Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
TopHat Member Level Share Tuesday, March 15, 2011 2:38:08 PM
Re: None Post # of 4828
How to Explain the Current Economic Situation to Friends & Family
Use the following story about: My Troubled Relative
I need your advice. I have a relative in financial trouble. He makes $50,000 a year, but he spent $74,591 last year, and his prospects of making $50,000 this year look kind of bad. There's a good chance he will get a pay cut.
Unfortunately, he’s been overspending for quite a while and has charged $295,632 on credit cards. He’s been lucky enough to get low teaser rates, and when those expired, he’s been able to transfer the balances to other low rate cards. So he keeps charging $24,591 per year beyond his income. If he can’t keep rolling over his debt at super low rates the interest will quickly eat him up.
But, that's not his worst problem . He convinced his family he was a great investor. His parents gave him a portion of their income for many years, and he promised he would make regular payments to them, and cover their medical care, when they got too old to work. The problem is, he spent all the money. He also has dependents who are poor, and he promised to help them out too. He needs $2,372,953 sitting in a bank account earning an interest rate that keeps up with inflation. But the money is all gone.
So what should he do? Well, his Republican friends, who say they are responsible with money, have decided he must really cut spending to get things under control. There are lots of things he can live without, so he should reduce spending by $1,292 per year. His Democrat friends say that’s too much. It would be a great hardship to cut spending that drastically, and $137 should be about right.
So here’s the picture:
$50,000: Income
$74,591: Expenses
$24,591: Deficit
$295,632: Short-term revovling debt at artificially low rates
$2,372,632: Unfunded promises
$1,292: Republican friends budget cuts
$137: Democrat friends budget cuts
So, what does the future look like for my Uncle Sam? Do you think he can keep going like this much longer? What about his family that’s counting on the promises he made to them? Do you see any possible solution other than bankruptcy?
Multiply the above numbers by 47,620,000 and you get the fiscal picture for the United States Government in 2010:
$2.381 Trillion: Revenuw
$3.552 Trillion: Budget
$1.171 Trillion: Deficit
$14.078 Trillion: Debt
$113 Trillion: Unfunded Liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid)
$0.0615 Trillion ($61.5 Billion): Republican proposed budget cuts
$0.0065 Trillion ($6.5 Billion): Democrat proposed budget cuts
http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/how-explain-current-economic-situation-friends-and-family/54409?
TopHat Member Level Share Tuesday, March 15, 2011 2:38:08 PM
Re: None Post # of 4828
How to Explain the Current Economic Situation to Friends & Family
Use the following story about: My Troubled Relative
I need your advice. I have a relative in financial trouble. He makes $50,000 a year, but he spent $74,591 last year, and his prospects of making $50,000 this year look kind of bad. There's a good chance he will get a pay cut.
Unfortunately, he’s been overspending for quite a while and has charged $295,632 on credit cards. He’s been lucky enough to get low teaser rates, and when those expired, he’s been able to transfer the balances to other low rate cards. So he keeps charging $24,591 per year beyond his income. If he can’t keep rolling over his debt at super low rates the interest will quickly eat him up.
But, that's not his worst problem . He convinced his family he was a great investor. His parents gave him a portion of their income for many years, and he promised he would make regular payments to them, and cover their medical care, when they got too old to work. The problem is, he spent all the money. He also has dependents who are poor, and he promised to help them out too. He needs $2,372,953 sitting in a bank account earning an interest rate that keeps up with inflation. But the money is all gone.
So what should he do? Well, his Republican friends, who say they are responsible with money, have decided he must really cut spending to get things under control. There are lots of things he can live without, so he should reduce spending by $1,292 per year. His Democrat friends say that’s too much. It would be a great hardship to cut spending that drastically, and $137 should be about right.
So here’s the picture:
$50,000: Income
$74,591: Expenses
$24,591: Deficit
$295,632: Short-term revovling debt at artificially low rates
$2,372,632: Unfunded promises
$1,292: Republican friends budget cuts
$137: Democrat friends budget cuts
So, what does the future look like for my Uncle Sam? Do you think he can keep going like this much longer? What about his family that’s counting on the promises he made to them? Do you see any possible solution other than bankruptcy?
