A Lesson in Sheepherding, Compliments of Barron's

  The following piece is a response to SA Editor, Racheal Granby's wrap-up of a recent Barron's article titled "Ten Stocks to Hold Long-Term." Granby writes, "With the Dow off more than 50% from its October 2007 peak, there's rarely been a better time for long-term investors to pick up stocks on the cheap. Barron's put together a list of ten great stocks to hold for five years or longer."    

Don't Bet on Hyperinflation

For several months now, I’ve heard all of this talk of hyperinflation. I’m sure you have too. I’ve seen that word so many times over the past year that I might have even used it without realizing it.    

Free Entertainment in Incheon Airport Part 1

Free Entertainment in Incheon Airport Part 2

Meet Some of Mike's Friends

Another Pubilicity Stunt from the White House

It’s been endless. Ever since Obama has entered office, he has continued to fool Americans by expressing his “outrage” and “shamefulness” of these ridiculous taxpayer-funded banking bonuses. Yet, the fact is that Obama has been playing naïve Americans. It’s all an act designed to convince you he’s mad. Yet, he has done nothing, proving what a puppet he really is. When will this charade end?

Mark-to-Market Isn't the Problem

It seems as if many have been fooled by those supporting the banks. The general argument that has been made is that mark-to-market accounting has been largely responsible for the banking mess since it creates price transparency for assets held on the books daily.

Bernie Madoff in Perspective

The Savings & Loan Crisis had Michael Milken. The dotcom charade had Bernie Ebbers, Kenneth Lay, and Jeffery Skilling. These men have been selected as the scapegoats to distract the public away from the real criminals that caused each crisis. And now, the world’s largest real estate and banking crisis – much larger than all previous heists combined – has Bernie Madoff. He will serve the same purpose. Michael Milken was certainly involved in the S&L crisis, but he wasn’t the only villain. After only serving a couple of years (for good behavior) at Club Fed, he returned to society a very wealthy man. What other type of behavior besides “good” is possible at Club Fed? Milken was certainly a scapegoat of the S&L crisis, but he certainly was not innocent. Yet, he is like many scapegoats from white collar crimes who manage to get off easy. One reason is because they have big money to buy their way out. But another reason is because white-collar crime is deemed to be relatively benign in America. This mentality must change now. Americans must demand it.

Economists Need to Sit Down and Shut Up

I’m really sick and tired of these economists out there who continue to claim that America will not enter a depression. These are the same bozos that have yet to acknowledge the fact that the U.S. is in a recession and has been for several months now.  In fact, as I have previously mentioned, I can make a very strong case that the U.S. has been in the early stages of a silent, modest depression for at least two years; at the very least a protracted recession masked by credit. After the appropriate adjustments have been made for GDP, the U.S. economy has had no more than 3 to 4 quarters of GDP growth since 2005. Thus far, we have seen drastic emergency interventions by the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury – measures not taken since the Great Depression. Thus far, we have seen the failure of the sixth largest U.S. bank – Washington Mutual, representing the largest bank failure in U.S. history.

An Offer the Big 3 Can't Refuse: $50 Million per Mile

NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse. The Jewish Mafia REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Instead, the Jewish Mafia published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's useless book which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007. The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to simply ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, the Jewish media crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources     __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.         So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media             __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   This is the chapter that shows where Mike recommended shorting Fannie, Freddie, sub-primes, homebuilders, GM, GE, etc.     Just as I was ready to pass out in my chair last night, I regained full consciousness after hearing a news headline. Can you guess what caught my attention? No, it wasn’t the buyout of AIG’s asset management business by our friends in Dubai. And no, it wasn’t over Citigroup’s purchase of a Spanish construction company using taxpayer funds. In fact, although these deals were recently announced, they didn’t make the headline news. Instead, it was more on the rumor that the Big 3 auto execs plan to drive, possibly via car pool in a Chevy Volt to Washington today. Their purpose of course is to present a “more structured” bailout plan; in other words, a better rehearsed begging session.

GM Lines Up for Its Take

This article was originally written in 2008 as a followup to the material I first wrote about pertaining to US trade policy in my banned 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  This book was not only the ONLY book in the world to have accuractely forecast nearly every major event related to the blow up of the real estate bubble and stock market, but also detailed numerous wide ranging topics that promised to adversely impact the US if not corrected, including the nation's healthcare system, soaring college costs, pension underfundedness, Social Security and of course, US trade policy.  See Also: Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 1) Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 2) Free Trade And The Jewish Mafia Ford As A Crystal Ball For America Ford: Playing Its Last Hand? GM Lines Up for Its Take Washington's War Against America's Middle Class Video: Educating A Libertarian Hack From Harvard 7 Myths About US-China Trade and Investment  The Scam Called Globalization The Dirty Secret about Hedonics & Globalization Thailand, Globalization and Real Estate Economics America. What Went Wrong? (Part 1) America. What Went Wrong? (Part 2) America's Second Great Depression NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse. The Jewish Mafia REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Instead, the Jewish Mafia published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's useless book which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007. The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to simply ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, the Jewish media crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources     __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.         So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media             __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If You Listen to Economists You Will Go Broke

In my last piece, I think I made it clear that the vast majority of economists are not only clueless, but very dangerous to your financial health. Make no mistake. At best they are broadcasters not forecasters. They’re better equipped working with historians to document events after they’ve happened. Yet, the media keeps them in the spotlight when reporting what to expect, even after history has shown they always fail to deliver.

The Plain Truth

I Repeat… I continue to be amazed by so many out there, from the pundits with their agendas to the so-called experts who zoom in on every grain of short-term optimism with an electron microscope while explaining away the reality. Not much has changed since I last wrote. Let me repeat in case you haven’t been following me. We are going to see… - An earnings meltdown - Hundreds of bank failures over the next few years - Hundreds of hedge fund blow ups - Soaring corporate defaults (already beginning) - A huge junk bond market (soon to come) - A large oil correction which will rebound and make new highs down the road (in progress) - Real estate prices collapse by 30% (35% worst case scenario)

Risks of the Proposed Bailout: Part 1

Bailout or Not. Depression is Upon Us McCain, along with Paulson, Bernanke, Bush and others are using scare tactics hoping to rush the approval of this historic banking bailout plan. Threats of a “disaster” and a “severe economic crisis” have been interpreted by the media as a “depression” if the bill is not passed immediately. Politicians continue to scare the public stating that without a bailout, pension and 401(k) plans will be threatened. Are the conditions very serious? Definitely. The point is that they are so serious that a bailout won’t do much at this point other than waste taxpayer money with no real accountability. Finally, as far as I can tell, this bailout really doesn’t do much if anything to help taxpayers. Surely by now, Americans are on to this game. “Drill now or pay more later.” Sound familiar? Just another recent scare tactic to help push off-shore drilling bills through Washington. But the reality is that drilling more won’t solve the energy problem. It’s only a quick fix. “Bailout now or face a severe economic period.” Likewise, a bailout won’t prevent a severe economic period. We certainly have a huge problem, but nothing will prevent the disaster. Leveraging the Inevitable Collapse Pension plans and 401(k)s are in trouble whether the bailout plan passes or not. Nothing will bail America out of the inevitable payback period. Anyone who does not realize this lacks a comprehensive understanding all of the issues. Perhaps you have been watching too much television. As I have stated many times in the past, the current real estate-driven credit crisis is just stage one of the depression.   NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  The publishing industry (run by the Jewish Mafia) REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Click here to read chapter 10 from America's Financial Apocalypse. This was the only book that accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Instead, they published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's completely worthless book, Crash Proof, which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007 called, Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.  Click here to read chapter 12 from Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble which recommended to short the sub-primes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, homebuilders, banks and even GE and GM.  The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, these same crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources     Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.   So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media       

Risks of the Proposed Bailout: Part 2

Accountability is a Must Would I support a bailout? Maybe. But that’s a very big maybe. At the very least I would need to see a clear plan with specific guidelines, executed by credible and competent leaders; not one man who appears to be lost. They would all need to be held accountable. And I mean ACCOUNTABLE. But such a plan would need to focus on job creation, not bankers’ salvation. We need a bailout for Americans, not bankers. Americans need jobs; good jobs with good benefits. In part, this means free trade must be restructured so that it becomes fair trade. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen anytime soon, if ever because current trade policies only benefit corporate America – you know, the real governing body of this nation. And they have ensured Washington will vote as big business wants via billions of lobbyist dollars that hits the hands of politicians each year. So if you really think your vote counts, think again.  Pushing all of that aside, let’s deal with the plan that will most likely end up passing instead of the plan that will actually benefit the people. It would need to be structured with irrevocable financial limits, clear rules on how much is paid, how assets will be valued, and limits for each bank. The plan would also need to lay out specific guidelines, rules and limitations for selling the assets to private firms.  Finally, the plan should put forth directives that seek to prosecute bank, Wall Street, and mortgage CEOs and other villains responsible for this mess. Not one of these elements is contained in the current bailout proposal. NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  The publishing industry (run by the Jewish Mafia) REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Click here to read chapter 10 from America's Financial Apocalypse. This was the only book that accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Instead, they published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's completely worthless book, Crash Proof, which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007 called, Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.  Click here to read chapter 12 from Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble which recommended to short the sub-primes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, homebuilders, banks and even GE and GM.  The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, these same crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources   Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.   So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media  

