RichCash8TradeBlog

How to Join the $10 Idea a Month Club

2012-02-11T13:11:00.001-08:00

Press as often as you like.

We send you one good idea a month per $10 and $1 handling/tax received.

Based on 50 years of successful experience with business growing by word of mouth.

Please note we are no longer licensed and never did give specific financial advice or predictions to the public, strangers or subscribers...

Top 14 Dividend List: One Silver Dollar, with Guarantee

2012-01-14T11:02:00.001-08:00

Aloha All

When is bad news good news?

48% of Americans expect a Great Depression from the Great Debt Bubble bursting within the year, according to a recent CNN poll:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/09/nearly-half-of-americans-fear-depression_n_874406.html

Economics certainly got messed up by politics.

It's a curious thing, but financial markets may be some of the few places, where lower prices with better income and values, are not always recognized or purchased by the stampeding thundering herds.

Any market downdraft with capitulation, the more severe the better, may be a great time to begin to go Far from the Madding Crowd, to buy quality value with income for our family's future.

At least it was in 1974, 1982, 1987, 2002 and 2009.

Some of you know I was obsessed with outperforming the market economy for over a half century with Merrill Lynch, Stanford Capital and Tahoe Estates.

I found funding for a startup that became an Inc 100 #2 grower acquired and taken private for $11.4 Billion in 2007.

I moved to Kauai to hold seminars on this Winter Jubilee Prosperity Season, not a popular subject then or now. I told people to lighten up on Real Estate and Stocks, and frankly, most did not, because they were so hot.

I set up Stockcharts.com Public Charts, Charts with Hearts, that ID'd AAPL at 79, CDE at 36 cents per 1:10 reverse split and SIRI at 6 cents in a few years when most people were selling out.

Some foreign friends set up a website for several years with some pretty profitable financial ideas for free: http://www.jubileeprosperity.com/

I twittered market bottoms and tops on Twitter.com @richcash8

I found most busy people do not pay attention to the ADHD advertised media world, don't believe anything good is free, are not willing to pay well for good advice or sound long-term private equity incentive management. Many are taken in by empty glitter promises.

I make no predictions or promises. I give no advice. I am no longer licensed after a half century in the markets, at the top of my money game, as Adam Smith put it:

http://www.amazon.com/Money-Game-Adam-Smith/dp/0394721039

I emailed two expensive private subscription letters for several years called Big4 (Asset Allocation) and TopTen (Closely-Held), with money-back guarantees, that enjoyed four digit annual portfolio returns for several years running. I told everyone past performance was no guarantee of future results.

Last Spring I made a presentation at TSAA, the oldest Technical Securities and Commodities Analysis Society, in San Francisco:

http://www.tsaasf.org/rich-cash_s-march-19-presentation-big-4-heisenberg-trends_-profiting-smart-

Now, disabled and mostly retired, my loved ones want me to put less time on the internet, more reading the Bible, yet keep coming up with the long-term winners.

The productive Baby Boomer Fall Harvest Jubilee years were good for bonds, real estate and stocks, with a 1716% simple return the 26 years including Dow 776.918 in 1982 to Dow 14,114.53 in 2007.

That was an 11.8% Compound Annual Growth Rate that made most fund and leveraged real estate owners think they were geniuses in the promised land, who would retire monster rich in their McMansions.

In the Boom Bust Depression Rosie Riveter Winter Spring Summer Work World War II Family Formation years, from 1929 to 1982, the Dow 30 went from 381.17 to 776.918, only a 102% return in 54 years.

That was a Compound Annual Growth Rate of only 1.33%.

1.33% did not keep up with the cost of living. 1.33% put millions who did not see it coming or save for a rainy day, out of work, health or home, as hobos in Hoover Towns or kids left by the railroad tracks, river, in orphanages or living under the bridge.

Somehow FDR got credit using Hoover's Bigger Government progressive plans for ending the Great Depression, which lasted half a Jubilee Generation, and got our Grandparents and Parents who lived through it telling us to Be Thrifty and Save our Money.

And now Bankster Corporate Monopoly Government Gangster Debts, Derivatives, Dollars, Spending and Taxing threaten to topple the entire financial food Pyramid.

So which is it now, Laissez le Bon temp rouler (let the good times roll), with gold and silver going up more than seven times in a decade, bad times or something else?

Rather than focus on the negatives of lots of companies, governments and pensions going out of business and not keeping their contracts, my experience is that we make our good fortunes with our best choices.

My high def crystal ball is cloudy and cracked. I never was in the headline media shocking public predictions business. Slow and steady value with reliable growing income wins the race.

All I can say here now is the economy and markets now look like some combination of all three: good, bad and ugly.

So our most important choice continues to depend on being in the right asset allocation mega-trends that may not be popular at the time.

It looks like the recent return to quality dividends, closely-held and growing faster than the cost of living, may be a dominant life-saving theme for some long time.

History does not repeat but it does rhyme, like it did from 1929 to 1982, the last Winter, Spring and Summer Jubilee Season, when dividends and rents paid more than bond coupons and home ownership.

There are any number of stocks that pay dividends.
I was insatiably curious to learn which ones were the best.

Only a few top quality companies increased dividends year after year, with growth in their specialty niches.

To find them, I tapped on half a century of lessons from many mistakes. I invested thousands of hours on the Internet and in the Library to develop an Accumulation List of the 14 Best Long Term Dividend Growers, with total returns targeted over +30%.

Very important, after MF Global, Robosigner, financial bankruptcies and other financial messes: their ownership certificates can be ordered out of accounts for safe-keeping with dividends or reinvested.

http://www.investorplace.com/2012/01/7-largest-bankruptcies-in-us-history-lehman-brothers/view-all/

Here's the simple deal:

The Spanish Silver Dollar Piece of Eight was global and American legal tender for four centuries from 1497 to 1857 for the simple reason that it survived paper usury in holding value:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar

If you send an American Eagle, Maple Leaf or Mexican Libertad Onza Legal Tender Silver Dollar to cover costs, I will send you the complete List, based on over a half century of experience, with this one year money-back guarantee:

If The List returns do not cover the One Silver Dollar cost of the List with a $1000 portfolio of these stocks in a year, I will cheerfully return your money, unlike Wall Street and Washington, DC.

https://online.kitco.com/bullion/completelist_USD.html
(This is not a recommendation of Kitco, but useful information on physical silver.)

Mahalo Regards All...

Rich Cash
POB 1018
Crystal Bay, NV 89402

PS: Feel free to forward this link to family and friends you love:

http://richcash8tradeblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-14-dividend-list-one-silver-dollar.html

Our Last Trade Blog Post Unless/Until We Receive Tithe Donations

2012-01-03T06:18:00.001-08:00

Market looks up to make a scary top.

Crude and Gold are up and Volatility may have hit bottom with the ultimatum from US re returning the Predator Drone and the ultimatum from Iran re the John Stennis Aircraft Carrier Battle Group not returning to the Persian Gulf.

SSGN escort subs fire Tomahawks and seem to be ignoring the warning, possibly backed up by China and Russia Armed Defense Agreements with Iran.

Things could get very interesting really fast...

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=vxx

http://www.jeffhead.com/USNReserveBremerton/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/03/pentagon-officials-dismiss-iranian-warning-against-us-carrier-in-gulf/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_C._Stennis_%28CVN-74%29

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/iran-threatens-retaliation-if-us-carrier-returns-persian-gulf-where-5th-navy-stationed

Sincerely,

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Silver Senator@hushmail.com

2 Cor 9:6-7 (NIV) Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

http://99ercharts.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year.html

Foolish Nobel Laureates Speak Loudly?

2012-01-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Having received a Nobel Prize does not guarantee wisdom in all things.

Nowhere is this more evident than with President Obama's Nobel Peace prize before invading Iran, Libya, Pakistan and Syria, or Paul Krugman's Nobel Economics Prize, repeatedly claiming Government can borrow, regulate, spend and tax US back to jobs and prosperity:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Only PhD's swallowing government monopoly media headlines and sound bites may believe it.

If this were so, would not the last three years of record Obamanation borrowing, red tape bans on energy drilling, "investing" in Solyndra Solar Energy and Windpower plus 0Care tax hikes cutting healthcare have proved it?

Instead, we see 12% real inflation, 23% real unemployment, -3% Economic Growth, and the weakest dollar in 26 years:

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data

Anyone who believes monopoly media claims giving a free pass on Federal Reserve, Government, Treasury and MF Global Wall Street wealth confiscation and outright theft is likely to have their last savings stolen unless they get out of dollars and dollar cost average into Constitutional legal tender American Eagle Silver dollars as the present economic monetary contraction and JPM Chase naked silver shorts try to regain control of cascading Dollars and Treasuries.:

http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/4151

For the historical record, Rothschild Agent illegitimate Alexander Hamilton, founder of Bank of New York and New York Post, Lawyer Treasury Secretary, redeemed worthless Continental Paper bought up at pennies on the dollar by his wealthy clients and redeemed with American Silver specie raised by the Whiskey Tax, without paying Revolutionary War Soldiers foreclosed and put into debtor's prison. This caused Two American Rebellions, put down by Federal Troops under General and President Washington's command. The tax and refusal to take care of War Vets led to the killing of Hamilton in a duel, and the formation of the Democratic Republican opposition party that brought Madison and Jefferson to the Presidency to repeal the tax and free vets from prison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shays'_Rebellion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_Rebellion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton

Similar happened in the War of 1812 and Civil War, when European Bankers tried to collect Revolutionary War Debts. Lincoln bypassed bankers who wanted 24 to 36% usury to finance the Civil War. His Treasury issued 0% silver species backed Demand Notes and 3% Greenbacks. They were redeemed by Nevada Comstock Lode Silver and Treasury paper, and eventually phased out by Fiat Federal Reserve Notes, when Nixon closed the Gold Window in August 1871. The Comstock Lode drew Mark Twain and spawned the fortunes of George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, Congressman, Harvard dropout, patron of UC Berkeley, newspaper magnate, founder of Hearst Castle, and William Morris Stewart, Yale dropout and the Silver Senator Independent of the Civil War:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Lode

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morris_Stewart

For Lincoln's, and later JFK's Constitutional integrity in bypassing the private Central Bank or Federal Reserve, they were reportedly assassinated by Plots involving more than the lone gunmen. Eight accomplices were found guilty of Lincoln's assassination. Four were hung, with one pardoned by Southern President Andrew Johnson. The House Select Committee on Assassinations found the lone gunman Warren Commission theory seriously flawed and called the JFK assassination a conspiracy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy

http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/bush.htm

http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/index1.htm

Let us conclude by citing a Nobel Laureate in Economics whose very conclusion violates his premise:

Britain, in particular, has had debt exceeding 100 percent of G.D.P. for 81 of the last 170 years. When Keynes was writing about the need to spend your way out of a depression, Britain was deeper in debt than any advanced nation today, with the exception of Japan.

To cite Britain and Japan and their debt derivative deficit policies as examples of economic success is merely preposterous...

Options Suggest We May Be Closer to the Stock Market Top than Bottom

2012-01-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

We learned in our half century of instructive market experience that Amateurs and John Q Public like to buy the Open on Mondays, the first trading day of the Week, Month, Quarter and Year, when they are confident after the market has already risen.

Then they watch the price go below where they bought and decide it's a rigged game.

Algobots, Professionals and Smart Money Insiders like to buy bottoms/dips and sell rips/tops to harvest the market crop/herd.

Pro's profit from their own emotions by buying when they are afraid and selling when they are greedy.

This is sometimes called contrary opinion investing.
It is really buying value low at wholesale prices and holding/selling it high at retail prices.

Guess who makes more money over the long term?

We prefer to trade long term with Insider Smart Mind Market Money Trends like Big4.

Big4 positions are often contrary to conventional wisdom at the time.

http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/index.htm

Currently Big4 are long Cattle, Cocoa, Coffee, Corn, Cotton, Hogs, Milk, Sugar and Wheat.

A proxy for these is DBA, currently targeting +107%:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=dba

http://dbfunds.db.com/Dba/Pdfs/DBA_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Big4 are also long Brent, Crude, Electricity, Heating Oil Options and Natural Gas.

XOM, which just got a $908 M award for Cancerous Hugo Chavez Venezuelan Expropriation, is currently targeting +27% and has free automatic investment dollar-cost averaging plans:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=xom

http://www.ocala.com/article/20120101/API/1201011003

http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/

https://www-us.computershare.com/investor/plans/planslist.asp?planid=312&state=eStateDisplayPlanSummary

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dollarcostaveraging.asp#axzz1iGXPRCBN

Big4 are currently long Lumber and Palladium, currently targeting +40%:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=pall

http://www.etfsecurities.com/us/document/downloads/ETFS_Fact_Sheet_Physical_Palladium_us.pdf

Big4 are currently long Treasury Bonds and Notes, with the 10-Year currently targeting +14%:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?$UST

Big4 are currently long Euros Francs, Kiwi, Pesos, Pounds, Rubles and Yen, currently targeting +9%:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?FXY

http://www.currencyshares.com/content/pdf/FXY_factsheet.pdf

Big4 are currently long EFA, NDX/QQQ, Nikkei Yen, RUT, SPX, with EFA currently targeting +52%:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?efa

http://us.ishares.com/content/stream.jsp?url=/content/en_us/repository/resource/fact_sheet/efa.pdf

We like to confirm our Big4 Trend entries with the Point and Figure Chart Targets used by Professionals.

We like to time our entries with (GTC) Good Til Canceled Trailing Buy Stops above the market to enter on dips and reversals, and GTC Trailing Sell Stops below the market to exit on rally reversals.

While buying above the market and selling below the market may seem counter-intuitive to most, it is why a few make most of the money in the markets.

The main driver of Mind, Money and Markets is not rationality, but sentiment, strong feelings.

Although we prefer the Opening ISEE ISE.com Call to Put sentiment ratios because they provide intraday numbers, we can also see what we need to know with the more widely used $CPC, $CPCE and $CPCI ratios in relation to option volatility premiums.

When volatility is low, smart money buys options, and when volatility is high, smart money sells options.

Right now Volatility is 68% above its lows of 7 July 2011 when the market topped on a three day holiday weekend:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=vxx

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=spx

http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=126

We can see the CPC, CPCE and CPCI to SPX charts showed us the March 2009 and August 2011 bottoms:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24spx%3A%24cpc

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?%24spx%3A%24cpce

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24spx%3A%24CPCI

These, and all three categories of ISEE, All, Equity and Indices/ETF, suggest we are closer to the top than the bottom in the stock market.

Therefore, we are keeping our Trailing Stops in place for protection and using market strength to lighten up.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?%24SPX

As we did not receive any donation tithes in 2011 and don't want to waste anyone's precious money or time, this may be our last Trade Blog Post.

We will be concentrating on the $10 M US Mint Silver Eagle Exchange in 2012, plus a few family and friend matters in 2012.

Gong Hei Fard Choy...

Sincerely,

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Sci Fi or Faction?

2011-12-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

Dec. 28, 2011

The ongoing global financial war is reaching its final stages. Multiple reliable sources in three continents are all now reporting that a major breakthrough in the financial logjam is imminent.We can confirm from our own sources (including MI6 and Japanese military intelligence) that a large delegation descended on Washington last week and read the riot act to the Washington D.C. establishment. They have been informed the Federal Reserve Board must be shut down immediately and the new financial system must be implemented or else the United States would be totally cut off from the world. The military is also close to open revolt with more than half of the military supporting a total clean up of Washington D.C., according to a CIA source. The Washington establishment therefore faces a choice between stepping aside and facing a truth commission or else arrest, civil war,chaos and eventual death for all members of the ruling cabal. We believe that sane minds will prevail in such a situation and that a peaceful resolution is imminent. However, it is not over until it is over.

Last week the Chinese were on the verge of helping the US government kill the supporters of the new financial system in Washington until the Japanese government intervened to provide protection. There were then discussions with the Chinese where they were given an explanation of the inner workings of the international financial system. They were also made an offer.

What was told to them was that over 90% of the dollars ever created were not owned by Americans. The people who own those dollars do not want them to become worthless paper when the Federal Reserve Board implodes. Instead, all dollars earned through honest work (i.e. not through derivates and other types of fraud) would be backed by gold. These gold backed dollars would then be renamed. The Chinese want to call it the Renminbi. The Rothschilds want to call it the Hong Kong dollar. Our proposal is to call it the Hong Kong yen (pronounced yuan in Chinese). Many details will have to be worked out by experts. However, it is certain that never again will it be possible for private individuals to manipulate the world through the creation of money. The Chinese insist the creation of new money should be a job run by the government and this was agreed to by the concerned parties.

A high powered Japanese government delegation will be going to the Philippines towards the end of the year to deliver Chinese gold taken there in the 1930’s to China to be used for the purposes of backing up their dollar holdings. The Japanese delegation, led by the Japanese government& rsquo;s number two man, Hajime Ishii will also be given presentations about suppressed technology.

I will also be going there to give them some ideas about a new structure of global governance.

The Chinese want to move the UN headquarters to Laos because it is the site of some of the most ancient and pristine Asian culture. This seems like a nice idea. Of course the UN is now an extremely dysfunctional organization and will have to be totally revamped. It now serves as a global control mechanism for the victors of World War 2. This will be fundamentally changed.

In addition, the functions of the World Bank will be moved to China, probably to Hong Kong. All current World Bank employees will have their

track records examined and only those who have contributed positively to the planet will be re-employed.

The IMF will be disbanded because it has only caused misery and poverty throughout the world. It has functioned mainly to steal resources and property from the people of the world. In its place the Japanese will set up a new institution that will function to ensure the safety and stability of the global financial system. Hopefully it will be headquartered in Osaka.

All of these institutions will be set up as meritocracies. Anybody will be allowed to take the exam to join them. In addition, there will no longer be places at the top reserved for people of specific ethnic backgrounds.

The new organizations will all be very busy because the entire commercial structure of the planet will be changed. The industries that are expected to vanish or shrink dramatically include: petroleum, war, nuclear power and pharmaceuticals and automobiles. Companies in these industries will need substantial help to transform themselves. The petroleum industry, for example, could be changed into a geo-engineering industry. The armaments folk will move into space exploration. The automobile industry will start to manufacture scooters. The transformation of all the obsolete industries needs to be carried out in a manner that causes as little social disruption and dislocation as possible.

In addition all countries will have to agree to submit to the international court of Justice. Disputes between countries should be settled through negotiations or else in court.

However, it might be possible for countries to also agree to settle disputes through ritual warfare. They could, for example, each send 10 of their best martial artists to a desert island to duel it out but no killing will be allowed. The winning country will then get a more advantageous settlement of whatever the dispute was.

In any case, humanity is about to be freed from the grips of a horrific cult that has killed hundreds of millions of people over the years. Most of the 800 US military bases world-wide may well be shut down. The US military will have to be transformed into an entirely different organization dedicated to planetary defense and big projects for humanity.

We are headed for an unprecedented historical transformation. Hang on to your hats.

Benjamin Fulford

The 1929 Global Crash Repeats?

2011-12-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

Seeing the Big Picture requires an open mind with patience:

Synodic returns are planets that repeat historical transit cycles as they transverse the Zodiac. By tropical means, we focus on the global economy with the 83-year synodic return of a major business planet - Jupiter.

Jupiter’s Synodic Return In Gemini

Banks, The Federal Reserve & The Global Economy:

Is There A Banking Crash Ahead In 2012?

Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.S

Mundane Astrology is the most ancient and most serious of the forecasting sciences.

Those who are astrologers see events remote from the popular and common view of people - by means of the configurations of the planets and the stars relative to Earth.

To make sense of trends, most conventional forecasters tend to predict from what they believe may occur while astrologers forecast based on what they know the inclinations of the planets will bring.

Now, know that the year 2012 will be a year of 'gloom and doom,' with the expected 'end of the world' from grave misunderstandings of the Mayan Long Count Calendar.

The galactic alignment of our Sun in the Milk Way Galaxy on December 21, 2012 is depicted below.

What is being missed is the fact that what 2012 really amounts to are the inclinations of the Venus Transit and synodic return of Jupiter - both in tropical Gemini.

Mayan astrologers were experts on Venus Transits - this is what the Mayan Calendar is all about. More on Venus and the implications of the 2012 transit in this edition of Global Astrology.

Back in the early 1980s, while in my late teens, I studied the history of the Great Depression by means of in-depth astrological analysis. My teacher, Charles Jayne, was well-versed on economics and Wall Street and he encouraged me to remember how cyclical world transits work - as the planets repeat themselves - with planetary tweaks in future configurations from those of the past.

To understand how my mind works as a mundane astrologer: know this - Part of what you experience and know as the Present is comprised partially of the history of the Past.

Also know that the future is the pasts' present.

What always is - was, and shall always be - is the Ever-Present.

Anyhow, I came to my conclusion that by the end of the decade of the 2000s, we would see the start of a world economic crisis that would lead to a global banking crash in the early Twenty-Tens.

Few believed me because they were not seeing things remote from their own present experience - that which occurred in the recent past.

In my mundane analysis, I continue to state that next year - 2012 - many huge banks will run out of ways to hide the fact that they have been insolvent for years.

This insolvency was directly caused by the corrupt and criminal activity within many banks, on Wall Street, and within corporations and bribed politicians in governments - all without the consent of the People.

It has been exacerbated greatly by the acts of Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve and global central bankers. The problems of corruption of the dying oligarchy and establishment has effectively brought the world on the cusp of an economic disaster.

This will become more apparent in 2012. I have already seen the economic crash and it is not a pretty sight. It is not something I ever wanted to see, but as a mundane astrologer, I tell it as I see it, just as the George Carlin once did.

The fear of the establishment - the fear of everything, especially aging that has enveloped the world like a stink of a huge landfill will have led to the fall of their generation into the annals of history as the 'worst generation' to ever grace the surface of the Earth.

We could still avoid the coming crash, but this generation refuses to admit that they screwed up - royally - and so, the baby boomers and their dying oligarch parents seem intent on not taking their financial haircuts since they continue to feel entitled to what does not belong to them.

According to my calculations, we are, here in 2011, by means of the outer planets and the synodic return of Jupiter, now in the economic year 1928.

The year 2012 will be likened to that of the year of 1929, generally accepted as being the year of the banking collapse that ultimately gave way to the crash of global markets that set into motion the Great Depression.

Just as the former hippies did in the late 1960s and 1970s, when they turned on one another, ‘snitching’ and ‘ratting out’ their ‘friends,’ now we observe establishment baby boomers repeating their behavior:

“Finally - after trillions in fraudulent activity, trillions in bailouts, trillions in printed money, billions in political bribing and billions in bonuses, the criminal cartel members on Wall Street are beginning to get what they deserve," says journalist David DeGraw.

"As the Eurozone is coming apart at the seams, and as the U.S. economy grinds to a halt, the financial elite are starting to turn on each other. The lawsuits are piling up fast. Here’s an extensive roundup:”

See -> Full-Blown Civil War Erupts On Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits The Financial Elite, They Start Turning On Each Other.

So I will remind anyone who wants to invest in the markets to keep their assets safe from the oligarchy and boomer thieves and criminals who continue to rip off global society at large.

Secrets Of The Federal Reserve's $1.2+ Trillion Bailout?

Bloomberg reported in August 2011 that the Wall Street Bank Aristocracy got an estimated $1.2+ Trillion of public money (some say $9 Trillion ) - in secret loans - from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Where did these massive assets go?

We can examine all this by means of Jupiter’s motion as it declines in the tropical constellation of Taurus beginning with its retrograde at 10-degrees Taurus on Aug. 30, 2011.

The influence of Jupiter in Taurus can be seen in the world news of banking - which is at the center of the global economic crisis. We've already seen how revelations out of the Federal Reserve showed that in the wake of the 2007-08 Bank Crisis that 1.2 Trillion was given out to global banks.

One commenter said: "Bloomberg is to be congratulated for digging into this and providing an interactive database to help understand the magnitude of what the Fed has been doing, in secret.

Frankly the data is chilling. Now the banks have all the money but won't lend it and they want to keep the housing assets rather than work with the homeowners? All the while homes are foreclosed on, fall into deterioration and families are on the street. Bonuses all around! Shameful!"

See Inactive Database -> The Federal Reserve's Secret Pay-Out List

Zerohedge.com says,

"While Bloomberg has done a tremendous job of digging through 29,346 pages of FOIA data, its discovery is not at all surprising: that Wall Street's (not to mention the rest of the world's) biggest banks received a total of $1.2 trillion in previously secret Fed loans, in addition to the trillions in public backstops and loans from the US Treasury.

As a reminder, 'denominated in $1 bills, the $1.2 trillion would fill 539 Olympic-size swimming pools.'

The best summary of this ongoing collusion between the Fed and Wall Street, in which it once again for the nth time becomes clear that all the Fed cars about is making sure its banking masters are never impaired, is from the article itself:

'Even as the firms asserted in news releases or earnings calls that they had ample cash, they drew Fed funding in secret - avoiding the stigma of weakness.'

And there you have it: everything that come out of Wall Street is and has always been a lie.

Either courtesy of 30 years of great interest rate moderation, in which only cheap money adds to banks' top and bottom lines, or due to the Fed making sure the same banks never suffer a dollar loss when central planning fails, such as it does increasingly often lately (and forget about 10(b)-5 violation charges coming from the corrupt regulators: after all they are all in bed together).

That Morgan Stanley, Dexia and Citi are, and have been since 2008, dead men walking, is by now known to all financially literate readers: additional confirmation can be found in the Bloomberg article, which we won't paraphrase because it has all been said over and over.

That said, Bloomberg has done a great visual interactive chart summary of who got what, when, how much, over peak and average metrics and so forth.

We urge readers to play around with it (don't worry, it won't break the banks; and if it does the Fed will secretly bail them out again) and every time they consider putting money into our 'solvent' financial system."

Taurus is one of the financial and money signs of the Zodiac, and with Jupiter placed here, we can see the influence of Jupiter's trine to Pluto in Capricorn - continuing worries over the health of global banks.

This has led to talks of bank mergers. As Jupiter remains in Taurus we can expect to hear of all manner of banking news that will predominate during Jupiter's transit in Taurus into 2012.

