Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[zab]

After friday's huge gain, todays activity is respectable, staying long.

[Alex G]

New BUY Signal for S&P 500 Index
by Carl Swenlin
06/29/2012

Today our mechanical Thrust/Trend Model (T/TM) for the S&P 500 switched from NEUTRAL to BUY. For our purposes, the S&P 500 represents "the market."

(This is an excerpt from the June 29, 2012 blog

The signal was generated by the Thrust Component of the T/TM, which consists of the PMO (Price Momentum Oscillator) and the PBI (Percent Buy Index). Once both of these indicators have moved above their EMAs, a BUY signal is generated. You can see that the PMO crossover occurred earlier this month. The PBI crossover occurred today, which was more delayed than we normally see.

While the T/TM is intended for intermediate-term timing, the Thrust Component of the model is really more short-term oriented and its intended effect is an earlier entry than we would normally get from the Trend Component alone. This makes it vulnerable to whipsaw.

At this point we will wait for the Trend Component to confirm the signal, which will happen when the 20-EMA crosses up through the 50-EMA. This will take a while because there is still a lot of separation between the two. (See arrows on the thumbnail chart above.)

The timing model is far from perfect, but it has proven to be a fairly reliable tool for identifying changes in trend. At this point we have to assume that a new up leg is in progress. Our intermediate-term market posture is now bullish.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Technical analysis is a windsock, not a crystal ball.

http://blogs.decisionpoint.com/chart_spotlight/2012/06/20120629cs.html

[lee kramer]

Yeah zab, they're too sharp for me. Screw it, I say with respect.

[lee kramer]

Futures percolating. May want to enter via buy-stop above the market; "I'll play, but only if you drag me in."

[zab]

Except I was referring to the much younger generation, the ones between 8-12, I am amazed on how well they handle the I-Phone and I-Pad.

I have tried the I-Pad a few times, and am so slow, then the child who it belonged to, showed me how easily it could be worked. Very frustrating when at that age they can use technology so quickly.

I asked about the TV, and he said he hardly watches it anymore, he would rather use his I-Pad.

[zab]

Except I was referring to the much younger generation, the ones between 8-12, I am amazed on how well they handle the I-Phone and I-Pad.

I have tried the I-Pad a few times, and am so slow, then the child who it belonged to, showed me how easily it could be worked. Very frustrating when at that age they can use technology so quickly.

I asked about the TV, and he said he hardly watches it anymore, he would rather use his I-Pad.

[zab]

Except I was referring to the much younger generation, the ones between 8-12, I am amazed on how well they handle the I-Phone and I-Pad.

I have tried the I-Pad a few times, and am so slow, then the child who it belonged to, showed me how easily it could be worked. Very frustrating when at that age they can use technology so quickly.

I asked about the TV, and he said he hardly watches it anymore, he would rather use his I-Pad.

[lee kramer]

Ain't it the truth! Grandson Richie came by with his new lady, "A keeper" I told him after talking with her a while. Ahhh, to be 19 again.

[zab]

CVC, and SBGI been trying higher of late.

PETD also been moving higher.

[zab]

The children will always figure things out, its been like that for centuries.

The rest of us get set in our ways, and forget about imagination, and the word, "no".

Children end up always doing things better.

[lee kramer]

Futures talking to me, but mostly mumbling. If they sport a move, I'll try to alert you.

[lee kramer]

Ihub keeps locking me out; but my grandson, Richie, came by and showed me a way around that silliness.

[lee kramer]

test

[borusa]

Only a couple of trading hours left. You are free to address me and my post. Who knows if you dumb it down I might be interested. If you blast through with a bunch of economic theory, references and buzz words, it might interest others.

[gtober]

Uh huh. You just described Obamacare as well.

[byankee]

You're dreaming if you think those groups would vote to destroy their jobs (or severely curtail their compensation). Personally I think a single payer is the only way we cut costs significantly, however I realize there are those opposed and they appear to weild a pretty big stick. For all we know, Roberts saved the law to protect big corporations, and chamber of commerce took no position on the litigation. Insurance Cos. can certainly use their influence and they have shown that they will, thus your "simple" solution is not so simple.
I'm sure you have seen what Medicare does to hospital and Doctor's fees-you think those groups would support a single payer system? Hardly and then throw in nurses and other workers and you have a pretty large voting block.
Good luck getting such a system past either of those groups.
There was quite a push from the "liberals" and the larger push to get a bill won out-such is the system we have of compromises sometimes necessary. There will be talk of improving the bill and it may be forced if there are not enough reductions in overall healthcare costs. May take years or lifetimes, but in the meantime a lot of new folks will be covered-we'll see about those reductions in costs!?

