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Nq's got to just beyond 2610. Time to go but that was the trade.
Most Actives..
Symbol Price Change Volume
SPY -1.49 (-1.09%) 104.1M
BAC -0.16 (-1.98%) 86.3M
GE -0.34 (-1.65%) 41.4M
RIMM +0.38 (+4.94%) 38.1M
EEM -0.74 (-1.86%) 34.6M
XLF -0.11 (-0.75%) 33.3M
NOK -0.09 (-4.46%) 31.4M
QQQ -1.05 (-1.61%) 31.1M
ARNA -0.23 (-2.03%) 31.0M
MSFT -0.58 (-1.89%) 28.0M
Nq's 2707.25; may want to take half here, enter stop, smile.
Nq's 2604.50 last.
Nq's are talking to me, [yea, charts often talk] they're saying "buy me boobeleh, I look higher."
Nq 2603 could get you 2610; it's a trade.
Taibbi: Talking LIBOR Banking Scandal with Eliot Spitzer
By Matt Taibbi
POSTED: July 6, 2:09 PM ET
And I spy a bit of volume coming in. We'll see.
Nq's just under 2601 now; doesn't have to happen, but I got a "feel."
They both have good jobs, bought a modest home, no children, just pets, enjoy the ocean and the mountains, I could just go on, besides there mild weather of 70 degrees is envious.
Right now we are over 100 degrees agin, and we get wicked wind storms of late, had one last night, lost another tree, came real close to the house. Getting tired of the heat and bad storms, this place never had this kind of heat, or tornadoes, now it seems we are getting them all the time.
Nq's, if you see 2603 mit some volume you might want to play.
Portland is great, son, DL and grand daughter there. I am up the road about 400 mi. Spokane.
Like the fellow said, "There's always another girl coming 'round the corner."{
You must be dying with all these moves lately.
ARNA comes to mind.
Also zab, a stock you like that's eased off may take a last hour run.
No tinner, the broker is without me. Should be ready to go Tuesday.
Are you still without a broker?
Hopefully someone will step into buying this market, oops, maybe some machine might get turned the other way, at least for a few minutes, today has been so one-sided.
Rigged? Sure. But I see a nice chance for a long side futures trade.
So true, think I will to keep parts of that and put them up on one of my walls to read each day.
Besides you are describing my son, all he does is work to support his two children, I would say more, but he screwed up his own life and for the past 10 years has been barely keeping his head above water.
As opposed to my daughter, she married better, and between the two of them are living a charmed life in Portland, Oregon.
Life is about choices, and people have to live with them, but there is nothing wrong in trying to educate them into making better ones.
As for economics, it is true that there are winners and losers, but many times the game is rigged. As for me I might have the time to trade, as for the skill, its more of a matter of a little luck.
Some days it just pays to step aside and watch the game from a distance, clears the view.
As for not getting out here alive, this is so very true, but it sure would be nice to know that I have left a few marks along the way.
Just wondering what they will do in the market these next 90 minutes, everything feels so rigged.
Zab, you have the time and expertise to trade. It gives you an advantage over someone without the time and skill etc.
And that is what economics is, competition. Some win and some lose.
Longevity can be the luck of the draw or life choices. But, some people don't have good choices, so maybe everything is hanging by luck.
Some people are uncompromising some are easy. Some people sell themselves into bondage of sex, drugs, upmanship, money etc.
There is one equalizer, no one get out of here alive.
A buy-atop, futures, ABOVE, the market might do you well.
USG still trying to move ahead in this market. Watching this action today, such BS on a job's report that was still positive. The economy is far from good, but its not falling off a cliff either, besides where else are you going to put money nowadays.
SBGI- will probably not be a great mover, but its posting a NDH, and there has been some insider buying of late.
MAS trying to hold $ 14.00
LPX also has been well of late.
% Losers
Symbol Price Change Volume
INFA -13.07 (-30.14%) 15.6M
SCMP -1.80 (-25.90%) 0.3M
PFBC -2.48 (-17.60%) 71,239
NAV -4.36 (-15.14%) 3.8M
APKT -2.76 (-15.00%) 5.7M
ENMD -0.33 (-13.31%) 48,072
QLIK -2.58 (-12.69%) 2.5M
MSTR -16.34 (-12.11%) 0.2M
ALXA -0.55 (-11.65%) 0.8M
TDC -7.46 (-10.27%) 2.6M
MMR, SMBL and ARNA acting well today, despite this downdraft.