For instance, just as Jupiter stations to retrograde in Taurus on August 30, 2011, U.S. stocks rose two-percent in a broad rally Aug. 29 with the sudden announcement of a merger between two large Greek banks.

Financial stocks appeared to be top gainers after the Greek banks Alpha and EFG Eurobank reported they sealed a merger deal with help from Qatar.

Five days earlier, on August 24, 2011, Greece was forced to activate an obscure emergency fund for its banks because they were running short of collateral acceptable to the European Central Bank.

Meanwhile, in Europe, officials struggle against what are increasing pressures on the European Union as a whole.

Just before Jupiter stationed retrograde on August 30, 2011, as news of the Greek bank merger was announced, European officials meeting in Madrid, Spain were said to defend the health of Europe's financial system in an effort to stem concerns that the European Union's stagnant economy - with high levels of debt - may cause some of its largest banks to fail.

The comments out of Europe came amid evidence of an economic slowdown that threatens to knock Europe’s crisis response further off course and spark a new round of world economic turbulence.

In what amounted to separate statements European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and his EU counterpart European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that banks within the 17-nation Euro currency zone have been steadily raising the amount of capital set aside as a "cushion against losses" and will not face the sort of cash crunch that helped trigger the recession in 2008.

Their remarks appeared to be a surprising rebuff to the new head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. She warned in late August 2011 that the weaknesses in European banks posed a key risk to the economy.

She spoke at the annual late summer Jackson Hole, Wyoming conference of central bankers and economists, where Lagarde, the former French Finance Minister, said European banks needed “urgent recapitalization.”

She also said that the European Union's financial system had to prove it could withstand the impact of an economic slowdown and possible losses arising from investments in the government bonds of heavily indebted nations.

This dispute among prominent European officials is typical of world transits. It reflects a deep divide over successful solutions to Europe’s problems.

Despite these calls - including those from the Obama Administration - for more "dramatic action," Europe’s unwieldy politics seem to have led to shaky sidestepping which has yet to allay concerns that Europe's monetary union is falling apart.

So, once again, at a August 29, 2011 meeting of the European parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee - both Trichet and Rehn offered more reassurance about the health of the banks.

Trichet said that the European Central Bank (ECB) has "guaranteed open-ended lending" to any European bank that needs cash, thus removing any liquidity threats to the firms or the wider economy.

“There cannot be a liquidity problem for the European banking system,” he said, noting that there are about $700 billion in loans that are outstanding from the ECB. Trichet added that there is a further willingness to lend whatever banks need.”

All governments, in Europe in particular, are trying to cope with a situation which is obviously difficult," he said.

"We are experiencing an episode in the history of the world which is very very special. It is the gravest financial crisis, economic crisis, since World War II, so it is something which is big.

It is big in Europe, it is big in the U.S., big in Japan, big in the rest of the world," Trichet said.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet

"And, of course we have to improve the situation. We have to draw all the consequences from this crisis, in all domains, including of course the financial markets and financial sector domain, where a lot of reform has to be implemented very rigorously. In Europe in particular, then we have the problem of improving our governance," he said.

Over the summer of 2011, I have been following astrologically the moves of the European Central Bank and financial situation in Europe because by my calculations - this is where the last global banking crisis set off the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In recent weeks, the ECB has been purchasing large sums of government bonds issued by Italy and Spain to help keep down their borrowing costs.

You see, interest rate on bonds tends to decline as demand increases, so in late August 2011 Europe's central bank increased its holdings of government bonds by another $7 billion.

This is what happened in the United States, when banks in Europe were also hard hit by the 2007-08 banking crisis that began the global recession. But sectors of the world's financial industry went through major reorganization - however in Europe this process is not as far along as in the U.S.

Transits continue to show that the consolidation of Europe’s banking sector is wholly incomplete. I expect to hear of more banks being shuttered with bank mergers more likely - just like the one we just witnessed take place in Greece. Yet, the clock is ticking on Greece's default which is sure to come.

With world economic growth at a stall, we can see by the configurations of the planets - especially that of Jupiter in Taurus - that there are ever-mounting fears that struggling nations like Greece, Spain and Italy along with other indebted nations - and their banks - could easily miss financial targets to reduce their sovereign debt.

Moreover, the banks of EU nations, such as France and Germany, are in serious trouble as well. Like dominoes, a banking scenario eerily similar to the events of 1928 and 1929 are coming more and more into view.

This banking corruption that led to insolvency along with the sovereign debt crises further undermines the confidence of global investors - who are already demanding higher interest rates and greater amounts of collateral in return for lending.

The wealthy skip to and fro - round the world - seeking safe havens for their money and assets. Soon, there will be fewer and fewer places left to go.

Peter said, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money!" - Acts 8:20

See -> Secretive Central Bank: The Federal Reserve

The four-month Jupiter retrograde signifies a time to go over what amounts to the wider economic crisis that continues to be inflicted on the world. This retrograde of Jupiter provides time to go over projects that appeared to have failed or were stalled since late January 2011.

During the four-month retrograde of Jupiter, the planet will slide from 10-Taurus to 0-Taurus. Look to go over the apparent failures that have been abandoned to see if the ideas or projects can be revived as there are sure to be uncovered assets that were overlooked.

Times will continue to change the closer the year we get to 2012; so it is important to utilize Jupiter’s retrograde in Taurus to set goals and objectives - to make the best use of Jupiter’s configurations during its retrograde motion.

Jupiter’s retrograde gives the ability to adjust and save that which may have been ‘delayed’ or ‘lost’ prior to January 2011. The retrograde from late August 2011 to Christmas Day 2011 allows for recoveries to take place that can be of benefit by the time mid-March 2012 rolls around.

It is wise to apply the time from September 2011 to March/April 2012 in this way so as to make up for lost time and resources before the new astrological year of 2012.

Jupiter’s activity by configuration will bring the giant planet in conjunction with Earth in the last week of October 2011. These conjunctions of Earth-Jupiter can allow for significant progress to be made in advance of the new astrological year that will arrive by mid-March 2012.

I continue to warn anyone who will listen to prepare for a major crash of markets in 2012. The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, along with insolvent and hoarding banks, will grind economies into ever deeper levels of austerity and recession.

Expect lots of name-calling among central bankers, policymakers and the like as fingers point in every direction to cast blame.

But, the truth is that most of them are to blame because not only were they all corrupted - but stupid at that.

Mathematics cares nothing for ideology, nor for opinion. You can cheat, fudge and change figures all you want.

You can print up trillions in fiat dollars out of thin air all you desire. You can delay, debate, point fingers and procrastinate by 'kicking the can down the road' all you want...

"But those who would be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and follow after Righteousness, Godliness, Faith, Love, Patience, Meekness.

For the love of money is the root of all evil; and while some have coveted after it - they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." - 1 Timothy 6: 9-12

When you start messing around with those facts - then you are in big trouble.

Planetary transits, especially by means of the synodic cycle of Jupiter, clearly confirms that in the year 2012, the world will have entered into the midst of a new - and greater - global economic depression.

That is my mundane forecast.

Prepare yourselves accordingly.

Uranus Retrograde in Aries
Square
Pluto in Capricorn

Uranus stationed retrograde on July 10, 2011 at 4-degrees tropical Aries and will remain retrograde until December 10, 2011, when it stations direct at 0-Aries.

The maverick planet Uranus continues its retrograde motion in tropical Aries where it will reach the 0-degree Vernal Aries Point by November 11, 2011.

The permutations of Uranus so close to the vernal Aries point indicates a need to be cautious when it comes to increased seismic activity and volcanic eruptions due to the sensitivity of the 0-degree Aries degree on the ecliptic of the Earth.

Uranus and Pluto will conduct their first official series of world squares to one another in 2012 with seven exact partiles stretching to the year 2015.

This has been covered before on Global Astrology, as the world implications are those of major transition and change from the outworn conditions and structures of the 20th century’s plutocracy against the rising new generations of this early 21st century.

The best way to ease out of any Uranus-Pluto Square is to simply admit that times are changing and to make the transition without appeals to outworn methodologies of aged generations.

What is astounding about the Baby Boomer generation as establishment is that despite all their previous experience taking on the Establishment of the 1960s and 1970s, they failed to learn the lessons of their era.

This generation that associated itself with 'youth' and 'love' and 'peace' has turned into a generation of old people more concerned with entitlements, refusal to admit that times have changed.

It is a new century. They have become rigidly conservative, hegemonic and dismissive of others with numerous examples of failing to lead and manage properly during their time as the establishment.

The series of Uranus-Pluto world squares will dramatically change all of that.

Signs of things to come in the Twenty-Tens have been outlined in my 2010 editions of Global Astrology. We've examined the Uranus-Pluto world squares. The coming world transits of Mars, Saturn and Neptune confirm this. We've also looked at Jupiter's synodic return. Now let's take a look at the Venus Transit of 2012.

The Cardinal Crisis

The Venus Transit Of 2012
*Mundane Pandemic Forecast*

A Venus Transit Across The Face Of The Sun

Mundane Forecast
By
Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.S

As Mars transits Virgo, it is important to note matters of public health prior to the Venus Transit of 2012. It is my advice for people to continue to strengthen and build their immunity to disease with proper diets and health precautions going into the year 2012, due to the configurations of the planets relative to Earth.

The planet Venus recently shifted to ‘evening star’ phase in mid-August 2011. This means that the planet will set after the Sun for ten (10) months to the time of its ‘morning star’ phase in June 2012.

The coming Venus Transit across the face of the Sun will occur on June 5-6, 2012 and will be observed throughout most of the world.

Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are considered to be some of the rarest of planetary alignments. Only six (6) transit events have occurred since the modern invention of the telescope. Those years were 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882. The last Venus Transit occurred in June 2004.

The global visibility of the Venus 2012 Transit is illustrated in the world map below.

click on graphic to enlarge

The entire transit is visible from northwestern North America, Hawaii, the western Pacific, northern Asia, Japan, Korea, eastern China, Philippines, eastern Australia, and New Zealand.

The Sun will set as the Venus transit is still in progress from most of North America, the Caribbean, and northwest South America. The transit will already be in progress at sunrise for observers in central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and eastern Africa.

No portion of the transit will be visible from Portugal or southern Spain, western Africa, as well as the southeastern two-thirds of South America.

The horizontal parallax of Venus (~30 arc-sec) has a topocentric correction of up to ±7 minutes with respect to the geocentric times for observers located at different geographic locations.

The principal events occurring during a transit are characterized by these contacts. The event begins with contact that is the instant as soon as the Venus' disk is externally tangent with the Sun.

The entire disk of the Venus is first seen at contact II when the planet is internally tangent with the Sun.

The Venus Transit across the Sun's southern hemisphere in June 2004

During the next several hours, Venus gradually traverses the Sun's disk at a relative angular rate of approximately 4 arc-min/hr. At the third contact, Venus reaches the opposite limb and is once again internally tangent with the Sun.

The Venus transit ends at contact four when the planet's limb is externally tangent to the Sun. Contacts 1 and 2 define the phase called 'ingress' while contacts three and four are known as ‘egress.’

Greatest transit is the instant of minimum angular separation between Venus and the Sun as seen from Earth's geo-center.

Click on graphic to see pentagonal motion of Venus to Earth
graphic: Nick Anthony Fiorenza

The June 2004 Venus Transit crossed the Sun's southern hemisphere. In June 2012, Venus will cross the Sun’s northern hemisphere. The position of Venus at each contact is shown along with its path as a function of Universal Time.

The 2012 transit lasts over six (6) hours.

The apparent semi-diameters of Venus and the Sun are 29 arc-seconds and 945 arc-seconds respectively. The 1:32.6 diameter ratio will result in an effective 0.001 magnitude drop in the Sun's integrated magnitude due to the transit.

click on graphic to enlarge

graphic: Nick Anthony Fiorenza

Transits of Venus are only possible during two months - that of early December and early June - when Venus' orbital nodes pass across the face of the Sun. Should Venus reach inferior conjunction at this time - a transit will occur.

Venus Transits show a clear pattern of recurrence at intervals of 8, 121.5, eight and 105.5 years.

The astronomer Edmund Halley first realized that transits of Venus could be used to measure the Sun's distance. This set the absolute scale of the physics of our solar system established by mundane astrologer Johannes Kepler's third astronomic law.

Pandemics On Earth Spawned By Venus Transits?

Image: ESA Animation by C. Carreau

Interactions between Venus and the solar wind is depicted in the image above.

The planets Mars, Earth and Venus are immersed in a flow of plasma - ionized and highly variable gas that originates from the Sun - called the solar wind.

While the Earth has a strong magnetic field, that can deviate the flow of solar winds, the planets Venus and Mars are assumed to have very weak fields, if any at all. Gases in their upper atmospheres are ionized and so interact with the solar wind.

Venus is nearly as large as the Earth; however it is assumed that it is difficult for Venus' atmosphere to escape due to the planet's gravity

The solar wind is the best source of energy to accelerate an upper atmosphere's charged particles. This gives them enough energy to escape. This is why Venus loses its atmosphere by means of the solar wind.

Venus transits are significant in Astrology. It is the basis of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. This particular Venus Transit in Gemini - in my mundane analysis - are associated with the quality of the air that mixes with the Earth's climate and weather - affecting the public health of many nations.

click on graphic to enlarge

graphic: Nick Anthony Fiorenza

It is my forecast that there is a strong potential of air-borne sicknesses ahead in 2012 which stem from the fact that Venus’ tail stretches long enough to touch that of the Earth.

Venus has an ion-packed tail 45 million km (28 million miles) in length that stretches away from the Sun. Venus’ tail contains about 2.3 Megawebers of flux, much of which closes across the tail.

The J×B force associated with this cross tail accelerates Venus’ tail plasma down the tail, causing an ion loss rate of about 1026 ions per second.

The Venus tail does respond to solar activity and contains significantly less magnetic flux at solar minimum. It is caused by bombardment of ions in Venus's upper atmosphere by the solar wind.

This was first discovered in the late 1970s, but it was not until 1997 that the Solar Heliospheric Observatory revealed its immense length.

The plasma sheath of Venus is extremely long. It almost touches the Earth when both planets are at closest approach. Jupiter's plasma sheath, for instance, has the same kind of relationship with the planet Saturn.

NASA discovered what they call 'stringy things' in this long plasma tail of Venus. The twisted, string filaments follow exactly the paths of what are known as ‘Birkeland Currents’ that we observe in plasmas.

The space that surrounds our Sun, its corona and into outer space is a plasma. Nearly all of space is filled by plasma – much of that is called the 'dark current mode.'

The planets and their moons all carry an electric charge as they travel through this plasma. The plasma sea which our solar system floats extends out to what is called the Heliopause – this is a double layer that separates our Sun's plasma from the lower voltage plasma that fills our singular arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The arms of our Milky Way Galaxy

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME's) are charged particles that are thrown outward from the Sun.

These flows constitute powerful electrical currents. And they form Birkeland Currents that take in plasmas as they twist out.

Apparently, Venus is also known to discharge an electrical current. The plasma tails of all the planets currently are in dark modes of operation, but ancient astrologers reported that Venus was once observed to have a fiery tail of glowing 'twisted hair.’

It could have been that Venus 'plasma tail was then in a normal glow or even an arc mode of operation that could be seen with the naked eye from Earth.

Consider for a moment what the shape of Venus' plasma tail would look like if it were visible. The diameter of the Venus' plasma sheath is about two or three times the planet's diameter - about 20,000 miles.

But the distance from Venus to Earth during their closest approaches is 26 million miles. So Venus’ tail is approximately a thousand times as long as it is broad at its thickest point.

That is a very long, thin, twisting snake-like shape. If, at some time in the past, this plasma tail were in the normal glow mode, it would have been clearly visible from Earth.

An interesting study in the realm of Astrobiology, a subset of mundane astrology, reveals that Venus’ tail of ions could carry microbes from the planet to Earth.

Consider this: Donald Barber of the Norman Lockyer Observatory in the United Kingdom described a peculiar sequence of air-borne/rain-water-borne yeast-like bacteria found on astronomic photographic plate emulsions at a British observatory from 1937 to 1961.

An underlying periodicity of these events appears to have had a significant positive correlation with the occurrences of inferior conjunctions of Venus with the Sun.

Compared to Earth, the planet Venus has a negligible magnetic field. That means that the solar wind can disturb its atmosphere and easily blow away fractions of Venus’ upper atmosphere - including airborne particulate matter in comet-like fashion.

Barber said: "An American suggestion that the virus responsible for endemic influenza emanated from the planet Venus, led to a fresh examination of the 1937/1948 Sidmouth data, and also to a search among the large collection of spectrograms obtained at Sidmouth prior to 1937 for earlier evidence of bacterial attack.

As a result of the latter, two earlier outbreaks - one probable event in 1930 - and a second well-determined occasion in 1932 - were discovered."

Barber confirmed that onsets of six (6) confirmed major microbial invasions occurred, on average, 55 days following strong geomagnetic storms nearest to the inferior conjunctions of Venus with the Sun.

The shortest interval between geomagnetic storm and outbreak was 35 days and the longest was 67 days. Seasonal effects of weather appeared to play an auxiliary role as to whether or not an invasion occurred. Invasion onsets seemed to occur only during the of months May through July.

Barber speculated that the bacteria responsible for repeated photographic damage events were transported from the upper atmosphere of Venus by solar wind to Earth's polar regions and, in Lockyer’s case, from the northern polar region to England by means of northwesterly winds. It reached the ground by rainwater.

The Lockyer, England events were bacterial in nature. What's interesting to note is that in the year 1918 an inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun occurred February 9, 1918 in tropical Aquarius.

The first reported case of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic in the United States, at Camp Funston, Kansas occurred a month later.

This early onset of the Influenza pandemic spread across the United States with a description written by Cassandra Vivian of Pennsylvania -

"At Camp Funston, Kansas, the first case of this flu was reported on March 11, 1918. By noon, 107 cases were reported at the same camp and two days later 522 cases were reported. This fast moving, airborne disease was in every state of the union within seven days."

According to history, the 1918 Influenza Pandemic originated in Haskell County, Kansas, in January-February 1918. It was assumed to be carried from there to Camp Funston by army recruits along with their family members and friends.

How the new disease came to appear in Haskell County was not reported, but researchers stressed that they found no evidence to suggest any other point of origin.

The Greek mundane astrologer, known as the 'father of medicine,' Hippocrates, was the first person on earth to describe Influenza in the year 412 BCE.

Other versions of where and when the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic originated did mention Asia in the year 1917. Another report said the disease was brought to the U.S. by returning servicemen from Europe in the autumn of 1918.

The global outbreak killed an estimated 20-50 million people.

In the late spring of 1918, the Spanish wire service Agencia Fabra sent cable messages to Reuters that reported -

“A strange form of disease of epidemic character in Madrid… The epidemic is of a mild nature, no deaths having been reported yet ..." The report goes on to mention similar outbreaks extending from "Norway to India, from China to Costa Rica."

In her book on the 1918 pandemic, author Gina Kolata called attention to the phenomenon of how epidemics can move quickly through a country, "hop scotching over some towns while felling others," she wrote.

She wrote that, "after an influenza pandemic in 1789, a young American doctor named Robert Johnson puzzled over how the infection could spread so far and wide, and so quickly. Johnson discussed the rapid outbreaks in Great Britain and on ships at sea."

Kolata reported that 1918’s "flu's mortality rates peaked in Boston and Bombay in the same week. But New York, just a few hours from Boston, had its peak three weeks later."

She also wrote that Johnson finally decided that "influenza must arise from some sort of changes in the atmosphere but that, once it got started, it could spread from person to person."

Johnson's atmospheric change idea may have contributed to the American suggestion about an extraterrestrial source for influenza, to which Barber referred.

In the year 1907 S. Arrhenius, in Scientific American argued for direct propagation of life between planets by microbes hurled into near-planet space by storms - propelled by radiation pressure.

In another article titled: Influenza From Space? Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe discussed with critics their thoughts on comet-tail delivery systems for extraterrestrial biological visitors. This is known as ‘Panspermia,’ - or life from outer space.

The researchers said they found evidence that suggests influenza at the beginning of a flu season breaks out in a sporadic manner, but doesn't spread easily.

Getting back to the influence of Venus, the planet, as we have outlined, does have a comet-like tail that scientists have been studying for decades to gain improved insights into the nature of comets.

In an article titled The Interaction of the Solar Wind with Venus researchers C. T. Russell and O. Vaisberg suggested that "On the whole, the solar wind interaction with Venus is more comet-like than Earth-like."

Barber reported that "Following the 1937 outbreak, [at Lockyer Observatory] water samples were sent to the bacteriological department of the Seale-Hayne College, Newton Abbot, and tissue cultures were obtained.

It was, however, found to be impossible to match these with any known strains of indigenous liquefying bacteria. The result was later independently confirmed by tests carried out at the Lister Institute."

Since the cause of death in the 1918-1919 global pandemic was drowning by means of liquefied lungs - air sacs riddled with seepage sites - it might be wise to look for any relationship between the findings of the Seale-Hayne College and Lister Institute studies - and the Lockyer liquefying agents - that matches any biological samples that are preserved in pandemic autopsy tissues.

Looking at the viral problem, it is known that influenza viruses require a dry environment to stay alive until they reach body hosts. Venus' upper atmosphere has been found to be extremely dry.

The genes in viruses are generally comprised of RNA. A theory on the creation of life from inanimate matter, requires the creation of tiny organic molecules in a non-oxidizing atmosphere through energetic natural phenomena - lightning strokes, or the penetration of ultraviolet light.

Scientists were puzzled why the pandemic flu in 1918-1919 was so rampant and why the virus was so virulent. The first comprehensive analysis of an animal's immune response to the 1918 influenza virus provided new insights into the killer flu.

Key among the insights - they observed that the 1918 virus triggers a hyperactive immune response that may contribute to the lethal nature of the virus.

Furthermore, results suggest it is the combination of all eight of the 1918 flu virus genes that interact synergistically - this accounts for the exceptional virulence of this particular virus.

Michael G. Katze, Ph.D., of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle led a research team to hone in on the complexities of the 1918 virus with University of Washington's John Kash, Ph.D.

Their work with the fully reconstructed 1918 virus was conducted along with co-author Terrence Tumpey, Ph.D., in a bio-safety Level 3-enhanced laboratory at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Understanding as much as possible about the virus that caused the devastating 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is an urgent imperative as we pursue efforts to prepare for - and possibly thwart the next flu pandemic," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.

"This elegant research gives a detailed picture of the overzealous host reaction to infection by a fully reconstructed 1918 influenza virus," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

"The research provides clues as to why the flu of 1918 was so deadly, and may also help us better understand the disease process that occurs when people are infected by emerging avian influenza viruses, such as the H5N1 strain.

Unlike the typical seasonal flu, which strikes hardest at the very young, the elderly and those with compromised immune function, the 1918 flu disproportionately killed young people in their prime of life.

An analysis of a 1918 flu victim autopsy samples showed extreme and extensive damage to lung tissues. This observation gave rise to a hypothesis that the 1918 flu virus infection provoked an uncontrolled inflammatory response that led to rapid lung failure and death.

To test this, Dr. Tumpey infected mice intranasally with one of four types of flu virus: human seasonal flu virus from a strain that circulated in Texas in 1991; lab-made viruses containing either two or five of eight viral genes from the 1918 virus; or a reconstructed virus containing all eight 1918 flu virus genes.

Lung tissue from three infected mice in each group was removed on days 1, 3 and 5 post-infection and processed to destroy any virus. The mouse genetic material (RNA) was then extracted from these lung samples and sent to the University of Washington team for analysis.

Doctors Katze and Kash and their colleagues examined the mouse RNA using micro-arrays to determine which genes were activated when exposed to each of the four viruses.

This analysis showed that the immune response to the reconstructed 1918 virus containing all eight flu genes was much greater than to any of the other viruses with all eight genes, says Dr. Katze.

In particular, the genes involved in promoting inflammation were strongly and immediately activated following infection by the reconstructed 1918 virus.

"We clearly see a dramatic and uncontrolled immune response in the mouse lungs as early as one day following infection with the reconstructed 1918 virus," he says. A complete understanding of the host's response to the 1918 flu virus, adds Dr. Katze, required use of a fully reconstructed virus.

A fuller picture of the host immune response to the 1918 flu virus could also be valuable to researchers working to develop therapies against such viruses as the H5N1 avian influenza, scientists say.

Besides targeting the flu virus itself, Dr. Katze explains, scientists might develop new or improved agents aimed at moderating or halting the human immune system's overactive response to these viruses.

The planetary transits of 2012, in my estimation, calls for keen attention to public health, among other correlations associated with the Venus Transit in Gemini, along with that of Jupiter and the Moon's South Node, also in Gemini.

In 1918, transiting Mars performed a retrograde in Virgo just as Jupiter was entering tropical Gemini along with the Moon's South Lunar Node, also entering Gemini in 1918. We will see the same configurations in 2012.

Virgo is a well-known sign of health and medicine in mundane astrology. Gemini is associated with tens of millions of people and contains strong fixed stars associated with the spread of pandemics when in unfavorable configurations.

Jupiter's presence indicates widespread influences crossing over nations along with that of the South Lunar Node. Jupiter's configurations can also announce mass deaths when in peculiar aspects relative to Earth. We will have such aspects in 2012.

Mars will begin its transit in tropical Virgo in November 2011 and remain in the zodiacal Sign of health to early July 2012. The retrograde of Mars in Virgo will begin in late January 2012 and last to mid-April 2012.

Meanwhile, the Gemini Transits of 2012 show a very busy and active year of crowds and people milling together by means of extended travel, political gatherings and grand sports events, such as the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England. These large gatherings provide the perfect recipe for the spread of airborne infections during 2012's astrologically powerful climate.

I've studied these world transits for several years and do not make such forecasts lightly. In my astrological estimation, we are likely to see a pandemic year in 2012.

It would be wise for those reading this to make preparations to reduce travel if at all possible; to take health precautions and to mind any news of public outbreaks early enough so as to avoid becoming infected by a potential pandemic - which is what I am forecasting.