Multiply the above numbers by 47,620,000 and you get the fiscal picture for the United States Government in 2010:
$2.381 Trillion: Revenuw
$3.552 Trillion: Budget
$1.171 Trillion: Deficit
$14.078 Trillion: Debt
$113 Trillion: Unfunded Liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid)
$0.0615 Trillion ($61.5 Billion): Republican proposed budget cuts
$0.0065 Trillion ($6.5 Billion): Democrat proposed budget cuts
http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/how-explain-current-economic-situation-friends-and-family/54409?
TopHat Member Profile TopHat Member Level Share Monday, March 14, 2011 9:54:21 AM
Re: None Post # of 4828
Some of you will appreciate this and some of you will not.
I do not apologize for sending this because all of it is true and verifiable. The other fact is that truth is not biased, truth is truth.
If any other of our presidents had doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had criticized a state law that he admitted he never even read, would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head?
If any other of our presidents joined the country of Mexico and sued a state in the United States to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you question his patriotism and wonder who's side he was on?
If any other of our presidents had pronounced the Marine Corps like Marine Corpse, would you think him an idiot?
If any other of our presidents had put 87,000 workers out of work by arbitrarily placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have one of the best safety records of any industry because one foreign company had an accident, would you have agreed?
If any other of our presidents had used a forged document as the basis of the moratorium that would render 87000 American workers unemployed would you support him?
If any other of our presidents had been the first President to need a Teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If any other of our presidents had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take his First Lady to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had reduced your retirement plan holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought it a proud moment for America?
If any other of our presidents had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia , would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had visited Austria and made reference to the nonexistent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If any other of our presidents had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?
If any other of our presidents had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, wouldn't you have had second thoughts about his capabilities?
If any other of our presidents would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in his home town, would you not have thought he was a self important, conceited, egotistical jerk.
If any other of our presidents had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, wouldn't you have winced in embarrassment?
If any other of our presidents had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?
If any other of our presidents' administrations had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?
If any other of our presidents had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If any other of our presidents had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have ever approved..
If any other of our presidents had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive?
Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 21 months -- so you have that much time to come up with an answer.
Every statement and action in this email is factual and directly attributable to Barrack Hussein Obama. Every bumble is a matter of record and completely verifiable.
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Many of the drilling stipulations will be lifting in the next few months. If they are going to drill, it should be going on through the 2nd and 3rd quarter.
Mark Hettinger and Jim Farnsworth have been around the Gillette gas business for quite a long time. It'll be interesting to see what they get done.
I believe they are set up in the old Marathon building but not positive on that.
Keep in mind that the Gillette gas typically runs about $1 less than the reporting price at the Henry Hub.
The good thing is that some other pipelines have been put it and should help with the "bottle neck" issue that came up in the past.
That's an old field that Marathon was wanting rid of. Devon's "Kitty Field" runs in the same vicinity. Also an old field that production is "milked out of".
*I do realize that the end of those videos is a marketing deal but the info is interesting IMO.
Have you seen this video?:
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pro/1011PSIENDVD/PPSILCCR/PR
If you haven't, please spread it around. I'm not a paid member anymore and can't post on some of the political boars.
Take care
Are they delivering a product that is creating profit?
What is your take on EEE pulling out of Americas richest coal area? (Gillette WY) Raw product too plentiful? Excellent rail system not up to par for getting their product to the end users?
Play it for a flip but lets hear the specifics of the profits they are generating, will generate (specific time line) etc....
The fact is that EEE pulled out of Gillette WY- energy capital of the nation. Gillette WY is one of the best coal producing areas in the world. The area has a railroad infrastructure, the mines producing coal etc....
I live in Gillette and witnessed the activity when they were "ramping up". Whirl wind activity and then packed up.
What about the stability of the product? Don't forget about the load that self combusted enroute to its destination.
*You may want to research the process. If I remember correctly, Peabody experimented with the "technology/process" in the 1970's and deemed the end product unstable. I could sure be wrong on this. It's been awhile since I've looked into the specifics.
Looking forward to the enlightenment.
Haven't checked in on this one for quite awhile. Do they have an actual product yet that will generate profitable revenue?
NYBob- in your opinion, what do you think is the most solid play in gold producing companies?
I'm sizing up some GG in anticipation of a split.
With the stage set for deflation, I think gold is going to be the play.
In my research I found that the last time we had deflation on a significant scale was during the Great Depression. Fair assessment?
I also came up with the notion that gold producing companies out performed gold during that same time. Accurate in your opinion?
Doing my own DD but would appreciate your thoughts.
