Steve Liesman Responds To Zero Hedge, Says Things Aren't Good "By A Long Shot"

"Quick comment: I was wrong about what the program is called. Rick is right: It's emergency unemployment claims. I've reported on this number several times before (even making the same point that it's been higher than the topline continuing claims number.)

But I stand by my read of the data and disagreement with Rick, who said, "all the non-seasonally adjust numbers were much, much higher than the headlines." That's just not true."

- Steve Liesman

Gold 50 DMA Approaching Fast: Major Support Or Breakdown Level?

With gold having dropped nearly $100 in a very brief period, as the Fed is doing all it can to prevent an all out gold rout (hey it worked the other way around too, and stopped the intended dollar free fall), spot is now a mere $13 away from the 50 DMA. Will this prove a material support level or will it be breached, leading to a cascade all the way down to the 950 previous support. For the latter to happen one can see the DXY going back all the way to 80 which the banks will certainly not be too happy to see. Alternatively, a collapse in spot will present a great accumulation level (at a cost basis below that of India, and other fringe CB accumulators) as Bernanke is still dead set on inflating trillions of toxic mortgages (the ones he is unable to collateralize the dollar with).

$1.9 Trillion In Renovations To The GSE-Bloated US Debt Ceiling On Deck

You didn't think all those massive stock market gains would come free of charge? The cost: about $1.9 trillion in new debt allowance according to Steny Hoyer, almost $500 billion higher than previous estimates by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad. It took a mere 4 days for Conrad's optimistic estimate of the future cost of today's carefree living to go up by 30%. And who will bear the brunt of this ludicrous leverage: the U.S. soldier. Dow Jones reports that the debt ceiling increase provision will be added to legislation setting forth the Pentagon's budget for 2010. "It is unconscionable for the Democratic majority to pile the debt limit increase on the backs of the American soldier." In ironic retrospect, it will not be so "unconscionable" when the same soldier is sent for some preliminary diligence work west of the Pacific, just in case America's partner in the most crucial prisoners' dilemma game of all time, China, decides to finally defect, and tell the Fed it can monetize its own debt without Beijing's cooption. But that's a topic for late 2010/early 2011.

Bankrupt State Of California Starts Selling Office Buildings, CB Richard Ellis Markets Largest Office Portfolio In America

CB Richard Ellis has a brand new client: the bankrupt state of California, which is now attempting to sell what is the largest office portfolio currently marketed nationwide, at 8.7 million square feet. The California Department of GeneralServices has announced CBG has been retained to sell 17 office buildings. The state is hoping the sale will generate more than $660 million in proceeds to offset cuts in the state budget. With a budgetary hole in the billions, California willlikely need to throw in quite a bit of beachfront property in order to make it seem like it has the fiscal catastrophe under control.

The Market/FX Correlation Pair Of Choice: EUR-JPY

To the dismay of some CNBC pundits who are presenting a "strong dollar" decoupling case for equities, the key thing that they constantly forget are the numerous constituents of the DXY. Aslightly more granular analysis of FX pairs indicated that everything is still as expected, with the JPY-EUR leading the way as usual. And that particular "micro leading" indicator just snapped.

Kucinich Prepared Statement In Today's Bank of America Hearing

"When I asked Ken Lewis, Bank of America’s CEO, about why he had not disclosed the mounting losses to shareholders before the shareholder vote, he told this Committee that he relied on the advice of counsel. Protecting shareholders is often, in the final instance, the practical responsibility of corporate General Counsels and their outside counsel. The Subcommittee’s investigative findings demand the question, “Where were the lawyers?” The glaring omissions and inaccurate financial data in the critical November 12 Forecast
make Bank of America’s decision not to disclose to shareholders unsupportable. Furthermore, the flaws in the forecast document were so obvious that they should have alerted the attorneys to the necessity of a reasonable investigation before making a decision on Bank of America’s legal duties to disclose. The apparent fact that they did not mount such an investigation makes the decision not to disclose Merrill’s losses to shareholders an egregious violation of securities laws." - Dennis Kucinich