Nice Move on the Golds...thanks...

DOLLAR CRASH LOOMS...BUY GOLD NOW!

Hey...lets get real for the rest of the year...OK?

Nice Distribution Day for Market Masters...

Stay tuned...this blog is going into Warp Speed...

More later...

AMERICAN ECONOMY: ONE LONG FART IN THE FACE OF REALITY

But what do you expect in an economy totally based on BULLSHIT....!

Sorry about the gap in posting...I've been traveling...and I have a lot to say about what I've seen at "street level!!"  THIS ECONOMY IS MUCH WORSE THAN I EXPECTED...

I DOUBT IT WILL LAST THE SUMMER... BERNANKE IS TRYING TO BULLSHIT THE KONGRESS ABOUT THE DOLLAR...EVEN WHILE KEEPING LIQUIDITY HIGH...

Stay tuned...!

SAUDI KING FUCKS BUSH...!

KUDOS TO THE KING OF THE HOUSE OF SAUD FOR CALLING BUSH OCCUPATION OF IRAQ "ILLEGAL!" NOW TO GET THE WAR CRIMINALS IN WASHINGTON ON TRIAL FOR THEIR CRIMES!

PANIC SELLING OF HOUSE LISTINGS...?

And a lot of people are "getting reasonable" fast on their price expectations. I've got a feeling a lot of "first offers" are being snapped up by sellers...

MARKET MASTERS SUCCESSFULLY DISTRIBUTE "FED RALLY."

A very successful week for the market masters... The Suckers bought it!

Remember, buy that pre-statement "FED Rally" next month...!

THE MARKET ALWAYS RALLIES ON THE RELEASE OF THE FED STATEMENT...NO MATTER WHAT IT SAYS...

AS LONG AS THE FED TRIES TO BE "BALANCED" THE MARKET SPIN MACHINE CAN MAKE A RALLY OUT OF IT...

But then there is always the problem of gas, oil and gold... And the collapsing house market... And the corporate earnings which are getting harder and harder to lie about...even with creative accounting...

But in total a very good week for the Brokerage community...they pulled it off well.

A lot of suckers are stuck holding stocks now...which were bought at TOP DOLLAR...just like the suckers are supposed to do...

And remember this is still "Sucker Season" even it if has been a bit more "exciting" than the prior Sucker Seasons...

Likely the major averages are "safe" until after May first.... But things could get choppy after April 15 as major players prepare for the annual Sucker Flush...going into the summer.

And oil bears watching...it's on a slippery slope...and could advance the standard "game plan" of the market masters quickly...

The currency market also looks unstable...the dollar has been teasing 134 on the Euro... And if it hits 135 a lot of people are going to have to adopt a new "world view"...just in case.

OIL SOARS ON FLABBY FED...!

I UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVATION OF THE FED TO BE "BRIEF" IN YESTERDAY'S STATEMENT...

PERHAPS THEY WANTED TO CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF "WORDS" SUBJECT TO "INTERPRETATION" BY THE STREETS SPIN MASTERS...

ALAS, IT DIDN'T WORK!

EVERYTHING THAT WAS LEFT OUT OR CHANGED SLIGHTLY FOR BREVITY WAS "INTERPRETED" IN FAVOR A THE TOUTS...AND A WILD RALLY ENSUED...

I SUPPOSE THERE IS A LESSON THERE SOMEWHERE...? PERHAPS IT'S IF YOU SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY...THERE IS NO NEED TO PLAY THE WORD GAME...

MY SUGGESTION TO THE FED AND BERNANKE IN PARTICULAR IS...START EXPLAINING THINGS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MACRO ECONOMICS...AND FORGET THE MARKET SPEAK... THE FED DOES NOT OWN THE MARKETS ANYTHING... THE FED IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE MONETARY POLICY IN A MANNER THAT PRODUCES A STABLE AND GROWING ECONOMY FOR EVERYONE... NOT JUST THE MARKET TOUTS...

AND THAT'S REALLY THE PROBLEM ALL ALONG ISN'T IT...

THE FED HAS BEEN KOW-TOWING TO THE MARKETS...

AND THEY HAVE IGNORED THE UNSUSTAINABLE ASPECTS OF THE US ECONOMY, FOR EXAMPLE THE DEFICITS AND THE GENERAL STRUCTURAL DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION;

AND NOW IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT...WHAT COMES NEXT...!

NO WONDER THE FED LIKES TO TALK IN CIRCLES...

KUDOS TO THE JOHN EDWARDS FAMILY.

THEY DID THE RIGHT THING...

FOR THE RECORD...I'M SUPPORTING EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008...

AMERICANS NEED A POPULIST PRESIDENT FOR A FEW TERMS TO RESTORE THE EQUILIBRIUM THAT DEGENERATED BADDLY DURING THE LAST DAZE OF REAGANISM...

AND UNDER THE MORONIC AND PERHAPS CRIMINAL PRESIDENCY OF DUBYA & CO...

THE NEXT PRESIDENT SIMPLY MUST:

1. HANDLE HEALTH CARE

2. HANDLE SOCIAL SECURITY

3. HANDLE THE TRADE DEFICIT AND THE DOLLAR

4. STOP THE LUKUDNICS IN ISRAEL AND WASHINGTON AND GET AN ACCORD ON THE WEST BANK ISSUE.

5. RAISE TAXES ON THE RICH TO PAY FOR ALL THIS...FOLLOW THE MONEY!

6. REALIZE THAT ALL ECONOMIES ARE LOCAL OR NATIONAL...AND THE GLOBALISM IS AN ECONOMIC HERESY WITH NO FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY.

ONLY EDWARDS, OF THE EXISTING CANDIDATES, HAS THE CAPACITY TO GET HIS ARMS AROUND ALL OF THESE ISSUES...

ADDITIONALLY HE'S A SOUTHERNER... FINALLY, I WOULD SUGGEST A WESTERN GOVERNOR FOR VICE PRESIDENT...LIKELY RICHARDS.

MARKETS GOING TOTALLY TUBULAR...?

It seems everyone wants to be the "Next Youtube..."

But is "video sharing" really the next big thing...? I don't think so.

It's perhaps the next "so-so" thing or the next "what-next-thing"....

But BIG thing?...not really...

Most "user generated" videos tend to be basically the same...boredom sets in fast...been there done that. I mean even the major networks have a hard time producing anything "watchable" these days! And they have nearly unlimited spending power...

And a lot of this is targeted at the fickle youth market...where tastes change faster than fashions and "favorite beers."

Videos may share space with the blogs eventually...

Actually I think of video sharing as blogs for people who can't write in complete sentences... Or who can't spell...

But if you've seen "spelling" on the Internet lately...it's becoming another language in the making...!

Internetese!

As long as the markets finance this nonsense on the Internet...with over sized, high share prices...every small advantage will seem like the "next big thing."

BONDS FEAR IRRATIONAL FED ACTION...

THE "FED MEETING TRADE"....?

Forget the Bernanke Put...  What about the "FED Meeting Trade"...?

It would work like this:

Knowing that the market always rallies wildly on issuance of the FED statement...

Why not Buy the DIA at about 1:30 or even 2 o'clock...and then sell the INEVITABLE RALLY that happens right after the statement comes out...

In a post below I've discussed this odd Fed Meeting Rally...  And it's so common that everyone must see it by now...

Indeed, a lot of people saw the best example of it yet yesterday...!  A flat line market jumped insanely high right after the statement was released...  And it's not as if the FED actually changed anything...  They didn't.  If anything the statement was expressing concern about Inflation...  But it's never about the text...it's always the context that the Street spin machine puts on things...  And the Street knows that Bernanke would never do anything to harm the speculative markets.  

Because quite frankly,  asset inflation and financial speculation is all the Americans have going for them now!  The American "real economy" is simply a fiction...there is only a bunch of people working for subsistance wages...who can't even go bankrupt on their debts now...and who have no health insurance or pension...

But who still dearly love Jesus...the Devine Patron of the Republican Rich...perhaps even the Zionist ones...who knows...God acts in mysterious ways!  Especially the Republican Gods in Washington.

OIL SOARS ON INFLATIONARY FED HOPES...

FOUR DOLLAR GAS IN CALIFORNIA...COMING SOON!

OR IS IT ALREADY THERE AT SOME STATIONS.......?

DOES THE FED FEAR INFLATION OR STAGNATION...

WHY SHOULD THEY HAVE TO CHOOSE...?

THE FED IS GOING TO GET BOTH INFLATION AND STAGNATION...  IT'S CALLED STAGFLATION...

STAGFLATION IS THE MODERN WAY OF "DOING DEPRESSIONS" IN THE POST GOLD STANDARD WORLD OF PRINTED MONEY...

ESSENTIALLY, THE "SYSTEM" CAN ONLY ABSORB SO MUCH PRINTED MONEY...BUT ONCE THE CENTRAL BANKS START PRINTING MONEY IT'S HARD TO STOP...

SO THE PRINTING PRESSES RUN LONGER AND LONGER WITH LESS "BANG FOR THE BUCK"...  

THE "CHINA TRADE" GAVE THE FED THE RIGHT TO PRINT MONEY ONLY FOR THE "RICH"...AS THE WORKING CLASSES HAVE BEEN "DEENFRANCISED" BY THE REPUBLICAN "JESUS" VOTE...

THAT'S ALL HITTING THE FAN NOW....

