold and gold stocks this week...and this would be a great chance to buy in... The theory being that gold will go down because bonds now yield more...

But of course that does not take into account the geopolitical and macroeconomic risks of the US economy.

In any event...wild swings in gold are possible...and oil could get whipsawed in the process...

DESPERATE MARKET MASTERS ARE AFOOT TODAY...!

WILL THE LIKUDNICS START SUPPLYING ROCKETS TO "HAMAS?"

The middle east is a strange place...hold on to your indignation. Because a center/left "peace" would be the biggest disaster ever for the ultra-right in Israel.

And frankly I don't think they'll stand for it...interesting times ahead!

Hmmm....And Iraq could get very interesting soon...

Especially if Dubya is "picking" the prime minister of Iraq...?

Now that would be something to see after all the Democracy Talk...!

This too could get interesting a lot faster than most people think...

DUBYA SHUFFLES THE CARDS, BUT WILL HE GIVE US A "NEW DEAL?"

Why so?

Well, because mentioning "the deck chairs on the Titanic" was a little too obvious...

WARNING: PEACE COULD BREAK OUT IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

The election of a center/left government in Israel is the best news yet for peace in the middle east...

If only Israel would "decide" how much of the West Bank it wants...we might be able to talk the Palestinians into going along...especially now that the "bad boys" of Hamas have been chosen to be the "hall monitors" of the would be State of Palestine.

If Hamas resorts to attacks and terror...their credibility will be lost and the Palestinian people will sink into dispare...

BUT WITH BOTH ARAFAT AND SHARON GONE NOW...THERE IS A REAL POSSIBILITY FOR PEACE...

AND AMAZINGLY, DUBYA'S MORONIC INVASION OF IRAQ MAY HAVE HELPED THE ISRAELI ULTRA RIGHT SEE THAT THE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH SIMPLY WOULD NOT WORK...

NOW, IF ONLY WE COULD GET A "REGIME CHANGE" IN WASHINGTON...TO PUT THE GROW UPS BACK IN CHARGE...?

BERNANKE SAYS....? I'M THE FALL GUY...?

The FED statement was absolutely a disaster for the stock market bulls...

It showed a FED that is seriously concerned about the future of ASSET INFLATION as a way to "grow" the economy...

Saying ominously:

"Economic growth has rebounded strongly in the current quarter but appears likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace. As yet, the run-up in the prices of energy and other commodities appears to have had only a modest effect on core inflation, ongoing productivity gains have helped to hold the growth of unit labor costs in check, and inflation expectations remain contained. Still, possible increases in resource utilization, in combination with the elevated prices of energy and other commodities, have the potential to add to inflation pressures."


The reference to commodities inflation is new...and potentially devastating to continuation of ASSET INFLATION as the strong suit for the US economy. Of course, none of this is new. Many people, including this Blog, have been warning about it for years...but we were usually dismissed as Nervous Nellies who had a problem with people "making money" and "having fun."

And for a while the asset inflationists held sway under the Greenspan FED...

But now the US economy is near total in it's de-industrialization...the trade deficit is structural...dollars abound in foreign central bank...and few "investible assets" are available to the new holders of American debt...except naturally more debt!

Hence the run up in commodities...as foreigners express their frustration with the unsustainablity of the US economy...based almost totally and debt and deficits FOREVER.

The notion that "things will self correct" and someday the "factories will come home from China" is economic rubbish...yet that was the sum and substance of the Greenspan argument...soon to be discredited in very unpleasant ways...as Bernanke raises rates again and again...til?

Well perhaps 7% will be a good holding point...but if the US deficits continue up...so will interest rates.

As in the 1970's...rates can go to unbelieveable levels...20% is neither unheard of, nor out of the question.

Bonds sold off after the FED statement...Oil spiked...and Gold treaded water.

But know this...we are destined to live in "interesting" economic times... The Greenspan years are over. Our Merlin is back in his cave for another thousand years.

Bernanke will be the "fall guy" for the 20 years of bad policy that have brought us to this rather dismal situation.

WILL FRENCH LABOR PROTESTS SPREAD...BECOMING THE EURO-"NEW LEFT?"

Very likely what we are seeing is the Twilight of the Right...

At least the "business/economic right" in Europe.



The field is now open for the ultra-right and the left to fill the void. I would prefer the center left, with protections for consumers and workers.

The economic elites however, may not want this and choose to support the ultra-right.

The French Protests are the start of something big... Call it THE LURCH TO THE LEFT...and it's happening all over the world now. Only the US, UK and their trading partners in Asia are "outside the loop" on the potential for the NEW LEFT that is emerging.

Indeed, the US-China economic relationship should be called: THE CHEAP LABOR ECONOMIC MODEL!

American Democrats in the US could jump on the New Left bandwagon...as worker protests spead across the globe... But they may not have the moxie to be anything but Republican-Lite.

The ultra right and ultra left radicalization of global politics is the big untold story these days...

WHAT PLANET DOES THE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT COME FROM...?

Are they including "illegal aliens" in their polling data...?

Because there is a "jobs boom" for illegal Mexicans all over the US... But for the rest of us:

It's Higher gas prices, Higher heating bills, Higher interest rates... Lower Real Estate prices...if you can sell at all! And listings are spiking up, even as buyers are drying up!

Well, the Wall Street guys have been spinning this totally temporary Sucker Season Bubble really well...

And, it has been a mild winter...with the prospect of spring on the horizon.

So, maybe that's it...

And the cure? Clearly, higher rates and more layoffs! The Cult of the CEO had better get cracken'...if they want Bernanke to EVER stop raising those rates...and get off Wall Street's Ass...

THE GOLDEN SPIKE TO $600...

It's inevitable but is it investible? Probably...there was a nice sell-down today to buy into...it was fake because oil soared...but the market masters are doing their duty and selling gold to hopefully get Bernanke off their asses...

But the central banks like to play with gold too...sort of as a proxy for how well they are doing in controlling monetary expansion... Gold has been winning lately.

For gold to "lose" might require the central banks to raise rates "too much" to flush the system of liquidity like what happen during most of the 1970's. But, the 70's was a much better domestic economy for American workers. Indeed, it was the high point for the union power in American economy.

Now there is another "evil one"...not the unions, but Wall Street Greed...like in the 1870's!

Worse yet, the central banks have the impression that they "figured out" how to keep the economy always on the upswing...THOURGH THE "MIRACLE OF ASSET INFLATION."

Well, it worked for a while, like all economic "brain storms," but now a "bad kind" of asset inflation is starting, inside the commodities markets...

But Hey when the investing classes feel the real estate market is too high...they'll simply move their money to another gaming table...they start playing the COMMODITIES GAME!

That's what the big gold spike was all about yesterday...and this Citigroup "upgrade" of the "metals"...no mention of gold...was a really scary "kiss of death" for all serious economic thinkers.

But fortunately, there aren't too many of them on Wall Street or in the Finanical media! There's always a "bright side" you know...

MORNING CALL SAYS COME ON "GET HAPPY...."

But it always does...it takes till lunch for the hype to filter through the financial yada-yada... Sell the morning call and buy the late afternoon dip is the market pattern lately. Who wants to be sad over morning coffee at Starbucks...? Nobody.

