Shadow, not only is VIX up again, but if you look at a large 15-min chart or 30-min chart, you will see that it broke through rather firm resistance (from April 28), and backtested it before moving higher. Just saying ...
anod - I believe it... the fact that it stayed in the 30's this whole time was the key ingredient to determining it's really a bear market rally... The kicker today was the bond auction... that could put a layer of roundup on all those green shoots real quick...
Ok, I'll be the one to say what we're all thinking:
For something so sensitive and confidential, there sure are a lot of leaks. There are so many over such a long period that it can only be done with the consent of the US Treasury.
So what is the Treasury trying to tell us, that we wouldn't otherwise hear without the 'leaks'?
Or there are a lot of people saying things, and they don't actually know. The financial services industry is full of moles and talkers, it's what they do.
I'm happy at the idea of it being regulated, with diversity of type treated much like wine, and availability in food form, which is infinitely healthier than smoke.
I agree it should be legalized... no more dangerous than alcohol unless smoked... however should be kept out of the hands of kids - causes brain damage in the young according to some studies...
So from last thread, we have consumer credit down by a record amount, and in relative terms the most in 18 years, earned income is also down, and the bump in the first quarter from transfer payments has yet to be repeated...?
Remember the cocaine laced wines in the early 1900s...pot should be legalized. I find video game addiction much more alarming now, and I think text messaging addiction (while driving) is much more deadly.
Does anyone know which web site will have the test result up, is it the Fed main page, the Treasury? CR will you be posting a link as soon as it is released?
Naomi Klein “the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country are being asked to bail out the most wealthy.”
“It really does fit the thesis of The Shock Doctrine,” she said, referring to her book in which she exposes how governments and powerful corporations use disasters and upheavals to gain even more power.
“Here we have just this transfer, this massive transfer of public wealth into private hands,” Klein explained, “and that’s continuing and it’s much, much larger, just on a much larger scale than any of the investments we’re seeing through the stimulus or the budget.”
Almost $12 trillion is being spent to bail out the financial sector compared to only about $1 trillion being spent on economic stimulus.
“My real concern is — has been my concern from day one — is that the crisis on Wall Street, created by deregulated capitalism, is not actually being solved,” continued Klein. “It’s being moved. A private sector crisis is being turned into a public sector crisis.”
EHP: on the leaks, it is sort of the Maxwell Smart strategy, float a bunch of trial baloons and see how the market will react to them. All the banks are fine. No, well would you believe..... No, well how about? Until finally the entire U.S. army has been whittled down to a bunch of girl scouts about to come through the door.
usually any debt forgiveness is considered a benefit received and therefore income. However, as part of the housing bill last summer, Congress exempted debt forgiveness from one's primary home from income.
sm_landlord (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:01 pm reply Ignore user
So next we get a pot bubble?
Summarized from the last time we discussed:
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work?
The universe has a way of 'processing' make believe, it is not a pretty sight though. Ask the British how their empire fell apart or ask the japanese where bushido took them.
Evolution of any system occurs through the destruction of those components that refuse to change with the emerging reality. So will it be.. again.
"The Aussie dollar ETF is up 13.8% in the past 13 weeks while the Canadian dollar ETF is up 4.6% as commodity prices have picked up with crude oil hitting $55 a barrel, its high for the year."
Darmit, am I going to be late on the currency turn again?
Nobody really 'needs' additional capital because the government has guaranteed everything.
If those guarantees start to pull back, the tune will change very quickly. Of course, we might just try to keep a state-run economy forever, but experience elsewhere was not good.
Let me know when Timmy is selling thin mints outside the grocery store in a girl scout outfit to fund TARP. A drive of any distance would be worth that photograph.
Now that a decent number of CR commenters are turning cautiously bullish, does it mean that the next leg down is just around the corner? Or do we all have to capitulate before this rally turns?
All you druggies might be interested to know there's a Woodstock 40th reunion concert in Maine this summer - with what's left of the original groups (some of them, not all) (of course)
A keiretsu is a grouping of affiliated companies that form a tight-knit alliance to work toward each other's mutual success. The keiretsu system is also based on an intimate partnership between government and businesses. It can best be understood as the intricate web of relationships that links banks, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors with the Japanese government.
Cocaine was legal during the alcohol prohibition. Both MJ and Cocaine were made illegal in the 30s to stop mexicans and blacks from acting "uppity" (essentially a way to jail them and harass them)
Don't fool yourselves, Philip Morris would dominate the pot market within three to five years.
When cloves started showing up here, their reaction was to try to ban them with their legislative partners, then they just decided to buy out the largest manufacturer. If it gets rolled up and burned, PM will be in that business.
The yield on the 10 year scrolling across the bottom of the TV seems to be around 3.295%. Jas, you are the bond guy. Remind me, yield up, price down right? Yield up, mortgage rates up, right? Bummer...
I would think that if pot was legal across the US the tobacco companies would jump on the opportunity and drive all the little people right out of it.. except for homegrown of course... but it would probably be like any other commodity - mass production and specialization would drive the quality up and the cost down to the point where home production would not be worth the effort except for the hobbyist... like beer or vegetables...
Rob, excellent point, but the lack of spending on prosecution and incarceration alone is a gigantic savings off the bat.
I also think you lack imagination - moonshine is easy enough to make such that they make it in jail - almost any knucklehead can brew better beer than Miller at home. Yet bottled alcohol is a gigantic industry, which also is a key element of tourism, dining, entertainment including pro sports, etc...
Of course, we need to be careful about what we wish for - Joe Camel with dreads? shudders
Dawg, it is also possible to create your own still, yet relatively few people do so. Same reason pot would still be taxable, the growing wild stuff would quickly revert to the stregth and quality of late 60's early 70's, vs. current kind bud hydro stuff. Yeah there would be tons of low cost/nearly free stuff, sort of like owning your own still, but more people would go for the single malt scotch equivelent from exotic destinations or good grow houses.
"he spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons."
Perhaps, but did you watch the CNBC production on the subject? It appears that the successful growers put a lot of energy, fertilizer, and effort into producing the high quality product.
Still, I agree that legalization means commoditization, so one would expect more efficient production and a drive toward lower margins. But look at the wine business - Cheap red plonk is $2.99 a bottle at Trader Joe's, but Duckhorn still gets $60 and up for a bottle of the good Merlot.
Lucifer,
You are correct. The cocaine wines were big in Hollywood even during prohibition. Have you read about the Civil War wounded vet addicts, and what the doctors tried putting them on to cure their addiction to morphine?
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work?
There would be a market for "designer" strains. Also, there are as many strains with different subtle effects as there are varieties of wine. Plenty of room for entrepreneurs to cater to different tastes. There is not just one kind of weed.
ShadowInventory (profile) wrote on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:15 pm reply Ignore user
Rob I expect there will be a market for quality bud...