People may also want to research the new coal plants and emissions.
New coal plants aren't as bad at polluting as many would make it seem.
A new coal fired coal plant emits little to no emissions (in the grand scheme of things) UNLESS there is an unscheduled shutdown.
Nothing magical- just things to consider when sinking money in long term.
If you are playing this as a legit play, you may want to research the product further.
The basic principle isn't quite as new as many think.
Peabody worked on it and they couldn't get the product stable either.
I'd also suggest looking into the company pulling out of an area that is proven to be among the largest coal reserves in the world.
The area EEE left also has the rail system to transport the product around the nation. That infrastructure is significant IMO.
I'd also suggest looking into coal gasification. IMO, it will be the new coal process that proves to be practical. All the CO2 can be sequestered and injected into the ground. Turning coal into clean burning natural gas is a very clean process. It will just require a higher base price of energy.
You may want to DD the price of EEE's "prospective" clean coal vs gasification.
All in my opinion and hope the info helps. In the meantime, make the green where you can
Illegals wouldn't have quite such a devastating effect on our country IF the money they earned wasn't being wired out as fast as they make it.
http://immigrationcounters.com/
It's common to see lines and lines of illegals wiring out their paychecks on payday.
Our government even goes to the extent of allowing tax deductions (for legal citizens) for those who wire money out to those in other countries with disabilities as well as other criteria.
Many countries protect their currencies. The U.S allows the border to be open, the money to leave for one simple reason.
U.S. Corporations see a large amount of that money in those foreign countries. IE- Walmart in Mexico.
(I'm not disagreeing with your post- just offering another angle on it)
take care and gl. I sold out my last position through this week. Took some doing- hard to sell on the bid much less the ask.
I haven't been spending as much time around the Powder River Basin. I've been down in the Jonah Field and south west WY quite a bit more- emission issues around gas compression.
I will be in the Powder River Basin through the next 4 weeks and will do some checking.
I will update you and let you know what I find.
Think they'll try to run it a little before moving forward with the RS?
I think I'll pick up a small position as a lotto play in anticipation of a small run.
*I think you are right about the RS coming.
Thanks. I never really heard any specifics as to why they pulled out of the most productive coal area in the nation.
I live in Gillette. The Fort Union Facility was a busy, busy place - for awhile. Expansion and updates went on for quite awhile. Odd that they spent all that money to only abandon it base on "costs associated in bringing the plant up to the required level of energy technology".
I played momo plays on EEE for awhile and it worked. After they pulled out of Gillette, I flipped 3 more times. Got caught once and did ok twice.
Considering they have no product to deliver and pulled out of the largest coal producing area in the U.S, I've been leary of buying in again. Did miss a couple nice runs but not sure what was behind them (haven't been following as close as I did in the past).
I visited with a guy (years ago) from Peabody. He claimed that the technology was nothing new. Peabody had done it years ago but moved away from it as the product wasn't stable. Don't take it to heart- coffee shop talk and nothing more.
Has anyone figured out the reasoning as to why EEE pulled out of Gillette WY?
*Gillette is one of the largest coal producing areas in the WORLD. EEE also spent a lot of time and $ in investing in their "clean coal" facility. Seemingly overnight it was shut down and they moved on. Why?
It was announced this morning as a done deal.
IMO only- the dollar strengthening is a false scenario. Very hard to get a dollar to gain legit/long term strength when the printing press is running so fast.
Also IMO only- when doing research, the gold, silver etc... has a hard time having any significant gains (in comparison to dollar values) during inflation. While the commodity price is going up it doesn't do as well when factoring a dollar that is continually getting weaker.
Historically (and IMO only) gold, silver etc.... do not run hard unless there is deflation. The last time we had deflation was in the Great Depression.
During the Great Depression gold ran hard but legit gold producing companies out performed gold upwards of 300%.
*I do believe that the stage is set for another deflationary scenario. I'm currently holding my "gained shares" in SWC and may add some more. Also holding some GG that has performed well.
GLTA and again- all IMO only
Scientists say crack HIV/AIDS puzzle for drugs
* Study solves puzzle that eluded scientists for 20 years
* Finding should help development of new HIV/AIDS medicines
* Allows scientists to see how Merck and Gilead drugs work
By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Scientists say they have solved a crucial puzzle about the AIDS virus after 20 years of research and that their findings could lead to better treatments for HIV.