As for this afternoon's save, it might happen, but it might also be shortlived.
KBH chart getting better, IMHO.
Selected stocks still hanging in there, but with each downdraft, the list is getting smaller.
This was in 1917 and Zeppo invented a great lighter, 'cept he couldn't spell too good.
IMHO, 2:22 miracle on the way, as Zeev would say.
Note: not a trading advice, just a guess. It's a shortened holiday week.
Futures: Lower lows, lower highs. Patience boobelehs.
Thanks. I25 all the way. Colorado is beautiful.
Newly
Hey, west-- Some big pharma folks need to go to jail and another part of health care reform will be diet training in our schools. Not much we can do about our overweight adults but we must educate the next generation.
The metrics of US diabetes demand that be part of US health care reform.
50 % of US adults now pre-diabet-- or diabetic, 35 % of ouir kids the same. 10,000 boomers a day going on Medicare, $20,000 per year to treat a diabetic....
How much more of this can US society stand?
See you guys later-- off the Asheville and the blue ridge parkway.
Have to go out for 1 1/2 hours. You gonna miss me? Plugger won;t.
Newly,
If you come up the way I think you will, you'll be passing through Longmont, CO (my current hometown) on the way to RMNP. So close! :)
Hope you have a fine visit to the park.
Montrose
Exactly, Big Pharma steals 15 B and gets a fine of 3 B. Pretty good biz model.
And we catch some poor slob holding 6 joints and he may do 2 years.
How much more of this can US society stand?
Yes, it was raining in Mesa Verde, but now at Great Sand Dunes it is sunny again, despite a lot of lightening and thunder last night.
Off tomorrow to Rocky Mountain Natl Park. I've heard it fills up quickly and have been trying to make reservations with no luck, so I'll try to camp nearby and get there early enough to get a spot.
Yes the rain is helping with the fires. The Marcos fire is now, I believe, fully contained. I have to go through Colorado Springs, and will hate seeing the devastation there. I remember seeing fire-scarred lands in Yellowstone a few years ago and thinking they had had a recent fire. It turned out that fire was ten or twelve years ago, and the land had still not recovered. Sad.
Newly
How Not to Get Big Pharma to Change Its Ways
http://robertreich.org/post/26568286162
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Earlier this week the Justice Department announced a $3 billion settlement of criminal and civil charges against pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline — the largest pharmaceutical settlement in history — for improper marketing prescription drugs in the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.
The charges are deadly serious. Among other things, Glaxo was charged with promoting to kids under 18 an antidepressant approved only for adults; pushing two other antidepressants for unapproved purposes, including remedying sexual dysfunction; and, to further boost sales of prescription drugs, showering doctors with gifts, consulting contracts, speaking fees, even tickets to sporting events.
$3 billion may sound like a lot of money, but during these years Glaxo made $27.5 billion on these three antidepressants alone, according to IMS Health, a data research firm — so the penalty could almost be considered a cost of doing business.
Besides, to the extent the penalty affects Glaxo’s profits and its share price, the wrong people will be feeling the financial pain. Most of today’s Glaxo shareholders bought into the company after the illegal profits were already built into the prices they paid for their shares.
Not a single executive has been charged — even though some charges against the company are criminal. Glaxo’s current CEO came on board after all this happened. Glaxo has agreed to reclaim the bonuses of any executives who engaged in or supervised illegal behavior, but the company hasn’t officially admitted to any wrongdoing – and without legal charges against any of executive it’s impossible to know whether Glaxo will follow through.
The Glaxo case is the latest and biggest in a series of Justice Department prosecutions of Big Pharma for illegal marketing prescription drugs. In May, Abbott Laboratories settled for $1.6 billion over its wrongful marketing of an antipsychotic. And an agreement with Johnson & Johnson is said to be imminent over its marketing of another antipsychotic, which could result in a fine of as much as $2 billion.