BONDS vs BERNANKE...

And the winner is...

BERNANKE!

EXPELL ALL ARABS INSIDE BIBLICAL ISRAEL INTO JORDAN...?

The entire world has suffered because of the Israeli "occupation" of the West Bank.

The 911 catastrophe was the probably an indirect result of the occuaption...and even the RFK assassination in 1968, so the west has been "paying the price" for the West Bank occupation for nearly 40 years... So why stop now?

Bush has permanently destabilized the middle east...the anti-Zionist and anti-American furvor will not go way soon. They can't "hate you more" than they already do.

The invasion and occuaption of Iraq has only made the radical Islamists more bold. Indeed, the fate of Dubya's "legacy" seems to be in the hands of the Mullahs of Iran! Look at the Afghan man who was jailed for being Christian...things are just getting worse.

Now is not the time to stop... The die is cast...for better or worse.

EXPELL THE PALESTINIANS AND ALL ARABS INSIDE BIBLICAL ISRAEL INTO JORDAN...AND LET'S "END THE OCCUPATION" THAT WAY.

FOR PEACE TO BE POSSIBLE BIBLICAL ISRAEL REQUIRES AN "ETHNIC CLEANSING"...AND THAT'S IS WHATS BEEN CAUSING ALL THE TROUBLE THESE MANY YEARS...

And no, just "making nice" with the Arabs by the US and Israel will not stop the troubles now...

No muslim really supports the American/Israeli cause in the middle east...no matter what they say publically...

SO "JUST DO IT" SHOULD BE THE MOTTO OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT IN ISRAEL...BECAUSE THE ARABS COULD NEVER "HATE YOU MORE"...NO MATTER WHAT.

P.S. This was a hard post to get through those "secret filters" they have up... lol.

AHH...NEOCON DEMOCRACY...AFGHAN STYLE!

Quote of the Day:

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion."

Let the people speak....

MOSQUE MASSACRE DOOMS THE OCCUPATION?

Things are starting to happen fast in Iraq now...

The recent mosque massacre by the US has stripped away the last vestiages of Shia cooperation...

But the Shia were playing the Americans for suckers in Iraq from day one.

Now what? ...how does this all end?

I suspect that the Americans will soon be "asked" to leave Iraq...by EVERYONE involved in the region...to wit: "Our Enemies." Bush has absolutely NO FRIENDS in the entire world now...! And that is hard for a US president to do.

The problem is that Bush & Co will soon be forced to "drop the mask" and reveal the true nature of their mission all along...to wit: the domination of the middle east for Oil and for Israel...

Bush will be on the horns of a dilemma then...TOTAL WAR or QUICK PULL OUT...?

And he will decide to pull out...

The war will be unwinnable short of a near total genocide against the Iraqi people...and perhaps all Muslims...

Bush doesn't have the mental capacity or the manpower to make that choice.

How grim the NYTimes article seems...almost an unreal tone to it.

WHY BERNANKE WON'T QUIT....

GOLD!

Bernanke simply can not stop raising rates UNTIL the Gold Market has stabilized... And THAT could take a while because of high debts, deficits, administation incompetence, ill advised tax cuts, hyper liquidity globally including at the Bank of Japan, and last but not least the Wars...

Gold is really a proxy for all of the 'bad stuff' above...and right now, the 'bad stuff' is winning.

If Bernanke quits now it would be 1979 all over again...

Moussaoui: Suicide by other means...?

How many more of them do we have to kill....? And will killing them ever make us truly "safe?"

Clearly the Bush Administration is out of it's depth in handling future events in the middle east....

BUSH REALLY BLOWS IT THIS TIME!!

Sooner or later...WAR CRIMES TRIALS WILL BE HELD.

If that shocks your sensibilities, just remember you heard it here FIRST.

WILL HIGHER RATES BY FED STOP THE GOLDS...?

Well, Yes...and No.

Stay tuned...for more specifics

FED STILL DOING 'MOP JOB' ON GREENSPAN'S HYPER-LIQUIDITY 'MONEY SPILL!"

And the "World's Biggest Debtor" and "Deficit Runner" will eventually be paying "the World" 7% to borrow money... That is almost a given...no matter what the economy is doing...or the jobs data.

But, shhh... we're not supposed to see that yet...

MONDAY MORNIN' AND TIME TO "GET HAPPY" ON WALL STREET...

Quote of the day:


"Markets are hanging on Bernanke's every word at the moment," said Louise Keeling, a fund manager for the U.S. equity fund of Insight Investment in London."


Citigroup...Bullish on metals? Of course no one mentioned THE GOLDS...but we know what they're thinking. And gold stocks are up nicely today...

DUBYA STEALING A PAGE FROM SHARON'S PLAYBOOK?

To wit: Always add more gas to the fire, just in time...lest the flames go out...?

THE MORNING CALL...

WELCOME TO CLOUDCUCKOOLAND...

Resumes anyone...?

HAPPY HOUR ON WALL STREET...

Well, every hour is happy hour on Wall Street...

Why bother to sober up...? Can another happy hour be far behind...?

Ouch! Was that a "Gas Pain?" Golds up nicely...even as the metal was a little down...

MARKET MASTERS RE-BUILD THIER "FLOATS..."

The market masters were obviously running out of stock to sell...

...so they had to re-build their "inventories" today... Hence the sell down...so they could buy low...to sell higher tomorrow. And, hey, buying for five cents less today... times 200 million shares...tomorrow...is a decent days work...ya think.

Call this a "bookkeeping" sell-off...not a systemic "hosanna moment" by any means.

The market was VERY over-brought...and new stock had to be purchased to be sold later...and thus keep the rally going...ASAP.

This rally will keep going... This is no time to "get rational!" All the suckers aren't in yet...and no one is going to "spook" them with macroeconomic drivel or other scary stuff...

RALLY ON!

TURTLE SOUP? ANYONE? ANYONE...?

Yum... Maybe even better than the Czar's mammoth...?

TIME FOR THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES...? NO!

The markets will be up today...despite the futures pointing down.

This is a market that is going to 12,000 in a straight line...MOONSHOT.

The Market Masters simply can not afford to let the hype die down...even for a day...

After a brief decline, the Dow should "sling-shot" higher, then perhaps "flat-line" to the pre-determined level the market makers have "set" for today's close.

Elements of the NAZZ could be down for the day...but a minor pull back is all that's needed.

The worst this "Last the of Red Hot Bubbles" can do is probably a flatline...five or ten points up at the close. Remember, what we're seeing is a "work of fiction" with no basis in reality or in the economy. The macro and geopolitical situation are absolutely DISMAL... So...

After the market "kisses" 12,000, and ALL of the tax season suckers are in...we'll start to see a return of "Reality TV" to the financial coverage on Tout Television.

But a pause that refreshes...? No. Not yet.

ISRAEL SHOULD ACCEPT PEACE-KEEPERS ON WEST BANK...

If Israel fears that Osama & Co are heading their way..?.

They should immediately ask for "help" on the West Bank!

TO WIT:

Let foreign peacekeepers stand at the borders with the Palestinians and "protect" Israel...

