Archive - Oct 24, 2013
The Greatest, Most Relevant Speech Ever
Submitted by smartknowledgeu on 10/24/2013 21:35 -0500Every now and then, it is good to refresh knowledge of what is truly important in life. So it’s time to post “The Greatest Speech Ever” by Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin was known as the greatest silent actor ever. The most powerful excerpts from his speech, still very relevant today, in my opinion, are below:
Dangerous Freedom Vs. Peaceful Slavery
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 21:18 -0500
The words above reflect a state of mind and disposition that has been expressed by philosophers and revolutionaries for thousands of years. It is not a novel or new concept, but it is a concept that seems to have been forgotten across much of these United States. The population has largely been domesticated and this is the primary reason why there has been such little pushback to the global oligarchs looting the landscape. A pathetically large percentage of the population would rather not think, they’d prefer to be told what to believe. While in our mind the trade-off between “safety and freedom” should always err toward freedom, there are times when it must even more aggressively bend in that direction. We believe that to be the case today since we have a government and elite power structure of oligarchs that has proven itself to be beyond corrupt and beyond morality.
The Chart That The Fed Fears The Most
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 20:39 -0500
Inflation, meh! Growth, bleh! Unemployment, whatever! The terrifying news is that it seems, despite the ongoing 'surge' to new all-time highs in stocks, they are losing the confidence of the "rich". With everything hinging on the 'wealth effect' of moar QE and a levitating US stock market, the fact that Bloomberg's Comfort Index for the most affluent earners just collapsed (and stayed at) seven-month lows - in the face a rip-your-face-off rally in stocks - suggests even the wealthy know when the music is beginning to end...
Janet Yellen Exposed Part 2 - Justifying Speculative Leverage
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 20:02 -0500
Last week, Peter Schiff began his epic take-down of the myth of Janet Yellen's forecasting ability. As proof of her wisdom supporters had pointed to speeches she delivered in 2005 and 2006 in which she supposedly issued clear warnings about the dangers then building in the frothy real estate markets. Without any attempt at reasonable fact checking, these claims have been parroted by the media.. and that is what Schiff so diligently destroyed. However, Schiff notes in this follow-up, there is a key statement she makes (in justifying the 'fundamentals' behind the housing bubble) that relates to credit and speculative leverage that is crucial to understand the way she sees the world and thus - what to expect from her Fed.
Guest Post: The Growing Rift With Saudi Arabia Threatens To Severely Damage The Petrodollar
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 19:25 -0500
The number one American export is U.S. dollars. It is paper currency that is backed up by absolutely nothing, but the rest of the world has been using it to trade with one another and so there is tremendous global demand for our dollars. The linchpin of this system is the petrodollar. For decades, if you have wanted to buy oil virtually anywhere in the world you have had to do so with U.S. dollars. But if one of the biggest oil exporters on the planet, such as Saudi Arabia, decided to start accepting other currencies as payment for oil, the petrodollar monopoly would disintegrate very rapidly. For years, everyone assumed that nothing like that would happen any time soon, but now Saudi officials are warning of a "major shift" in relations with the United States. In fact, the Saudis are so upset at the Obama administration that "all options" are reportedly "on the table".
Head Of Fortress Recommends Investing In Bitcoin
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 18:51 -0500
At first glance, when the CIO of Fortress Investment Group says:
"Put a little money in Bitcoin...Come back in a few years and it’s going to be worth a lot."
One might think, the firm that manages $54.6 billion is advocating the end of the USD as we know it... Or is this more muppetry at work?
While Bernanke May Not Understand Gold, It Seems Gold Certainly Understands Bernanke
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 18:11 -0500- Ben Bernanke
- Ben Bernanke
- BIS
- Capital Formation
- CDS
- Central Banks
- China
- Comptroller of the Currency
- CPI
- Deficit Spending
- ETC
- Excess Reserves
- Fail
- fixed
- Foreign Central Banks
- Global Economy
- High Yield
- M2
- Monetary Policy
- net interest margin
- None
- OTC
- Precious Metals
- recovery
- Repo Market
- Reserve Currency
- Shadow Banking
- Testimony
- Too Big To Fail
- Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
- Volatility
"We see upside surprise risks on gold and silver in the years ahead," is how UBS commodity strategy team begins a deep dive into a multi-factor valuation perspective of the precious metals. The key to their expectation, intriguingly, that new regulation will put substantial pressure on banks to deleverage – raising the onus on the Fed to reflate much harder in 2014 than markets are pricing in. In this view UBS commodity team is also more cautious on US macro...
