Archive - Oct 2010 - Blog entry

Retail traders are notoriously wrong at picking market direction/tops and bottoms. Most retail traders very naturally seem to adopt a counter-trend stance and this offers very accurate signals for individuals looking to trade against this group. This daily report is designed to help traders focus their efforts on higher probability pair

China plans to cut rare earth export quotas by 30% next year. As China controls 97% of the world’s rare earth production, and consumers are desperate to lock in supplies so they can build everything from hybrid cars to IPods to heat seeking missiles. Is this the first shot in the coming resource wars?

The market held steady today as headline-y good macro news was mixed with a dose of disappointing earnings news and topped off with a healthy heaping of who gives a shit. That's because with mid-term elections looming and everyone waiting to see the details of QE2...

"Don't let the rally in the stock and bond markets fool you. Many Americans are still hurtling towards a retirement disaster. Few realize it. Even many of those running the big pension funds don't know." If you want to know why hope is not a strategy, read this comment carefully.

Ben's stepping on Tim's turf. Actually he stepping on the Executive Branch. Who cares?

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There are several articles and studies around the finance industry that talk about the value of sell-side analyst ratings or the lack thereof. Most of the studies provide a negative view of the accuracy of ratings from sell-side analysts and bring to light the many potential problems associated with sell-side analysts and their ratings including conflicts of interest with the firms that employ them as well as their tendency to appease management teams who provide them with information not available to the public by providing favorable ratings for those firms. Some other problems associated with sell-side analyst ratings include: 1) Buy recommendations outnumber sell recommendations some speculate for the purpose of making management happy. 2) Analysts often downgrade firms after negative news has already hit public eyes. 3) Unable to purchase the stocks that they cover, no “skin in the game” 4) Analysts often find comfort in being a part of the majority and often times fall victim to groupthink. 5) Compensation analyst’s receive has been found to be tied to the investment banking business the analyst generates.

Darkness Falls Across Obanksta Land, The Asian Trading Day Is Close At Hand...

Based on the data, it appears that banks, especially the regional and local banks, are starting to solve their nonperforming loan problems. This is a very significant bit of data and is relevant to the credit crunch we are having. Will it translate into increased loan activity and a recovery?

Make your choice ...

Advocates claim that passage of Proposition 19 would solve the state’s budget crisis, as it would bring in tens of billions of dollars of tax revenue while cutting the cost of our prison budget by billions more. Be careful what you wish for. Today, the industry for alcoholic spirits is dominated by a handful of globally integrated marketing giants running volume driven businesses on razor thin margins, like Anheuser Bush (BUD) and Diageo (DEO). State tax revenues from this will be miniscule.

Pimpco has slashed their holding of US Government bonds from 63% of the fund in June to 33% in September and now, finally, Mr. Gross is telling all the suckers he dumped his paper onto over the past 3 months that the party is over in the bond market. Why would he do this? Well, aside from being an evil, manipulative, amoral bastard - it makes good business sense.

Reggie Middleton with the rather animated Max Keiser (the guy actually had a Lloyd Blankfein action figure for waterboarding) on the Keiser Report Discussing Banks, Oligarchs, Fraudclosure & Derivative Exposure. Also included - how Britain is avoiding confrontation with suicide bankers who took down the financial system "for kicks". If you guys think I'm offensive, you ain't seen nothing yet. Regular ZHers will probably enjoy the whole thing. Those in the banking industry should just fast forward to my portion so you can just harshly disagree vs being thoroughly offended :-)

Recently, in regard to the banker silver manipulation schemes, the CFTC's Mr. Chilton’s stated, “Under existing law, to prove manipulation, the government is required to demonstrate not only specific intent; we also need to prove that as a result of the intent and market control, that activity caused an artificial price.” I believe that the huge pricing anamolies in gold markets that existed on a regular basis during July, August, September of 2008 and that still occur today between the futures markets in Asia and those in London/New York intraday, as well as the significant anomalies between gold pricing in the futures markets and gold pricing in the physical markets is proof that the bankers’ price suppression schemes against gold create an artificial price.

I have maintained for several years now that bankers invented the SLV and GLD ETFs as part of their overall price suppression schemes enacted against gold and silver. Can we now leverage CFTC’s Bart Chilton’s recent allegations of silver manipulation to spur the SEC's heretofore immovable Chairman Mary Shapiro to action and investigate possible fraud in the GLD and SLV by the bankers?