I'm sure that would be acceptable to everyone in the West! Because it would "disengage" Israel from the Palestinians... And that was Sharon's "last wish" if I recall.

Of course the Palestinians would be sovereign on the West Bank...and the Occupation by Israel would have to end, as "the help" arrives in the form of foreign peacekeepers...

But alas, everyone knows that Israel will not give up the West Bank without a fight!

And who knows...maybe now they'll get one from Osama & Co??

WALL STREET ALWAYS HAPPY...

Indeed the Happiest Street in the world! It always goes up! No matter What... Even bonds are up...

WHY?

Well, on the Street:

Everyone gets to construct their own "happy story"....every morning!

Then, the financial and mainstream media run this new "happy story" du jour

All Day Long!



So...IS EVERYBODY HAPPY?....LETS HOPE SO.

SINO-RUSSIAN ANTI-AMERICAN BLOC...?

It's natural for "blocs" to form against dominant powers...as the US.

But this Sino-Russian bloc could be especially troublesome with Russian resources and Chinese "dollars" betting against the US...

Then of course there are the Oil Barons of Araby and the Empire of Islam, a/k/a "The Evil Ones," on whom Dubya as "declared war"...in the nicest possible way. To wit: Support the Israeli "land grab" on the West Bank, or we'll bomb you, and call you a terrorist, or a state supporter of terrorism...

And then come the Euro-social Democrats who always hate American first...

Finally, we have Dubya & Co who are so easy to hate...inside or outside the US.

The very notion of An American Superpower...seems obsolete in the current geopolitical situation. Why is this important? Well it isn't. Yet....but it will be. Soon. The big geopolitical chickens always come home to roost...eventually.

MICROSOFT DELAYS VISTA... THANK GOD!

Just what everyone needs...

Another operating system to install...over the existing one that's working fine already!

If Microsoft would just get the old operating systems working right...there would be no need for new ones...then Microsoft wouldn't make all that money...

Hmmm....? More Bells? More Whistles? Anyone....?

AMERICAN THEOCRACY: NYT BOOK REVIEW.

AMERICAN THEOCRACY: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century.By Kevin Phillips.

Times Reveiwer says of Phillips:

"No longer does he see Republican government as a source of stability and order. Instead, he presents a nightmarish vision of ideological extremism, catastrophic fiscal irresponsibility, rampant greed and dangerous shortsightedness..."

Available at Amazon...Click HERE.

MARKETS STILL HAPPY...MOONSHOT CONTINUES?

Nothing can stop Wall Street now! This rally will continue...but only till May 1st...then the Annual Spring "Sucker Flush!"

It's an old Wall Street tradition afterall...Up, Up and Away, Baby.

IRAN WILL "TALK" WITH THE "GREAT SATAN"

Bush has only himself to blame for now going "hat-in-hand" to Iran to find a way out of the Iraq mess...

Bush is the greatest thing to ever happen to the Ayatolahs and Mullas of Iran!

What a mess...and only three moron years left.

BERNANKE'S PARADOX: WHAT BERNANKE DOESN'T KNOW...

This ARTICLE is refreshing... a Fed Chair who actually admits he "doesn't know" something...!

Bernanke refreshingly admits he doesn't know why bonds are holding up so well...and rates are staying low?

Well perhaps, but I can suggest a few places to look for the answer...?

THE GREENSPAN HYPER-LIQUIDITY.... To wit: The Printing Press has been running 24.7.

And it's not just the FED...Try to Bank of Japan for another hyper-liquidity addict.

And the US trade deficit is forcing foreigners to be "savers"....they can't help it IF we keep stuffing their gullets with NEWLY PRINTED dollars!

The unique position of the dollar post-1980 is the reason "things" are holding up...so far.

But remember in the 1960's the Bretton Woods Dollar was also similarly favored...for a while.

Then came 1971...and all Hell broke lose...but in slow motion...and the Arabs took the blame...but it was LBJ and the Great Society Kongress that were the real culprits.

So too with the current situation... In macroeconomics things don't happen because the "should" they happen because they "must". The elites are so protective of the "old order of things" that their protection of the status quo extends way, way beyond were logic says a collapse should have occurred...

Thus it is with BERENAKE'S PARADOX!! AND GREENSPAN'S CONUNDRUM!!



P.S. But HERE Kellner hits the panic button

ISRAEL SETTING UP THE COUP DE GRACE ON THE WEST BANK?

While Georgie "the moron" looks on.

WELCOME GLOBAL OPINION ELITES...

Yeah, we know your out there...somewhere. We found some of your cookie crumbs. But why not give this humble blog a little advertising...a comment perhaps? A reference in a column?

GLOOM AND DOOM...

Always here 24.7...slaving in the vineyards of the Progressive Cause...against all odds.

BUSH FREEZES UP ON IRAQ. CALL IT A CATATONIC APPROACH TO POLICY?

Apparently we have a CATATONIC presidency till 2008...?

DOW DOES DIVE...LATE IN SESSION

The Bernanke speech finally sunk in...?The Bubble Daze over?

Bond market raises bid to two more rate hikes... do I hear three?

Try 7% as the equilibrium point in this cycle...? Because there's just too much excess cash out there...

PRICES WHIP-SAW THE ECONOMY...

Clearly we are entering a period of price instability...

Big price swings are indicative of a price paradigm shift in many parts of the global economy.

Not what the bond market wants to hear...

HERE'S A SENSIBLE STORY...VERY RARE THESE DAYS.

How the rich got rich... DUMP THE DOLLAR?

THE BLOGGIES....AND THE 2006 WINNER IS...?

Here's THE LIST! Maybe I'm missing something...but I'm not that impressed with some of these blogs...?

BOSTON FED CHAIR SAYS HOUSING BUBBLE IS "SINE QUA NON" FOR ECONOMY?

If that's true then the US economy will be a "non" in about a year...

To Read Minehan's speech: CLICK HERE

ANTI WESTERN BLOC DOOMS DUBYA'S IRAN ADVENTURE

It will be difficult for the US to get anything done
as long as it's two biggest creditors are it's two biggest enemies...namely, the Oil Lords of Araby and the Cheap labor Chinese.

Lately, the American influence is mainly limited to Britain and Tony the Poodle...and sometimes to Germany.

Israel, for whom the US has sacrificed everything...is only occasionally agreeable to American policies...and even then only when it "fits" Israels "goals" or the Israelis want "protection" from some Muslim nation...like Iraq and now Iran.

Israel sent Dubya into Iraq...and now it wants "something done" about Iran.

But an "Iran Adventure" for the US seems totally out of the question... The risk to the global "system" of trade and commerce could not stand an oil disruption. And the US budget is nearly busted...to the point where Araby and the Chinese Bankers may have to "approve" any extra American spending in the coming years.

And Dubya's existing "Afhanistan Adventure" and "Iraq Adventure" are not going too well either.

The unpopularity of Dubya & Co has turned the world against the US and exposed and exaggerated every vulnerability...in a few short years.

PRE-MARKET GLOOM...AFTER "THE SPEECH..."

Not really the "happy face" the Street was looking for...

