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"We Are Failing To Deliver On Our Obligations As Americans"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Thad Beversdorf via First Rebuttal blog,

I’m Bedazzled by the Bewilderment Surrounding the Fed’s Behaviour... So I’ve De-engineered to the Bare Basics... and Oh Boy!

According to former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke in an excerpt from a Nov. 3, 2009 Bloomberg article, the Fed strategy is that “..large-scale asset purchases should boost economic growth through lower borrowing costs and higher stock prices…”.  Now as depicted in the following chart (by Gallup) we see that the top 5% own almost 75% of financial wealth (i.e. stocks) while the bottom 80% own less than 5% (these are 2010 figures and certainly things have gotten significantly worse over the past 4 years).  

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 10.41.28 AM

Rather than boosting economic growth through incentivizing capital expenditures as has been the way of monetary policies gone by, this new Fed strategy, to explicitly target higher stock prices, is meant to create enough excess wealth to those on top by way of stocks such that some of that wealth would then trickle down to the rest of America.  The Fed has made this clear both verbally and by way of action, that is, by ensuring (manipulating) higher stock prices.  The result is that low cost debt is being used to invest into a risk free stock market.  To get an idea of how this works look at the following table which I pulled from a December 2014 report from Factset.com,

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 10.48.59 AM

So during 2014, these 10 companies spent roughly $150B on share buybacks and paid out $55B in dividends, leading to an average market cap increase of around 25% across the 10 firms.  It appears then that firms have been taking advantage of the low cost debt to borrow and buy back shares to increase market capital and pay out dividends which are typically reinvested directly back into the market.

For instance, IBM has borrowed $33B since 2012 and has repurchased $37B worth of stock.  Apple spent circa 9x the amount on share buybacks as they did on capital expenditures in 2014.  The point here is that the Fed’s policy strategy, as expressed by Bernanke above, of lowering borrowing costs and targeting higher stock prices to create wealth at the top was extremely successful.  In fact, I doubt Bernanke ever dreamed how effective his wealth creation strategy would be.

However, the second part of the Fed’s policy strategy was to have some of that extraordinary wealth trickle down to the 90%ers.  Unfortunately this part of the strategy has failed miserably.  Now as we’ve discussed many time here on First Rebuttal, the second part of the strategy was inherently flawed in such a way so as to actually necessitate its failure.  That is, by targeting (guaranteeing) higher stock prices you force CEO’s and all other investors to push available capital that would otherwise have been reinvested back into the company and other economic investments to simply allocate directly into the market.  Meaning no need or money left for hiring, and in fact, the layoffs continue along with the share buybacks.

Just how many layoffs are continuing is becoming difficult to ascertain.  Ironically I found the following notice from the BLS in its last Layoff Report…

Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 11.44.38 AM

But suffice it to say looking at the U6 figure we know hiring for real breadwinner jobs has been sparse at best (we’ll take a detailed look shortly).  So the result of not only targeting but guaranteeing an upward moving market, which the Fed has been very explicit about doing, has literally prevented the trickle down part of the trickle down strategy meaning all we’ve attained is extreme wealth creation to those on top.  And this seems to be recognized by essentially everyone.

What becomes obvious in researching the topic of ‘trickle down economics’ is that this is one subject that appears to have almost unanimous agreement amongst everyone outside of the political class.  Left, Right, Gay, Straight, Religious, Atheist, you name it they agree on the subject unless they hold a political office.  In fact, the resounding agreement is that this latest experiment has been a tremendous failure.  That said, here we are in year 6 of the now completely failed experiment with no signs of changing course.  Rather than allocating efforts to reshaping our economic growth strategy, all efforts seem to be focused on selling a false story of success to the American people.

So this brings us to the debate around whether the parabolic move in equity valuations is the same as last time, meaning the asset bubble the eventually burst in 2008.  The ‘secular bulls’ are screaming “It is different this time!”.  And well I agree, things are very different this time around.  But is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Well let’s take a stroll past all of the bullshit nonsense from both sides of the bull bear coin and just look at the very parameters that are time tested indications of growth and valuation.

Screen Shot 2015-02-27 at 7.40.01 PM

So just on pure price level we see about a 25% increase between 2007 and today on the S&P 500.  That would suggest we have had material improvement today relative to 2007.  Now let’s have a look at some multiples to see how we feel about our growth prospects relative to 2007.

