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Taking a page out of brig's book, a few quotes regarding the economy from probably the greatest American of all time, Thomas Jefferson:
Regarding the debt:
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." --Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Plumer (July 21, 1816)
Regarding the banking system:
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." --Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
Maybe Bernanke should read this:
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."
Buzz
They're stuffing the holes with worthless paper, i.e. the dollar. Where the fuck are thy getting the 200 billion? Oh, a treasury auction. Goodbye dollar, 5.00 gas this summer, inflation will go out of control.
The fucking fed doesn't get it. IT IS NOT THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MICROMANAGE THE ECONOMY. THAT IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO CAPITALISM. THE ECONOMY WILL FIX ITSELF, OVER TIME, AND RECESSIONS ARE A NECESSARY PART OF LONG TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH. THE ONLY ROLE OF THE FED IS TO KEEP INTEREST RATES AT A POINT THAT BALANCES GROWTH AND INFLATION.
If they don't cut this shit out, we will have consumer inflation in the us and devaluation of the dollar overseas. By the time all is said and done, the dollar may be worth less than the peso. At lest we'll solve the illegal immigration problem.
Buzz
Days like this, money is flowing into large caps. Many small caps underperform or actually go red as those who don't want to "miss the boat" sell and buy names like msft and intc and ge and cat.
Buzz
Hurray for the fed. eom
It used to be, then they stopped reporting m3.
Buzz
Maybe we'll attack venezuela and that will save the economy. Nothing like a war to beef up the gdp.
Buzz
I even read one analyst today who basically said the fed needs to quit fucking with the markets so much and just let them fall. As he said, markets DO actually go down sometimes, as does the economy, and we're coming out of a 5 year boom period.
Buzz
It's nice to see our tax dollars being put to good use by the PPT to support 12K/1300.
Buzz
I wish I had a buck for every "black" call we've tried to make over the last 6 months, lol.
We do need a capitulation day for a spring rally. However, we may not get it. PPT is protecting various levels every step of the way. This will result in a slow grind down that could last months.
11K will be tested with a possible impact low of 10,800. I think 9800 is a possibility on the dow if corporate earnings really decline. However, the weakness of the dollar will help larger companies with artificially inflated earnings due to overseas sales (like ibm had).
Buzz
Long slow ride to 10,800. oem
They go for about a grand on ebay. eom
Thanks but they don't have any software for it. eom
Arnold should be president. i'd vote to overturn the law against foreign born citizens. He's a friggin genius, doesn't give a crap about the pure political bs, and is imo doing a phenomenal job as our governor. He still uses warren as an advisor on financial matters, btw.
Buzz
hey, it's tough to find 128K of ram, and you'd be surprised what it's worth
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Apple-Macintosh-Mac-128k-128-M0001-Imagewriter_W0QQitemZ290209560219QQihZ019QQcategoryZ80075QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Buzz
HELP, if there are any Mac gurus ........
I have a mint 1984 mac M0001, 128K, the original mac. It works absolutely perfectly, I think, except I can't find any of the software for it. I have searched and searched on the net, but can't find any.
I want at least one program, preferably more, (macpaint, macwrite, macattach, etc). I want to show it to my kids, they'll get a laugh, but keep it up and running and round as a conversation piece.
Where the hell can I find 3 1/2" discs with these old programs?
Thank you,
Buzz
HELP, if there are any Mac gurus ........
I have a mint 1984 mac M0001, 128K, the original mac. It works absolutely perfectly, I think, except I can't find any of the software for it. I have searched and searched on the net, but can't find any.
I want at least one program, preferably more, (macpaint, macwrite, macattach, etc). I want to show it to my kids, they'll get a laugh, but keep it up and running and round as a conversation piece.
Where the hell can I find 3 1/2" discs with these old programs?
Thank you,
Buzz
HELP, if there are any Mac gurus ........
I have a mint 1984 mac M0001, 128K, the original mac. It works absolutely perfectly, I think, except I can't find any of the software for it. I have searched and searched on the net, but can't find any.
I want at least one program, preferably more, (macpaint, macwrite, macattach, etc). I want to show it to my kids, they'll get a laugh, but keep it up and running and round as a conversation piece.
Where the hell can I find 3 1/2" discs with these old programs?
Thank you,
Buzz
I won't matter for more than a day or two. Inflation is just about out of control now, and that's going to bite into consumer spending. It's a lose/lose now, and bernanke has already said they'll live with inflation to boost economic activity.
Recession would be better than staflation, imo.
Buzz
Apparently, brig is already there. eom
ABSOLUTELY! One of the few things I've agree with bush on was to privatize social security, but no friggin way congress was gonna let access to that money go.