THE NAME OF THE GAME IS STAGFLATION....AND IT'S HERE TO STAY...UNLESS OR UNTIL THE CENTRAL BANKS DECIDE TO PUT WALL STREET IN A 1970's STYLE TIME-WARP....

IT'S BACK TO THE FUTURE NOW...  THE 1970's....

Sorry Mr Bernanke...your holding a pair of dueces...in this Economic Poker Game!

BUY THE DIPS ON GOLD AND OIL...

BUY THE DIPS ON GOLD AND OIL...  GOLD STOCKS ARE JUST OFF THEIR 52 WEEK LOWS...EVEN AS THE FED IS OPTING FOR A WEAK DOLLAR AND HIGHER OIL...TO SAVE THE STOCK BUBBLE...(AND TO SOME EXTENT THE REAL ESTATE BUBBLE)

REMEMBER, ASSET BUBBLES ARE ALL THE US ECONOMY HAS GOING FOR IT NOW!

TAKE AWAY THE ASSET BUBBLES AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT....  A MESS OF STUPID PEOPLE IN DEBT...WITH A GOVERNMENT THAT IS RUN BY THE ELITE LOOTERS ON WALL STREET AND IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY...

YES, THERE IS CHANGE AFOOT....BUT TOO LITTLE TOO LATE...  

THE DEMOCRATS WILL NEED DECADES TO REVERSE THE DAMAGE DONE FROM TWENTY YEARS OF REPUBLICAN TRASHING OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE US ECONOMY...

AND WHEN IT'S ALL OVER GOLD WILL BE AT $2000 PER OUNCE...!

THE RUN ON THE DOLLAR WILL START LATER THIS YEAR...YOU CAN SMELL IT IN THE AIR...  THE CHINESE ARE STARTING TO MOVE FUNDS AROUND...THEY DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK HOLDING WORTHLESS DOLLARS...

SUDDENLY, GREENSPAN'S  SOONER OR LATER WARNING....IS...NOW!

ASIA BUYS THE BERNANKE "PUT." GOLD WILL SOAR!!

Now the Bernanke "put" has spread to Asian trading...

The gnomes are going to have a hard time with gold, oil and the dollar today...!

The "planning" and quality of thinking on Wall Street is almost as bad as what got us into Iraq...! Hmmm....but they are all Republicans after all... So the pattern of not considering the "morning after" is dominant in the conservative intellectual "gene pool."

WALL STREET FACES GRIM MORNING AFTER...

Today's insane rally was so nonsensical that the "morning after" could be interesting...

To believe the promise of the rate cuts, which caused the "rally," you'd have to believe that the economy is slowing markedly...

But the weaker dollar could be inflationary...nevertheless.

In short, Stagflation...

MICHIGAN NEARLY BANKRUPT...

Don't forget that the State and Local Governments are nearly broke in the US....  

Remember, they are burdened by huge health care costs  and DEFINED benefit pensions for their workers...  

I would not be surprised to see some "rare" municipal and even state bankruptcies if the "New Stagflation" takes hold later this year...

HOW SICK IS WALL STREET...?

WHAT HAS BEEN MISSED IS THAT THE US IS GOING INTO STAGFLATION.

WHAT  A PITIFUL "GAME" WALL STREET HAS BECOME....  WHY?  THIS CHART IS SO SAD AND SICK...  CLICK HERE.

BERNANKE "PUT"....?

Alas Poor Bernanke...he can't catch a break on Wall Street.

After shortening the "statement" to a few sentences...and eliminating as many words as possible the FED got caught with TOO FEW WORDS...  Perhaps they followed my advise too well...

This paucity of words was "interpreted" as a change of policy...
simply because a few phrases were "left out" of this SHORT STATEMENT...

BUT... The statement itself is filled with caution about inflation...  THIS WAS TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE MARKETS...  If favor of the "word game."

The bulk of the statement...almost all of it...is expressing caution about inflation and musing about whether it can be controlled...  There is the usual comment that incoming data will be examined and policy adjusted accordingly...

But was too little too late....  So Sad!  Bernanke can't catch a break with the Wall Street Touts!

AL GORE HAS A FEVER...

The excess dependance on hard to find oil is a BIG problem...  

Whether humanity has the ability to significantly effect the planet on a global level...is open to debate...  

We know that the planet has it's own "agenda" which is unknown 
and unknowable to us at this time.  

The Ice Ages for example.  And sometimes extincitions happen!  

And it's nobody's fault.   

The mass of humanity is  concentrated inlarge  cities... and it's scary looking...especially if you're in the middle of that city.  

But the world is still a very vacant place!  There are huge areas on the planet where human beings simply  "are not"...  

The Oceans.  The Amazon Basin.  The Polar Regions.  Most of the large continents. Even Nevada!

The environment and pollution are important...especially in crowded places
like the huge cities of the world.

CO2 as "pollution" is bad...  

Whether you should sell your coastal property for a loss and flee inland...is... well a somewhat "feverish" notion at this point...  

I am suspicious of popular "fads" of all kinds...  

Whether it's the "dotcoms" ....or global warming...

BERNANKE'S INFLATIONARY MOONSHOT MARKET!

RISKY BUSINESS BY THE FED... VERY RISKY BUSINESS...

GOLD STOCKS SOAR ON SUPINE FED! A MOONSHOT FOR GOLD STOCKS? DOW +200??

GOLD STOCKS SOAR!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DOLLAR DOOMSDAY LOOMS!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IT'S OVER FOR THE DOLLAR...EURO 140 BEFORE THE 4TH OF JULY SEEMS INEVITABLE... AND $4 GAS IN CALIFORNIA THIS SUMMER... COUNT ON IT!

MARKET IGNORES FED STATEMENT FOR TRADITIONAL RALLY

This is a market so geared to rally on any FED statement that today the knee jerk reaction was to hit the buy button on the issuance of the statement no matter what... The idea being that the statement would be ambigous enough that the spinsters could push it any which way for a rally...

GOLDS SHOULD DO WELL NOW THAT THE FED ARKNOWLEDGES THE INFLATION THREAT...

My hunch is that "FED rally" will be very short lived....

ALWAYS READ DOWN TO AT LEAST THE THIRD PARAGRAPH! BEFORE YOU HIT THE BUY BUTTON...

FED SLAMS MARKETS...

Inflation and Dollar decline is feared...by our now supine FED...

The FED is TOTALLY out of the picture on rates for the rest of this year... Only a major hedge fund or bank collapse; or a SHARP plunge in the dollar to about 140 on the Euro will move the FED TO ANY ACTION IN 2007...

NOTE: THE FED USED THE "SHORT FORM" AS PREDICTED HERE. See posting below :

The Statement:

Recent indicators have been mixed and the adjustment in the housing sector is ongoing. Nevertheless, the economy seems likely to continue to expand at a moderate pace over coming quarters.

Recent readings on core inflation have been somewhat elevated. Although inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time, the high level of resource utilization has the potential to sustain those pressures.

In these circumstances, the Committee's predominant policy concern remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected. Future policy adjustments will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information.

DOW WILL FALL ON FED STATEMENT...

The Dow will fall about 50 points on release of the FED statement...

Clearly the FED has to be more worried about the weak dollar.  And the inflation that a weaker dollar might bring...  

The Street is really not in need of a liquidity bailout at this point with all of the M&A activity recently...  The huge rally in 2006 based on the elections and the FED stopping rate hikes has created on overbought situation...and the reversal of an overbought situation is NOT grounds for a rate reduction.

The house bubble is trouble that was caused by hyper-liquidity...and it will not be resolved by more liqudity...

The FED should keep it's powder dry for this summer when things might "heat up" in unforeseen ways....like say, $4 gas in California...!  Or a hedge fund collapse caused by subprime risk taking...

Good Riddence to the Evil One!

THE FED STATEMENT...STOOGE OR SCROOGE?

The issue of the day is will the FED throw Wall Street a bone and say that they are "worried" about the slowing economy...?

This would imply that the FED thinks the economy is really slowing...which would open a whole 'nuther can of worms... Or that the FED "worried about" the systemic risks in the sub-prime debacle now unfolding...

THIS COULD CRASH THE MARKETS AND THE DOLLAR IF TRUE...BY VALIDATING THE SYSTEMIC RISK THEORY ABOUT THE ECONOMY...

My hunch is that the FED statement will revert to the old SHORT FORM and say something like:

"We will examine all incoming data and respond accordingly; taking into account the economy as a whole..."

The FED has to be very careful tomorrow because The Street's "spinsters" will be working overtime... If they throw a bone to Wall Street...the currency markets could crash...

Indeed the dollar is in a slow-motion crash right now against the Euro!

SO ANY HINT OF LOWER RATES COULD PUT THE DOLLAR UNDER EVEN MORE PRESSURE...

WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY FEED INTO OIL AND GOLD PRICES... BECAUSE THE WEAKER DOLLAR, MEANS HIGHER GOLD OR OIL...(AFTER THE FED'S SHILLS ARE DONE BASHING COMMODITIES...WHICH IS A LOSING GAME.)

MY ADVISE: THE BEST WAY TO "STAND PAT" IS TO SAY AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE...

EVERY EXTRA WORD IS FODDER FOR THE SPINSTERS...PRO AND CON...

WHY TAKE A CHANCE...?

CLAM UP!

Check this page for the "real reading" of the FED statement...starting Tomorrow...at about 2:30 eastern time....

CHEERS TO NORWAY. JEERS TO E.U....

Kudos to Norway for meeting with the new Palestinian government...