Market Valuation

The chart depicts price to sales of S&P 500 companies and the Adjusted Buffet Indicator.  We are using price to sales because it is a much better long term gauge than price to earnings as earnings, especially given all of the share buybacks and reallocation of funds from capex to income, is easily manipulated in the short term.  What we find in price to sales is that today’s multiple is 30% higher than in 2007 (according to multpl.com).  This suggests the market is pricing in some pretty heavy growth relative to the expected growth in 2007.

The Adjusted Buffet indicator is a gauge I developed to adjust out reported economic gains that are solely a function of consumption from debt rather than income.  The idea being that debt consumption is actually a net negative to economic growth and therefore is nonsensical to include in growth measures.  What we see is that apples to apples the Adjusted Buffet indicator has grown by 150% since 2007, suggesting that either the economy needs to accelerate significantly or market pricing needs to come down.

And really this is the crux of the whole debate.  Is the economy poised to accelerate or will the market revert back to historic norms through price collapse, as it did in 2008.  So let’s have a look at our growth prospects.  ‘Secular bulls’ are obviously claiming this time is very different from last time arguing that there will be no repricing as fundamentals actually do signal growth acceleration.  Now that’s what they’re claiming but as we always do here at First Rebuttal, let’s have our own look to validate or discredit those claims.  Specifically, we are looking for signals of economic acceleration that would support the implied expectation of relatively higher future corporate cash flows.

GDP Growth

The above chart is the official real average GDP growth over a 5 yr period ending in the subject year.  The idea is to see if generally throughout the economy we see signals of stronger growth than we had in 2007.  What we find is that economic growth is 24% lower than it was is 2007.  So this does not support today’s higher multiples.  But let’s keep going.  The market is certainly pricing higher multiples today than 2007 and so surely we should find the growth source for these higher multiples if we just keep digging.

Income

In the above chart, sourced from the Federal Reserve, we see a 10% reduction in cash inflows for the American consumer and we see a whopping 40% decline in net worth to the bottom 90% since 2007.  Historically, 70% of economic growth has come directly by way of expenditures from the American consumer.  One has to ask oneself, does a consumer with less cash inflow and significantly lower wealth, as absolutely evidenced in the above chart i.e. this is not arguable, lead to sustained higher expected expenditures and thus future corporate cash flows??  The market apparently thinks so, unless we can find another source for the market’s growth expectations.  So let’s carry on…

Well consumer cash flows can increase via a rise in income or reduction in costs.  Above is the income side which failed to show any rational expectation for signs of consumer expenditures growth but what about the cost side?  Well let’s take a look at consumers’ cost of goods and debt service relative to 2007 to see if we have freed up some cash on the consumer’s cost side.

Screen Shot 2015-02-27 at 1.33.16 PM

The deflator is a better measure of the bare necessities as these are generally domestic goods and services as opposed to imported e.g. food, rent, public transport, etc.  And so we see that cost of goods and services on just the staples have moved up about 2% per year despite the CPI measurement of closer to 1% per year.  And so it is clear from the above chart that we had no price relief since 2007 and as such still no logical expectation for increased consumer expenditures.  But what about debt service?  Interest rates are lower so perhaps the American consumer has freed up some cash flow due to lower rates?

Debt&GDP

Despite the decline in prime interest rates, average consumer credit rates saw only a 6% decline (from 14.5% to 13.7%, sourced from St. Louis Fed) vs an increase in consumer credit levels of around 30%, as depicted in the above chart.  The implication is that the American consumer has increased their total debt service relative to 2007 meaning expected consumer expenditures should be lower than in 2007.  This means that both the income and cost side of the American consumes’ cash flows provide an expectation of lowered consumer expenditures relative to 2007.  Thus current market multiples should actually be lower not higher based on the American consumer’s financial position.  But the search must go on… we are nothing if not perseverant here at F.R. so let’s keep on truck’n.

Ok, so what if consumer cash flows are down and have no signals of improving relative to 2007.  This doesn’t necessitate that multiples need actually be lower than in 2007.  If each dollar is being used more effectively than in 2007 we could actually generate higher ultimate corporate cash flow growth than in 2007 and this could support higher market valuations.  Let’s take a look…

Resource Effectiveness

The above chart depicts how effectively we are using both money supply and debt to generate economic growth relative to 2007.  And we find that our effectiveness at using money supply has declined by about 25% while our ability to generate output growth from debt has plummeted by 75% since 2007.  This actually tells us that even if cash flows were the same as in 2007 our overall growth would still be slower.  Given the American consumer actually has less cash flow our reduced effectiveness will result in much lower expected growth than in 2007 and, as such, should result in lower market multiples based on the consumer and economic efficiency.