Build up your immunity this year with Colloidal Silver; improve your diet, avoid pork, sodas, too much sugar and fatty foods. Be a "neat freak" going into 2012 - clean things, wipe counter-tops, clear the air indoors.

Wash your hands frequently, and cover your mouth when you cough. Do not spit on the ground and refrain from using shared public toilets. Be mindful of where you plan to travel and where crowds gather in regions with public health warnings.

Stay safe and healthy out there.
~

Mundane Forecast

Neptune in Pisces: 2012-2026

By
Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.S

An important but sometimes overlooked major transit of the outer planets will be that of Neptune, which has been in tropical Aquarius since 1998.

Neptune will enter tropical Pisces on February 3, 2012 and open a 14-year transit that further signifies the transition into a new planetary era on Earth.

The influence of Neptune, said to co-rule Pisces, will be significant during the Twenty-Tens into the mid-2020s as the world veers further from the outmoded ways of the late 20th century and deeper into the early 21st century.

Neptune’s coming transit in tropical Pisces (2012-2026) will incline its global influences across a broad spectrum of issues related to healthcare, the elderly, institutions, pharmaceutical companies, drugs, energy, oil, water, gases, the climate, film, music, the arts & sciences, psychiatry, psychology, evolutionary spiritualism and theology – among other matters associated with the Mundane 12th House.

Neptune’s associations in Mundane Astrology are: attempted drives towards socialism, communism, radical extreme politics, Anarchism, Spiritualism, along with popular leanings towards collectivism with drives towards broad religious reforms.

Influences of Neptune include those of mobs, secret plots, sedition, fraud and swindling, all illicit undertakings, bogus companies, losses and vice.

The transit of Neptune through a cadent 12th House is associated with seclusion, escapism, drugs, alcohol, prisons, sorrow, confinement, imprisonment, restraint, public/private institutions, secret enemies, hospitals, exile, unconscious self, dreams, hidden fears, self-undoing and self-sacrifice.

The subconscious mind is highlighted by Neptune’s transit in Pisces, as is popular spirituality, mental illness; reformatories, criminals, spies, secret enemies of country at home, or abroad.

Hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and institutions for the elderly, the weak, mentally ill, criminally insane, the infirm, and those in need of charity are also featured.

This long drawn out Neptune transit and its afflictions by world transit shows that the mental health system will encounter various levels of deep dissolution over the course of its 14-year passage in tropical Pisces.

This “dissolution” will spread globally as Neptune makes ingress into Pisces on February 3, 2012, contacting Jupiter by sextile; Saturn by anaretic trine, and Pluto by Septile aspect at the time of its ingress into tropical Pisces.

The Neptune-Pluto Septile has significance to our current era. The current Septile between both planets has been in force since 2001 and separates at 52 degrees just at the time of Neptune’s entry into Pisces in February 2012.

The Septile Aspect is a seventh (7th) harmonic that was explored in-depth by the research astrologers Charles Harvey and John Addey. Astrological researcher Edward Gillam, who has also studied the Neptune-Pluto Septile, says –

“The Septile – 1/7 of the circle or 51.43 degrees – is a little used and poorly understood aspect in astrology. It is usually ignored in most texts, except those dealing specifically with Harmonics and does not form a typical part of the delineation of horoscopes.

However, some evidence suggests that increasing our awareness of the Septile and seventh harmonic symbolism, may help to develop our understanding of the darker, more primitive elements of the individual and collective psyche.

Mundane astrologers say our modern times – post World War II – have been characterized by the long-term Neptune-Pluto sextile. However, as noted, the first decade of the new millennium will actually be described from the point of view of the two outermost planets in our solar system - Neptune and Pluto.

Based on historical and astrological evidence we may speculate that this time will be one of severe ideological struggle. Although the division of Europe into eastern and western blocs has been removed, Chinese communism is still a potent ideological force for millions of people.

However, perhaps the ideological struggle there will be more about internal political reform and the on-going development of market forces within the Chinese economy.

It is important not to overlook the spiritual potential of this Septile: the Neptune-Pluto synod speaks of spiritual regeneration or transformation. Perhaps we will be witness to, or participants in, a revolution in spiritual thought and practice.”

This last comment of Gillam’s reflects Neptune’s official entry into tropical Pisces on 3 February 2012.

The ingress delivers favorable modes of the Mundane 12th house, when used properly, can lead to significant progress in metaphysical and spiritual growth – especially for those with nativities favorable to this transpersonal transit in Pisces.

These positive modes of Neptune promotes transcendence for those willing to leave behind things which are outworn and outdated, while it widens the road for greater expansion seeking spiritual growth and understanding.

The dark octave of Neptune in Pisces can lead to spiritual and mental degeneration as well. This is where Neptune’s powers of dissolution forces change thoroughly by way of the elements of ether, oils, gases and water.

Saturn crystallizes, Uranus shocks, and Pluto transforms by way of phoenix – we see that Neptune envelops then dissolves those things highlighted by its transit in Sign.

The dissolution in Pisces will be as much physical as it is spiritual. The materials dissolving appears in forms such as decrepit buildings, barren neighborhoods and ghostly sections of cities.

Empty ruins slowly worn away by the transit of Neptune in Pisces is easily forecasted.

Neptune can speed up dissolution of outer structures, some can be huge.

Blighted cities and neighborhoods that have been horribly mismanaged; including commercial districts, etc., can suffer from “ghost” syndromes – no people, no energy, with brooding, dark environments lacking life that will spread with Neptune’s transit through Pisces in the 2010s and 2020s - unless drastic reforms takes place.

Deceptive facades hide crumbling structures.

These are the negative forms of Neptune’s power of widespread dissolution that will open up these empty facades for all to see.

We have observed these forms of destruction speed up with Uranus’ passage through Pisces since 2003, in cities like Detroit - where decades of mismanagement and rampant corruption have led to what amounts to a decayed city.

The time of Neptune’s ingress in tropical Pisces will be on the IC for the East coast of the United States at 21-Gemini, with a Moon at 21-Gemini, and the fixed stars Bellatrix and El Nath featured with Neptune’s February 3, 2012 ingress into Pisces.

El Nath is in the “horns of the bull” of sidereal Taurus, as the north horn. El Nath is squared by transiting Venus & Mars on February 3, 2012, at the time of Neptune’s ingress into Pisces.

At the time of ingress, Pluto deposits into Saturn, with Saturn and Jupiter depositing into Venus; which deposits into Neptune.

All this shows a worldwide dispersal of Neptune’s inclinations at the time of ingress into Pisces, and is a further sign of Neptune’s significant global role of drawn out dissolution and broad reforms though the 2010s to the mid-to-late 2020s.

Shane Ward of the United Kingdom writes on Neptune:

“Before delving into the relevant history, we should get a flavor of Neptune’s energy. Neptune is the planet associated with Pisces and the 12th house in the astrological zodiac.

It takes about 14 years to travel through one sign. Neptune is regarded as a generational planet, taking 172 years to orbit the Sun. Neptune is associated with all things gaseous or liquid.

It has the capacity to dissolve anything that Saturn, the planet of limitation and form, structures. It rules ethics, ideals and aspirations.

Neptune is associated with: the arts, glamor, hope, idealism, covert actions, socialism; hospitals, charitable institutions and the navy.

Under affliction it can be associated with muddle, confusion, fraud, crime, scandal; brewing and alcohol, drugs; chemicals, oils, footwear.

Neptune was discovered only a few years before it ingressed into Pisces in 1848. Having had no recordable influence over events before its discovery, it was interesting to see if anything significant could be tied into previous ingresses.

However, before Neptune was attributed to the 12th house (Jupiter was the original ruler), it should be noted that the 12th house was already associated with prisons, hospitals, homes for the aged; philanthropic societies; secret societies; monasteries and institutional religion.

Neptune ingresses into Pisces on 3 February 2012. It makes aspect with Pluto in an outgoing Septile of 52 degrees, similar in aspect to Neptune’s ingress in 1520.

What is significant, however, is the most recent ingress of Uranus into Aries, and Jupiter into Taurus. Saturn is about to ingress into Scorpio. So Neptune’s position aspects all outer planets at the time of ingress.

Clearly there is a growing unrest about the nature of the theater in which we live our lives; enough to resonate into tangible concerns but not necessarily a clear way out.

Under the spotlight will undoubtedly be the large institutions; in the UK this would be the National Health Service, prisons, transport, education, police and civil service.

They will be under the spotlight because of how much they cost to run and how can we afford to pay for them. Also under the spotlight will be the cost of water, gas, electricity and car fuel.

All are massive issues and none of the problems associated with them can be resolved by throwing ever increasingly large amounts of money at them. We've done that already and it didn’t work.”

In reviewing Neptune’s transit in Pisces from 2012 to 2026, my mundane analysis see a complete dissolution of the post-industrial heath care system worldwide with energies being poured into reforms. In effect, a race to battle the dissolution will be in play during the Twenty-Tens and into the Twenty-Twenties.

The separating septile to Pluto, along with aspects Neptune makes to the outer planets at the time of its ingress, is significant in that it shows just how powerful Neptune’s dissolution will be in the areas of life associated with the Mundane 12th House.

One major sign of this was highlighted in January 2010 by Ethan Watters in the New York Times’ Magazine feature titled, The Americanization of Mental Illness:

“Americans, particularly if they are of a certain leftward-leaning, college-educated type, worry about our country’s blunders into other cultures.

In some circles, it is easy to make friends with a rousing rant about the McDonald’s near Tiananmen Square, the Nike factory in Malaysia or the latest blow back from our political or military interventions abroad.

For all our self-recrimination, however, we may have yet to face one of the most remarkable effects of American-led globalization. We have for many years been busily engaged in a grand project of Americanizing the world’s understanding of mental health and illness.

We may indeed be far along in homogenizing the way the world goes mad.

For more than a generation now, we in the West have aggressively spread our modern knowledge of mental illness around the world.

We have done this in the name of science, believing that our approaches reveal the biological basis of psychic suffering and dispel pre-scientific myths and harmful stigma.

There is now good evidence to suggest that in the process of teaching the rest of the world to think like us, we’ve been exporting our Western 'symptom repertoire' as well.

That is, we have been changing not only the treatments but also the expression of mental illness in other cultures.

Indeed, a handful of mental-health disorders - depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anorexia among them — now appear to be spreading across cultures with the speed of contagious diseases.

These symptom clusters are becoming the 'lingua franca' of human suffering, replacing indigenous forms of mental illness.”

Gillam says that – “Each of these potential developments and the unforeseen changes that may occur in this period, have their ‘pros and cons.’

The issue of genetic modification of food is an example of the debate and struggle that may ensue if science and technology move ahead of, or run counter to, public opinion.

One consequence of the rapid development of knowledge may be an intensification of the ideological, ethical, scientific, technical and commercial struggle that accompanies ‘progress’.”

This ‘rapid development of knowledge’ surely has been the mainstay of the years 2001 to 2010.

By the time of February 2012′s ingress of Neptune into tropical Pisces, our world will face the popular culture fears of 2012 - widely believed to be the 'end of the world,' according to some who misunderstand the meaning of the Mayan Calendar.

Nonetheless, the Neptune-Pluto Septile that separates as Neptune ingresses into Pisces will lead to both positive and negative outcomes - depending on one's outlook and ability to transcend outdated methodologies.

How all of this plays out over the years 2012 to 2026 will largely depend on the success of the personal and mass transitions of generations.

We continue, in 2011 and 2012 to feel the lingering effects of the Saturn/Uranus oppositions of 2008-2010 and the Jupiter-Saturn opposition of 2010-2012.

Uranus’ entry into tropical Aries, along with Uranus’ formation of the first of its seven (7) square aspects to Pluto in Capricorn also begins in 2012.

It is my hope that by means of foreknowledge people worldwide can reject the outworn modes of procrastination, cynicism, generational self-interest, ego, ideological warfare and false materialism.

But rather, to form stable, softer and wiser understandings of the world around us – applying Neptune’s transpersonal transit in Pisces to increase healthy spiritual and mental growth - while remaining practically engaged and involved so as to develop real world solutions in reforming global society and its decayed institutions.

It is clear with Saturn in Libra, Uranus in Aries and with Pluto now in Capricorn – that outworn systems and structures are in a process of decline - falling apart – through widespread corruption, mismanagement, waste, ideology that fleeces global society rather than to support it.

These negative acts will continue to impress upon populations until a breaking point is reached. And with Uranus about to begin a series of powerful world squares to Pluto – time runs short to begin the much needed process of healthy reforms and major repairs in our post-modern world.

We are leaving the that era behind and are now entering what I call the Knowledge Age. This is the natural progression of Chiron and Neptune out of Aquarius and into tropical Pisces.

The stakes are being upped.

Neptune’s dissolution can either work by way of depth of practical understanding - geared toward true reforms that resolves to inject a new spirit towards creating healthy visions from outworn methodologies and corrupt/decrepit systems.

The cultural and societal atmosphere on manners, behaviors and thought processes with Neptune’s passage through Pisces by way of mass synthesis from the inclinations of planetary transits - will surely guide all of us into very interesting years ahead - on a worldwide scale.

Gillam says ,“It has been noted that Septile energy, in its mundane expression, can be associated with social conflict, dissolution, disorder and disturbing events.

However, as astrologers, we have a role in fostering the highest expressions of combination of energies; in this case, perhaps encouraging and promoting spiritual transformation and regeneration on Earth.

Liz Greene sounded a note of caution to those who wish to interpret the potential meaning and manifestation of the 1892 Neptune/Pluto synod, especially in terms of its spiritual significance.

'The religious conflicts of the latter part of the 20th century, involving not only Christianity but also Islam, are deep and challenging.

Those born after the last World War cannot recall a time when they did not exist. For this reason, it is difficult to make objective observations about an aspect (the Neptune-Pluto conjunction) which is so deeply embedded in our psychic reality.'

In spite of this warning, we might hope that the coming decade is blessed with spiritual endeavors that repair and rebuild trust between peoples and nations. Astrology is nothing if it is not used to work towards these goals.”

My mundane analysis of the Twenty-Tens and Twenty-Twenties has revealed to me a complex series of deep geopolitical, ideological and spiritual changes taking place – "As above, so below..."

Effectively, a mutation of human consciousness is at hand. We are on the cusp of beginning to evolve exponentially by means of powerful stellar transits.

The Twenty-Tens looks to be an evolutionary age to me; where third, fourth - even fifth - dimensional thinking begins to spread widely by way of Neptune’s transpersonal world transit through tropical Pisces.

This transit also confirms the rise and spread of revolutionary sentiments worldwide by means of additional planetary transits - which heighten the speed and global reach of significant life transformations within shorter spans of time.

We are transitioning out of a past linear, ideological post-modern era into a new visionary and radical knowledge/non-linear consciousness age.

Neptune's transit in Pisces will certainly be one to mind carefully over the next two decades.

Stay safe out there.

MA End of Year Borders, Numbers, Precious Metals

2011-12-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

Many Martin Armstrong positions are neutral so far for 2012.
He sees financial borders closing and gold bearish for now:

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Year%20End%202011%2012-29-2011.pdf

http://www.inflateordie.com/files/Financial%20Border%20Controls%2012-27-2011.pdf

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Gold%20Report%2012-27-2011.pdf

Gold and silver are currently targeting 1370 and 22:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?%24gold

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24silver

We are dollar-cost averaging silver, which could turn on a Mercury Dime with overnight dollar devaluation or the closing of American financial borders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_cost_averaging

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou All...

Just The Facts M'am: 2012 A Real Duesy

2011-12-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

http://wikicars.org/en/Duesenberg
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/12/2011-catch-22-year-in-review.html

2011 – CATCH 22 YEAR IN REVIEW

Posted on December 30, 2011 by JimQ

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” - Mark Twain

I published my predictions for 2011 on January 3, 2011 in my article 2011 – The Year of Catch-22. Humans evidently enjoy being embarrassed by how pitiful they are at predicting the future, because we continue to do it year after year. The mainstream media pundits don’t dare look back at their predictions or the predictions of the Wall Street shills that parade on CNBC and get quoted in the Wall Street Journal, eternally predicting 10% to 15% stock market gains. The multi-millionaire Wall Street strategists like the spawn of the squid, Abbey Joseph Cohen, have used all of their Ivy League brain power to predict at least a 10% stock price gain every year since 1999. The S&P 500 stood at 1,272 on January 6, 1999. As of this writing it currently stands at 1,261. ZERO appreciation over the last twelve years.
The Wall Street mantra of stocks for the long run is beginning to get a little stale. If Abbey Joseph Cohen had been right for the last twelve years, the S&P 500 would be 4,000. For this level of accuracy, she is paid millions. Her 2011 prediction of 1,500 only missed by16%. The S&P 500 began the year at 1,258 and hasn’t budged. The lowest prediction from the Wall Street shysters at the outset of the year was 1,333, with the majority between 1,400 and 1,500.

The same Wall Street clowns are now being quoted in the mainstream media predicting a 10% to 15% increase in stock prices in 2012, despite the fact we are headed back into recession, China’s property bubble has burst, and Europe teeters on the brink of dissolution. They lie on behalf of their Too Big To Tell the Truth employers by declaring stocks undervalued, when honest analysts such as Jeremy Grantham, John Hussman and Robert Shiller truthfully report that stocks are overvalued and will provide pitiful returns over the next year and the next decade.
I will take my chances with a few predictions for 2012 after reviewing my lack of foresight regarding 2011. I declared 2011 the year of Catch-22 because no matter what happened, it would not translate into a positive result for the American people. This was my thesis:

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy really recovers long term interest rates will increase, further depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden for the US, therefore increasing the deficit. A recovering economy would result in more production and consumption, which would result in more oil consumption driving the price above $100 per barrel, therefore depressing the economy. Americans must save for their retirements as 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day, but if the savings rate goes back to 10%, the economy will collapse due to lack of consumption. Consumer expenditures account for 71% of GDP and need to revert back to 65% for the US to have a balanced sustainable economy, but a reduction in consumer spending will push the US back into recession, reducing tax revenues and increasing deficits. You can see why Catch 22 is the theme for 2011.

My predictions for 2011 were as follows:

The first half of 2011 is guaranteed to give the appearance of recovery. The lame-duck Congress ”compromise” will pump hundreds of billions of borrowed dollars into the economy. The continuation of unemployment benefits for 99 weeks (supposedly to help employment) and the 2% payroll tax cut will goose consumer spending. Ben Bernanke and his QE2 stimulus for poor Wall Street bankers is pumping $75 billion per month ($3 to $4 billion per day) directly into the stock market. Since Ben gave Wall Street the all clear signal in late August, the NASDAQ has soared 25%. Despite the fact that there are 362,000 less Americans employed than were employed in August 2010, the mainstream media will continue to tout the jobs recovery. The goal of all these efforts is to boost confidence and spending. Everything being done by those in power has the seeds of its own destruction built in. The Catch 22 will assert itself in the 2nd half of 2011.

The payroll tax cut, extension of unemployment benefits and Bernanke’s gift to Wall Street criminal banks did nothing to help real Americans in the real world. The government manipulated GDP has languished between 0.4% and 1.8% in the first three quarters of 2011. Using a true measure of inflation, as detailed by John Williams at www.shadowstats.com, GDP has remained at a recessionary level of -2% to -3%.

Easy Ben accomplished his goal of pumping up the stock market with his QE2 gift to Wall Street bankers during the first six months of 2011, with the S&P 500 peaking at 1,364 in late April. The market began to fall the second Ben stopped handing Jamie Dimon and his friends $4 billion per day, with the market dropping 18% in three months. The market has risen back near the breakeven level for the year based on Ben’s promise to keep interest rates at zero forever and the hope of QE3.

A new perfect storm is brewing for housing in 2011 and will not subside until late 2012. You may have thought those bad mortgages had been all written off. You would be wrong. There will be in excess of $200 billion of adjustable rate mortgages that reset between 2011 and 2012, with in excess of $125 billion being the dreaded Alt-A mortgages. This is a recipe for millions of new foreclosures.

The brainless twits on CNBC will dutifully report the number of completed foreclosure sales plunged by 24% in 2011, giving the impression to their non-critical thinking viewership that all is well on the housing front. What they will fail to point out is that the number of foreclosures in process went up in 2011 and now stands 59% ABOVE the level in 2009 at the height of our recession. The reason that completed foreclosures have fallen is twofold. The criminal Wall Street banks can’t prove they hold the mortgage notes on hundreds of thousands of homes and they have a few legal issues related to the massive robo-signing fraud they committed. Kicking old ladies and Iraq War veterans out into the street using fraudulent documentation has caused the Wall Street Too Evil To Believe Banks some public relations issues. Secondly, the Wall Street Plutocrats have these mortgage loans valued at 100% on their balance sheets due to the FASB gift of mark to fantasy accounting rules. Foreclosing actually reveals their assets to be overvalued by at least 50%. This may explain why millions of Americans are still in their homes after not making a mortgage payment for two years, as detailed by economist Tom Lawler:

Given the number of loans either seriously delinquent or in the process of foreclosure at the beginning of the year, the number of completed foreclosure sales in 2011 is almost absurdly low, reflecting the complete screw-up of the mortgage servicing industry, and the resulting dramatic slowdown in foreclosure resolutions. As of the end of October, 2011 LPS estimated that there were 1.759 million seriously delinquent loans with the average number of days delinquent at 388 (compared to 192 days in January 2008), and there were 2.210 million loans in the foreclosure process that had been on average delinquent for 631 days.

Completed Foreclosure Sales And Short Sales/DILs (thousands, estimates)
	2008	2009	2010	2011(E)
Completed Foreclosure Sales	914	949	1,070	815
Owner-occupied	N.A.	N.A.	785	608
Non-owner-occupied	N.A.	N.A.	285	207
Short Sales/DILs	105	270	354	380
Foreclosures plus Short Sales/DILs	1,019	1,219	1,424	1,195
Outstanding first liens:	Jan-08	Jan-09	Jan-10	Jan-11
Seriously Delinquent (90+)	1,016	1,983	3,061	2,168
In Process of Foreclosure	860	1,386	2,110	2,203

The concerted effort to not complete foreclosures did nothing to slow the continued descent in home prices. As you can see in the chart below from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/, real home prices will have fallen another 5% in 2011. Obama and his minions threw $50 billion of your tax dollars at the housing market in 2009 – 2010 with tax credits, loan modification programs, homebuilder tax loss carry-backs, and a myriad of other Keynesian claptrap solutions. They succeeded in pissing your tax dollars down the toilet as prices have declined another 12% in the last 18 months. Prices have fallen 42% nationally since 2006. I wonder who missed the boat on that development?

“We’ve never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. So, what I think what is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit.” – Ben Bernanke – July 2005

There are approximately 48.5 million homes with mortgages in the United States and 10.7 million of them have negative equity. Another 2.4 million have less than 5% equity. Considering it costs more than 5% in closing costs to sell a house that means 27% of home occupiers with a mortgage are trapped like rats in a cage. With 2.2 million foreclosures still in the pipeline and a looming recession, home prices will continue to fall another 10% to 20% over the next two years and one third of all home occupiers will be underwater. That sounds like a recipe for 10% to 15% stock market gains.

Quantitative easing has benefited only Wall Street bankers and the 1% wealthiest Americans. The $1.4 trillion of toxic mortgage backed securities on The Fed’s balance sheet are worth less than $700 billion. How will they unload this toxic waste? The Treasuries they have bought drop in value as interest rates rise. Quantitative easing’s Catch 22 is that it can never be unwound without destroying the Fed and the US economy.

Bennie and his Inkjets did a bang up job in 2011. He was able to expand his balance sheet from $2.47 trillion to $2.95 trillion in twelve short months. According to Ben and his Federal Reserve friends, increasing your balance sheet by $480 billion isn’t really printing money out of thin air and handing it to their Wall Street owners for free, so they can prop up the stock market and enrich their executives. Ben is now leveraged 57 to 1. He should move to Europe, where this level of leverage is commonplace. In comparison, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were leveraged 40 to 1 when they went belly up.

There is absolutely no way that Ben Bernanke could ever reduce the Federal Reserve balance sheet to the pre-crisis level without destroying the U.S. economy. He knows that and will never sell off those toxic mortgage assets. Not only won’t he reduce the Fed balance sheet, but by mid-2012 he will institute QE3 and buy another $600 billion of mortgage debt. His hubris knows no bounds, as his reckless illegal actions thus far have not driven interest rates sky high – YET. He has only destroyed the finances of senior citizens, savers and people who eat food and use gasoline. He will surely go down in history, but not the way he envisions.

The rise in oil to $91 a barrel will not be a top. The Catch-22 of a declining dollar is that prices of all imported goods go up. If the dollar falls another 10%, the price of oil will rise above $120 a barrel and push the economy back into recession.

As Bernanke printed like a drunken sailor during the first six months of 2011, the USD fell by 9% and the price of oil did exactly as expected, rising to a peak above $125. The NATO “intervention” in Libya also added a few bucks to the price of a barrel of sweet crude.

DXY

The complete implosion of Europe and the ensuing weakness of the Euro have given the false impression that the U.S. dollar is a safe haven. The USD has regained its losses and will end the year exactly as it started versus a Euro heavy basket of world currencies. With annual deficits equaling 10% of GDP, a national debt now exceeding 100% of GDP, and Ben Bernanke in perpetual printing mode, the USD is destined to reach its intrinsic value of zero. With Brent crude still above $108 a barrel, employment still weak, and double digit food and energy inflation slowing consumer spending, the ECRI knows a recession during 2012 is baked in the cake.

The imminent collapse of the European Union as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain are effectively bankrupt. Spain is the size of the other three countries combined and has a 20% unemployment rate. The Germans are losing patience with these spendthrift countries. Debt does matter.

It seems I was wrong about Europe. It turned out to be much worse than anyone envisioned, with Italy now the likely fuse that blows the whole thing sky high. The ECB has made Ben Bernanke look like a lightweight by increasing their balance sheet by 44% to over $3.5 trillion in a futile effort to solve a debt crisis with more debt. It seems central bankers are programmed to print until the very end (see Weimar). The European Union will not survive 2012. Too many countries, too much government debt, too many zombie banks, too many bureaucrats, too much austerity rammed down the throats of citizens, and not enough honesty or reality based solutions.