Unlike Greenspan, Bernanke doesn't feel the need to constantly apologize to Wall Street....or to do the bidding of Kudlow and Cramer...as Greenspan did.

Bernanke is no-nonsense and painfully academic...

And that could be bad news on Wall Street where "nonsense" is a way of life, and the path to making a good living!

BERNANKE SPEECH: READ IT HERE! ON THE YEILD CURVE HE GIVES A PROFESSORIAL SEMINAR IN MACRO-ECONOMICS!

Bernanke admits to being baffled...

"Why have long-term interest rates not risen more, as they have done over previous policy tightening cycles? And what implications does this pattern of long-term interest rates have for monetary policy and the economic outlook? As you will see, in my remarks I will do a better job of raising questions than of answering them. In particular, I will conclude that the implications for monetary policy of the recent behavior of long-term yields are not at all clear-cut."

And criticizes Greenspan's slow motion policies saying:

"The tightening cycle that began at the end of June 2004 is notable in at least four respects. First, its onset was delayed for longer than many observers expected. The FOMC kept policy unusually accommodative for an extended, or should I say for a considerable, period. The goal, as you know, was to help ensure that the economic expansion would be self-sustaining and to protect against a remote risk that the fall in inflation observed during 2003 might culminate in outright deflation--an outcome that could have had potentially serious consequences for the economy and for the efficacy of monetary policy"...

Then, he proposes a "global savings glut"...as a solution to the "low rates problem"

But could it also be a "liquidity glut" with money trapped in the hands of the rich as global wages have fallen...thus causing our current "asset inflation" and "bond inflation"...without the expected increase in prices at the consumer level...?

Finally, he promises to look at multiple variables and not be tied to a "favored" number or index saying:

"Ultimately, a robust approach to policymaking requires the use of multiple sources of information and multiple methods of analysis, combined with frequent reality checks. By not tying policy to a small set of forecast indicators, we may sacrifice some degree of simplicity, but we are less likely to be misled when a favored variable behaves in an unusual manner."

And what does this all means for tomorrow's trading?

...well stay tuned!

But Wall Street's "Simple Simon" number dejour approach to data points seems to be on the losing end as far as this new FED chairman is concerned...and that means Bernanke will look at the dollar, the deficits and the current account as well as the need of the Street for constant liquidity to finance Stock Speculation!

IRAQI FAMILY MASSACRED!

Get Our Guys out of there now... There will be no end of troubles until the US is out of Iraq... We won...get used to it!

BIG ACTION IN OIL AND GOLD...

Market masters could be up to something...? Probably trying to preserve the Market Moonshot for the next few weeks...

Today's action was amazing considering how over bought the market is...and this extraordinary push down on oil was likely an attempt to keep this rally moving...

WALMART SHOULD JUST MOVE TO CHINA..AND ELIMINATE THE MIDDLE MAN.

IS FIVE PERCENT ENOUGH...?

With the current account, budget and trade deficits OUT OF CONTROL!

With an endless "inter-generational" perma-war draining the US treasury...!

With the Oil Barons of Araby and the Chinese Communists sitting on huge piles of Dollars that they can't invest in HARD ASSETS INSIDE THE US...FOR "SECURITY REASONS"...

With Bush/Cheney more "unpopular" around the world than Osama...

With Gold looking like 1980 Redux...

With the Greenspan Era "hyperliquidity" bubbles only now starting to deflate...

IS FIVE PERCENT ENOUGH...?

How many guesses do you need...?

DOW 12,000 BY MAY FIRST...!

Don't fight the Happy Talk....or the FED. This is a Market that's going to Uranus and beyond!

When the suckers flock, buy stock!

Sure it's a sucker's rally...but it's a sucker's rally that will last till at least April 15th...maybe even May 1st...unless someone jumps out early.

GOLDS UP ON VIEW THAT BERNANKE IS AN ASSET INFLATIONIST LIKE GREENSPAN

And he is...

But the dollar is also up...so really everyone sees the glass as half full...and each sector of the financial market is creating their own "happy talk story" almost daily!

So let the good times roll... Because these days, the Street can "make it's own gravy!

REVENGE AGAINST MUSLIMS...

This story on Yahoo... About the Bush Cheney legacy of hate.

FUTURES UP...ON PROSPECT OF EVEN MORE BERNANKE HAPPY TALK!

UP, UP AND AWAY...THIS MOONSHOT IS GOING ON TO MARS!!

BERNANKE PROVIDES HAPPY TALK...MARKET MOONSHOT CONTINUES!!

Asian markets are up...

Because American markets are up, because Asian markets are up, because American markets are up...

My God...We're discovered the SECRET OF PERPETUAL MOTION! QUICK LET'S SELL SOME STOCK IN THIS IDEA!

Well, this kind of circular reasoning happens all the time among Wall Street types...whose job it is to "fleece suckers."

But curiously, the market is sowing the seeds for even more rate hikes by the PRICE INFLATION on Wall Street. But, ya know, they just don't care...

Of course, neither the FED nor anyone else has EVER considered stock price and asset price inflation to be "real inflation."

But inflation is a monetary phenomenon...and the FEDs monetary "flooding" of the financial markets has been going on for years...decades even.

The only salvation for this BAD MONETARY POLICY has been the MIRACLE OF CHEAP ASIAN LABOR...which has kept prices and wages down in the US economy and in Euroland...

Hence the current rioting in France... Dig?

ANYWAY...THE CURRENT MOONSHOT IN EVERYTHING CONTINUES!

AND THAT INCLUDES GOLD, OIL AND COMMODITIES...WHERE THE REALLY SMART AND LONGER TERM MONEY IS GOING!

BECAUSE BONDS ARE HEADING INTO THE DUMPSTER...

AND ALAS, THE HAPPY TALK SPECULATORS IN EQUITIES WILL GET WHAT THEY ALWAYS GET SOONER OR LATER...

A LESSON IN THE PERILS OF GAMBLING ON WALL STREET;

AND A VOW NEVER TO DO IT AGAIN!

DELL MOVES TO INDIA...MIRACLE OF CHEAP LABOR

I sense that everyone knows this quest for ever cheaper labor is going to end baddly...

The problem is that the media have so brain-washed the dull-witted American public that no one dares point this out.

Kudos to the French for standing up for worker rights...in a world dominated by international capital's greed and insensitivity toward their domestic markets.

The economy is not about economics only...the economy has a social aspect...

And the scrap heap of history is piled high with regimes that didn't recognize this.

International capital's protests of : "Let them eat cake..." didn't work last time...and it won't work this time.

And No. More "education"and more "wars"...to occupy the time of the long term unemployed won't help.

"The Crisis" is near...it's coming, but it's not quite here yet.

SUPPORT THIS BLOG....?

A lot of Blogs put those little "PayPal" boxes in the side bar to ask for your money...

Well, I don't believe in that. And I don't think it works very well.

So, I've set up an account at Amazon to sell used/rare books to support this Blog...

It's a business that I'm already in...so you can buy with confidence.

You get to buy some incredibly good books at great prices...and I get to sell them to you...!

And, that's a Win-Win situation for everyone... You get a "pro quo" for your "quid" and I get to move some inventory...