British and U.S. researchers said they had grown a crystal that enabled them to see the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV and is a target for some of the newest HIV medicines.
"Despite initially painstakingly slow progress and very many failed attempts, we did not give up and our effort was finally rewarded," said Peter Cherepanov of Imperial College London, who conducted the research with scientists from Harvard University.
The Imperial and Harvard scientists said that having the integrase structure means researchers can begin fully to understand how integrase inhibitor drugs work, how they might be improved, and how to stop HIV developing resistance to them.
When the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects someone, it uses the integrase enzyme to paste a copy of its genetic information into their DNA, Cherepanov explained in the study published in the Nature journal on Sunday.
Some new drugs for HIV -- like Isentress from Merck & Co (MRK.N) and elvitegravir, an experimental drug from Gilead Sciences (GILD.O) -- work by blocking integrase, but scientists are not clear exactly how they work or how to improve them.
The only way to find out was to obtain high-quality crystals -- a project that had defeated scientists for many years.
"When we started out, we knew that the project was very difficult, and that many tricks had already been tried and given up by others long ago," said Cherepanov.
"Therefore, we went back to square one and started by looking for a better model of HIV integrase which could be more amenable for crystallisation."
The researchers grew a crystal using a version of integrase borrowed from another retrovirus very similar to its HIV counterpart.
It took more than 40,000 trials for them to come up with one a crystal of sufficiently high quality to allow them to see the three-dimensional structure, they said.
They tested the Merck and Gilead drugs on the crystals, and were able to see for the first time how the medicines bind to, and block, integrase.
Almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. There is no cure and no vaccine, although drug cocktails can keep patients healthy.
United Nations data for 2008 show that 33.4 million people had HIV and 2 million people died of AIDS. The worst-affected region is sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 67 percent of all people living with HIV.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60T0F820100131?type=marketsNews
Powder River Basin really is the energy capital of the world
By STEVE MCMANAMEN, News-Record Writer smcmanamen@gillettenewsrecord.net
Published: Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:37 PM MST
It is a common local saying that the Powder River Basin is the Saudi Arabia of coal. But to be technically correct, the Powder River Basin has almost eight and one-half times the energy resources found in Saudi Arabia.
That fact comes from a recently published report on the economic impact of Powder River Basin coal by a University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources professor of energy economics.
Dr. Timothy Considine was asked to research and write the report for the Wyoming Mining Association when he was hired at the University of Wyoming in 2008. Considine had done previous work on the coal industry at Pennsylvania State University, and members of the Wyoming coal industry approached him about doing an economic analysis on the Powder River Basin coal industry.
It took Considine about a year to collect and crunch the numbers from public data and surveys he conducted of major Powder River Basin coal producers. In the report, Considine shows two ways Powder River Basin coal affects the national economy:
- The money the coal producers spend:
In 2008, Powder River coal producers spent almost $2.3 billion buying supplies from other businesses in 46 different states. They also paid $1.7 billion in taxes and royalties and $601.7 million on payroll.
The study will help show how important the Powder River Basin is to other states, said Marion Loomis, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “There are a lot of states that benefit from what the coal mines buy.”
The coal industry has been under pressure with looming carbon legislation and greenhouse gas restrictions. The report could help show what those regulations could mean for seemingly unconnected industries and distant states.
Loomis said a copy of the report has been sent to state legislators and Wyoming’s congressional delegation and hopes to get it into the hands of representatives of other states.
“If we have a member that is in (Washington) D.C. and they go in to talk to a senator from Utah, they can say what happens in the Powder River Basin is important to Utah because we buy all this fuel from you guys,” Loomis said.
cont...
http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2010/01/24/news/today/news01.txt
no particular play as there is only 2 mines in the world. I know SWC has been involved with rhodium in the past (not sure of the details off the top of my head).
I was at a set of meetings last week in Denver regarding emissions, catalyst elements, emission analyzers etc.... pertaining to the natural gas industry.
Rhodium is very key to quality catalyst elements.
At this point- considering buying some of the actual rhodium and sitting for a long term investment. It seems very under valued, considering the emission issues coming up in the next few years.
Have you looked much into rhodium plays? As far as I know- only 2 mines in the world. One in the former Soviet Union and the other on the African cont.
Very important element for analyzers.