State and local governments were able to put off hard choices for another year, as Washington DC handed out hundreds of billions in pork. California will have a $19 billion budget deficit; Illinois will have a $17 billion budget deficit; New Jersey will have a $10.5 billion budget deficit; New York will have a $9 billion budget deficit. A US Congress filled with Tea Party newcomers will refuse to bailout these spendthrift states. Substantial government employee layoffs are a lock.

State and local governments have laid off 535,000 workers since 2008. With borrowed Federal government stimulus handouts evaporating into thin air during 2011 – 2012, this total will reach 800,000 by the end of the next year. The U.S. Postal Service will do their part by cutting 28,000 jobs in 2012, even though they need to cut 100,000. States and municipalities based their budgets on the revenues produced by the fake debt driven housing boom from 2003 – 2007. The tax revenue dried up, but the union jobs added are a gift that keeps on costing taxpayers billions. States and localities can’t print, so layoffs will continue.

There is a growing probability that China will experience a hard landing as their own quantitative easing has resulted in inflation surging to a 28 month high of 5.1%, with food inflation skyrocketing to 11.7%. Poor families spend up to half of their income on food. Rapidly rising prices severely burden poor people and can spark civil unrest if too many of them can’t afford food.

According to official government statistics China’s economy continued to boom in 2011. But, of course Chinese government reports make the BLS look honest. The fact is the Chinese stock market has fallen 28% since April as the property bubble deflates. If their economy has truly grown at an annual rate of 8% to 10% over the last five years, why is their stock market down 62% from its 2007 high?

SHANGHAI INDEX

The price inflation in food and energy prices, along with the property bubble bursting has led to breakouts of civil unrest across China. China’s two biggest markets – Europe & the United States – are in or near recession and are buying less of their crap. They can only build so many vacant cities and shopping malls to create the appearance of growth. The hard landing is about to get harder in 2012.

The Tea Party members of Congress are likely to cause as much trouble for Republicans as Democrats. If they decide to make a stand on raising the debt ceiling early in 2011, all hell could break loose in the debt and stock markets.

It seems I got the timing wrong on this prediction, but the August showdown was a doozy. The threat of a government shutdown resulted in the stock market collapsing by 18% in a matter of weeks in August. Our beloved politicians then came up with another bullshit non-solution by creating a commission which, after months of negotiations, failed to do anything. The $1.2 trillion of automatic spending cuts will never happen. The slime that inhabit the hallowed halls of Congress will pretend to cut, while actually increasing spending. And so it goes. The stock market has risen from its October low based on Easy Ben’s assurances to keep interest rates at zero forever and the anticipation of QE3 in the new year.

Will the consensus forecast of a growing economy, rising corporate profits, 10% to 15% stock market gains, 2 million new jobs, and a housing recovery come true in 2011? No it will not. By mid-year confidence in Ben’s master plan will wane.

Corporate profits did rise, mostly due to Ben Bernanke providing free money to the Wall Street Mega-Banks so they could generate risk free profits on the backs of senior citizens getting .15% on their savings. It also helps when the same Wall Street banks can make accounting entries declaring that future loan losses will be minimal and the toxic mortgages on their books aren’t really worthless. Who knew accountants could do so much for America? Abbey Joseph Cohen only missed her stock market projection by a smidgeon. The S&P 500 is essentially unchanged for the year, while the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 will finish in the red.
The country did not add 2 million new jobs. It added 1.4 to 1.5 new jobs. Too bad the working age population went up by 1.7 million people. But our friends at the BLS, when they aren’t manipulating away the inflation that real people in the real world experience every day, have the gall to declare the unemployment rate has fallen from 9.8% to 8.6% in the last twelve months. How could this be you might ask, since the working age population went up by more than the number of people who found jobs. Easy if you are a BLS government drone. Everyone knows that things are so good out in the real world that 1.8 million Americans decided to kick back and enjoy the good life by leaving the workforce. It wasn’t because they gave up looking for the jobs that were shipped to the Far East by the mega-corporations making record profits and paying record bonuses to their executives. It’s just a rumor that those long lines at food banks around the country have a few of these “lucky” non-members of the workforce in them.
The housing recovery is just around the corner. Larry Yun, chief liar for the National Association of Realtors, assures us that it’s the best time to buy. We all know that the NAR is a bastion of honesty and truth. Just because they reported 3 MILLION more home sales than actually occurred between 2007 and 2010, you can’t scorn, ignore and treat everything they say as a bald faced lie. If Larry says the housing recovery has arrived, it must be true.

	Revised	Previous	% Change
2007	5,022,000	5,652,000	-11.1%
2008	4,124,000	4,913,000	-16.1%
2009	4,334,000	5,156,000	-15.9%
2010	4,182,000	4,907,000	-14.8%

When the pundits on CNBC sum up the year, they will not be touting the fact that gasoline prices went up 10% in the past year and the average price for a gallon of gas was the highest in U.S. history. They will not be proclaiming that even the government manipulated CPI shows food prices up 6% and clothing prices up 5% in the last year. I’m sure glad Ben Bernanke doesn’t see any inflation on his radar. Maybe he should ask his chauffer about his inflation. Lastly, the stocks for the long run crowd will not be yakking about the fact that gold finished up 10% for the year and has been up for TEN consecutive years. I wonder whether the numbskulls on CNBC can look at the chart below and figure out why gold is up ten years in a row. The national debt reaching $20 trillion by 2015 is a given. I wonder whether the price of gold will be higher. Maybe I’ll give Abbey Joseph Cohen a call and ask for her prediction.

Overall, my assessment of what would happen in 2011 wasn’t too far off. But, it was the things that I and virtually everyone on the planet missed that will reverberate in 2012 and for the next ten years. Our 20 year Crisis deepened, became more violent, and clearly revealed that the establishment will use all their power to put down protests and crush opposition to their corrupt crony capitalistic policies. The major developments I missed regarding 2011 included:

The self-immolation of a young Tunisian man set off revolutions around the globe, toppling U.S. supported dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Dictators attempted to retain power by killing citizens by the thousands. The self-immolation of a man in New Hampshire in front of a courthouse was completely ignored by the mainstream media. I wonder why.
The Arab Spring has resulted in revolutions in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Libya. Depending upon how much oil was at stake, the U.S. has supported the dictator or the people whenever it suited them. This is called democratic principles.
Young people across the U.S. were inspired by the Arab Spring and began to Occupy Wall Street and many other streets in 97 other U.S. cities this past Fall. The spirit of these protests was against Wall Street criminality, Washington corruption, and corporate malfeasance. Peaceful civil disobedience by citizens of this country was met with beatings, tear gas, mass arrests and bulldozing their encampments. Students were maced while sitting in front of a college building. Ultimately a Department of Homeland Security coordinated attack on all the protests squashed the movement. The American people were too distracted by Dancing With the Stars and the latest iGadget to notice. The corporate media did their part by spewing misinformation and propaganda about the Occupy Movement, while the Wall Street Elite giggled with delight from their NYC penthouse suites.
Shockingly, no bankers were prosecuted despite clear unequivocal evidence of the greatest financial fraud in world history. The former head of Goldman Sachs, U.S. Senator, and NJ Governor continues to eat caviar and drink champagne in his glorious mansion after stealing $1.2 billion directly from customers’ accounts. These funds now reside in the pocket of Jamie Dimon and his upstanding JP Morgan institution.
The Federal government methodically moved closer to a totalitarian regime by passing legislation that will enable them to imprison U.S. citizens without charges. The only remaining area that has allowed critical thinking Americans to find the truth – the Internet – is on the verge of being locked down by the Feds. Pending legislation will allow them to shut down any website that may inconvenience their agenda. We inch ever closer to Orwell’s vision of the future.
No one in the MSM or government anticipated that the only truthful, honest, forthright politician in Washington D.C. – Ron Paul – could possibly win the Iowa caucus. His message of freedom, liberty, self reliance, and non-interventionism has struck a chord with young people and those capable of distinguishing between MSM propaganda and reality. The establishment is terrified of Ron Paul and is now on a mission to destroy him. What they don’t realize is their time is coming to an end. The existing social order will be swept away in a violent manner. The youth of this country will lead the charge. 2012 should be a real doozy.

I’ll take another shot at predicting the unpredictable with my next article: 2012 – The Year of Living Dangerously.

Friday 30 December 2011 Diagnosis

2011-12-30T06:52:00.001-08:00

Overnight Dow futures 100 point below cash close suggest downward trend this last trading day of 2011...

Bonds & Stocks Diverge: Downtown?

2011-12-29T22:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKCnHWas3HQ 3:02

A look at the relationship between the Ten Year Treasury Note yield and Standard and Poor's 500 Industrial Average shows Notes led Equities, and suggests we may be but a bit away from approaching a downdraft in equities to catch up with falling Treasury Note rates.
Notes are targeting 1.5% from 1.897%, -20%, and SPX is targeting 1050 from 1263.02, -16%.
Ten Year Notes become a cash substitute, with the potential to appreciate in price from 130.503 to 150, some +14%.
Therefore we are selling equity strength with a few exceptions like BAC/WS/B and RDN and prior Trade Blog Ideas until further notice.
We like to use Trailing Stops to Buy and Sell to protect and profit capital.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.html?$TNX,$SPX

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24tnx%3A%24SPX

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24tnx

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24spx

Let us all further dedicate 2012 to life, liberty, peace and prosperity...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG3afAIi6IQ 4:32

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgY-eI7145o&feature=related 3:28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sXVxqDbFk&feature=related 1:42

BAC/WS/B and this Market

2011-12-29T08:59:00.000-08:00

Anyone with a GTC order to buy BAC/WS/B with a Limit of 28 cents or better was filled this AM when BAC/WS/B traded to 27 cents.

Meanwhile, despite positive seasonality until after New Year's, the second M Class flare this week suggests we may be in for some stormy market weather today or tomorrow:

Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels with a chance for isolated minor storm levels on day one (29 December) as multiple CME's are expected to arrive. Quiet to unsettled level are expected on day two (30 December) as effects of the previous CME's wane. Predominantly quiet levels are expected on day three (31 December).

http://www.cobrasmarketview.com/holiday-seasonality/

http://www.n3kl.org/sun/noaa.html

Buying this Dip

2011-12-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

The overnight futures were about a hundred sixty Dow points below the cash close, suggesting a red morning at least:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/17689937/site/14081545/

We note BAC/WS/B is actually up on a down day for BAC, a good sign.

Some may be hedging, buying BAC and selling BAC/WS/B.

We just put in a GTC (Good Til Cancelled) limit order at $4.92 below the market to buy some BAC for the dividend increase down the road.

If BAC does not fill with an apparent upside down head and shoulders bottom at 5.02 left shoulder and $4.92 head, we will go to our usual Trailing Buy Stop above the market to get on board:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=bac

New Equity Market Highs in 2012?

2011-12-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

We several times noted the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) made a decade low in terms of silver on Monday 22 August of this year 2011:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?%24spx%3A%24silver

Now it looks like we have good company.

Omega Seabreeze hedge fund lyrical manager Wharton whiz kid Doug Kass not only dumped his Berkshire Hathaway shares this Fall, he is close to having his sideways SPX prediction and four others for 2011 come true:

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-15/markets/30400497_1_succession-ibm-investment-economic-crisis

http://www.businessinsider.com/doug-kass-sp-500-2011-target-2011-12

http://www.thestreet.com/print/story/10956257.html

His 2011 predictions, attributed Never make predictions, especially about the future to Casey Stengel.

(There are at least 28 others, including Danish Nuclear Physicist Niels Bohr and Confucius, who said similar.)

http://www.larry.denenberg.com/predictions.html

Mr Kass enumerated five noteworthy investment success principles:

"There are five lessons I have learned since my first surprise list for 2003:

how wrong conventional wisdom can be;
that uncertainty will persist;
to expect the unexpected;
that the occurrence of Black Swan events are growing in frequency; and
with rapidly changing conditions, investors can't change the direction of the wind (Seabreeze), but we can adjust our sails (and our portfolios) in an attempt to reach our destination of good investment returns."

As Danish Atomic Professor Bohr, who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos with Robert Oppenheimer, and wanted to share Atomic Secrets to keep the peace, also put it:

"If an idea does not appear bizarre, there is no hope for it"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr

For 2012 Mr Kass points out, as we did some time ago, that in contrast to the unfulfilled optimism of 2011, 2012 expectations are muted and even pessimistic.

This is the stuff of surprise bull markets.

Mr Kass's Fifteen 2012 surprises are fully stated in his own words here:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11357403/1/kass-15-surprises-for-2012.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

(Our annotations):

1. The SPX eclipses the 2000 high of 1527.46 in the second half of 2012.
(We said we entered a new bull market reality Monday 22 August 2011.)

2. Real GDP over 3% and SPX Earnings over $105 in second half of 2012.
(End of year pessimism is so thick we can cut it with a knife, a buying opportunity.)

3. Bush/Clinton form a Bi-Partisan coalition for Marshall Plan for housing, higher taxes and Social Security Retirement at 70. (Good luck with that. Our Constitution does not allow retroactive laws.)

4. Mitt Romney is elected President. (We still like Dr Ron Paul.)

5. ECB EU quantitative easing exceeding the USA squeaks by with a mild recession.
(We like unpopular EWG+89%, EWQ+78%, EWD+76% and EWP+66% in that order):

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?ewg

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=ewq

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=ewd

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=ewp

6. The Fed stays loose until unemployment hits 6.5% - Buy MUB.
(We liked MUB last year as it went from 93 to 108, and like it again this year.):

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?mub Target +28%.

7. Sears goes bankrupt.
(SHLD, which traded at 83 in Octoiber 2011, gapped down -27% today to 33 on news of the DK List, may be overdone and ready to go sideways down for some time.)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=shld

8. More cyberwarfare.
(Best to encrypt with Hushmail and develop backup plans, including ordering out cash and securities before www and wireless go down.)

http://www.hushmail.com/about/

9. Financial stocks lead the market.
(We still like BAC/WS/B without a target yet as posted.)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?bac

10. AAPL pays a $20 dividend, while AMZN, BIDU, GOOG, PCLN high multiples disappoint.
(We long described MSFT as an unrecognized utility. Why not AAPL?)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=aapl Target +14%

11. BEN and TROW double as mutual fund inflows soar.
(We like TROW and VALU. American Century, Fidelity or Vanguard could go public.)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=trow
Target +36%

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=valu Target +70%

12. Merger mania explodes.
(We think that could also benefit BAC/WS/B, the second largest financial firm, that also owns Merrill)

13. The ETF bubble explodes.
(Already VIX and TVIX are not tracking right. Stock picking with PnF is coming back.):

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.html?VXX,TVIX

14. China has a soft landing and India a hard fall.
(We think both can go down, although China more):

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=yang
Target +84%

15. Israel attacks Iran - SLB and XOM.
(We prefer XOM over SLB, even if the Straits of Hormuz are not closed.)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=xom Target +27%

All in all, we prefer to stay away from predictions and ride the Big4 TopTen closely-held PnF trend targets with family, friends, accredited private clients and a limited power of attorney.

We note that Point and Figure Targets do flip and are often exceeded.

Our favourite way to automatically dollar-cost average XOM without fees, with a Cash, Coverdell Educational Savings Account and Roth IRA Plan, is with Computershare.

http://bit.ly/eSwvct

Our friends and family doubled their money in 2011 without effort because dollar-cost averaging buys more shares at lower prices, ensuring the average cost is less than the average price.:

http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/why-dollar-cost-averaging-works/

A very prosperous New Year 2012 to All.

Share the link and pay it forward with 10% profit tithes to keep Trade Blog going:

http://richcash8tradeblog.blogspot.com/

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Free Big4 $10,000 Subscription Info

2011-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Holy Days All, and a Prosperous 2012

After half a century learning to trade, we published Big4 Weekly Asset Allocation Portfolios for several years, predicated on the simple presumption that Big Insider Smart Money generally knows what's doing in the long run.

Yes indeedy.

Each year Big4 returned over 1000% on paper portfolios, with ultimately a $10,000 Annual Money Back Subscription Cost Guarantee, if the Big4 ideas did not outperform the cost. They did, although not every subscriber got the same returns, usually because they cherry picked, nit picked or did not use the Trailing Buy and Trailing Sell Stops. We are all human, with higher potential.

We made a presentation to the TSAA-SF, the oldest market society in the USA, the weekend of Fukushima.

Earthquake seismic window or no, the turnout was good, with requests for the Big4 TSAA-SF Presentation Document, so it was posted on this website:

http://www.tsaasf.org/rich-cash_s-march-19-presentation-big-4-heisenberg-trends_-profiting-smart-

So here, for free, the latest Big4 info, with the idea that people will tithe 10% of their profits as donations to Trade Blog to keep it, them and us going strong while we stand for 2012 US Senate office.

Here are the current Big4 Ideas with PnF (Point and Figure Targets) in order of potential.

(It is not uncommon for markets to outperform Big4 PnF Targets, so we let the markets stop us out, instead of selling prematurely or not soon enough. Sometimes we get whipsawed, the cost of protecting capital and sanity in the trading business. We may get written assurance from our broker they will not re-hypothecate (take and lose) our segregated cash or sell-out our non-margin positions. In other words, cash accounts, or even ordering out securities where possible, may be the safer wiser course like the kamaaina did, after MF Global stole from customers, with banks, exchanges and regulators doing little so far resembling their job description or claims that not one customer lost a dollar in the last century.)

Big4 Asset Allocations Ranked by Targets

Milk, BEK.TO    +141%
Ags, DBA +109%
Corn, CPO    + 62%
Ruble, FXRU      + 62%
EAFE, EFA         + 52%
HeatingOil,UHN + 46%
Palladium,PALL + 40%
NDX, QQQ + 39%
Crude, CRUD     + 37%
Lumber, LL         +33%
10-yr TNotes       +33%
NatGas, NGT    +30%
Wheat, WEAT    +15%
S&P500, SPY     +13%
Beans, +12%
Yen, FXY            +11%
RUT SmallCaps + 9%

We are not covering the other 88 plus CFTC COT (Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commitment of Traders) contracts here, because PnF targets do not confirm them or they are negative targets that cannot exceed 100%:

http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/index.htm

We told our subscribers that Trailing Buy and Sell Stops were the best (unemotional) way to enter and exit positions, and that buying low and selling high with the Big Friend Trend still make the most money, riding rather than fighting the markets.

We no longer take subscribers; only a few accredited private accounts with a limited power of attorney on a 1% asset and 10% cumulative profit fee basis.

Sincerely,

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Confidential encrypted email:

silversenator@hushmail.com

http://www.hushmail.com/about/

BAC/WS/B>28 cents: Buy an American Bargain On Sale

2011-12-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to Dorothy Marie and future private accredited clients:

New International Version (©1984)
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Family and friends, we think this may be the best financial idea we have had in sixty-two years.

The top three Banks do 44% of the money business, and Bank America Corp (BAC) is the second largest bank.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/

America is now on sale for pennies on the dollar in terms of gold and silver, which went from $245 and $4 an ounce around 1999 to $1923.70 and $49.82 in 2011, while the stock market stood still in nominal terms for over a decade, and bottomed in terms of silver on Monday 22 August 2011:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.html?BAC,$GOLD,$SILVER,$SPX,$TNX

(Slide bottom box to far left, 3224 days to see asset returns.)

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24spx%3A%24silver

We showed for years with annual money back guaranteed Big4 and Top Ten, that closely-held Asset Allocation Income Values are the key to our financial surthrival.

Bad economic and market news is so thick here, we can cut it with a knife, even AFTER the equity markets bottomed in real terms on Monday 22 August 2011:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?%24spx%3A%24silver

Such is the stuff of mortal human psychology versus the eternal mind of the market.

People are more bearish AFTER the bottom than AT the bottom.

BAC is the stuff of a great lifetime bargain, if we can buy after most have sold.

At Mother Merrill, in the tough old days of the Seventies, we used to have a saying:

If we liked it at $15, we'll LOVE it at $5.

That was, if we did not throw in the towel with the preponderance of bad news at or after the bottom.

Such may be the case with Bank of America (BAC) and the United States of America.

USA is the world's largest economy, although we would never know it from the China is Brilliant Uber Alles headlines as China slipped into the China Sea, -32% in 13 months:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?$SSEC

(We saw similar headlines re Japan Inc in 1989 at and after the peak when Mitsubishi Estate bought Pebble Beach and the Rockefeller Center, home to Allied and British Intelligence and Saturday Night Live, and choked RC back up seven years later to former Chase Chairman David Rockefeller, who syndicated it with Goldman Sachs, Gianni Agnelli and Stavros Niarchos, before selling it to Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer in Jubilee Year 2000.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Center

Meanwhile, BAC is the second-largest US based financial company, with 26 corporate skyscrapers throughout America, with deposits over $1 Trillion (T) and assets over $2 T, that gets no respect from the monopoly media.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America

It may very well be said, as it was for GM, what is good for BAC is good for America and vice versa.

Treasuries held by banks which hold them until they need to make better loans to profit, have a long history of leading equities, book to bill ratios, silver, technology stocks and the GDP, as a leading indicator of general business conditions.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.html?$BKX,$silver,$SOX,$SPX,$INDU,$TNX

Currently trading as low as $4.92 this week in December 2011, after lows of $2.50 in February 2009, BAC appears to have confirmed and retested a long-term bottom after trading above $55 in 2006 just five years ago.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=bac

So just why did BAC shares recently test and rise above all-time lows?

On Thursday 22 December 2011, BAC reported it agreed to pay $335 M to the US Department of Justice to fully settle claims of racial discrimination by mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.

BAC acquired Countrywide in 2008, a troublesome acquisition, to say the least.
(We wonder how much of that money will actually reach those harmed.)

$335 M is chump change relative to the $8.5 B BAC settlement with Countrywide mortage investors last 29 June 2011, subject to Court review, plus the $5.5 B BAC provision to buy back other defective mortgages, plus the $6.4 B already charged for foreclosure delays, lawsuits, loan-servicing adjustments and write-offs that Chicken Littles overlooked when they said the financial world was ending since March 2009, when the nominal SPX bottomed, and now, three years later after slow/no economic growth in nominal/real terms.

Our key thesis is that America may be poised for an electoral economic revolution under Dr Ron Paul back to productivity.

This EE Revolution may probably surpass the one in 1980 under Ronald Reagan and 1776 under Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, that cut government abuses, red tape and taxes to let private sector citizens and entrepreneurs recover.

We say greater, because this Electoral Revolution may actually cut bloated government, which erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance, the exact phrase used in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

In other words today, BAC CEO Brian T Moynihan, BAC Co-COO Thomas K Montag, BAC CFO Bruce R Thompson, Terrence P Laughlin, BAC MER Bank Chairman and Legacy Asset Servicing Executive, Robert W Scully, Independent Director of BAC and KKR, the five largest direct holders of BAC common shares, are doing their jobs to make themselves and other BAC stakeholders richer.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=BAC+Major+Holders

Either they are successful fools and idiots, or we should join them.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=BAC+Major+Holders

For some reason, people quiver when they read BAC DOJ, Department of Justice headlines, even though they, the BATF and FBI were involved in Fast and Furious gun-running cases domestically and to other countries, including Afghan Opium Warlords and the Mexican Narco Federales, while arresting small fry instead:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gun-running-timeline-how-doj-s-operation-fast-and-furious-unfolded

http://www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2011/fifteen-charged-in-gun-running-probe

Meanwhile, connected MF Global Chairman/CEO and Goldman Sachs CEO/Senior Partner New Jersey Governor and Senator Jon Corzine and Countrywide's Chairman and CEO, Angelo Mozilo, were neither arrested, nor did time for their bigger trespasses, while small fry fried.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Corzine

Mozilo, son of a Bronx Butcher, known for his FFOA Fixer Friends of Angelo VIP Loan programmes to key members of Congress, Fannie Mae et al in DC, was named by CNN as one of the "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits" of the 2008 financial collapse in the United States.^[6]

The documentary film Inside Job cited Mozilo as one of the persons responsible for the Economic Meltdown of 2008.

Mozilo was named in Time Magazine as one of the "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis".

Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Mozilo second on their list of "Worst American CEOs of All Time".^[2]

Despite all this criminal justice exposure, Mr Mozillo merely agreed to pay $67.5 million in fines, roughly ten percent of his estimated net worth. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates gave more than that away to Charity and Foundations each year.

Mozila accepted a lifetime ban from serving as officer or director of any public company. It was the largest settlement by an individual or executive connected to the 2008 housing collapse.

Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a statement that "Mozilo's record penalty is the fitting outcome for a corporate executive who deliberately disregarded his duties to investors by concealing what he saw from inside the executive suite."

By settling the SEC charges, Mr Mozilo avoided a trial that could have provided ammunition for future criminal charges. ^[20]^[21]

In February 2011, the U.S. dropped its criminal investigation into the facts behind that civil settlement.

It appeared here were men from the Bronx and Chicago who understood the power of a bribe.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Mozilo

BAC's acquisition of Countrywide may have been one of the bigger corporate acquisition blunders in history.

BAC's goal was to become the largest mortgage lender by acquisition and growth. The BAC brand name was damaged by Countrywide and BAC gave up correspondent mortgage broker lending.

BAC mortgage market share is now around 8.5% versus 7.8% before the Countrywide acquisition.

The $2.5 B Countrywide purchase saddled Bank of America with more than $30 B of mortgage losses and legal costs, according to analysts.

BAC is now number three in US mortgages with 8.5% market share, behind Wells Fargo with 25.7% and JP Morgan with 12.7% of the market.

Perhaps in this deflating housing economy, with 2011 mortgage lending around $1.2 T versus $2.4 T in 2007, the worst in a decade, number three is not entirely a bad position in the pack.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/bank-of-americas-countrywide-acquisition-market-share_n_1005963.html

BAC stock appears risky because some think BAC may have to issue up to 400 M new shares to increase common equity capital above the recent 8.65% level to meet 10% Basel III Bank equity capital guidelines.