Even while the E.U. an U.S. allow the Israeli radical right to set the western agenda for yet more conflict in the middle east...

All in hopes of somehow, some way annexing the West Bank into Israel; and expelling the Palestinians from their remaining lands...

Every sensible observer knows the Israel-Palestinian conflict is NOT about the Palestinian radicals...like Hamas...

But rather about the ultra-right in Israel, who will not be moved off their goal to annex the entire West Bank and to expel all Arabs and Muslims from Israeli "land"...which was given to them "By God."

The "real story" of the Israeli ultra-right is never reported in the US media OR if it is even mentioned is quickly glossed over or dropped ASAP... Or the subject is changed to something like: "Why are Palestinians so evil?"

The facts are that Israel will never be able to annex the West Bank...without some accomedaton with the Palestinians and the neighboring states...

Israel would be better off becoming a multicultural middle eastern nation...with a dominant Jewish population. This attempt to make Israel into a "boutique state" or a Club Med for "Jews Only" is doomed to failure....there is no precedent for this in recent history...

The entire mess in Iraq and Afghanistan is founded on the Zionist Fallacy of a Devine Right to a Jewish State in the middle east...which the Neocons have adopted at their peril and failed at miserably so far...

Cheers to Norway! And Jeers to the E.U. for being the puppet of the discredited Neocons and the Zionists who are giving them their "marching orders." I would have expected more from the E.U. Would that the leadership of the E.U. were as enlighted as their general public is on middle eastern affairs...!

US ECONOMY: THE JACKASS MOVIE?

With gold up and the FED wondering how to pacify Wall Street's hyper-liquidity bulls...

The US economy is starting to look like the economic version of the JACKASS MOVIE!

How sad it is to require asset bubbles (ie "finance") to achieve the appearance of prosperity... And completely ignore the production side of things....

Because that is exactly what the US economy has become...A bubble based version of the Jackass Movie....

FED WILL DRIVE DOLLAR TO 140 ON EURO! $4 GAS LOOMS!!

The notion that the FED will stooge for the speculators on Wall Street at the expense of the US Dollar is just scary!

Gas is already at $3 per gallon in California...and that's coming to a gas station near you...very soon...

I mean is Wall Street suffering from anything but a long term liquidity bloat which started during the Greenspan Daze...?

The misguided notion that the FED can "print money" for asset inflation...and avoid having that excessive liquidty "slosh" over into the real economy is just wishful thinking...

It is only because of the de-unionization of the American workplace...and the glut of goods from cheap labor in China that this absurd ASSET INFLATION has been allowed to go on for so long without adverse consequences...

But the Bubble Daze is over...

RATHER THAN LOOKING AT WALL STREET THE FED HAD BETTER FOCUS ON THE WEAK DOLLAR...AND WHAT THE WEAK DOLLAR MEANS TO THE ECONOMY LONGER TERM... NAMELY, HIGHER INFLATION, HIGHER GAS PRICES, AND HIGHER INTEREST RATES...!

THE FED SHOULD SIMPLY TUNE OUT THE SCREAMING FROM THE LIKES OF KUDLOW AND CRAMER...AND THE OTHER SHILLS FOR RAMPANT SPECULATION....

BECAUSE IT MAY ALREADY BE TOO LATE... SAVE THE DOLLAR...NOT WALL STREET!

BOOMSDAY BOOK: SHOULD BOOMERS BE ENCOURAGED TO COMMIT SUICIDE?

The NYT review of "Boomsday" is interesting...  It seems that some GenXers think that Boomers should be "given incentives" to commit suicide...and thus relieve the economy of the "expense" of maintaining them in their old age...

I think this is yet another great Compassionate Conservative breakthrough! Perhaps even more engenius than "No Child Left Behind."

Consider:

Any Boomer who commits suicide during a "taxable  year" should be give a $50,000 tax credit on his next return...  

Not a deduction...!  No that wouldn't be enough...  I'm talking about a credit here!  
In other words...a government check!

By encouraging Boomers to commit suicide...the Federal Budget will be relieved NOT ONLY of onerous monthly Social Security payments...but also of the Medicare and Drug Benefit outlays which Boomers will be using hugely in the near  future.

The beauty of this Compassionate Conservative approach to Boomers is that it's totally "market based"....

People will respond to their "economic best interests."   Just like the  Republican playbook predicts they will.

The "Right to Life" flock in the Republican Party should have no problem with this program...because they believe that:  The Right to Life starts at conception but ends at birth...

We simply must get rid of the looming  "Boomer Drag"... somehow...  

Perhaps a "bird flu" that only hits people in their 60's?  That might work...  

We should definitely put the "right people" to work on this program  ASAP....

Perhaps the same one's who brought over the AIDS virus to "handle" our Blacks and Gays problem...?

Ya think...?

BERNANKE: STOOGE OR SCROOGE...?

WALL STREET AWAITS THEIR ANSWER...

WEAK DOLLAR MEANS $3 GAS IN CALIFORNIA PERMANENTLY!

The relationship between the weak dollar...now at 133+ on the Euro...and the the price of gas in California is never mentioned in the media...

EVERY OTHER EXPLANATION is touted in the MSM...to avoid the obvious relationship between the twin deficits, the dollar, and the price of gas in California...  Refinery closings!  High demand in China! Our Strong Economy...gratefully given to us by the FED and Wall Street!

WITH THE DOLLAR IN NEAR FREE FALL AGAINST THE EURO AND THE YEN...AND WITH CHINA NOW "GOING MACRO" ON INTEREST RATES...

CAN $4 GAS BE FAR BEHIND...  

WELL IF THAT HAPPENS...THEY CAN ALWAYS BLAME THAT OLD 70's STAND-BY..."THOSE NASTY ARABS!!  UNLESS OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT IRAN...THEN WE'D NEED TO BLAME CRAZY PERSIANS....OR MUSLIMS IN GENERAL...

ANOTHER KRUGMAN CLASSIC...!

Krugman's column on the nostalgia for Reagan in the conservative camp is a classic...

Bush is sleep walking through the rest of his term in office...  But once he's back in Texas I expect the hue and cry for war crimes to be charged against the ex-Prez, etal, to increase...especially in Europe.

And that's just knowing what we know now about "what happens" in Iraq and the middle east...

My hunch is that once the Democrats take over there will be a huge sigh of relief globally...as people anticipate a return to sanity in Washington...  Everyone seems to be waiting to exhale....  

Likely the optional wars and occupations will end ASAP, and the "terrorists" will be dealt with through international criminal investigations...LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE...!  

NOT BY TRASHING MUSLIM NATIONS FOR NO REASON!

DUBYA AND RUMMY AND A FEW OTHERS NEED TO BE HELD TO ACCOUNT FOR THEIR CRIMINAL BREACH OF THE PEACE HOWEVER....  

AND LIKELY AMERICANS SHOULD PAY SOME REPARATIONS TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE FOR TRASHING THEIR COUNTRY IN THE NAME OF OIL AND "WOMEN'S RIGHTS..."  ...LoL...  

BUSH JUST BECOMES MORE PITIABLE BY THE DAY...

WALL STREET LATHERS UP....BUT DON'T JOIN THE FUN!

Why does the Dowdy Dow rally on every merger Monday...?

I mean most of these mergers are mistakes...and they only reflect the relative overvaluation of some stocks relative to others.

Perhaps the market wasa bit oversold on a technical basis...not on a macroeconomic level...

Or, to put it another way...the market masters need to "adjust" their inventories...

Remember... the "free float" that the market masters use to "made markets" is only those stocks in play on any one day....a very small number relatively speaking!

It is not the same as the number of shares outstanding...!

Of course the Suckers (the retail investors) think the "last share sold" price is the price they could get for their shares...but that's a myth...unless that person is only selling 100 shares.

It could be that the FED "rally " is being anticipated by the Street.

It's an old tradition to rally wildly on the day of a FED decision to "prove" that the FED still loves the Street's speculators... Don't know, maybe. But I'm convinced...!

Problem is everytime Wall Street lathers up...?

Sooner or later, someone drops the soap...!

MARKETS READY TO "GET HAPPY!"

Berenanke's HYPER-LIQUIDITY MONEY MACHINE is working...!

The FED is still providing the speculation community with cheap money...just not FREE money as before...

The Bank of China is raising rates and that could devalue the dollar even more...

So it looks like $3 gas is here to stay with the FED more concerned about Wall Street than the dollar and the underlying structural problems with US macroeconomics...

ANOTHER TAKE ON THE GOLD MARKET...

I'm open to anyone who can explain what's really happening....

GREENSPAN SAYS "TRICKS" USED TO "JACK UP" US EARNINGS!

See Greenspan's portion of the C-span link Shown below:

rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e031307_georgetown.rm?mode=compact

C-SPAN TELLS IT ALL...

To fully understand the extent to which "the leadership" of the US economy are "just winging it;"

I recommend viewing the C-span show aired this week and titled below;  
it's curently on the C-span homepage under "recent programs":

It's amazing the extent to which the leaders of this nation
are in the dark about the consequences of their  "free markets" and recent market events...  

This is a heavy hitters program with Greenspan, Rubin, Voulker, et al!  

VERY MUCH WORTH YOUR TIME AND EFFORT!  DON'T MISS IT....


See the  recent titled...

Treasury Sec. Paulson & SEC Chair Cox Moderate a Panel on U.S. Capital Markets Competitiveness (3/13/2007)

Postscript:  I can't link to it...but it opens in your Windows Media or Real Media Player...  Or copy and paste this: rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e031307_georgetown.rm?mode=compact



THIS IS REAL TIME DYNAMITE DISPLAY OF THE SCARY  FLAWS IN OUR CURRENT ECONOMIC SYSTEM...!