The Department says the prosecutions are well worth the effort. By one estimate it’s recovered more than $15 for every $1 it’s spent.
But what’s the point if the fines are small relative to the profits, if the wrong people are feeling the financial pinch, and if no executive is held accountable?
The only way to get big companies like these to change their behavior is to make the individuals responsible feel the heat.
An even more basic issue is why the advertising and marketing of prescription drugs is allowed at all, when consumers can’t buy them and shouldn’t be influencing doctor’s decisions anyway. Before 1997, the Food and Drug Administration banned such advertising on TV and radio. That ban should be resurrected.
Finally, there’s no good reason why doctors should be allowed to accept any perks at all from companies whose drugs they write prescriptions for. It’s an inherent conflict of interest. Codes of ethics that are supposed to limit such gifts obviously don’t work. All perks should be banned, and doctors that accept them should be subject to potential loss of their license to practice.
I'm using ARNA Aug 13s, plenty of time with this volatile little puppy and 5K of OI, tight spreads and 40% delta so I get plenty of action--and did I mention--little to no risk, the magic ingrediant of trading against HF traders.
its in her past Monty
Humidity and religious fervor.
Your trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park puts you in my neck of the woods. We're supposed to be getting a little rain (hah!) and cooler temperatures, so the fire danger should decrease somewhat.
Think you'll enjoy the park. Try to get there early, as it can get crowded quickly.
Friday morning federal headlines - July 6, 2012
Friday - 7/6/2012, 7:53am ET
The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.
• President Barack Obama appointed Richard Ginman as chairman of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. For the past year, Ginman has been director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy. The retired rear admiral also worked in the private sector. He led General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems maritime information unit. The GAT Board is modeled after a board created to track stimulus spending in 2009. The new board will track all federal spending. Board members include chief financial officers and inspectors general. Ginman succeeds Earl Devaney, who retired in December. (Federal News Radio)
• Tracking federal programs to avoid duplication could be a costly undertaking. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Taxpayers Right to Know Act would cost $100 million over five years. Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) sponsored the bill in the House. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) sponsored a similar bill. The legislation would force agencies to report spending, administrative expenses, number of recipients and number of employees involved for each program. For good measure, agencies would also have to track contractor support. In its scoring, CBO pointed out the cost of the bills has no offsetting revenue. (CBO)
• The Transportation Department is funneling new money into projects to help veterans and military families get around. DoT is distributing $29 million to local governments and transit agencies throughout the country. The Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative helps pay for tech upgrades. They include smart-phone apps and real-time transit bus locators, as well as software that helps connect drivers with people who need a ride and interactive kiosks at military facilities and veterans' sites. Agency officials said they were hoping these programs could help veterans find jobs and get to work. (Federal News Radio)
• One-fifth of the nation's postmasters may be leaving their jobs thanks to a buyout offer from the Postal Service. The Federal Times reported postmasters had until Monday to sign up for a $20,000 incentive. As many as 4,200 of the 21,000 postmasters nationwide did. The Postal Service plans to reduce hours at thousands of rural post offices to save money, mostly on labor costs. A smaller incentive for mail-handlers did not go over as well. It was just $15,000. Seven percent of mail handlers have taken it. (Federal Times)
• The General Services Administration is considering lowering the boom on hotel allowances by 30 percent, Federal Times reported. GSA isn't saying exactly what it will do, but travel industry people say they're hearing the drumbeats. They say GSA wants to lower its average per diems by taking higher-priced hotels out of the picture. That could relegate traveling feds to suburban digs even when visiting inner city locations. The White House has ordered 2013 travel spending to come down by 30 percent. (Federal Times)
• Slightly fewer feds retired this spring than the Office of Personnel Management projected. That helped the agency tackle its backlog of retirement claims. About 48,000 retirees are waiting for their benefits from OPM. That's down from a high of 61,000 in January. That's when the agency rolled out a new, low-tech strategy. It hired more people, expanded their work hours and planned to upgrade technology one component at a time. (Federal News Radio)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ECB Rate Announcement
Said Mario Draghi: "Please heed me:
Our 'zone isn't going agreeably;
The better to serve you
In line with our purview,
We'll pay you to borrow if need be."
