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Thats why we work so hard! Ready for a big day. Luck to you.
Stimilus package spending video from Fox Business;
http://www.foxbusiness.com/americas-infrastructure/index.html
Limited Brands Upgraded To Buy By Citigroup
MarketWatch Pulse NEW YORK -- Limited Brands Inc. stock was upgraded to buy from hold by Citigroup. Analyst Kimberly Greenberger said the company's free cash flow is enough to pay its $200 million dividend without tapping into its cash of about $1 billion. She also said the clothing retailer has more than enough liquidity without the need to access credit markets over the next three years as there are no significant maturities until August 2012. While she expects Limited may violate one of its financial covenant terms this year, she said the company should be able to get relief and restructure the terms.
Morning GoldenZ. Good Luck this week! GOld!!!!!weeeeeeeeeee
GM Getthepaper! Am doing well. Looks like we might be getting a turn around here. Positive Citi Bank news out already.
How you doing?
lol. Radar Love..... Hopefully a market turn around will have us screaming like the Wherewolfs in London song!
Yeah, me too. Fingers crossed. Any ideas where they could go?
Love that song lol. Never knew who sang it, thanks. Whats on your radar for the week?
Rodger that. Gold and tech are the plays for me. As I said perviously, AOAG has changed their name to Placer Gold corp. and is poised to ride the momentum of gold as it goes all the way to @2,000. They are sitting on over 3 million ounces of gold!!!!!!
You talking about Taser? I think this one will set a new standard for rapid growth
Added to me favorites! What are you watching this week?
Great post been jagman! It almost depressed me, I have suspected/known this for a while now but have been hoping for some different result. It seems that the credit era has lead to the nationalization era.....
IAG making new highs. Looking good for next week imo
AOAG a great buy for next week imo. As soon as the name and symbol change take effect (I hear any day now) to Placer Gold corp this one's going to take off!
Gold has been trending higher since mid October, but yesterday was the day it broke out of it's "ascending triangle" formation as money poured out of bonds and stocks into the shiny stuff.
I believe this particular security could have legs far beyond today's simple fear driven rally. Consider the following. Where is the money going to come from to bail us out of our current predicament? In a sense, we are going to simply print it. It isn't going to come from tax revenues.
When the market really catches on to how much we are going to have to print, the excess supply will bring back Mr. Bernake's next nightmare- the "I" word- INFLATION.
Yes, we could inflate our way out of this recession/budding depression. And, if we do, watch the Shiny Stuff make an 18 month move to who knows where. The old highs of $2,500 might not be a pipe dream ($250 on GLD). There is a whole sub culture of doomsdayers who have been calling for the end of the financial world for the last twenty years, and there's a possibility they might finally be right. The aging generation of gold bugs who long for the ra ra days of the '80's when gold was the only thing to own might have one more hey day.
As the storm clouds gather, you can't afford not to have GLD in your portfolio. I'm not ready to call a big move in junior mining stocks yet- they are huge cash gobblers, and there's no cash around for them to gobble up quite yet. Stand by on those ideas if capital starts to flow to juniors.
Signed it the other day and used the link to send a paper letter too. Good man for getting this around!
SIRI looks good, thanks TEC NASTY. You guys been following it for a while?
Gold futures top $1,000. Some experts see it at $2,000 in the near future! Gold mine stocks should start to see the same run on value imo. My bet is on AOAG, soon to be Placer Gold corp.