Risks of the Proposed Bailout: Part 3

Blind Man’s Bluff Most of us have played Blind Man’s Bluff as children. It’s such a popular game among kids that several versions now exist. In case you don’t remember, here’s the original version. A person is blindfolded and referred to as “it.” Everyone runs around trying to avoid being touched (tagged) by this person (it). If they are tagged they lose the game and become spectators. The game continues until “it” has tagged everyone. In another version, “it” attempts to identify the person tagged by feeling their face. If the person is correctly identified by “it” that person is eliminated from the game. The bailout plan has a striking resemblance to Blind Man’s Bluff, except the game will take a very long time to end while registering an uncertain cost because the Treasury will be running around blind, not knowing what kind of debt they are buying, how to manage it, or how much this junk is worth. Paulson (and company) has no way to identify the true nature of the banks’ debt. Therefore, they won’t be able to fully assess or manage risk. The banks aren’t even able to do this, yet the Treasury will succeed? Most likely the next Treasury Secretary will be running around for many years blindly throwing taxpayer money at the financial system. And as they dig themselves deeper and deeper into this black hole, they will use more scare tactics to secure even more money from taxpayers. The only winners will be the banks, those who buy bank debt from the Treasury and big investors who invest in banks that have been revitalized by taxpayer money, like Bill Gross and Warren Buffett. NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  The publishing industry (run by the Jewish Mafia) REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Click here to read chapter 10 from America's Financial Apocalypse. This was the only book that accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Instead, they published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's completely worthless book, Crash Proof, which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007 called, Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.  Click here to read chapter 12 from Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble which recommended to short the sub-primes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, homebuilders, banks and even GE and GM.  The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, these same crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources   Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.   So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media     

A New Precedent for America: Financial Irresponsibility Pays

As a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, banks are stepping up with further efforts to protect delinquent homeowners. To date, this represents the most radical effort to stop the avalanche of foreclosures. It’s thought these ridiculous bailouts will help restore the housing market which will provide more stability to the economy. The problem is that these plans are still insufficient to make any impact. And there is nothing to absorb the massive inventory of housing. If Washington wants to help homeowners make mortgage payments, they need to stop letting corporations send jobs overseas. Similar to the banking bailout, the latest “solution” from Washington will continue to waste taxpayer money. More important, it will reward the wrong people and punish responsible homeowners. It’s been estimated that the banks, FHA and Hope Alliance have already halted over 2 million foreclosures. But you cannot cheat the system. Robbing Peter to pay Paul will eventually lead to more adverse consequences. Unlike the previous programs to bail out homeowners, these newer more aggressive plans establish a new precedent that effectively dissolves what was once a free market economy; an economic system once built on rewarding the winners and punishing the losers. As you know, today we are seeing the exact opposite.

Yang + Yahoo! = Yikes!

This is the first time I’ve written anything about the Yahoo-Microsoft deal because I typically don’t allow myself to get distracted by noise. In fact, I’ve been receiving numerous email requests for more articles. My response is that I do not feel the need to pump pieces out on a daily basis because I have no time for soap operas. The fact is that there really isn’t anything new in the economy as far as I am concerned. I’ve said all that needs to be said. Just read my archives.   As trivial as I view the whole Yahoo-Microsoft soap opera, it’s annoying to have seen so many obsess over it. So I wanted to point out a few things. From day one when Microsoft made a bid for Yahoo, investors should have sold Yahoo. This is a basic rule followed by all sophisticated investors. You never wait around to see what happens. Why would you? Take the money and run. Here’s why.

Ford As A Crystal Ball for America

As many of you may know, on March 27, 2008, Ford (F) completed negotiations to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions to Tata Motors (TTM), a division of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group. The deal went for a reported $2.3 billion, despite Ford’s original cost of $5.2 billion for the duo ($2.5 billion for Jaguar in 1989 and $2.7 billion for Land Rover in 2000). However, after Ford pays $600 million into the pension funds of these companies, the deal will only net them $1.7 billion. But with total losses exceeding $15 billion in just the past two years alone, Ford was clearly desperate. It had no choice. It needed cash, and fast. This article was originally written in 2008 as a followup to the material I first wrote about pertaining to US trade policy in my banned 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  This book was not only the ONLY book in the world to have accuractely forecast nearly every major event related to the blow up of the real estate bubble and stock market, but also detailed numerous wide ranging topics that promised to adversely impact the US if not corrected, including the nation's healthcare system, soaring college costs, pension underfundedness, Social Security and of course, US trade policy.  See Also: Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 1) Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 2) Free Trade And The Jewish Mafia Ford: Playing Its Last Hand? GM Lines Up for Its Take Washington's War Against America's Middle Class Video: Educating A Libertarian Hack From Harvard 7 Myths About US-China Trade and Investment  The Scam Called Globalization The Dirty Secret about Hedonics & Globalization Thailand, Globalization and Real Estate Economics America. What Went Wrong? (Part 1) America. What Went Wrong? (Part 2) America's Second Great Depression

Why You Can Beat the Market

What I find remarkable is how the same guys who missed this financial apocalypse continue to follow useless theoretical risk models based on math. Too funny. I suppose they have little choice since they have no other training. In this case, myopia can be disastrous. You can neither measure nor control risk using mathematical equations. The best risk managers have real trading experience. More important, they are leaders in thought. Most Wall Street professionals have been fooled by these highly flawed risk models because they do not have math degrees. So when exposed to the intricate theorems and equations, they become hypnotized into thinking they have found some Holy Grail.

America's Financial Apocalypse: It's Not Going Away Anytime Soon

For many years now we’ve all seen the reckless use of taxpayer funds by Washington. This irresponsible and unaccountable waste of tax dollars has been particularly prominent during President Bush’s tenure - from billions going to blow up bridges, roads and buildings in Iraq, only to rebuild them - to the Department of Homeland Security, which is no more than a joke. Meanwhile, America’s own infrastructure is in badly need of repair, with current estimates anywhere between $1.5 to $3 trillion and growing each day. Has anyone asked where this money is going to come from? I guess it seems like a trivial issue given the current problems. But it’s going to be a big problem in the not-so-distant future. My guess is that Washington’s inability to pay for these repairs will ultimately lead to the privatization of the transportation department, prison system and many more services expected by taxpayers.

Subtle Tactics to Downplay America's Debt Problems

I was checking some news late night and I ran across this title about the most indebted nation in the world. Of course it caught my attention because I though the media was finally ready to start informing Americans of the truth. Without surprise, the article identified a nation other than the United States.  Have a look.

Obama's Poor Decisions, a Threat to His Success

Let me be clear about a few things. First, regardless who wins the upcoming presidential election, there will be no real change in America. In order to really understand why you have to know what is goin...

The Housing Mess the Experts Missed

The Big Secret About Oil

Each day we continue to feel the damaging effects of high oil prices. And while oil has recently corrected down by close to 30% from record highs, it is still very high and is likely to make new records within the next 2 years. Yet, Washington refuses to respond appropriately, and has even denied that inflation has become a problem. As I have discussed in previous articles, Washington has many ways to hide inflation, GDP and employment data. But consumers are starting to realize something is fishy. Apparently, the presidential candidates still think voters are brainless, as they continue their charade of deceit and distractions by proposing useless solutions like gas tax holidays, off-shore drilling, and windfall profits taxes for oil companies – none of which will solve America’s dependence on fossil fuels. In the future, I will address the pitfalls of Mr. Pickens’ proposed wind energy solution. Maybe voters are brainless because they seem to swallow everything they are fed by Washington and the media machine. Fortunately, oil prices are correcting. But remember the effects of high oil prices are delayed in the economy by up to one year. In addition, the longer-term effects may be delayed by up to two years since inflation is a lagging indicator.  

Looking for a Bottom? Look to Wall Street

  Wall Street created this mess and they continue to mislead everyone who bothers to listen. But it will be Wall Street that signals a bottom if you know what to look for. Watch for massive down...

Using Oil to Beat Inflation: Risks of Oil Trusts

In my previous article, I made a compelling case for investment in oil trusts, specifically Canadian trusts. After all, 14% returns are much better than the market’s historical average of around 8%.   So what’s the catch? Well, we obviously need to consider the risks before we make any decisions. In the end, you should understand your risk tolerance and investment horizon. After considering the risks, you will be able to determine a risk-reward profile for these investments. This is the general method to determine suitability for all investments.

Editorial on Barron's

As written in the Barron’s this week (July 26, 2008), Lawrence Strauss interviews Mr. Lee Cooperman, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Omega Advisors, a $5 billion long...

Editorial: Denying the Obvious

It’s shocking to see so many who remain in denial about the economy, specifically the pundits. Until they see two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth (a ridiculously misleading metric – see my previous article “How Washington is Fooling You With GDP Data”) they refuse to admit we are in a recession.   And the media acts as puppets, repeating these same lines without scrutinizing the data. Who do these people think they’re kidding? If you’re running a show designed to help investors, shouldn’t you be ahead of the curve instead of behind it? Serving as broadcasters for inaccurate data that’s been manipulated to fool the public does nothing to aid an audience looking for real investment guidance.   Apparently, even Washington realizes GDP data is highly inaccurate and makes revisions for up to five years. As of 2004, such revisions have already introduced question as to whether there was a recession in 2001. By 2012, we might see data that indicated we were in a recession in 2008. But that certainly won’t help anyone except historians who document the Bush era, in what will be remembered as the worst recovery attempt in U.S. history.   By now, even the most financially unintelligent consumers realize we’re in a recession. They feel it every time they fill up their gas tank and buy food. They’ve been patiently waiting for real pay increases. Instead, all they’ve gotten are a couple of rebate checks from Washington. What kind of charade is this?  