[MiamiGent]

Utility stocks up on heat wave
BY MarketWatch Equity 11:02 AM ET 07/02/2012

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Utility stocks rose Monday as hot weather gripped the eastern U.S. for the fourth day. The Philadelphia Utility Index rose 0.4%, despite losses in the broad equities market. Southern Co. (SO) rose 0.7%, Exelon Co. rose 0.1%, PPL Corp. (PPL) rose 0.8%, GenOn Energy rose 0.9%, Dominion Resources Inc. (D) gained 0.4%, and First Energy rose 0.7%. On the down side, Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) fell 0.1% and NextEra Energy (NEE) moved down by 0.3%. The heat is driving up use of electric-powered air conditioners throughout the Northeast.

[zab]

Every generation will have its issues, its not like the 1940s, 50s, or 60s, each of those decades had a host of problems to deal with, both here and all around the globe.

You can always find fault in anything that is new, but you at least start working on the problem, and eventually it gets solved.

Just look at how far the stock market has come these past 3 1/2 years, America has always reached higher, the only difference this time, is that the rest of the world is starting to come on board.

There might be problems, but thats why you wake up each day, you do so much, and then you do it all over again.

[arilau]

I am not optimistic that we will get very far in the right direction though ... not as long as insurance companies etc. are the ones controlling what can and can't get through Congress.

You forgot to mention the Doctors and Hospitals milking the Ins. companies who in turn pass the extra cost to the helpless patients.

In the mean time,the Population,each generation is born into more blatant corruption and more cynicism.The kids start their lives with a deficit in ethics and morals."Take care of #1" is the learned principle.
Many of those kids take,later on, high positions in our society...

The Healthcare system is only one of the symptoms of a sick society.

[zab]

Market seems to be holding those gains of friday, housing stocks, natural gas stocks, KWK, XCO, MMR, catching a bid.

PHM, MAS new daily highs.

[Emptyhead]

You should seriously consider becomig a writer. Many would be intriqued with your mastery of fiction. I bet yoou would make a good buck too ;)

[gtober]

Any one of those groups, given the abomination that is currently ready to be implemented, or expanding medicare, would choose the latter. Sure they would have fought expanding medicare, as it would also have been an encroachment of government authority. However, since it was a Dem Pres, Senate and Congress, it wouldn't have mattered. They could have easily found another Olympia Snow to displace Lieberman. No need to rewrite history in an absolute.

[byankee]

Where were you gt during the debates prior to Obamacare becoming law?
Progressives pushed hard for a single payer system similar to Medicare, and even basserdan posted a thing from "firedoglake" showing their opposition to what ended up passing. The thing about legislation is that a good majority needs to be on board and the health care providers and insurance cos. just couldn't accept a single payer system (surprise). Also, Democrats needed Leiberman on board and his constituents included Hartford that were not going to vote for something that would destroy their main industry.
So.................."simply expanding Medicare" just wasn't possible then and would be fought tooth and nail today.

[melsup]

Just some comments.

Our blue cross group plan rates increased by 38% with passage of obamacare (new preimiums that went into effect Jan. 2011). Paying the extra premium for myself/spouse didn't bother me so much. However, we also had to pay the 38% increase for our 150 staff, which really takes a bite out of our operating profit. We had to lay off many staff and only recently have begun some renewed hiring.

I expect another +65% in premiums for 2014 after the election. Just a guess. That number may be too low.

From personal experiences of coleagues, if you live in Germany, are retirement age and need cancer surgery, they send you home. I have heard also people who swear by German health care. Maybe it is a question of who you know.

In France, everyone buys a supplementary policy in addition to the govt provided health care.

In Canada, if you need a hip replacement, you wait 13 months. Maybe by then you no longer need a hip replacement.

So, I am not at all convinced about how good the medicine is abroad.

Prescriptions cost so much more in the US because foregin countries don't let the pharma companies leverage their patents. Basically, it is the US consumer that funds the research $ for new drug development for the entire world. We are the patsies. Don't know if that is good or bad.

[brightness]

If you want me to follow up with a rebuttal during trading hours, just say so. It would tear apart what you wish you had said. That's a promise.

[gtober]

There is. If this were NOT about expanding government power and authority over the peons government would have simply expanded Medicare and Medicaid to cover more people. Too easy however.