US LETS ISRAELI RADICALS AND NUT CASES RUN ITS MIDDLE EAST POLICY!

Yet again the US proves that it is letting a small group of Israeli nut cases run US foreign policy in the middle east...

If only the Americans would support the RATIONAL INTELLECTUALS IN THE ISRAELI LEFT....THIS LAND GRAB IN THE NAME OF RELIGIOUS NONSENSE COULD BE STOPPED...!

BUT MOST AMERICANS HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEIR KIDS ARE DYING IN A FAILED WAR...STARTED BY OUR MORON PRESIDENT...AND HIS NEOCON/LUKUDNIC "ADVISORS" IN THE "ISRAELI LOBBY!"

BUT WHEN THEY FIND OUT THERE COULD BE HELL TO PAY!!

WILL THE FED PLAY THE STOOGE FOR WALL STREET.

Well why stop now...?

My hunch is that the FED statement will be "even handed" again giving everyone a little bit of what they want to hear...

But Bernanke's real problems are much much deeper than pacifying his childish constituency on Wall Street...

The Dollar is plunging...  Gold and Oil are being bashed...but refuse to stay down.

The US Debt and Deficits are huge...and so completely "structural" that a Kongress of geniuses could not find a way out now.

THE TOTALLY SHORT TERM FOCUS ON WALL STREET ONLY WANTS TO KEEP THE NONSENSE STORY GOING...  AND THE LOOTING BY THE "CULT OF THE CEO!"

NO ONE WHATS TO TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT THE LONG RUN CONSEUQENCES...AND THE "LONG RUN" IS GETTING SHORTER BY THE WEEK!

SELL EVERYTHING BUT GOLD AND OIL...!  BUY THE COMMODITIES, OR THE STOCKS IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE NOW...  

THIS ECONOMIC MESS DOESN'T HAVE MUCH LONGER TO GO...

MEET THE PRESS: WAR CRIMINALS EXPOSED...

The appearance of Richard Perle on Meet the Press today makes me more convinced than ever that he should be charged with War Crimes along with Dubya and Rummy...when the Iraq War of Occupation is over...

Perle is unrepentant about the death and destruction he and the other Neocons and Washington Likudnics have caused...

Also appearing on Meet the Press was the completely discredited demogouge, Tom Delay, touting his new book...if there is any criminal case that can be brought against this faker for his corruption of the American System it should be brought...

It is to be hoped that after the next Presidential Election in the US:

WAR CRIMES TRAILS WILL BE HELD FOR ALL WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING OF THIS DISASTEROUS "OPTIONAL" WAR IN IRAQ...  I MEAN, DO THESE NEOCONS AND AGENTS FOR THE ISRAELI LOBBY REALLY THINK THEY CAN JUST WALK AWAY FROM A DISASTER OF THIS SCALE WITHOUT ANY CONSEUQENCES...?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING SHORT OF WAR CRIMES TRIALS  WILL CLEAR THE BOOKS OF THIS DARK STAIN ON AMERICA'S STORIED HISTORY....

ZIONISTS CONTINUE TO SEEK MORE WAR...

Only the total annexation of the West Bank will satisfy Israel...

So the Israeli government must continue to seek and provoke violence with Arabs and Muslims in the region to accomplish their long term goal...

This saddly is the truth that is NEVER reported to the American Public...who are mostly limted to wondering "Why are Muslims so evil?"

Amazingly, it was the blind following of Sharon's "geopolitical wish list" that dragged the US into this mess in Iraq...and with Iran.  

Sharon is a vegetable now...and Israel is in political chaos as the Zionist government continues to pursue their unachieveable goal of a Total Annexation of the West Bank...

What can be done about this?  

Probably nothing ....the US mainstream media is so completely controlled; that it is unlikely that Americans will be allowed to wise up anytime soon...

But the real question is....

IF A  TOTAL COLLAPSE OF THE US DOLLAR AND BOND SEEMS TO BE THE END RESULT...

WHEN WILL WASHINGTON'S ELITE TRY TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO THE LIKUDNICS AND ZIONISTS IN THE US AND IN ISRAEL,  WHO HAVE DRAGGED US INTO THIS UNWINNABLE MESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST...IN PURSUT OF THIS "SECRET AGENDA?"

MARKETS BETTING HYPE TRUMPS REALITY...?

It's all about short term hype trumping long term reality...

In the short term, everything is OK...  But come back in six months...and everything will be in the toilet...a real nosedive...

Only the shorts will make anymoney this year...

Furthermore , this notion that the markets have to rally wildly after every FED meeting is getting tedious; and is completely based on old traditions that were established during the Greenspan Bubble Daze...

Back then,  everyone knew that Greenspan would do all in his power to continue hyping his bubble.. which he claimed he didn't even see!

The US "economy" is a work of fiction now...it's not based on ANY valid or even reasonable, long term economic rationale or expectation...  

The current "game" seems to be allowing the elites to continue their looting until the "Progressives" take over;  and restore at least some economic sanity...and put a little "populist politcs" into the mix.

Unfortunately,  the Defeatocrats...have simply REFUSED to talk about anyeconomic issues...

So,  a large percentage of the incredibly ignorant US public still thinks it's all about Gay Marriage or "fearing Jesus" and hating the "evil ones"...in Washington....and even on Wall Street...

But,  my hunch is that the old game is ending...

Because even the stupids are starting to see that something isn't seriously right...

And it's not that "The Liberals Hate Jesus".... as the Hate Radio Fascists are telling them...

THE VERY FIRST DEMOCRAT WHO STARTS TO TALK ABOUT CORE ECONOMIC ISSUES, AND NOT WALLOW ON UNPOPULAR "SOCIAL ISSUES"...WILL WIN THE NOMINATION AND THE PRESIDENCY...

BUT THAT CANDIDATE WILL HAVE TO SURVIVE AN ATTEMPTED SMEAR CAMPAIGN BY THE ECONOMIC ELITES...WHO WILL INSIST ON THEIR RIGHT TO "FREE SPEECH"...AND DECRY THE DREADED "CLASS POLITICS"

I SUPPOSE THE POINT IS THAT:  THINGS ARE REACHING AN INFLEXTION POINT FOR THE US ECONOMY...

WE NEED TO SHIFT AWAY FROM THE REPUBLICAN ELITES USE OF "JESUS POLITICS" AND TOWARD A  REAL MACRO ECONOMIC BASED POLITICS AND POLICY...

BUT ALAS, ONLY THE TOTAL COLLAPSE OF THE US DOLLAR AND THE US BOND WILL BRING THAT ABOUT...  BUT WE ARE GETTING CLOSER EVERYDAY...

ONLY THE BANK OF CHINA CAN SAVE AMERICA AND AMERICANS FROM THEMSELVES...  BUT WILL THE CHINESE DO IT...?  WILL THEY ALLOW THE NEEDED AND OVERDUE  DOLLAR COLLAPSE... SO THE "NEW POLITICS" TO TAKE ROOT IN THE US?

NEGATIVE EQUITY: LIKE FEEDING A DEAD HORSE...!

Some people are losing their homes because they can't make the new "adjusted" payments...

But others will simply walk away because they owe more than the house is worth...negative equity in effect is like feeding a dead horse...

Most mortage companies will..."bid in" at the loan amount at the foreclosure auction...just to keep the low ballers and distress scavengers "off the court house steps"...

And also so they don't have to give up their real estate security...then seek an "unsecured" "deficiency judgment" against a debtor who may be "judgement proof" or close to bankruptcy.

Others debtors are just losing their jobs... Some are getting divorced...

The speculators are probably going to "dump" their losers and file Chapter 11...

Which means Feddie and Fannie are going to be doing some bailouts...which they can't really afford to do...

But remember the FED is the banker of last resort for Kongress...and that means a real chance of a lower dollar...a weaker bond...and higher rates NO MATTER WHAT THE FED DOES NEXT WEEK...

DOW: WHIPPY, NOW DIPPY...?

FED FROZEN IN PLACE FOR REST OF YEAR...

This notion that Bernanke is going to "do something" with rates...is totally misguided.

Once the modern FED "STOPS" or "STARTS" a rate cycle it is almost impossible to change course...

The markets would crash if the FED raised rates... And the market would soar wildly to 15,000+ on the Dow, if the FED lowered rates even 25BP...

It's simply the natural consequences of our "hype-based" market system in play in the US markets...

It is all based on perception...NOT MACRO-ECONOMICS...

Why? Well because the US economy has been operating TOTALLY outside of the rules and laws of macro-economics for years!

This essentially makes the US stock and bond markets...a work of fiction! For which the Greenspan could be given the Nobel Prize in Literature...BUT NEVER ECONOMICS!

DOLLAR'S RECORD PLUNGE AGAINST EURO...

The Dollar is now at 133 on the Euro... A record low? Perhaps... But it's probably going to 140...which means the Dow can go to 13,000...and still be "a wash" from an international perspective...

The problem is that while inflation is up...everyone knows the Bernanke FED CAN'T RAISE RATES UNTIL THEY GET "PERMISSION" FROM CUDLOW AND CRAMER AND THE OTHER TOUTS ON WALL STREET...

THE FED IS TOTALLY UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE WALL STREET SPECULATORS!

THE STREET MAKES IT'S OWN GRAVY AGAIN...