Farewell Indy. Who's Next? (Part 1)

On Friday, IndyMac joined the long and growing list of bankrupt mortgage companies (Accredited Home Lenders, Novastar Financial, Fremont General and dozens of others) that have been taken down by what has already surpassed mortgage and bank losses of the Savings & Loan Crisis. This was all predicted by me and in fact, I recommended investors to SHORT these stocks in 2007. Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble. While Indy marks only the sixth bank failure since the official start of the banking-real estate avalanche in February 2007, you can bet this is only the beginning. The last wave of bank failures in the U.S. occurred during the recession of ’90-’91, when 502 banks failed in a 3-year period. Prior to that, more than 1,600 banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) were closed or received FDIC financial assistance between 1980 and 1994 due mainly to the Savings & Loan crisis. Now if you think the collapse of IndyMac doesn’t affect you, think again. The FDIC estimates the takeover will cost between $4 and $8 billion. Given what I know about government estimates, it’s likely to cost much more. Whatever the costs, it’s coming from taxpayers. But there’s more to it. Indy’s insolvency signals that the banking crisis is not only live and well, but only just beginning. Before it’s over, I estimate a total of about $10 trillion in losses as a result of Greenspan’s real estate bubble - $1.5 to $2.0 trillion in direct losses by banks and mortgage companies (much more than Wall Streets ever increasing estimates that are now up to $500 billion), $7 trillion in paper losses due to real estate devaluations, and $1.0 trillion in lost incomes (and decreased consumer spending resulting in income losses for others) due to job losses and lay-offs in the real estate, mortgage, banking and construction industries, as well as non-real estate related job losses due declining economic conditions attributed to the real estate and banking crisis. In total, I would roughly estimate a loss of around 6 million jobs from 2007 to 2011. Already, an estimated 250,000 jobs have been lost in the residential lending sector alone. And as the economy continues to stall, more jobs will be lost from other industries, causing more foreclosures which will only damage the real estate market further, or at best, cause it to lag for several years. The paper losses will come back over time. But for others, a decline in home values can flip you upside down in no time. And if you need to refinance an ARM, you will be out of luck unless you can come up with the difference between the outstanding mortgage balance and the market value of your home - plus any amount required for down payment. This is how many have lost their homes.

The Death of Wall Street. Part 1

Although not yet official, the verdict is on the way. Bear Stearns led the death march a few months ago. Now, Lehman’s bankruptcy filing signals the halfway mark of what will end up being the death of Wall Street. Now Goldman Sachs stands alone as the sole remaining true Wall Street firm.

The Death of Wall Street. Part 2

Searching for Sanity Wall Street’s business model is broken. The high stakes game of Russian roulette which Wall Street never seemed to lose, is taking them down one by one. Commercial banks aren’t in much better shape either. In fact, the business model of the entire financial system is broken. And the pain is only going to get worse. Facing pressure from the Federal Reserve and the SEC, in July the Financial Accounting Standards Board withdrew a newly passed rule requiring banks to book their assets at current market value. Why was this rule rapidly withdrawn? Quite frankly, because it would have made every major bank insolvent.

Fannie & Freddie: Truth or Consequences (Part 1)

Amidst speculation that Freddie and its big brother Fannie are facing insolvency, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson said the primary focus was supporting Fannie and Freddie "in their current form as they carry out their important mission."  Well, the fact of the matter is that “carrying out their mission” is what got them into this mess to begin with. Paulson delivered the subtle message that has been interpreted by most that he won’t bail the GSEs out. But if the GSEs aren’t able to raise sufficient capital, it’s going to initiate a printing frenzy by Bernanke, with or without a conservatorship. Before we consider exactly what Paulson’s statement means, have a look at the following excerpts I put into print in 2006. "Because Fannie and Freddie lack sufficient government oversight, they haven’t maintained adequate capital reserves needed to safeguard the security of payments to investors. And due to exemption from the SEC Act of 1933, they aren’t required to reveal their financial position. In fact, they’re the only publicly traded companies in the Fortune 500 exempt from routine SEC disclosures required for adequate transparency and investor accountability. As a result, many feel the GSEs are exposing themselves to excessive risk." "Recent investigations have forced Fannie to restate earnings to the tune of nearly $11 billion from 1998 to mid-2004. The SEC has fined them $400 million and the management is now being investigated by the Department of Justice. Thus far, Fannie Mae was found to have misrepresented its risk position, acted irresponsibly, and manipulated earnings so company executives would receive huge bonuses.”  “The original intended purpose of the GSEs was to focus on affordable housing for the private sector. Yet, dozens of studies have shown that Freddie and Fannie have not been dedicating their resources towards this mission, but have been supplying funds to the overall market. Therefore, the GSEs have been a significant stimulus for the rapid growth of sub-prime loan market that has contributed to the enormous risks we see within the real estate bubble." Source: America’s Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression   Is this the “important mission” of the GSEs Paulson was referring to - Fraud, mismanagement, excessive risk, and abuse by management of a quasi-government agency? NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse. The Jewish Mafia REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Instead, the Jewish Mafia published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's useless book which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007. The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to simply ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, the Jewish media crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources     __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.         So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media             __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    

Fannie & Freddie.Truth or Consequences. Part 2

Running Out of Options With the recent collapse in share price, both GSEs are going to have a very difficult time raising capital. You won’t find many buyers of the stock after its recent dive. And issuing debt doesn’t seem to be much of an option. The last thing investors want is to buy debt from companies involved in the mortgage mess. Even if they could find buyers, they would be forced to issue a very high coupon, which would add another drag on cash flows.   For Fannie and Freddie to have any chance at all to raise additional capital, it’s likely they’ll have to issue some type of convertible preferred stock, with very attractive features (warrants, enhanced voting rights, very attractive conversion rate, etc.) The Truth Won’t Always Set You Free All of this aside, we need to remember there’s no real evidence that either GSE is flirting with insolvency. However, we cannot ignore the market sentiment. We must keep in mind that market perception can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have seen market panic or even rumors destroy companies many times in the past. The stock gets beaten down, and then rating agencies downgrade the debt, causing higher interest payments to be made due to the increased risk. Finally, the company cannot raise capital since the stock is so low. If the stock remains low over an extended period, rating agencies sometimes downgrade the company and its outstanding debt. Sometimes debt covenants are triggered, forcing immediate payment of debt. There are numerous possibilities. The point is that it is never a good situation – unless you had a short position, which points to incentives to create solvency rumors.   NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse. The Jewish Mafia REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Instead, the Jewish Mafia published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's useless book which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007. The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to simply ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, the Jewish media crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science.   View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.     Membership Resources     __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.         So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?    Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media             __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    

America's Financial Apocalypse: What Can YOU Do as an American?

My advice is to find some people who you trust; those with proven track records, those who are not tied to the television shows. Figure it out. You are only going to be misled by the mainstream media. They will only come clean after it is too late, fooling you into thinking they actually warned you in a timely manner. But as you can see, this is simply not a reflection of reality. That is how the dotcom charade worked and that is how this one if playing out. It’s game that is played. Stop being played and become a player.

A Great Time to Buy?

Buy you ask? Yes. Not stocks, unless you’re talking about oil. And unless you’re the best of the best of traders you’ll probably want to buy the oil trusts, but only if you b...

Greenspan, Get Lost!

Mr. Greenspan, you have been the individual most responsible for the current crisis; a crisis which commenced only a few years after you tried to minimize the dotcom collapse, which of course you also created. By flooding the banks with ridiculously low interest rates you thought this Ponzi scheme economy could run on worthless money forever. But when you saw the end was coming, you quietly made your exit.

Farewell Indy. What's Next? (Part 2)

Those of you who are familiar with my previous publications know my real estate forecasts remain unchanged since first published in 2006.

A Warning to All Investors

It’s that time of year again when the cheeseball marketers and penny stock newsletter bozos gather to pitch their bull to the sheep. The name of one of the biggest of these events is the Money Show, organized by a company called Intershow. Let me be blunt. The speakers at this event (labeled “leading investment experts”) are either morons or they have biased agendas. Of course, that’s just my own opinion. Whether they are complete idiots or not, the fact is that they are all there for one purpose; to promote their agendas.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I failed to post anything about the market rally on this site (since it's still not 100% up and running). But I did make a couple of brief posts elsewhere a couple of days ago. Basically wha...

Why Buffett Doesn't Matter: Lessons in Sheepherding

Without a doubt, Warren Buffet is one of the leading investors in the world. There’s no disputing that. But let’s face it. His skills have been over-exaggerated by the media. Of more detriment, the media continues to deliver the message that what Buffett invests in matters to you. As you will see, he has been made into a god-like figure by the financial media for very precise reasons. Journalists lacking investment expertise often reference Buffett as a way to add credibility by association. Ultimately, they utilize the Buffett “brand name” to make money. An interview with Buffett draws a large audience because the media has convinced the herd that what he says or does actually matters to them. And this translates into huge advertisement opportunities for those who sell this fantasy. You’ve probably seen online ads telling you how you can “get in” on the “next Berkshire Hathaway” by subscribing to a service that discloses what Buffett is buying. Once again, these people are trying to make money from you by leveraging the Buffett name. They understand the marketing power behind investment celebrities. They realize the sheep will be drawn to the Buffett name because the media has brainwashed them to think they can profit by piggybacking onto his investments. Therefore, they’ll be willing to pay for information disclosing what he has invested in. These are the same sheep that are always looking for easy money. They are the same suckers who watch CNBC and FBN. Perhaps you know some of them personally.      

U.S. Treasuries Worse than the Dollar

That’s right. You read it correctly. Now why would I say something that even most “experts” would laugh at?  Because I want to point out once again how so many out there are in the dark, even the so-called experts; you remember, the guys who missed this entire meltdown. Of course, now with so many banks in a dangerous position, I’ve seen many advisers change face and jump on the doom bandwagon. Some have advised investors to remove their money from banks and buy U.S. Treasuries as a safer investment. The rational goes as follows. “U.S. Treasuries are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government and they have never defaulted.”  The first point I’d like to make is this….there’s always a first time. Prior to the present, the MBS market never blew up either. And it’s obvious to any sophisticated investor that the credit risk for U.S. Treasuries continues to increase. While it could take some time, the fact is that the FDIC will cover all bank deposits that do not exceed the $100,000 limit. After all, the FDIC is a government agency. So can we not say that it too is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government? Sure we can because it’s a fact. So as far as safety of principal, the FDIC is equal to U.S. Treasury securities. Now let’s look at the disadvantages of buying U.S. Treasuries. 

