Archive - 2010 - Blog entry

To be fair, this article could just as easily have been called “Waking a Zombie World”. While various people and governments point to the USA as the bad actor in this mess, in fact it has taken dozens of nations to form this conga line to hell and the rest of the world is far from blameless. Nor is America the sole residence of the world’s zombie population.

Pending bond maturities due in 2010 are paving the way for the next wave of the Pan-European Sovereign Debt Crisis - Supply, potentially in excess of demand, which portends higher yields and more onerous debt servicing at a time of record fiscal spending!
This is how the crisis will spread through western Europe...

They may resolve Greece, but not Portugal, Spain, or Italy. The US economy is heading for the “square root” scenario. Buy gold against sterling. US stocks are going nowhere. China, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and Indonesia are another story. The early players shorting Treasury bonds could get bled dry. The January crop report is a total game changer. An exclusive Hedge Fund Radio interview with trading legend Dennis Gartman. (CANADIAN DOLLAR), (AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR), (FXI), (EWZ), (EWC), (EWA), (CORN), (IDX), (FCX), (X)

Forget the claims and allegations that false flag terror - governments attacking people and then blaming others in order to create animosity towards those blamed - has been used throughout history.

This essay will solely discuss government ADMISSIONS to the use of false flag terror.

A statistics problem. One I would love to solve. Me and a few thousand other people. A big payoff if you do solve it. The question is, has some already figured this out?

Love him or hate him, Putin sets the record straight. While the media's attention remains on the Greek fiscal crisis, the bigger debt crisis is in the US, and the world is starting to take notice.

How the Middle Kingdom Became the World’s Largest Exporter. Is it possible that Obama’s stimulus program is reviving China’s economy more than our own? A free floating Yuan today would be at least 50% higher than it is today.
(CYB)

It appears as if SPG offered a reasonable acquisition premium over what we feel is reasonable for GGP. Ackman's (publicy disseminated) valuations were apparently in the stratosphere (and our analysis clearly demonstrated this point) while Hovde was a little pessimistic. I'll leave it up to the readers to determine who was the most accurate regarding GGP both on the short side going down (I think I was the only one declaring a position publicly) and on the long side going up (I did not have a position).

Fleckenstein, Roubini, Rogoff, Eichengreen all sound off on the European debacle and more on the big, fat Greek swap.

There is an inextricable link between our academic system and the failure of citizens worldwide to understand the dire negative financial consequences of the coming second phase of the global monetary crisis. To help you understand the huge gap of knowledge that is missing from all business curricula today that is necessary to foresee the coming consequences of the second phase of this crisis, I have posted a brilliant speech below by educator Sir Ken Robinson that illuminates the deliberate flaws of our current academic system today imposed upon us by the very financial oligarchs that founded our academic system.

Finally, the "Dumb Money" indicator has turned neutral after spending 28 consecutive weeks in the extreme bullish zone.

When big shots at Goldman start talking I listen. I was surprised at what they said today

We should recall former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Blinder’s statement, “The last duty of a central banker is to tell the public the truth” and thus be astute enough to realize that the often hollow words of Central Bankers serve as a contrary indicator of the truth.

While the markets are in a finicky mood from the China and Greek factors, the rising rig count and producer's capital budget suggests that oil service markets are probably in the process of bottoming this year. Current trend of Offshore & subsea bodes well for oil infrastructure services companies that even Warren Buffett will concur.

Greg Mankiw is talking debt again. He tries to say that the Obama budget is over the top. But he defends a "just right" policy of perpetual deficits. The markets are not going to let that fly. Not in 2010. Greg also blows smoke in our direction about how "good" things were when he was running the show.