People are going to love Placer Gold corp!! See
Gold futures top $1,000 an ounce
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures topped the key $1,000 mark for the first time in nearly a year on Friday, as global financial and economic worries boosted the safe-haven appeal of the precious metal. In recent action, gold for April delivery traded at $996.80 an ounce, up $20.30, or 2%, on the day. It earlier touched a high of $1,000.30. Gold for February delivery, the front-month contract which registered very little volume, was last up $20.10, or 2%, at $996.60 an ounce on Globex.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gold-futures-reclaim-1000-an-ounce-mark/story.aspx?guid=%7BBC9E9193%2DB388%2D42EE%2DB775%2D0E9E168B558F%7D&siteid=bnbh
Originally posted by agustafriends
Trader Tax Petititon
Please sign the Trader Tax Petition and pass it around to everyone you know.
http://www.rallycongress.com/no2tradertax/1536/tell-congres-to-block-trader-tax
On Friday, February 13, your colleague, U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio, introduced H.R. 1068: “Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street's Bailout Act of 2009”, which aims to impose a 0.25% transaction tax on the “sale and purchase of financial instruments such as stock, options, and futures.” Without a doubt, many Americans are appalled at the reckless behavior of large Wall Street companies, and the notion of making those who are responsible for putting the global financial system in jeopardy help repay taxpayers for bailing them out is certainly justifiable.
Unfortunately, I feel that this proposal is the wrong way to do that, as this tax applies to all investors, the vast majority of whom have done no wrong. Effectively, this tax will punish anyone who wants to save their money, whether it be by investing in stocks or options directly, putting their hard earned money in any mutual fund, or by simply placing a portion of their paycheck in a 401K. There’s no doubt that banks and mutual funds will pass along this added cost to their customers, giving this proposed tax a much further reach than was initially imagined.
Moreover, the unintended consequences associated with H.R. 1068 are also hard to ignore.
First, many hard-working Americans make their livings by running small businesses that trade stocks, options and other financial instruments. Many of whom will be put out of business due to the fact that their margins are often quite thin. In addition, those who work for or with these individuals will also lose their jobs.
Second, a transfer tax such as this will lower capital gains dollar for dollar, making the notion that anyone who invests their money will be on the hook for the excesses of Wall Street all that more poignant.
Finally, such a tax will undoubtedly affect the number of shares traded on an absolute basis, thus reducing liquidity – a necessary ingredient in the effective pricing of assets. It’s the complete lack of liquidity, for example, which made collateralized mortgage obligations effectively worthless.
The body of the bill suggests that such a tax would have a negligible impact on the average investor. I beg to differ. For example, a $10,000 trade (or approximately 100 shares of stock in Apple, Inc.) would increase the cost of a round trip transaction by $50. 100 shares is generally considered to be a minimum size for a trade, which would devastate any small business executing even a handful of similar trades each day.
As you can see, while this bill may sound good on the surface, the effects, if it is passed, will reach anyone who wants to invest their money and will ruin many small business people who are not at fault for this distressing situation all Americans are struggling through.
I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 1068
Originally posted by agustafriends
Trader Tax Petititon
Please sign the Trader Tax Petition and pass it around to everyone you know.
http://www.rallycongress.com/no2tradertax/1536/tell-congres-to-block-trader-tax
On Friday, February 13, your colleague, U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio, introduced H.R. 1068: “Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street's Bailout Act of 2009”, which aims to impose a 0.25% transaction tax on the “sale and purchase of financial instruments such as stock, options, and futures.” Without a doubt, many Americans are appalled at the reckless behavior of large Wall Street companies, and the notion of making those who are responsible for putting the global financial system in jeopardy help repay taxpayers for bailing them out is certainly justifiable.
Unfortunately, I feel that this proposal is the wrong way to do that, as this tax applies to all investors, the vast majority of whom have done no wrong. Effectively, this tax will punish anyone who wants to save their money, whether it be by investing in stocks or options directly, putting their hard earned money in any mutual fund, or by simply placing a portion of their paycheck in a 401K. There’s no doubt that banks and mutual funds will pass along this added cost to their customers, giving this proposed tax a much further reach than was initially imagined.
Moreover, the unintended consequences associated with H.R. 1068 are also hard to ignore.
First, many hard-working Americans make their livings by running small businesses that trade stocks, options and other financial instruments. Many of whom will be put out of business due to the fact that their margins are often quite thin. In addition, those who work for or with these individuals will also lose their jobs.