Without any experience with the industry relevant engineering, chemistry or botany, I could only assume that's true. Cuttings tested for sex, cell emulsifaction, hydroponic trace element balance, progressive light forcing, pinching... just guessing.
Still I suspect a few growing seasons and ditch weed is gonna be enough to topple the market. We stopped it with home brewing and stills but this is so much easier or at least I've heard.
Wells Fargo said late Thursday that it plans to sell $6 billion in new common stock to help the bank raise capital to meet requirements from the government's so-called stress test.
The stress test is expected to conclude that Wells needs to raise $13 billion to $15 billion in new capital, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Wells-Fargo-sell-6-bln/story.aspx?guid={6A4D0AA4-E8C8-4B22-B583-A56FE1B30552}
Tim waiting for 2012 - UGH...Yeah I have been wrong too.
However, there are few things I have argued with that guy about over the years. Two of them are depression and bond yields going to zero. He was wrong and very rude about it, with his "american dope" crap. If you dont like this country then leave! All he can say now is "I look out three years", whatever. He is no better than Sebastian!
Money man, I beg to differ, the best weed growing conditions are the same as you find for growing coffee, tropical, high altitude and volcanic soil, hence places like Jamaca, Hawaii, Columbia, and Kenya produce top notch stuff.
It wouldn't topple it, but I think a crappy economy would definitely enhance the appeal of low-maintenance 'free' backyard bud. Watch for suburban catfights between the soccer moms - "YOU'RE the lazy bitch who let the males grow and polinate the whole neighboorhood!"...
"Now that a decent number of CR commenters are turning cautiously bullish, does it mean that the next leg down is just around the corner? Or do we all have to capitulate before this rally turns? "
Depends on your definition of bullish. I have no idea what the market as a whole is going to do, but I can tell you you best start thinking about it in real terms, not nominal.
I am bullish as hell on commodities, when measured in USD.
Not sure if this was posted already, but Australia had a surprising rise in employment last month:
The article doesn't speculate on why, other than "the economy is improving", but I suspect it has something to do with the rise in price of the commodities they are selling to their friends the Chinese.
wonder why WFC's crappy AH isn't really affecting JPM and the gang... internals in the XLF would almost indicate that the market is starting to individually assess the banks again... bulls better hope it doesn't become a habit.
"Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons."
Anybody can grow lousy pot. There is actually a fair bit of technique involved in growing good pot.
sm_landlord (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:19 pm
But look at the wine business - Cheap red plonk is $2.99 a bottle at Trader Joe's, but Duckhorn still gets $60 and up for a bottle of the good Merlot.
Thats the model! Excellent. The downside is that the crop is more like a tomato than a grape. Homegrown grapes cannot compare to a Wild Heart Santa Barbara Vintage but tomatoes are a different issue altogether.
Lucifer,
Correct again. Well they didn't call it the jitter-bug for nothing. Florida in the early 1900s was a fascinating place for the rich and well-to-do. We forget so much of what has come before.
People also forgot that tank crews, bombers crews and soldiers used amphetamine and methamphetamine on a very large scale during WW2. Both allied and axis forces..
this is awesome. i flipped over to marketwatch.com and the lead story on their scroll is that CROX is down -20% in after hours trading. i freaking amazed that they've lasted this long. lots of margin in crappy plastic shoes.
fixed that for you. and, yes, the reich took crystal meth off the shelf to keep the planes flying - i believe it had been largely ignored in the previous few decades.
Better soldiers through chemistry. Still going on today. Greeks did it too, and just look at what the Vikings and Celts drank before going into battle. Got to submerge that fear, and pump that adrenaline. Nothing new under the sun.
It is fairly easy and safe, just requires some custom tweaking and quality control. THC and analogs are very lipophilic, and if you use non-toxic solvent mixtures- you do not even have to crystallize them. Even a resin-like purity will do. Won't smell as nice as the resin from genetically enhanced strains, but will do.
Pretty funny. Tim Geittner just went live on Bloomberg and as soon as he said the first sentence (banks can get on with the business of banking, blah, blah, blah) the audience groaned really loud. Bloomberg then cut the background sound.
Wow, I bet Lehman, Bear, Wamu, Wachovia, IndyMac et. al are really feeling they got screwed. Think about it, anybody can pass a no-fail stress stest. These poor bstards had to take a reality based stress test where the market decided pass or fail.
And they all had positive book values on the day they went tits up or got merged. Bear had a book value of $80/share just days before it disappeared into the fed and JPM for less than zero. Go figure.
Lucifer I think the reason the Germans had so many aces is that they went against the Russian flying rocks on the eastern front - one german pilot had over 240 kills if I remember rightly...
retail shorts (like the kind who predominate around here, myself included) are incredibly easy to squeeze. in fact, they tend to squeeze each other when left alone in the right conditions.
Legalize all drugs? There is no need to create new avenues of addiction when the old ones work so well.... I couldnt get behind legalizing all drugs - too dangerous...
There were more than 50 with over 150 kills. The eastern front myth is also incorrect in that many of the aces got the majority of their kills during periods when russian planse were almost as good as german planes.
And you are forgetting that there were many with over 150 kills on the western front, including many who shot down over 50 bombers (some in Me262s)
I'm perplexed as to the dropoff in consumer borrowing, particularly credit card borrowing. My understanding was that with people losing their jobs, they were turning to their credit cards for living expenses.
Oh right Lucifer I forgot that the bombers also counted... the statistic would probably mean more if the planes were more closely matched... whatever, I never wanted to get up there and do that....
Lucifer I would prefer that the federal govt fulfill it's constitutional mandate to protect the states from invasion, and close the borders to the drug traffic.
wiki reminds us that many of the soviets were flying borrowed allied planes, and that the p-39s were particularly deadly...
I always wonder what would have happened if Stalin had successfully worked down his death list a little more quickly, and zhukov wouldn't have been available to call up to repel the japanese so successfully at khalin-gol
Outsider - lots of news articles lately about people having their credit card limits lowered or even having their cards cancelled as the issuers want to prevent defaults...
I've read that Stalin got intelligence from Tokyo that Japan was not planning to mount an attack on Russia, which gave him the confidence to move all his troops to Stalingrad to defeat the Germans there. If Stalin had to keep a lot of troops on his eastern borders things would probably have been different... or maybe not in the long run anyway... I think the best thing that happened was the breach of trust between Stalin and Hitler... if Russia had been part of the Axis we would probably still be dealing with that today...
The Treasury has impressed me for its courage. Look at Wells, their stock more than doubled in 36 days. Gives a reason for delay of the stress test, because if you pick the right day the firm looks more robust without explicitly bending the rules. Also lets the bank soak up money at inflated prices if they raise capital.