Click on the books in the side bar or the picture below...to go directly to my Amazon Page. And support this Blog and the Progressive Cause in 2006 and beyond...

WHY BUSH IS AN IDIOT...

Click HERE for proof....

P.S. And no I'd didn't know about Krugman's column...coming up on Monday! LOL.

SUNDAY TALKS...MURTHA FOR PRESIDENT?

To bad "real people" like Congressman Murtha "can't be elected" to the Presidency...

Instead Americans insist on freakishly bland, incurious puppet-men who seemingly are "leaders"...but only of other freakishly bland incurious puppet people...!

Very sad really considering how often other nations go to their intelligensia and their academic elites for leadership...

The American political tradition is so frozen in stone... Could a bald guy ever be President? Probably not.

A Woman? Probably not...at this point, unless she were a "Stepford Wife" type...Hmmm...Condi's getting there perhaps.

Or, what about a guy who looks like Lincoln or Taft or a crippled person in a wheelchair, like FDR...?

Probably not...definitely not today. They'd be savaged in America's fluff media by our childish anorexic "news readers"...

Now, Gov. Romney! There's real Presidential Material! Nice Suit!


Read, Think, then Write: CabinFeverBooks.Com

THE COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF GLOBALISM BEGINS IN FRANCE...

Deny it if you will...

But there is something afoot here that does not look good for the current global trading system... And consider: Have tear gas and water canons EVER solved ANYTHING?

THINK ABOUT IT...

IRAQ IN CIVIL WAR! OLD IRAQ IS NO MORE...

Next issue is CONTAINMENT...

Will the Bush Administation be able to contain their "mistake" so the entire region is not enflamed...like Lebanon was.

Perhaps some kind of partition of Iraq could be agreed upon that satisfies all parties.

The Kurds will no doubt get their long sought "nation." And the Syrians will surely have some influence in central Iraq...as with the Iranians in the southern part of Saddams OLD IRAQ...

Saddly, The Bush Administration falls back on it's same old HAPPY TALK!

BUT OLD IRAQ IS NO MORE...ONLY A QUICK PARTITION WILL PREVENT SECTARIAN VIOLENCE FROM SPREDING BEYOND IT'S OLD BORDERS..

WELCOME FOREIGN BLOG SURFERS...

Gloom and Doom gets more than it's share of visitors from outside of the US.

Probably because of the irreverant tone of this blog...

Or, the notion that the "real news," AND the "bad news" WILL be fully reported and discussed here...without any homefield advantage for so called "Official American Positions?"

Also, foreigners tend to be more liberal, more sophisticated, and more agnostic, than the average American...

And, this blog takes a rather European "Social Democratic" view of events and issues.

Furthermore, this blog does not have the "required" pro-Israel bias that is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY in the US to be considered "acceptable" and "PC."

Yet, Note Well, the views expressed here are BY NO MEANS "anti-Semetic" or "anti-Zionist"...

This blog merely holds the Israelis and the Zionists, in Israel and in America, to the same standards of "truth telling" that everyone else is held to...

So Welcome Foreign Surfers...

THIS IS THE PLACE YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR TO GET THE INSIDE STORY ON THE STATE OF AMERICAN OPINION AND A REALISTIC "TAKE" ON THE STATE OF PLAY INSIDE THE US ON AMERICAN DOMESTIC POLITICS, AND ON OUR LOOMING ECONOMIC ISSUES.

Bookmark this page. And come back daily for the "real story" from an insider's perspective.

And, of course, American Blog surfers are also welcome...if they are sick and tired of the constant "Happy Talk" fluff and drivel that passes for "the news" inside the US today.

...And I think you know what I mean...? ....Right?

IRAQ ANTI-WAR RALLIES...VICTORY IS NOT AN OPTION NOW...DISASTER AVOIDANCE IS.

The Iraq War has degenerated into a "disaster avoidance" scenario now.

It is highly unlikely that the old Iraq of Saddam will survive. The very best that can be hoped for is a federation of semi-autonomus states that are a "nation" in name only.

The Shias and Sunnis will never agree...this is centuries old conflict...and it will not be solved by the "Chirstian Crusaders" sent by the likes of Dubya and Rummy.

The Shia Sunni conflict is an INTRA-ISLAM DEBATE... It's not a matter of democracy or elections. The social structure of Muslim society will likely not be influenced by the West either...women's rights has been a big issue among Muslims, but in the West many see it as a ploy to avoid talking about the real reason the West is occupying Muslim Lands...Oil and Israeli ambitions for a Greater Israel on the West Bank.

Furthermore any Muslim who thinks the Palestinians should have their rights...is considered a potential terrorist.

Clash of Cultures...Indeed!

Worse yet the entire world seems to love sticking it to the US...and the US proxy, Dubya, Rummy et al...

American is not liked in the world...not because we are "free" but because of our anti-populist policies... And Dubya is the perfect person to represent that new "Ugly American"... Hostile, Arrogant, incurious to the point of stupidity.

There are those who say the American occupation will continue for years, decades even... I give it six months or a year...at the outside until the end of the current Bush Term in office.

With Bush's approval rates heading into the 20's and then perhaps even the single digits...This war is over for all practical purposes.

WELL, AT LEAST THE GOLDS ARE STILL A MOONSHOT!

THE NEW YAHOO: HEY, WHERE'S MY STUFF...

YAHOO...

OK, It's not bad...but hardly a quantum leap in a new direction...?

GO AHEAD OVER DO IT...!

And if the cop asks you why? Just say some guy on the Internet said it was OK!

YAHOOOOO....NEEDS OF FACE LIFT?

Hey, things like that happen when you get a little older...

But how should the new Yahoo look. A Google Clone.

Basic Black like this page... Too gloomy! And not good in bright light situations... Black is a great background for night viewing when contrast is high.

Perhaps a little Yahoo "mascot"...? Nah...we've out grown mascots on the web.

A Frames page? I HATE frames pages with their seperate scroll bars.

How bout one of those centered pages...that look like a sheet of paper in the middle of your browser screen...very in vogue nowadays? Perhaps...yes perhaps.

Tables are cool and infinately variable... But that's not new.

Stay tuned...I'm thinking.... How 'bout....

MOONSHOT! MOONSHOT! MARKET MOONSHOT CONTINUES!

The "Rally 'bout Nuttin" continues apace!

In Fact: It may even pick up steam as the suckers continue to flock...in fear of "missing the boat."

Now, where the boat is going, and why is anyones guess. But... Hey!

MOONSHOT! MOONSHOT! MOONSHOT!

I guess this is why Wall Street is so much "fun!"

NEXT STOP THE MOON....

BUSH TALKS WITH THE 'EVIL ONES'!

News that Bush & Co are finally "talking" with the "evil ones" in Iran is encouraging, because we may finally be able to "do stuff" without "bombing people."

And won't that be a refreshing change of pace...?

Bush and the Iranians have a lot in common these days because BOTH are supporting the Shia Militias in the "New Iraq."

Funny how the US taxpayers are doing something for Iran that they could never have done for themselves...namely remove Saddam and put their co-religionists, The Shia, IN CHARGE of the Iraqi nation!