Games Washington Plays. Trick #1: Hedonic Pricing

For all of you out there who listen to economists and think they know what’s going on, hopefully you will begin to realize that the official data you see is nothing but an illusion after you read this multi-part series of articles.

Games Washington Plays: Trick #2, GDP Delusions

I continue where I left off – discussing just a few of the ways Washington tries to fool us by its misuse and manipulation of data. Washington likes to remind critics that Americans enjoy the highest living standard in the world.   As evidence of this, government “experts” discuss statistics such as GDP growth, employment, wealth, income and wage growth, and other economic data without defining exactly what they are referring to or explaining all the assumptions used.   In Part 1 of this series, we saw how hedonics can alter GDP and inflation data. Here we look at some additional problems with GDP. After you read this piece, I hope you will agree that the misuse of GDP data as an indicator of economic strength has been one of the biggest errors made in the field of U.S. economics.   I can make a strong case that over the past three years there has been virtually no GDP growth other than maybe three quarters. After adjusting for hedonics, the use of debt and the other gimmicks, it’s clear the U.S. economy has grown little since 2005.   Sound crazy? Sure it does – but only if you’ve accepted the data from Washington at face value, as the media always does. But this grand illusion cannot remain hidden much longer. Already, we are seeing just some of the effects of Washington’s deception – the real estate meltdown and banking crisis.

Games Washington Plays. Trick #4: Off-Balance Financing

Deficits, Debt and Excess Consumption As you may recall, in February 2008 President Bush unveiled a whopping $3.1 trillion budget that boost military spending and reduced health benefits for retirees. This was the first $3 trillion-plus annual budget in world history. Since there is no way Washington can come up with this money, Bush’s will end up creating another huge annual deficit. Of course this will have to be financed by investors – almost exclusively China – adding even more to the national debt. This ridiculous budget is just another force serving to destroy America’s future. But the White House hides the full extent of these deficits by allocating certain items to the off-balance category. Similar to annual deficits, off-balance expenses are added to the national debt each year.  

The Price of Honesty

You might recall a recent article I wrote called "Madoff in Perspective" where I point out that the real Ponzi scheme is being ignored - that orchestrated by the financial industry.  I also make mention of this intentional fraud in America's Financial Apocalypse 2009 Update a few months earlier...    "What Madoff did was nowhere near as fraudulent as what the banking and mortgage executives did. Yet, he has become the latest scapegoat in this cycling pattern of booms and busts orchestrated by the Federal Reserve, Washington and Wall Street. Hopefully by now you're starting to figure out how the media is using every chance they get to deflect blame from the real villains; their Wall Street sponsors. But remember, Madoff's charade had absolutely nothing to do with this crisis. So the question begs to be answered…when will we see Fuld (Lehman Brothers), Thain (Merrill Lynch), Killinger (Washington Mutual), O'Neal (Merrill Lynch), Prince (Citigroup), Cayne (Bear Stearns), Schwartz (Bear Stearns), Dimon (JP Morgan), Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), Thompson (Wachovia), Raines (Fannie Mae), Paulson (former U.S. Treasury), Greenspan (former Fed Chairman), Cox (former SEC Chairman), and hundreds if not thousands of others responsible for this mess in handcuffs? Don't hold your breath. It didn't happen after the S&L Crisis or the dotcom meltdown. And it's not going to happen now. Hopefully, you know how the game is played. They'll pick out a few scapegoats; minor players, as a way to appease naïve Americans. This is the way it works. This is the sad reality of America . It's the American Dream for the rich and powerful, and the American Nightmare for everyone else. If you're a true American, you'll contact your congressmen and demand they be brought to justice. If they get enough calls, they'll feel the pressure to file charges. That's how it works. The media knows this. That's why they've done everything but stir the pot."   Tigers Never Change Their Stripes "Don't forget, these men cleared billions of dollars in bonuses by fudging financial statements while packaging trillions of dollars of fraudulent loans into securities. This was money taken from shareholders who were lied to, and investors who bought these toxic securities. It was a twist on the classic pump-and-dump scheme.

Did You Get a Raise Last Year? CEOs Did.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More U.S. chief executives got pay raises than had their pay cut in 2008, a year when billions in taxpayer dollars went to prop up struggling companies and millions of workers...

Tax Day Tea Parties: Americans Fooled Again.

I decided to check out a couple of these so-called tea parties so I could confirm what I already knew.  Let me just say this.  I was disgusted by the naive nature of those in attendence...

How the Media Uses Buffet to Make Money

In the previous part of this article we saw how what Buffett invests in doesn’t matter to you. Let’s look at an example how the media uses the Buffett name to make money. I’d like to direct your attention to a story by Reuters, published on August 22, 2008. “Buffett Sees Weak Economy Until 2009   Surely this is no news. Let’s see now. It’s the end of August, so there are four months left until 2009. A person would have to be a complete fool to think the economy would get better prior to 2009. But the fact is that the investment world consists of a lot of fools who have been brainwashed by the media.

How Buffett Uses the Media to Cash In

Previously, I discussed the fact that what Warren Buffett invests in doesn’t matter to you. Then I followed up by explaining how the media uses Buffett to make money. Here, I complete the lesson by showing you how Buffett uses the media to cash in. Similar to Britney Spears and other “celebrities,” Buffett also benefits from Hollywood antics. You see, Buffett has been made into a financial celebrity, just as Alan Greenspan and many others have. Media exposure is just as good for Britney’s record sales as it is for shares of Berkshire Hathaway. It’s a two-way street of profits. The media creates big name financial celebrities in order to draw a big audience. A big audience drives big ad revenues. And financial celebrities like Buffett benefit because investors will invest in Berkshire.

When Does it All End? The Abuse Continues.

Trillions of dollars for the bailouts haven’t satisfied the banks and automakers. They want more, and they’re spending your dollars to make sure they get it. According to the Associated Press, the top 10 recipients of the TARP spent about $9.5 million on lobbying during the first quarter of 2009.

CNBC, the Bubble Network

While some would consider Cramer a “stock pumper,” others would consider him their savior. I would consider him the “Dr. Phil” of Wall Street because, similar to Phil, he designs shows based on resolving some controversial issue with the intended goal of helping lost souls. I find it of no surprise that Cramer has made appearances on Dr. Phil. Both are in the same line of work – cheeseball marketing.  At the end of each show both Dr. Phil and Cramer emerge as some sort of “Superman.” In short, both of these shows are more about entertainment than anything else and they create an illusion of “value” for their misguided viewers. While this approach isn't really damaging for the Dr. Phil Show, it can be highly damaging for a show based on investments. As a result, Jim Cramer and the rest of CNBC serve as stock pumpers because the financial industry pays the bills there through buying ad time. So the question is whether Cramer is intentionally manipulating stocks. Many people would say yes. I would tend to agree. What we do know is that he likes a stock one day and often hates the same stock a few weeks or even days later. Of course, after a stock he previously told you to buy collapses, he never bothers to remind you how terrible his advice is. This man has no conscious and does not know the meaning of the word “accountable.”  This on-off approach serves a purpose. It forces you to watch the daily drama so you won't miss when he turns sour on a stock you bought based upon his favorable review, which often includes yelling and screaming “Buy! Buy! Buy!” It’s possible that Cramer has more “Buys” than Wall Street. Meanwhile, he mentions so many stocks that it is virtually impossible to keep up with what he says. This too is intentional. It is designed to confuse you; to overwhelm you so you won’t remember how poor his track record is.  Why would anyone with a brain waste their time following this guy other than to research his horrendous track record for a piece like this?

Payback is a BITCH

NOTE: Mike Stathis predicted the precise details of the financial crisis in his 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse. The Jewish Mafia REFUSED to publish this landmark book because it exposed the widespread fraud committed by the Jewish Mafia. Instead, the Jewish Mafia published useless marketing books written by their broken clock tribemens (like Peter Schiff's useless book which was wrong about most things and was written a year AFTER Stathis' book). Stathis also released a book focusing on strategies to profit from the real estate collapse in early 2007. The Jewish media crime bosses prefer to simply ignore those who speak the truth and threaten to expose them as the best way to hide the scams from the public. In contrast, the Jewish media crime bosses continuously promote Jewish con men and clowns who have terrible track records as a way to enrich them all while steering the audience to their sponsors, most of which are Jewish Wall Street and related firms. Figure it out folks. It's not rocket science. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here.   __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike Stathis holds the best investment forecasting track record in the world since 2006. View Mike Stathis' Track Record here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Check here to download Chapter 12 of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.   So why does the media continue to BAN Stathis?  Why does the media constantly air con men who have lousy track records? These are critical questions to be answered. You need to confront the media with these questions.  Watch the following videos and you will learn the answer to these questions: You Will Lose Your Ass If You Listen To The Media __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Despite attempts made by Greenspan and Bernanke, there is no way to avert the payback period that has been building for over two decades.  

The Deflation Myth

For some strange reason, economists, and those who actually give credence to what they say seem to think that a single period eighty years ago set a precedent cast in stone for what to expect from this depression. As a result, the masters of propaganda continue to insist that you cannot have a depression without deflation.

Media Crooks

Maybe there's a good reason why CNBC has a show called Fast Money. If you follow the advice of these guys, your money is likely to evaporate very fast. Likewise, I'm beginning to see why Cramer's show is called Mad Money. You're likely to get mad if you follow his advice. Or maybe you have to be a mad man to watch it.

It's Time to Face the Facts (Part 1)

For anyone who believes any positive earnings reports from the banks, you probably also believe there will be a real recovery in the economy. These “earnings” are even less credible than those reported by the banks during the height of their Ponzi scheme in 2007. Earnings? From the banks? It’s laughable. Let me now state what I consider to be facts related to the bigger picture of this economic fiasco. Fact #1. All Major Banks Are Insolvent. This has been true now for over a year. It remains true despite the Treasury and Fed already having pumped in over $13 trillion in the form of loans or guarantees into the financial system; just over the past twelve months alone. But this is still insufficient. Several trillions more will be needed, and much of this will be lost forever.    