The Treasury has not impressed me with its intellect. By dragging out the Stress Test, they have ensured they'll never be allowed to visit the well of trust and credibility again. Also it does not matter if banks raise capital at inflated values, because they won't have a second chance to raise capital where their primary concern is dilution. If you cryptically take much longer than expected, then no one really thinks much of the test's challenge. I mean we've already demonstrably broken the worst-case scenarios, but they're not going to re-compute their spreadsheets to use the best available knowledge — or at least limit the scenario possibilities to reality.
The Treasury may not have sought to impress me. They could have just been killing time — which they certainly did for an extra 3 months than planned — waiting for some drama at stage right while they duck behind the curtains at stage left. If this isn't the case, then the next few months will be very awkward
HollywoodHack (homepage, profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:33 pm reply Ignore user
...crews and soldiers use...
fixed that for you. and, yes, the reich took crystal meth off the shelf to keep the planes flying - i believe it had been largely ignored in the previous few decades.
Ask how the US deploys a non-carrier fighter overseas. The puppy-upper pills are mandatory. Of course they are also grounded for a few days after the flight. I don't even think this is a secret.
I think that would be a good idea, but can the present system do it?
I think we should give unemployed black and white men ~40k a year to spend as they please, as long as they buy stuff and services. If you jail them it costs 30-50k and creates fewer jobs than if they were given the same money to spend as they please.
//I would prefer that the federal govt fulfill it's constitutional mandate to protect the states from invasion//
Also it does not matter if banks raise capital at inflated values, because they won't have a second chance to raise capital where their primary concern is dilution.
Who are they going to raise capital from? The SWFs were burned early last year. Who is the greater fool?
Lucifer, I am not quite there yet, but I am getting there. Long story short, I had a job a few years ago setting up computer labs in all the prisons in Texas. I have been to almost all the state run units except two, including women units (which is where I was the most uncomfortable by the way). What I saw there challenged my law and order beliefs. The majority of inmates are kids. African American and Latino kids and they were all lost puppies in a zombie like existence. These were the 'criminals' I was being protected from....while we are letting repeat child molesters go free and live blocks away from elementary schools. As I have stated, I am not entirely white, enough red man in me to be called big chief by a lot of law enforcement types, but I haven't faced an ounce of what goes on if you lose the race lottery at birth. I don't trust my police. I don't trust my government. And the sad thing is I don't know what to do about it.
well, Khalkin-gol nipped that idea in the bud - Japan lost something like 80K troops in a few quick months. As for Russia in the axis, that would be unlikely - it was, after all, the communists that the NSDAP fought in the streets during its formation and growth in the 20s and early 30s, and the communists that went to the camps long before anyone else.
Okay so basically they all need to raise more money, bottom line. We all know the number is going to be MUCH bigger than they say today. Why do they even bother nickel and diming about the amount. Just times it by ten. There, done. Oh, and AIG lost a lot more than analysts expected. Came out after hours. Hoocoodanode?
"I've read that Stalin got intelligence from Tokyo that Japan was not planning to mount an attack on Russia, which gave him the confidence to move all his troops to Stalingrad to defeat the Germans there"
That was a Soviet agent named Richard Sorge. Last I looked, years ago, there was a statue of him in Moscow. It wasn't Stalingrad but Moscow itself that was the city under siege at the time. Crack Siberian divisions moved West helped save the city.
Sorge has excellent access to the German mission in Tokyo. He was eventually arrested and was executed there.
From what I've read Stalin chose to ignore Sorge's precise warnings of the June 1941 German attack on the SU, and he did so with a coarse oath. But Sorge wasn't the only source of warnings. Among others, so was Churchill.
"waiting for some drama at stage right while they duck behind the curtains at stage left."
I've said for some time - this is just a ruse to allow all of the Ivy schoolmates of ben and timmy to cash out and wire the loot to the caymans, switzerland etc. this rally has helped the midmanagement underlings to do such on a smaller scale in terms of options and preferred stock. that's really all there is to it. and you can REALLY thank the kinds of retail shorts who haunt boards like this for this most recent opportunity. it may well be appropriate, seeing as it is the smaller fish that needed this rally to cash out, and it is the smaller investors toying with FAZ, SRS, etc, that made it possible. the big dogs already did their selling and wiring months ago.
Lucifer - People do not appreciate what is given to them as much as what they have to work to earn - look at public housing for example... and then what incentive would the recipient have to return to the work force? Why not give everyone a million and then everyone would be rich? Talk about instant inflation and nobody would go to work the next day... Also if you gave 40k then the people who were working for 41k will also quit and take your 40... that's what happens now and why Clinton put limits on welfare... I really dont want to go back over this ground again - we've been over this a lot in the last few days and it's a very divisive topic...
The Japanese barely wanted to be in Manchuria, they weren't going to go North or West as there had been no resource development by Stalin until after the war.
"State Street Corp. does not need to boost its capital levels as a result of the government's recently concluded stress tests ..."
However, the books we keep to know when to insider sell shares say "Grab your butt and kiss it goodye!" So all you outsiders...BUY STATE STREET SHARES!
Angry Saver,
I believe William Randolph Hearst drove the criminalization of marijuana. As the first newspaper baron, he also owned paper mills and Hemp was his competition. There are also ties to the Cotton industry, which has been an important voting constituency since the civil war. But I would blame it on Hearst both because it wasn't until the decorticator (Hemp version of Cotton gin) was invented in 1917 that it could provide competition for paper (as a fibre it was preferred over cotton for rope for quality not cost reasons), and the propaganda campaign he ran starting in 1936 that led to the prohibition in 1937.
Maybe they are poor and trying to get rich or even just survive.
L - A smart scientist you are. A sociologist you are not.
Jails are filled with people with mental illness of varying degrees. Not because of lack of funds. Because of lack of proper socialization and/or chemical imbalances.
wild plants would not have anywhere near the thc of those produced in a controlled environment because once they are pollinated thc production shuts down.
Lucifer,
I honestly think it is too late. The mind scanners are coming. The gene tests at birth are coming. We will be convicted before birth if we have the potential, and then arrested if we develop unsocial thoughts later in life. All in the name of protecting the public.
"Summarized from the last time we discussed:
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work? " - RD
the savings will come from all the money not being spent on prosecution.
-edit: oops. looks like the Hollywood Hack beat me to it.
Vonbek777 (profile) wrote on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 4:05 pm
The mind scanners are coming. The gene tests at birth are coming. We will be convicted before birth if we have the potential, and then arrested if we develop unsocial thoughts later in life. All in the name of protecting the public.
Collectivism writ large and enforced by a technological system only specialists can understand or operate, run for the benefit of those who have power and appealing to those who aspire to it. Just received GATTACA on Blu-Ray yesterday; always liked the movie (first released in 1997) though now it is not merely prescient, but eerily so.
Yes, my assumption depended on life going on as usual. My crystal ball can't see whether we have a new French revolution, or if the bankers and private armies win.
first
...
no what?