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS INDEED! IN FACT THIS MAKES GAY MARRIAGE SEEM TAME... BUSHIE AND HIS BUDDIES THE MULLAHS OF IRAN!

Well stranger things have happen...but right now I can't think of any!

ROVE LAUNCHES "OPERATION PUBLICITY STUNT" DUBYA GOES TO FUND RAISER!

The televised footage of the "biggest air offensive since the start of the Iraq War...."

a/k/a "Operation Swarmer"...shows a bunch of guys running around in a barren desert landscape...with little or nothing to attack.

So;

Where are the "Canon Sight" shots of buildings exploding? That we've come to expect...

Where is the "shock and awe?" Something that we can yell about on our bar stools? "Hot Damn!" Take that "Say-Damn!"

Yet, considering the number of times all those "terrorist hideouts" have been filled with women and children...a little caution is probably in order!

This "offensive" will likely not destroy ANYONE...for fear that they turn out to be "ordinary Iraqis"

Or, God Forbid, more women and children...for the Arab media to videocast to the outraged Muslim world!

And, apparently, this "major offensive" wasn't even discussed with the President...who was out on a "fund raising" tour!!

SHOCK AND AWE BABY! SHOCK AND AWE!

This thing as Rove's finger prints all over it!!

But alas, it's getting a little late in the game to "Swift Boat" this one...

TALKS WITH IRAN...? THAT 70s SHOW!

SHOCK AND AWE BABY, SHOCK AND AWE....

OK, now who exactly are we killing this time...? Or does it matter anymore? As long as it's some kind of Muslim?

THIS MARKET IS A MOONSHOT...UNTIL MAY 1st!!

BUY ALL DIPS!! THE PARTY WON'T LAST LONG.

BUY GOLD ALL THE TIME!! AND ESPECIALLY ON DIPS.

INFLATION DOWN? HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE GAS PUMP LATELY?

LOL... Wall Street is now an economic Disney Land. They simply are not going to let the suckers off the hook... The suckers simply must buy high and sell low.

Quote of the day:

"Critics of further Fed tightening say the low unemployment rate masks considerable slack in the labor market, with the employment participation rate stuck at 66.1%, more than percentage point below the pre-recession peak.
The number of long-term unemployed people remains stubbornly high after four years of expansion. The percentage of unemployed workers who've been out of work longer than 27 weeks rose to 19% in February. "

Every so ofter the truth "slips out." People are simply dropping out of the labor market and moving in with relatives or friends. The lack of household formation during recent years is remarkable... People simply can not afford to pay rent.

ANOTHER HAPPY TALK RALLY ON WALL STREET... DOW 12,000 INEVITABLE!

Likely this rally could extend until April 15...the usual cut off point for the happy talk, and the seasonal time to "take profits"...

I see very very little that can penetrate the current WALL OF HYPE. The market has the ability to ignore bad or long term news during these "daze periods."

THE MARKET IS A BUY! BUT BUYING GOLD AND SILVER...GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO HOLD ON TO...AFTER THE COMING "SUCKER FLUSH" AROUND APRIL 15...

ONE MORE MONTH...STRAIGHT UP...WITH ONLY MINOR PULL BACKS. THIS IS A TRADERS MARKET...PER USUAL THE "INVESTORS" A/K/A "SUCKERS" WILL BE TREADING WATER LATER THIS SPRING...

BUSH DOCTRINE vs THE WORLD

The Doctrine of Preemptive War is being expanded by the Bush Administation...

Probably in light of it's huge success in Iraq...?

The US will now attack anyone it doesn't like, or anyone that thinks the Palestinians are getting a raw deal from Israel.

The New Doctrine attacks and critizes Russian and China for lack of democractic rights. Which is sure to be noticed in those countries...if China were smart they'd start dumping dollars ASAP, and buying gold. But considering how gold has been doing lately they likely already are doing that!

The Doctrine of Preemptive War is really an admission of the failure of the Bush Administration to "connect" with the rest of the world... It should really be called the Cheney Doctrine or the Neocon Doctrine. It's all about attack now and ask questions later.

How richly Bush & Co deserve their current predicament in Iraq and Afghanistan!

But they are slow learners...because even their KEY rural "Bubba Republican" supporters are starting to see the light.

THE BUSH DOCTRINE IS AN ADMISSIION OF FAILURE.

IT WILL BE US "POLICY" ONLY UNTIL 2008 WHEN A MORE ARTICULATE AND LESS UNCURIOUS REGIME CAN REPLACE THE CURRENT SAD EXCUSE FOR A PRESIDENT...

Very likely the current "wars" will occupy Dubya & Co until their replacements can be elected...starting in 2006!

FED BEIGE BOOK: GOLDILOCKS ON PROZAC!!

The economy is booming...

but don't worry it's only booming a little...not enough for the FED to keep raising rates...

Commodities are going up...but don't worry...it's not being passed though to consumers...but profits will be up...but don't worry...we'll lay some people off...but don't worry...they'll find other jobs...because the economy is booming...but not really booming...only a little bit booming...


Oh Pleeeease!

SEARS UP: WHAT THEY DO...SELL SOME REAL ESTATE?

SO, IS GOLD A "SURE THING" OR WHAT....?

SADDAM AND MELOSEVIC: THE AMERICAN FALLACY

With the passing of Slobo and with Saddam now in a Kangaroo Court Trial in Baghdad...the biggest fallacy of American foreign policy is exposed...

To Wit: THE PERSONALIZATION OF THE "ENEMY."

To often the American policy toward a nation is limited to the personality of it's leaders. Often the fate of the millions who live under the elites is ignored.

In Iraq hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed because of the ill-planned American invasion... And there is no end in sight.

In Serbia the West decided to "give" Kosovo to the Muslim Albanians... Why? Who knows...probably as a divide and conquer strategy against former Soviet states. Indeed the US was backing the Chechan rebels UNTIL 911! Then Russia became our "partner" in the fight against Islamist terror.

Then we villified Arafat.

Now there is the villfication of Iran's leadership... Yet Israel can do whatever it wants and the US will not oppose it. THIS, is noticed you know in other parts of the world.

What is not noticed is that the leadership is not the same as the nation... We "hated" Arafat now we have Hamas. We "hated" Saddam now we have the Insurgency an Sadr's Shia Militias. Whose next on the "hate list?" (Alas, Mr Sharon can't tell us anymore!)

Dubya & Co so villified Arabs that now the dollar and the world trading system is in peril...as Kongress seeks to protect "sacred cows" in our economy from foreign takeovers.

In foreign affairs...simple is not always better. In fact it's the one place where SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY probably does not apply!

ABBAS SHOWS RESTRAINT AGAINST LIKUD POLITICIANS

Does Abbas have a partner for peace after being abandon by the US and Britain? That is really the question that the western media dare not answer...

BERNANKE: THE NEW CASSANDRA

Bernanke admitted he could do little about the Trade Deficit:

"Regarding global trade imbalances, Bernanke said government policies would have only a "limited" effect unless financial market views shifted. "In the absence of a shift in market perceptions of the relative attractiveness of U.S. and foreign assets, government policies would likely have only limited effects on the trade balance," Bernanke said

OIL AT $70 AND A 5% BOND...LOOMING

But hey, what's not to like...