The benefit of this would be redeeming junior subordinated debt and preferreds, to cut interest costs and increase earnings, and thus not dilute/decrease, but accrete/increase earnings.

Some noted Mr Buffett bought 6% preferred stock in BAC rather than common, perhaps because of the risk common shareholders might be wiped out, if future writeoffs are greater than the $14.07 a share Tangible Book Value.

BAC write-offs may have peaked, unless the global economy gets a whole lot worse, in which case we may be living in caves, forests and sewers rather than houses.

The $5 B Buffett 6% preferred maybe was more of a short-term mezzanine loan with a warrant kicker for the Oracle from Omaha, so BAC could get leaner and prosper. Time will tell.

Our US Treasury received and sold warrants with preferred stock as collateral for loaning BAC $45 B of taxpayer funds, part of the EFSA Emergency Financial Stabilization Act of 2008 and TARP Troubled Asset Relief Program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferred_stock

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/021704.asp#axzz1haXoWkbS

We think Mr Geithner maybe sold the warrants too soon, unlike the Chrysler warrants issued in 1980 under Jimmy Carter and Treasury Secretary G William Miller, the only Federal Reserve Chairman with a corporate background, and the only person to serve as both Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._William_Miller

(C) Chrysler stock went from $5.50 to $35 from 1980 to 1983, making Chrysler Warrant and Shareholders a lot of money, when Treasury Secretary Donald T Regan, former Merrill Chairman and CEO, refused to give them back to Lee Iacocca with his great ads and guarantees, and sold them back to Chrysler in 1983 at a significant profit.

http://wikicars.org/en/Chrysler

http://ateupwithmotor.com/editorials/134-chrysler-bailout-part-2.html

While BAC common stock may be risky, warrants on BAC common stock may be even more risky.

Warrants can expire worthless if they remain out of the money, ie the stock is below the warrant strike/exercise price.

The good news is, in free markets, risk was generally historically proportionate to reward.

BAC shares hit new annual lows on 19 December 2011, three days before the $335 M BAC settlement.

(If we can see and understand this insider trading activity, then why cannot SEC enforcement? Are they going along to get along with compromised Congress, the Courts and Executive Branch? Is it time for cleaning house?)

On Thursday 22 December 2011, with the $335 M BAC/DOJ settlement news, BAC/WS/B warrants traded to new lows of 29 cents a share.

BAC/WS/B is the warrant to purchase a share of BAC stock at a price of $30.79 until 28 October 2018, six years and ten months from now.

http://bit.ly/szbs4o

Like a long-term option, the B warrants expire worthless in six years, ten months.

They have no intrinsic value, unless/until BAC stock trades over $30.79 plus the price of the warrant, in this case 29 cents, or $31.08, if you buy them for 29 cents.

The $30.79 strike price of the B warrant is reduced every quarter BAC pays a dividend over 34 cents, presumably what the BAC dividend was on 9 January 2009 when the warrants were issued.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70858/000119312510044945/d424b7.htm#suptx70043_6

BAC common stock traded as high as $55.08 in November 2006, five years ago, almost a year ahead of the SPX high of 1576 in October 2007, a definite leading market indicator.

Some thought BAC/WS/A warrants had less risk and more value than the BAC/WS/B warrants. They gave four reasons:

I. BAC A warrants have another eleven plus weeks of time until 16 January 2019.

II. BAC A warrants have a lower strike price, $13.30, vs $30.79.

III. BAC A warrant exercise/strike price is reduced every quarter a BAC cash dividend paid is more than a penny, versus more than 34 cent dividend BAC B warrant strike price reductions, reportedly the dividends when they were issued.

IV. BAC A warrants have a slightly higher delta and theta hedge ratio than the B warrants. In other words, A warrants move a little bit more with the BAC stock price and decay a little bit less over time than BAC B warrants.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70858/000119312510044940/d424b7.htm

BAC/WS/A warrants are the right to buy BAC common shares at $13.30 until 16 January 2019, less than three months later than BAC/WS/B.

BAC/WS/A recently sold for a $1.9599 low on 19 December 2011, three days before the $335 M settlement.

Thus BAC/WS/A warrants are in the money if/when BAC trades over $15.2599 a share, if you buy them at $1.9599.

We think preferring BAC A warrants over B warrants because of better strike prices, time terms and hedge ratios may be making mountains out of molehills before seven years from now.

Either BAC goes belly up by 16 January 2019 and we are out the price of both warrants, or it surpasses current market expectations to revert to historic mean prices and dividends, in which case the BAC B warrants make more money than the BAC A warrants.

Merrill Chief Stock market analyst Robert Farrell's number one rule was that markets revert to the mean over time:

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/08/bob-farrells-10.html

In 2008, Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch in a shotgun subprime wedding with Treasury Secretary <The Hammer> Paulson presiding as Preacher after Merrill affirmative action Stanley O'Neal, described by CNBC as one of "The Worst CEOs of All Time," fired his boss/mentor and hordes of loyal employees, broke Merrill with subprime mortgages and retired with a $161.5 M golden parachute compensation package:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/what-could-be-next-for-stan-oneal/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_O%27Neal

BAC repaid the $45 B 2008 bailout takeover loan within the year, evidence of the serious financial strength of BAC, despite all the bad news bears.

BAC is the fifth largest company in the USA by total revenue.

The US Treasury sold the BAC warrants on 4 March 2010 less than two years later for a record $1.54 B.

Although this was larger than the $936.1 M auction in December 2009 of JPM TARP warrants, and the $1.1 B (GS) Goldman Sachs paid to buy back the warrants directly from T Geithner and the US Treasury at a reportedly fair price, the US Treasury, acting for US Taxpayers, may have left a lot of money in the market.

The tipoff may be that GS bought their warrants back.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2010-03-04-bank-america-warrants_N.htm

These BAC warrants now trade freely. With finite supply, they BAC warrants will be priced higher on increasing demand from any BAC or economic recovery.

Speaking of economic recovery, leading Fed Primary Dealer JPM Chase just increased First Quarter 2012 GDP estimates from 1% to 2.5%, an increase of 150%. Time will tell if this is accurate.

A large block of BAC common stock and warrants was acquired by John Paulson, the world's third largest hedge fund manager.

http://www.gurufocus.com/news/156414/stocks-that-are-cheaper-than-when-john-paulson-bought-them

Mr Paulson made a lot on his gold investments before having a tough year in 2011, down as much as -52%, selling his BAC warrants.

http://www.finalternatives.com/node/19125/print

Mr Paulson bought BAC/WW/A warrants in 2010 and sold them in 2011 at half price:

http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?symbol=BAC.WS.A

The two BAC warrants illustrate how rarely we got something for nothing in "free" markets.

Conversely, in free markets, risk was often proportional to reward.

Thus we prefer the higher risk B warrants above 29 cents.

We think there may be a reasonable "market surprise" that is currently not priced into the warrants.

We think there is a good probability BAC may be trading over $31.08 with more than a 34 cent dividend between now and 28 October 2018, 2499 days (six years, ten months, three days from now).

We note in addition to the minor (11 week) expiration difference in favour of BAC A warrants, 79% to 35% delta hedge ratio A:B difference and 13.30/30.79 A/B strike price differences, that the A warrants bought by most hedge fund managers were overvalued at 54% volatility relative to 35% volatility for BAC B Warrants, undervalued relative to BAC stock, with a current volatility of 57.18%.

Only the BAC B warrants were priced near their option implied volatility.

http://www.caminuscapital.com/TARP_WARRANTS.pdf

In addition, the leverage currently provided by the A warrants at the 23 December 2011 close was 5.60 BAC divided by 2.10 BAC/WS/A, or 2.66 times, while the leverage of the BAC/WS/B warrants on BAC stock was 18.66 times.

Is it worth taking a risk to make 18 times out money?

The leverage of the BAC/WS/B warrants to the BAC/WS/A warrants was 7 times greater.

The 7 times additional leverage with the BAC B Warrants can more offset a double or triple difference in delta hedge ratios and strike prices if BAC stock goes above 31.09 by 28 October 2018.

Therefore this is another reason we favour BAC B Warrants over BAC A warrants, in contrast to hedge fund managers with quantitative models that always seem to fail when needed most.

As we recall, Mr Buffett wrote some naked puts that begin to expire/exercise in 2018, on his theory that long-term put options are overpriced.

http://optionalpha.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Form-10-K-Berkshire.pdf (Page 39)

Does that mean long-term call options and warrants may be underpriced now?

Having recently also traded at all-time lows because of credit rating downgrades, and higher collateral costs, it may be worth reading beyond widespread BAC fear scare headlines:

“This decision is driven more by concerns about the globaleconomy than the specific credit quality of Bank of America,”Jerry Dubrowski, a spokesman for the lender, said in an e-mailedstatement. “We continue to maintain strong liquidity levels andto build capital.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/bank-of-america-goldman-sachs-barclays-default-ratings-reduced-by-fitch.html

In fact, this is correct.

BAC non-performing loans and writeoffs peaked at $28.4 B in 2010, despite all the hoopla.

Writeoffs are around $13.8 B in 2011, less than half last year's peak.

In fact, because of reduced writeoffs, BAC reported earnings of 56 cents a share in the third quarter of 2011, the largest earnings since the 82 cent third quarter earnings of 2007 four years prior.

Hello BAC, whatcha growing?

Insiders bought BAC above $5 a share since 2009 and were net BAC purchasers the last 6 months.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=BAC+Insider+Transactions

With earnings increasing, it may be worth considering carefully what ownership in BAC, a one-time San Francisco-based corporate entity dating from 1874, with 288,000 employees and 247,064 shareholders means for our American Dream.

Bank of America Corporation has client customers in 150 countries, relationships with 99% of the Fortune 500 companies and a retail banking footprint near 80% of the US population with 58% of American households as customer clients.

BAC invented the BankAmeriCard in the 1950s, now known as VISA, a BAC spinoff.

Forbes rated BAC the third biggest company in the world last year.

After BAC was acquired by NationsBank of Charlotte, NC, Nations Bank changed its name to BAC and acquired Fleet-Boston, Chicago LaSalle Bank, MBNA and US Trust Corp. BAC sold China Construction Bank for over a $5 B profit.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the world's largest wealth manager and a major player in investment banking, the private source of capital for American growth and recovery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America

As a former employee of Merrill Lynch for most of 1976 to 1986, I appreciated the financial power of that when the patented Cash Management Account and various investment funds were marketed.

BAC Merrill is currently gathering even more than $2.3 T in assets with the Edge account:

http://www.merrilledge.com/m/pages/why-merrill-edge.aspx

In sum, while BAC is for many painfully synonymous with corporate government corruption and fraud, evidenced by this transitory BAC Rick Perry sotto voce encounter and the many Wikileaks threats, perhaps the BAC Prodigal Son has reformed and will be forgiven:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fRhb0awjAg 0:41

Late BAC EVP Walter Hoadley reminded us at his Banker's Club Prayer Breakfasts, the good guys were always just a few, the Biblical remnant, and can make a big difference, like Ron Paul and the Silver Senator:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2003-03-13/bay-area/17482863_1_uc-berkeley-scholarship-fund-memorial-service

Isaiah 11:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people...
BAC owning cash flow cow Merrill reminds us of the American Telephone monopoly breakup in 1982, and the Standard Oil monopoly breakup in 1911. In both cases, each of the babies grew larger than the parent, and one of the baby Bells even bought Ma Bell and took her name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Corporation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil

While we are not suggesting BAC may immediately spin off Merrill to add value, we shall enjoy what happens with BAC over time as/if this economic depression improves.

So our bottom line on Buying BAC/WS/B above 28 cents is that we could lose the entire amount or make 18 times our money.

If it works out, we will probably exercise the B warrants to buy BAC shares paying growing dividends as a generational heritage for our family.

We like that...

Donate Increase Tithes to:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Confidential Communications to:

silversenator@hushmail.com

The 200 Day Moving Average = 1259.15: 40 Week Moving Average = 1258.70

2011-12-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

If we decisively break through the 200-Day Red Line and 40 Week Blue Line Moving Averages and stay there, that is the classic textbook definition of a bull market.

At the same time, investor uncertainty is at a six year high:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45766588

We have long said people are most bearish after the bottom, and most bullish after the top.

After posting the popular Look Out Below Tsunami Alert that described the mind of the market and drew over 3000 views, we were contrary exceptional bullish this week.

How long will that continue?

We have no idea.

As we often posted on Charts With Hearts, Jubilee Prosperity.com and to our Big4 Weekly Asset Allocation and TopTen Closely Held Dividend Discount Annual Money Back Guarantee Subscribers and now here on TradeBlog, we have no idea what's coming, only what has been.

We do know the Big4 are long QQQ, SPX, RUT and short the dollar here.

Our sole goal is to follow the market, to remain on the right side of our friend the market trend.

In the past, three day market holidays like this one were market turning points.

Will these back to back Christmas and New Year's holidays be turning points?

You got it - we have absolutely no idea.

Our goal is to accurately follow the Mind and Money of the Market, the approximate title of the Stanford University courses we taught by Academic Senate Appointment in the late 70s and early 80s.

Does this apply to market algo-bots too?

By way of answer, we note today the SPX came within .05 of the 200 Day Moving Average of 1259.15 this AM, and could take that out too, which might make trend-following AlgoBot systems buy more.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?spx

Another piece of this market puzzle is the widely followed VXX, which, although it is targeting down another -17%, turned green the last two days including today:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=vxx

Two days do not a trend make, so we turn to ISE ISEE for a clue:

ISE is also still in bullish mode, with 168% All Opening Calls/Puts on 12/21/2011 still below the 178% figure on 11/28/2011 that set off this latest round of ebullient market price hikes.

http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=126

We especially note the 40 Week Moving Average of 1258.70 was already penetrated to the upside with SPX with 1259.10:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?spx

Thus we are still of the opinion that the market is in a widely doubted end of year uptrend until further notice, and the SPX 200 DMA redline may be the next mile marker to fall, perhaps even withstanding a scary bear headfake:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?spx.

In the meantime, Trailing Buy and Sell Stops in and out of market trends are our best market tools...

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/03/080603.asp#axzz1hNK0VhCB

Mele Kalikimaka and Happy Holidays All.

http://dltk-holidays.com/xmas/hawaiian.html

Support of TradeBlog with your Trade Profit Tithes allows it to continue into the 2012 New Year:

Mahalo,

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Buy The Dips coz Here Comes Santa Claus?

2011-12-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

Tim Bost thinks so:

Market planetary cycles calling for ten day SC Jupiter rally from Winter Solstice:

http://bit.ly/sUWzJ5 13:22

(TB's had a hot hand)

SPX came back 15 points from 12:22 EST today.

244% Opening Equity Calls to Puts at 2:30 PM EST today with dropping volatility premiums = Smart Money Buys.

http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=126&header3=true&menu0=true&link1=true

Buy the dips?

Think so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK60Cwwp_EI&feature=related 2:33

Six Christmas Poppers

2011-12-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

Market trends still long-term down with perhaps short-term bounce.

11:50 EST Equity Call/Put opening option buyers 238% on lower volatility are the smart short term money: http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=126

Yesterday's market explosion retracing today maybe to 1229.51.

We have confirmed Big4 longs in QQQ, $RUT, $SPX.

Big4 are also long EUD, NZD, Peso, Swiss Franc as well as Ags, Cocoa, Coffee, Sugar,
while short AUD, DOW, RUB, USD, VIX, a recipe for higher prices at least into the New Year.

We were 99th percentile in the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge with Short Term Trading Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds, never a long-term hold because of daily reset compounding, but sometimes a great trade.

We just reviewed them for the best current trades.

Enjoy the holiday blast with these Six Leveraged ETF End of Year Trades,
using Trailing Buys and Stops to enter and exit with protection:

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?c=BGU,P
Target 79

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=Ust,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
Current Target +44%

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=qqq,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
Current Target +43%

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=lbnd,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
Current target +38%

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=retl,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
Current Target+38%

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=drn,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G
Current Target +33%

Happy Holy Days all...

Isaiah 6:9:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end... to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

RDN>$1.80: Radian Contrary Value

2011-12-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

Buying closely-held contrary bargains with income around Christmas tax sale time can profit.

We note Insiders accumulated distressed shares of Philadelphia-based Radian Group after $1.80 lows on 4 October 2011.

Radian ensures the American Dream.

Radian on-going businesses are Amerin Guaranty, Radian Guaranty and Radian Insurance, primarily private mortgage insurance and risk management on first-lien mortgages sold to and guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As of 31 March 2011 Radian had $357 M risk on second-lien mortgages, credit default swaps, international mortgages and net margin interest securities, which lines are being closed. The $357 M risk is less than the recent tangible book value of $1.28 Billion.

Radian is expanding their sales organization on prime loans with the Radian PowerPak for one-stop homeowner financing.

Many residential mortgage defaults and foreclosures bankrupted and liquidated similar companies and subsidiaries, offering occasional value acquisitions to Radian, which has loss reserves, 37 cents cash a share and a tangible book value of $9.67 a share.

A good portion of Radian mortgage risk claims and defaults is in FL, CA, AZ, GA, MI, IL, and OH, the states most affected by residential price declines. RDN might be considered a call option on any residential real estate recovery in these states.

There are only 79 RDN shareholders, with a little less than 6 million shares traded a day on a current market cap of $273 Million.

RDN earnings are still red, although improving in trend,with an earnings beat on 1 November 2011.

RDN is currently targeting 2 to 6.75, +237%.

We think the risk/reward ratio may be worth it for a trade with Trailing Stop losses to enter and exit.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?rdn

http://www.radian.biz/page?name=HomePage

Confirmation

2011-12-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

We just received confirmation of our decision to stand for election to the US Senate in 2012 from the largest investment newsletter publisher in his December Issue.

We include it here and on our SilverSenator2012 blogspot because politics have a lot to do with our economy and the current investment themes that are working.

http://silversenator2012.blogspot.com/

If you agree, then please do support our cause with 10% donations of your increase from reading Trade Blog:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Thank you.

If we do nothing, then it may be all over but the crying and shouting, as we approach the potential endgame of the greatest experiment in freedom and prosperity in the history of this world:

The Corruption of America

Inside This Month's Issue
•	Where the criminals live... and why
•	Detroit's gone, its politicians remain
•	Newt's $1.6 million shakedown of Fannie Mae
•	Why I'm still bullish on America
By: Porter Stansberry

The numbers tell us America is in decline... if not outright collapse.
I say "the numbers tell us" because I've become very sensitive to the impact this kind of statement has on people. When I warned about the impending bankruptcy of General Motors in 2006 and 2007, readers actually blamed me for the company's problems – as if my warnings to the public were the real problem, rather than GM's $400 billion in debt.
The claim was absurd. But the resentment my work engendered was real.
So please... before you read this issue, which makes several arresting claims about the future of our country... understand I am only writing about the facts as I find them today. I am only drawing conclusions based on the situation as it stands. I am not saying that these conditions can't improve. Or that they won't improve.
The truth is, I am optimistic. I believe our country is heading into a crisis. But I also believe that... sooner or later... Americans will make the right choices and put our country back on sound footing.
Please pay careful attention to the data I cite. And please send me corrections to the facts. I will happily publish any correction that can be substantiated. But please don't send me threats, accusations against my character, or baseless claims about my lack of patriotism. If I didn't love our country, none of these facts would bother me. I wouldn't have bothered writing this letter.
I know this is a politically charged and emotional issue. My conclusions will not be easy for most readers to accept. Likewise, many of the things I am writing about this month will challenge my subscribers to re-examine what they believe about their country. The facts about America today tell a painful story about a country in a steep decline, beset by problems of its own making.
One last point, before we begin... I realize that this kind of macro-economic/political analysis is not, primarily, what you pay me for. You rightly expect me to provide you with investment opportunities – whether bull market, bear market, or total societal collapse. And that's what I've done every month for more than 15 years.
But that's not what I've done this month. You won't find any investment ideas at all in these pages. This issue is unlike any other I have ever written.
I'm sure it will spark a wave of cancellations – costing me hundreds of thousands of dollars. I fear it will spark a tremendous amount of controversy. Many people will surely accuse me of deliberately writing inflammatory things in order to stir the pot and gain attention. That's not my intention. The truth is, I've gone to great lengths throughout my career to protect my privacy.
I am speaking out now because I believe someone must. And I have the resources to do it. I am sharing these ideas with my subscribers because I know we have arrived at the moment of a long-brewing crisis.
Our political leaders, our business leaders, and our cultural leaders have made a series of catastrophic choices. The result has been a long decline in America's standard of living.
For decades, we have papered over these problems with massive amounts of borrowing. But now, our debts total close to 400% of GDP, and America is the world's largest borrower (after being the world's largest creditor only 40 years ago)... And the holes in our society can no longer be hidden...
We've reached the point where we will have to fix what lies at the heart of America's decline... or be satisfied with a vastly lower standard of living in the future.
How do I know? How do I statistically define the decline of America?
The broadest measure of national wealth is per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). Economists use this figure to judge standards of living around the world. It shows the value of the country's annual production divided by the number of its citizens. No, the production isn't actually divided among all the citizens, but this measure provides us with a fair benchmark to compare different economies around the world. Likewise, this measure shows the growth (or the decline) in wealth in societies across time.
So... is America growing richer or poorer based on per-capita GDP? Seems like a simple enough question, doesn't it? Is our economy growing faster than our population? Are we, as individuals, becoming more affluent? Or is the pie, measured on a per-person basis, growing smaller?
This is the most fundamental measure of the success or the failure of any political system or culture. Are the legal and social rules we live under aiding our economic development or holding us back? What do the numbers say?
Unfortunately, it's a harder question to answer than it should be. The problem is, we don't have a sound currency with which to measure GDP through time. Until 1971, the U.S. dollar was defined as a certain amount of gold. And the price of gold was fixed by international agreement. It didn't actually begin to trade freely until 1975. Therefore, the value of the U.S. dollar (and thus the value of U.S. production, which is measured in dollars) was manipulated higher for many years.
Even today, our government's nominal GDP figures are greatly influenced by inflation. The influence of inflation is particularly pernicious in GDP studies. You see, inflation, which actually reduces our standard of living, drives up the amount of nominal GDP. So it creates the appearance of a wealthier country... while the nation is actually getting poorer.
The only real way to accurately measure per-capita GDP is to build our own model. The need to build our own tools tells you something important – the government doesn't want anyone to know the answer to this question. It could easily publish data far more accurate than the indexes it puts out. But government doesn't want anyone to know. And it wants to be able to say "those aren't the real data" when studies like ours produce bad news.
So pay attention to how we built our charts. You can see for yourself that our data are far more accurate than the government's figures. Our data are based on the real purchasing power of the currency, not the nominal numbers, which are completely meaningless in the real world.
The question we are trying to answer is: What would per-capita GDP numbers look like, if we used a real-world currency, like gold, or a basket of commodity prices, instead of the paper-based U.S. dollar? What would the figures be if we measured GDP in sound money instead of the government's funny money?
Here's how we figured it out. We took the government numbers for nominal GDP and measured them first against commodity prices, and later (after it began to trade freely) gold. We used a standard commodity index (the CRB) up to 1975 and gold post-1975. The result of this analysis shows you the real trend in U.S. per-capita GDP, as measured on a real-world purchasing power basis.
Our analysis shows you what's actually happened to our real standard of living. The results, we suspect, will surprise even the most bearish among you.
America is in a steep decline.

Americans Are Getting Poorer – Fast

Let me anticipate the "official" criticism of our study. Many people will claim that our numbers aren't "real." They will say that we "mined" the data to produce a chart that showed a steep decline.
That's simply not so. All we've done is convert the government's nominal GDP stats into a fixed currency value that's based on real-world purchasing power. The fact is, our data are far more accurate than the government's because they represent the real-world experience. That's why our data are far more closely correlated to other real-world studies of wealth in America.
Consider, for example, annual sales of automobiles. Auto sales peaked in 1985 (11 million) and have been declining at a fairly steady rate since 1999. In 2009, Americans bought just 5.4 million passenger cars. As a result, the median age of a registered vehicle in the U.S. is almost 10 years.
Our data shows that real per-capita wealth peaked in the late 1960s. Guess when we find the absolutely lowest median age of the U.S. fleet? In 1969. At the end of the 1960s, the median age of all the cars on the road in the U.S. was only 5.1 years. Even as recently as 1990, the median age was only 6.5 years.
Rich people buy new cars. Poor people do not.
Most important, our data "proves" something I know many of you have felt or perceived for many years. You've seen the decline of your neighborhoods. You've gone years without being able to earn more money in your job. Or you've seen your purchasing power decrease to the point where you're now substituting lower-quality products on your grocery list for the brand-name products you used to buy.
You can see how much harder it is on your children to find good jobs, to buy good housing or a new car. As a result, few people under the age of 40 have the same kind of "life story" as their parents.
And because they can't "make it," many have decided to "fake it." The average college student now graduates with $24,000 in debt... and by his late 20s has racked up more than $6,000 in credit card debt. Meanwhile, median earnings for Americans aged 25-34 equals $34,000-$38,000. (Source: Demos.org, "The Economic State of Young America," November 2011.)
Can you imagine starting your life out as an adult with a personal debt-to-income level at close to 100%? What does this say about the state of our economy? What does this say about the state of our culture?

