Archive - May 21, 2011

williambanzai7's picture

WaLL STReeT PiRaTES oF THe ObSCeNe (PaRLaYeD)





And other curiosities...(Pirate Warning: Put yer coffee down me lassies and hardons!)

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Grimsvotn Eruption Video





Ever wondered what a 15 kilometer high pyroclastic cloud looks like? Here is the answer, in its full iPhone cam captured glory. Based on our sources on the ground in Iceland, the "volcanic event is at least as powerful as the Eyjafjallajokull of last year. The eventual effect on air traffic will depend on wind conditions (slow and random at the moment) and actual ash composition which has yet to be determined. Preliminary observation indicates a milder risk for aircraft, but highly uncertain pending further measurements."

 

4closureFraud's picture

Public Records Request RE Judge Victor Tobin Joining Foreclosure Mill Marshall C. Watson





Well, let's see if we can find out what really went down...

 

ilene's picture

Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn Trying to Torpedo the Dollar?





He could be guilty. But he deserves a fair trial, and someone's making damn sure he doesn't get one.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Here Is What Happens After Greece Defaults





When it comes to the topic of Greece, by now everyone is sick of prevaricating European politicians who even they admit are lying openly to the media, and tired of conflicted investment banks trying to make the situation appear more palatable if only they dress it in some verbally appropriate if totally ridiculous phrase (which just so happens contracts to SLiME). The truth is Greece will fold like a lawn chair: whether it's tomorrow (which would be smartest for everyone involved) or in 1 years, when the bailout money runs out, is irrelevant. The question then is what will happen after the threshold of nevernever land is finally breached, and Kickthecandowntheroad world once again reverts to the ugly confines of reality. Luckily, the Telegraph's Andrew Lilico presents what is arguably the most realistic list of the consequences of crossing the senior bondholder Styx compiled to date.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Erapture! Iceland Grimsvotn Volcano Has Erupted, White Plume Ejected 18,000 Feet Into Air, Seismic Readings Across Iceland Off The Charts





Update from ABC7: A no-fly zone has been enacted within a 120-mile radius of the erupting volcano in Iceland.

More:  BREAKING NEWS: Iceland's most active volcano erupting; white plume up to 18,000 feet seen.

And there goes European air traffic once again, with its already stagflationary economy to follow down the drains momentarily. At least depressionary apologists will have something to blame on the Q2 GDP plunge on.

More as we get it.

 

 

George Washington's picture

First Egypt ... Now Spain?





Spreading to Europe?

 

Tyler Durden's picture

SAC Investigated For Insider Trading





The world's most anticlimactic, yet overexpected, news has finally arrived. Reuters reports that Senator Chuck Grassley is investigating possible insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors LLP. Possible. LOL. And so it begins: "The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority last week provided Senate Judiciary Committee head Charles Grassley with about 20 instances of suspicious trading at the hedge fund, a spokeswoman for the senator confirmed on Saturday. Grassley had asked Finra in April for information on any such trading at Steven Cohen's $13 billion hedge fund...It was not clear if the trades had been referred to the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement staff, and authorities have not alleged wrongdoing by SAC or Cohen. Court filings also show prosecutors are investigating trade accounts at SAC, including one tied to Cohen, SAC Capital's founder. SAC representatives and congressional investigators met in Washington on May 10 to discuss possible suspicious trades, according to the Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported Grassley's receipt of information from Finra." So even once it is finally uncovered that Cohen's billions in personal wealth have been allegedly accumulated after years of information arbitrage, and we get yet another confirmation that hedge funds only make money through economies of scale, but mostly size (until the implode), or simple insider trading, we are supposed to remember that Cohen is a great humanitarian at heart, and has spent a few million of his allegedly ill-gotten gains for civic pursuits: "Also at the meeting, SAC Capital's
Washington-based policy adviser Michael Sullivan cited Cohen's
"civic-minded interest" in purchasing a stake in the New York Mets
baseball team, the report said.
" Last but not least, SEC heart SAC because with it gone, liquidity (and volume) on the NYSE would plunge by another 15% (and likely much more) in yet another confirmation that fair and efficient US capital markets are nothing but a farce. "At the meeting, SAC representatives suggested the investigators go easy on the hedge fund, saying it has internal procedures to track down and prevent illegal trading, according to the Wall Street Journal report."