Obama turns off homegrown energy
Examiner Editorial
January 8, 2010
President Obama says he wants to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil by increasing U.S. production of domestic U.S. resources, including America's rich deposits of fossil fuels. To that end, Obama promises efforts to "enhance U.S. energy supplies through responsible development of domestic renewable energy, fossil fuels, advanced bio-fuels and nuclear energy." At least, that's what the president says he wants to do. To see what he's actually doing, take a look at the policies of the Department of Interior. In fact, the Obama administration is cutting production of domestic fossil fuels -- oil, natural gas and coal -- by creating costly and time-consuming new layers of suffocating red tape and legal barriers.
Here are the stark facts, as compiled by the Institute for Energy Research, about the area where the federal government has the most direct and immediate effect on domestic energy production -- managing energy exploration and production leases on western and off-shore public lands:
* The Interior Department has collected only one-tenth as much revenue from oil and gas lease sales in 2009 as it did in 2008.
* Revenue from such lease sales produced a return for the taxpayer of $942 per acre in the last year of the Bush administration, compared with only $254 per acre in the first year of the Obama administration
* Presently, not quite 3 percent of the 2.46 million available public lands are leased and that percentage is headed down. Under Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, fewer acres on- and off-shore were leased in 2009 than in any previous year.
This is why IER's president, Thomas J. Pyle, says that "when it comes to paving the way for the responsible development of homegrown, job-creating energy resources, no administration in history has done more to ensure producers do less." Similarly, David Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance, offers this common-sense observation: "Adding layers of additional and unnecessary bureaucratic red tape to the federal oil and gas leasing process will result in less homegrown energy. ... At the same time, erecting these needless roadblocks for safely producing American energy will not only lead to more expensive and less stable prices for struggling consumers, but it will also deepen our nation's dependence on foreign and often unfriendly regions of the world to meet our growing demands and to keep our economy moving." In other words, Obama's policies in the energy field are producing exactly the opposite result he claims to seek.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Obama-turns-off-homegrown-energy-8734412-80941662.html#ixzz0cKmY8yPp
America slides deeper into depression as Wall Street revels
December was the worst month for US unemployment since the Great Recession began.
The labour force contracted by 661,000. This did not show up in the headline jobless rate because so many Americans dropped out of the system. The broad U6 category of unemployment rose to 17.3pc. That is the one that matters.
Wall Street rallied. Bulls hope that weak jobs data will postpone monetary tightening: a silver lining in every catastrophe, or perhaps a further exhibit of market infantilism.
The home foreclosure guillotine usually drops a year or so after people lose their job, and exhaust their savings. The local sheriff will escort them out of the door, often with some sympathy –– just like the police in 1932, mostly Irish Catholics who tithed 1pc of their pay for soup kitchens.
Realtytrac says defaults and repossessions have been running at over 300,000 a month since February. One million American families lost their homes in the fourth quarter. Moody's Economy.com expects another 2.4m homes to go this year. Taken together, this looks awfully like Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.
Judges are finding ways to block evictions. One magistrate in Minnesota halted a case calling the creditor "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive". We are not far from a de facto moratorium in some areas.
This is how it ended between 1932 and 1934, when half the US states declared moratoria or "Farm Holidays". Such flexibility innoculated America's democracy against the appeal of Red Unions and Coughlin Fascists. The home siezures are occurring despite frantic efforts by the Obama administration to delay the process.
This policy is entirely justified given the scale of the social crisis. But it also masks the continued rot in the housing market, allows lenders to hide losses, and stores up an ever larger overhang of unsold properties. It takes heroic naivety to think the US housing market has turned the corner (apologies to Goldman Sachs, as always). The fuse has yet to detonate on the next mortgage bomb, $134bn (£83bn) of "option ARM" contracts due to reset violently upwards this year and next.
US house prices have eked out five months of gains on the Case-Shiller index, but momentum stalled in October in half the cities even before the latest surge of 40 basis points in mortgage rates. Karl Case (of the index) says prices may sink another 15pc. "If the 2008 and 2009 loans go bad, then we're back where we were before – in a nightmare."
David Rosenberg from Gluskin Sheff said it is remarkable how little traction has been achieved by zero rates and the greatest fiscal blitz of all time. The US economy grew at a 2.2pc rate in the third quarter (entirely due to Obama stimulus). This compares to an average of 7.3pc in the first quarter of every recovery since the Second World War.
Fed hawks are playing with fire by talking up about exit strategies, not for the first time. This is what they did in June 2008. We know what happened three months later. For the record, manufacturing capacity use at 67.2pc, and "auto-buying intentions" are the lowest ever.