Who Suffers Most

It's not only the young that are having trouble in America. It is also the old.
Debt levels among households headed by people older than 62 have been rising for two decades. The average mortgage size for this population is now $71,000 – five times larger than it was in 1987 (adjusted for inflation), according to William Apgar of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Older Americans are also more reliant on credit card debt than ever before... credit card debt. From 1992 through 2007 (which is the latest data available) older Americans took on credit card debt at a faster pace than the population as a whole. According to USA Today, lower- and middle-income Americans aged 65 and older now carry an average of more than $10,000 in credit card debt, up 26% since only 2005.
Given average interest rates of 20% for these debts, it's a fair bet that these obligations will never be repaid. But they will have a terrible impact on the standard of living of these older Americans.
What in the heck is going on? Don't Americans pay off their mortgages before they retire? Don't they work hard during their careers, save, and invest, so they can move to Florida and spend their retirement in comfort?
Older Americans living with credit card debt! This doesn't sound like America, does it? Or maybe it does.
My bet is that most of my subscribers know that something has gone terribly wrong with America. It's not easy to figure out how all of this happened... but you know from your own experiences that these numbers aren't wrong. It might not be pleasant to think about... but these figures paint a sad but accurate picture: America is not the country it was 40 years ago. These changes are warping our economy, politics, and culture.
In this month's issue, I'd like to try to define a few of the core reasons we're in this situation. I can't possibly analyze all the factors that have led to this decline. But I want to document the growth of graft in politics. I want to demonstrate – with real facts and examples – how public company leadership has deteriorated. And I want to document some of the things that are occurring in the broader society, all of which I believe are linked to this fundamental decline in our standard of living.
You see, I believe the decline of our country is primarily a decline of our culture.
We have lost our sense of honor, humility, and the dedication to personal responsibility that, for more than 200 years, made our country the greatest hope for mankind. I want to detail some of the factors that gave rise to the current entitlement society. We have become a country of people who believe their well-being is someone else's responsibility.
I've labeled these problems: The Corruption of America.
These problems manifest themselves in different ways across institutions in all parts of our society. But at their root, they are simply facets of the same stone. They are all part of the same essential problem.
The corruption of America isn't happening in one part of our country... or in one type of institution. It is happening across the landscape of our society, in almost every institution. It's a kind of moral decay... a kind of greed... a kind of desperate grasp for power... And it's destroying our nation.

The Ethos of 'Getting Yours'

Americans know, in their bones, that something terrible is happening. Maybe you can't articulate it. Maybe you don't have the statistics to understand exactly what's going on. But my bet is, you think about it a lot.
For me, a poignant moment of recognition came this month.
Bloomberg news published an article based on confidential sources about how Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and the Republican U.S. Treasury secretary during the financial crisis, held a secret meeting with the top 20 hedge-fund managers in New York City in late July 2008. This was about two weeks after he testified to Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "well-capitalized."
I knew for a fact that what Paulson told Congress wasn't true. I wrote my entire June 2008 newsletter detailing exactly why Fannie and Freddie certainly had billions in losses that they had not yet revealed to investors – $500 billion in losses, at least. There was no question in my mind, both companies were insolvent – "zeros," as I explained.
And yet, in front of Congress, the U.S. Treasury secretary was saying exactly the opposite. Either I was a liar... or he was.
Then... only a few days later... what did Paulson tell those hedge-fund managers?
He told them the same thing I had written in my newsletter. He told them the opposite of what he'd said publicly to Congress. He told these billionaire investors that Fannie and Freddie were a disaster... They would require an enormous, multibillion-dollar bailout... The U.S. government would have to take them over... And their shareholders would be completely wiped out.
Here you had a high-government official, explicitly lying to Congress (and by extension, the general public), while giving the real facts to a group of people who represented the financial interests of the world's wealthiest folks. The story didn't come to the public's attention for two years.
This was the most outrageous example of graft and corruption I have ever seen. Certainly it involves more billions of dollars in misappropriated value than any other similar story I can recall. These managers had the risk-free ability to make tens of billions of dollars, if not hundreds of billions, by using derivatives to capitalize on what they knew was the imminent collapse of the world's largest mortgage bank. Who picked up the tab? You know perfectly well. It was you and me, the taxpayers.
(One of the investment managers present at this meeting was Steve Rattner, who by that point was already deeply involved in another bit of graft, his efforts to bribe New York state pension-fund managers for large investments into his hedge fund, from which he earned perhaps as much as $100 million. He later settled the charges for a mere $10 million shortly after Andrew Cuomo was elected governor of New York.)
The Bloomberg story... about a crooked Treasury secretary handing a room full of crooked billionaires inside information worth billions of dollars... hardly caused a ripple. As far as I know, no actions are being planned against Henry Paulson or any of the hedge-fund managers involved. No other major media outlet picked up the story. I saw nothing about it from the Department of Justice or the Securities and Exchange Commission.
What does that say about our country when even the most egregious kind of corruption – involving hundreds of billions of dollars – is simply ignored?
It seems like everyone in our country has lost his moral bearing, from the highest government officials and senior corporate leaders all the way down to schoolteachers and local community leaders. The ethos of my fellow Americans seems to have changed from one of personal integrity and responsibility to "getting yours" – the all-out attempt, by any means possible, to get the most amount of benefits with the least amount of work.
You can see this in everything from the lowering of school standards (revising the SAT) to the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional, college, and high school sports. Cheating has become a way of life in America.
I have an idea about how this happened... about the root cause of this kind of corruption and why it was inevitable, given some of the basic facts regarding how we've organized our government and our corporations.
Let me show you the numbers – the hard facts – behind what's happened to our country...

The Corruption of Politics

I'll start with one of the biggest factors in the decline of our civilization – the link between welfare, education, crime, and politics.
It is routinely alleged in national political debates that something is fundamentally unfair and un-American about the huge "wealth gap" between the poorest Americans and the wealthiest. Some politicians like to argue that the poor never have a real shot at the American dream, and as a nation, we owe them more and more of our resources to correct this injustice. Most important, it is alleged that only the government has the resources to correct this inequality.
This is a dangerous notion...
First, it promotes the idea of entitlement. Entitlement is a fairly new idea in the American political lexicon – perhaps because most of our nation's wealth is still fairly new. The American idea of entitlement argues that because you were born into a rich society, other people owe you something. The idea has become pervasive in our culture. It underlies the basic assumptions behind the idea of a "wealth gap." Implicit is the assumption that successful Americans haven't rightfully earned their wealth... that in one way or another, they've taken advantage of the society and have an obligation to give back most of what they've "taken."
As you'll see, I believe the idea of entitlement lies at the root of many of our most serious cultural problems.
The more obvious problem is the idea that the government is responsible for fixing the "wealth gap." But the government has proved wholly ineffective at dealing with poverty in America. The data is nearly conclusive that government efforts are far more likely to be the cause of the wealth gap than the solution.
The simple fact is, the government has to take resources from someone before it can dole them out to others. And this act of taking turns out to be economically destructive. It reduces the market's incentives for entrepreneurs. The more you take from the productive members of society, the less productive they become. That's the primary lesson of the history of socialism. Yet... many of our political leaders seem oblivious to this iron law of human nature.
Consider a simple analysis that compares the unemployment rate with the size of the federal government's spending, as measured against GDP. (We created this chart after reading a similar analysis at Mark Perry's excellent financial blog, Carpe Diem.)

As you can see in this chart, the larger the government grows as a percentage of our economy, the higher unemployment rises. The more government, the less opportunity. These figures are similar when studied comparatively across many different countries.
We also know from decades of experience that little of the government's funding for the poor will ever reach those who are actually in need. Instead, these kinds of socialist policies end up sending billions of dollars into the hands of unions, "community organizers," and other sponsors of the Democratic Party. This tightens their political control of America's inner cities, which have become the source of our country's most intractable social problems.
Believe me, I have reams of data and decades of case studies for these conclusions. But before we get to my proof, I want you to simply assume that what I'm saying is 100% correct. Assume most of the government's social spending ends up corrupting the politics of the inner city. Assume these efforts actually make the "wealth gap" larger. Assume these policies and the politicians who sponsor them are actually creating a society of complete dependence, where the spread of ignorance has created entire generations of people who aren't educated enough to know they've been enslaved by their own leaders.
If these things are true, if my conclusions are exactly right, what would America's poorest communities look like today?
It has now been almost 50 years since the start of the War on Poverty, President Lyndon Johnson's program to radically increase domestic welfare spending. These programs and their various spinoffs have been at the center of Democratic politics ever since. In fact, if you compare speeches about these programs from the mid-1960s until today, you will find the verbiage never changes. Obama is merely echoing the same calls for "social justice" that Robert Kennedy used in his ill-fated 1968 campaign for president.
But besides the soaring rhetoric, besides the promise of a "chicken in every pot," what have these programs actually achieved? The wholesale destruction of urban communities across America, communities that are overwhelmingly African American. If the intention of these programs had been to destroy black communities, you could have hardly done more damage than the last 50 years of Democratic policy.
I don't think most Americans realize how dangerous these communities have become or the toll they take on our country as a whole. That's primarily because talking about this problem is seen as racist. That's complete nonsense. The victims of these policies are primarily black people. Trying to help them restore dignity and independence to their communities isn't a racist goal. It's humanitarian.
And let me offer a prediction... Sooner or later, the people in these communities are going to finally point their finger at the politicians who've lied and pandered to them for decades, all while stealing from them at every turn. When that moment comes, having a track record of correctly speaking out about the real nature of these problems will be a valuable political asset.
No, I'm not running for office... I'm just trying to buck-up the politicians who I know read this letter. They need to get out in front of this issue.
Let me give you some of the numbers that define the enormous scope of these problems.
According to the NAACP, Texas taxpayers spent $175 million in 2009 to imprison residents from a small part of Houston – only 10 zip codes out of 75. Thus, people from neighborhoods that are home to only about 10% of the city's population account for more than 33% of the state's entire $500 million annual prison spending. These neighborhoods are overwhelmingly poor and African American.
In Pennsylvania, taxpayers will spend $290 million in 2009 to imprison residents from just 11 of Philadelphia's neighborhoods, representing about 25% of the city population. On this relatively small urban area, the state will spend roughly half its $500 million prison budget. These neighborhoods are overwhelmingly poor and African American.
In New York, taxpayers will spend $539 million to imprison residents from only 24 of New York City's 200 different neighborhoods. Only 16% of the city's population lives in these areas, but they will account for nearly half of the state's $1.1 billion prison budget. These neighborhoods are overwhelmingly poor and African American.
America has many problems... but these neighborhoods represent more than a society in decline. Life in these places reflects a complete collapse of Western civilization. What's happening in these communities? A breakdown of the family and the resulting collapse of the school system. What you have left is crime – violent and political.
In Detroit, only 27% of the black male students in the school system graduate from high school. This is not a racial problem: Only 19% of the white male students graduate from those same schools. What's causing this problem? A complete breakdown of society. When communities can no longer teach their children the most basic academic skills, such as reading, math, history, literature, and economics... what future can we expect? And what kind of society do you expect after several generations of total ignorance?
These problems are still found primarily in urban areas, but they are spreading across the country. In Pinellas County, Florida, only 21% of black male students graduate from high school. In Palm Beach County, Florida, you find a similar number. Likewise Duval County, Florida... and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana... and Charleston County, South Carolina. In Nebraska, only 40% of black male students graduate from high school. In Nevada, only 45%. In New York state, only 25%.
What opportunities are available in America to people without even a basic education? The New York Times reports almost 70% of black males without a high school diploma are unemployed in the United States.
In many predominantly black, urban communities, the actual unemployment rate is close to 100% for young dropouts. Given these figures, it isn't surprising that many of these people end up in jail.
According to various studies, black males who dropped out of school by age 16 are four times more likely to end up in jail than those who remained in school. Crime is literally all they know. Likewise, a black youth whose mother was a high school dropout is 88% more likely to end up in jail. These are the two primary reasons nearly one in 11 adult black men are either in jail or on parole.
How did this all happen? How did we end up with expensive schools that can't teach? How did we end up with young mothers who aren't married? How did we end up with entire generations of people who won't – and probably can't – work in the labor force? How did we end up with a skyrocketing prison population? The prison population in America has soared from less than half a million people in 1980 to more than 2.5 million people today. More than 7 million adults are in prison or on parole in the United States. We have an incarceration rate that's seven times higher than any other industrialized nation.
The land of the free?
Let's ask the most basic question: What has the gigantic increase in welfare spending and education spending done for the underclass of America? It seems apparent that growth in federal spending has caused far more harm than good. When you study these neighborhoods, what you find is a horrifying story that's been repeated, generation after generation since the early 1960s. It's a story of families who have been destroyed by their dependency on the state.
The truly extraordinary part is that all these things happened after these neighborhoods began voting and electing their own (typically black and Democratic) leadership. The socialism they voted for themselves led most directly to the destruction of their communities. It was their own mayors, ward leaders, and congressmen who chose this path for these communities.
Let me show you one case study – Detroit.

How Socialism Came to America...
and Destroyed Detroit

In 1961, the last Republican mayor of Detroit, Louis C. Miriani, lost his re-election bid. He probably would have lost to anyone who ran against him because he was known to be a crook. He later served 10 years in prison for tax evasion.
The man who defeated him, Jerome Cavanagh, was a Democrat. He ushered in a new kind of politics in Detroit. Cavanagh, who was white, got elected by promising to give Detroit's African American population the civil rights they deserved. But he didn't stop there. Seeing the political advantage to serving this community's interests, he did all he could to bring government benefits and government spending to Detroit's black community.
Cavanagh brought socialism to Detroit.
Mayor Cavanagh was the only elected official to serve on President Johnson's Model Cities task force. The program was modeled after Soviet efforts to rebuild whole urban areas in Eastern Europe. At the time, this centralized approach to urban development was proclaimed as an advantage to the Soviet system, something that could give them an edge in the Cold War.
Detroit received widespread acclaim for its leadership in the program, which attempted to turn a nine-square-mile section of the city (with 134,000 inhabitants) into a "Model City." To help finance the effort, Cavanagh pushed a new income tax through the state legislature and a "commuter tax" on city workers. He promised the mostly poor and black residents of the Model City area that the rich would pay for all of these benefits. He bought their votes with taxes they didn't have to pay.
It was classic American socialism.
More than $400 million was spent on the program – and that was back when quarters still had actual silver in them. The feds and Democratic city mayors were soon telling people where to live, what to build, and what businesses to open or close. In return, the people received cash, training, education, and health care.
But they didn't like being told what to do... or how to live. Not surprisingly, the Model Cities program was a disaster for Detroit. Within five years, it had helped trigger a complete breakdown of civil order and the city's population began to rapidly decline.
On July 23, 1967, police attempted to break up a notorious "blind pig" in the heart of the new Model City. Blind pigs were after-hours clubs that featured gambling and prostitution. They were part of the black culture of Detroit, with many having been in operation since the Prohibition period. The community tolerated these establishments – but the political leadership didn't want any blind pigs in the new Model City area.
On this particular night, at this particular club, the community was celebrating the return of two Vietnam War veterans. More than 80 people had packed into the club. The police decided to arrest everyone present, including the two war vets. This outraged the entire neighborhood, which began to riot. The scene turned into the worst race riot of the 1960s.
As my friend Doug Casey likes to say about the War on Poverty, "The poor lost." The violence killed more than 40 people and left more than 5,000 people homeless. One of the first stores to be looted was a black-owned pharmacy. The largest black-owned clothing store in the city was also burned to the ground. Cavanagh did nothing to stop the riots. (He claimed a large police presence would make matters worse.) Five days later, President Johnson sent in two divisions of paratroopers to put down the insurrection.
The situation destabilized the entire city. Most of the people who could afford to leave did. Over the next 18 months, 140,000 upper- and middle-class residents – almost all of them white – left the city.
And so, you might ask... after five years of centralized planning, higher taxes, and a fleeing population, what did the government decide to do with its grand experiment? You'll never guess...
Seeing it had accomplished nothing but failure... The government expanded the Model City program with 1974's Community Development Block Grant Program. Here again, politicians would decide which groups (and even individuals) would receive state funds for various "renewal" schemes. Later, big business was brought into the fold. In exchange for various concessions, the Big Three automakers "gave" $488 million to the city for use in still more redevelopment schemes in the mid-1990s.
What happened? Even with all of their power and all of the money, centralized planners couldn't succeed with any of their plans. Nearly all of the upper- and middle-class citizens left Detroit. The poor fled, too. The Model City area lost 63% of its population and 45% of its housing units from the inception of the program through 1990.
Even today, the crisis continues. At a recent auction of nearly 9,000 seized homes and lots, less than one-fifth of the available properties sold, even with bidding starting at $500. You literally can't give away most of the property in Model City areas today. The properties put up for sale represented an area the size of New York's Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area the size of Boston. Detroit properties in foreclosure have more than tripled since 2007.
None of this is surprising. It's exactly what you'd expect to see given the implementation of a socialist scheme like a Model Cities' program. Quite simply, coercion doesn't work for economic development. You cannot tax yourself into prosperity.
It might buy votes... but sooner or later the voters will realize all that's been promised was a lie. Won't they?... Maybe not.
You see, the failure of the Model Cities program and of the War on Poverty wasn't surprising. What is surprising is that every single mayor of Detroit since 1961 has been a Democrat. And extremely liberal, black politicians have filled almost every major political office in the city since the mid-1960s.
For example, John Conyers, Jr. has represented most of Detroit's worst neighborhoods since 1965. Today, Conyers is the second-longest serving congressman in the House. And his election track record could be described as "Putin-esque." Conyers doesn't merely win all of his election campaigns... He wins by margins that aren't explainable in a normal, two-party system.
He defeated Republican Robert Blackwell in 1964, getting 84% of the vote. He was re-elected 13 times in a row from that district, all with a greater margin of victory than 85%. Ironically, the district was so ill-served by his socialistic policies that about half of the people moved away. The population losses led to redistricting. From then on, his margin of victory has fallen... to "only" around 80%.
These election results don't seem reasonable, do they? They aren't. By controlling the state legislature in Michigan, the Democrats are able to draw the congressional districts in a way that guarantees them almost permanent control. It's no different than what despots do all over the world. They hold an "election." But it's only for show.
And what do the Democrats do with this power? They push a form of American socialism. This political system features transfer payments, government jobs, and lucrative government contracts to voters in exchange for political support – and in many cases, outright bribes. They do all of these things under the cover of "progressive" politics and "social justice."
But if you brush away the veneer, what you find is a history of abuse of power, corruption, and outright bribery. Conyers himself was found guilty of several minor ethical violations in 2006 – mainly of using his staff as personal servants, forcing them to babysit and chauffer his children. In 1992, he was one of the most egregious abusers of the House Banking scandal. He wrote 273 bad checks and left his account overdrawn for nine months. But that's all small-time graft compared to how things really work in his office and in his district.
How do I know? Well... just ask yourself where Conyers' wife sleeps today.
Monica Conyers, the wife of the second-longest tenured congressman in the United States, sleeps in a federal prison in West Virginia. She pled guilty to bribery in June 2009. She is serving a 37-month sentence for accepting $60,000 in bribes as the president pro tempore of the Detroit City Council. And yet... and yet... Conyers won re-election handily in 2010.
How is that possible?
These kinds of people and their political philosophy have destroyed what was once America's fourth-largest city. There is almost nothing left of what was the capital of America's industrial heartland. It's not hard to understand what has happened. When you start taxing people at extremely progressive rates to pay for socialist "benefits"... when you start telling them which schools their children must attend... when you start giving jobs away to people based on political patronage, race, or anything other than ability... you quash human freedom, you create dependency. And you deter capital and investment... which bogs down productivity and economic growth. If continued for long enough, it leads to social collapse.
And Conyers is hardly an anomaly. Just look at those same blighted districts in Houston and Philadelphia...
In Houston, most of the city's worst neighborhoods in terms of high-school graduation rates and crime are found in Texas Congressional District 18, where Democrats have won every election since the district was created through re-zoning in 1972. In 1994, Sheila Jackson Lee won the seat by promising to deliver more federal benefits to her constituents...
To appreciate the sterling representation the Honorable Ms. Jackson Lee provides, consider this... In 2010 in bizarre remarks before Congress, she demanded the government recognize victory in Vietnam. You can try to figure out what she's talking about here. She also alleged racism on the part of her fellow members of Congress who were voting against raising the debt ceiling. Don't believe it? View for yourself.
In Philadelphia, Chaka Fattah represents the worst parts of the city, Pennsylvania's 2nd Congressional District. The 2nd District is the fifth-most Democratic Congressional District out of the 435 in Congress (and the most Democratic outside of New York) based on the consistency and margin of Democratic victories. A black Democrat has held the seat since 1963.
Among Chaka Fattah's political highlights is his economically illiterate plan to implement a 1% surcharge on all financial transactions and transfers in lieu of all other forms of tax. This ill-fated plan, which hasn't gotten a single co-sponsor, ignores everything we know about actual human behavior. (If you implemented such a cost to financial transactions, the viability of those transactions would be destroyed and they wouldn't occur.)
Fattah's other notable political position is his support for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia's case has been a cause célèbre for years. The details of his endless appeals are tedious... just know the evidence presented against him is overwhelming. And the Fraternal Order of Police has consistently campaigned against Fattah's re-election over his support of Mumia.
The larger point is... These districts are among the most blighted in our nation. Society has broken down there to a horrible degree. Opportunity has vanished... Crime is rampant... Dependency on the state is the norm. The leadership in these communities should be the most scrutinized, their elected positions among the most contested. And yet, they are the safest seats in Congress. The officials dominance goes unchallenged.
Why haven't these policies and these leaders been dropped – even after they've pled guilty to outright bribery? You would think having experienced enough failure, having lived through horrible riots, terrible crime, total economic collapse, brazen corruption... that sooner or later, the voters in Detroit (and many other cities in America) would come to their senses. But that's not what happened. Instead, these systems have continued to fail up to the point of total collapse. It is as if one part of our society decided to run off the cliff... and then continued to do so for decades.
Why? Why did this happen? Why does it continue to happen?

Government Employee Unions:
Organized Corruption

A big part of the answer lies in understanding the key mechanism in the Democratic Party's funding system. (Don't worry... so far, we've been talking about Democratic Party failures, but I'll get to the Republicans next. The corruption of America is a bipartisan problem.)
We can trace the origins of these ultraliberal politicians and the beginnings of America's severe urban decline to the early 1960s. Yes, that was when the civil rights movement inspired the black community to take political power. But that wouldn't have necessarily led them to embrace socialism. Americans of all races largely rejected socialism for decades.
That all changed in the mid-1960s. Facing tough mid-term elections, the Democratic Party convinced President John F. Kennedy to allow the federal workforce to unionize. Executive order 10988 – signed on January 17, 1962 – permitted federal employees to organize unions and bargain collectively for higher wages and benefits. This set the stage for similar measures in cities and states across the country and led to a transformation of the union workforce. (Technically, Wisconsin became the first state to allow collective bargaining from state employees in 1959. But that's an outlier. Most states followed the federal lead.)
This represented a major change in both Democratic Party strategy and a major revolution in American politics. Even Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was the most liberal president in history prior to Barack Obama, recognized that allowing collective bargaining on behalf of government workers was incompatible with a free democratic system of government...

All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. – President Franklin Roosevelt in a letter to Luther Steward, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, August 16, 1937.

A government union turns the public servant into the public's master. It is a means of using the government's own spending to organize control of that government. And that is exactly what's happened. The government, unlike private companies, isn't limited by normal economics because the government controls the monopoly on force and has the power to levy taxes.
The power of unions had long been held in check by market forces. Companies that gave too much to the unions in terms of pay or benefits soon found themselves driven out of the market because of high costs or poor products. Except in cases of government bailouts (like GM), these companies soon went out of work and their union members were left unemployed.
Nobody could reliably adopt truly socialistic policies because eventually, the costs of those bad ideas limited the power of the people promoting them. The growth of unions stalled in the 1950s, and they began to shrink in the 1960s. This caused a crisis in the Democratic Party (among the principal beneficiaries of union dues). Something had to be done.
Organizing unions made up of state employees completely eliminated the ability of market forces to temper their power. After all, taxes aren't subject to the demands of consumers. Following Kennedy's executive order, membership in public employee unions – The American Federal of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Teachers' National Education Association (NEA) – boomed. So did their contributions to liberal, Democratic politicians.
These socialist organizations now had access to funding that wasn't limited by market forces. They could control entire generations of politicians. And they did. From 1989 to 2004, AFSCME was the largest single donor to federal political campaigns in the country. More than 98% of its donations went to Democratic candidates.
To see the damage the heavy involvement of these unions has on the community, consider one government service – education.
The Democrats largely control all the areas plagued by the worst schools in the United States – the inner city schools of America's big cities. A voucher system that would empower parents to send their children to better schools and introduce competition for government funding is a simple and proven way to improve both the results and cost-effectiveness.
If the Democratic Party were truly interested in the actual well-being of the communities it serves, supporting voucher plans and charter schools is among the first things you'd expect them to pass. But in fact, it is the last thing they would ever voluntarily do. It is the Democratic Party that stands firmly against any significant changes to the public school system – despite its obvious failure – because of lobbying by the NEA.
This is so clearly an example of graft and corruption that you must doubt the ability of the system to function.
Besides this obvious problem, there is a tremendous amount of corruption in the various direct transfer payment programs that have been organized and supported by the Democrats and their union backers, which have created an entire subculture of people who live and trade in various forms of welfare. If you don't believe me, spend a few days shopping in your nearest ghetto. Look for the "Use EBT Here" and "We Accept WIC" signs... They're essentially gift tags... demonstrating your compulsory largesse to the good folks of that neighborhood.
And people addicted to transfer payments will never see how their dependency is destroying their community. That's exactly what happened in Detroit.
Today, we have a black, Democratic president, who came to power in the most corrupt state in the union – Illinois. Right now, two former Illinois governors have been convicted for corruption. One for blatantly trying to sell the Senate seat Obama vacated when he became president.
And realize... not a single member of Obama's cabinet has any kind of private-sector experience.
On the other hand, he has extremely close ties to the unions. He had the most liberal voting record of any senator during his tenure in Congress. His agenda is explicitly socialist: "I think we should spread the wealth around a little bit."
The likelihood America will become more and more like Detroit is growing – rapidly. Politicians now control the banking sector, most of the manufacturing sector (including autos), and a large amount of media. They are threatening to take over health care and the production of electricity via cap-and-trade rules and subsidies promoting solar power. These are major threats to the wealth and well-being of America. America is under siege by corrupt socialists.
And the big problem is... these kinds of political systems can't be reformed because their power base is the government itself, thanks to the creation of government employee unions. That sets the stage for a collapse...
Look around... Taxes can no longer be raised without people actively fleeing states. This has happened in several places – New York, New Jersey, and California, to name a few.
In Maryland – where my company is headquartered – the Democratic state government couldn't balance the budget in 2009, so it decided to double the income tax rate on citizens with more than $1 million in annual income. That left the rich facing a 9.45% marginal state and local income tax. Put that on top of a 36% federal rate, throw in another 6% for Social Security and Medicare, and you're looking at a top marginal rate in excess of 50%. What kind of smart, hard-working citizen is going to give the government more than half his income if he can move somewhere else and pay substantially less?
The liberal editorial board at the Baltimore Sun happily praised the measure and predicted Maryland's top earners would "grin and bear it."
What a bunch of fools.
Instead, the rich left town. The number of million-dollar incomes in the state of Maryland declined by more than 30%, from 3,000 filers to only 2,000. Rather than gaining the predicted $106 million in income from these filers, Maryland collected $100 million less than it did the year before.
Do you think Maryland will rescind such stupidly progressive taxes? No way. It's good politics to promise the voters that only the rich will pay. No, it doesn't work. But that doesn't matter – not until the entire system collapses. And that's why such a collapse is inevitable. It happens all the time. The political promises expand and expand. The rate of marginal tax goes higher and higher. The tax base narrows and tax collection declines. Government debts soar, until... sooner or later... the interest rate soars because borrowers realize there is no way they will ever get their money back.
That's what's happening now all over Europe.
And it will happen here next.
The states and their union employees have reached the inevitable endgame. The numbers in many states are mind-numbing. Illinois' pension liability now exceeds $100 billion. Roughly half is unfunded. In California, the pension liability is $50 billion. Another 10 states have unfunded pension liabilities in excess of $10 billion.
The Pew Foundation estimates when retiree health care benefits are included, the total unfunded liabilities of the state governments currently exceed $1 trillion.
These debts are not currently on the books of any institution in America. They're merely promises made by our state and local governments. But these promises add up to a bill we cannot possibly pay – not if we plan to honor the $20 trillion the federal government currently owes (which includes all of the debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).
What does this mean for the future of America? I'm sorry... But it's not good.
Everyone knows what happens to socialist countries. They eventually collapse for the simple reason that everyone cannot live at the expensive of his neighbor – not for long.
And if you want to see what socialism will do to our country, don't go to the Eastern-bloc countries of the former Soviet Union. They got rid of that kind of government 20 years ago. Now they've got low, flat taxes and booming economies. You might visit Cuba or spend time in Venezuela. You'll find socialism there, certainly. But you don't have to go that far...
All you really have to do is visit Detroit.
You can drop Congressman Conyers a Thank You note after your visit.

