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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

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Chinese Currency ETFs Are A Safer Way To Play The Yuan's Rising Value

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 12:04 PM PDT

By Tom Lydon:

Investors are bullish on the yuan, as it has held up against the U.S. dollar despite the weakening Chinese economy. Focused exchange traded funds are a safer way to play the upside of the yuan as it appreciates.

"China's yuan rose against the U.S. dollar late Monday to the second-highest level ever since the country depegged the Chinese currency from the dollar in 2005, as the central bank continued to surprise the market by guiding the yuan sharply higher after China posted encouraging economic data over the weekend," Wynne Wang wrote for The WSJ.

Analysts are calling the Chinese yuan a low-risk investment right now. Currently, China is allowing the yuan to appreciate against the U.S. dollar. The yuan has risen 0.4% against the dollar since the start of 2012, following its 0.3% gain last week. The yuan has risen to the 6.28 mark, the first time in about 20


Complete Story »

EUR/CAD: The Rally Is Over

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 11:51 AM PDT

By Evariste Lefeuvre:

The EUR/USD is a cross. As such, finding a relevant driver is quite difficult. However, the chart below shows that there is a strong correlation between the pair and the Gold-to-Oil ratio. The one-month log change of the EUR/CAD is closely related to that of GOR. When gold outperforms oil (risk-off), EUR/CAD rises.The chart below suggests that there is a modest mispricing, with GOR's recent trend calling for a lower EUR/CAD.


(Click to enlarge)

Interestingly enough, the EUR/CAD is inversely correlated to the TSX/Stoxx 600 ratio: any over(under)performance of the European stock market is offset by an equivalent decline(increase) in EUR/USD. The recent trends in EUR/CAD would call for an outperformance of the TSX (or, depending on where your strongest views are, the Stoxx 600 outperformance would call for a weaker EUR/CAD).

Both signals suggests some cautiousness on the recent strength of the EUR/CAD. On the technical analysis side, the


Complete Story »

Tiho Brkan comments on Bonds, Japan, Gold & Silver

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 11:28 AM PDT

Tiho Brkan, author of the Short Side of Long blog, discusses in this order: the entire bond market, Japan and the Yen as well as Gold & Silver.

Time: 21 mins, 34 seconds


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Argonaut Gold Discusses Q3 Results, Acquisition & More

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 11:12 AM PDT

Here is our interview with Argonaut CEO, Pete Dougherty. Pete discusses Argonaut's Q3 results, recent acquisition and the other projects in their pipeline.


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Is Coca-Cola 'Too Big To Grow' Now?

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 11:04 AM PDT

By Jacob Steinberg:

Coca-Cola (KO) announced its quarterly earnings today. The results were somewhat mixed. The company's earnings increased by 3.9% globally and 2% in China, where the company used to enjoy double-digit growth for years. Slowing global economy played a role in this deceleration of growth; however, some think that Coca-Cola is simply too big to post any significant growth in the long term. The company blames China's efforts of restraining inflation for the slowdown in the country and the management expects the slowdown to be a temporary thing.

While the company sold a higher volume of products in Europe compared with the last quarter, it sold cheaper products on average and saw a revenue decline in the continent. The company's products sold better at supermarkets than in restaurants, which could be explained by the recession in Europe. The recent strength of the dollar currency was another problem for the company, which


Complete Story »

Intermarket Flows On Forex, Gold, Oil And Equities

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 10:51 AM PDT

By Ashraf Laidi:

Fresh four-year highs in monthly U.S. building permits and housing starts at 894K and 872K respectively are consistent with the 43% and 36% increase in U.S. existing home sales and new home sales from their respective 2010 lows.

"Good" U.S. data no longer disappoints markets on the fear of discontinuing QE due to the Fed's insistence to target further declines in unemployment (towards 7%) regardless of the trend in non-inflation macro data. The seemingly win-win reaction function between data releases and market performance works in providing buying on-the-dips at key support levels (illustrated below) as well as the testing and eventual breach of this year's highs.