HAPPY DAZE ARE HERE AGAIN...!

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses to everything!

So does this mean we won...? And Bush can bring home the troops...?

GOOD MORNING WALL STREET...

Will the triple witching put a hex on the markets... The futures seem to say yes!

NO RATE CUT NOW!

It will be nice to get the rate cut talk off the table... And shut up the likes of Kudlow, Cramer, etal, who never saw a bubble they didn't want to talk other people into BUYING...

NO RATE CUT! GET OVER IT...MOVE ON...

FIND SOME OTHER MANTRA FOR TOUTING THE MARKETS...

GREENSPAN'S "SHADOW FED" IS ALL GLOOM AND DOOM

What's with Greenspan chiming in every week on the "state of play" in the markets... And predicting the future yet!

What Hutzpah!

This is the same guy who "didn't see a bubble" back in 1999!

Is he now carrying water (ie "shilling") for the gloomsters in the hedge fund community...?

P.S. I respect the "macro" approach of the hedge funds...but they've lost their asses betting on the "macro" for years now!

BUBBLE BAIL OUT FOR BANKS...

There's talk of a BUBBLE BAIL-OUT for those holding sub-prime mortgages... This is being touted as "saving homes" for over-extended house owners... But exactly who is going to pay for this corporate welfare in sheep's clothing...

Probably the Asian central banks...who have been financing all of the recent asset bubbles in the US...!

Gold was up nicely...but after many down days so No Joy there... Gold is still the best defense against a "big mistake" by a central bank...

And unfortunately, right now, the central banks are not on the same page about what comes next...and how, or if, we can stop it from happening.

My hunch is that the most of this spring is going to be about "defending 12,000" on the Dow...

Any "upside" to this market seems long gone...perhaps for the rest of this year.

The real question now is:

How bad will it get? And How fast...?

My hunch is: REAL BAD AND REAL QUICK...

GOLDILOCKS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING...

MANUFACTURING PLUNGES!

OK GREAT...

BUT EXACTLY WHAT MANUFACTURING ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT...?

THERE ARE NO FACTORIES IN AMERICA TODAY....

WARNING: AMERICAN JOBS DATA IS ALL BULLSHIT...

The American unemployment rate and "jobs numbers" are so bad they can appear to be good!

Most Americnas realize that there are no "living wage" jobs left...so they have either "started a business" or put a bunch of family members to work for minimum wage...mainly women and children...

Or, dropped out of the jobs market all together... Labor Force participation is very low especially among males...

So far no one in the main stream media has explored this little "anomaly" but everyone on Main Street knows about it....

But shhhhh.....it's supposed to be a secret. So the foreign suckers will keep supporting our bond market!

But note well, the next election is going to blind side the bi-coastal elites... The discontent on Main Street is BIG! Huge really and it's totally under reported.

AND THAT INCLUDES THE RURAL AND SMALL TOWN BUBBAS, GAY BASHERS AND JESUS FREAKS WHO HAVE BEEN THE, UNWITTING AND WITLESS, BACKBONE SUPPORTERS OF THE WALL STREETS LOOTERS AND LOBBYISTS!

MOST BOOMERS WILL NEVER RETIRE...

THE ENTIRE NOTION OF RETIREMENT IS Soooo... Well, 20th Century.

The 401k fraud that Reagan passed in 1982 for the most part abolished the defined benefit pension... And without a defined benefit pension...about 90% of the Boomers simply will not retire...

But there is an up side... At least under the Republicans and Wall Street Lobbyists...we became closer to Jesus...!

No Pensions and no health care...it doesn't get any worse than that! The Euro-social democrats are light years ahead of the dim-witted Americans...

Hey, no one ever said that being stupid would be easy... And Americans are probably by far the stupidest people in the world...!

GOLD STOCKS UP ON INFLATION DATA...

AMAZING REALLY...

YOU'D HAVE THOUGHT THE FED SHILLS ON THE STREET WOULD BE BASHING GOLD LIKE MAD TODAY...

WELL THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW WHEN THE MARKET MIGHT BE A LITTLE THINNER...

P.S.

Now, there is a bit of FED Gold Bashing trying to surface...but what took them so long!

US INFLATION SOARS....

BUT WHO CARES...! IT'S ALL ABOUT SAVING THE VARIOUS BUBBLES NOWADAYS...

THE US ECONOMY IS COMPLETELY DEPENDANT ON IT'S ASSET BUBBLES... THE REAL MACRO ECONOMIC SITUATION HAS BEEN IGNORED FOR SO LONG...THERE IS SIMPLY NO TURNING BACK TO "REAL" FUNDAMENTALS...

CAN THE ASSET BUBBLES BE SAVED IS THE ONLY QUESTION THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE US ECONOMY NOW... AND THE ANSWER SEEMS TO BE YES!... BUT ONLY BY CONTINUOUSLY DEVALUING THE DOLLAR...

A RETURN TO RATE HIKES, ALA THE 1970's, IS OFF THE TABLE INDEFINITELY BECAUSE THE FED IS ESSENTIALLY STOOGING FOR THE SPECULATORS ON WALL STREET... AND IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN SINCE THE GREENSPAN BUBBLE DAZE OF THE 1990's...

SO...

SLOW DEVALUATION. BASHING GOLD AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY. AND RATHER UNFORTUNATE INFLATION ARE THE RESULTS OF THIS DISMAL STATE OF AFFAIRS...

MAYBE GOLD STOCKS WON'T GO TO A PENNY...?

REAL ESTATE BUBBLE WILL BE WORSE THAN THE DOTCOMS DEBACLE!

Everyone is realizing that the Real Estate Bubble was obvious for a long time...

And just like the DotComs it was strickly momentum that was driving the markets' ever higher prices... Alas, not reality.

My hunch is that the Real Estate Crash will be much worse than the DotCom Crash... Few were really speculating in the DotComs...a lot of daytraders really.

The Real Estate Bubble has far greater implications because it effects something nearly everyone has...a house to live in. Every square inch of this country is covered by real estate, it's everywhere...and it's all "in play" now.

Real Estate is the one "asset" that ordinary people have...and many folks were using their house as their personal ATM during the refi craze... And God only knows how many of them took out ARMs...which are now "adjusting" higher...

But that's over now...and a lot of people have been sucked into a debt quagmire that even bankruptcy won't be able to relieve...

JUST A SHORT COVERING RALLY...?

Wipe that smile off your face...

This isn't over...yet.

With these levels of declines the shorts will have to cover periodically... That's how it was during the Big 1999/2000 Bubble Debacle... Remember...?

WHIPPY MARKETS: MARKET MASTERS LOSING CONTROL?

These whippy markets are a sign that the usual market masters are losing control... From "mere distribution" to PROTECTING 12,000 has become the order of the day... The sub 12,000 close is obviously too big a threat to be ignored.

But the fundamentals will out in the end... Could this be a last best selling opportunity...? Well perhaps not, you can always make money selling to the "shorts" in this kind of Bear Market...! But that's like going to Vegas and betting the "don't pass" line at the crap table... It works for a while but sooner or later you're standing all by yourself after the line bet players leave...

ATTENTION WALL STREET "BARGAIN HUNTERS!"

Look at it this way...now you simply have MORE BARGAINS TO HUNT!

YEAH, THAT'S THE TICKET! SPIN IT BABY! SPIN IT TILL YOU WIN IT!

STOCKS PLUNGE ON REALITY BASED ECONOMICS!

Is reality making a comeback in the global asset markets...?

It could happen! But my view has always been that in the long run...REALITY IS A "GOOD THING!"

What we need now is more of it...!

THE MEDIA HYPSTERS HAVE BEEN RUNNING THE WORLD ECONOMY FOR TOO LONG!

WILL SUB PRIME DEBACLE TAKE DOWN BONDS AND DOLLAR?

You'd think that any need for a "money printing" surge arising from a banking crisis in sub-prime loans would be bad for US bonds and the dollar...and good for gold...

But alas, the central banks and their media spinsters still control the talking points...so that Reality Based assessment will have to wait...

Today, the market masters seem to want a "distribution day" ....after the recent declines.

The last thing Wall Street needs is for reality to set in... The Myth of American Exceptionalism must be maintained at all costs now. Hence the diversions and distributions of the past few weeks.

And with debacle prone people like Bush & Cheney running things; American "exceptionalism" is a VERY hard case to make.

TRADE DEFICIT: DOOMSDAY OR HAPPY TALK

The amazing thing about the US economy is how the American "Tout TV" can completely ignore the real issues day after day.

And then, day trade on some "data point"...that is completely irrelevant or anomalous.

AMERICA NEEDS TO FOCUS!  

AND FOCUS QUICKLY ON THE REAL PROBLEMS.

1. THE TWIN DEFICITS

2.  THE MASSIVE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

3.  THE CORRUPTION IN WASHINGTON ESPECIALLY IN CONGRESS.

4.  THE LACK OF NATIONAL HEALTH CARE WHICH COULD MAKE THE US MORE COMPETITIVE AS A PLACE TO DO BUSINESS.

Yet to hear the pundits talk you'd think the biggest problem in American today is "Gay Marriage" and "The Liberals!"

IF YOU HATED AMERICA...YOU'D HAVE TO BE A REPUBLICAN OR A WALL STREET CONSERVATIVE TODAY...   

I'M SURE OSAMA SUPPPORTS BOTH OF THEIR AGENDAS!

AMERICAN MAIN STREET: TOO MANY EMPTY STOREFRONTS...!

