ilene's blog

Once again, Ireland finds itself with the rare opportunity to strike a blow against the EU and end the dream of a corporate superstate. And all they need to do is vote "No".

The Communist Party learned from Tienanmen in 1989 how surging prices can seed dissent. "Inflation is a redistributive mechanism in favour of the few that can protect living standards, against the large majority who cannot. The political leadership cannot, will not, take risks in that regard," said Mr Ash.

[We] are back at 2007 highs. I find this truly amazing as it seems to me things aren’t quite as good in America as we THOUGHT they were in 2007, before we found out that Financial earnings were a scam and before our homes lost 1/3 of their value and when our neighbors used to all have jobs

Am I misreading this or has Trichet pulled out the bazooka?

That's very hard when you're in a market where cartoon super heroes can say "just buy the f'ing dips" and you start thinking - "hey, this guy knows his stuff!"

Those fabulous Bernanke Bears have a great discussion about the merits of BAC, listening to WikiLeaks and investing in NFLX.

This isn't new stuff people - that cartoon is 100 years old and we fought against the evils of corporate greed and won at some point but now they've changed tactics and moved onto taking over government and brainwashing the masses so the American people now confuse the good of the corporation with their own welfare when they are, almost by definition - diametrically opposed.

I honestly cannot tell you who is the more vile, despicable villain in this debacle. Is it the banks, who started this mess with their idiotic lending practices? Is it the lobbyists and lawmakers, who turned Ireland into a tax haven for EU Corporations and destroyed the economy by funneling tax breaks to the wealthy? Is it the Irish Government,... Is it the bondholders,...

As soon as the ink dries on the IMF loans, the second occupation of Ireland will begin, only this time there won't be armored cars and Paramilitaries in fatigues, but nerdy-looking bureaucrats trained in the art of spreading misery.

Only if we stop the speculators from profiting from this game will it ever end. The reason there are no runs on banks in China and Russia isn't because their banks are more solid - I'll bet there are Chinese banks who have nothing but a fortune cookie in their vault - but the difference they will cut your head off if you try to run their banks.

Let's get back to jobs because I'm still not done unraveling that BS yet.

This is why we must protect the business owners in THIS country before our own workers start getting funny ideas about being able to afford to eat the food they serve or buy the things they make... This is a great example of why China's growth is unsustainable.

I swear to you that I may be a cynic but I am NOT a pessimist - this is just a crappy market to invest in and I call them as I see them. Did you know that newsletter revenues go down significantly when the outlook is pessimistic? People don't want to hear bad news...

Say what you will about Alan Greenspan, he was never a whiner. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for present Fed chairman Ben Bernanke.

As its memory of the unhappy market collapse of 1929 becomes blurred, it may lend at least one ear to the voices of The Street subtly pleading for a return ” to the good old times.” Forgotten, perhaps, by some are the shattering revelations of the Senate Committee’s investigations, forgotten the practices and ethics that The Street followed and defended when its own sway was undisputed in the good old days.