Cross-market correlations continue to take precedence over individual fundamental factors in the functioning of equity, currency and commodity markets. The risk-on/risk-off dynamics, whereby risk currencies (ex-USD and ex-JPY) move in tandem with equity indices and most commodities are most accentuated when event-risk is either


Complete Story »

Extreme Symptoms & Hidden Menace

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 09:51 AM PDT

Some competent analysts claim the United States and Western nations are stuck in the eye of the hurricane. Maybe so, but the internal stresses are so great that they will move beyond the eye into a zone of clearly apparent destruction soon. Some aware analysts believe the bond monetization plans will lift the financial markets. Maybe so, but the ensuing and continuing damage to the economies is profound from rising cost structures. Some awakening analysts no longer look to the USFed as a source of solutions. They see the central bank as increasingly desperate, pushing the same levers that accomplished nothing in the past. In fact, the failing central bank franchise system is visible in the open for all to see, with the embarrassment noticeable when the good chairman speaks as high priest of hollow dogma. New money backed by nothing swims around, financing the USGovt deficits, redeeming toxic bonds, adding nothing to the capital base. In the background is a pernicious effect, having come full circle. The Chinese industrial expansion since year 2000 came largely at the expense of the Western economies. They forfeited thousands of factories in the mindless pursuit of lower costs, while overlooking the abandoned wealth engines that produced legitimate income. In the last couple years, the Western economies have served as weakened customers for the Chinese production. The effect finally has slammed China, which complains of weaker US and European demand. Any trip through Spain will demonstrate that smaller Spanish factories and mills are shut down, with Chinese imports in replacement, as local shops stock mainly Chinese products.

The global financial system is empty of ideas, has no solutions, and is rotting on the vine. The solution is a new trade payment system centered upon Gold, no longer on the toxic USDollar. The solution is a banking system that turns its back on USTreasury Bonds, the delinquent foreclosed step-child of the US Federal Reserve. The list of extreme symptoms and hidden menaces is as long as a roll of fiat toilet paper. It reads like a bad novel, like an endless nightmare, like an obituary. The distortions are far past extreme. The United States is locked in a trade war with China, the financial battles played out in the financial ministries and the press, the actual hot war played out in Southern Africa among smugglers. All Chinese investment within the United States has been secretly banned. So watch the Softbank bid to acquire a major stake in Sprint Nextel. The dependence upon Plunge Protection Team props and High Frequency Flash trading to keep stocks up is extreme. The phenomenon is reported regularly, but is no longer news since it is engrained as a constant feature.

The charred financial and economic landscape has transformed so radically since 2008, that aberrant distorted disconfigured bizarre and twisted are considered as normal. The nation has become a surreal depiction economically, financially, politically, and ethically in the last decade, since September 2001. The former USFed Chairman Greenspan was wise to walk away and retire with laurels from knighthood. His work was done. The Bernanke Fed will be known as the Weimar engineers and Mafia bagholders. Even Greenspan could not image the extreme measures required by the central bank, with assorted liquidity facilities (none worked), TARP Fund enabling (pure bait & switch deceptive fraud), hidden bond monetization (drained fuel), bloated toxic balance sheet (never to find value), massive narco money laundering (fully dependent for survival), rafts of mortgage lawsuits (motive for QE3), rising food & energy costs (painful consequence), and much more (not reported in the subservient financial press).

Review some of the extreme features that serve as prevalent signposts scattered across the American landscape, none of which existed in the 1990 decade. The US is stuck in an end road heading over the cliff. Many like the Jackass argue that given the profound widespread insolvency, the nation is descending after having gone over the cliff. It is not approaching a fiscal cliff. It has fallen over it, ever since the Budget Super Committee formulated by the USCongress disbanded in utter failure on the public stage with zero progress on anything. The USGovt spending is so out of control, the political process so broken, that the fascist collectivist nation could not make a New Politburo council work. The broken financial apparatus should be more recognizable. Spending is rabid out of control. The bond monetization is the only defense to prevent a USGovt debt default. The ZIRP birds chip at 0% frequency, due to interest rate derivatives working around the clock under great strain, with no buyers and $trillion deficits as far as the eye can see. The national perspectives are usually late in coming. Eventually the broken national machinery will be understood and perceived. The pundits and experts did not notice the subprime mortgage crisis until 12 to 18 months after it struck. They spent the following year denying its crisis and wreckage. The pundits and experts did not notice the housing market bust until 12 to 18 months beyond peak. They spent the following year denying its crisis and wreckage. Perception inside the United States is not a strong suit. Accurate perceptions are almost considered unpatriotic.

EMPTY QUANTITATIVE EASING SOLUTION

The ultra-low near 0% interest rate environment is a massive wet blanket on the USEconomy. The Zero Interest Rate Policy has an undercurrent to makes for higher costs, lower profit, business segment shutdown, job cuts, and lower income. It remains the biggest blind spot among US economists, whom the Jackass has very little if any respect for, deservedly. The absent foreign bond demand provides a constant motive to conduct the next QE program. The dependence upon monetization to finance the USGovt deficits is slowly entering the mindset of financial analysts and investment managers. The QE3 should be called Global QE or more accurately QE to Infinity, since all the major central banks have joined, whether out of enthusiasm or pressure. They wish to avoid a currency war, so a coordinated currency debasement is the active plan. That approach leaves them all vulnerable to simultaneous rising commodity costs, only kept down by a deteriorating economic base.