[borusa]

Absolutely Dead On. Wish I had said that, will settle on repeating it:

And where you can find high quality healthcare at an affordable price abroad will most likely be in one of those so called "socialistic" healthcare systems which you hate so much.
Ever wonder why our healthcare system ranks so low among modern industrialized countries, but at the same time costs more than anywhere else? It is because it's main purpose is not looking after the public's welfare. It has been designed to maximize profits for the healthcare industry (primarily the Pharmaceutical companies) while maintaining the illusion that it will provide good affordable healthcare for all. I live abroad now, and I use the healthcare system (what you might mistakenly call an "evil socialistic" one), and it is far more affordable and at least as good as what I've had in the US. At the same time, it is not as huge a drain on government finances as the healthcare system in the US is. There is also more emphasis on prevention, which saves health dollars. Prescription drugs cost much less.
I don't know if getting rid of Obamacare would be a step in the right direction or not, it all depends on what replaces it. What we had before was not working and pretty much everyone agrees changes must be made, but Obamacare is also flawed in many ways .... although perhaps it's a start in the right direction. I am not optimistic that we will get very far in the right direction though ... not as long as the Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies etc. are the ones controlling what can and can't get through Congress.
It is just another example of what is bringing down our country ..... everything is done for the benefit of the special interests (who can buy off the Congress), with the welfare of the people taking on secondary (if that) importance. The government can't be everything for everybody, but it should at least be fair in how it goes about it. This problem with the system needs to be fixed first and foremost before tackling all the other big problems, or we wind up with a lot expensive programs which don't serve the people well (unless you think of Corporations as people, as the Supreme Court does).

[basserdan]

‘Perfect Rally’ Eluded Bulls, Slaughtered Bears

By: Rick Ackerman
Rick's Picks
Monday, 2 July 2012

Explosive rallies like the one we saw on Friday are opportunistic, launched to milk the last ounce of buying power from ostensibly positive news – in this case, word that Europe had come up with yet another plan to deal with its financial crisis. Of course, the very word “milk” implies that there were agents working behind the scenes to stage-manage the rally. This is not exactly correct, although it is close enough to the truth to stand scrutiny. Here’s how it works. Although we all “know” that Europe cannot possibly grow its way out of its mess, and that sooner or later the euro currency system will unravel, the mere pretense of doing something about it will always be sufficient to buy more time, at least until the day arrives that the system actually does fail. This means that those who have bet on the collapse of the banking system will continue to lose money until the day they are right, but not before. And while that day may seem inevitable to many of us, betting on it – especially with put options whose value decays with each passing week — presupposes a gift for timing that few humans possess. Indeed, it’s possible that perfunctory bailouts of no real consequence could keep the markets afloat for yet more months or years, if not indefinitely. This prospect should not seem farfetched to anyone who has watched the cycles of feigned hopefulness alternate with periods of disappointment and despair. In the lingo of chartists, we might say that waves of mass psychology have been “trading in a range.”



Looking at it from the technical side, these spectacular rallies occur simply because those who make their living by taking the other side of them step away whenever a stampede of buyers, including bears desperate to meet margin calls, comes thundering their way. They have quite a bit of latitude to avoid getting trampled, and so, inundated by a tidal swell of market orders, they simply raise their offers as high as they feel necessary to temporarily satiate the demand. Of crazed buyers, the pros who fade them would say, “If you’re desperate enough not to care how much you pay for this stock, then I will sell it to you at a price that doesn’t leave me equally desperate to get it back.” That is why more than two-thirds of Friday’s rally occurred before anyone had actually bought or sold any stock. Although the Dow Industrials finished the day with a 277-point gain, 193 points of it occurred in the first minute or two of the session, on what is known as a “gap” opening. Almost no stock changed hands during this interval; the first time that was to occur was after the pros on the other side of the bet had opened the 30 Dow stocks substantially higher. The effect was that those who attempted to “act on the news” were a day late.

Traders are soon to discover, or perhaps relearn, that this game is played with stocks moving down as well as up. Thus, bears who have been waiting patiently for months or even years to “even the score” are destined to see the hoped-for opportunity come and go in mere minutes. To be on board, permabears will need to have been short the night before — except that previous day’s session will most likely have ended with a short-squeeze spike that few of them will have survived.

http://news.goldseek.com/RickAckerman/1341216888.php

[zab]

CSV chart is interesting, but the volume is very thin.

[MiamiGent]

% Losers



Symbol Price Change Volume

LQDT -8.32 (-16.26%) 1.0M

CORT -0.31 (-6.90%) 0.2M

GBX -1.21 (-6.88%) 88,035

OPEN -3.02 (-6.71%) 0.2M

HCKT -0.37 (-6.64%) 68,265

GRPN -0.66 (-6.21%) 1.1M

PVA -0.44 (-5.99%) 0.1M

LIVE -0.70 (-5.85%) 19,205

CJJD -0.08 (-5.85%) 39,847

SGMO -0.32 (-5.80%) 70,146

[pantmaker]

Newly-sounds wonderful. The trail is on my list of things to do. God's country it is.

pants

[zab]

SPF chart has been doing well of late.