Buzz
I think I have to agree with you. When the reporter told bush analysts were predicting 4.00 a gal gas, he chuckled. I sware, he had the same look on his face, that same wry smile, that I get when I get a runner in the market.
Buzz
The thing many overlook is the rise in oil prices has as much to do with the collapse of the dollar as anything else. If the dollar was where it was two years ago, oil would only be at 50.00 per barrel.
Bush proved yesterday that he's totally out of touch with what's going on. When a reporter asked him about 4.00 per gallon gas, he laughed and said is that what you're predicting? The reporter told him most major analysts are predicting 4.00 gas by early summer, and Bush said "oh, I didn't know that". He's completely out of touch with what's going on, and that is really hurting us.
Buzz
black monday????
You think you've ever had a bad day trading????
It took only seven hours early Wednesday for a trader at MF Global Ltd. to make bad bets on the direction of wheat prices that cascaded into $141.5 million in losses at the brokerage firm and exposed another breakdown in Wall Street's risk management.
Yesterday's announcement of the ill-fated trades was an embarrassment for the Bermuda-based futures and derivatives firm, which suffered a 28% drop in its share price. It was the steepest decline since MF Global was spun off last year from hedge-fund giant Man Group PLC, and the blowup raised questions about how one of the largest customers on several futures exchanges could have left itself so exposed to a single trader's bets.
MF Global identified the trader as Evan Dooley, who worked in the firm's Memphis , Tenn. , office until he was fired for having "substantially exceeded his authorized trading limit."
In an interview, the 40-year-old Mr. Dooley, who goes by his middle name, Brent, blamed the trading loss on the computer systems he was using. That system "failed on a lot of things," he said, including problems in "setting limits." He declined to be more specific.
MF Global insisted that the breakdowns resulting in the steep loss were isolated and have been fixed. But Kevin Davis, the brokerage's chief executive, acknowledged that existing internal controls could have stopped Mr. Dooley's trades from being processed -- but were turned off in a few cases to allow for speedier transactions by brokers at the firm who traded for themselves or took customer orders by phone.
"This is an absolutely awful event, but we believe it was an aberration in our risk controls. We believe that we have fixed it," Mr. Davis said. The firm has hired FTI Consulting Inc., of Baltimore , to review its risk-management procedures.
Mr. Dooley, who has spent more than 15 years in the rough-and-tumble business of commodities trading, had just one customer, and that person hadn't done any trading business with Mr. Dooley in "some time," Mr. Davis said. But the trader was allowed to process trades for his own account through MF Global, which collected commissions on those transactions. Such arrangements are common in futures trading, even though the brokerage firms essentially must use their own capital if traders can't afford outsize bets that go wrong.
Mr. Dooley, who joined the firm in November 2005, was betting that wheat prices would fall from their recent highs, according to a person familiar with the situation. Wheat and other commodities have surged in recent weeks because of strong demand, tight supply and a cash infusion from investors.
Mr. Dooley entered into the trades between midnight and 7 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday, according to the company, which said he placed orders for about 15,000 to 20,000 futures contracts, including March contracts and "a number of other contracts."
The trades weren't made from the brokerage firm's Memphis office. Mr. Dooley often traded from his home in Olive Branch, Miss. , where he lives with his wife, according to Mr. Dooley's father, Evan Dooley. "He's not a big trader. He's not a rogue trader," said Mr. Dooley after speaking with his son several times yesterday. "He's a day trader. If he made $1,000 a day, that was a good day."
MF Global's risk-management procedures include "buying power controls" that are supposed to flag big or risky trades that might expose the firm to potential losses. But those internal controls were sometimes turned off at the Memphis office and possibly other locations in order to speed trades. The surge in commodities-trading volume has created pressure on brokerage firms to keep up.
CME Group Inc.'s Chicago Board of Trade handled Mr. Dooley's orders. By Wednesday morning, though, wheat prices were moving sharply higher, meaning that Mr. Dooley was suffering losses that far exceeded the balance in his own trading account. Since his account was depleted, MF Global was forced to step in and fund the trader's losing position.
"It happened very quickly," Mr. Davis said in a conference call. Mr. Dooley didn't have the capital "to support even a fraction of his positions."
Some said MF Global's buying binge pushed wheat prices higher and fueled heavy trading Wednesday. It took several hours to undo Mr. Dooley's trades, but Mr. Davis played down their role in price moves. Floor trading of futures occurs in the daytime, while electronic trading through CME is during the day and from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Central time.
The MF Global mess was "certainly the main thing" that caused the market to gyrate Wednesday, said Vic Lespinasse, analyst for Illinois Grain. The most actively traded May wheat contract surged by the CBOT-imposed limit of $1.35 a bushel.