Such is the bitter fruit of failed central bank franchise systems. Witness the unlimited USFed and EuroCB and Japanese bond purchases, to prevent a collapse. The Interest Rate Swap device is heavily used to hold down USTBond yields, amidst unending $1.4 trillion annual deficits, low bond demand, and lost global prestige. The hidden motive for the next QE3 round is to cover bury and remove the mortgage fraud that acts as a gigantic logjam on the financial structure and foreign flows. The criticism grows on the theme of questionable quality of new money, the toxic paper to replace toxic paper. The frustration grows on the theme of better quality and higher subordinated debt to replace toxic debt. Solutions are nowhere.

ECONOMY DISTORTIONS

The USEconomy has been stuck in a powerful recession of at least minus 3% since 2008, with only extreme statistical gimmickry and outright accounting fraud to pull up the reported growth. The only sector with rising profits is the banking sector, due to USFed bond purchases, due to the easy USTreasury carry trade, due to the accounting fraud on mortgage portfolios (still no mark to market), due to the lack of derivative contract accounting altogether, due to the convenient debt value adjustment scam. The short home sales are not adequately counted in housing market price data, enabling the charlatans to claim a recovery just in time for the presidential election. Shiller seems like a dope with his blind eye to the excluded short sales in the index that bears his name, and to the racked up home inventory from foreclosures. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners do not pay anything on monthly mortgage, the new scoff-law crowd. They are increasingly challenging the big US banks to produce title, a story the press does not cover any longer since so volatile and visceral.

The Federal Housing Admin (step-father to Fannie Mae) has quietly ramped up subprime home loans, but all under the USGovt auspices. The 3% or 5% down payments are no problem for loans. Step right up. The car market is propped by the next subprime push, with banks practically ordered to extend easy loans to buyers. Some loans are for seven to eight years, and go negative equity in the first few months. The crude oil price remains over $90 per barrel despite a powerful entrenched recession, due to USDollar hedging. Tangible investment stubbornly remains a fixture in global portfolio management, as distrust for the USDollar continues. The deadly decline in California state sales tax receipts, down 40% from July 2011 to July 2012, in my view serves as the most deadly of highly visible signposts. The land of rotten fruits and bitter nuts is being racked by gasoline shortages.

LABOR MARKET STRAINS

Nowhere is the damage to the US systems more visible than the labor market. It is hard to hide  millions of jobless workers. It is hard to hide the shuttered factories whose business went to China and the Pacific Rim. The jobs data is an exercise in deception and fiction. The deception is with the unemployment rate, which runs steadily at 16% to 17% even on the official U6 statistic, but runs steadily at 22% to 23% in the Shadow Govt Statistics that reflects the world in which we live. The deception is with the jobless claims data, since 99 weeks is the limit, and millions of workers have passed the limit, unable to collect more insurance, no longer counted in the official reports. They are like abandoned Missing in Action soldiers left behind to rot in Vietnam, denied to exist, suffering still.

The fiction lies with the Birth Death Model, transformed into the main new employer in fantasy land, lifting the Jobs Report. Several hundred thousand new fictitious jobs appear almost monthly, surely to be corrected in March when nobody is looking. Most of what the President claims as job growth is derived from the BDModel, complete with Cheshire Cat as the guard in a Wonderland. The National Federation of Independent Businesses routinely contradicts the official USGovt propaganda about a robust small business sector. The Birth Death Model is designed to factor in the missing small businesses from the sampling process. It has become a fudge factor to the extreme. Around 50% of new college graduates cannot find work, deeply frustrated and disillusioned. Over 3 million young people are fast losing faith in the system, adults living with parents. They will serve as the demonstrators on the street, if the nation ever wakes up. The nation of Spain had 2500 demonstrations in 2011 that took place in Madrid alone. The United States is fast asleep, flouridated, awash with propaganda, deceived in almost every area of life.