Second, a transfer tax such as this will lower capital gains dollar for dollar, making the notion that anyone who invests their money will be on the hook for the excesses of Wall Street all that more poignant.
Finally, such a tax will undoubtedly affect the number of shares traded on an absolute basis, thus reducing liquidity – a necessary ingredient in the effective pricing of assets. It’s the complete lack of liquidity, for example, which made collateralized mortgage obligations effectively worthless.
The body of the bill suggests that such a tax would have a negligible impact on the average investor. I beg to differ. For example, a $10,000 trade (or approximately 100 shares of stock in Apple, Inc.) would increase the cost of a round trip transaction by $50. 100 shares is generally considered to be a minimum size for a trade, which would devastate any small business executing even a handful of similar trades each day.
As you can see, while this bill may sound good on the surface, the effects, if it is passed, will reach anyone who wants to invest their money and will ruin many small business people who are not at fault for this distressing situation all Americans are struggling through.
I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 1068
It's no secret that the price of gold is skyrocketing.
And for good reason: Our country is on a spending binge that's likely to cause massive inflation over the next few years.
By far, the best way to protect and grow your wealth during a time like this is to own gold mining stock imo
When investors get worried about inflation... they buy gold.
The rush has already started...
In the last 3 months:
An ounce of gold has gone from $780 to $939 (Bloomberg just reported on 2/11 that speculators are betting on $1,000 gold by April 2009)...
GLD -- the ETF that follows the gold price -- is up 22%... the Gold Miners ETF, which tracks gold mining stocks, is up 63%...
And if you've tried to buy any gold coins or bullion in the last few months -- if you can find any -- the premiums have shot up as much as 15-20%... sometimes a lot more. "Large purchases of coins are perhaps the ultimate sign of safe-haven gold buying," said John Reade, a precious-metals strategist at UBS.
What's causing the run-up?
According to the Financial Times, bankers say the move is being driven by the "very rich," who are hoarding the metal in vaults... and by professional money managers...
They're all starting to catch on that what the government is doing to bail out our economy will make the price of gold shoot through the roof.
As a result, the super-wealthy and their money managers are piling into any big gold investment they can find:
Privatization imo............gaaahhhhhhhh
GM, UAW close to deal as key deadline nears
Plans to show how automakers intend to become viable, repay loans
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers were getting close to an agreement on concessions, a person briefed on the negotiations said Tuesday, just hours before GM and Chrysler LLC must submit a restructuring plan to the Treasury Department to justify its federal loans.
Details of the deal were not available. Negotiations went all night Monday and into Tuesday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be submitted.
Both GM and Chrysler were racing to finish restructuring plans to present to the federal government, but final deals with debt holders and union workers may not come until after Tuesday’s government-imposed deadline passes, according to others who also were briefed on the situation.
The people briefed on the talks did not want to be identified because the negotiations are private.
GM scheduled a news conference for 6:30 p.m. to discuss its restructuring plans, and Chrysler planned to hold a conference call with reporters at 5 p.m.
The status of Chrysler’s talks was unknown.
GM on Tuesday received the last $4 billion of the $13.4 billion it was promised by the Treasury Department, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One. Chrysler has received $4 billion.
The plans are supposed to outline how the automakers intend to again become viable and repay the government loans. Ford Motor Co., which borrowed billions from private sources before credit markets tightened, has said it can make it through 2009 without government help.
Two people briefed on the GM plan reported progress Monday toward a deal with the United Auto Workers, but UAW Legislative Director Alan Reuther said he did not expect labor agreements in time for Tuesday’s deadline.
GM executives have said the company only has to show substantial progress by Tuesday, with the whole plan finalized by March 31.
Reuther, who heads the UAW’s Washington office, said the Obama administration’s appointment Sunday night of a task force to oversee the automakers’ restructuring should get things moving.