 

Tyler Durden's picture

US-Iran Escalation: Iran Arrests 30 US Spies As It Builds Venezuelan Missile Base; America Sends A Third Aircraft Carrier To Persian Gulf





A week ago Die Welt reported that, in what may soon be a repeat of the Cuban missile crisis, US arch-enemy Iran, following a secret agreement signed on October 19, 2010 of strategic cooperation, Venezuela has allowed Iran to commence construction of a missile base on Venezuelan soil. The base, which will be located on the northernmost peninsula de Paraguana, 120 kilometers from the Colombian border, has recently been visited by a group of leading engineers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-owned construction company Khatam al-Anbia, is unofficially designed "to help develop an infrastructure to protect against air attack. Also planned is the construction of a command and control station, residential areas, watchtowers, and bunkers, in which warheads, missile fuel and other items can be stored. In cooperation with its Venezuelan partners, Iran also intends to build missile silos at a depth of about 61 ft." The project appears to be funded by Iran: "Information gathered by Die Welt also suggests that on their visit to
Venezuela, members of the Iranian delegation carried cash in their
luggage for the project’s initial funding. Western security circles
suspect that this involved tens of millions of dollars siphoned off from
Iran’s burgeoning oil profits." But most importantly is the discovery that while presumably defensive, Venezuela has told Iran, that it will be granted use of the base when completed: "According to the secret agreement between the two countries, Venezuela
pledged to Iran that it will be able to strike its enemies from the
joint missile base.
Iran is attempting to boost its strategic threat to
the U.S., similar to the Soviet strategy in Cuba during the 1960s." And while skeptics may say that the base located about 2,400 miles from DC has no chance in striking the US capitol, the reality is that the Iranian long-range ballistic missiles Shahab 5 and 6, are rumored to be a three-stage system, which has a range of anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 miles. So with missile base supplies most likely to come by sea (Venezuela is a few hundred miles away from Cuba), is a recreation of the 1961 Cuban missile crisis the next big political diversion?

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Jon Stewart's DSK Takedown Or The Market's "Touchy Feely" Invisible Hand





Ever since the DSK rape allegation surfaced, there has been an avalanche of opinions that the former head of the IMF has been "set up by vengeful Americans" and that the entire affair is nothing but a classic "Spitzer" repeat. It has gotten so far as 57% of the French population saying DSK was trapped in a plot by his enemies, a number that rises to a staggering 70% when only French socialists are queried. Well, since everyone is innocent until proven guilty, there is no point in further digging until DSK is either convicted by a jury or set free... But that does not mean that various media personalities can not have some long overdue fun at the IMF head's expense, whose past transgressions toward poor countries and "emerging economies" one can argue, dwarf his dramatic career implosion from last Saturday. And in keeping with the spirit of amusement, below is Jon Stewart's amusing takedown of the DSK situation to date.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

What Current Hedge Fund Exposure Means For Stocks, And Weekly Chartology





Yesterday we presented the latest 13F quarterly compilation summary, as prepared by Goldman's David Kostin, in raw format. Today, we bring you his high level observations on what this update means for stocks from a big picture perspective, as well as thematically. "We estimate hedge funds own roughly 3% of the US equity market. Turnover of all hedge fund positions averaged 32% during 1Q
2011 (roughly 130% annualized). The tilt of hedge fund holdings towards large-cap stocks has been increasing for almost 10 years.
The typical hedge fund operates 48% net long, flat versus 4Q 2010. Combining long and short position data, hedge funds have the
greatest net portfolio exposure to Consumer Discretionary (18%), Information Technology (16%), and Energy (14%). Our Hedge Fund
VIP basket has 15 new constituents: SSCC, BP, MRO, PCLN, VRX, TEVA, YHOO, CVX, MET, NFLX, MA, SINA, CHK, EQIX, and ESV." In addition, for all you technicians, here is the full weekly chartporn from GS.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Weekly Bull/Bear Recap: May 16-20, 2011





Your concise summary of the past week's key events.

 

madhedgefundtrader's picture

Taking Another Shot at the Garlic Eaters





If you have to name one beneficiary of QE2, the collapse of the dollar, and a seemingly never ending “RISK ON” trade, it has got to be the euro. What happens when QE2 ends, and the movie runs in reverse? (FXE), (UUP), (EUO).

 

williambanzai7's picture

HIgHWaY To DeBT HeLL! (RaPTuRe ReDuX)





Judgement Day Reloaded...

 
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