It's Time to Face the Facts (Part 2)

Fact #5. Most of the Lost Jobs Will Not Return What no one seems to understand is the fact that these job losses are not temporary. Most of them simply aren’t coming back. I’ll guarantee it. The only jobs that will return are those that no one wants; the low-paying, no benefits, dead-end jobs. It’s the same situation that played out after the dotcom collapse. This is part of the reason why there’s been no real recovery since 2001. As I discussed in America’s Financial Apocalypse, it was all an illusion fueled by a real estate bubble. It was another one of Greenspan’s bubble.  

Learning from Japan

I ran across an interesting story about how Japan is using a somewhat innovative approach to deal with its own symptoms of what will eventually be recorded in history books as the global depression. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/business/global/23immigrant.html   The Japanese government is paying travel expenses (plus a little extra money), or about $3000 apiece for migrant workers who agree to return back to their homeland. They must agree never to come back to Japan for work.   Critics in Japan have lashed out at the program calling it “inhumane” and “destructive” for the future economy. Maybe the Japanese government realizes just how bad things are going to get.   As bad as things are in the United States, they are even worse in Japan. With expectations of a productivity decline of over 6% for this year alone (more than twice the decline expected in the U.S.), Japanese officials realize that it’s time to take some drastic measures. So they’re willing to help preserve what jobs remain for Japanese citizens. That begs the question…why can’t Washington learn from the Japanese?

Trump's Trade Plan Guarantees More Outsourcing of American Jobs

If you really think Trump intends to "bring jobs back to America" you aren't paying attention to his actions. He's actually doing the opposite. 

Meet Stephan James, Typical YouTube Liar and Con Man

YouTube is filled with thousands of con artists like James who play the "fake it till ya make it" game. This practice has morphed into a disgusting epidemic of epic proportions largely as a result of social media and YouTube, where these scammers feel they can get away with deception and lies without...

Opening Statement from the December 2019 CCPM Forecaster 

Opening Statement from the December 2019 CCPM Forecaster  Originally published on December 1, 2019

Finally, the Truth on Housing

You’ve all probably seen or heard about the recently released Harvard Housing study. Among other things, the report discusses the fact that the median wage-earner is unable to afford the...

Industries to Avoid. Industries to Buy

While some of the recommendations in this commentary may seem like no-brainers, its real purpose is to illustrate how investment themes relate to the bigger picture.

Out of Reach, Out of Touch. Two Losers Unite.

I just wanted to go on record with something that should be obvious for sophisticated investors; the merger of Sears and Kmart is a terrible deal and will not last. Even if it does, it is certainly no...

How to Spot a Wall Street Hack

I'll make this short and sweet so you will never forget it.  ALWAYS check the bio of every person you listen to or read articles from. If they have a past writing for realmoney.com, Thestreet.com or any other publications affiliated with Jim Cramer, run away as fast as you can.  There are a lot of these guys out there and they usually like to mention it somewhere along the way, either in an article or their bio because they think it's some symbol of credibility. Nothing could be further from the truth.  These guys should never be trusted.  Similar to getting on CNBC, almost everyone in the financial industry will bend over backwards to become involved with these publications because they know they're great marketing venues since there are so many sheep out there who have no idea they're being fooled. There's nothing wrong with trying to increase your business via marketing (man I hate marketing). The problem arises when you lack ethics. You will compromise integrity in exchange for the chance to make big money by developing a big following.  These are usually the same guys who spend the majority of their time on marketing activities; you know, like some of these guys who are on TV all the time, yet claim to be "investment strategists" or "researchers."  I won't mention any names.  This is how it works. It's time to wake up. Your livelihood depends on it. Quite simply, the education we provide is priceless. Those who do not receive it are certain to lose a good part if not all of their life savings by falling for the countless con men that seek to win your trust and make up stories. The current gold/doomsday scam is just one example of this. You can be sure that there will be many more scams to come. So you had better ask yourself the following question…are you able to spot scam artists? If not, you had better patch into our Encyclopedia of Bozos, Hacks, Snake Oil Salesmen and Faux Heroes.  How often do you hear someone spend so much time at work fighting to get the truth out when they should be focusing on sales? With the exception of Mike’s efforts, it NEVER happens. Many have been fooled by snake oil salesmen to think they are on your side, when they are really looking to hook you into their sales pitch. Mike could focus on producing videos that always highlight his amazing track record in order to generate sales, but he doesn’t. Instead, he spends a great deal of time exposing the liars and con men out there who are duping millions of people with their gold-pumping, doomsday delusions, even though these efforts are costing Mike a great deal of lost sales. Just remember this down the road once you look back at this period as a huge fraud perpetrated not only by Wall Street, but also by thousands of doomsday, gold-pumping charlatans. If you do not already realize they are scam artists, you will eventually if you take their advice. That is a guarantee. Mike Stathis remains the lone voice of reason and wisdom for Main Street.       Special Promotion For New Members And Membership Renewals          

Sirius Satellite: Designed to Fail

I just wanted to make something clear with all this talk about satellite radio...

Satellite Radio Faces Enormous Challenges

It is not my intention to get anyone to buy or sell Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) or XM Satellite Radio (XMSR). It is only my intention to help investors understand the full picture regarding the risks to satellite radio. Up to this point, I feel Wall Street has presented the only positive picture. In response, I have offered what I feel to be the missing piece to the puzzle. After considering both sides, it is up to you to determine what to do. Those who get upset and make personal attacks are only confirming the insecurities underlying their investment decisions. Typically, when a person has few investment ideas or capital, they tend to focus on the noise surrounding one or two investments they hope will make them rich, wasting several years of their lives to no avail, while better opportunities pass them by. As it turns out, the big picture has not changed much since 2005. The major change is that the economy is in much worse shape. In addition, this doesn’t stand to benefit SIRI, XMSR or the possible merged entity. I have mentioned many times that investment in distressed securities is one of the most risky and difficult challenges that an investor can undertake. In my opinion, it should be restricted to only the most experienced investors who are able to withstand complete losses. Although I consider SIRI and XMSR to be only moderately distressed, after assessing the business dynamics and competitive threats, I can see no solid reasons to take a position in either SIRI or XMSR. Bottom line: this is not the type of market that investors should be taking excessive risks. Preservation of capital is the most prudent choice during economic contractions. Understand the Industry Dynamics Having a subscription to Sirius and “loving it” does not mean you have a good understanding of the growth potential or risks to the company. Following the daily rumor mill doesn’t either. In addition, taking a large position in a relatively distressed security only causes one to become emotionally attached. In order to understand my prognosis for the satellite radio industry, you need to consider basic industry dynamics. This will allow you to estimate the probabilities of earnings growth and the ability of...

Go Woke, Go Broke: The Gap, Inc.

Sirius Satellite: Seriously Down, and Going Lower

It’s a bit funny to see that the SIRI stock pumpers are still at it, despite facing nothing but absolute humiliation after making ridiculous claims and clinging onto their delusions of grandeur as the stock collapsed by over 95% after merger with XM. In the end, the stock price says it all. Since the dotcom bubble collapsed, reality has set in. SIRI has done nothing but fall; with good reason. The company has been very poorly run. It’s had a terrible strategy, ridiculous payouts for content and unbelievably ridiculous payouts to executives. The management has been horrendous from day one and remains so. As you will recall, these pumpers (and their brainwashed cheerleaders who happened to be stuck in the stock) were thinking the merger would be great and the price would soar.  I suggest two things to the sheep that have clung onto the propaganda. First, beef up your memory so you can recall what these guys were saying before. You might want to read their archives. Second, check the track record of every person before you bother to listen (or read) to what they have to say. I won’t waste anyone’s time (including my own) making a case for why SIRI is one of the worst managed companies I have seen in many years. Instead, I will point you to a couple of pieces I wrote on SIRI while back so you can be reminded of the truth. See here and here. 

Swine Flu Panic: Trading the Hype

I wanted to discuss this whole swine flu hype that’s been blown out of proportion to illustrate how the media creates illusions from what would seem to be valid information. This also relates to the investment world because today, virtually everything that hits newswires is spun further by the financial media. This of course is done intentionally.   In the end, most who jump aboard the hype - whether it’s the stem cell hype, the ethanol hype or the swine flu hype – end up losing while the ones who understand what’s going on take your money.   As you might know, I do not watch CNBC or FBN. I don’t even have cable because I don’t have time for trash (although I realize there are a few good channels). But I’m willing to bet the bubble networks have been all over the swine flu panic as a way to create trading blurbs.   Understand this. You should always stay away from this trash unless you are a dedicated day trader. Then again, I don’t recommend anyone try to become a day trader because they eventually all get blown out.

Obama: Worse than Bush? (Part 1)

In just over three months, President Obama has equaled the destruction created by President Bush’s eight years in the White House. Given what lies ahead, I have no doubt he will surpass Bush’s record as the nation’s most disastrous president. I never thought I’d live to see a president exceed Bush’s record. Perhaps this is one of America’s new trends. It’s unlikely the polls will confirm this inevitable reality because the media will continue to blame Bush for everything that goes wrong, while giving Obama full credit for anything that might go well. But you shouldn’t expect much to go well. All we’re likely to see are illusions, false claims, denials and cover-ups.   A note to readers; this piece certainly isn’t about democrats or republicans. If you think there’s a real difference between the two parties, you’ve been fooled. If you fall into that category, I suggest you get up to speed real fast. As a part of this educational process, you need to stop watching television and listening to the talking heads on radio because they preach lies, while refusing to air anyone who opposes their misguided and inaccurate views. It’s the way they control your thoughts.   It’s a cleverly disguised form of censorship.    If you listen to the propaganda from America’s mainstream media, most likely you’ve already been brainwashed.  