[zab]

The Blue Ridge Mountains are all beautiful, but if you drive that road through the mountains, you better have plenty of gas, food and drink, cause once you get in them you might not want to leave.

In wintertime, much of the road can be closed due to snow, or bad weather.

Enjoy the ride, sometimes you feel you are just driving a very long road with many turns, but again the scenery and overlooks are awesome.

[fois gras]

Newly, I want to move down to The Blue Ridge but selling houses here is dead on arrival.
What 'part' did you like the most..? I'm aiming for Charlottesvelle.

TIA

[basserdan]

Monday morning federal headlines - July 2

Monday - 7/2/2012, 8:17am 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.


• The federal government is open this morning, with a few exceptions. But employees are asked to telework if possible. You can also use unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Non-emergency workers have to notify their supervisors if they want either of those options. Employees may also use annual leave, earned compensatory time office, or leave without pay. Emergency employees are expected to report on time. Hundreds of thousands of homes and commercial properties are still without power this morning after Friday night's storms. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville is closed for the day. NASA Goddard Space Center is open under code blue. Most of the Army Garrison at Fort Belvoir will operate with only emergency-essential employees today. (Federal News Radio)

• The transportation bill sailed through both chambers of Congress on Friday. After months of contention and veto threats, both parties came together on the last day before their holiday recess. The bill became a catch-all for unrelated provisions, including a plan to allow partial retirements for some federal workers. A plan to keep student loan rates from doubling also passed. President Obama is expected to sign the bill this week. (Federal News Radio)

• TSA is in trouble with Congress. A House committee invited a senior Transportation Security Administration official to discuss its troubled Transportation Worker Identification Credential program. But Stephen Sadler, the TSA assistant administrator for Intelligence and Analysis, didn't come to the hearing. Members had to settle for two other witnesses, one from DHS policy and one from the Coast Guard. That didn't set well with the committee. Chairman John Mica of Florida called it appalling. He called a recess when the two subs couldn't answer questions about why TWIC is over-budget and years late. (Federal News Radio)

• A Senate panel is trying to make it easier for agencies to get rid of property they don't need. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has passed a bill requiring agencies to get rid of underused buildings within two years or risk not being able to get new property. The legislation would give weight to several things the Office of Management and Budget already does. It directs OMB to keep a scorecard of how well agencies are managing their property costs on Performance.gov. And it would make permanent a so-called property "SWAT" team at OMB. (Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee )

• The Justice Department has thumbed its nose at a House vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt. Deputy Attorney General James Cole sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, saying the department will take no steps to prosecute the contempt finding. He cites precedent going back to the Reagan administration. The contempt vote followed Holder's refusal to turn over certain documents related to a Justice Department gun tracing operation. But Boehner tells the Face-The-Nation Sunday talk show, the House will consider filing a civil suit to force disclosure of the documents. (Federal News Radio)

• A member of the National Guard or Reserve earns less when they're serving in a war zone than they do when they're at home training. An officer can make nearly twice as much doing drills on a Saturday or Sunday than being on active duty in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says the discrepancy makes sense. They say the higher pay for weekend training is an incentive for citizen-soldiers. But it's one of several issues detailed in a new report on the the complicated Guard and Reserve compensation system. (Federal News Radio)

• The soldier who shot his commander at Fort Bragg has died. The Army says doctors at a North Carolina hospital could not save Specialist Ricky Elder. They say Elder had been charged with stealing a toolkit worth $17,000 and was awaiting court martial. He was also facing charges of aggravated battery in his home town. Elder shot and killed his commander Lieutenant Colonel Roy Tisdalle Thursday during a safety briefing. Elder wounded another soldier before turning the gun on himself. The third soldier survived. . (Federal News Radio)

• A House panel is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explain why one of its most sensitive labs continues to have security problems. In a letter to CDC leaders, the House Energy Committee says scientists at the emerging infectious disease laboratory work on anthrax bird flu and other diseases that could be used as biological weapons. The inquiry comes after USA Today obtained internal emails from engineers and safety personnel dating back to 2010. They reveal concerns about airflow systems not cleaning the air fire safety and unlocked doors. showing the labs remain unlocked. The CDC tells the newspaper that it has multiple layers of security that make it close to impossible for any unauthorized person to get lab materials. (USA Today)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






The experts have certainly said it --
That default would ruin our credit.
But is the solution
In our Constitution?
What's more: Has our government read it?