FASCISM TAKES DEEP ROOT

Notice how the narco and oil wars are off limits for discussion and debate. Soldiers are recruited from the poor parts of the archipelago of troubled cities and towns, with hope of income and job opportunity, maybe college later, but with rising likelihood of a missing arm or leg where the benefits kick in. The war has an ugly statistic that the monger merchants cannot escape. More soldier suicides (active and retired) occur than battlefield deaths. The soldier corps is being depleted, as soldiers are ordered into endless returns of tours, victims of the fine print on induction contracts. The United States as a nation slowly abandons both the Constitution and Capitalism. The legal authorities have begun to brand advocates of the former as terrorists, and advocates of the latter as uncaring. The last chapter of any failed democracy is surely fascism. The dependence by US big banks upon narco money laundering for survival is becoming well documented, but still a secret inside the US. In the European corners and the United Nations, the dependence is well known. The Too Big To Fail mantra that supports and upholds the big broken banks is losing its luster and appeal. The tough questions being argued pertain to how to break up the big US banks, what parts to save, how to redeem their toxic balance sheets, where to merge their viable parts. Chris Whalen made some outstanding points recently, claiming that no Wall Street firm is earning money on their bond inventory. Their carry trade profits are down by over 50%. The big US banks in Whalen's opinion will break up from internal stresses, like basic lack of income and high operating costs that include bloated incomes.

The nation has suffered massively from the merger of preferred big business and the state, the lace of fascism. The big corporations, led by the banks, are given license to commit financial fraud and open thefts. The list from MFGlobal, Peregrine Financial, hundreds of mortgage bond fraud cases, and thousands of mortgage contract fraud cases, litter the landscape for all to see. They are joined by new LIBOR lawsuits that will keep the courts busy for years, until laws are passed to forbid such lawsuits, decreed in the national security interest. Not so easily seen are the deep trenches of bond counterfeit, like with JPMorgan in collusion with Cantor Fitzgerald, whose handiwork was conveniently buried late in September 2001 in South Manhattan.

The negative correlation between Exit Polls and precinct level president votes in 2004 and 2008 highlighted the vote rigging as stark statistical evidence. Any competent statistical analyst can see the anomalies, if attention is focused and eyes are open. Statistical analyses were easy for spotting the vote fraud, since the correlation for over 30 years had been over 90%. No longer is the correlation high in the swing states, where vote fraud is the new normal. This is a key trait of a Third World Nation, of which the United States leads in sophistication. Chavez in Venezuela has nothing on the White House victors. Watch Florida, Ohio, and now Virginia as the important swing states. These three states might not be enough, as the horrendous economy usually accounts for a sudden 5% swing against the incumbent.

GOLD

The USDollar being abandoned slowly in global trade. In the process the important currency is losing its prestige. After more isolation, its global reserve status will be lost in an expedience to bring about a solution to the pernicious relentless unforgiving global monetary war which is falsely called the global financial crisis. This is a war to defend both the USDollar and its merchants who rely upon fraud and war, an important ally being the Saudis, whose House has turned seriously unstable. What irony if the House of Saud were to fall victim to the Arab Spring sequence that was spawned by Quantitative Easing by the USFed and fast rising food prices. The Petro-Dollar defacto standard sits in the Saudi shrinking shadow. The USDollar will be surrounded, then isolated, then sink with the rest of the fiat paper currencies. The great Gold accumulation movement is fast underway, picking up speed. The New York and London bankers are in fast retreat, delivering their precious gold bars to Eastern entities, as they are being systematically drained of their gold assets. The New York and London bankers are seeking desperate measures to move Silver behind the curtains, in order to meet demands and avert a nasty default. They will not be able to avert a Gold or Silver default unless they conduct another MFGlobal account theft. Too many are watching for such a theft.

In the process, the derivative machinery is straining, wheezing, and giving off burned oil smoke. The JPMorgan CIO strains have not gone away. Only the more vigorous accounting fraud has kept the strains, losses, and rot out of view. The priorities are clear. JPMorgan refuses to deliver Silver, choosing instead to steal accounts that seek delivery. Bear in mind that labor strikes and government confiscations are in high gear among gold mining firms in South America and South Africa. The trend bodes well for the physical Gold price, but bodes poorly for the mining stock share prices. The Jackass forecast stands firm, that the physical Gold price will suffer a significant divergence from the corrupted paper Gold price dominated by the futures contracts, where naked shorting is the permitted normal practice. In time the COMEX will not sell Gold or Silver futures contracts, since no precious metal in inventory. Anyone who expects the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to enforce the law, obstruct the naked shorting, reduce the outsized uneconomic commercial short positions, and prosecute private account thefts, well, is a moron at worst and a fool at best.

The Gold price has been doing important technical work for the last month. On the surface the price movement looks boring if not weak, with lost momentum. That is typical of the brief phase when consolidation takes place, while building the right side handle. The downside risk is to 1720 (daily basis) or 1750 (weekly basis), really no big deal. The recently announced and detailed QE3 initiative is incredibly bullish for Gold, providing the bull market the most wonderful fuel that is supercharged by the permanent 0% rate. The paper mache merchants who defend the indefensible broken USDollar are redoubling their naked shorting. It will not be enough. They must outlaw alternatives to the USDollar and force USTBond ownership. They cannot do so but they might try. Hence the Gold price will rise.