Welfare for the Rich, Too

Our country's core problems are not found in only one political party.
There is just as much corruption, if not more, on the Republican side of the aisle. It was, for example, as I pointed out earlier, a white, Republican-appointed Treasury secretary (Henry Paulson) who tipped off 20 top hedge-fund managers about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's imminent collapse after assuring the public that it wouldn't happen.
For big business, the powerful role of government in our society is simply too valuable to ignore. And the amount of corruption it inspires is stunning. Few politicians even bother trying to hide the fact that they're bought and sold like furniture.
Take Newt Gingrich. The white, Republican former House speaker was paid $1.6 million for "consulting" by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a period of time the two firms were under constant attack by Newt's fellow Republicans. Were the attacks efforts to truly reform a major threat to our financial system... or were they merely shakedowns? All we know for certain is Fannie and Freddie collapsed, just as many Republicans warned they would. The Republican effort to reform the firms failed. Newt collected $1.6 million.
Fannie and Freddie could end up costing taxpayers as much as $500 billion. No, I'm not ignoring the colossal role the Democrats played in staffing Fannie and Freddie, lobbying Congress for the companies, etc. I'm simply pointing out that, in Washington, everything and everyone seems to be for sale, on both sides of the aisle.
I realize that's nothing new. What is new is the scope of the corruption and how brazenly our leaders have embraced it.
Think about the new prescription drug benefit – 2003's Medicare Modernization Act. The law provided public funding for both public and private prescription drug benefits. (IBM, for example, estimated it would save $400 million over 10 years on retiree benefits thanks to the law.) At the same time, the law banned the federal government from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies. In summary, the law basically requires the federal government to pay for the prescription drugs of just about anyone over the age of 65 and requires the government to pay full retail prices.
There are now around 25 million beneficiaries of this law (not including the pharmaceutical companies). The average annual benefit is currently about $1,500. The total cost of the legislation over the next decade is expected to be around $1 trillion. This represents the largest expansion of Medicare in the history of the U.S.
The benefit was approved by a Republican-dominated Congress, in a midnight vote. Louisiana Republican Billy Tauzin, then chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees the pharmaceutical industry, organized the vote. Two months later, Tauzin resigned his seat and took a job paying $2.5 million per year as a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The pharmaceutical industry continues to spend $100 million per year on campaign contributions and lobbying.
Americans are left paying the world's highest prices for drugs. Worse, we have extended the entitlement sentiment into the one area of the economy where personal responsibility is crucial. For most people, good health can be achieved by maintaining a disciplined diet and simple exercise. Offering free pills in lieu of such steps will only further the serious problem of diabetes and obesity we face.
And remember... this law was passed by Republicans and signed into law by a Republican president.
I could go on and on here...
There is a tremendous amount of corruption between the federal government and big business. There's even more corruption at the state and local level. Here's one simple expression of what's happening...
As late as 1969, the U.S. tax code required "only" 16,500 pages. By 2007, the code grew to 67,506 pages. The current form 1040 instruction booklet is 155 pages long. Obviously none of this is necessary for the collection of taxes. The code has been shaped by the corruption of our government, which in turn was shaped by the corruption of our society.
Here's another simple measure. Look at how much of federal spending goes directly to millionaires and big business.
Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma, recently published a report on the subject entitled "Subsidies of the Rich and Famous." According to the study, the feds are now spending around $200 billion annually on direct transfer payments to the very rich.
Given the state of our national finances, this is patently absurd. Merely getting rid of these payments would result in a substantial reduction (almost 15%) of our annual federal deficit. And yet... despite the collapsing dollar, our soaring debt loads, and the lowest civilian employment levels since the Great Depression... everything seems to be business as usual in Washington D.C.
Doesn't that make you sick? There's simply no excuse for this kind of governance. None. Americans deserve a vastly better and more ethical federal government. But we will never get it unless we can find a way to hold our leaders personally accountable for what's happening.
Here's a simple solution. Hold the senators and congressmen personally liable for any deficit, each year. We elected these people to be our leaders. We did not elect them to spend us into bankruptcy. We did not elect them to feather their own nests with unlimited public spending. We did not elect them to buy votes. The only way to stop what's happening is to make them personally responsible for their actions. Either they will balance the budget or face personal financial ruin.
Demanding personal accountability for fiduciary responsibilities would have an immediate and profound impact on our society. It would wipe out the entitlement mentality that's destroying our society – almost overnight.
Restoring personal accountability is also crucial if we hope to restore confidence in our public corporations and capital markets, which were once the broadest, most efficient, and most trusted in the world.

The Corruption of the Corporation

If you think I'm exaggerating the problems we face or the far-reaching impact of the entitlement culture we've allowed to develop in America... then explain the following fact...
The 10 largest American bankruptcies in history have all occurred in the last decade: Lehman Brothers ($691 billion), Washington Mutual ($327 billion), WorldCom ($103 billion), General Motors ($91 billion), CIT ($80.4 billion), Enron ($65 billion), Conseco ($61.4 billion), MF Global ($41 billion), Chrysler ($39.3 billion), and Thornburg Mortgage ($36.5 billion).
All of these failures have a few things in common: extremely well-compensated CEOs with long tenures (which suggests the board of directors was asleep at the wheel), vast amounts of debt that would seem completely unsafe by any reasonable standard, and accounting policies that deliberately misled investors. Most tellingly, in the majority of these cases, board members and the executive management have no material investment in the company.
In every single case, the financial jeopardy was apparent – for years. In fact, at Stansberry & Associates, we accurately predicted several of these bankruptcies and warned about nearly all of them. (Several others we accurately forecast were narrowly avoided thanks to the TARP program and other federal bailouts.) We are far from the best-connected or the smartest financial analysts in the world. Yet... almost every single Wall Street firm remained silent… and so did the ratings agencies.
You never saw most of these problems revealed to the public, either in the Wall Street Journal or other mainstream news sources. What was almost common knowledge in financial circles was never shared with the public, which continued to buy these stocks (and many others in a similar situation) all the way down. Most Americans' 401(k)s were eviscerated. But the bonuses on Wall Street never fell.
I can't name a single major Wall Street firm that hasn't engaged in massive fraud over the last decade. Not one. They have all paid massive fines to the SEC. But in only one of these cases was any firm held criminally responsible. And that firm was Arthur Anderson – Enron's accountant! What about the bankers who actually lent the firm money against collateral they knew was bogus? What about the investment bankers who sold Enron's stock to the public, even though it knew the earnings were fraudulent? And what happened to the huge corporations whose depositors, executives, and lawyers were full, active partners in the fraud that bankrupted Enron – namely Citigroup and JPMorgan, the two largest banks on Wall Street?
The Senate subcommittee investigating Enron's collapse had this to say about Citigroup and JPMorgan: "The evidence... demonstrates that Citigroup and JPMorgan actively aided Enron in executing transactions, despite knowing the transactions utilized deceptive accounting or tax strategies, in return for substantial fees or favorable consideration in other business dealings."
So what happened? Almost nothing. In August 2003, the banks settled with the SEC for a combined $255 million. They did not admit guilt. Nor did they stop committing fraud.
The very next year, in 2004, Citigroup settled for $2.65 billion (yes, billion) to get out of charges it had defrauded lenders and investors in the collapse of WorldCom.
(Ironically, the plaintiff who brought this case was New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Hevesi, like Monica Conyers, is currently in jail, for corruption charges. Yes, really. In April, he was sentenced to up to four years in prison in the Steve Rattner-related bribery case I also mentioned earlier. In America today, even the people who are going after the banks for fraud are themselves corrupt.)
AIG paid $800 million in a settlement in 2006 – just two years before its collapse nearly triggered a global financial catastrophe, requiring a $125 billion federal bailout. Fannie Mae paid $400 million to settle accounting charges in 2006, just two years before its collapse cost taxpayers more than $100 billion. Its CEO, Franklin Raines, walked away with close to $100 million in compensation and was never criminally charged.
Goldman Sachs paid $550 million in 2010 related to fraudulent mortgage securities. Citigroup paid $400 million in 2003 for bogus equity research. Invesco paid $325 million in 2004, after it admitting to ripping off its own mutual-fund investors via a late-trading scheme. Prudential was also "dinged" $270 million in the same scandal.
I could go on... but you surely get the point. Nearly every major financial fiduciary in the United States has been involved in serious malfeasance in the last decade. The sums of these settlements indicate transgressions that should rise to the level of criminal indictments...
The Rigas family, for example, was thrown into prison after defrauding investors in Adelphia Communications. Their settlement with the government was "only" $715 million. Citigroup, on the other hand, has paid settlements close to five times that amount over the last decade... but not a single criminal charge has been filed. Adelphia Cable didn't owe their subscribers a fiduciary duty. All of the Wall Street firms I mentioned did.
If that's not corruption, what is? And if all of this doesn't make you sick, what will?
We've written volumes about the other major corporate scandals over the past decade. We broke the executive options abuse story, for example, in 2002, showing how companies like Broadcom, Juniper Networks, and Apple Computer were ripping off shareholders by printing massive amounts of employee stock options (most of which went to executives) and then re-pricing them when their stock prices fell.
Under the system, all of the company's cash flows (and more) would have to go to share buybacks in order to prevent massive dilution. Thus, the employees were actually stealing the company's earnings. Most people on Wall Street knew this and were shorting the companies whose abuses were the most egregious. But the scheme wasn't revealed to the public (outside of our newsletter) until 2006 when the Wall Street Journal finally wrote about the issue.
Steve Jobs, who was one of the most flagrant options abusers at both Apple and Pixar, got off the hook by naming Al Gore to the board of directors... and giving him millions in options grants. To this date, Apple Computer has not paid out a single penny in dividends to its rightful owners (its shareholders). Yet over the last decade, it has increased its outstanding share count via options issuance by 47%.
What can you do about the corruption of America's public companies? Here's a very simple solution: Make the board of directors personally liable for fraud, negligence, and depositor losses. If you're on the board of MF Global, for example, and your firm fails because your CEO bet $6.3 billion in Italian bonds… your depositors – who are still missing more than $1 billion – ought to be allowed to sue you personally. Currently, a combination of legal liability limits and insurance (so-called D&O policies), paid for by the corporation, prevent any real personal liability – even in clear cases of fraud.
Franklin Raines, for example, who had Fannie Mae's accounting set up to maximize his annual bonuses in violation of accounting standards was fined $2 million in a settlement with regulators. An insurance company paid the fine. The company paid the premiums on that policy.
The concept of the corporate shield for legal liability was created so that limited partners (like common-stock holders) couldn't be held liable for the damages caused by the general partner's actions or misdeeds. Over time, that shield has been extended to the general partners of public companies – the board of directors and the executive management team. But these people are paid to run the company. If they engage in fraud or are negligent in their duties, they ought to be held liable.
If you were to simply make that one legal change, the conduct of America's corporations – especially those with fiduciary responsibilities to depositors – would change overnight. Confidence in America's public companies and capital markets would soar. But... as long as the idea of entitlement remains ascendant, dictating that executives keep most of the profit but none of the risk... our capital markets will continue to suffer and the management of our public companies will be rife with negligence and fraud.

Is This Fascism?

Earlier this year, in my June issue, I tried to define the unique blend of socialism for the poor, corporate welfare for the rich, paper money for the government, and credit excess for the middle class that has shaped America for most of the last 40 years. I wrote...

You can't just call our economic system "socialism." It's not. There's a profit motive and private ownership of nearly all assets. Socialism has neither of these. Besides, far too many people have become far too rich in our system to simply label it "socialism"...
Our system isn't truly capitalism either, though. The State intervenes in almost every industry, often in a big and expensive way. With government at all levels making up more than 40% of GDP, it's fair to say we live in a State-dominated society...
A certain class of people has the power to not only protect itself from these policies but to profit as well. These people have used the last 40 years to produce massive amounts of paper wealth. And they are now desperately trying to convert those paper accounts into real wealth, which explains the exploding price of farmland and precious metals.
This explosion of wealth at the top of the "food chain" is the main feature of what I call New American Socialism. It's a system fueled by paper money, the constant expansion of debt, and a kind of corruption that's hard to police because it occurs within the boundaries of the law...
In the New American Socialism, the power of the system produces private profits. In this way, it provides a huge incentive to entrepreneurs and politicians to work together on behalf of the system. This is what keeps the system going. This is what keeps it from collapsing upon itself. And this, unfortunately, is why the imbalances in the world economy will continue to grow until the entire global monetary system itself implodes.

I continue to believe that's a very accurate description of what's happening to our country. But... many subscribers wrote in and complained that what I was calling "New American Socialism" was nothing new at all – it was actually fascism.
Webster's defines fascism as...

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

That's not what's happening in America – at least, not yet. To this point, there's little direct forcible suppression of opposition and little exultation of the federal government. And while certain congressional districts have become socially regimented and politically repressive, that's not a widespread phenomenon.
Many people fear this is where we're heading... that as conditions deteriorate and the currency collapses, the government will move to take still more power. I don't think that's likely – at least, not for long...
I do agree that the nation will soon face a choice between heading down the path towards fascism... or turning back the power of government and restoring the limited Republic that was our birthright. I continue to believe Americans will choose personal liberty.
I believe they will choose more freedom rather than more totalitarian rule. I don't believe Americans will tolerate martial law for long – even in the advent of a real emergency, which I do believe will occur.
What gives me confidence for the future? Gun sales, for one thing. U.S. citizens legally own around 270 million firearms – about 88 guns per 100 citizens (including children) today.
That's a hard population to police without its consent. America is the No. 1 country in the world as ranked by the number of guns per-capita. That plays a major factor in the kind of government you will see take root in America. Things might go too far in this country for a while... And I'd argue they've been going the wrong way for too long. But the government can only take things so far before they'll be faced with a very angry, well-armed opposition.
If the government attempts to take our guns... my opinion would change immediately. But that's one right the Supreme Court has been strengthening recently. It gives me hope that most people in America still understand that the right to bear arms has little to do with protecting ourselves from crime and everything to do with protecting ourselves from government...

Thanks for a Great Year

I hope you've enjoyed – or at least been challenged to think in new ways – by this issue of my newsletter. I've been thinking about the issues for a long time and believe they are important. Whether you agree with my analysis or not, I hope you'll share these ideas with people in your circle of influence. Together, we can certainly draw far more attention to the moral failings of our leaders and the risk we face by the growth of the entitlement culture.
Once again… please realize, I'm not taking a political side here. I'm not saying the Democrats are singularly responsible for the state of our country. I'm not saying the Republicans are all to blame. And I'm not saying this is a black problem or a white problem. The problem is rooted in the corrupt belief that you can live at the expense of your neighbor... that we have become a nation where the vast majority of people believe their well-being is primarily, someone else's responsibility.
This bankrupt belief has taken complete control of our government, educational system, medical industry, and our corporations. And unless we demand better from each other and our political leaders, our society is doomed to collapse under the crushing weight of the Corruption of America.
It's time we got back to our traditions as Americans and started doing more to take care of our families, communities, and ourselves.
I feel so strongly about these ideas, I'd like you to forward this issue to everyone you know. We almost never allow this copyright violation... But in this case, feel free to forward as many times as you want. Print it up and pass copies around your hometown.
We are wrapping up the best year ever for this advisory in terms of readership. I hope you'll agree that many of the key themes we've been working on have turned out an awful lot like we predicted. The global sovereign debt crisis continues. The stock market has not been a great place for your savings. Many of our short sell recommendations – particularly First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) – have led to big profits. For those of you unwilling or unable to speculate and hedge, my advice to hold gold and Treasury bills has produced double-digit gains, with almost no volatility.
For subscribers who are new to this publication, I don't often focus on this kind of political analysis. I know our main job is to find ways to help you make more money with your investments. But the fact is... right now, politics drives the markets. And that may be true for some time...
Regardless... I pledge to get back to my knitting in the next issue.
Thank you very much for your support. You've given me the best job in the world. I take it – and the trust you show in me – seriously.
Warm regards,
Porter Stansberry
Baltimore, Maryland
December 15, 2011

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about these ideas—what has gone wrong in America in recent years, and what I believe will happen next—you might enjoy watching a free video I recently produced. In this video, I explain what is probably the biggest corruption in America today, and how it will likely lead to yet another U.S. crisis, affecting everything about your everyday life. I also explain some simple steps you can take today, to protect yourself and your family. You can watch this free video on the Internet, here.

Oh No Mr Bill: Trailing Stop Trend Tools

2011-12-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS9F_sp06Gc 1:43

Just when we had all the kids snug asleep in bed,
dreaming of sugar plums and iPhones in their bed,
along came the market with such a clatter,
That we got out of bed to see what was the matter.

After being down, feverish, sick and weak so long,
CAC, DAX, EUD, gold, silver, SPX up 2%
all at the opening,
seemed like Santa Claus's high speed sleigh just ran us over.

But wait:
Less than half an hour into the day, markets were already rolling over.

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?spx

While SPX may not retrace the entire surge today or the rest of the year with a pullback,
we note the market today stalled at the SPX 50 day moving average (DMA)
Blue Line of 1230.50 and especially,
it's worth remembering SPX may or may not stall at the 200-DMA Red Line of 1259.92 this year,
where in the past, counter-trend rallies stalled out many times.

SPX may go higher than the 200-DMA.
Ours is not to reason why.

For now, the SPX trend is still down to 1050,
and the trend is still our profitable friend,
helped by Trailing Stops Buy In and Sell Out.

So what if the Second Santa Claus rally came a day earlier than we thought last Friday.
That is the nature of the market beast, always doing its best to confuse, dazzle and razzle.

So we are using this strength between now and the end of the year.
to lighten up for the Silver year of 2012,
dollar cost averaging and accumulating Silver,
as it works its way toward 22 and then higher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_cost_averaging

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?s=%24silver

It's worth realizing if we are getting emotional about the markets,
we are over or under committed,
forgetting the Trend is our Friend,
not using our Trailing Stops for protection.

Market psychology does what it can to scare us out,
when we should be in,
and tempt us in,
when we should be out.

We don't want to end up like Mr Bill, so we use our Trailing Stop Trend tools...

http://pragcap.com/the-messenger-of-changing-times

Look Out Below

2011-12-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Aloha All

We follow Big4 market trends with Point & Figure targets and do not try to predict them.

We like to buy value-income at a discount.

The MF Global Failure and Silver Senator Campaign mean we may be resting in dollars and silver most of 2012.

Currently the dollar is targeting 91, +13%. Silver is targeting 22, -25%:

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=$usd,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=$silver,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

We continue to dollar cost average silver on dips, as it is Constitutional Money.

The word for Silver is money in most countries of the world.
The Spanish Silver Dollar Piece of Eight Real served as money in the Americas from 1497 until 1857:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar

For fun some interim market comments:

Well, we got the head fake break today above 1218 resistance to 1224.57, which could be the high of the remaining day, week, month, year, despite a possible post-Christmas rally to New Year's Day.

Time and the markets will tell.

In related news, this fade trade headline suggests gold could lose a quick $231.

'Cramer Defends Gold: The Run's Not Done'

This fade trade headline suggests the RE bear may not be done:

'Homebuilders See Surge in Potential Buyers, With Home Builders Index Rising for Third Straight Month to 21'

New Yorker had a great 1932 Cartoon of the Dow chart stair-stepping down, captioned,:

"Is THIS the bottom?"

Here's similar:

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/Businessman-sees-graphs-of-diving-stocks-other-financial-indicators-on-t-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8477295_.htm

Big D is rearing its gaping sand worm head again after rating agencies closed the barn door on American Banks and EU Sovereigns after the cash horses left the barn as we posted.

(Just resaw Dune remaster) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np9zFPzcNug 3:20

Until Eurodollar and Financials recover, the SPX Industrials and our Economy may not.

Eurodollar is targeting -10%.

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=fxe,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

Financials are targeting -63%:

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=XLF,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

S&P500 Industrials are targeting -13%:

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=XLF,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

The last GDP report dropped -20%.

The next one reports Thursday the 22nd of December when most people may be too busy with family and friends for holy days to notice:

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/economic-calendar/

Engarde LeGarde sees a worldwide depression if EU does not act now.

Weimar haunted Germans may not act to create more money, so the US Fed try when pain gets too great for banks, taking PMs to new highs from scary lows around 22 and 1370:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/15/eurozone-crisis-live#block-31

Somehow the neoKeynesians in government did not figure out what the Austrians knew before the last Great Depression, that debt dollar pyramid creation and spending is no substitute for market discipline, productive work thrift, trade surpluses and balancing the budget.

Congress, the Courts and Executive Branch are just kicking the can down the road, playing pretend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eceUXYtdw8Q 4:42

The real unemployment rate currently exceeeds 22%, defining depression:

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts

A Winter Solstice sweat lodge yesterday with Tahoe Tribe brought remarkable market clarity.

The Winter Solstice Lightworker Visualization Wednesday 21 December 2011 may bring even more.

Til then, look out below. Trailing Stops and cash are our best friend.

Worthwhile financial reading from one of the more perceptive journalists in the world who exposed the Clintongs:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Bill-Clinton-Unreported/dp/0895264080

Merry Christmas and Happy Holy Days All.

2012 may be a year to remember, particularly if we are paid and prayed up.

To pay forward 10% Increase Tithe Donations:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithing

Everyone I know who tithes received tenfold:

New Living Translation (©2007)
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

2012: The Year of Silver or Silver Jubilee Year?

2011-12-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

Aloha All

This is the time of year when our hearts and minds turn more to family and friends than markets.

However, this Christmas Season and New Year may be more unusual in that respect.

Our hard-earned savings may be more at risk more than most realize.

We had an early Santa Claus rally from 1158.66 on Black Monday 28 November 2011 to
1267.06 on Wednesday 7 December 2011 Pearl Harbor, up +9% in just 7 days, when most least expected it because of all the bad news.

Since then, we pulled back with continuing bad news on EU, MENA War, MF Global Customer Theft etc.

Are we somehow going to have another Santa Claus Rally, despite all the bad news?

Long-time readers know we do our best to buy dips in uptrends on bad news and sell rallies in downtrends on good news.

We may indeed see another rally, after the Winter Solstice and Neptune Hades Square this Wednesday.

Any market rally is unlikely to be very strong or last too long, even if the Fed keeps increasing the monetary base as it did the last three weeks:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/WSBASE?rid=105

SPX is still targeting 1050 in a downtrend on the Point and Figure Chart (third chart down).

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?spx

We think there are many people with money affected and afflicted by the long-term slow-motion self-destruction of Real Estate, Wall Street and Washington DC.

We think there may be too many to join or trust the government guaranteed gravy train for long.

We think real estate values around financial high tech centers may be the next to go.

We think more people may appreciate Cherokee Humourist Will Rogers saying during the last great depression he was, More interested in return OF his money than return ON his money.

Even traders are discouraged by the Wall Street Casino, for good reason.

Government guaranteed Banks, Brokers, Insurers, Congress, Corporations, Courts and the Executive Branch broke oaths, election promises and let Americans down.

Goldman Sachs CEO, Governor, Senator, MF Global CEO Jon Corzine and other Wall Street players seemed unable to run a business or government ethically, cut spending or pass a balanced budget longer than two months at a time, or at all.

Despite 1000:1 voter opposition, government passed Anti-American legislation like Cyberkill Switch, National Defense Authorization Act, 0Care, Patriot Act Espionage on Americans, TARP, without Constitutional Bill of Rights due process.