The Main Streets of American cities are filled with empty storefronts...

While the Walmarts and MickyD's are staying in business...the lesser stores are folding like never before... Entire complexes are sitting empty.

Basically, your mom and pop shops are throwing in the towel...as the endebted American consumers dash from Walmart to MickyD's...then home---to watch their $100 per month cable TV shows...which is about all they can afford these days.

The rather persistant odd declines in "retail hiring" are primarily due to this "empty storefront" phenomenon.

It should also be noted that empty stores are not limited to small and medium sized towns in fly over country...

I was in downtown Salt Lake City recently...and their downtown is totally empty! Salt Lake doesn't even have enough bums downtown that other cities have... Salt Lake's downtown is surreal in it's total abandonment. So much for the Winter Olympic's boost...

Other cities that were "booming" like Vegas and Phoenix also have plenty of available retail space in the main strip malls. Furthermore, it's not because stores are moving to "newer locations".... although that used to explain some of it.

The total lack of retail hiring shows that this phenomenon is much deeper than that.

There is a decline in retail sales in the US that is caused by the lack of "living wage" jobs for about 80% of the population.

The Walmart's and MickyD's of the world will be the last to be hit by this decline of the American Consumer.

But note well that Home Depot and Lowes are starting to get hit now... Food outlets are always to last to feel the declines... And Walmart is mostly sellling food, not fashions, in many locations these days...

But the EARLY WARINGS OF SOMETHING MORE AND QUITE SERIOUS...can be see in the empty storefronts that line most American Main Streets these days...

SUB PRIME DEBACLE IS S&L CRISIS REDUX...!

But then isn't every mortgage that's in default..."sub-prime" by definition...?

A prime mortgage is one where the payments are being made...!

GLOBAL MELTDOWN CONTINUES...

Essentially, the markets are "rationalizing" the rather insane run up in the last half of 2006 wherein the Street tried to influence the US elections with a "happy talk rally" that got a bit out of hand and self fullfilling...

Also,  the Berenanke FED made the huge mistake of stopping the rate hikes TOO EARLY.  Then, following on with a massive flooding of the market with cash to mitigate the expected housing crisis.

Saddly, and as usual, all the money went to speculation in commodites and stocks...and little of it is actually helping the house bubble deflate...

HYPER LIQUIDITY IS NOT A "CURE" FOR A HYPER LIQUIDITY INDUCED BUBBLE...

WHAT IS THIS HOMOEPATHIC ECONOMICS...!!  

YOU CAN'T CURE A DISEASE BY "CAUSING" A LESSER FORM OF IT IN OTHER WORDS...

GOLD STOCK BASHING CONTINUES...

GOLD STOCK BASHING CONTINUES...  

IN FACT GOLD STOCKS ARE ACTUALLY FALLING FASTER THAN A MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE IN CALIFORNIA...!

THE ONLY THING LEFT FOR THE US CENTRAL BANK THAT HAS BEEN STOOGING FOR THE SPECULATION CROWD FOR YEARS...IS TO BASH GOLD...AGAIN AND AGAIN...

AND HOPE THAT IT WORKS...

THE ALTERNATIVE...?  

PROBABLY A RETURN TO LATE 70's LEVEL INTEREST RATES...!  AND THAT WILL DOOM THE STOCK MARKET TO A DISMAL 1970's STATE...

NOT GOOD IF YOU'RE A WALL STREET BONUS BABY...!

FORECLOSURES SOAR...!

Those who live by the bubble die by the bubble...

Asset Inflation has been the essence of the US economy for far too long...  

Of course this was only possible because globalism allowed the off-shoring of most "good" American jobs...and thus the decline in "bad inflation"...or the kind of inflation that effects ordinary people in the market place....butter & eggs inflation.

Amazingly MASSIVE ASSET INFLATION has never been seen as "evil" by the US FED...!  But both kinds of inflation good and bad are really the result of hyper-liquidity  by the central banks...

And the US FED has not only been printing money for the US Bubbles...but also the GLOBAL BUBBLES...IN CHINA AND ELSEWHERE...

THIS CURRENT CRISIS COULD BECOME THE S&L CRISIS...ON STEROIDS!!

SUB-PRIME AIN'T HALF THE TROUBLE!

Two decades of crap are coming home to roost...

The Dow should not be over 10,000...  And even that is questionable...

The US economy is hollowed out...only the Bullshit is left...and saddly there is still PLENTY OF THAT!  Especially at the FED in Kongress and on Wall Street...!!

DON'T BUY THE BULLSHIT TALK...

IT'S REALLY A TRAP....SELL NOW!

AMERICA IS DYING...

Anyone who travels around the US these days is struck by the fact that the American economy is dying...

True, it is a slow death... But the gloom and doom you see all over the US on Main Street is real...

My advise to foreigners stuck holding the US DOLLAR is SELL IMMEDIATELY!

THIS ECONOMY IS DOOMED... APART FROM THE HYPE AND THE LIES IN THE MEDIA AND ON THE STREET...THE US ECONOMY IS HOLLOWED OUT...

THIS WILL BECOME MORE OBVIOUS AS THIS DISMAL YEAR PROGRESSES...

BUT I WOULD SERIOUSLY WANT TO BE OUT OF US STOCKS AND THE US DOLLAR BY THEN...

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE...? PERHAPS GOLD...? I REALLY DON'T KNOW...BUT THE US ECONOMY IS ALL WALL STREET BULLSHIT NOW...

LEAVE NOW!

HOUSE SLUMP WILL STOP THE LYING ABOUT ECONOMY

ECB RATE HIKE BASHES DOLLAR...?

JOBS LIE IN SUMMARY...

Nonfarm employment.......97,000

Goods-producing.....p-71,000

Construction .......p-62,000
Manufacturing .......p-14,000

Service-providing....p168,000

Retail trade.....p7,000

Professional and business services....p29,000
Education and health services .......p31,000
Leisure and hospitality .......p31,000
Government ........p39,000

HERE'S THE BASIC "JOBS LIE" THAT THEY EXPECT YOU TO BELIEVE FOR FEBRUARY...

THERE IS THE "USUAL SUSPECTS"....  THE "WEAK THREE"  CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURING AND RETAIL...

AND THE "STRONG THREE" TEMPS, HOTELS,  HEALTH CARE & "EDUCATION" AND GOVERNMENT...

SO IT'S REALLY ALL ABOUT A STRONG PUBLIC SECTOR AND HEALTH CARE...AND EVERYTHING ELSE BASICALLY STINKS...

BUT HEY,  IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT WORK...AND A BIG RALLY ON WALL STREET...!

LOTS OF PEOPLE DROPPING OUT OF LABOR FORCE!

HOUSEHOLD DATA~~Labor force status

Civilian labor force ......-190
Employment ............-38
Unemployment ..........-152
Not in labor force ......+374

No wonder unemployment is down!  The job market is so "good" people have quit looking for jobs!

Spin it baby,  Spin it...!

I NAILED THE JOBS NUMBER LAST WEEK...

I predicted 98,000 and headline number was 97,000...  But Hey, I'm always the optimist!  I've got a hunch how the Government liars think these days...  But then I've had a little practice watching these people over time...

For the record I nailed the jobs number last week...

TAIWAN CRISIS LOOMS!

China is in a position to push the US on Taiwan now...since they have a sizeable hoard of American Bonds...which are key to maintaining global trade in equilibrium. The US should tell the Taiwan government to "cool it" ASAP. We simply can not handle another existential crisis in Washington at this time.

SWISS FRANC BENEFITS FROM CARRY TRADE CHAOS

I would expect Gold to be a Carry Trade beneficiary too...but for the Central Banks and their shills who have been bashing Gold for months to take attention away from the structurally and marcoeconomically weak dollar.

Gold bashing also has the knock on effect of driving down oil eventually...because all hard assets are seen to be on a price "escalator" at least according to the GOLD PRICE THEORY...WHICH WAS SUPPOSEDLY DISCREDITED BACK IN THE 1930's

BUT WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE MAKE AN AMAZING COMEBACK RECENTLY...

FED TALKS ABOUT LIQUIDITY ISSUES...

GOOD MORNING WALL STREET...

IS IT TIME TO GET HAPPY AGAIN...?

Not really...

But the New York markets do have the ability to lather up fast on any shred of "good news."

I suspect a revist to Dow 10,000 is in the offing...later this year. Any joy has got to be based on facts that are still unknowable to most people. Right now the gloom looks like it's still in control.

DOW HAS A LONG WAY TO FALL...

The recent unpleasantness is really a needed give back from last years odd election year moonshot bull market...which was totally without any basis in real economics.

Bernanke was flooding the market with liquidtity to support the house bubble which was crashing...and the stock market took advantage of the available money to run up to unsustainable levels...

Now there is a need to devalue the dollar to reflect the hyper-liquidty of last year... Bernanke is trying to drive down gold...and save the dollar on the cheap. But likely the FED will simply have to raise rates sooner or later this year...to keep foreigners buying US Bonds... The US Bond being the sine qua non of the current globalism and free trade regime.

More gloom and doom to come...the picnic is over on the Street...the hyper-liquidty daze will likely not repeat in 2007. And assets have a long long way to fall before they are fairly valued given the dismal macro economic state of the US economy.

GLOOM ON WALL STREET...?

The manipulation is extraordinary today... But it likely won't last for the whole day...

GOLD MANIPULATION BY CENTRAL BANKS...?