The extreme Gold price breakout will be fast powered by the realization of the QE3 arrival, its unsterilized nature, and its much greater volume than previewed. The keys are both lack of sterilization and outsized volume. The USFed is fast running out of dry powder in USTBills, which means the bond monetization will be done with fresh money and not proceeds from sale. This is hyper monetary inflation of the worst order, akin to Weimar times. The volume of bond purchases within the QE3 framework will be between three and five times larger than announced. No rational bond buyers remain. Even the official bond dealers are facing extinction. See Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the biggest bond scum peddlers on the planet, a key accomplice for JPMorgan in the removal of both Enron fraud and USTreasury Bond fraud back in the dark days of autumn 2001. Their repository building fell in structural sympathy.

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Currency Wars: Is the US on the Attack?

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Doubling down on QE3, the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Bernanke tells China and Brazil: allow your currencies to appreciate. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that Bernanke wants the US dollar to fall.

Greg: The Falling Dollar Is Boosting Stock Prices, It Wont Last

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 09:18 AM PDT

Greg: The Falling Dollar Is Boosting Stock Prices, It Wont Last

from gregvegas5909:

~TVR

London Trader – Bullion Banks Had To Halt Gold’s Advance

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 09:14 AM PDT

from kingworldnews.com:

Today the "London Trader" discussed recent comments on KWN about the possibility of a commercial signal failure, which would have created a major price spike in gold. The source asked, "Why do you think the bullion banks threw everything they had at the gold market at the $1,800 level?" The answer, "We were within a hair of a major price explosion, and disorder in the gold market."

King World News will be releasing a total of three written interviews with the London Trader today. This is the second in a series of blockbuster interviews which uncovers what is happening behind the scenes in the gold and silver markets. Due to recent market action, these segments covering the gold and silver markets will be released as soon as possible.

Keep on reading @ kingworldnews.com

Metal Warnings from Beijing – But Not as Expected

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 07:51 AM PDT

Precious metals with the exception of gold headed a tad higher as the midweek session got underway in New York this morning. Spot gold was trading about $2 lower and was seen trying to maintain above the $1,740-$1,745 zone on the bid-side.

Bloomberg TV: Gold Price To Reach $2500 an Ounce In 2013

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 07:32 AM PDT

gold.ie

ECB : Gold and gold receivables remain unchanged

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 07:16 AM PDT

Goldcore on TV: Gold Price to $2,500/oz. in 2013

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 05:49 AM PDT

Gold looks like it may rise in November after the October correction and could rise above $2,500/oz. by March 2013 or by September of 2013 due to fiat currency debasement and concerns about all fiat currencies.

Pullback to US$1,700 'Would See Significant Support'

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Wholesale bullion prices to buy gold recovered an early dip in London on Wednesday morning, rising back to $1,750 per ounce as European stock markets also rose and the single currency hit its best level in more than a month.

Commodities Rise as Dollar Falls on Asia Risk Appetite

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 05:19 AM PDT

All eyes are on the US economic calendar, where housing starts and building permits headline the docket. Crude oil and copper may find support in a firmer US data set and this may also further buoy gold and silver following yesterday's rebound.

US Data & China Concerns Prompted Gold Sales

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 04:52 AM PDT

Several factors have weakened gold prices' sentiment since Friday and have triggered some momentum selling. October US consumer confidence was higher than expected and investors appear worried China's government has not done enough for the economy.

Gold Drops Below $1,750 & Bernanke Defends Easing

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 04:30 AM PDT

DoD Move to Reward Early Investors: Jeb Handwerger

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 03:54 AM PDT

The US Department of Defense has made a bold move to support a North American rare earth element project, and it's made waves in the market. Jeb Handwerger, editor of Gold Stock Trades, explains what this means for investors.

Link 10/17/12

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 03:10 AM PDT

Food fraud tackled by forensic scientists BBC. We had a bit of this sort of thing in NYC. I believe it was the Times that did a study on whether the supposed Alaskan (as in wild) salmon was the real deal. It turns out of all the fancy stores selling the product, only one (Eli's) had the genuine article. I'd assume in most cases the wholesalers lied to the retailers. Of course, in NYC the media cares most when it's the chattering classes that are get ripped off…

Crazy Gross Internet Troll Caves Will Make You Feel Better About Your Dirty Keyboard Huffington Post. Per Ed Harrison: Look, they've finally found out where some of the worst commenters at Naked Capitalism live. It's not pretty.

AXILLISM Twitter. Richard Smith is working hard to improve your vocabulary.