They received and used my ruby slippers!
leaks, expectations, green poops, bla bla bla.
let's make a vow to focus on changes in earnings versus last year from now on
OKAYZ?
VIX is back up again - the fear returneth
No one believes these things. Insolvent until proven otherwise.
Yet.....
was it book value/share that was supposed to be the real value of a company? I think Buffet said that...
wonder if STT wished that they had leaked this info sooner. Yesterday, this would have been good for a +20%.
today not so much.
Shadow, not only is VIX up again, but if you look at a large 15-min chart or 30-min chart, you will see that it broke through rather firm resistance (from April 28), and backtested it before moving higher. Just saying ...
[Initial leaks suggested State Street would need to raise capital]
Obama's SST opinion poll said NO on the need checkbox, so NO it is. That was easy. After all, this is a democracy. Let the voters decide!
Couple of articles on the MiFi device...
Verizon Launches MiFi Hotspot Without Subscription - News and Analysis by PC Magazine
Watch Out WiFi, Here Comes MiFi
"Michelle Obama's highlight of the year – meeting Sesame Street's Elmo
US first lady says Sesame Street appearance is 'best thing I've done so far'"
From the Guardian, today. Kermit's done, Michelle backs Elmo.
anod - I believe it... the fact that it stayed in the 30's this whole time was the key ingredient to determining it's really a bear market rally... The kicker today was the bond auction... that could put a layer of roundup on all those green shoots real quick...
and I don't need to pay taxes
Michelle shows Elmo how to grow his own...
Printing money is really catching on!
Simon Property plans $1B stock offering
Simon Property plans $1B stock offering - Austin Business Journal:
They just did one a month or so ago. Di Lu Shun
Elmo's victory garden? Hope garden?
bearly
What more disturbing the fact that SPG needs 1 billion or the fact that taxpayers will probably be buying it?
Man the magician just tried something. Look at the DOW jump.
If Calif. legalizes pot, the White House will probably move to Humboldt county...
Leaking and flailing.
Flailing and leaking.
My confidence is restored - I am confident we will see more leaking and flailing for the indefinite future.
SPG's offering will be over subscribed. Just watch. Into the 2nd inning of a meltdown in CRE. Amazing stuff.
I don't consider it a sign of strength when "they" have to pack so much buying into the last five minutes to have an impact.
Ok, I'll be the one to say what we're all thinking:
For something so sensitive and confidential, there sure are a lot of leaks. There are so many over such a long period that it can only be done with the consent of the US Treasury.
So what is the Treasury trying to tell us, that we wouldn't otherwise hear without the 'leaks'?
Kermit airlines, zoom zoom zoom. Happy jetting.
"Michelle backs Elmo. "
So that's what happened to the EOD rally!
Talk about lame...
This is way more exciting than the election was...... maybe as bullshit as the previous one tooo.....
Or there are a lot of people saying things, and they don't actually know. The financial services industry is full of moles and talkers, it's what they do.
We won't know until 5PM.
Calif. legalizes pot, the whole country moves to Humboldt county...
So next we get a pot bubble?
underwhelmed with the attempt at a closing squeeze
I answered by own question from the last thread, about whether charge-offs are reported as income:
Tax Topics - Topic 431 Canceled Debt – Is it Taxable or Not?
While we wait...considering a career change?
I have just the thing for ya!
Retail Pet Groomer/Pet Stylist Job in Northern, Louisiana US
I always wanted to pretend to be a Pet Stylist.
I'm happy at the idea of it being regulated, with diversity of type treated much like wine, and availability in food form, which is infinitely healthier than smoke.
I agree it should be legalized... no more dangerous than alcohol unless smoked... however should be kept out of the hands of kids - causes brain damage in the young according to some studies...
Cannabis wine - what a pleasant thought....
Legal, illegal, tobacco, pot, cloves, smoking is a disgusting habit.
So from last thread, we have consumer credit down by a record amount, and in relative terms the most in 18 years, earned income is also down, and the bump in the first quarter from transfer payments has yet to be repeated...?
blonde - that puppy is precious - if I have to go back to work I think I'll go for that job...
But the 3.6 trillion budget will be released soon - I think that is what was behind this rally...
Remember the cocaine laced wines in the early 1900s...pot should be legalized. I find video game addiction much more alarming now, and I think text messaging addiction (while driving) is much more deadly.
There is some other Porkulus money that is just hitting now too - did you know about the extra $250 to all SS and disabled vets recipients?
Does anyone know which web site will have the test result up, is it the Fed main page, the Treasury? CR will you be posting a link as soon as it is released?
Good for State Street.
What about the rest ?
Naomi Klein “the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country are being asked to bail out the most wealthy.”
“It really does fit the thesis of The Shock Doctrine,” she said, referring to her book in which she exposes how governments and powerful corporations use disasters and upheavals to gain even more power.
“Here we have just this transfer, this massive transfer of public wealth into private hands,” Klein explained, “and that’s continuing and it’s much, much larger, just on a much larger scale than any of the investments we’re seeing through the stimulus or the budget.”
Almost $12 trillion is being spent to bail out the financial sector compared to only about $1 trillion being spent on economic stimulus.
“My real concern is — has been my concern from day one — is that the crisis on Wall Street, created by deregulated capitalism, is not actually being solved,” continued Klein. “It’s being moved. A private sector crisis is being turned into a public sector crisis.”
Raw Story » Naomi Klein: Poorest, most vulnerable paying for bank bailouts
Damn von, you're ancient. None of the rest of us remember cocaine laced wine from the 1900s.
I think you actually get a 1099 for a cancelled mortgage debt, right?
WFC down almost 9%...
wells fargo offering 6 billion common stock
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Wells-Fargo-sell-6-billion/story.aspx?guid={7A84EE61-E874-4C1F-8855-3BE4FE27BFE0}
EHP: on the leaks, it is sort of the Maxwell Smart strategy, float a bunch of trial baloons and see how the market will react to them. All the banks are fine. No, well would you believe..... No, well how about? Until finally the entire U.S. army has been whittled down to a bunch of girl scouts about to come through the door.
Transcendental meditation...learned a lot from that master of masters Harry Houdini.
But warren buffet said WFC didn't need money
[WFC down almost 9%... ]
WFC UP around 200% in the past month.
sm_landlord (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 3:01 pm reply Ignore user So next we get a pot bubble?
If you are not getting a pot bubble, you need to put more water in your bong
Re wfc selling 6 billion - better hurry and buy before Warren gets it all...
Geithner does kind of remind me of a girl scout.
usually any debt forgiveness is considered a benefit received and therefore income. However, as part of the housing bill last summer, Congress exempted debt forgiveness from one's primary home from income.
Jas step away from the ledge!! Bond market is blowing up...
Jas = Dope!
sm_landlord (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:01 pm reply Ignore user
So next we get a pot bubble?
Summarized from the last time we discussed:
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work?