-Dr Goose
http://tinyurl.com/7j7hewu
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
July 6, 2012
Smartphones drive Samsung profit to new record. Samsung (SSNLF.PK) today estimated that operating profit hit a fresh record of between 6.5T won ($5.7B) and 6.9T won in Q2 vs. 3.75T won a year earlier, while revenue rose to 46T-48T won from 39.44T won. Earnings were boosted by soaring Galaxy sales, although, as one executive says, "that's distorting the overall trading outlook." Samsung's main concerns include Europe, and weak prices for chips and consumer electronics.
Unemployment seen holding steady. Employment figures are due out this morning, with economists expecting that nonfarm payrolls increased by 100,000 in June. That would be higher than the 69,000 in May but would still round off the weakest quarter in over two years. The jobless rate is estimated to have held at 8.2%. What the figures don't tell you is how participation has fallen to a three-decade low.
Card giants poised to settle lawsuit over fees. Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) are close to settling a seven-year lawsuit brought by retailers over allegations that the credit-card giants fixed swipe fees, Bloomberg reports. While there's no word on the size of the agreement, Visa has set aside $4.28B to cover litigation, while MasterCard took a $495M charge in Q4.
Seagate falls after earings warning. Seagate (STX) yesterday warned that it expects FQ4 revenue of $4.5B, below a consensus of $4.9B, and gross margin of 33.6%, below prior guidance of at least 34.5%. The company also failed to increase its market share, which it blamed on a faster-than-expected industry recovery from Thai flooding, and a "supplier quality issue" that affected enterprise hard drive shipments by 1.5M. Shares were -3.4% premarket.
Yahoo narrowing down CEO search, or maybe not. Speculation is swirling about how far along Yahoo (YHOO) is in its CEO search. All Things D reports that the short list is down to interim chief Ross Levinsohn and Hulu boss Jason Kilar, although Reuters reckons News Corp. (NWS) digital media chief Jonathan Miller is also in the mix.
Duke cut Johnson over fears about suitability. Bill Johnson didn't become the CEO of the merged Duke-Progress Energy (DUK) - as originally planned - after the board decided at the last minute that he wasn't right for the job, the WSJ reports, although it was clear to some for a while that the arrangement wouldn't work. "Different personalities, different cultures," a source says.
Investors wait for Navistar update. Shares of Navistar (NAV) could be in for a wild ride today, as an operational update from the company is planned for this morning. Analysts don't have a firm handle on what Navistar will say, although there has been speculation recently that the firm will abandon plans to develop pollution-reducing engines following repeated problems.
Strauss Auto nearing the end after entering "Chapter 55." Strauss Auto looks set to be finally put out of its misery after probably becoming the first company ever to enter "Chapter 55" - i.e. to file for bankruptcy protection five times. The parts retailer first went into Chapter 11 in 1979; the latest filing was last month, but despite recovering from near death previously, Strauss now intends to sell its assets and file for liquidation.
How Countrywide tried to win friends and influence people. Countrywide Financial (BAC) used a VIP loan program from 1996-2008 to try to prevent legislation that would have hampered its sale of sub-prime mortgages, a report from a House panel said yesterday. The lender offered or gave discounts to members of Congress and their staffers, government officials and executives at Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB).
Central-bank triple play leaves markets unconvinced. The German 2-year Schatz yield has fallen into negative territory for the first time since the panicky days of early June, as Spanish and Italian yields surge higher following rate cuts from the ECB and People's Bank of China yesterday, as well as pledges of further money printing in the U.K. Markets either wanted more from the ECB or are worried that the central banks know something that we don't. Spanish 2-years were +38 bps to 4.99%, Italy +12 bps to 3.84%.
Bankruptcies fall but student debt burden gets heavier. The number of U.S. businesses and consumers filing for bankruptcy fell by 14% to 632,130 in H1, and the figure could end 2012 at the lowest level since before the 2008 financial crisis, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute's Samuel Gerdano. He attributes the decline to rock-bottom interest rates. However, student loan delinquencies are rising in what frighteningly looks to be a structural, not cyclical phenomenon.