These misnamed acts enabled Assassination, de facto Federal Bankruptcy, Indefinite Detention without habeas corpus or posse comitatus, and, until House-Senate reconciliation dropped it, even legalized sodomy of American citizens by American troops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/13/congress-keeps-sodomy-ban-in-defense-bill/

Don't believe it? Then start visiting http://www.infowars.com/, Silver Senator or Trade Blog for uncensored news that matters, while corporate government monopoly media do not report or deny.

http://silversenator2012.blogspot.com/

http://richcash8tradeblog.blogspot.com/

Consider Dr Ron Paul, long ignored by establishment media as a kindly old kook who can't win, despite faithfully serving the voters with Constitutional Integrity for 22 years in a House of vipers.

After 21 years of media ignorance, GOP candidate Ron Paul recently got surprise coverage from mainstream media, including Meet the Press, the longest running TV Show, Business Insider, Forbes and Time, for his common-sense Constitutional views catching on with the voters.

http://www.businessinsider.com/

Despite polling second in Iowa, Dr Paul was banned from the 7 December 2011 Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential debate, because he does not believe in foreign aid, which he described as, taking money from poor people in a rich country to give to rich people in a poor country.

http://reason.com/blog/2011/12/01/republican-jewish-coalition-bars-ron-pau

None of the major media yet reported what we reported, that Ron Paul is likely to win the Iowa Caucus on 3 January 2012, if present Iowa Election Market Trends continue:

http://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/graphs/graph_IACaucus12.cfm

Dr Paul currently leads Gingrich by 7 points and Romney by 15 points:

http://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/quotes/355.html

Okay, we know you did not sign up and share TradeBlog with family and friends for Election Coverage.

As we long stated in Mind, Money, Markets (1980), Politics of Prosperity (1994), The Gift (2008), Trillionaire Trader (2009), ChartswithHearts on Stockcharts.com at market lows in March 2008, JubileeProsperity.com, Big4 Asset Allocation and TopTen Private Annual Moneyback Guarantee Subscriptions, which garnered four figure annual percentage returns for years:

Economics and Politics are related branches of Moral Philosophy, which goes back further than Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics to the Confucius Analects, the Code of Hammurabi, Old Testament Torah of Moses and the Upanishad Oral Traditions of India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishad

The bottom line for TradeBlog is this:

If our government cannot or does not protect all free markets, life, liberty and private property, then it is every man for himself and Katy bar the door.

One of the reasons Dr Paul, who delivered 4000 babies without government funding, is resonating with voters, is his common sense Constitutional ideas, including Sound Money:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts,

http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec10.html

Corporate government monopoly media do their best to hide inconvenient financial facts.

Since the Federal Reserve and Income Revenue Service were founded in 1913, the value of the Constitutional and US Mint gold-backed dollar rose from $20 to $1923.70, and the silver-backed dollar rose from $1 to $49.82.

This is a decline of -99% in the value of the Federal Reserve Note relative to gold, and a decline of -98% in the value of the Federal Reserve Note relative to silver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Act

Not everyone knows our Constitution requires a uniform tax and the Supreme Court found the Income Tax unConstitutional. Some documented the 16th (IRS) Amendment was not properly ratified. It took the IRS two years to process 1917 returns. That did not stop tax courts from putting people away for not filing their taxes:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfareof the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Imposts and excises are taxes.

http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service

Some speculate the alleged Fed Charter may expire in 2012, around the Mayan Calendar Winter Solstice and may not be renewed:

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1145359/pg1

All these are distracting speculations from the common sense laws of supply and demand, just like trying to day trade on headlines or hunches can be a brief profession or pastime:

Increase supply and price goes down.

Increase demand and price goes up.

For the last decade, Federal Reserve Treasury Debt Dollars tripled to $15 Trillion, reducing their price (interest rates), raising demand and the cost of living.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GFDEBTN

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CPIAUCSL/

During that same time period the available reserve supply of silver decreased, because of increased industrial and investor demand. The most successful investor of all time bought and sold silver too soon, His holding company was outperformed ten times since 1999 by silver:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.html?BRK/a,$SILVER

The punctuation on the point, the frosting on the cake, was MF Global stole not only $1.2 B in cash collateral from segregated customer accounts, but liquidated their gold and silver futures contracts for November delivery. The CME, SIPC and Bank Trustees said the best they can do for customers is 72 cents on the dollar, with no silver delivered, although it was fully paid.

Why play a game with loaded dice or marked cards where you lose 28 cents each handroll, but hope to make up for it with volume?

We think there is a serious risk of cascading financial institutional failures in 2012 without immediate guarantees, with serious cost of living inflation above +30% based on recent monetary base expansion, despite official denials and claims of deflation like 2008.

We think 2008 was a dress rehearsal warmup for 2012.

Else why would government be implementing such draconian Police State measures and arming Police with Military weapon systems?

Recall habeas corpus, the right to a jury trail by peers, was suspended during previous wars on American soil, dating back to the Declaration of Independence complaints of Officers and Standing Armies quartered on domestic soil eating out our substance:

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

The Insurrection Act of 1807 and posse comitatus of 1874 followed, banning military deployment on US soil, passed after the Civil War. Unfortunately, Hoover, Nixon, Janet Reno, Bill Clinton or local authorities ordered Military and Tanks on the Bonus Marchers, Kent State or Waco without specified fines or imprisonment for violating the posse comitatus law. and we saw the result, emboldened malfeasance by government. How little we learn from history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act

The scandals since 2008 destroying trust in banks, brokers and insurance companies were covered by numerous sources who are only now beginning to put two and two together, knowing JPM was seriously underwater on naked silver shorts and MF Global clients paid to take delivery of silver longs.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article32198.html

So the bottom line is, silver is in extremely short supply relative to gold and paper and this is likely to continue.

So long as Uncle Sam does not balance the budget, people would rather hold their money in physical silver than paper or electronic digits that have been disappeared without compensation, still against our Constitution, but no longer enforced by Congress, Courts or the Executive Branch of Federal Government.

Sales of American Silver Eagle Coins more than septupled since 1986, while price went up tenfold.

So much for other asset categories or trading. Is the past prologue? Consider the benefits.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/american_eagles/index.cfm?action=sales&year=2011

The key aspect of the American Silver Eagle is that it is not only legal tender and eligible for an IRA, but unreportable under $10,000 transactions, with tax exemptions in various states.

http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/mint_programs/am_eagles/AMERSILVREAGLE.pdf

http://www.christianet.com/bullion/non-reportablebullioncoins.htm

How many have had an IRA that went up ten times?

For all these reasons, we think 2012 may be the year of silver, particularly the American Silver Eagle.

We are putting our money where our mouth is by dollar-cost averaging American Silver Eagles.

With regard to the political economy, it is pretty clear whatever government is doing is not working, with a long-term declining savings rate since 1974, with unemployment claims mostly above 300,000 a week since 1970, with 46 Million Americans on Food Stamps.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PSAVERT

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/IC4WSA/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/us/gop-bill-would-block-food-stamps-and-jobless-pay-for-millionaires.html?pagewanted=print

We ran as a concerned citizen to Reform Congress in 1994, with Ron Paul's endorsement, and know how hard it is, plus exactly what is required to win the most votes.

Money may be the mother's milk of industry and politics, but the most votes wins, even with illegal voting, which is widespread, another untouchable monopoly media story.

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersd70b

Thus we are accepting $10 to $100 Federal Reserve Note and Silver Eagle donations by Christmas to be on our Silver Senator Exploratory Campaign Committee.

All $10 to $100 donations received by New Year's will be counted toward the $10,000 minimum filing and website decision whether to proceed for Silver Senator 2012.

We already have a Chief of Staff candidate, a few dedicated Committee Members and our Constitutional mandate.

We welcome more staff with useful campaign and website skills once the $10 K minimum money is received and decision made.

No money, no run. Tough but true.

When deciding whether to contribute, perhaps consider the alternative of yet more bank corporate foundation sponsored government, continuing to ruin American business, employment and prosperity.

How much is it worth to elect an honest Senator or Sixty?

As we were long-term dedicated bargain thrift value income finders for the last half century, we intend to win by spending far less than the competition, staying committed to our Constitutional Oath of Office.

Send Federal Reserve Notes and American Eagles to:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
Nevada 89402-1018

Finally, we are expanding our own family American Silver Eagle purchases to buy American Silver Eagle Coins from the US Mint at a -5% discount and pass the savings on the American Silver Eagle Club Members. We need $10 M to do this. The idea is becoming the Costco's, Sam's Club, Trader Joes or Walmarts for American Silver Eagles in 2012.

To participate as an accredited account, please email amounts confidentially to SilverSenator@hushmail.com

This requires signing up for a free hushmail account or answering an encryption code key question.

We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Feel free to send this to your Christmas Card mailing list of family, friends and customers...

The Silver Senator 2012

2011-12-15T13:23:00.001-08:00

Aloha All

Mahalo.

We are getting an unprecedented response to our 2012 Constitutional campaign to regain control of Congress for all Americans.

Along with donations in paper and American Silver Eagles by New Year's to set up our 2012 Silver Senator Committee Website and go exponentially public, we could use some practical profitable campaign help.

As the foundation of our platform is Constitutional money, we are also finalizing our Silver Exchange to redeem Federal Reserve Notes for Silver Legal Tender.

We are in the middle of negotiating Silver Senator campaign/exchange headquarters in Incline Village and qualifying for the US Mint wholesale exchange rate, which requires our $1 Million bond.

There is an outstanding sound business opportunity here to take back our Country for life, liberty and prosperity as we return to Constitutional Government, Money and the practical ideals of our Founding fathers.

We are all busy at this time of year. Is our freedom and the future of our children and grandchildren worth taking a few moments now? If so, then please pass and pay this post on forward to Family and Friends to get the snowball rolling into a boulder that cannot be stopped into a mountain that cannot be moved.

We do not have a lot of time for calls or emails, so please sign up for
http://www.hushmail.com/ for confidential communications with the SilverSenator@hushmail.com

Meanwhile, with your help we are on our way to the $10,000 to set up the Committee website. $10 to $100 paper and silver donations received by Christmas get you on the Silver Senator Committee:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay, NV 89402-1018

Market Tsunami Ahead?

2011-12-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

Based on the continuing six week decline in the monetary base, we expect a fast and furious reflex rebound in the US markets, followed by a serious collapse with the USD targeting a surprise 91, a quick +15%.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASE

The Indonesian Tsunami showed many people were drawn into the ocean when the tidewaters pulled way out like the Red Sea crossing, and then rushed back in at unexpected speed and amplitude. We all know what happened when people lured in to the market by unexpected unprecedented moves up, failed to recognize the danger and did not escape:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwFWSWNt6o 4:50

Note the German tourist saying "Nah" when someone asks if the historically low tide had anything to do with the earthquake. Millions of people fail to recognize the political economic potential for a market tsunami.

While we are generally long-term oriented, every now and then, short-term market signals cannot be ignored to protect financial safety and prosperity with Trailing Stops.

Both gold and silver took a hit today with the tide pulling out, with gold down another -3% and silver down -6%.

Gold is currently targeting -11%, while silver is currently targeting +53%:

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=$gold,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=$gold,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

The Euro is trying to bottom after taking a large hit after the EU summit failed to act.
The dollar is strong for now.

The Euro is currently targeting -10% with the Dollar targeting +13%, neither boding well for US equities.

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?c=fxe,P

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?chart=$usd,PLTADANRBO[PA][D][F1!3!!!2!20]&pref=G

Even though the market is oversold, with an Opening Call/Put Ratio extreme of just 19% (meaning just over 5 puts bought for every call) at 10:10 AM today on the Indices/ETF options, any bounce here may be sold:

http://www.ise.com/WebForm/viewPage.aspx?categoryId=126

Any Santa Claus rally may have been postponed for at least another week.

This bodes ill for Gold, Silver, Euro and Equity prices until they find a bottom, at which point, as we said, we may add more Silver Eagles at lower prices and keep them in safe physical possession, the proverbial bird in hand worth two or even ten or a thousand in the virtual market thicket.

We are staying out of untrustworthy derivative and equity markets for now, perhaps until Jon Corzine and the 0D criminal conspiracy derivative companies are put away.

The risk of exchange and financial firm defaults with rehypothecated margin customer collateral accounts is simply too great now if a market tsunami comes.

That is a fancy way of saying Washington DC let the Wall Street foxes take charge of the chickens. No one is safe until historic bank and market safety regulations are enforced with white collar criminals put behind bars for the safety and confidence of account holders trusting financial institutions with their hard-earned cash deposits, ruled by some confused courts as the property of the institutions.

We cannot even trust economic data, constantly revised after reporting, as long after as five years in the case of the National Association of Realtors and CPI:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45659547

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

It may take some time for Constitutional economic justice and the politics of prosperity to prevail, as Ron Paul knows after 30 years.

Iowa Caucus Iowa Electronic Markets with Ron Paul 84 cents and Newt Gingrich 72.5 cents on a dollar, suggest there may be a surprise upset turning of the tide relative to the mass media polls.

Time will tell if this is real change for the better in our Political Economy.

Meantime, because of oversold sentiment on Monday, any market bounces may provide a better chance to liquidate if anyone is not already out of virtual markets as we posted some time ago.

We will save cash and Silver Eagles until assets prices are considerably lower...

0MFG: Incredible Testimony on The Hill

2011-12-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

I liistened to the MF Global testimony today.

It was hard to believe these guys did not know what they did.

No doubt many key material points may not make it to monopoly media or nightly news.

MFG top officer three blind mice repetitive use of 'No access to data,',Off-Balance Sheet Funding,' 'Rule 125 Legal Repo Commingling,' 'Speculative' and 'unavailable Subsidiary Holdings' appears to be the new 5th Amendment.'

Senators observed Steenkamp, who was Governor Corzine's aide before 0MFG, was giving off body language that indicated he was uncomfortable as the "odd man out," and that all their testimony about $1.2 B disappearing is "incredible."

"I want names of who took the money."

"You cannot delegate responsibility."

Response: "We found out about it on Sunday." (The day before declaring bankruptcy, while Corzine claimed MFG made money on the Eurobonds and had customer collateral security systems in place.

None of these guys was with 0MFG more than two years.

Did hard drives disappear to cover their tracks?

This is why Glass Steagall separated commercial banking, investment banking and proprietary trading until Henry Paulson, Lloyd Blankfein, Phil Gramm, Robert Rubin and Bill Clinton disappeared it with Net Capital Rules that had limited financial firm leverage to 10% down (10x).

Hearing this farcical testimony made it quite clear gangsters rule and run big banks at the highest levels of government at consumer and taxpayer expense, hiding behind their corruption of the law and due process originating in our Constitution.

Thus the importance of replacing do-nothing Senators who did not even pass a House budget for two years, by sending in $10 to $100 in paper or Silver Eagles until we get $10,000 to set up our Campaign Website to collect signatures and file.

Richard Charles
(Silver Senator 2012 Exploratory Committee)
POB 1018
Crystal Bay, NV 89402-1018

This news just in:

Executive Chairman of CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) since 2006, Terrence Duffy, just testified that Corzine staff admitted to him Corzine withdrew segregated customer funds from CME to benefit MF Global.

Mt Duffy reminded slack-jawed sighing Senators, that he (Mr Duffy) took the oath and was taught to tell the truth.

So it appears the Chicago boyz won this one at the expense of the New York outfit.

Synchronistically, Iowa Electronic Markets now show Ron Paul ahead of Gingrich 81.2 cents to 71.3 cents on the dollar. Historically, they are more accurate than public polls and 2012 may be the year we clean house in DC and NYC...

http://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/quotes/355.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/cme-chairman-terry-duffy-throws-jon-corzine-under-bus

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/presenting-three-unscripted-sentences-may-have-cost-jon-corzine-his-freedom

http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/cme-chief-terrence-duffy-puts-an-accusation-on-jon-corzine/

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a41e2254-25b4-11e1-9c76-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gWGj95WK

US/NATO Troops Massing on Syria Border

2011-12-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/12/11/bfp-exclusive-developing-story-hundreds-of-us-nato-soldiers-arrive-begin-operations-on-the-jordan-syria-border/

The markets could take a tumble with physicals like food, fuel and silver moving up...

Silver Senator Resignation Calls

2011-12-12T10:19:00.001-08:00

Bernanke, Geithner, Napolitano, Obama, Paulson and now Holder, with Criminal Prosecutions, for extensive violations of their Oath of Office to Protect, Preserve and Defend our Constitution and Bill of Rights. These people are not above Justice and the Law. They are public servants...

“Well, with regard to the provision of emails, I thought I made clear that after February 4, it is not our intention to provide email information, consistent with the way in which the Justice Department has always conducted itself,” Holder said in response to Adams’ questioning. “The exception that I made — that I made in the hope that the Justice Department would be seen as transparent — was to go against that tradition to make available deliberative material around the February 4 letter.”

During an interview with The Daily Caller on Friday, during which Adams called for Holder’s resignation over the Fast and Furious scandal, she said that if Holder hasn’t misled Congress and has nothing to hide, he should deliver the communications.

“I do, I truly do [think Holder should provide those emails],” Adams told TheDC. “If there were a part of anything to do with Fast and Furious, he should release those. As I said to him, if you have clean hands, why won’t you release them?”

Adams added that Holder’s claim that his document production has been “unprecedented” doesn’t appear to hold much legal weight, and doesn’t really matter if he’s refusing to comply with lawfully issued congressional subpoenas.

“I wouldn’t think so [that Holder’s claims his document production has been ‘unprecedented’ is enough],” Adams said in a phone interview. “What’s unprecedented is the fact that we have an attorney general who was allowing guns to walk across international borders. As a matter of fact, walking [guns] anywhere is bad, but it’s compounded because they walked across international borders.”

Fast and Furious was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program overseen by the DOJ. The operation facilitated the sale of thousands of weapons to Mexican drug cartels via straw purchasers. Straw purchasers are people who legally purchase guns in the United States with the known intention of illegally trafficking them somewhere else. In Fast and Furious, the straw purchasers were known to be trafficking the weapons into Mexico, effectively arming Mexican drug cartels.

At least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, as was U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/11/holder-may-be-holding-onto-private-emails-about-fast-and-furious/#ixzz1gLV9T6km

Donations of dollars and silver to:

Richard Charles
POB 1018
Crystal Bay
NV 89402-1018

Inflationary Depression

2011-12-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

While the largest bond manager is record 25% short the Dollar and short Treasuries,

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/gross-has-record-60-billion-short-cash-bet-fed-proceed-mbs-monetization

From http://www.thedailybell.com/printerVersion.cfm?id=3339:

BIS Calls for Hyperinflationary Depression?

Monday, December 12, 2011 by Staff Report - www.thedailybell.com

The Bank for International Settlements Sunday issued an oblique endorsement of coordinated action by the world's largest central banks to ease funding conditions for banks. "A freezing of interbank markets in major funding currencies, as during the recent crisis, may require the ability to supply official liquidity in major currencies in an elastic manner," the BIS wrote in its regular quarterly report." – MarketWatch

Dominant Social Theme: Inflate! And everything will work out.

Free-Market Analysis: We've already indicated that we believe the Anglosphere power elite is attempting to create a kind of Great Depression in order to ease the path of world government. This squib of an article in MarketWatch (excerpted above) – unnoticed by most of the mainstream press – only reconfirms our impression.

It endorses recent "coordinated" central banking loosening. But it does more: "A freezing of interbank markets in major funding currencies, as during the recent crisis, may require the ability to supply official liquidity in major currencies in an elastic manner."

Think about that. The BIS, whatever it is, is all for printing lots of money. And the BIS is no small-time trade group. It is perhaps the most powerful (and least known) global business body in the world. Its mysteries are manifold. its workings are well-hidden.

Of course, somebody actually set up the Bank for International Settlements in the late 1930s. And since then someone has set up or helped set up about 200 central banks around the world, many of them reporting directly to the BIS.

But who? And how did it happen? Dunno.

Who speaks to the head of a state, asking him or her to set up a central bank? Dunno. Do you?

Why is that Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq have central banks when they didn't before, or not the kind they do now? Did you read about it?

Meh ... this ruinous financial system is not a plant or a tree. It did not grow spontaneously. It did not grow naturally. And we would submit to you that those who created it know what they're doing.

The key as always is to pretend that one does NOT know. The key is to create cognitive dissonance. Even today, if you asked the average person-on-the-street if the powers-that-be are trying to create a Depression (let alone a hyperinflationary one), you would get the ol' crazy look, as in ... "What is this fellow ... nuts?"

But, no, nothing nutty about it. The European Union and the euro are grinding a whole European generation into dust. China's burgeoning middle class is about to get walloped if China ends up in a proverbial hard landing, as well it might. The US has NEVER recovered from the disaster of the mid-2000s (first decade) nor shall it for the foreseeable future.

Into this morass steps the BIS, with its suggestion (above) that further monetary inflation is the only viable solution to the problem that central banking itself has created.

Smile ... and nod! Don't acknowledge the reality that the ruin is a central banking ruin. The monetary decay is the result of a monopoly fiat. The great dollar expansion yet to come is also a direct outcome of the current system that was put in place after World War II.

No, it's not hard to discern what's going on if one simply disassociates oneself from the endless nattering of the mainstream media. Analyze what IS instead of what is SUGGESTED and the reality shall gradually become clear.

DB's manifestly accurate High Alert (published some four years ago now) was written because we were tracking what was actually happening to the world's economy instead of what was being reported ....

A financial hurricane is washing over America and, to a lesser extent, the entire West. To label it the "downstroke" of a super business cycle does not do it justice. These events occur in cycles, with the last one taking place in the 1970s — a mild storm compared to what is occurring today. ...

A strong inflation, even a soft hyperinflation, already has a grip on Western currencies, most notably in the United States — as anyone who buys groceries is aware. The dollar's plunge may be delayed by a kind of "race to the bottom" as other central banks adjust their currencies to reflect the weakness of the dollar. ...

In his "Great American Depression," free-market economist Murray Rothbard explains the ramifications of hyperinflation as follows: "Hyperinflation, on any count, is far worse than any depression: It destroys the currency — the lifeblood of the economy; it ruins and shatters the middle class and all fixed income groups; it wreaks havoc unbounded. And furthermore it leads finally to unemployment and lower living standards since there is little point in working when earned income depreciates by the hour."

(You can read the full book online here.)

THIS is what the BIS seems to have in mind. This is the fate that has been decreed, apparently, by those who want to crush middle classes around the world in order to create a "new world order." Out of chaos ... order. It is quite clear. Follow what IS rather than what you are being TOLD.

The BIS wants to inflate. it ENDORSES inflation. The proximate cause is the unraveling of the current financial system. But it is "their" system. They made it. They watched it rise and fall. It was obvious that it could not end in anything other than a massive contraction and perhaps hyperinflation.

The contraction – incipient Depression – has already taken place. Best case, the powers-that-be would stop trying to prop up failing markets and let the downturn have its way as quickly as possible. This they will not do. Instead, the next phase of an increasingly horrific scenario is about to unfold.

Rather than let the market alone, the elites are apparently readying massive central bank monetary inflation around the world. That's the real message of this innocent little squib of an article, so far as we can tell.

The BIS, in its inoffensive way, is signaling that the current level of disaster and despair is not good enough. The agony is not sufficient. The new world order is to be birthed on the graves of millions, and nothing but hyperinflation (and/or war) will produce the sufficient level of chaos. Here's some more from the article:

The U.S. Federal Reserve 10 days ago agreed to expand, and reduce the cost of, multilateral swap lines with five other large central banks, notably the European Central Bank, in an effort to restore access to dollar funding for European banks. Euro-zone banks used the new facility to borrow $50.7 billion at a rate of 0.59% at the first operation after the announcement.

The BIS's essay was its latest in a series analyzing the concept of global liquidity, and focused again on the interplay between official liquidity, that is, created by central banks, and the far greater liquidity created by the private sector on the basis of central bank money--the so-called money multiplier.

The essay observed that much is still unknown on this topic, particularly on the degree to which the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by central banks, and their subsequent reinvestment, can affect the creation of private liquidity.

The BIS noted that the priority of policymakers should be to mitigate surges in the overall level of global liquidity. It said the new "Basel III" rules on capital and liquidity should help this trend of "counter-cyclical" policymaking.

Do you appreciate what you have just read, dear reader? Do you understand the black maw of the vicious, velvet trap that is now being readied? Unlimited money printing is to be aimed at a grievously wounded world – and the antidote is to be MORE GLOBAL REGULATION.

Over and over we see this sort of generic dominant social theme in action. Having unleashed a fear-based promotion (a new Great Depression), the elite now suggests that only their international agencies can rectify it.

So let the central banks print away! The regulators have figured it out. They've put into place something called Basel III. This "solution" has been initiated by the same banking community that has hollowed out the life savings of hundreds of millions; it is supposed to ensure that hyperinflation is damped and the velocity of money is damped.

Here at the Daily Bell we quantify the fear-based memes of the elite and their efficacy. We've kept track not only of the successes but of the failures as well. And in our view, the failures are mounting up.

Most recently we suggested that the current chaos in the Eurozone was yet another elite failure – that ideally, Britain wouldn't have had to pull away from the euro but would have drawn closer to the EU.

In fact, Britain's pullback itself may be not only an acknowledgement of the troubles the elites are having in creating their one-world order, it may also be a STRATEGY – one creating a favorite tool, the Hegelian Dialectic.

That's how you move the socio-political discussion in the "right" direction. You need opposing sides to create first a thesis and an antithesis and then, finally ... a synthesis. In this case, the current economic chaos is the thesis, and the BIS's idea of money printing is to be the anti-thesis.

What is to be the synthesis? Well ... perhaps one prints (relatively) slowly, at least at first. Of course, speed is relative. What is "slow" can soon become "faster." The Hegelian Dialectic, in fact, is likely merely a trick designed to create a false sense of satisfaction in those who participate or follow but do not have an understanding of the grand design. No, from our point of view, the "controllers" are making it clear what is to be the next step of the "great game."

Conclusion: Can you hear the noise? It is not a train headed down the track. It is not Superman flying through the air faster than the speed of sound. It is a printing press, running hard toward ruin.