This is not looking promising for validating the higher market multiples but there could be one saving grace to all of this.  Jobs are the key to every economy.  The tighter the job market the greater the income distribution.  The greater the income distribution the greater all of the above become.  And so let’s take a look at jobs today relative to 2007 to look for signs of a tighter job market.

Employment

Disappointingly we find that the job market is much looser than it was in 2007 with unemployed and underemployed 26% higher today.  And so the likelihood of higher cash flows stemming from a tighter job market is essentially zero, especially given the continuing trend to trade away employees for share buybacks.

And so what we have done by way of the above analysis is provide the proof for the market’s mispricing.  Thing of it is, we already knew the market is mispriced.  As discussed at the beginning of the article The Fed has told us several times that their mandate for the past 6 years has been to manipulate the market higher so that it creates wealth for those at the top in hopes that this wealth will trickle down onto the rest of America.  Based on that declaration of price manipulation, we know the market is mispriced.  There is nothing grey or convoluted about that.  None of this has been done in secret.  So why is it that these TV pundits and politicians spend so much time pitching that the market is fairly valued??  And how is it that those deemed market ‘pros’ are buying into it??

Well perhaps it is not so much that these market pros are buying into it as they are trying to convince us that nothing needs to change.  You see while the Fed’s manipulation has not been done covertly the fact that it has failed to create any benefit to the bottom 90% of Americans is very much being kept a secret.  Those on top for which the current Fed manipulation is creating extraordinary wealth absolutely do not want a change of policies.  And why would they?  They are earning incredible wealth while taking no risk.

This completely perverts the basis of capitalism which results in huge misallocations of resources.  It is this very misallocation of resources that not only created the economic destruction we saw in the above charts but will continue to deepen the grave we are digging ourselves.  What no one can say for certain is how long the Fed manipulation will last because we’ve never been in a situation where the open mandate has been explicitly to push stock prices higher.

The hope was that the wealth would trickle down and improve the fundamentals enough to support the market valuation so that the Fed could quietly hand the market back over to fundamentals as the main pricing mechanism.  Unfortunately what they’ve now realized is that the fundamentals are not going to catch up to the market valuation.  And so the Fed will have to either continue to manipulate the market or allow it to reprice materially downward.

I expect the Fed has no idea what the next move will be.  As I’ve mentioned in the past the Fed can theoretically continue as long as USD strength holds up.  If USD devalues significantly the Fed will have to step back and the market will reprice at that point.  That said, there doesn’t seem to be a near term concern for USD weakness.  But you can see what an incredibly difficult conundrum the Fed has created for itself and for the nation.

By implementing the wrong policies and then refusing to acknowledge it early on, the Fed has undoubtedly created irreparable destruction for all but the very top of the food chain.  The destruction is already slowly playing out and that is clear when looking at income, net worth and consumer debt levels.  And at some point, as we saw in 2008, an unimaginable amount of pain is going to hit home almost overnight.  What more can anyone say about this.

The market is way out of whack and that will continue until it doesn’t.  In the meantime 90% of America will slowly degrade.  How can any of this be considered a success as we hear so often from the market pros?  The one thing that is clear in all of this mess is that our policymakers have failed miserably and so too then have our legislators for allowing this nonsense to continue.  But worse is that we the people are failing as Americans.  We have an obligation to those who came before us and did their job as Americans and to those who will come after deserving as many rights as were passed onto us.

But we are failing to deliver on our obligations as Americans, that is undeniable.  We are allowing the political class to plunder our wealth, negate our freedoms and desecrate our Constitution.  Sadly we have become the immoral populace our founding fathers warned all future generations not to become.  As the ‘Founding Father of Scholarship and Education’, Noah Webster, put it in 1832,

if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws”

The duty and obligation is ours and so too then are the failures and successes of our society.  Unfortunately ours will be the first generation to have failed at being American.  Yet regrettably more unfortunate is that it will be the innocent generations yet to come that will bear the full costs of our failures.  We are 15 years in to what is absolute denial regarding the competence of our nation’s policymakers.  Their failures in taking us to a false war in Iraq, in making a mockery of our rights as Americans and in destroying our economic opportunities are our failures.  Yet here we sit, silent and indifferent to our own demise; so completely antithetical to the character of a true American.