Iranian oil exports likely to halve as sanctions kick in. Iran's July oil exports will probably be half those of last year, analysts forecast, as new sanctions stifle flows and cost the country more than $3B a month in lost revenue. Iranian exports have declined steadily from an average of 2.2M barrels a day in 2011; July exports could fall to 1.1M or less amid complications with shipping insurance and disputes with China over freight costs.
Today's Markets:
* In Asia, Japan -0.7%. Hong Kong flat. China +1.0%. India -0.1%.
* In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris -0.5%. Frankfurt -0.4%.
* Futures at 7:00: Dow -0.05%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude -1.65% to $85.78. Gold -1% to $1592.80.
Today's economic calendar:
Monster Employment Index
8:30 Nonfarm Payrolls
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ECB Rate Announcement
Said Mario Draghi: "Please heed me:
Our 'zone isn't going agreeably;
The better to serve you
In line with our purview,
We'll pay you to borrow if need be."
-Dr Goose
http://tinyurl.com/7j7hewu
Skono- It wasn't a guess...ha! I actually did some quick math. Keep in mind, it wasn't like those news clips you see of the mexicans leaping into the backs of pick up trucks in Home Depot parking lot, these are guys that I worked with every day for over 10 years in some cases. I considered many of them friends. I knew their spouses and kids.
Back in 2008 we were still blowin and goin pretty good when Arizona implemented the Legal Arizona Workers Act. All employers were required to check employees' legal status against a national data base. Subs were shitting bricks (no pun intended) and before this no one really gave a crap. On my list of go-to guys: Concrete sub poof gone...drywall poof...tile poof...stucco poof...gigantic landscaping companies gone...best framing company bye bye. The other half got creative, reshuffled workers into weird consulting companies, subbed to those companies and paid guys cash. Goofy stuff. It was the first time I got a real sense of the percentages. By the time SB1070 rolled out work was easily 50% off the peak and most companies had consolidated and merged to survive. The illegals that were still left finally just scattered.
lol great clip
What's Behind Illinois Stealing Local Hero's Bee Hives?
July 05 2012 |
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/05/monsanto-roundup-effects-on-honeybees.aspx?e_cid=20120705_DNL_artNew_1
By Dr. Mercola
An Illinois beekeeper whose bee hives were stolen and allegedly destroyed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture has stirred up a hornet's nest with his questions on why the state did this, and most importantly, what they did with his bees.
The state claims the bees were destroyed because they were infected with a disease called foulbrood.
But when the 58-year apiary keeper had his hearing—three weeks after the removal of his bees without his knowledge—the state's "evidence" had disappeared, leaving more questions than answers about the raid on the beekeeper's hives.
Some people, including the beekeeper, Terrence Ingram, suspect the raid has more to do with Ingram's 15 years of research on Monsanto's Roundup and his documented evidence that Roundup kills bees, than it does about any concerns about his hives.
Interestingly, the state's theft targeted the queen bee and hive he'd been using to conduct the research.
The Ingram CaseA recent article by Tom Kocal in the Prairie Advocate retells the full story of how Terrence Ingram's bees and hives wound up being taken by the Illinois State Department of Agriculture (IDofAG) i.
While the state claims the removal of the property was due to Ingram's failure to comply with the Department's notice instructing him to burn the affected hives, they have been less than open about why the inspectors came in and took the bees and hives without due process.
At a time when the Ingram's were absent from the property. Ingram claims the Department also conducted three out of four inspections on his private property while no one was home.
While Department inspectors claim his hives had foulbrood—an allegedly highly contagious disease—Mr. Ingram believes he could prove that this was not the case. As reported by the featured Prairie Advocate article:
"Ingram knew that the inspectors could not tell what they were seeing and had warned the Department that if any of them came back it would be considered a criminal trespass. Yet they came back when he was not home, stole his hives and ruined his 15 years of research."
Ingram initially reported the missing bees and hives as having been stolen on March 14, unaware that they'd been removed by the IDofAG. News of the theft was published in the Prairie Advocate on March 21.
As a result of that article, an area County Farm Bureau manager called the reporter, stating he knew the equipment hadn't been stolen, but that it had been "destroyed" by the Department of Agriculture because they were infected with foulbrood and Ingram hadn't disposed of them as instructed.