It won't work so this could be a Soros vs the Bank of England scenario eventually.... Of course readers of this blog have been getting that dismal news for months!

FEAR GRIPS GLOBAL BOND MARKETS...

Amid the usual happy talk on Wall Street...

BERNANKE WILL RAISE RATES SOON...

Protecting the dollar from further decline is absolutely essential to preserve the global economy as we have known it...

THERE ARE NO US MANUFACTURERS TO PROTECT... ALL THE US EXPORTS IS SCRAP METAL AND PAPER, AGRICULTURAL RAW MATERIAL...AND SOME AERO-SPACE DEFENSE AND HEALTH CARE PRODUCTS... SO CALLED FINANCIAL SERVICES ARE HIGHLY OVERRATED AND CAN BE DONE IN ASIA OR EUROLAND LOCALLY.

PROTECTING THE DOLLAR AND THUS MAKING IT WORTHWHILE FOR FOREIGNERS TO HOLD EVEN MORE US DEBT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO STOPPING THE ROLLING CURRENCY CONTAGION THAT IS COMING HOME TO ROOST...

IS THE YEN CARRY TRADE COLLAPSING...?

The Yen Carry Trade has been the sine qua non of the global economy for years.

Everyone knew that it couldn't last forever... And now the various carry trades that have supported US free trade "globalism" for so long seems to be collapsing...

Are we ready for the the inevitable BIG ONE... This could be it...

Of course the Dow would have to give back all of the ELECTION/BERNANKE BUBBLE FROM 2006 FIRST...

THEN, WE SHALL SEE IF A NEW AND FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT GLOBAL EQUILIBRIUM IS POSSIBLE...

THE MORNING CALL DOES NOT LOOK GOOD!

More trouble in LaLa Land...? The Sucker Flush is early this year...but the same retail suckers are losing out...

Look for the Gold Bashing to continue...it's the only game in town now for the FED which is locked into KowTowing to the Global Speculators no matter what happens to the dollar, debt and deficits...

CHINESE INVESTMENT CASINOS ARE OPEN...

Could this week be worst than last week...?

It could happen... There seems to be no resolution of the main issues. And the markets are still way overbought from their 2006 election year buying spree... The Moonshot still has a lot to give back...

In fact it is not clear that the Dow should really be much above 10,000 on these macro and micro economic facts...

DESPERATE COVER UP IN AFGHNISTAN MASSACRE

IT'S GETTING INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS THAT THE AMERICANS SIMPLY DON'T BELONG IN THESE ISLAMIC NATIONS AS OCCUPATION FORCES...

THERE SHOULD BE AN IMMEDIATELY RETURN TO THE OLDER 1970'S POLICY OF RELYING ON LOCAL STRONG MEN AND US PUPPETS, LIKE SADDAM, TO DO THE BIDDING OF WASHINGTON...

BUSH SHOULD IMMEDIATELY PLAY "LETS MAKE A DEAL" WITH THE AFGHANS AND THE IRAQI SHIA...AND GET OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...

THIS JUST ISN'T WORKING... AND IT WILL NEVER WORK...THAT'S BECOMING MORE CLEAR EVERYDAY...

US TROOPS PANIC! GO ON INSANE KILLING SPREE!!

HEARTS AND MINDS....? I DON'T THINK SO... THIS IS DEGENERATING DOWN TO PURE MADDNESS...FROM THE WHITE HOUSE DOWN TO THE BATTLE FIELD...

THE PROBLEM WITH KICKING ASS IN BACKWARD NATIONS.

The tragedy of Iraq and Afghanistan is the toll that civilians deaths are taking on the hearts and minds of local citizens...

And also on the present and future mental stability of US Troops doing the fighting.

The "baby killing" mental problems that Americans will suffer long after the conflict is history are hugely underestimated in Washington.

Occupations are a brutal business...

Indeed, the Germans discovered this in France and Belguim too often in the last Century. And Germany lives, to this day, with it's Great 20th Century "War Guilt."

Of course War Guilt is almost always the exclusive burden of the war's "losers" as the winners (re-)write the history books by definition.

So too, the US will be a long time living down it's "Great Mistake" in the middle east.

It is only to be hoped that the eventual trial of the American War Criminals, who ordered this disasterous "optional" conflict, will mitigate the damage to the US, somewhat, in future years...

After Dubya & Co are out of office the world must NEVER FORGET what they did to world peace and stability.

WELCOME INTERNATIONAL BLOGGERS...

This blog gets more attention outside of the US than inside the US... Although US readers are also present.

If you are a non-US blogger...I would appreciate it if you would link this blog to your blog or web page... So other international readers can get the "real deal" on the US economy and political scene.

Because this year of 2007 is going to be a key inflexion point in global economics and geopolitics.

I have even included, in the sidebar, some links to Google's "translation tools"...although my hunch is that a lot is "lost in translation" because language is a funny thing...

In translations, it's not just "the words" or the raw vocabulary that matter...

It's the mental context and the subtext that interprets those words that is most important.

So a lot is lost in the cultural hyperspace that is not retrivable by mere translatiion.

Fortunately, simple sentences and basic ideas are easily translated... So perhaps only the emotional nuances and subtle attempts at humour are truly lost in translation.

Welcome International Bloggers...! Stay Tuned.

WORKING CLASS SLOBS IGNORED AT WALTER REED.

Hey, in Washington ONLY MONEY is respected and served...

Those working class slobs in Walter Reed were simply used by the K-Street Krowd and the Neocons/AmericanLikudnics/IsraelLobby to do their dirty work...

Saddly for the Republicans they must pay lip service to "respecting the veterans" just to keep the tax cuts for the rich...and to continue the Wall Street Cult of the CEO looting of American jobs and treasure!

The American Stupids are getting what they deserve! And they will continue to be dissed by Republicans in Power UNLESS AND UNTIL THEY WAKE UP and see that Republicans are not about Jesus... Republicans are about looting the economy to the bone to benefit Global International Capital.

IS HILLARY A PROXY FOR BILL'S THIRD TERM AS PRESIDENT...?

The answer is increasingly starting to look like a resounding: YES!

AND THAT IS REALLY GOING TO START TO BITE AT HILLARY'S CHANCES...

YES SHE IS A NICE LADY...BUT SHE HAS "KERRY'S DISEASE" WHICH SEEMS TO BE RAMPANT AMONG NORTHEASTERN LIBERALS... IT'S THE NOTION THAT THEIR PROGRESSIVE/LIBERAL VIEWS ARE NOT REALLY ACCEPTABLE TO THE GREAT IGNORANT UNWASHED IN FLY-OVER-COUNTRY.

AND THAT EVERY ANSWER HAS TO BE FRAMED TO NOT OFFEND EVEN THE MOST IGNORANT AMERICAN HOLDING THE MOST OUTLANDISH OPINIONS.

If the Progressives would just start meaning what they say; and saying what they mean...they could avoid KERRY'S DISEASE...

ALAS, HILLARY IS THE LATEST SUFFER FROM THIS DISMAL POLITICAL TOXIN!

FURTHER, THE REASON EVERYONE LOVES TO HATE HILLARY...OR HATES TO LOVE HILLARY...IS BECAUSE SHE IS SEEN AS A "BILL PROXY"...

AND IN AMERICAN TODAY...WE LIKE THE REAL MC COY...NOT THE CHEAP CHINESE IMITATION...

REMEMBER BACK WHEN THE DEMOCRATS TRIED TO WIN BEING "REPUBLICAN-LITE....?"

YEAH, IT'S SORT OF LIKE THAT...

IF WE ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO WANT A RICH/CORPORATION LOVING REPUBLICAN WE'LL VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS...(AND JESUS!)

WE DON'T NEED A CHEAP IMITATION REPUBLICAN...

ESPECIALLY ONE FROM BOSTON OR NEW YORK!

BECAUSE DALLAS IS CRAWLING WITH THEM!

The fact that Democrats are making mistakes is forgetable...

But the fact that they are repeating THE SAME OLD MISTAKES...is UNFOREGIVABLE!

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER...?

For most Americans the answer is a definite: NO!

So, why should we respect polling data based on these peoples opinions?

Why indeed do we even let them vote on candidates and important policies that effect those of us who are smarter than a fifth grader...?

Is it that the power elites feel they can control "the stupids" with high priced advertising...and infamous "wedge issues" that appeal only to the ignorant and less informed...?

I have often said that I would like to see "polling data" prefaced with an opening question that acts as a "qualifier"...to see if the respondent is truly informed...or at least "attached" to the intellectual knowledge base needed for an intelligent answer...

For example, if polled on an question in quantum physics,...I could not give an informed opinion on anything... So what should my incompentent answer be valued at...?

Perhaps less than zero...!

My qualifier questions would be very simple...

What are the three branches of government? How many senators does each state have? What century did the Civil War occur in? Who came first Teddy Roosevelt or Franklin Roosevelt...?

Presently, ALL RESPONSES are given the same "weight" in our polling data...

I SUPPOSE WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR IS:

WHAT DOES "INFORMED OPINION" SAY...NOT THE MASS OPINION OF THE UNINFORMED.

SINCE WE ALL KNOW THAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN GLORIES IN THEIR IGNORANCE...

AND IS NOT "SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER!"

Postscript: If you happen not to be smarter than a fifth grader? I have an easy fix for your problem... Simply memorize the opinions expressed on this blog. Repeat them over and over; until you have them down to "talking points"... And start repeating them at your local bars, resturants and social events! People will immedately suspect you have a PhD, or are a lot smarter than you look. And you don't have to do any of the reading and other work that makes Progressives think the way they do. And you will have the pleasant experience of knowing you are tearing down the Great Wall of Public Ignorance that the Washington Elites have constructed one brick at a time....