 

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Sun, 03/01/2015 - 14:56 | 5843119 Sir SpeaksALot
Sir SpeaksALot's picture

I am fed up with this shit. I will fucking strike down on you with great vengeance and furious anger cos you re trying to poison and destroy my brothers... and you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon you.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 14:58 | 5843135 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

AWOL for 2,000 years,

  and now you are pissed?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:00 | 5843143 Sir SpeaksALot
Sir SpeaksALot's picture

yupsters... people have free will, but now it s enough with this shit.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:28 | 5843181 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

 "I’m Bedazzled by the Bewilderment Surrounding the Fed’s Behaviour... So I’ve De-engineered to the Bare Basics... and Oh Boy!"

 

LOL ~ I stopped right there...

 

THE FED [behaviour] is doing EXACTLY what the tribal council who envisioned it imagined...

 

One could venture to say, PERHAPS... Is that they've actually embellished & exceeded their mandate to exponential degrees... GREENSPAN can GO TO HELL sucking ball sacks with his fucking apology tour. 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:29 | 5843256 flacon
flacon's picture

"WE"? "OUR"? Who is this "we"and "our" that you speak of given the fact that *I* am an *INDIVIDUAL* and "society" is a mythical concept?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:46 | 5843303 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

You 'AM' that you 'AM', was, reportedly, once proclaimed on a mountaintop to a singular witness... [With apologies, here, to the authors substitution of preposition]...

 

Anyway ~ If your suspension of disbelief has taken you this far...

 

All u got left are BURNING BUSHES...

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 23:55 | 5844588 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

We could only dream that all the Bushes burn.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:31 | 5843260 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Heads Up Tylers:

OBAMA THREATENED TO SHOOT DOWN ISRAELI MILITARY JETS!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191966

He better keep a sharp watch out for garbage trucks


 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:55 | 5843326 Theta_Burn
Theta_Burn's picture

99.9% bullshit..

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:13 | 5843369 JimBowie1958
JimBowie1958's picture

Obama is an old cock sucker looking for a legacy

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:17 | 5843380 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

I toldja.  Off the reservation.

This is gonna be fun.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 22:23 | 5844300 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

(delete)

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:05 | 5843161 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

The concept of "obligations" for Americans went out the window with Vietnam and it's been a free for all grab for money ever since.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:21 | 5843217 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

"Change you can believe in!"

 

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:00 | 5843341 Money_for_Nothing
Money_for_Nothing's picture

Jesus is running against Rahm Emanuel. If he takes Chicago it will be a start.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:17 | 5843194 X-defiler
X-defiler's picture

Nothing will change until high profile elites that created these problems start showing up in the news with their faces torn off. What I mean is all this talking is just that. You are all a bunch of frustrated pussies and won't do nothin'. We'll know things are changing when we start seeing execution style messages showing up on mainstream media. Until then, all you pansees just shut up and keep borrowing and consuming and borrowing. This is your life and it is your childeren's childerens lives cause all you do is talk. Enjoy. 

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 14:55 | 5843122 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Who is this royal "we"?  The Jew York media does everything it can to strangle free speech and destroy the careers of whistle blowers and truth tellers.

The old media is dying, but not fast enough.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:14 | 5843195 August
August's picture

Well, "Thad Beversdorf" is part of the problem.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 14:59 | 5843136 Eeyores Enigma
Eeyores Enigma's picture

Conspiracy theory ;-}

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:06 | 5843168 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

<<<  The Tylers bought a million random email addresses for $19.99

<<<  The Yahoo Board flushed it's problem children..., again

Question:   Why the spike in Newbie Posts?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:19 | 5843209 cossack55
cossack55's picture

Success breeds contempt?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:23 | 5843231 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Always skeptical of quickie solutions,

  and the quality of discourse took a nose dive, in case you hadn't noticed.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:48 | 5843283 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

@kaiserhoff

 

There was a funny comment here the other day that talked about the 'free ham' conundrum...

 

IT IS WHAT IT IS my friend... The universe breathes out & it breathes in... The clever ones are the ones who manage to live in both phases... I HAVE ZERO DOUBT that the 'Tylers' realize this... I'm not embarrassed to say that they're the SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM...

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:27 | 5843251 cornfritter
cornfritter's picture

i'm a newbie, but don't shoot... it would be nice to believe the populace is awakening, and i think there is some truth to that... there is also truth that people are apparently sponsoring herd posters, i notice this when anything to do w/ R. Paul, Bitcoin, etc.. gets posted.  Definitely an agenda.