The most nonsensical part of this story is that Ingram didn't get a hearing to determine whether his hives were affected by the disease until three weeks after they were removed and destroyed.
Kocal quotes Mr. Ingram as saying:
"I own four businesses. I am here all the time. Yet they took our bees and hives when we were not home. What did they do, sit up on the hill and watch until we left? We had not yet had our day in court to prove that our hives did not have foulbrood!"
Making matters worse, during that April 4 hearing, the Department couldn't produce any evidence of what they'd done with the bees and the hives. Meanwhile, Ingram ended up being ordered to pay the $500 fine for violating Sections 2-1 of the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act. According to Kocal:
"There are 2 questions that Ingram wants answered:
1) Did the IDofA, a state agency, have the right to enter Ingram's property and confiscate a suspected "nuisance," before Ingram had his day in court?
2) Where are his bees? The "evidence" has disappeared, and the IDofA refuses to tell Ingram where they are, before, during, and after the hearing.
"I have been keeping bees for 58 years," Ingram said during an interview at his home and apiary. "I am not a newcomer to beekeeping, and I definitely know what I am doing. I have been teaching beginning beekeeping classes for 40 years..." At the April 4 hearing, Ingram said he felt he was able to show the court that the inspector could not tell the difference between "chilled brood" and foulbrood. He also proved to the court that the inspectors did not know the symptoms of foulbrood."
15 Years of Research DestroyedIngram believes the destruction of his bees and hives is more likely to be related to his research into the effect of Roundup on honey bees. He claims some 250 of his colonies have been killed off over the years by Monsanto's broad-spectrum herbicide, used in large quantities on both conventional- and genetically engineered crops. Ingram's research shows that Roundup can lead to what's called chilled brood, which is an entirely different scenario.
According to Ingram, quoted from Kocal's article:
"When Round-Up kills the adult bees there are not enough bees left in the hive to keep the young bees (brood) warm, and the young bees die from the cold (chilled brood). I tried to prove that just because foulbrood can be detected once the hive has been disturbed, doesn't mean the hive has foulbrood.
Inside a honeybee hive is one of the cleanest places you can find. Anything that is a problem, if the bees can't remove it, they cover it with propolis, which is an antiseptic... When you go into the comb and cut it up, disturb it like the investigators did, then send it to a lab, it exposes foulbrood to the world. In the beehive, it's covered up. The bees aren't affected by it. But you can find it by sending it in to a lab."
Ingram has studied the effects of Roundup on honeybees for the past 15 years, and he believes he had built up sufficient amount of data to show that the herbicide causes not just bee die-offs, but also Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)—a mysterious phenomenon that has decimated an estimated one-third of all honey bees since 2006. While some bees inexplicably die, many simply vanish and never return to their hives. Ingram told Kocal that:
"CCD is a calamity that is affecting honeybee colonies across the nation. In fact, I had one queen, which had survived three summers of spraying and three winters. I was planning to raise daughters from that queen to see if she may have had some genetic resistance to Roundup. But she and her hive were taken during the theft. I don't even know where the bees and my equipment are. They ruined 15 years of my research."
... "I asked Rep. Sacia to take the teeth out of the current law, preventing untrained inspectors from doing sneak inspections without the beekeeper present, killing their bees and burning their equipment, or forcing organic beekeepers out of business, telling them that they have to use chemicals to keep bees in Illinois. Are the chemical companies really running our food supply?"
... "Is Illinois becoming a police state, where citizens do not have rights?" Ingram asked in desperation. "Knowing that Monsanto and the Dept. of Ag are in bed together, one has to wonder if Monsanto was behind the theft to ruin my research that may prove Roundup was, and is, killing honeybees. Beekeepers across the state are being threatened that the same thing may be done to their hives and livelihood. I was not treated properly, I don't want to see this happen to anyone else in this state, and I want this type of illegal action to end."