Obama: Worse than Bush? (Part 2)

Here I continue from Part 1. Let me give you a brief example how the media has brainwashed the American public. In early April, the results of Obama’s approval poll were released. The results were as follows:   Obama’s approval rating: 66% (a new high and higher than Clinton and Bush)   Americans who think America is headed in the right direction: 36%   Americans who approve of Obama’s proposals for the banking industry: 33%   Americans who approve of Obama’s proposals for the auto industry: 47%   The fact is that most Americans do not approve of Obama’s job as president. They’re certainly against the bailouts and lack of accountability for the banking crooks. So then, ask yourself how his approval rating is so high while Americans are clearly dissatisfied with the policies he has taken. Is this not a direct reflection of his leadership? Perhaps the media has redefined how Americans think about “likeability” and leadership.   So how could this be? 

Swine Flu: A Follow-up on Trading the Hype

Last week I released a piece that no other (qualified) financial professional was willing to expose because (in my opinion) they don’t want the masses to know how event-driven media-hyped trading works. If everyone knew how the game is played, they wouldn’t be able to make the easy money.

Signs of a Continued Rally?

Finding the Bottom in Financials

I've read and heard countless investors who have been thinking the banks were a "good deal" since the first big market sell off in January 2008. Since then many are down another 60% - some even more. Every month I see new investors looking to pick up a "bargain" in the financials without realizing the only bargains have been short positions. Most investors have been programmed by the financial media to always buy stocks when they go down because "in the long-term they are a great value."

The Stress Test Scam (Part 1)

I haven't made any comments about these so-called stress tests for the banks because it was obvious (to me anyway) it was just the latest PR scam devised by Larry Summers (carried out by his puppet, Geithner) to exaggerate the financial health of the banking system. While I was confident the results of these “tests” would be ludicrous, I wanted to hold off until they were released so I could deliver the knockout punch. In short, it's clear these "stress tests" weren't so stressful, as I had suspected.    Before examining the results, let’s begin by looking at some of the brainwashing journalism involved in this PR campaign.

The Stress Test Scam (Part 2)

Printing more money won't solve America’s problems; quite the opposite. It's going to damage the economy further. And these effects will be lasting. You will see them soon. At the very least, we...

Internships & Employment

America's Financial Apocalypse: A Crystal Ball for the Next Decade?

I'm getting quite bored watching the latest economic headlines surface. Bored you say?  Yes BORED.

More Jewish Media Tricks - "New York City rich and poor — the inequality crisis"

Take a look at this "documentary" created by the German public broadcasting company DW. Of course it's run by Jews as you can imagine. Notice how they lure you in by the title which claims it's about income inequality. As you watch the film you can clearly see it's really about "racial inequality." 

How to Move the Market Using Hacks and Morons

I just ran across a news headline by CNBC so I knew it would provide a learning point. Have a look First of all, don't be fooled by the seemingly neutral tone of the article. While there are statements that one could conclude are cautious, if you read it from a neutral position, you will come away with a bullish stance. This is a lesson in psychology more than anything. First, notice the title. In itself sets the tone of the piece as far as I am concerned. Why couldn't the title be "Will the S&P sell off to retest new lows?"  Remember, the intermediate to long term trend is what matters. And that trend is still down.  To focus on the short-term plays into the hands of Wall Street and online brokers, who will make more money when investors are focused on short-term trading. If you still don't see my point, just look at the bullish versus bearish comments:  

Who REALLY Runs the Show?

If you think President Obama runs America, think again. Like many U.S. presidents before him, Obama is merely a puppet.  Larry Summers is making most of the decisions.  He's pulling Ob...

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 1)

You may have read an article I wrote on Jim Cramer and the "bubble" network, CNBC.  In this piece, I plan to really get into the details of how the media ser...

Cheaters Never Win: The Case Against Ethanol

I find it ridiculous that Washington has led America into another trap by supporting ethanol. By now, we all know how expensive it is to produce ethanol from agricultural sources. This is especially true for U.S.-based ethanol producers since conversion into ethanol from corn is highly inefficient. When you are running low on one natural resource, you cannot try to substitute it with another and not expect problems. That is exactly what has happened with ethanol.   So why haven’t gas prices dropped?

More Stupidity from Doomers

I wanted to show you another example of the media continues to run to the so-called experts who have no idea what they are talking about.  U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says  “I am 100 percent sure that the U.S. will go into hyperinflation,” Faber said.

Cuban's Shame

You might have heard about Dallas Mavericks owner, media owner, and dotcom lotto winner Mark Cuban's alleged case of insider trading by the SEC.  If not, I made reference to in a recent pie...

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 2)

You might be wondering why a leading investment strategist would harp on the media so much. Well, friends, the fact is that understanding the tricks and motives of the media is the single most important step towards becoming a great investor. I hope you see that by now. Whether you do or not, I’m going to beat it into your head. So allow me to continue where I left off from Part I of this series.  Kudlow has my book, as does Cramer and several other useless clowns and shills in both print and broadcast media. And they’ve had it for two years, giving them more than ample time to realize what to expect. Why is this important? Because the book predicted everything in detail unlike no one else.

Being Rewarded for Screwing You: Compliments of Comcast

I  happened to have the TV  on the other day while eating dinner. I  wasn't  paying attention,  but when I heard this distinctively nasal,  monotone annoying voice, I  knew who it was.  So I wanted to see what this clown was up to. Apparently, Ben Stein did a commercial with Shaq for Comcast.  In it, Stein is identified as an economist. 

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 3)

As I continue my breakdown of the inner workings of the media, I first wanted to emphasize that all of the players within this propaganda machine cooperate with each other. They all air the same content because this creates a perception of validation. What they air becomes your perception of reality, whether it’s about North Korea, Iraq, Palestine or the stock market and the economy. If you’re told the same thing over and over again, eventually you’ll believe it; especially when different people – people you trust, say it. This is how most Americans have been convinced we are fighting a war on terror, yet the Mexican border remains open for “terrorists” from the Middle East to easily pass if they so choose. This is also how Americans were convinced Iraq had WMDs. In reality, much different motives were behind these illusions created by the media. Hopefully, you are beginning to understand why the media machine is the most dangerous force in America today.

Don't Be Fooled

The SEC has formally charged Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide Financial, with fraud related to the mortgage debacle. 

More Email Scams

By now, surely everyone knows about the infamous Nigerian email scams. But were you aware that these scams have cleared hundreds of millions of dollars (if not more) in just a few years time?  The reason so many scammers exist is because there are too many ignorant and desperate people out there who make them rich. The same could be said about the "popularity" of CNBC and FBN.  As the economy continues its gradual permanant decline, you will see more and more scammers appear, taking advantage of the desperation of millions looking to restore their previous living standards.

Market Update

Just a note about my postings. Some of you may be wondering why I have been making so many posts about the media, while ignoring the market and economy.  The reason is two-fold. First of all, understanding how the media deceives and controls your mind is the single-biggest step you can take towards becoming a sophisticated investor.  But the main reason is because I don't dramatize the economy and market on a daily basis like everyone else.

Mike Stathis Exposes the Jewish Media Scam that's Fleecing the World

Patrick Byrne's Deep Capture Blog Promotes Gold Pumpers and Fake News

The following serves as a small sample of some of the BS that's come from Patrick Byrne and his blog, Deep Capture. Credibility and accuracy don't seem to matter much to Patrick Byrne, as he allows his paid stooge Mark Mitchell to promote the fake news, gold pumping, conspiracy blog Zero Hedge.

Forbes: Creating Future Sheep

I ran across a link to an article from Forbes and I got so upset I wanted to share it with you so you could see how low the financial media stoops to brainwash people, creating a new generation of sheep, while promoting their financial sponsors.    The reason why I became so upset at this advertisement (disguised as an article) is because it targets kids and brainwashes parents to think that kids should be spending their online time "more wisely" by learning about investments.    "Your children already spend way too much time on the Web. Why not start them on some fund Web sites that teach them sound investment principals."    Yea! Great idea!  NOT.   What a manipulative, dirty, filthy ad. The "author" is such a HACK.

KKR Finds a Sheep Warehouse to Dump its Trash

 I ran across an interesting announcement that bodes well for Fidelity and KKR. But I’m willing to bet it will be a bad deal for unsuspecting Fidelity investors.   Kolberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), a large well-known leveraged-buyout firm (which I consider a corporate raider) has announced that it plans to give Fidelity access to IPOs from its portfolio companies.  In turn, Fidelity plans to provide IPO shares to its customers.

The Top 10 Housing Markets for the Next 10 Years

It usually doesn’t take me too long before I spot media trash that stirs me up so much that I just have to write about it. That really says more about the state of the media today than it does about me.   This morning it took me all of 10 seconds to run across a piece I felt compelled to write about because I wanted to illustrate how the media continues to manufacture propaganda. In this case, there are no clear agendas involved other than selling ads. It’s more of a case of incompetence and irresponsible journalism.   The article was written a few days ago by a journalist with U.S. News and World Report. As you might imagine, I ran across it online, as I would rather go streaking than be caught dead with a physical copy of this trash publication in my hands.   After all, rummaging through media stories on the Internet doesn’t demonstrate a commitment to any specific publication, unlike the case when you’re holding a newspaper or magazine and reading through it.   The point of this commentary is to highlight the ludicrous nature of the article’s title, as well as the lack of substance of the content. Okay, so how is this reporter able to determine the top 10 housing markets for the next 10 years when I can’t even determine that? Let’s have a look.