By Joey Polansk

[basserdan]

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

July 2, 2012


Barclays chairman falls on his sword. Barclays (BCS) Chairman Marcus Agius has resigned in the wake of the Libor scandal, saying "the buck stops with me." The Bank of England could get sucked into the affair, as Barclays managers believed they were making false submissions under the instruction of Deputy Governor Paul Tucker. Meanwhile, the British government has ordered an independent review into the workings of interbank lending rate.

Germany's Linde to buy Lincare for $4.6B. Germany's Linde (LNAGF.PK), an industrial gas producer, has agreed to pay $4.6B to buy Lincare Holdings (LNCR), a provider of oxygen and respiratory services to in-home patients. The $41.50-a-share deal represents a 22% premium to Lincare's close on Friday. It may seem like a strange match but industrial gas suppliers have been pushing into the homecare market, which is growing 6%-9% annually.

Bristol-Myers, AstraZeneca to acquire Amylin in $7B deal. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and AstraZeneca (AZN) have won the battle for Amylin (AMLN), agreeing to buy the diabetes drug maker for $31 a share - equivalent to a 10% premium to Friday's close. The total size of the deal is $7B and includes about $3.4B from AstraZeneca, which will expand its diabetes collaboration with Bristol-Myers. Amylin shares were +8.5% premarket.

Micron to buy Elpida for $750M plus $1.75B debt. Micron Technology (MU) has agreed to acquire Elpida Memory for about $750M. Under the deal, Micron will also pay the creditors of the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker $1.75B in annual installments until 2019. Micron shares were +1.6% premarket.

Dell seen confirming Quest offer. Dell (DELL) is set to announce as soon as this morning that it's buying Quest Software (QSFT), the WSJ reports. The final price for the deal isn't known yet, although Dell last week reportedly offered $2.3B, or $27.50 a share.

NY power utility shuts out workers. Consolidated Edison (ED) locked out 8,500 unionized workers after a collective bargaining agreement expired over the weekend and talks about a new contract broke down. The New York electricity utility, which has been drafting 5,000 managers to replace the workers, said the lockout won't prevent it from being able to provide enough power to cope with the increased demand brought by the city's heatwave.

Airbus plant could bring 3,000 jobs. Airbus (EADSY.PK) could reportedly create 400-500 permanent jobs at a $600M A320 assembly line it plans to open in Alabama 2017, and 2,500 construction positions to build the plant. That's not to mention any jobs in ancillary industries. An announcement could come today.

Storm downs Amazon Web Services. Amazon Web Services (AMZN) experienced a giant outage over the weekend, due to the storms that hit the East Coast. The breakdown affected Netflix (NFLX), Instagram, Pinterest, and many other clients. It was the second time AWS went down in June, and, together with a Thursday Salesforce.com (CRM) outage, drives home the reliability concerns some enterprises still have about cloud services.

Banks face wave of foreclosure regulation from states. California's legislature is due to vote today on new foreclosure requirements, with the state one of 25 considering fresh repossession rules. It's a trend the banks are strongly against, saying that the need to deal with different laws will increase costs for borrowers, introduce bottlenecks and hurt the fragile housing recovery.

Eurozone debt crisis continues to bite. Eurozone unemployment rose in May to hit another record of 11.1%, up from April's 11%. As usual, the figures were very ugly in the South, with Spain's rate 24.6% and Greece's 21.9%. Meanwhile, final Eurozone Manufacturing PMI came in at 45.1 in June, rounding off the weakest quarter in three years. Germany and France were among those to suffer contraction, and only Ireland and Austria enjoyed growth.

Chinese manufacturing also suffers. China's official PMI dropped to 50.2 in June - the slowest growth this year - from 50.4 in May vs. consensus of 49.9 and the HSBC reading of 48.2. The decline was driven by a fall in new export orders to the lowest since March 2009 as domestic and foreign demand wilted. More positively, sort of, Japan's Tankan survey of business sentiment improved to -1 in Q2 from -4 in Q1 and vs. an expected -3.

EU embargo on Iranian oil takes effect. EU oil sanctions on Iran came into full force yesterday as exemptions on some contracts and tanker insurance - which has been key in enforcing the embargo - expired. The IEA has forecast that the measures will remove around 1M bpd from oil markets. Brent oil surged 7.05% on Friday and WTI jumped 9.3%, although both were down premarket.

Today's Markets:
* In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong +2.2%. China flat. India -0.2%.
* In Europe, at midday, London +0.7%. Paris +1.4%. Frankfurt +1.1%.
* Futures at 7:00: Dow flat. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude -1.5% to $83.67. Gold -0.8% to $1591.60.