Recreation Area ahead...
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/5922d576/5a724fb6
km4,
The universe has a way of 'processing' make believe, it is not a pretty sight though. Ask the British how their empire fell apart or ask the japanese where bushido took them.
Evolution of any system occurs through the destruction of those components that refuse to change with the emerging reality. So will it be.. again.
Green Shoots -- Bad for the Greenback?
"The Aussie dollar ETF is up 13.8% in the past 13 weeks while the Canadian dollar ETF is up 4.6% as commodity prices have picked up with crude oil hitting $55 a barrel, its high for the year."
Darmit, am I going to be late on the currency turn again?
Nobody really 'needs' additional capital because the government has guaranteed everything.
If those guarantees start to pull back, the tune will change very quickly. Of course, we might just try to keep a state-run economy forever, but experience elsewhere was not good.
C&C
Buying opportunity of a lifetime. Buy now or be left behind forever.
Let me know when Timmy is selling thin mints outside the grocery store in a girl scout outfit to fund TARP. A drive of any distance would be worth that photograph.
Rob I expect there will be a market for quality bud...
Now that a decent number of CR commenters are turning cautiously bullish, does it mean that the next leg down is just around the corner? Or do we all have to capitulate before this rally turns?
All you druggies might be interested to know there's a Woodstock 40th reunion concert in Maine this summer - with what's left of the original groups (some of them, not all) (of course)
http://www.mainetix.net/events.htm
A keiretsu is a grouping of affiliated companies that form a tight-knit alliance to work toward each other's mutual success. The keiretsu system is also based on an intimate partnership between government and businesses. It can best be understood as the intricate web of relationships that links banks, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors with the Japanese government.
Sushi anyone?
Vonbek777,
Cocaine was legal during the alcohol prohibition. Both MJ and Cocaine were made illegal in the 30s to stop mexicans and blacks from acting "uppity" (essentially a way to jail them and harass them)
Don't fool yourselves, Philip Morris would dominate the pot market within three to five years.
When cloves started showing up here, their reaction was to try to ban them with their legislative partners, then they just decided to buy out the largest manufacturer. If it gets rolled up and burned, PM will be in that business.
Tim waiting for 2012 - lol
The bond bubble was as easy to see as the housing and .com bubble...
The yield on the 10 year scrolling across the bottom of the TV seems to be around 3.295%. Jas, you are the bond guy. Remind me, yield up, price down right? Yield up, mortgage rates up, right? Bummer...
I would think that if pot was legal across the US the tobacco companies would jump on the opportunity and drive all the little people right out of it.. except for homegrown of course... but it would probably be like any other commodity - mass production and specialization would drive the quality up and the cost down to the point where home production would not be worth the effort except for the hobbyist... like beer or vegetables...
Rob, excellent point, but the lack of spending on prosecution and incarceration alone is a gigantic savings off the bat.
I also think you lack imagination - moonshine is easy enough to make such that they make it in jail - almost any knucklehead can brew better beer than Miller at home. Yet bottled alcohol is a gigantic industry, which also is a key element of tourism, dining, entertainment including pro sports, etc...
Of course, we need to be careful about what we wish for - Joe Camel with dreads? shudders
C&C
If I only had an ounce of you insight and knowledge.
Really though good luck with your business.
Best land to grow weed is a humid climate....go long John Deere and GA farmland......BOOO YAAAH...There is ALWAYS a bull market somewhere!
Dawg, it is also possible to create your own still, yet relatively few people do so. Same reason pot would still be taxable, the growing wild stuff would quickly revert to the stregth and quality of late 60's early 70's, vs. current kind bud hydro stuff. Yeah there would be tons of low cost/nearly free stuff, sort of like owning your own still, but more people would go for the single malt scotch equivelent from exotic destinations or good grow houses.
"he spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons."
Perhaps, but did you watch the CNBC production on the subject? It appears that the successful growers put a lot of energy, fertilizer, and effort into producing the high quality product.
Still, I agree that legalization means commoditization, so one would expect more efficient production and a drive toward lower margins. But look at the wine business - Cheap red plonk is $2.99 a bottle at Trader Joe's, but Duckhorn still gets $60 and up for a bottle of the good Merlot.
sterlingerl
You are essentially right. But that was the old capitalist system.
Coca-Cola got it's moniker from the COCAINE used in making it.....Refreshing and High as a Kite!
Lucifer,
You are correct. The cocaine wines were big in Hollywood even during prohibition. Have you read about the Civil War wounded vet addicts, and what the doctors tried putting them on to cure their addiction to morphine?
Philip Morris would have to rename itself again from what...Altria ... to...?
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work?
There would be a market for "designer" strains. Also, there are as many strains with different subtle effects as there are varieties of wine. Plenty of room for entrepreneurs to cater to different tastes. There is not just one kind of weed.
Vonbek777,
At least 4% of the US population was addicted to morphine after the civil war. But they were white people.. so no laws were deemed necessary.
The Harrison Opium act of 1904 was passed to harass chinese immigrants.
Duckhorn annual revenues: $25 million.
Anheuser-Busch annual revenues: $6.5 billion.
ShadowInventory (profile) wrote on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:15 pm reply Ignore user
Rob I expect there will be a market for quality bud...
Without any experience with the industry relevant engineering, chemistry or botany, I could only assume that's true. Cuttings tested for sex, cell emulsifaction, hydroponic trace element balance, progressive light forcing, pinching... just guessing.
Still I suspect a few growing seasons and ditch weed is gonna be enough to topple the market. We stopped it with home brewing and stills but this is so much easier or at least I've heard.
Made some in 77 and 78 out Zin and what wonderful feeling. It even had a label.
Wells to sell $6 billion in new common stock
Wells Fargo said late Thursday that it plans to sell $6 billion in new common stock to help the bank raise capital to meet requirements from the government's so-called stress test.
The stress test is expected to conclude that Wells needs to raise $13 billion to $15 billion in new capital, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Wells-Fargo-sell-6-bln/story.aspx?guid={6A4D0AA4-E8C8-4B22-B583-A56FE1B30552}
Tim waiting for 2012 - UGH...Yeah I have been wrong too.
However, there are few things I have argued with that guy about over the years. Two of them are depression and bond yields going to zero. He was wrong and very rude about it, with his "american dope" crap. If you dont like this country then leave! All he can say now is "I look out three years", whatever. He is no better than Sebastian!
Money man, I beg to differ, the best weed growing conditions are the same as you find for growing coffee, tropical, high altitude and volcanic soil, hence places like Jamaca, Hawaii, Columbia, and Kenya produce top notch stuff.
Benny may have some special treatment for Lewis.
It wouldn't topple it, but I think a crappy economy would definitely enhance the appeal of low-maintenance 'free' backyard bud. Watch for suburban catfights between the soccer moms - "YOU'RE the lazy bitch who let the males grow and polinate the whole neighboorhood!"...