Covering Mr. Dooley's positions cost MF Global $141.5 million in cash, or about $80 million on an after-tax basis. That is equal to about 6% of the brokerage firm's capital -- and exceeds the company's net income in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31.
Some of the loss might be recovered from insurance companies or mitigated by reduced bonuses at the firm, but getting the money from Mr. Dooley isn't likely. The trader "doesn't appear to be terribly long of assets," Mr. Davis said.
National Futures Association records show no prior regulatory problems for Mr. Dooley. It isn't clear if he will face disciplinary action from regulators stemming from his wheat-futures trades. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates U.S. futures markets, is looking into the situation. In a statement, the CFTC said the problem "appears to be an isolated event."
Outside of work, Mr. Dooley liked to go fishing, according to his father. Richard Gunter, who lives across the street from a brick house in Eads, Tenn., where Mr. Dooley used to live, recalls seeing the trader leave for work around 6 a.m. or 6:30 a.m. With the rise of electronic trading, though, Mr. Dooley could trade nearly 24 hours a day.
MF Global's shares fell $8.09, or 28%, to $21.19 yesterday in 4 p.m New York Stock Exchange composite trading. That was the steepest decline since the company went public at $30 a share.
In other commodity news:
CRUDE OIL: Futures soared to another all-time high above $102, bolstered by the dollar's slide to new lows. Crude oil has risen in 12 of the last 15 trading days, as a weak dollar pressures oil exporters to raise prices and draws investment funds into commodities. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $2.95, or 3%, higher at $102.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
SILVER: Prices rose, supported by anticipated lower interest rates and higher oil prices. Investor interest in silver is increasing as some in the market think gold is "overdone" and some have been selling gold to buy silver, especially after the yellow metal broke its 1980 high, said Don Tierney, precious-metals analyst with B&C Trading. On the Comex division of the Nymex, nearby March silver rose 43 cents, or 2.2%, to $19.6400 an ounce after reaching $19.845, the highest front-month price since November 1980. Most-active May silver gained 37.7 cents to $19.710.
I have something you haven't seen .....
and you'd LIKE it.
Buzz
Wooo hooo, rally like crazy! Let's see, consumer confidence at 75 vs. the expected 82, oil over 100.00, rampant inflation, biggest drop in home prices last q in over 11 years, but hey, IBM is buying back a bunch of stock with money they saved from screwing employees on their pensions, so get out the RALLY MONKEY. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Buzz
HURRAAAYYYY!!! .... the realators have called a bottom in the housing market! What is this, their 20th, 25th or so call for a bottom in the housing market?
"Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said he believed the housing market may be on the verge of bottoming out with a rebound expected to start toward the end of this year."
Could I please get a second opinion doctor?????
"Expect sales and prices to keep falling," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. "There is no end in sight for the housing disaster."
Happy Presidents' Day to the men .................
(and GW Bush)
George Washington (1789-1797)
John Adams (1797-1801)
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
James Madison (1809-1817)
James Monroe (1817-1825)
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
William Henry Harrison (1841)
John Tyler (1841-1845)
James K. Polk (1845-1849)
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
James A. Garfield (1881)
Chester Arthur (1881-1885)
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
William McKinley (1897-1901)) )
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
Harry S Truman (1945-1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969))
Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
George Bush (1989-1993)
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
George W. Bush (2001- )
But thankfully, we don't have "core" inflation, cause you can't count food and energy.
Buzz
I filled up yesterday, and thought, geez, gas has gotten cheap cause it's under 3 bucks for the first time in a while. Then I see it was 60 bucks to fill up instead of 40 bucks like it used to be.
Then I stop at the store to pick up a dozen eggs and a few things. Eggs are 5.19 a dozen. I think, wow, seems like they were just 2.50 last summer, which they were.
Buzz
whatever, my point being, contraction in the ism services means businesses are preparing for a slowdown by the consuemr.
Buzz
reality check, we're not heading into a recession. We are IN a recession. The services sector almost always leads.
Buzz
I'm rubber, you're glue. eom
I don't think msft buying yhoo is good news for goog.
Buzz
Shit, they raided brigs summer home and found his secret food supply
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Authorities removed nearly 200 animals from a Virginia Beach home, including 89 frozen ferret carcasses. Police spokeswoman Margie Long said animal control agents found more than 100 live ferrets, a dog, a bird and three cats, most of them suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
Long said the frozen bodies of 89 ferrets, a cat, a rat and an otter were discovered in freezers in the house and garage.
Sixty-one of the live ferrets had to be euthanized because of poor health.
I'm looking for a rally to s and p 1420, the lower tl of the triangle breakdown. then downside to 1180.
Buzz
I have a stimulus plan for this weekend, but don't have to bail out cause she's on the pill.
Buzz
open bid
GOOG getting bitch slapped now. OB at 460.00.
Buzz