Today's economic calendar:
9:00 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
1:15 PM Fed's Williams: 'Monetary Policy Since the Financial Crisis'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






The experts have certainly said it --
That default would ruin our credit.
But is the solution
In our Constitution?
What's more: Has our government read it?

By Joey Polansk

[westpacific]

Those old enough to remember know that NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was an alliance between Western Europe and the US against the threat of the Red Army overrunning Western Europe. The North Atlantic is a long, long ways from the Black and Caspian Seas. What is the purpose of Georgia being a NATO member except to give Washington a military base on the Russian underbelly?

The evidence is simply overwhelming that Washington--both parties--have Russia and China targeted. Whether the purpose is to destroy both countries or merely to render them unable to oppose Washington’s world hegemony is unclear at this time. Regardless of the purpose, nuclear war is the likely outcome.




Paul Roberts
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under Reagan

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/06/28/can-the-world-survive-washingtons-hubris/

What is exteme in this statement is my long standing position of most of Europe empty 2016 and remaining so still in 2025; and this due to fallout from a global war!

And add this from Roberts latest post!!!
-Moreover, the only financing the Washington criminals have is the printing press. In a subsequent column I will examine whether the US economy will complete its collapse before the war criminals in Washington can destroy the world.

West

[zab]

Morning Lee, nice to see you posting.

Unemployment numbers on Friday, wondering how much this heat are effecting those numbers. Down here it is brutal, sure makes leaving the house difficult for many.

[zab]

You keep posting, but it means nothing. The Afforadable Health Care Act is now the law of land, lets move on to the next issue, and trading stocks. !!

[zab]

I watched your video, and you make something about 8 Billion in cuts, but it never mentions where the cuts will take place. The other thing is you are talking about 8 Billion, not very much money in today's grand Health debate. The latest figure is over 2 Trillion that Americans pay each year.

Trying to make people afraid of something is not the way of dealing with an issue, but this is Monday morning, and its time to get back to looking at charts and news that is relevant to today's trading.

[lee kramer]

ISM Mfg. Index and construcrion spending at 10:00.

[Chuckless]

<<< it may become necessary for us Americans to seek high qualiy healthcare abroad and/or off-shore. >>>

And where you can find high quality healthcare at an affordable price abroad will most likely be in one of those so called "socialistic" healthcare systems which you hate so much.
Ever wonder why our healthcare system ranks so low among modern industrialized countries, but at the same time costs more than anywhere else? It is because it's main purpose is not looking after the public's welfare. It has been designed to maximize profits for the healthcare industry (primarily the Pharmaceutical companies) while maintaining the illusion that it will provide good affordable healthcare for all. I live abroad now, and I use the healthcare system (what you might mistakenly call an "evil socialistic" one), and it is far more affordable and at least as good as what I've had in the US. At the same time, it is not as huge a drain on government finances as the healthcare system in the US is. There is also more emphasis on prevention, which saves health dollars. Prescription drugs cost much less.
I don't know if getting rid of Obamacare would be a step in the right direction or not, it all depends on what replaces it. What we had before was not working and pretty much everyone agrees changes must be made, but Obamacare is also flawed in many ways .... although perhaps it's a start in the right direction. I am not optimistic that we will get very far in the right direction though ... not as long as the Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies etc. are the ones controlling what can and can't get through Congress.
It is just another example of what is bringing down our country ..... everything is done for the benefit of the special interests (who can buy off the Congress), with the welfare of the people taking on secondary (if that) importance. The government can't be everything for everybody, but it should at least be fair in how it goes about it. This problem with the system needs to be fixed first and foremost before tackling all the other big problems, or we wind up with a lot expensive programs which don't serve the people well (unless you think of Corporations as people, as the Supreme Court does).

[borusa]

Very long, over an hour, and interesting youtube about thorium nuke reactor. Low priority, for when you have time.

[roguedolphin]

Another stark and brutally truthful posting. Keep up the thought provoking commentary!

[MiamiGent]

ARNA Which Big Pharma Will Own The Next Weight Loss Blockbuster?
By Reza Ganjavi - June 30, 2012| Tickers: AMLN, ARNA, BMY, DNDN, LLY, JNJ, PFE
For Motley Fool

Reza is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=arna

Speculations are abundant around who and when Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) will be bought out. Most investors that I've talked to believe a take over of Arena is inevitable, because

a) Arena has a block-buster-potential drug just approved by the FDA.

b) Big Pharma is in dire need of a lucrative acquisition to boost its pipeline. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, by 2015, top 10 Big Pharma stands to lose up to 40 percent of its revenue due to generics.

c) Arena sells pills which requires simple distribution, unlike therapies like Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN).

d) Arena is grossly undervalued.

e) Arena owns all its intellectual property rights, globally.