Guys and Sex Dolls – Scenes from the Guanzghou Sexpo Danwei

China's Yuan Internationalization: Made In Africa, Not Hong Kong Forbes (Timothy F)

EU Ministers Tighten Sanctions on Iran OilPrice

Coping with financial crises: Latin American answers to European questions VoxEU

Retirement No Option for Older Workers in Europe's Crisis Bloomberg

EuroFascist Watch. Sadly, this might become a regular feature. Nikki and Nick, both members of the OWS Alternative Banking Group, participated in a successful effort in Astoria, Queens, to keep the Greek fascist party Golden Dawn from establishing a presence there as a US beachhead. Apparently a high moment in the well attended community meeting was when someone announced he was from Anonymous, and had taken down Golden Dawn's website and messed with their bank account. One of the messages on a related listserv:

I heard from a comrade from Athens, he is Council Member in Athens and organizer for ΚΕΕΡΦΑ (United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat). He mentioned that our activities here against GD have had quite the impact over there. GD is frankly pissed that we ruined their plans here.

Nikki says they had to meet at the Episcopalian church, and she was disturbed that the Greek Orthodox church wouldn't host it. She speculated that Golden Dawn has ties to the Greek Orthodox church and later found that to be correct.

Mark Ames notes that Golden Dawn is using the same approach that the neoNazis and fascists (often backed by bankers) used in Russia under Yeltsin. GD is providing social services (only to Greeks who can prove they are Greeks) and much of the time has the support of the police. If someone has a problem, the police will say, "Go talk to this guy [at Golden Dawn]". And the GD guys expect something back for their services. Oh, and the Russian Orthodox church had ties to the fascists, 'natch.

Finally, the EU is increasing the pressure on Greece by not letting immigrants leave. This is apparently a huge deal in the northeast, where a lot of immigrants from Turkey and Central Asia come to Greece. They don't intend to stay, they are en route to, say, Britain or Germany. But the border police are not letting them transit onward or return to their home countries. That of course strengthens the hand of Golden Dawn. For more background, see this piece from the Independent.

French president pushing homework ban as part of ed reforms Washington Post (Gaius)

Why The Nobel Peace Prize For The EU Is So Flawed Ilargi

Romney: I had 'binders full of women' as governor Raw Story

Will Privacy Go to the Dogs? New York Times (furzy mouse)

Mitt Romney: The Great Deformer David Stockman, Daily Beast (fresno dan)

Public Briefing: Erskine Bowles Determined to Reduce Private Sector Income, Stifle US Economy – Pt. 1 Michael Hoexter, New Economic Perspectives

The Recent Collapse In Business Confidence Is Stunning Clusterstock

Where Are Consumers Getting Income to Spend? WSJ Economics Blog

Puncturing the Housing Optimism Bubble David Dayen, Firedoglake

Presidential pointers from local high school debaters Palm Beach Post (Lambert)

10 greatest market crashes MarketWatch. I slept through the 1987 crash. I had an excuse, I was in Japan. I was told the last copy of the New York Times that had the crash as its headline on sale in One World Trade Center (where I normally worked), whose sales price was $0.25, was auctioned to the highest bidder and fetched $5.00.

Mission elapsed time: T + 39 and counting*

You taught me language, and my profit on 't Is I know how to curse. –William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Montreal. Police state: "Criminal charges have been suspended against three people arrested by notorious Montreal police officer [# 528] in an incident caught on video. [The] officer became famous during the spring for pepper-spraying a number of student demonstrators who appeared to pose no threat to her."=

CA. Police state: "A court-appointed monitor overseeing Oakland police reforms said in a report released Monday that he was 'dismayed' by the department's lack of progress, citing a 'stubborn resistance to compliance.' Robert Warshaw found that the Oakland PD actually took a step back, falling out of compliance with one of its tasks, which involves the creation of a monitoring system to track officers engaging in potentially problematic behavior."

ME. Ladies of negotiable affection: "Police have issued a third release of the list of 21 alleged clients of Alexis Wright, this time including ages and addresses after a judge's order. Though police issued a second release Tuesday morning, including middle initials, confusion still remained surrounding the individuals on the list."

MT. Landfills: "Five city workers have been suspended for five days without pay for scavenging goods from the landfill last summer." Aww! In Maine, "dump picking" is a community tradition!

NC. Coal: "Site inspections by state agency dam safety engineers at every coal fired power plants across state revealed 29 high hazard coal ash ponds whose failure could cause a loss of human life. [T]here have been structural failures and/or breaches of coal ash pond dams at the Weatherspoon, Cliffside, Roxboro and Sutton coal fired power plants in the last 10 years. [N]one of the states 37 CCW ponds have composite liners to prevent leachate from contaminating groundwater."