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 4)

In Part 3 of this series, I was discussing the “media club,” pointing out how no one in the media (regardless what their position is) is on your side. If they were and they had truly valuable insights, you can bet they wouldn’t be interviewed because the media only serves the interests of Wall Street. This how the media club basically works. Once you’ve been on CNBC or FBN a few times, you’re likely to make the rounds to CNN, Bloomberg TV, CBS, ABC, etc. Ultimately, if things go well and you’re a “good boy,” you’ll be interviewed by all of the networks. In the best of scenarios, you’ll be turned into a media ham like Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini and others have. Their articles will be pumped into all of the useless websites like that partner with the media. When you see their pieces on a website, you should know to run for the hills.   Whenever the New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ, Financial Times, Forbes, or other large publications wants to interview an “expert,” they will either select pro-Wall Street guys or they will play the “follow the leader approach,” interviewing guys who have established a “media presence.”

Attention Traders....Wake Up Richer on June 20!

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 5)

Let me give you a brief example how the entire media industry partners with these masters of deception. On Sunday September 2008, the Washington Post published an op-ed by one of the biggest Wall Street hacks around, Don Luskin. I don’t want to subject you to the full extent of Luskin’s pseudo-intellectual babble, so I’ve deleted much of the article to spare you from further disgust. If you want to read the article in entirety, the link is posted. Let’s have a look…

June Update

The following report was released on June 10th as a follow-up to subscribers to the June newsletter.    

What Bill Gross Doesn't Want You to Know

I’ve sat by now for about ten years now, waiting for someone from the financial industry to point out what I am about to reveal. I meant to write about this but I kept forgetting. I have to conclude that no one has written or spoken in the media about what I’m about to reveal because many simply are unaware of what I deem to be obvious. Others don’t want to go against their colleagues in the financial industry. But what these guys seem to forget is that their first loyalty should lie with the investment public.  I feel the need to point out what I feel to be very disturbing facts behind PIMCO’s Total Return Fund. In short, I feel the fees charged are excessive by any reasonable measure. And when you consider the size of the fund (being the largest mutual fund in the world) this should be further evidence that you can’t win with Wall Street. The scary part is that you have some really large investors in this fund; investors that are supposed to be “sophisticated;” even investors with a fiduciary responsibility to their clients.

Do You have Any Sympathy for the Crooks That Robbed You?

The latest from the AIG continues now with another greedy attorney fighting for bonus money for AIG employees - the same people who helped collapse the global economy. 

Study-Related Health Care at No Cost

That’s what the envelope states in large bold faced print I recently received. I was naturally curious so I opened it. Perhaps I was a bit naïve but I thought it had to do with some offer to get health care coverage for say participating in some type of survey.

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 6)

In Part 5 of this series, I discussed how Don Luskin serves as one of the biggest Wall Street hacks on TV. This is specifically why Larry Kudlow has him on his pro-Wall Street, neo-conservatism show. I demonstrated just how dedicated Luskin is towards this mission by discussing his ever so timely op-ed in the Washington Post. So let me finish where I left off.   Mr. Luskin, congratulations. That op-ed will probably make history books someday as an example of why many U.S. newspapers went bankrupt. It certainly marks you as a fool. But don’t think of that piece as the clincher. You’ve had many appearances on Kudlow (your fellow hack buddy) that labeled you a fool and hack prior to that.

More Propaganda and Manipulation: Compliments of Forbes

I recently ran across this advertisement piece by Forbes disguised as an article and I just had to bring it to your attention so you can see just another way the media works with big industry and Washington to brainwash the unsuspecting masses. It's a list of the "Top 10 Things to Buy Before the Economy Improves."  Notice the first thing on their list. "Buy a house." The FACT is that home ownership in MOST cases does not represent an investment, as I clearly demonstrated in America's Financial Apocalypse (2006 extended version).

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 7)

Through much of this series, I’ve been talking about CNBC. But there’s a new kid on the block; Fox Business Network (FBN). Why do you think they started this network? Because they saw how many suckers were stupid enough to watch CNBC. Rupert Murdock recognized the potential profits of a drama-filled investment network after seeing CNBC’s “success.” He realized you could fool people into thinking your network delivers timely insight, while selling ads to the financial industry. By watching CNBC, Murdoch saw how lucrative the Hollywood marketing model could be when applied to Wall Street. All one needs are some Wall Street hacks, some babes, (preferably with big boobs) live footage of the cocaine-addicted traders on the exchange, and bingo. So Murdock spun off his own financial propaganda network from FOX called the FOX Business Network or FBN.

The Real Reason Why Print Media is Facing Bankruptcy

By now, if you've been reading my media deception articles, you should know why the media is in financial trouble. It's not because of the economy.  It's due to the absence of valuable content.

Healthcare for You. But Only if You Can Afford It

Fresh off the press, the mystery behind Steve Jobs' medical leave of absense has been revealed.  According to the WSJ, he recently received a liver transplant.  My question is, how was Mr. Jobs able to get a transplant so fast? 

Recession Proof Your Financial Life

Those of you of you who have been following me know that I’ve written several articles discussing the tricks and motives of the financial media, but I have mainly been focused on the broadcast media. As you might suspect, many more are on the way….THAT IS, ASSUMING YOU GUYS START VISITING THE AD SPONSORS…..because I feel it is critical to understand how the media works.   In this article, I wanted to give you another example of how the print media takes your money by selling you bogus claims.

Hack of the Day: Compliments of Thestreet.com and Yahoo!

First, before you begin to read this typical example of subtle hack journalism, I want you to have a look at the ad for Ron Insana. Apparently, this former CNBC hack has teamed up with Cramer and thestreet.com for a new gig.  I’ll discuss him in the near future.  Next, have a look at the ad below. You’ll see a guy who looks like Kojac’s son; just another useless trading service with bogus claims, headed by dirt bags with no professional industry experience or insights. If you think I'm wrong, I invite you to fork over your money to this clown.

Ron Insana 3-time Loser

In 2006, Ron Insana’s “popularity” with the sheep viewers of CNBC led to his resignation in order to start a fund of hedge funds (FoF). I don’t know the details of this arrangement, but I’d say he was approached by some guys who had some access to investment capital, and they wanted to leverage Insana’s “popularity” on CNBC as a way to raise more capital.

Bill Gross' Bailout

Have a look at Gross’ Total Return Fund’s top 10 holdings. Recall this is the world’s largest mutual fund.

The AUDACITY of Change (Part 1)

Ever since (finally) acknowledging the problems within the real estate and banking industries, several historic actions have been taken by Washington, Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury – all in desperation.

The AUDACITY of Change (Part 2)

Let’s continue with the elements needed for America to mount a real and sustainable economic recovery.

Ford: Playing Its Last Hand?

 An article from the Huffington Post today claims that Ford is "secretly" in talks to sell Volvo.  First, let me say that this is another example of the media trying to create the perception of valuable content. 

Let's Focus on Wall Street Executive Bonuses, So We'll Forget They Belong in Jail

7 Myths About US-China Trade and Investment

Attached below in PDF is a propaganda piece I came across while doing some research.  It serves to illustrate a valuable lesson, as well as remind you about reality. The report was written by the US-China Business Council. Lesson #1: NEVER EVER trust anything pumped out by the Chamber of Commerce (local, state or federal).  This also applies to these bilateral trade organizations. They are cheerleaders like the rest of the government bodies.  See Also: The Damaging Consequences Of Free Trade Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 1) Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 2) Free Trade And The Jewish Mafia Ford As A Crystal Ball For America Ford: Playing Its Last Hand? GM Lines Up for Its Take Washington's War Against America's Middle Class Video: Educating A Libertarian Hack From Harvard The Scam Called Globalization The Dirty Secret about Hedonics & Globalization Thailand, Globalization and Real Estate Economics America. What Went Wrong? (Part 1) America. What Went Wrong? (Part 2) America's Second Great Depression America's Eroding Job Quality The Death of Labor Unions in America  Death of America

Trump: A Lesson in Cheeseball Branding

First he got involved with casinos.  He just happened to pick the wrong spot (Atlantic City). Of course, everyone knows in real estate, the most important thing is "location, location, location."   Yet, Trump claims to be a real estate expert.  Next, he got involved with the Miss Universe Organization, owned also by NBC. As a result, Trump makes certain to create drama with the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA events as much as he can.  Next, it was the Apprentice.  And now it's wrestling. 

Obama: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 1)

If you’ve been following my commentaries, you’ll recall how poorly of a job I feel Obama is doing. Perhaps you realized this on your own. But just in case you have any doubts, you might want to read an article I wrote a few weeks ago.   But all looks “great” according to the media. In their eyes President Obama can do no wrong. The media uses the same tactic when they hype up Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Obama: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1... Perhaps the most obvious sign of weakness, Obama’s healthcare proposal specifically ignores the number one problem with healthcare in America – cost. Providing greater access to medical insurance falls short of fixing the crisis in healthcare. Obama’s proposal is fundamentally no different than Bush’s because in the end, taxpayers subsidize the excessive profits of the industry.     Similar to presidents before him, Obama’s remedy can be likened to trying to put out a large fire with a blanket. In the beginning, it will look like the fire has been contained. But soon after, the blanket will only make the problem worse. It’s the same manner by which Obama has dealt with the economy. Soon we will see the effects of these reckless policies. Most likely, the media will continue to praise Obama as they did Greenspan. Later they’ll have to eat their own words, as is often the case.

Part of the Problem With Healthcare in America....

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across a fantastic article by a physician who sought to understand why there are such large differences between healthcare costs in different cities. It's truly a great article, despite it's length.  I highly recommend you read it. 

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 8)

Look, It’s Erin “Bimbette” As noted by www.my-wild-side(dot)com “Corporate cheerleader from hell: CNBC's Erin Burnett”

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 9)

Previously, I’ve shown you many tricks used by the broadcast media to brainwash you. Most recently, I have shown you how CNBC and FBN use sex to sell you stocks. And every time you buy or sell a stock with E-Trade, Schwab or from Wall Street brokers, you pay a commission. And part of that commission is sent indirectly to these networks via commercials they pay for. But if you thought this scam existed only in the United States, you’d be wrong. CNBC has virtual casino dealers – “babes & boobs"- worldwide. CNBC’s foreign affiliates feature their own rendition of “babes, boobs and bozos.” Have a look at the babe in this video (at the end of the article).