Cash-rich, and pipeline-starved Big Pharma is looking for good deals and Arena seems to be a delicious target.

Business Week quoted Stephen Brozak, president of WBB Securities:


“In every single board room, you have instructions from the chairmen and chairwomen to the chief scientific officers to ‘Find me something like Arena with freedom to operate and without the licensing agreements’.

According to Sierra World Equity Review Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) "is already talking to Arena Pharmaceuticals".

The prospects for a bidding war is strong. Besides Pfizer, a number of other pharmaceuticals may join the race to take over Arena, including Arena's own Japanese partner, Eisai, Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), and others.

BMS has just announced a deal to acquire diabetes drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN) in a $7 Billion deal that includes covering Amylin's net debt and a contractual payment obligation to Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY). I anticipate a number of Big Pharmas will be talking with Arena in the coming months and I have every confidence that Arena's seasoned CEO Jack Leif will negotiate a great deal for the shareholders.

Eisai has a "standstill agreement" with Arena which prevents Eisai from purchasing Arena unless someone else tries to first. I don't think there will be a shortage of bidders for Arena. A couple of doctors I spoke to named Eisai and Pfizer as most likely candidates. Pfizer has a lot of experience in this market segment, and both companies could use a boost to their pipelines which are increasingly challenged by generics, specially, Eisai's. To quote a dear friend and Arena scholar James "Danny" Stevens:


"Pfizer through aggressive marketing and selling to the medical community made Lipitor into a huge blockbuster. It is very possible, they see that same potential with BelViq."

Prospects for a short squeeze given the astronomical short interest would further boost the price and inflame the bidding war.

Most of the discussion among investors is not around "if" but "when and how much".

The timing is anybody's guess, but some investors I've talked to believe it could happen before year's end as Big Pharma would be interested in sealing a deal before Arena signs up a European Partner so they wouldn't have to deal with Arena plus a third party, if Arena signs up with a distribution partner before a takeover deal.

I found it interesting that Arena's management made it clear in recent public communications that they have not yet chosen a partner for Europe perhaps implying that people should not assume Eisai is the European partner (as some investors have assumed).

As for the takeover price, it's difficult to say but I don't believe the Board of Directors would accept an offer under $40 per share.

[J7P]

To quote Will Rogers: "When congress makes a law, it's a joke, and when they make a joke it's a law." Ditto the Supreme Court.
Surely there is a better way than the ACA.

Jack

[basserdan]

I regret that very few senior citizens will have the opportunity to watch this short (2:30) video.

If you agree, please send it to your emailing list and ask them to forward it to their mailing list(s).

[MiamiGent]

Wall St Week Ahead: Can EU deal lift stocks for more than a day? BY Reuters Equity 10:30 AM ET 07/01/2012
By Angela Moon

NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished the first half of the year with a bang as investors welcomed news that the euro zone is a step closer to solving its 30-month-long debt crisis. Now for the question: Is this rally strong enough to last for more than a day?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their best daily percentage gains since December on Friday after an agreement by European leaders to stabilize the region's troubled banks, a pact that helped remove some of the uncertainty that has plagued markets.

"That is the major question. Can this fuel a longer-term rally? It can, but only to some degree if, over the weekend and the course of next week, we don't see any major push back or headlines that suggest that this deal is not going to happen," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.

"But I don't think this is a major game changer. I do, however, think that this is really the first time we got a relatively immediate answer to what they (the euro-zone leaders) are going to do about the issue."

Under pressure to prevent a catastrophic breakup of their single currency, euro-zone leaders agreed on Friday to let their rescue fund inject aid directly into stricken banks starting next year and intervene in bond markets to support troubled member-states.

They also pledged to create a single banking supervisor for euro-zone banks based around the European Central Bank in a landmark first step toward a European banking union that could help shore up struggling member Spain.


PARTY TIME

Wall Street's previous reaction to euro-zone bailout packages or other rescue plans had been somewhat muted. Initial gains would quickly disappear by the day's end as investors realized that there isn't a quick fix to the region's problems.

On Friday, it was a different story. The three major U.S. stock indexes jumped 1.5 percent to 2 percent shortly after the opening bell on news of the euro-zone agreement.

By the close, stocks ended at session highs with the major indexes up between 2 percent and 3 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 277.83 points, or 2.20 percent, to end at 12,880.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 33.12 points, or 2.49 percent, to finish at 1,362.16. And the Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 85.56 points, or 3.00 percent, to close at 2,935.05.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 percent.

For the month, the Dow added 3.9 percent, the S&P 500 rose 4 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 3.8 percent.

But for the second quarter, the Dow dropped 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 slid 3.3 percent and the Nasdaq lost 5.1 percent.