BEIGE BOOK BLUES...?

MORE HAPPY DAYS FOR STOCKS...

Buying the "ifs" and "maybes" can be fun...but that's not really the way to make a profit.

Wall Street's Hype Machine is in full SPIN CYCLE...

In a few weeks comes: THE RINSE! The 401k suckers simply can not be allowed to "buy low." It's an old Wall Street Tradtion...like swinging the gavel at the close.

BOND MARKET BINGO...

...WAITING TO "REACT" TO THE NEXT DAILY "DATA POINT?"

BUT THE LONG TERM TREND IS WELL ESTABLISHED.

SO IT'S REALLY ABOUT HOW YOU WANT PLAY IT...

PICK UP DIMES BY TRADING DAILY DATA POINTS

OR, PERHAPS, PLAY IT "BY THE WHOLE YEAR"....AND PLACE YOUR GOLD BETS NOW.

VERY ODD INDEED. BUT IT DOES PROVIDE WORK FOR SOME PEOPLE WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO OTHERWISE...

IS APPLE BEING "MILKED"....?

The Street notes that Apple is not spending much on R&D anymore...

Could this be a sign that Apple has given up on finding the "next big thing" or perhaps that they see something coming...perhaps from off shore...that renders the future problematic.

Tech innovation seems to be moving to Asia and India these days...along with the programmers!

HOW TO INVEST THE AFGHAN DRUG MONEY...?

Will American "advisors" help? It gets curiouser everyday under the Bush Doctrine...

They could always but stocks...Wall Street is a sure thing.

SADDAM MUZZLED FOR PRAISING IRAQI PEOPLE!

It just gets deeper and deeper...!

Why does the occupation court fear Free Speech? Is this how Bush teaches democracy to Muslims?

HAPPY DAYS FOR GOLD AND SILVER INVESTORS...

And stocks too... So...

Is everybody happy...?

IRAQ AND THE DUTIES OF THE INVADING POWER...CENSURE BUSH UNDER THE LAWS OF WAR AND OCCUPATION.

Amid claims that a civil war has started in Iraq....

The international community AND CONGRESS, should hold Bush et al "responsible" for peace and civil order in the "invaded nation"....under the international law of war and occupation.

After all, under Saddam at least there was no mayhem, rioting and civil disorder.

The purpose of government is to provide law and order...

The US and Bush should be held to account for the unlawful breach of the peace in Iraq... It's an embarassment to the American People.

In short;

Bush needs to establish a draft...ASAP...and move in and "put things right" in Iraq. ...Now.

He can't just stand there helpless!

What happen to Hail Caesar and "mission accomplished?" Maybe it's time to put the grown-ups back in charge...?

Bush broke Iraq and Bush should fix it...or be CENSURED by Congress and by world opinion.

Pottery Barn Rules! Remember...?

MARKET RALLIES ABOUT NUTTIN...

Not that selling high to the 401k suckers is nutthin.... But you know...sorta nutthin.

HAPPY PI DAY... 3/14...get it?

HAPPY PI DAY...to you.

Here are some songs to sing to celebrate our friend Pi:

a/k/a: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028
841971693993751058209749445923078164062862
089986280348253421170679

Click HERE for Pi Songs:

Now shut your Pi Hole!

SLEEP WALKING TO THE REFIGERATOR...

This is not what Wall Street wants to hear...

"The next morning, the night eaters remember nothing about their foraging. But they wake up to find telltale clues: mouthfuls of peanut butter..."

LoL.

FORGET GOLDMAN...TRY GOLD!

The only Sure Thing these days....?

GOLDMAN: SELLING OUT AMERICA TO FOREIGNERS.

What else can they do...? The Current Account Deficit is SOARING!

INVEST IN THE COMPANIES THAT ARE SELLING AMERICA!

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE ON WEST BANK...

Israel's campaign for provocation of Palestinians is finally bearing fruit...

All Hell has broken loose on the West Bank...as Americans and Brits abandon Abbas to the mercy of Israel.

This could be the start of something big...Israel simply must act now to preserve it's chance to annex the West Bank and expell the Palestinians into Jordan.

The American media will be ignoring the story per usual as it can not really justify it's betrayal of Abbas and the peace process to the coming Likud land grab.

IRAN IN THE CATBIRD SEAT...?

Time to "start the bombing"...?

Well, Iran isn't Serbia... So any attack would likely bring the Muslim world down on our heads and Iraq would become even more "problematic" than it is already...!

No wonder Tony is bugging out ASAP! He's no fool.

MORNING CALL...NOT SO HOT.

Looks like Happy Days were queer again...?

PERFECTING THE IED....? AS NEXT TERROR WEAPON...?

Much is being made of the threat that Iran will get an atomic bomb...and "export" it to terrorists.

But, what Iran seems to be doing is "perfecting" the IED...as the NEXT terror weapon of choice.

So far, the terrorists have used their IEDs ONLY in Iraq and Afganhistan....but could that change?

An IED could be the "next attack" that so many people have been speculating about. Because, the Islamists have not been good at "high tech" terrorism...it's all been pretty basic so far.

It appears that Iraq has become a "proving ground" for advancing IED "techonology" for the Islamists and their supporters are concerned.

Quick and dirty seems to be the name of the game for the Islamist Radicals, so far...

GOLDS REBOUND...

Can you guess why....?

FEAR OF FLYING....

I COME TO BURY CAESAR, NOT TO PRAISE HIM...

Slobo's Revenge...?

Sometimes a live prisoner is better than a dead leader?

Another nail in the coffin for Capital Punishment.

Remember this,....when Saddam's time comes...

BRITAIN BUGS OUT....?

Alas Tony is perhaps a fair-weather soldier...?

CONGRESS PISSING OFF ARAB FINANCIERS...?

The ports flap could be the 800 pound chicken coming home to roost.... Currency Bubbles abound in the global economy today....

BONDS NEAR FREE FALL AS PARADIGM SHIFT KICKS IN...?

We could see something close to a straight line decline in bonds now...as all of the cats are out of the bag and everyone knows the FED will continue raising rates for the indefinite future....

The yada yada will be about the "strong economy" but the reality is oil, gas, gold and the dollar are finally reaching a tipping point...

Amazingly as money "flees" bonds, that might help stocks as the "strong economy" story gets legs... But of course the housing bubble will crash...and incomes will decline as home equity starts to shrink... Foreclosure rates are spiking big time in many markets. And this could pressure banks.

The die is cast on interest rates, ...but still, the happy talk on stocks is a mile wide and an inch deep. After initial euphoria today...the markets should sell off after 3PM.

GOOD NEWS: BUSH TO "SPEAK" IN FAVOR OF THE IRAQ WAR...!

Good news for the anti-war Democrats that is...! Everytime Bush opens his mouth in public from now on...his approval rating will go down.

He would be better off going to Texas and letting Cheney, Rove and Condi "handle things" for the duration.

IF IT'S MONDAY...TIME FOR MORE HAPPY TALK ON WALL STREET!

MCCAIN THE ULTIMATE FLIP FLOPPER...

Mc Cain is too poll driven.