The Fed's own Monetary Multiplier crashed to an all-time low of 0.809 in mid-December. Commercial paper has shrunk by $280bn ($175bn) in since October. Bank credit has been racing down a hair-raising black run since June. It has dropped from $10.844 trillion to $9.013 trillion since November 25. The MZM money supply is contracting at a 3pc annual rate. Broad M3 money is contracting at over 5pc.
Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said the Fed is baking deflation into the pie later this year, and perhaps a double-dip recession. Europe is even worse.
This has not stopped an army of commentators is trying to bounce the Fed into early rate rises. They accuse Ben Bernanke of repeating the error of 2004 when the Fed waited too long. Sometimes you just want to scream. In 2004 there was no housing collapse, unemployment was 5.5pc, banks were in rude good health, and the Fed Multiplier was 1.73.
How anybody can see imminent inflation in the dying embers of core PCE, just 0.1pc in November, is beyond me.
Mr Rosenberg is asked by clients why Wall Street does not seem to agree with his grim analysis.
His answer is that this is the same Mr Market that bought stocks in October 1987 when they were 25pc overvalued on Shiller "10-year normalized earnings basis" – exactly as they are today – and bought them at even more overvalued prices in 2007, long after the property crash had begun, Bear Stearns funds had imploded, and credit had its August heart attack. The stock market has become a lagging indicator. Tear up the textbooks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6962632/America-slides-deeper-into-depression-as-Wall-Street-revels.html
Joe Legal vs Jose Illegal
Written by Ed on October 4, 2009 – 5:23 pm -
Here is an example of why hiring illegal aliens is not economically productive for the United States. Try to follow along.
You have two families: “Joe Legal” and “Jose Illegal”. Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California.
Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.
Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash “under the table”.
Ready? Now pay attention…
Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.
Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or $31,200.00 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.
Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.
Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631.00.
Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.
Jose Illegal says, “We don’t need no stinkin’ insurance!” and still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.
Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.
Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
Joe Legal’s and Jose Illegal’s children both attend the same school. Joe Legal pays for his children’s lunches while Jose Illegal’s children get a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal’s children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal’s children go home.
Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.
Not a mining play but I'm sizing up SII. I have some at just under $25 but am thinking on adding some more.
Looking into several factors but may increase my position on it.
GG also has been good to me. Not sure if it's at a good entry point or not. (Haven't looked at it for awhile). It's kind of like SWC- I bought in and was able to pull out my initial and ride the rest for the long haul
I agree about the long hold. I'm also thinking there may be some good swing trades throughout the year with this.
I am a little familiar with the mine, have been to it a couple times etc.... It's impressive.
Pulled out my initial investment and will be long on the rest. Will add if it dips back down a little. GL
The Americans and imperialism
If many questions must remain unanswered concerning popular responses to imperialism in Britain, this is doubly the case when we turn to the United States. Enough work has been done, however, to make it possible to make some useful comparisons.
While the British readily acknowledged their imperialism, the Americans have always denied theirs. The invisible nature of its empire and a determined anti-imperialist ideology made it possible for America to maintain such a position even in its decade of imperialist territorial acquisition – the years 1898 onwards. Whatever the topic of study, the historian is faced with the problem of penetrating what people say they thought and did, to discover what they, in reality, thought and did. The problem is, however, particularly acute when we attempt to assess the commitment of the American people to imperialism. For, even more than the British, Americans have sought officially to lay the onus for the Spanish-American War upon popular demand. Gareth Stedman Jones put it neatly in his essay on ‘The History of US Imperialism’:
Incursions into the Caribbean and Philippines were not in any sense determined by real economic interests, but were the result of the machinations of the cheap yellow press. The war was necessary to satisfy the frenzied and hysterical emotions of the people. The United States was forced to intervene to prevent new colonial incursions into the American hemisphere. America had not engaged in a determined war of economic expansion but had reluctantly assumed the Anglo-Saxon burden of helping backward peoples forward to liberty and democracy.
(Stedman Jones, 1972, pp. 208–9)
It was because of its anxiety to avoid charges cont...
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=170597
The Americans and imperialism
If many questions must remain unanswered concerning popular responses to imperialism in Britain, this is doubly the case when we turn to the United States. Enough work has been done, however, to make it possible to make some useful comparisons.