Despite the weak second quarter, the three major U.S. stock indexes wrapped up the first half of the year with decent gains: The Dow was up 5.4 percent, the S&P 500 was up 8.3 percent and the Nasdaq was up 12.7 percent.

"The next question is whether the ESM/EFSF will have enough capital and assuming they don't, will the ECB chip in by giving it a bank license, thus leveraging its size. That is yet to be determined," said Peter Boockvar, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

"For now, party on and turn that hourglass over as more time has been bought. But only the symptoms are being fought as the underlying disease of excessive debt and lack of growth still remains."

The leaders of the 17 European Union countries agreed on a series of short-term steps to shore up their monetary union and bring down the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy, seen as too big to bail out.

To that end, the euro zone's temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue funds will be used "in a flexible and efficient manner in order to stabilize markets" to support countries that comply with EU budget policy recommendations, a joint statement said.

Any market reaction to further developments this week could be exaggerated by lighter-than-usual volume. Wall Street trading desks may be more sparsely populated because it will be a short week. The U.S. stock market will be closed on Wednesday, the Fourth of July, in observance of Independence Day.


ALL EYES ON THE ECB

The market's focus will shift to the European Central Bank this week as investors wait to see whether it cuts interest rates to complement the measures taken by EU leaders to shore up banks and bring down borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.

Most economists polled by Reuters expect the ECB to cut borrowing costs on Thursday, July 5, at its meeting, which takes place against a darkening economic backdrop.

But internal resistance to the central bank reviving its bond-buying program remains high. The ECB has already loosened its collateral rules to make it easier for banks in Spain to access its funds.

"Investors have to be cautious because the market may be getting ahead of itself. We really don't have any details. The big question is still what direction the ECB takes" this week, said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

"It's (the EU deal) certainly not a silver bullet for the debt crisis, but the market is kind of acting like it is. It may set us up for another push down in the weeks ahead."

Stocks had enjoyed a run earlier this month on hopes that global central banks would announce additional measures to stimulate economic growth, which has been tepid.

On June 20, the Federal Reserve extended its "Operation Twist" program to sell short-term securities and buy longer-term ones to keep long-term borrowing costs down. But investors were disappointed when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who spoke at a news conference after the Fed's two-day policy meeting, gave few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent, denting hopes of cheap money in the equities market.

European bond yields will be closely watched this week. Madrid will auction three-year, four-year and 10-year bonds at a primary auction on Thursday in another big test for Spanish yields that are still not far below 7 percent.

France will sell between 7 billion and 8 billion euros in long-term bonds on Thursday.

JUNE JOBS DATA AHEAD

This week's data includes the Institute for Supply Management's U.S. manufacturing index and construction spending on Monday, followed by factory orders and June car sales on Tuesday.

After Wednesday's holiday, investors will face a blitz of economic indicators. On Thursday, weekly jobless claims and mortgage data, ADP's private-sector payrolls report and the ISM's U.S. services-sector index will be released.

On Friday, the government's June nonfarm payrolls report will come out. Economists polled by Reuters have forecast a gain of 90,000 jobs, with the U.S. unemployment rate holding steady at 8.2 percent.


(Reporting by Angela Moon; Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Jan Paschal)

[brightness]

You are once again engaging in the propaganda that would make Dr. Goebbles proud: the Party has brought prosperity to the Germany people; the Party heals the sick; the Party gives the unemployed jobs. . . never mind what the Party have to destroy in order to deliver the "achievements" . . . because of course you don't care about "costs."

How can "millions of people have been helped already"?? Were there medical specialists sitting on their hands doing nothing previously? Since doctors were always in short supply, every single one of those millions that you claim to have been helped had taken up the place of someone else, someone who could have paid for the bill with their own means without the need to push papers. Yes, that's the essence of government subsidy in a market that is already supply-constrained: it drives up the price of the service, takes the service from three people who could have afforded the care but now can't, and give it to one nominally targeted help subject, one bureaucrat responsible for pushing papers, and one politician/lobbyist that puts this corrupt system together.

Perhaps, millions of people have been helped: the grafters!

You are perhaps correct in bringing up FDR and LBJ for comparing legacy. FDR's legacy is looming big as the baby boomers retire and find their government retirement funds stolen and spent on wars; it took 70 years to expose the scam. LBJ's "grandchildren" are already on the street in those flash mob incidents; that took only 40 years. Obama's AHCA will probably take much less time yet to be exposed as a scam; the pace is picking up speed.

[Newly2b]

Apparently you have yet to learn that an attack is not always the best defense. Try harder and perhaps a glimmer of light will get through the fog that shrouds your better judgment.

Newly