GIULIANI IS THE REPUBLICAN ANSWER TO HILLARY...

To Wit: Someone who could never win the Presidency...

And never inspire national and international confidence if they did win!

But, it's still early... The backroom deals are coming...

Remember the Howard Dean case...? Yeah, something like that...

WELCOME CHINESE BLOGGERS...WHERE HAVE YOUR BEEN?

There seems to be a NEW interest from the Chinese Internet community in surfing American Web Sites...especially since the recent financial meltdown made the headlines.

Welcome Chinese Bloggers...! Bookmark this page and come back daily for the best grass roots "take" on what's really happening in the American Economy...all from the Progressive/Liberal point of view... Something you won't necessarily find in the Main Stream Media...

So, Asian Bloggers....stay Tuned... This could get interesting...

BERNANKE IN DENIAL ABOUT DEFICITS...

The notion that globalism and the twin deficits are NOT effecting the FEDs ability to control the US economy is just false...

Let's hope Bernanke doesn't get a case of Dubya's Disease...the inability to see needed changes in policy...

The FED will simply have too raise rates to boost the dollar before this year is over... And no, Gold Bashing is not a long term solution...

SUDDENLY CHINA MATTERS....!

The Chinese will play a huge role in deciding what the POST DOLLAR GLOBAL ECONOMY will look like...

But the Dollar is so sick now that even if the Bank of China merely followed "good practices" with it's investments...the dollar could not be saved.

The stars are lining up for a major shift in the world economy...

And now is as good a time as any to have it happen...perhaps the Military Imperialism in Washington can be stopped before it does any more damage to World Peace and Stability.

BERNANKE'S DISMAL DILEMMA...

Is the Era of Hype and Happy Talk over...?

Will the US economy be forced to act just like every other economy in the world...?

COULD THE LAWS OF MACROECONOMICS BE MAKING A COMEBACK...?

That seems to be the dilemma that the FED will be facing in 2007... The Massive debt and deficits that have been financing the US "economic miracle" since the Greenspan Bubble Daze could be ending...

THE CHINESE ARE STARTING TO TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE NATION WHOSE BONDS THEY ARE BUYING IN SUCH PROFUSION...

And our unpopular President with his unwinnable wars is not helping the myth of "American Exceptionalism" upon which the global economy has been based for the last 50 years.

COULD IT ALL BE ENDING...

OR IS THIS JUST ANOTHER IN A LONG SERIES OF HEAD FAKE DECLINES...?

Well, consider:

If the Dollar and the Bond are involved...this could be serious...

If it's just a matter of re-pricing the Moonshot Dow to more reasonable levels this could all be a false alarm...

Clearly, the central bank gnomes are actively bashing gold like there is no tomorrow...all in an effort to "defend" the dollar by attacking it's only known theoretical alternative...namely, the precious metals.

SO WATCH GOLD...THE BOND MARKET AND THE DOLLAR FOR SIGNS OF WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING... THE MOVEMENT OF THE MARKET AVERAGES IS REALLY A SIDESHOW NOW...

IF THE DOLLAR MOVES TO 140 ON THE EURO...VERY LIKELY THE ECONOMIC WORLD AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT WILL CHANGE DRASTICALLY...

(JUST LOOK AT HOW PEPPY OIL CAN BE WHEN NO ONE IS LOOKING...!)

THE DOLLAR IS THE KEY...THESE CONSTANT DECLINES IN THE DOLLAR COULD FORCE THE FED TO RAISE RATES....EVEN IF WALL STREET PROTESTS AND SELLS OFF MIGHTILY...

INDEED, A SELL OFF ON WALL STREET AND A RETURN TO OLD FASHION MACROECONOMIC THEORY MIGHT BE JUST THE TICKET FOR A RETURN TO NORMALCY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY...

A MORE DANGEROUS SCENARIO IS THAT WE ARE AT AN HISTORIC INFLEXION POINT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY... NOT UNLIKE WHAT HAPPEN TO THE BRITISH POUND IN 1931...

AND 1931 IS A YEAR THAT EVERYONE SHOULD BE STUDYING THESE DAYS!

BECAUSE THERE COMES A TIME WHEN MAJOR RESERVE CURRENCIES SHIFT...PERMANENTLY.

THESE ECONOMIC SHIFTS ARE ALMOST TECTONIC IN THEIR SLOWNESS,

BUT IT DOES HAPPEN...AND UNFORTUNATELY OFTEN WITH ECONOMIC "EARTHQUAKE" LIKE RESULTS RIGHT AT THE VERY END. AS IN 1931!

THE OLD STERLING BASED GLOBALISM OF 1870-1930 SHIFTED TO A DOLLAR BASED GLOBALISM IN 1931.

SO, OUR DEBT DRIVEN DOLLAR BASED GLOBAL ECONOMY COULD BE OVER DUE FOR A CHANGE TO A MORE ASIAN FINANCED AND BASED GLOBALISM...

PERHAPS THE EURO CAN STEP IN AND FILL THE GAP LEFT BY THE DISMAL DOLLAR DEVALUATIONS TO COME...?

NEVERTHELESS, THE DOLLAR SEEMS DOOMED BY DUBYA'S DISMAL DISASTERS...

SO STAY TUNED...THIS COULD GET INTERESTING...MORE ON 1931 LATER.

CLOSED END OPPORTUNITY...?

It's nice to buy a basket of stocks at a discount...especially if they are dividend payers...

THE BIG GOLD BASH IS STARTING...!

BASHING GOLD HAS BECOME A FIGHT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE PAPER MONEY/DOLLAR BASED WORLD ECONOMY NOW...

OF COURSE THE FED COULD RAISE RATES AND DO THIS THE HISTORIC WAY... BUT THAT WOULD BE SO ANTI-WALL STREET AND ANTI-SPECULATOR THAT IT WILL BE USED ONLY AS A LAST RESORT IF THE BIG GOLD BASH FAILS TO WORK...

MY HUNCH IS THAT GOLD BASHING IS ONLY GOOD UP TO A POINT...AND I SUSPECT WE HAVE CROSSED THAT POINT SOMETIME BACK...

THE GOLD RALLY TO $1000 OR $2000 IS INEVITABLE...BUT THE CENTRAL BANKS AND THEIR CLIENTS IN THE SPECULATION COMMUNITY WILL FIGHT IT ALL THE WAY...

INTERESTING TIMES AHEAD... THE REAL QUESTION IS CAN AN OIL SPIKE QUEER THE GOLD BASHING EVEN IF IT IS SUCCESSFUL...?

GOLD IS A THINLY TRADED MARKET...OIL ON THE OTHER HAND IS NOT...!

DOLLAR DOOMSDAY: CURRENCY CHAOS LOOMS?

The unwinding of the Dollar Bubble and the Yen Carry Trade are events that go to the core of the economic system... They are truly existential systemic risks.

With this level of economic machinations going on... the usual happy talk, buy back announcments, and CEO hype will not change things...

Krugman's Doomsday scenario...which has been well known for sometime could start to evolve as 2007 progresses....

This could bring about Gold Bashing on a scale never seen before...but like Soros and the Pound many years ago...sometimes the inevitable becomes truly INEVITABLE!

Stay Tuned...

KRUGMAN OUTLINES THE BIG MELTDOWN...

ASIA DOWN ON CURRENCY CONTAIGION...!

If this market decides to "rationalize" the currency market anomalies in the global economy...

THE SELL OFF HAS A LONG LONG WAYS TO GO...!

The suddenly weaker dollar is causing no end of trouble in Euroland and in Asia...but the weaker dollar was inevitable based on simple macroeconomic theory...

That's what the Hedge Funds lost there collective asses betting on last year...

Now suddenly...the dollar is being "rationalized" without warning...

Market crashes always happen when the central banks "get involved," and the central banks almost never get involved unless they have too...because the speculators have "painted themselves into a corner" and can't get out...

THIS CURRENCY CONTAIGION BEARS WATCHING...! BECAUSE UNWINDING ALL THESE "CARRY TRADES" COULD BE A VERY RISKY BUSINESS!

J.P. MORGAN DEFENSIVE ON CURRENCIES...

ADVISES UNWINDING THE "CARRY TRADES" ON WHICH THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IS BASED!!

AMERICAN JOBLESS SOAR...!

Which is not good news for the Big Jobs Lie on Friday...

THE COMING LIQUIDITY PROBLEM FOR STOCKS

COULD STOCKS GO THE WAY OF HOUSING...?

The problem with markets is that you need a seller AND a buyer...

With stocks...the market specialists play the role of buyer of last resort... No such buyer exists in the housing market...except perhaps the bank/mortgage holder in foreclosure cases...

But the stock specialists and market masters are not fools...they will not stand in front of the moving train...just to save the market from an over priced condition... We saw that this week when the market masters jump off the tracks during the China debacle...

So, while stocks may be somewhat insulated from the horrors of the housing market...they are not totally immune from the same "liquidity" problems many people are feeling in selling real estate in todays market...

If an asset is almost certain to go DOWN IN PRICE... Who is going to buy it...?

All rational buyers will simply stand aside and let prices fall to a reasonable level before commiting to a sale...

The big story of stocks in 2007 could be that they become more like real estate...and that's pretty scary...