Monsanto is the New Owner of Leading Bee Research FirmIngram is quite correct about chemical companies like Monsanto—they are seeking to take nearly full control of the food supply by controlling virtually every aspect of crop production. So he has cause to be suspicious when it comes to the question of who ordered the theft and destruction of his bees. It wouldn't be the first time the biotech giant has used questionable tactics to get rid of its adversaries. And research implicating Monsanto as the cause of CCD could definitely cause some harm to the company's bottom line.
One of the forerunning theories of colony collapse disorder (CCD) is that it's being caused by genetically engineered crops—either as a result of the crops themselves or the pesticides and herbicides applied on them, such as Roundup. Ingram's research could potentially have strengthened this theory. Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is one of the most widely used herbicides there is. As a result, Monsanto has received increasing amounts of bad publicity over their potential role in the devastating demise of bees around the globe.
There's no doubt that CCD is a serious problem. To get an idea of the magnitude of the importance of bees, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that without bees to act as pollinators, the United States alone could lose $15 billion worth of crops. ii Research into the phenomenon is therefore absolutely crucial, to identify the sources of the problem.
Monsanto however, keeping true to form, appears to have taken measures to control the direction of the research into their products' effect on bees. As I recently reported, Monsanto has purchased one of the leading bee research firms – one that, conveniently, lists its primary goal as studying colony collapse disorder! Monsanto bought the company, called Beeologics, in September 2011, just months before Poland announced it would ban growing of Monsanto's genetically modified MON810 maize, noting, poignantly, that "pollen of this strain could have a harmful effect on bees." iii
The ongoing blight of genetically engineered crops has been implicated in CCD for years. In one German study, iv when bees were released in a genetically engineered rapeseed crop, then fed the pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered the bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored the same genetic traits as ones found in the GE crop, indicating that horizontal gene transfer had occurred.
But Roundup is not the only herbicide that has come under scrutiny. Newer systemic insecticides, known as neonicotinoids, two prominent examples of which include Imidacloprid and Clothianidin, are also frequently used on both conventional- and genetically engineered crops and have been implicated in CCD. In fact, bee colonies started disappearing in the U.S. shortly after the EPA allowed these new insecticides on the market. Even the EPA itself admits that "pesticide poisoning" is a likely cause of bee colony collapse as these pesticides weaken the bees' immune system.
What Can You do to Help the Honeybees?If you want to learn more about bees and CCD, I highly recommend watching the documentary film Vanishing of the Bees. The film recommends four actions you can take to help preserve honeybees everywhere:
Support organic farmers and shop at local farmer's markets as often as possible. You can "vote with your fork" three times a day. [When you buy organic, you are making a statement by saying "no" to genetically engineered foods]Cut the use of toxic chemicals in your house and on your lawn, and use organic pest control.Better yet, get rid of your lawn altogether and plant a garden. Lawns offer very little benefit for the environment. Both flower and vegetable gardens provide good honey bee habitats.Become an amateur beekeeper. Having a hive in your garden requires only about an hour of your time per week, benefits your local ecosystem, and you can enjoy your own honey!If you are interested in more information about bee preservation, the following organizations are a good place to start.
Pesticide Action Network Bee Campaign vThe Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees viAmerican Beekeeping Federation viiHelp the Honey Bees viii
Folks, a review of my ARNA Targets- which still stand:
(We hit $13.50 on approval- I had forecast $12.50 but anticipated it would be somewhat higher, as you will see below.)
Thursday, June 21, 2012 9:39:11 AM
Re: MiamiGent post# 14320
Post # of 15241
ARNA Target Update (first since original):
Previous Targets: upon anticipated FDA approval June 27th- $11.
By end of year- $22.
New Targets: Upon anticipated approval June 27th- $12.50
By end of year- $25.
These are the numbers I can justify based on current production capability, marketing arrangements, revenue sharing, trade interest and share structure. Of course, these projections presuppose FDA approval.
Considerable interest has built since the FDA Advisory Committee's convincing recommendation in May to approve Arena Pharmaceutical's (ARNA) diet drug candidate "Lorcaserin". In recent days, interest might be described as frenzied- and not without some justification.
I happily look forward to my nearby projection being shattered due to phenomenal interest. My primary interest is how high up the beach the share price reaches rather than how high the preceeding wave will be- though it'll be fun and may offer opportunities to finesse for profit.
MG
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=ARNA
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