“I think this is an ongoing process, and having the Obama administration finally putting this task force in operation, hopefully it will be able to facilitate discussions going forward,” Reuther said.
At GM, UAW bargainers walked out of talks Friday night in a spat over the company’s contributions to a union-run trust fund that will take on retiree health care expenses starting next year.
GM’s plan is likely to seek more money, at least up to the $18 billion that it requested from Congress in December under its worst-case scenario projections. That scenario has arrived with U.S. sales at a 26-year low and auto sales dropping in other parts of the world, a person briefed on GM’s plan said.
The plan will stick with GM’s public strategy of trying to remain viable and avoiding Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been finalized.
Gibbs said the Obama administration looks forward to reviewing GM and Chrysler’s restructuring plans, and the president wouldn’t rule out a government-backed bankruptcy for the struggling automakers.
GM’s plan will discuss cost savings from labor concessions and additional plant closures, but the locations of those plants will not be revealed, another person briefed on the plan said Monday. The number of factories to be closed wasn’t available.
GM’s board met Monday by teleconference to go over the plan, but details could not be obtained.
The people briefed on the plan said it will include more information about how GM will cut some of its eight brands, although nothing will be finalized. The company already has said Saab and Hummer are up for sale and Saturn is under review, leaving GM to focus on Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick, with Pontiac reduced to one or two models.
Earlier, local union officials said negotiations had been slowed by the Obama administration’s delay in appointing a “car czar.” But Sunday night, the White House announced a task force to oversee the companies’ restructuring.
Obama plans to name restructuring expert Ron Bloom a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. While he won’t be the “car czar” point man many labor and business leaders expected, Bloom, a former consultant to the United Steelworkers of America, will be doing much of the financial analysis for the administration.
The competing interests of debt holders also slowed the labor talks, as no stakeholder wants to make concessions before the other.
Under the terms of GM and Chrysler’s loans, both companies must use their best efforts to reach “targets” to reduce debt and labor costs. One target says the automakers need to make half of their payments into the health care trust in the form of stock rather than cash. Another requires the companies to reduce unsecured debt by two-thirds by swapping debt for equity. The terms also seek labor cost parity with Japanese automakers that have U.S. plants.
The union fears that if it takes too much stock, the trusts won’t have enough to pay benefits for hundreds of thousands of retirees and spouses.
Some bondholders are reluctant to take roughly 30 cents on the dollar because they think even if they don’t go along with the plan, the government won’t allow GM to go into bankruptcy.
“Here you have a competition between bondholders and the union,” said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. “That’s where I think the feds become very important as an arbitrator.”
Advisers to the bondholder committee negotiating with GM delivered a proposal Sunday night that is consistent with the government’s terms, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Details of the bondholders’ proposal were not available, and the person said additional work remained and talks were continuing Monday night.
GM has about $28 billion in unsecured debt. Chrysler has about $9 billion in mostly secured debt. GM has to pay roughly $20 billion into the health care trust, while Chrysler must pay around $9.9 billion.
Billionaire Wilbur L. Ross Jr., who has rescued numerous failed companies in the steel and other industries, said Monday that GM can’t be cost competitive with Japanese automakers with such a heavy debt burden.
Bondholders, he said, traditionally hang on for the best deal but run the risk of losing it all if GM files for bankruptcy protection.
“Bondholders are pretty famous for playing chicken,” Ross said. “I just hope that they’re rational enough not to overplay their hand here .”
Bank of America's Lewis subpoenaed over Merrill deal: WSJ
(MarketWatch) -- Bank of America Corp. (BAC:bank of america corporation com
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 3.38-0.55-13.99%
10:20am 02/20/2009
BAC 3.38, -0.55, -14.0%) Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lewis has been subpoenaed by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating whether the bank withheld information from investors, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter. Cuomo is investigating the bank's purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. to determine whether investors were misled about the depth of Merrill's losses in late 2008 and whether details of the bonuses to Merrill employees should have been disclosed, the report said. Investigators also took testimony from John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill, on Thursday, the Journal reported. Thain was quizzed on why the September agreement contained a nonpublic attachment that detailed the maximum Merrill could pay in bonuses, the report added
Sure hope this defacto nationalization we have entered into doesn't take 10 years to turn around like Japan.