Rob Dawg lol you are a man of many talents...
"Now that a decent number of CR commenters are turning cautiously bullish, does it mean that the next leg down is just around the corner? Or do we all have to capitulate before this rally turns? "
Depends on your definition of bullish. I have no idea what the market as a whole is going to do, but I can tell you you best start thinking about it in real terms, not nominal.
I am bullish as hell on commodities, when measured in USD.
Not sure if this was posted already, but Australia had a surprising rise in employment last month:
Australia Unexpectedly Added 27,300 Jobs in April (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
The article doesn't speculate on why, other than "the economy is improving", but I suspect it has something to do with the rise in price of the commodities they are selling to their friends the Chinese.
wonder why WFC's crappy AH isn't really affecting JPM and the gang... internals in the XLF would almost indicate that the market is starting to individually assess the banks again... bulls better hope it doesn't become a habit.
Yeah, now if it weren't for Cap One, I'd have a perfect parlay card thus far:
my picks for yesses and hell-yesses:
BofA
Shitigroup
WF
MS
GMAC
Suntrust
CapOne (wrong!?!)
Regions
5/3
KeyCorp
and my nays:
JPM
GS
MetLife
PNC
USBank
BNYMellon
State St
BBT
Amex
"Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons."
Anybody can grow lousy pot. There is actually a fair bit of technique involved in growing good pot.
Fed tells GMAC to raise $13.1 bln
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Fed-tells-GMAC-raise-131/story.aspx?guid={E8E2B6A4-95E4-45F5-B711-EF4BBD88810E}
sm_landlord (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:19 pm
But look at the wine business - Cheap red plonk is $2.99 a bottle at Trader Joe's, but Duckhorn still gets $60 and up for a bottle of the good Merlot.
Thats the model! Excellent. The downside is that the crop is more like a tomato than a grape. Homegrown grapes cannot compare to a Wild Heart Santa Barbara Vintage but tomatoes are a different issue altogether.
It seems we have a plethora of knowledge of growing methods amongst the cognoscenti here...
Lucifer,
Correct again. Well they didn't call it the jitter-bug for nothing. Florida in the early 1900s was a fascinating place for the rich and well-to-do. We forget so much of what has come before.
yes, shnaps that thought occured to me. looks like market cap is the main differentiator you're using.
anoddamoose,
You can extract THC and related chemicals from poor quality pot and concentrate them.
WFC offering is for 20-22.50
WFC confirms the total pump job on the banks to get the prices up to do equity - banana republic
People also forgot that tank crews, bombers crews and soldiers used amphetamine and methamphetamine on a very large scale during WW2. Both allied and axis forces..
You can extract THC... HOOCOODANODE!!!!
S +1
Engineered pump to give banks equity cushion. That is all.
Are commodities the only place to be during a bond market burst?
Arent military pilots still given uppers and downers for combat use?
REBear - money market fund yields will track short term interest rates with no share price risk - that can be a nice wave to ride...
ShadowInventory (profile) wrote on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:26 pm reply Ignore user
Rob Dawg lol you are a man of many talents...
The records were expunged, you've got nothing my friend.
And the rumors of the Northeastern Univ vs MIT Commonwealth Ave fraternity hydroponic skylight grow off contests in the early 80's were never proven.
thanks shadow!
Timmy is up now...
this is awesome. i flipped over to marketwatch.com and the lead story on their scroll is that CROX is down -20% in after hours trading. i freaking amazed that they've lasted this long. lots of margin in crappy plastic shoes.
REbear
GLOD!
...crews and soldiers use...
fixed that for you. and, yes, the reich took crystal meth off the shelf to keep the planes flying - i believe it had been largely ignored in the previous few decades.
Better soldiers through chemistry. Still going on today. Greeks did it too, and just look at what the Vikings and Celts drank before going into battle. Got to submerge that fear, and pump that adrenaline. Nothing new under the sun.
WFC offering - Pie stays the same. Just carving more slices. Good for current shareholders!
Uh...
Stock market down.
TBT up.
They have been directly correlated until recently... you know that whole "flight to safety"...
ShadowInventory,
It is fairly easy and safe, just requires some custom tweaking and quality control. THC and analogs are very lipophilic, and if you use non-toxic solvent mixtures- you do not even have to crystallize them. Even a resin-like purity will do. Won't smell as nice as the resin from genetically enhanced strains, but will do.
You can extract THC
Well timmy just did another nothing..
BB is up...
Timmay doesn't know he is on the mic?
See them laughing WTF?
well, no - just there for moral support I guess... Timmy looks so childish in these pr events..
Did you all see this it is a huge joke to these guys WTF
Pretty funny. Tim Geittner just went live on Bloomberg and as soon as he said the first sentence (banks can get on with the business of banking, blah, blah, blah) the audience groaned really loud. Bloomberg then cut the background sound.
RD - "I didnt do it, nobody saw me do it, you cant prove anything!" - Bart Simpson....
Tim and Ben giggling like school girls.
Whoa MS capital raise. "financial engineering" Credibility out the window.
"WFC confirms the total pump job on the banks to get the prices up to do equity - banana republic "
MS just announced too - $2BB in equity. plus 3B in non-FDIC insured notes
Wow, I bet Lehman, Bear, Wamu, Wachovia, IndyMac et. al are really feeling they got screwed. Think about it, anybody can pass a no-fail stress stest. These poor bstards had to take a reality based stress test where the market decided pass or fail.
And they all had positive book values on the day they went tits up or got merged. Bear had a book value of $80/share just days before it disappeared into the fed and JPM for less than zero. Go figure.
Color me a skeptic.
sterlin
These guys were just laughing someone TIVO that and put it on the Net.
yet the XLF AH trades really aren't perturbed by the MS and WFC turds in the jacuzzi
HollywoodHack,
Might I remind you that the germans dominated the list of fighter pilot aces!
The top German ace (Eric Hartmann) had 352 confirmed kills, The top US ace- about 40.
// the reich took crystal meth off the shelf to keep the planes flying - i believe it had been largely ignored in the previous few decades.//
"et the XLF AH trades really aren't perturbed by the MS and WFC turds in the jacuzzi "
why would it - more chips for the casino, all is good.
Lucifer I think the reason the Germans had so many aces is that they went against the Russian flying rocks on the eastern front - one german pilot had over 240 kills if I remember rightly...
AIG says Treasury provided new capital facility? WTF?
Seriously if you bought banks in the past coupe weeks you have to be saying WTF?
Vonbek777,
So why not legalize all drugs, like alcohol?
Would save us a lot on prisons. I suspect that the reasons lie in quaint beliefs in racial superiority and hubris.
Tap those wells....WFC to dilute with $6 bil stock offering. Shares actually dont rise in after hours. Crazy.