He's trying to be the "nice Republican" and like Kerry, who tried to read the polls to closely, he will lose...

Mc Cain is wishy-washy, namby-pamby, and the ultimate "flipper" when it comes to policy...

What Democrats need to do is say: "Vote for us and we will solve"~~

1. HEALTH CARE

2. THE TRADE DEFICIT

3. AND PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT.

AND STICK WITH THOSE THREE ISSUES ONLY! IF WE HAVE TO RESORT TO MOTTOS AND SLOGANS...GREAT! THAT'S THE KIND OF STUFF THAT STICKS IN BUBBA'S SIMPLE MIND!

And Democrats need to smoke the Republicans out from behind abortion, gays and Jesus...and talk CONSTANTLY about the stuff that the Republicans don't want to talk about...to wit: (See above three points.)

And yes, Democrats will have to consider a roll back of the outrageous tax cuts for the rich that have bankrupted the nation. And put us at the mercy of foreign central banks and dodgy governments like the UAE!

Furthermore, we need a streamlining of the IMPERIAL WAR BUDGET which is getting us into all manner of economic and geopolitical trouble.

And sooner or later, someone is going to have to take on the Two State solution with Israel in earnest...before the "next round" of fighting starts up...

This isn't rocket science...it's political science! Get on it now...

MELOSEVIC POISONED....?! MURDER AT THE HAGUE??

I smell an urban legend coming up here...

And maybe a book; "MURDER AT THE HAGUE"...?

WHITE HOUSE SUFFERS FROM LACK OF INTELLIGENCE...

Amen...to that.

FRIDAY'S GOLD ANOMALY

Curiously, on Friday, Gold stocks were up big time...even while

Gold Bullion was down...

The sell off in gold stocks seems to have been overdone. And the only thing "depressing" gold is the notion that the FED is going to keep on raising rates...undefinitely!

Right now the FED as a tiger by the ears...and it's the dollar in one hand and the trade deficit in the other.

THE FED DARE NOT STOP RASING RATES NOW! NOT WITH THESE DEFICITS, THE WAR, AND THE XENOPHOBIC PORTS/INVESTMENT DEBACLES NOW BREWING IN KONGRESS...

BUSH ADVISOR CAUGHT!

FRENCH LEFT PROTESTS JOB ACTIONS....

MILOSEVIC MURDERED!!?? SERBIAN HERO...?

Could Saddam suffer the same fate... eventually?

Clearly the geopolitical gloves are coming off...along with the wheels on the west's efforts to dominate the middle east...?

Surely there are other ways to deal with former warlords, dictators and war criminals who are former heads of state...?

Perhaps they could be "detainted" as "booty" under the laws of war without need for a trial...?

The problem is that one man's war criminal is another man's "hero of the revolution" or "patriot"...very often the leadership of the losing side is put on trial as revenge, or for "show trial" purposes, or to humiliate an entire nation as we see in Iraq and Serbia today...

Just look at the trials of Milosevic and Saddam...THEY ARE A JOKE.

And everyone knows it...

As it chess...if you capture the "king"...the game is over! No more show trials...it demeans the concept of international law.

Of course exceptions could be made for "direct involvement" in criminal conspiracies...

But "just losing the war" should not be the sole reason for a political show trial.

The Hague has been a joke for sometime now...it may be time to go back to the drawing board on War Crimes trials of former heads of state.

P.S. And Dubya and Rummy should be all in favor of this! For obvious reasons...

BULLY FOR THE DOLLAR....

Ahhh....the hidden benefits of out of control deficits...!!

HIGHER RATES FOREVER...

Of course a higher dollar is bad for corporate profits...especially overseas...and bad for the trade deficits...and bad for bonds...except for new ones.

So why is Wall Street happy....well, lets call it VERY VERY SHORT TERM THINKING...

They just want to get the 401k suckers "in" before April 15/May 1....and then REALITY TIME...AND THE PLUG IS PULLED!

Hey, this isn't new you know...it happens all the time...every year. That's why the pros trade the market....unlike the sucker who "invests" in it!!

MARKET MASTERS "FLAT LINE" GAIN AT 11,050

Well it's SUCKER SEASON...

So the market master's really FLAT LINED the gain today...! Taking no chances on Dow breaking below 11,050...! Nice job! But the float was probably light. Enjoy...

BONDS PLUNGE ON HAPPY TALK...GOLDS UP...5% 10 YEAR LOOMS

GLOBALISM CAUSES PROTECTIONISM....

Maybe a little Yin-Yang going on here...?

A bit of dialectic thinking...thesis, antitheses, synthesis...?

Or just good old economic cyclical paradigms kicking back in...?

The only real question is: HOW TO PLAY THESE "HAPPY TALK RALLIES?"

If this rally is true to recent form, ie fake, we should see a sell off before 4PM...who wants to wake up on Monday morning...owning gauranteed higher rates and a pissed off public that is Bush Bashing like never before...?

~~Best Quote of the day amid all the usual happy talk:

"The wage story is gathering real momentum," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. "The Fed is going to 5%, and more if housing does not collapse by mid-year. "

CONSEQUENCES OF WEAK MANUFACTURING AND RETAIL JOBS?

Well let's just say in America we don't make nuttin...and we don't buy nuttin.

Spin that into happy talk...

BOOMING JOBS MARKET MEANS HIGHER INTEREST RATES ASAP!

Hey guys, Happy Talk has consequences.... Just like Arab Bashing had consequences in the ports debacle...

After 20 years of lying to the American people...sometimes the elites have a hard time keeping their story straight...

Nevermind though...the poll numbers show we could be in for "regime change" in November.

Spin it if you want to win it...?

US ECONOMY NEEDS MORE UNEDUCTATED STUPID WORKERS

And if the educated workers don't like it...let them move to India!

ECONOMY "CREATES" 186,000 FAKE JOBS....

All EQUALLY DIVIDED among the various sectors because the Republican tax cuts are "working"... Read all about it CLICK HERE.


Here's the "official" totals...very predictable, very "equalized" as usual:

Nonfarm employment.......| 133,750| 134,161| 134,376|p134,546|p134,789| p243
Goods-producing(1).....| 22,140| 22,242| 22,282| p22,347| p22,392| p45
Construction.........| 7,305| 7,391| 7,416| p7,471| p7,512| p41
Manufacturing........| 14,208| 14,211| 14,222| p14,229| p14,228| p-1
Service-providing(1)...| 111,610| 111,920| 112,094|p112,199|p112,397| p198
Retail trade(2)......| 15,297| 15,284| 15,300| p15,287| p15,294| p7
Professional and | | | | | |
business services..| 16,942| 17,058| 17,121| p17,138| p17,177| p39
Education and health | | | | | |
services...........| 17,411| 17,476| 17,507| p17,557| p17,604| p47
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality........| 12,840| 12,873| 12,898| p12,923| p12,948| p25
Government.......... | 21,843| 21,870| 21,878| p21,847| p21,885| p38

So consturction and health care are still "booming"...?

The "Bad Boys" of retail and manfacturing are predictably punk...

And Bartending, government and temps are holding their own...

YES ITS ALL FAKE...but what difference does it make...