Consumer prices flat over past year
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - With energy prices tumbling 20%, U.S. consumer prices were unchanged over the past 12 months, the lowest 12-month inflation rate since 1955, the Labor Department reported Friday. In January, the consumer price index rose 0.3% seasonally adjusted as expected, the government said, as energy prices rose 1.7%, the first increase since July. The core CPI - which strips out food and energy prices to get a better handle on underlying inflation trends - rose 0.2% seasonally adjusted in January compared with the 0.1% gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.Over the past 12 months, the core CPI is up 1.7%, the lowest inflation since mid-2004
Gold futures reclaim $1,000-an-ounce mark in safe-haven buying.
Have been loving Gold for a while now.
Dow industrials drop over 100 points at open as gold trades around $1,000
Full story here;
http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/11f941cf32b0553a
Facebook backs down on policy changes
Social-networking site had faced tens of thousands of protests over switch
NEW YORK - Facebook backed down late Tuesday on policy changes that tens of thousands of users complained would grant the social-networking site the ability to control their information forever, even after they cancel their accounts.
“Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised,” Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote on The Facebook Blog.
Morning all. Gold futures reclaim $1,000 an ounce!
Have you heard all the experts talk about Gold Mining Stock? Unheged, up with the value of Gold, but not down!!!
Oil jumps 14% as inventories show surprise decline
By Moming Zhou & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last update: 3:12 p.m. EST Feb. 19, 2009Comments: 98NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures jumped 14% Thursday to end near $40 a barrel, marking the biggest one-day gain since the end of last year, after U.S. inventories showed a surprise decline last week as consumption started picking up.
The U.S. consumed nearly 20 million barrels a day of petroleum products over the past four weeks, up 2.6% from a month ago to the highest level in one year, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.
Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 200,000 barrels last week. Most analysts were expecting a buildup of 2 million to 4 million barrels.
Crude oil for March delivery rose $4.86 to end at $39.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"With gasoline prices two-thirds of last year at the pump it isn't a big surprise to see us using more gasoline even though many are losing jobs," said James Williams, an economist at energy research firm WTRG Economics. "There is no way to read this report that isn't bullish."
The March contract will expire at the end of trading on Friday. Trading more actively, April crude gained 7.4% to $40.18 a barrel
Freddie Mac: Benchmark mortgage average down from last week
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Freddie Mac (FRE:Freddie Mac
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 0.56-0.02-3.16%
3:24pm 02/19/2009
FRE 0.56, -0.02, -3.2%) said Thursday that its benchmark mortgage rate average declined from last week following bond yields. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.04% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Feb. 19, down from last week's 5.16%. Last year, it was 6.04%. "Mortgage rates followed bond yields lower this week as recent economic reports suggest the economy is still slowing, which reduces the future threat of inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist, in a statement. "And consumer sentiment fell in February for the first time in three months to near its lowest level since May 1980, while industrial production slowed in January by more than the market consensus
Experts say indicators point to the recession easing up!!!
January leading indicators up; recession's intensity to ease
full stoyr here; http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/january-leading-indicators-up-recessions/story.aspx?guid=%7B7132E29F%2DA05D%2D4497%2DB1C3%2D571F1AF5443B%7D
The State of California announces much delayed budget passage
Have you made any big profits in mining? I had a great run with AOAG from .005 to .125, and am now in at .046 looking for another jump. This stock could easily be at a quarter with in a fer weeks imo
Sounds like my weekend lol. I think it mining is the place to be in 2009. Especially Gold.
What do you think gold will do?
Huge % gainer WFMI
+34.12% 12.45