NY. Fascism: "[Queens] City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio denounced the Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party native to Greece, for its plans to move into New York and distributing hate literature in Astoria. De Blasio was joined in his protest Friday at Athens Square Park, at 30th Street and 30th Avenue, by local elected officials." … Police state: "U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan found that the NYPD acted unlawfully when it carried out mass arrests of demonstrators at two protests during the convention. He also ruled that the NYPD's decision to fingerprint arrested protesters was unlawful." … Jill Stein: "We feel that it's not just independent political voices that are being excluded. It's really the American people who are being excluded" (Aquifer). … Fracking: "Many of the participants wore T-shirts emblazoned with 'Jobs' on the front."

OH. Voting: "Without noted dissent, the Supreme Court at midday Tuesday turned aside a plea by state officials in OH to allow them to close down voting opportunities on the final three days before election day on November 6. The ruling was a significant victory for President Obama and for Ds." … Fracking: "Many people also don't want to see drilling in Mill Creek Park. Robert Parry added, 'But, I don't think that our hunger for energy should cause earthquakes, poison our water, poison our homes. This nonsense really has to stop and I think we should draw the line.'"

PA. Fracking: "The state DEP has a new review policy for water contamination cases related to Marcellus Shale gas well operations that lets department administrators in Harrisburg instead of field offices decide whether residential water users should receive letters notifying them about problems. DEP sources, unwilling to speak on the record because of concerns about job security, say some DEP district office staffers are concerned about the policy, which would allow headquarters' officials to second guess their test-based contamination determinations.

TX. Pipelines: [At the ongoing Tar Sands Blockade tree village in east Texas,] one 70-year-old Cherokee woman was tackled by local security hired by TransCanada." …. Water: "TDCJ's Clements and Neal units are together the second largest water customer in Amarillo, soaking up 44% more water than the city of Amarillo itself. Prisons' vast water use in mainly rural areas is a largely unexplored aspect of mass incarceration, but one wonders if, in the coming years, Texas' water wars might ever contribute to de-incarceration pressures?"

VT. The tribes: "Abenaki Helping Abenaki Inc., a nonprofit organization of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, is hoping to buy the parcel. it would be the first communal land of the Nulhegan Abenaki in 200 years."

WA. Charters: "Right now [Initiative 1240 allowing charter schools is] polling in WA [at] 49% for, 30% against, and 21% undecided. Unfortunately our state union is focusing on the governor's race rather than 1240."

WI. Empathy: "'In classrooms with a lot of low-income and non-white kids, we've witnessed a lot of unselfishness,' [CUNA Mutual Foundation's executive director Steve Goldberg] said. "Not 'we need a new piano' or 'we need new furniture in the cafeteria,' (but) 'give it to kids who are needier than we are.'" … Corruption: "Attorneys hired by R lawmakers withheld nearly three dozen emails from groups suing the lawmakers despite multiple court orders to release the documents, a forensic investigator's report filed late Monday found."

Grand Bargain™-brand Catfood Watch. Poverty: "Without Social Security, 21.4 million more Americans would be poor, according to the latest available Census data (for 2011). Although most of those whom Social Security keeps out of poverty are elderly, nearly a third are under age 65, including 1.1 million children. Depending on their design, reductions in Social Security benefits could significantly increase poverty, particularly among the elderly."

Outside baseball. Anarchy: In Praise of Anarchy I, II, III. … Extractive economy: "That word, 'local,' is the problem. Yes, each instance affects the environment and people in a particular place, but until we realize that they're all of a piece we won't be able to fight them effectively. Our aggregate fight is your pipeline fight is their plutonium fight- are the voter suppression and women's rights fights." Excellent piece. The tribes got it right on landfills and the East-West highway here, and much else.

Green Party. The debates: "Nassau County, N.Y. police say Jill Stein, the Green presidential nominee, and Cheri Honkala, the vice-presidential nominee, were charged with disorderly conduct as they tried to enter the debate site at Hofstra University. The Green Party says in a statement that Stein and Honkala were walking with supporters toward the Hofstra campus Tuesday afternoon when they were met by uniformed police officers. Stein and Honkala then held an impromptu press conference in which Stein called the debate a "mockery of democracy." … The platform: "I propose a Green New Deal for the 2010s, which — unlike the doomed-to-fail proposals of Obama and Romney — is proven to work."