From the Front Lines of Chicago
Submitted by Tim Knight from Slope of Hope on 10/24/2013 17:54 -0500Everything you say about the U.S. economy jibes with my experience as a real estate investor in Chicago. The vast majority of my tenants are low-income (their rents are mostly subsidized by our fine government), but a couple make a decent living and reside in luxury condos downtown. Based on what I've seen during the past 5 years that I have been doing this, I completely agree that our financial system is totally, utterly screwed.
Administration Enforces Radiosilence On Obamacare Enrollment Numbers
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 17:36 -0500During this morning's Congressional hearing on the failure of Obamacare, one of the developer's let slip a little too much truth:
CGI exec says she is not allowed to publicly say how many people have enrolled via http://t.co/25y1SOfdCF
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) October 24, 2013
While the self-proclaimed 'most transparent' administration fights off the French and the German over spying 'lies', and gags insurers from publicizing how many people have signed up for Obamacare, it seems the cover-up goes even further with everyone involved silenced (for now).
Guest Post: Buying Stocks On Margin At The Top - They Never Learn
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 16:57 -0500
It’s like the movie Groundhog Day. Greed and hubris are the downfall of the mighty. Believing it is different this time is the mistake of the feeble minded. Watching the ensuing carnage will be a laugh riot. Seeing the blubbering of the bubble headed bimbos, pinhead pundits and Wall Street shysters when the inevitable collapse occurs will be worth the price of admission. If you think we're wrong, pony up to the trough, borrow some money and buy Twitter on IPO day. You can’t lose.
When "Offshore Drilling" Takes On A Whole New Meaning
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 16:25 -0500
Before Hercules Offshore collapsed into bankruptcy, they (like every other company in the USA it would seem, that faces falling revenues) were desperate to cut costs. Unfortunately for the offshore drillers that worked for the firm, Hercules chose to squeeze out the last drops of expense in a 'different' way...
Amazon In Six Simple Charts
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 15:52 -0500
The wonder that is Amazon summarized in six plus one easy charts.
Trannies On Best Run In 16 Months As Gold Hits 1-Month Highs
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 15:08 -0500
Homebuilders have surged to the best performing sector off the debt-ceiling-debacle lows now (up a stunning 8.3%) despite a mixed bag of performance today with Trannies once again (10th of the last 11 days) surging to new all-time highs (as Oil prices slide further south). This is the best 11-day run (+9.9%) for the Dow Transports since June of last year. Treasury yields rose modestly once again (despite SocGen's threat of moar QE next week) but remain 3-6bps lower on the week. Gold and Silver had another solid day (+2.3% and 3.6% respectively on the week). The USD flatlined (-0.5% on the week) with EUR strength continuing (and CAD and AUD weakness continuing). Credit markets continue to disagree with the equity exuberance of the last 5 days...
Guest Post: Obamacare Side Effect – Doctors Abandon The Health Care Insurance System Altogether
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 14:56 -0500
Imagine for a moment what might happen if the government were to get out of healthcare altogether and there would be free competition between all health care service providers. What would happen to prices in that case? It is probably fair to assume that they would come down precipitously even from the low prices free market doctors are already able to obtain for their patients nowadays. It is actually a good bet that the onerous red tape and the likely explosion in costs due to Obamacare will accelerate the move toward a free market in health care – unless the government explicitly forbids it, that is (unfortunately we cannot rule out completely that such tyrannical steps will eventually be taken – the government generally doesn't like it when its 'help' is refused). If so, the Obamacare Act could turn out to become a win-win by mistake so to speak, as more and more people decide to opt out of the system.
Did The Fed Just Begin To "Pop" The Credit Bubble?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/24/2013 14:35 -0500When Jeremy Stein warned in February of "froth" in the credit markets, it was much discussed but little action'ed. However, today we start to see some actions:
- *FED SAID TO ISSUE WARNING ON LAX LEVERAGED LOAN UNDERWRITING
With cov-lite issuance at all-time record highs (as we explained here most recently and Moody's tried to ignore), Stein's bubble is even bigger and whether or not the Fed 'tapers' it is clear now by this signal that their concerns over bubbles are growing day by day.




