Archive - Mar 29, 2011 - Blog entry

Large US corporate defined-benefit pension plans experienced record sponsor contributions last year, consulting firm Milliman Inc. reported in a study, saying a decline in discount rates fueled record levels of pension expense and cash contributions.

So why is Bill Gross, the Bond King, dumping US Treasuries? The 30-Year Treasury only has one support line left before it gets to the line that has supported it throughout its bull market of the last 28 years. When we take out that line, the US Debt Crisis will hit in full force, as our overleveraged financial system breaks down once again.

BaNZai7 NeWS: The deadly QE Cobra (pictured below) that's been MIA at the Bronx Zoo has attained celebrity status -- it now has its own page in World's Greatest Disasters (This Time It's Reeeeeeeaaally Different!).

For now, the big fish are bailing out the little fish. Unfortunately, the US is the biggest fish of all and it's extremely unclear to see who exactly will be bailing us out when our rates start rising.

It seems like we're having great news today about consumer spending, at least if you read the articles coming from the Journal and Bloomberg. They don't let you forget that consumer spending is 70% of the economy. They seem to ignore the debt bomb and its impact on spending.

We've always been at war with Eastasia ... and plutonium has ALWAYS been good for us!

Oh wonderful ...

Bill Gross, with the possible exception of Goldman Sachs, has the best access to the US Federal Reserve and US Treasury Department of any investor on the planet. During the 2008 Crisis it was rumored the Treasury had him on “speed dial.” So for Gross to be dumping ALL of his US Treasury holdings means that the US debt Crisis is coming and coming fast.

A big call from me. QE is dead.

Just in case you all missed this outrageous Fraudclosure "settlement" from Florida AG Pam Bondi.

Protecting Our Strategic Interests in Broccoli

The time is now to collectively fight back. We can work together to demand that the big banks are held accountable for their crimes.

The July 21 deadline for the hedge funds to register required by the one year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank bill is fast approaching, and the industry is roiling with turmoil. The net result for the rest of us could be shrinking market liquidity and falling asset prices as hundreds of funds shut down or move overseas rather than meet the new, onerous disclosure requirements and the vastly increased legal liabilities they imply.

At what point does an advisor who is wrong nearly 100% of the time lose credibility? Well, the National Association of Realtors has been consistently wrong since the very tippy top of the real estate bubble 4 years ago, yet they get ample air time in the media to continuously spout their methodically erroneous viewpoints and data. Finally, someone in the mainstream has called them on this perpetual farce that has costed those that followed them substantial wealth in exchange for a 2.5% commission split!

Retail positioning is staying pretty constant the last few days, GBPUSD has been seeing a strong shift in sentiment however, with increasing numbers of retail traders becoming long the pair throughout the sell off. Although still in the neutral if this retail buying continues we may take a dip into the short zone. GBP Current Account data released at 4:30am EST may tip the balance.