The Obama vs. The Romney Round II. Or rather, Millard Fillmore vs. James Buchanan; two mediocrities wholly unequal to the challenges of their time. I can't imagine Jeremy, the first questioner, came away feeling his job prospects would be greatly improved by the election of either candidate. I confess I only listen to the debates (and occasionally post); network TV is simply too toxic to approach in safety, even on a laptop. That said:

Ethos: "It's not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long." Make up your own jokes!

Pathos: To demonstrate sincerity, Romney will pause, and pitch his voice lower. Obama drops his Gs, uses the word "folks," and pitches his voice higher, using a husky, half-strangulated tone.

Logos: An interesting exchange here: ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the [Libyan embassy] attack, it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying? OBAMA: Please proceed governor. ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror. OBAMA: Get the transcript. CROWLEY: It — it — it — he did in fact, sir. So let me — let me call it an act of terror… OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy? CROWLEY: He — he did call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that." The twitterverse is aflame with "Get the transcript," but to me "Please proceed governor" is far more interesting. It's almost as if Obama knew the point Romney was going to make and deked him into making it, because he had the rebuttal at the ready. So Obama wins that exchange on tactics, but also because the narrative now becomes "What did Obama say in the Rose Garden?" instead of "What did Obama do for two weeks?" Well played! Who can deny Obama a little gloating and knife-twisting with "Can you say that a little louder"? … Taegan Goddard: "Obama acted like a president in the exchange while Romney was much less. It was Romney's Gerald Ford moment." Ouch! That said, were Crowley and Obama right? And what did Obama do for two weeks?

Memes: "Binders full of women" shows that D propagation capabilities have achieved parity with the Rs. Hurrah! … Political class: "The debate isn't even over and a parade of Obama surrogates is parading into the debate site 'spin room.' It's a big contrast to the first debate, when Obama surrogates didn't show up for several minutes after the debate ended — well after the Romney surrogates." …. Polls: "Moments following the debate, 37% of voters polled said the president won, 30% awarded the victory to Romney, and 33% called it a tie." Not exactly a vote of confidence. … Links: Excellent near-real time annotation by Izvestia; Pravda's competitor not so rich in sourcing or analysis. Andrew Sullivan back in Full Monty man crush mode. And a near miss.

Biggest Big Lie: A tough call, but my choice this evening: "[ROMNEY: ] Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs… [OBAMA:] I think a lot of this campaign, maybe over the last four years, has been devoted to this notion that I think government creates jobs, that that somehow is the answer." Of course, FDR created 15 million jobs.

The Romney. Rhetoric: The Gish Gallop (hat tip jawbone).

The Obama. Endorsement: "The 7-year-old star of the hit TLC reality show, 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,' endorsed [Obama] Monday night during an appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live.'" That's actually great news for Obama. IIRC, Ms. Boo Boo's family management is quite media savvy; I'm sure they don't want to endorse an electoral loser.

* Slogan of the day: Fully Criticize The Romney From a Political, Ideological, and Theoretical Perspective!

Antidote du jour:

Gold and Silver Market morning, October 17, 2012

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Kevin Kerr: Inflation and Precious Metals

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 02:56 AM PDT

Kevin talks about how the US is spiraling into a 3rd world country filled with inflation, loss of personal liberty, government controlled markets and widespread corruption.

from wallstformainst:

Kevin talks extensively about the oil market and agriculture and where he thinks the oil price is heading and why. Kevin also talks extensively about the agriculture sector and why he expects food prices higher. Kevin names the top commodities he tihnks will outperform over the next 12 months and weighs in on China's "hard landing."

Finally, Kevin talks about the precious metals and why he thinks exposure to both are must haves in your p

~TVR

Snip: Where Mexico is Keeping Its Gold

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT

Finally revealed where Mexico is storing it's gold reserves

from jsnip4:

~TVR

Kim: Gold and Silver as Bankers Destroy

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 02:53 AM PDT

My discussion of a recent email I received from the wonderful Patrick Chamusso who sadly informed me of the recent deaths of some of the orphans for whom he cares as well as the recent heavy struggles he has faced due to the bankers' destruction of fiat currencies worldwide. To learn more, please visit us at www.smartknowledgeu.com/books4charity.php. Many blessings to all.

from smartknowledgeu:

~TVR

Silver Update: Calpers Capers 10.16.12

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 02:51 AM PDT

brotherjohnf: Silver Update 10/16/12 Calpers Capers

from brotherjohnf:

~TVR

McAlvany: The Gold Standard

Posted: 17 Oct 2012 02:50 AM PDT

This week David discusses:
Steve Forbes calls for a gold solution to paper currency
Paper currency inflation slowly steals our standard of living
Gold standards of the past: an important history
from mcalvanyfinancial:

~TVR
at

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