While the British readily acknowledged their imperialism, the Americans have always denied theirs. The invisible nature of its empire and a determined anti-imperialist ideology made it possible for America to maintain such a position even in its decade of imperialist territorial acquisition – the years 1898 onwards. Whatever the topic of study, the historian is faced with the problem of penetrating what people say they thought and did, to discover what they, in reality, thought and did. The problem is, however, particularly acute when we attempt to assess the commitment of the American people to imperialism. For, even more than the British, Americans have sought officially to lay the onus for the Spanish-American War upon popular demand. Gareth Stedman Jones put it neatly in his essay on ‘The History of US Imperialism’:
Incursions into the Caribbean and Philippines were not in any sense determined by real economic interests, but were the result of the machinations of the cheap yellow press. The war was necessary to satisfy the frenzied and hysterical emotions of the people. The United States was forced to intervene to prevent new colonial incursions into the American hemisphere. America had not engaged in a determined war of economic expansion but had reluctantly assumed the Anglo-Saxon burden of helping backward peoples forward to liberty and democracy.
(Stedman Jones, 1972, pp. 208–9)
It was because of its anxiety to avoid charges cont...
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=170597
No point in moving. We are in the best country and have the most capabilities to really "change" IF we can get away from the party politic distraction.
I've been doing some reading and research on a thought I've had for awhile.
Wouldn't it be ironic if Putin is our best chance for restoring our country by being an enemy of the imperialist elite running our country (working on the world)? Putin may be positioning against the same enemy middle/lower class Americans have.
The common enemy Putin and middle/lower class Americans have is an imperialist, nation building government set on a "new world order" where the elite rule the masses.
Not saying it's so- just a thought.
*It may have benefited you that Obama was elected so you could see what a fraud the Democrat party has become (just as the republican party has done).
I've watched them. When it comes down to it I trust nothing from our imperialist government.
As soon as you realize and acknowledge that Obama/Dems are every bit as much the problem as the elite repubs, you'll be on the right track.
Why limit your knowledge? Youtube has a lot of garbage but there is good info, thoughts, perspective etc..... to consider.
Never can have to much info, perspective etc.. when one has an open mind with the right intentions
Have you seen this?:
Edit: Not just the last year but years- if you are referring to leadership in the best interest of the American middle/lower class
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45103164
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45103218
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45103288
Why do you think terrorists hate us?
What is America (now Obama and Bush previous) doing to foreign nations that creates an environment that is enabling crazy terrorists to gain such a loyal following?
Are you ok with supporting the Democrat & Republican Party in their role of imperialism/globalist agenda?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45103698
America is losing the free world
Ever since 1945, the US has regarded itself as the leader of the “free world”. But the Obama administration is facing an unexpected and unwelcome development in global politics. Four of the biggest and most strategically important democracies in the developing world – Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey – are increasingly at odds with American foreign policy. Rather than siding with the US on the big international issues, they are just as likely to line up with authoritarian powers such as China and Iran.
The US has been slow to pick up on this development, perhaps because it seems so surprising and unnatural. Most Americans assume that fellow democracies will share their values and opinions on international affairs. During the last presidential election campaign, John McCain, the Republican candidate, called for the formation of a global alliance of democracies to push back against authoritarian powers. Some of President Barack Obama’s senior advisers have also written enthusiastically about an international league of democracies.
But the assumption that the world’s democracies will naturally stick together is proving unfounded. The latest example came during the Copenhagen climate summit. On the last day of the talks, the Americans tried to fix up one-to-one meetings between Mr Obama and the leaders of South Africa, Brazil and India – but failed each time. The Indians even said that their prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had already left for the airport.
So Mr Obama must have felt something of a chump when he arrived for a last-minute meeting with Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, only to find him already deep in negotiations with the leaders of none other than Brazil, South Africa and India. Symbolically, the leaders had to squeeze up to make space for the American president around the table.
There was more than symbolism at work. In Copenhagen, Brazil, South Africa and India decided that their status as developing nations was more important than their status as democracies. Like the Chinese, they argued that it is fundamentally unjust to cap the greenhouse gas emissions of poor countries at a lower level than the emissions of the US or the European Union; all the more so since the industrialised west is responsible for the great bulk of the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.
Revealingly, both Brazilian and Chinese leaders have made the same pointed joke – likening the US to a rich man who, cont...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3ef8f012-f969-11de-8085-00144feab49a.html