PS - the "we" thing grinds on me.  As if we are all interested in TPTB porno. and are all corrupt to our very souls.  Watch how the global MSM starts, increasingly, to demonize the "West" and the "US" for the take down.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:35 | 5843275 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Thanks.  That was my tongue in cheek question.  I know how long it took to get the numbers up as a Libertarian/Finance blog, but it's crazy days on the net now.  Nice to understand why.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:27 | 5843253 Possible Impact
Possible Impact's picture

"The Tylers bought a million random email addresses for $19.99"

Dude, with their l33t Skillz, the price = "Free". :D

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 14:59 | 5843137 TrustbutVerify
TrustbutVerify's picture

 

"We Are Failing To Deliver On Our Obligations As Americans" We could start by buying only things that are made in the USA.  win/win/win

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:07 | 5843172 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

Made in USA? Difficult to find. Assembled in USA from parts made in China/Japan/Korea/Indonesia, etc. would be more accurate.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:26 | 5843248 TrustbutVerify
TrustbutVerify's picture

True enough.  Not easy.  But crucial.  

 

But to quite a President in regard to getting to the moon - at that time a seemingly impossible task - "We choose to do this because it is hard."  

It should be extrapolated to present day.  All the while pushing those manufacturers that made only partially American made goods to increase US content - or support those that went into business to do so.  Our economy would be reborn if we rebuilt the manufacturing sector. 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:20 | 5843387 Nobodys Safe
Nobodys Safe's picture

I bought of these last night. https://www.classicfirearms.com/aksporterriflew-woodstockbyiooncakm247c

I'm glad I pulled the trigger pun intended, they only had 2 left. The only parts on this rifle that are not made in the U.S. are the beutiful laminated wood furniture sets which are custom made in Poland. Another bonus is the ammo is cheap and not banned, yet.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 19:21 | 5843892 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

Couldn't find anything about the barrel.  Be careful shooting surplus.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:12 | 5843187 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Hell yes, I want Hellfire missiles and maybe a tank.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:01 | 5843139 Franktastic
Franktastic's picture

If voting in the right people is a problem, THEN VOTE with your fucking god damn money!!!!

 

"Withholding payment of taxes is one of the quickest methods of overthrowing a government"
Mahatma Gandhi

 

Nothing gets the attention of assholes who depend on it, till the money flows is restricted or is completely cut off.

then they are all ears...

dang

Got it?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:28 | 5843254 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

Once the conceptual FACT is understood that there is Criminal Fraud UNITED STATES, CORP. INC. acting / "posing" as a functioning Government of the people, by the people & for the people.

Indivdulas will Pack & Gun & Pay NO Tax to the Criminal Fraud entity known as the UNITED STATES, CORP. INC.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:11 | 5843366 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

Good idea, but irrelevant when .gov can simply continue to borrow ever-increasing amounts of fiat for their expenditures.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:01 | 5843151 Sam Clemons
Sam Clemons's picture

This is the umpteenth article about this topic since 2008. Yawn. 

Nothings going to change by voting.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:10 | 5843179 Franktastic
Franktastic's picture

then vote with your money.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:35 | 5843274 cornfritter
cornfritter's picture

if you mean, blood, sweat tears, gold, silver, barter then yes.  utilizing the current unconstitutional currency only empowers the oppressors... and not paying taxes won't hurt them much, they print whatever they need... really, it seem near futile... the Amrican people at large are now in no position to give up the system that sustains them... things may get quite brutal if (or when) it fails, and fail it will for it is immoral in the first place

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:47 | 5843306 Sam Clemons
Sam Clemons's picture

They can easily print all the debt into existence they need.  

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:11 | 5843184 davidalan1
davidalan1's picture

I cant believe the righeous indignation conveyed to me by others when i tell them "why vote, the system is broken"?

 

its pretty funny-  lets see what has voting done for this great country. Tell me which pres in the past 50 years has reduced the debt, been a

responsible fiduciary, stopped a war, not started a war, not increased the fed gov on and on? Answer NOT ONE! 

So go vote folks...

Whats the definiion of insanity again? oh yeah, doing the SAME THING OVER and over and expecting a different result. In that regard we as a

democracy, republic or whaterver are INSANE ! Time for a Zanax

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:20 | 5843215 cossack55
cossack55's picture

Ford?  Do I win?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:41 | 5843290 Clowns on Acid
Clowns on Acid's picture

True the Sam I am, but the article is very well presented.