I wonder why Timmy and Ben even did that photo op? If I was their campaign manager, I would be wringing my hands...
gee, with all the recent equity raises, do you really wonder why the markets are up so much in the past few weeks?
retail shorts (like the kind who predominate around here, myself included) are incredibly easy to squeeze. in fact, they tend to squeeze each other when left alone in the right conditions.
Ghost
Haven't the foggiest idea?
Legalize all drugs? There is no need to create new avenues of addiction when the old ones work so well.... I couldnt get behind legalizing all drugs - too dangerous...
ShadowInventory,
There were more than 50 with over 150 kills. The eastern front myth is also incorrect in that many of the aces got the majority of their kills during periods when russian planse were almost as good as german planes.
And you are forgetting that there were many with over 150 kills on the western front, including many who shot down over 50 bombers (some in Me262s)
Ghost - buy low sell high...
That groan of disbelief when Timmay opened his mouth has spelled his doom. I can't believe they aired that.
ShadowInventory,
Keep on paying 30-50 k to keep a black guy behind bars. You deserve the costs!
I'm perplexed as to the dropoff in consumer borrowing, particularly credit card borrowing. My understanding was that with people losing their jobs, they were turning to their credit cards for living expenses.
Oh right Lucifer I forgot that the bombers also counted... the statistic would probably mean more if the planes were more closely matched... whatever, I never wanted to get up there and do that....
Lucifer I would prefer that the federal govt fulfill it's constitutional mandate to protect the states from invasion, and close the borders to the drug traffic.
wiki reminds us that many of the soviets were flying borrowed allied planes, and that the p-39s were particularly deadly...
I always wonder what would have happened if Stalin had successfully worked down his death list a little more quickly, and zhukov wouldn't have been available to call up to repel the japanese so successfully at khalin-gol
Message - The OMSA Medal Database
manufacturing those cheap mosquitoes would have been tough with the greater east asian co-prosperity sphere knocking on moscow's doors...
Outsider - lots of news articles lately about people having their credit card limits lowered or even having their cards cancelled as the issuers want to prevent defaults...
Maybe the reason we outlawed weed was due to a fear that it would mellow our populace and thus weaken our military.
Full faith and credit is bs. Our currency is backed by a powerful and disciplined military.
Toke and ahhh just wouldn't cut it.
'khalin-gol'
Khalkin-gol
crispy-
methinks you may regret your giddiness about the last 2 months.
you should be more sportsmanlike, you never know what the future holds.
I've read that Stalin got intelligence from Tokyo that Japan was not planning to mount an attack on Russia, which gave him the confidence to move all his troops to Stalingrad to defeat the Germans there. If Stalin had to keep a lot of troops on his eastern borders things would probably have been different... or maybe not in the long run anyway... I think the best thing that happened was the breach of trust between Stalin and Hitler... if Russia had been part of the Axis we would probably still be dealing with that today...
The Treasury has impressed me for its courage. Look at Wells, their stock more than doubled in 36 days. Gives a reason for delay of the stress test, because if you pick the right day the firm looks more robust without explicitly bending the rules. Also lets the bank soak up money at inflated prices if they raise capital.
The Treasury has not impressed me with its intellect. By dragging out the Stress Test, they have ensured they'll never be allowed to visit the well of trust and credibility again. Also it does not matter if banks raise capital at inflated values, because they won't have a second chance to raise capital where their primary concern is dilution. If you cryptically take much longer than expected, then no one really thinks much of the test's challenge. I mean we've already demonstrably broken the worst-case scenarios, but they're not going to re-compute their spreadsheets to use the best available knowledge — or at least limit the scenario possibilities to reality.
The Treasury may not have sought to impress me. They could have just been killing time — which they certainly did for an extra 3 months than planned — waiting for some drama at stage right while they duck behind the curtains at stage left. If this isn't the case, then the next few months will be very awkward
HollywoodHack (homepage, profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 1:33 pm reply Ignore user
...crews and soldiers use...
fixed that for you. and, yes, the reich took crystal meth off the shelf to keep the planes flying - i believe it had been largely ignored in the previous few decades.
Ask how the US deploys a non-carrier fighter overseas. The puppy-upper pills are mandatory. Of course they are also grounded for a few days after the flight. I don't even think this is a secret.
[I wonder why Timmy and Ben even did that photo op? If I was their campaign manager, I would be wringing my hands]
Their campaign manager is... the Campaigner-in-Chief
With all this talk of pot legalization, I wonder if Monsanto has patented the seeds for the best varieties yet?
Roundup-Ready weed, anyone?
ShadowInventory,
I think that would be a good idea, but can the present system do it?
I think we should give unemployed black and white men ~40k a year to spend as they please, as long as they buy stuff and services. If you jail them it costs 30-50k and creates fewer jobs than if they were given the same money to spend as they please.
//I would prefer that the federal govt fulfill it's constitutional mandate to protect the states from invasion//
Also it does not matter if banks raise capital at inflated values, because they won't have a second chance to raise capital where their primary concern is dilution.
Who are they going to raise capital from? The SWFs were burned early last year. Who is the greater fool?
Lucifer, I am not quite there yet, but I am getting there. Long story short, I had a job a few years ago setting up computer labs in all the prisons in Texas. I have been to almost all the state run units except two, including women units (which is where I was the most uncomfortable by the way). What I saw there challenged my law and order beliefs. The majority of inmates are kids. African American and Latino kids and they were all lost puppies in a zombie like existence. These were the 'criminals' I was being protected from....while we are letting repeat child molesters go free and live blocks away from elementary schools. As I have stated, I am not entirely white, enough red man in me to be called big chief by a lot of law enforcement types, but I haven't faced an ounce of what goes on if you lose the race lottery at birth. I don't trust my police. I don't trust my government. And the sad thing is I don't know what to do about it.
well, Khalkin-gol nipped that idea in the bud - Japan lost something like 80K troops in a few quick months. As for Russia in the axis, that would be unlikely - it was, after all, the communists that the NSDAP fought in the streets during its formation and growth in the 20s and early 30s, and the communists that went to the camps long before anyone else.
Okay so basically they all need to raise more money, bottom line. We all know the number is going to be MUCH bigger than they say today. Why do they even bother nickel and diming about the amount. Just times it by ten. There, done. Oh, and AIG lost a lot more than analysts expected. Came out after hours. Hoocoodanode?
Basel
Look in the mirror. Involuntary action of course.
"I've read that Stalin got intelligence from Tokyo that Japan was not planning to mount an attack on Russia, which gave him the confidence to move all his troops to Stalingrad to defeat the Germans there"
That was a Soviet agent named Richard Sorge. Last I looked, years ago, there was a statue of him in Moscow. It wasn't Stalingrad but Moscow itself that was the city under siege at the time. Crack Siberian divisions moved West helped save the city.
Sorge has excellent access to the German mission in Tokyo. He was eventually arrested and was executed there.