Like most however, it leaves out the process and penalties that HAVE to meted out to those responsible (Sandy Weill, Robert Rubin, Greensopan, Bernanke, GS, JPM, etc..) so that any future immoral theft on thi sgrand scale does not occur again.  I think stuff like this is what you are looking for.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:23 | 5843392 davidalan1
davidalan1's picture

What is EPIC about Sandy weill is No ONE even knows who he is, unreal. Took him two years garnering the help of pres ford and robbie rubin to over turn Glass seigal....Pathetic

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:06 | 5843164 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Failing to deliver on obligations? I thought we were doing alright at buying Chinese plastic crap.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:10 | 5843177 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

When there is a bounty on illegal aliens and banksters,

   I shall deliver.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:09 | 5843175 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

The fundamental limiting factor of trickle down theory is the urethra.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:12 | 5843186 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Every see a race horse piss after a race ? LOL

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 21:02 | 5844160 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

No, but I have seen myself after a case of American "beer".

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:10 | 5843180 Monetas
Monetas's picture

More latent socialist blog baggage .... just like some of our posters ?

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:13 | 5843192 basho
basho's picture

same shit different wrapper.

nothing is going to change

tic toc

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:15 | 5843197 MrButtoMcFarty
MrButtoMcFarty's picture

GOP=DEM=INC

Nothing changes until K Street burns.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:18 | 5843206 Boomberg
Boomberg's picture

Oh God. Another article with charts and everything telling us what we already know, then whining cause we just sit on our asses, as if writing a blog post is actually doing something. We're right behind ya Thad, all the way to the chambers of power. I'll put a similar article up on my own blog. That'll teach 'em. 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 22:50 | 5844456 Hail Spode
Hail Spode's picture

Some of us are doing more about it- like starting groups to run independent candidates for the state legislature. We are going around the two-party system which weeds out the honest ones and rewards the scoundrels.  Sure it is starting small, but it can easily be replicated other places. http://www.arneighbors.org/

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:22 | 5843223 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

"Yet here we sit, silent and indifferent to our own demise;"

And, that contractual Silence is our CONSENT with the Criminal Fraud UNITED STATES, CORP. INC.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:23 | 5843235 Smegley Wanxalot
Smegley Wanxalot's picture

These problems are nothing Net Neutrality can't fix.  1st things 1st.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:27 | 5843249 Never One Roach
Never One Roach's picture

The Final Destruction
Of The Middle Class

 

 

Americans are confronted with what appears to be the worse economic situation since the Great Depression. What will history say about the U.S. credit crisis turned global financial crisis? At every turn investors are faced with new problems, new crises, and less than desirable solutions which include debt, deflation and a transfer of wealth.
 
With regard to debt, the American taxpayer has been made the lender of last resort for international bank Bear Stearns and now the two Government-sponsored Enterprises-GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On top of the $29B for Bear Stearns, Fannie and Freddie's debt of $5.4T has been effectively transferred to the balance sheet of the USA. This is equal to the entire publicly traded debt of the U.S. which is also the same as the total of America's mortgage-related assets. In addition to personal debt, every American now has a financial responsibility for Bear Stearns and Fannie and Freddie.
full story:
http://www.rense.com/general83/class.htm
Sun, 03/01/2015 - 17:05 | 5843505 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

Jeb Bush wants to replace you with foreigners.

Obozo wants to replenish you with same.

Hillary wants to kill you with laughter.

All three appear to want a NA Union.

With America as we know it killed by 1000 cuts.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:33 | 5843266 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

I'm sorry, but we have no obligations as Americans.

As long as the crooks at the top act like undomesticated animals.

And law enforcement looks the other way.

To protect their pensions and way of life.

You're an idiot if you feel obliged to follow your master's orders.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:34 | 5843267 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

The most Armed Corpoate Fraud entity in the World & yet not one single arrest of the Criminals who put us in this predicament.

Pitiful!'

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:35 | 5843276 WarPony
WarPony's picture

The New World Order is in, Nation-States are a gesture of distraction for more divide and conquer and the puppet master's NGOs will keep it that way.  Is Big Oil in every Country across the globe?  Is Big Finance herded into the BIS pen and do the top G50s have a central bank at that table? Aren't all the above continuing to rape, murder and pillage?  Don't go blaming Americans for the world's problems because "leader of the free world" is as empty as "federal reserve."

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:36 | 5843278 Catullus
Catullus's picture

I seem to remember most of the country saying "no" to the bailouts in late 2008. Yet they did it anyway. They even passed a get out of jail free card to the US treasury secretary, who was lying at the time he was asking for the bailout. They didn't even bother mentioning it during the presidential debates. It was one of the most momentous financial crisis in generations and you couldn't get three questions in about it.

Then we've spent the past 6 years listening to govt dick lickers tell us that anyone who mentions the words "Federal Reserve" is a conspiracy nut. You even have federal prosecutors saying these people are too big to jail.

There's nothing to get excited about anymore. I'm not surprised by anything other than people actually having the guts to report things. What they say is not even important. Just that it gets air time.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:42 | 5843295 Batman11
Batman11's picture

The imaginary trickle down effect.

The real trickle up effect:

a) Those with excess capital invest it and collect interest and rent.

b) Those with insufficient capital borrow money and pay interest and rent.

Add inherited wealth and you get an idea of how wealth concentrates within a few families.

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:16 | 5843316 fremannx
fremannx's picture

Last week's S&P 500 movement indicates an impending reversal of the markets is at hand. The raw motions of market participants should start to show causing financial and economic news to turn negative.

http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/sp-500-indexelliott-wave-update-for-w...

 

The bubble is bursting and the evidence is growing with each passing  day. 

 

"So this brings us to the debate around whether the parabolic move in equity valuations is the same as last time, meaning the asset bubble the eventually burst in 2008.  The ‘secular bulls’ are screaming 'It is different this time!'. "

But it's not.


http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/anatomy-of-a-bubble-how-the-federal-r...

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 15:53 | 5843324 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture
The Evil Lurking Within. The Kay Griggs Interview

Kay Griggs is the famous Christian woman (American patriot whistleblower) interview session (7.5 hours) conducted with her by Pastor Rick Strawcutter in 1998. Kay was the wife of a high-level Marine Corps colonel who revealed to her the DARK underworld of top level military and its secret elite training programs, mind control tactics, psychological warefare, drug & weapon running, and assassination squads. The unedited nearly 8 hours of material contained here is epic. Download it and keep a local hard drive copy. These interviews were conducted in 1998. Kay Griggs’ recounting of how key people among us, including world leaders, are marked as rising stars and groomed for their positions is some of the most striking whistleblower testimony to have emerged, and forms the basis for a deeper understanding of global agendas in place today.

Transcript

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7odSIZ9Tg


Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:06 | 5843353 FightingtheFed
FightingtheFed's picture

I have suffered horrendous losses since 2008 and I continue to witness this disaster play out before my eyes.

 

I have not been able to write Congressmen and Senators because of my anger.. I really don't want to pen a tirade of profanity and threats of murder.. I think I'm almost to the point that I can write them but should I even have to??

 

Who doesn't understand the fraud that has transpired? They would only feign ignorance if confronted..

 

Very hopeless situation.

 

Then practically all of the low information Democrat voters only want to praise Obama for the advancement of the stock market under his leadership with no comprehension whatsoever for the longer term effects.

 

Anyway great article!

 

Thanks.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:37 | 5843433 f16hoser
f16hoser's picture

Silly Americans still trying to fix things at the voting booths. Hilarious

This thing will turn-around when they come for the guns. Bloody!!!

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:49 | 5843457 El Hosel
El Hosel's picture

Deliver on your obligations, look both ways before you cross a street sweeper... Avoid nailguns and tall buildings.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 16:51 | 5843472 goldstandard
goldstandard's picture

There has always been a remedy for what ails America. Should the day ever come that we as a people grow a pair and speak truth to power, maybe things will change for the better.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself.......A. Lincoln 1861

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 18:46 | 5843792 bluskyes
bluskyes's picture

Speak truth to power, but be prepared for power's answer.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 17:32 | 5843597 DipshitMiddleCl...
DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid's picture

What most people on ZeroHedge fail to realize is that the fed is doing this deliberately.

 

This isnt them being stupid, they are fucking the middle class on purpose.

 

 

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 17:37 | 5843608 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture
"We Are Failing To Deliver On Our Obligations As Americans"

Can I get a copy of my Obligations, and where I signed and Agreed to those obligations?