From what I've read Stalin chose to ignore Sorge's precise warnings of the June 1941 German attack on the SU, and he did so with a coarse oath. But Sorge wasn't the only source of warnings. Among others, so was Churchill.
Outsider writes: I'm perplexed as to the dropoff in consumer borrowing, particularly credit card borrowing.
it's probably due to the rise of 'involuntary thrift', CR covered this as it began to emerge a year ago:
Calculated Risk: Credit Crunch and Credit Cards
"waiting for some drama at stage right while they duck behind the curtains at stage left."
I've said for some time - this is just a ruse to allow all of the Ivy schoolmates of ben and timmy to cash out and wire the loot to the caymans, switzerland etc. this rally has helped the midmanagement underlings to do such on a smaller scale in terms of options and preferred stock. that's really all there is to it. and you can REALLY thank the kinds of retail shorts who haunt boards like this for this most recent opportunity. it may well be appropriate, seeing as it is the smaller fish that needed this rally to cash out, and it is the smaller investors toying with FAZ, SRS, etc, that made it possible. the big dogs already did their selling and wiring months ago.
Lucifer - People do not appreciate what is given to them as much as what they have to work to earn - look at public housing for example... and then what incentive would the recipient have to return to the work force? Why not give everyone a million and then everyone would be rich? Talk about instant inflation and nobody would go to work the next day... Also if you gave 40k then the people who were working for 41k will also quit and take your 40... that's what happens now and why Clinton put limits on welfare... I really dont want to go back over this ground again - we've been over this a lot in the last few days and it's a very divisive topic...
Pavel et al read this
Mongolia 1939 - Stalin’s Shrewd Opening Act
Mongolia 1939 – Stalin’s Shrewd Opening Act » HistoryNet
Even as the battle at Nomonhan was escalating, Stalin was weaving the diplomatic design that would connect it to a far larger conflict: World War II.
Vonbek777,
Why do most people in jail end up there?
Maybe they are poor and trying to get rich or even just survive.
What we do?
Pay somebody 30-50k to take care of them for us.
How many jobs does it create?
A few.
Does it help us as a society?
No! China imprisons fewer people. We end up with a more violent and unsafe society.
Solution- Pay the people whom we sent to jail 40k/ year as long as they spend all that money and do not act violent.
Is it a bribe? Yes, but it creates more jobs, reduces violence and creates a safer society.
banks need 74 billion in equity!
The Japanese barely wanted to be in Manchuria, they weren't going to go North or West as there had been no resource development by Stalin until after the war.
Geithner does kind of remind me of a girl scout.
Girl scouts are mostly cute. Girl scouts probably haven't learned to lie all the time. Average girl scout probably of at least average intelligence.
No resemblance whatsoever.
ShadowInventory,
Give the enough! Then they will appreciate. Also-explain the rules and reasons clearly.
Instant inflation- Well there are ways to control that. I think in technological society inflation is not as big a problem as deflation.
comrade
Mongolia 1939 – Stalin’s Shrewd Opening Act » HistoryNet
Even as the battle at Nomonhan was escalating, Stalin was weaving the diplomatic design that would connect it to a far larger conflict: World War II.
"State Street Corp. does not need to boost its capital levels as a result of the government's recently concluded stress tests ..."
However, the books we keep to know when to insider sell shares say "Grab your butt and kiss it goodye!" So all you outsiders...BUY STATE STREET SHARES!
Nostrovia,
Angry Saver,
I believe William Randolph Hearst drove the criminalization of marijuana. As the first newspaper baron, he also owned paper mills and Hemp was his competition. There are also ties to the Cotton industry, which has been an important voting constituency since the civil war. But I would blame it on Hearst both because it wasn't until the decorticator (Hemp version of Cotton gin) was invented in 1917 that it could provide competition for paper (as a fibre it was preferred over cotton for rope for quality not cost reasons), and the propaganda campaign he ran starting in 1936 that led to the prohibition in 1937.
Why do most people in jail end up there?
Maybe they are poor and trying to get rich or even just survive.
L - A smart scientist you are. A sociologist you are not.
Jails are filled with people with mental illness of varying degrees. Not because of lack of funds. Because of lack of proper socialization and/or chemical imbalances.
wild plants would not have anywhere near the thc of those produced in a controlled environment because once they are pollinated thc production shuts down.
only the female plants produce the kind
Now that a decent number of CR commenters are turning cautiously bullish
Yeah, as in "Caution! Do Not Step in That Bullshit!"
I am not bullish because even is the market is flogged/manupulated to go up, the real world is still 100% screwed.
Lucifer,
I honestly think it is too late. The mind scanners are coming. The gene tests at birth are coming. We will be convicted before birth if we have the potential, and then arrested if we develop unsocial thoughts later in life. All in the name of protecting the public.
Probably just order their own mutual funds to buy the equity/debt offerings.
nevermind,
fake stress test show is on.
The top German ace (Eric Hartmann) had 352 confirmed kills, The top US ace- about 40.
How apropos for this thread. The top scoring american ace of WWII was Richard Bong with 40.
"Summarized from the last time we discussed:
Canibis is so easy to grow that once legal it will be a garden plant or weed. There's a reason it is called weed. The spread without eradication will be so fast that no significant income can be expected after a few seasons. Care to speculate how a tax on marigolds would work? " - RD
-edit: oops. looks like the Hollywood Hack beat me to it.
Vonbek777,
Who is going to pay?
Vonbek777 (profile) wrote on Thu, 5/7/2009 - 4:05 pm
The mind scanners are coming. The gene tests at birth are coming. We will be convicted before birth if we have the potential, and then arrested if we develop unsocial thoughts later in life. All in the name of protecting the public.
Collectivism writ large and enforced by a technological system only specialists can understand or operate, run for the benefit of those who have power and appealing to those who aspire to it. Just received GATTACA on Blu-Ray yesterday; always liked the movie (first released in 1997) though now it is not merely prescient, but eerily so.
ResistanceIsFeudal,
The problem is that such systems require a functional economy and society.
Yes, my assumption depended on life going on as usual. My crystal ball can't see whether we have a new French revolution, or if the bankers and private armies win.
Vonbek777,
What will they pay them with?
//bankers and private armies//
Everyone wants to issue new stock, the government needs to sell T-bills,......hmm either the interest rate rises, or the fed causes massive inflation.
I bed the fed wants an inflation bailout, but will promise us that this is a "one-time" thing.
Much like that 1986 Amnesty.......
Crispy,
you owe Sebastian an apology. He manned up and admitted he had been wrong. And he was gracious in his postings. Always.
Cramer is making love to the bank stocks right now on TV.
This is my favorite Cramer screw up.
Listen at 1:48 when he said he scrubbed Downey Financial clean and really liked what he saw. Downey Financial went bankrupt a year later.
YouTube - Jim Cramer Says Bank on Downey Financial