I seemed to have misplaced my copy.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 18:11 | 5843706 Eahudimac
Eahudimac's picture

I've been relentlessly following the financial situation since 2005, when I started to question crazy home valuations. It was obvious that something wasn't right.  That was nothing compared to what is going on today. My search for the truth has left me with nothing but more questions. Is there an NWO, it is the Zionists, Illuminati, Talmudic Judaism, communists/socialists or a network of criminal politicians and crony capitalists? It's all of them combined. Is there one person/family or entity in control of all of this? If so, Rothschild would seem to be the primary culprit. Could it be the work of Satan? Maybe. I used to not believe in Satan, but over the past 10 years, I've come to accept that we are souls having a human experience. Our time on Earth is like being in school. We have to go through it many times to learn and evolve as spiritual beings. With that comes good and evil (also known as Satan), each a form of positive and negative energy. Many people think this is crazy. You can think whatever you want. I think Darwinism is crazy. The sudden appearance of the universe from nothing and the evolution of life from nothing makes 0 sense to me. Hell, most people don't even realize that the atom is not a solid structure. Quantum physics has demonstrated wave-particle duality, in which matter at the smallest scales behaves both as a particle or wave. When these particles are attempted to be measured, they can't be. What does all of this have to do with failing to deliver on our obligations as Americans? In my view, everything because everything is made of this energy which forms the universe around us and ourselves. Many physicists believe we exist in a holographic universe, because matter is fundamentally energy, and made of nothing solid. So, with this in mind, what exactly are our obligations? To pick up weapons and kill those who we perceive as enslaving us? Who is actually doing the enslaving? Or do we just go about our business and immerse ourselves in our day to day lives. If consciousness is our soul, as I suspect it is, when a person is killed, the evil that exists in that soul remains. The body dies, but the soul goes onto another lifetime, perhaps to follow the positive path or the negative path. If we are spiritual beings spending time in a human body to learn how to be better spiritual beings, then this insanity in the world at least makes some sense. Humanity, through their collective free will choose to make the world what it is. Does an individual consciously choose to live as a slave while on Earth? No. Of course not. But, if we are spiritual beings learning how to be better spiritual beings, how would you best learn what evil is? Well, you have to experience it to understand it. Could it be that the slave is burning off karmic debt? Maybe the slave in a past life was once a slave master? Maybe the North Koreans are reincarnated Bolsheviks who are now paying off their karmic debt? They have to live under an authoritarian government that they forced others to live under in Russia. There is a great spiritual battle that is taking place. Making people, souls, on Earth understand they are souls having a human experience is a tough job. Not everyone will accept that. I did and so have other millions of people. No one on Earth can control you unless you let them. The problem is that we can very easily end up separated from our bodies before the time we would like, so we choose a certain amount of subservience in exchange for a physical existence. Humanity as a whole chooses evil, so this is an unfortunate by-product of physical existence. Given this line of reasoning, it makes more sense to not pick up a gun and start killing, but instead to try and make people aware of this. If you choose to live by the laws of man, you will always live under tyranny. The more people understand this, the better the world will be for all. Unfortunately most people believe individual rights and freedoms come from the government. What the government giveth, the government can taketh away. The thing is, right now, regardless of man-made laws, I can choose to do good or do evil. I can help a little old lady across the street, or I can run her over and steal her purse. I have the free will to do that. I may have to suffer the consequences for my decision, but no man-made law can stop it from happening. This is an extreme example, but makes the point. I choose to help the little old lady. In the long run, the positive spiritual growth will far outweigh the short term gain I may have received by stealing the purse. The same concept applies to those in the financial system. I would not want to be a Rothschild in another life, that is for damn sure.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 18:53 | 5843822 Clowns on Acid
Clowns on Acid's picture

We know all this. Enough of the chin music and get ready to do some damage to the neo bolsheviks.

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 19:57 | 5843980 MedicalQuack
MedicalQuack's picture

I said this a while back and even the CIO of the FCC agreed with me, time to call foul on some proprietary code that can'be replicated.  It's a sweet deal when you can write code that fiddles with risk, does some very questionable computations and you get to wrap it up with a compiler so nobody ever gets to see it...what software is and yes there's a reason for "utility type" software to be this way for sure, but we are beyond that with scoring and analytics today, way beyond.

http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/08/somebody-needs-to-start-calling-foul-on.html

It's all the code that you can't see or talk to that drives almost everything.  I don't have a problem with value and code that does great calculations being compiled but I do have an issue with those who write creepy code that cheats and we can't get to it.

Attack of the Killer Algorithms videos...lots here, bookmark it and listen to folks smarter than me.

http://www.ducknet.net/attack-of-the-killer-algorithms/

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