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 10)

Even Dr. Phil Gets in on the Action And we can’t forget Dr. Phil; the hick who isn’t even a real doctor. He just plays one on TV. He has a Ph.D. in psychology, not an M.D. in psychiatry.

"Watch TV, Make Money!" Who's REALLY Making Money? (Part 11)

The media has a special club, similar to boards of directors who serve on each other’s companies. You scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. Oprah had you on her show? Oh well then FOX wants you on and so does ABC, NBC, CNBC and even PBS. And we want to have you on our radio shows too. Forbes says you are an expert so we will call you an expert too. Of course, many of these so-called “experts” are columnists for Forbes and other mainstream media publications, or hack sites connected to Jim Cramer such as thestreet.com and its affiliate, realmoney.com.

Fool's Gold (Part 1)

“…the U.S. might continue its trend towards inflation merely due to continued high oil prices and weakness of the dollar. And only after some disaster such as a Fannie Mae blowup might deflation appear. Source: America’s Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression (2006)

It's All For a Good Cause

I ran across an interesting story some of you may already know about.  Have a look.  I find it odd how the United States justice system conveniently uses subjective forms of indirect "evidence" such as "intent" when it serves their agendas for prosecution of what are undoubtedly many innocent people. 

Another Victim of America's Ponzi Scheme Economy (Part 1)

As of yesterday, Lear Corp., an auto parts supplier for the "Little 3" joined the list of others who have been victimized by the collapse of America’s Ponzi scheme economy. 

Another Victim of America's Ponzi Scheme Economy (Part 2)

Today, America’s “New Economy” is based exclusively on services - primarily financial and technology-based services, with a whole slew of attorneys and consultants to support transactions and legal agreements. But there are other service industries as well. Over the past few decades, as America's economy has transitioned from old to new, millions of manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas. Many of these jobs have been replaced with blue collar service jobs like landscaping, valets, nannies, maid services, pet services, massage therapy and fitness trainers. Today, each represents a large and growing industry in America.   Others have enrolled in for-profit colleges hoping to transition into another career. Little do they realize, most of these “new job opportunities end up being dead-end jobs.   The fact is that economic and career opportunities are shrinking by the day in America; all due to the system of unfair trade advocated by politicians who have been bought off by industry lobbyist groups.    Which would you rather have; a manufacturing job with a nice stable salary, healthcare, disability, and retirement benefits? Or a job parking cars for tips.

Blast from the Past (March 2006): Corporate Fraud Endorsed by the US Government

In my relatively brief years in the real world, I think I have been fortunate enough to have learned how some things work, like the U.S. capitalist and political systems. It’s not a pleasant reality either; that is if you have a conscious.   Essentially, money rules. And if you have enough of it you are often placed above the law. And this is rule of law is accentuating the disparity in America between the “haves” and the “have nots.” On Wall Street, I saw this first hand, as the huge producers got away with what would be considered securities fraud if they were caught. Firms generating huge amounts of money are willing to take the risks of being caught because the penalties pale in comparison to the riches secured.    But it doesn't end on Wall Street. The same goes for all industries. Take a look at healthcare. As HMOs encourage physicians to push pills over alternative treatments, they too are guilty of robbing Americans of healthcare benefits that have been prepaid.  Perhaps it is less excusable in healthcare than other industries due to the “ethics” involved. Unfortunately, these ethics are gradually dissipating. So too are the drug companies guilty of sending drugs to market knowing of the adverse effects.

AIG Criminals Seek to Extort More from Taxpayers

So you thought you'd heard the end of AIG, huh?  Not by a long shot. This useless company, with a very long list of employees belonging in prison, is still demanding the White House approve $450 million in bonuses for 2008 - for those greedy bankers and traders who tied the global financial system into a web of toxic assets, helping to destroy the global economy. 

Play the Trade, But Don't Be a Sucker

I ran across this ridiculous headline on Yahoo! Finance (which is nothing more than the CNBC of the Internet) and I wanted to make a few comments. 

Peter Schiff: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 2)

Lesson #5: Extremists are Always Useless and Often Dangerous Certainly, President Obama is not going about things in a manner I would advise. But Peter, you cannot use his extremist approach (or I should say that of Larry Summers and others who are really running the show) to validate your own extremist views of the “dangers” of prudent and accountable regulation; something the United States has not had in decades.  It appears as if Mr. Schiff possesses the same flaw as many others who sometimes hit the target after countless years of shooting. In the meantime, they miss out on many years of easy money. What’s worse, once they finally hit the target, they never hit the bulls-eye due to their persistently extreme views which are centered more on sales and marketing than credible analysis. And if you can’t hit the bulls-eye you will seldom win. This also applies to the investment process. Extremists are never good for anyone. In fact, they’re often dangerous, whether they’re from the “no government” or “complete government” intervention camp. As with everything, the real answer lies somewhere in between. Moderation is always the best solution. But being the great salesmen that he is, Mr. Schiff realizes that most people can more easily grasp extreme viewpoints because such arguments are cut and dry, lacking complexity. Unfortunately, they often lack validity.

Peter Schiff: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 3)

From what I can tell, the ONLY thing Mr. Schiff understands about healthcare is the poor design of private medical insurance. The current system does not provide real insurance. It’s nothing more than a system of pre-paid medical, operating with the rules of insurance. And this has created a huge source of fraud by private insurers. Assuming we keep the basic structure of private insurance in place, it should be modified to provide assistance under some catastrophic, emergency situation rather than routine care. However, what Schiff fails to recognize is that by placing everyone on a high-deductible medical plan, most people would actually end up underinsuring themselves. This has already happened. According to a study by Harvard researchers, 68% of all medical bankruptcies (50% of all bankruptcies) occur with people who have medical insurance. A system of universal coverage would serve to fill in the gaps catastrophic insurance leaves out. For many years now, Washington’s response to America’s runaway healthcare costs has been the addition of new tax deductions. But we cannot forget that tax deductions do absolutely nothing for those who have lost their jobs. You need income in order to utilize tax deductions. More so than anything else, tax deductions provide yet another tax shelter for the wealthy, while encouraging further cost increases from the healthcare industry, knowing you have no choice but to pay whatever prices insurers stick you with. More important, Schiff fails to understand that people must be provided with basic care instead of waiting for a small problem to progress into a deadly and costly illness. It’s called preventative medicine; an important component missing from America’s healthcare system because the insurance industry doesn’t want to pay for it. I find it mysterious how someone who claims to be an expert in economics is unable to appreciate the fact that taxation of healthcare benefits would create a permanent drag on consumer spending.  There is a solution, but Schiff has no idea what it is.  As far off from the solution as Obama is, Schiff is light years away.  The solution is some combination of universal healthcare, radical policy change, and technology.  A system of universal coverage would save hundreds of billions of dollars annually after streamlining the bureaucracy and slashing the huge administrative costs from the private insurers. 

The Battle for Your Mind (and Money)

Human nature causes most people to attach loyalty and credibility to those who present one issue their audience sides with, while failing to question other issues. This is a dangerous mentality to have. This happens all the time. We see it in politics, medicine, finance, economics and everything else. But nowhere is this mentality more predominant than with the media, because it is the media that serves as the portal by which these individuals suck you in. In the past I have focused on the televised media and their many so-called "experts." 

Ron Paul: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 1)

While I do agree with Congressman Ron Paul's position on the Federal Reserve, this by no means should be used as a blanket endorsement of his political and economic views; and certainly not his views on healthcare. The Federal Reserve mafia has been in control of America since inception. This cartel has worked particularly hard over the past two decades to gain control over the global banking system. So, you had better believe they aren't going away, nor is their control. They’re too powerful now, and they won’t allow anyone to get in their way. They control Washington. They control the media. They control economists. They control your lives.   As we have recently witnessed, President Obama has been instructed by his puppet masters to grant the Fed even more power. If Bush was still in the White House we would see the same thing. If Clinton was still president we would see the same thing. If McCain were elected we would see the same thing. It does not matter who the president is because the Fed and its allies make many of the big decisions coming from the White House. They always win, regardless whether it’s the democrats who are in charge or the republicans. This is why your vote no longer matters.  This is also why Washington will not permit a third political party to compete equally with its two-party mafia. Ron Paul realized this, and that is most likely why he ran as a republican. He hoped to work successfully within the confines of America’s political system in order to bring forth those changes he deemed appropriate.

AMD Earnings Confirm the Realities of the Economy

Today after the bell, Intel's only major competitor AMD reported disappointing earnings, missing by a large mark. This confirms what I discussed in the recent report released to newsletter subscribers.  The spin by Wall Street and the media lists AMD's business transition as the source of the earnings miss, but this simply is not true. 

Ron Paul: Wrong on the Economy, Wrong on Healthcare (Part 2)

According to Paul, healthcare should be run like mobile phone providers!  Okay let's see. Mobile phone carriers tie you into legally-binding service contracts with extortionist penalties for breaking the contract even when they fail to render services, etc. In fact, America's healthcare is already run like mobile phone providers. That's one reason why healthcare has become such a problem.  See here When the interviewer in the above video (Aaron Task) mentions that most consumers are dissatisfied with their phone carriers, Paul counters with his typical generic reply - "there's too many government regulations on [phone] carriers."  Wrong again Congressman.  It's been selective government regulations (lobbied for by the big industry leaders) that have created a near-monopoly in the telecommunications industry. 

eBay's Slow and Painful Death Spiral

Despite a big boost in shares in after hours trading, Wednesday's (disappointing) earnings for the online auctioneer represent a continuing trend that will not be broken anytime soon. Yes, they beat estimates, but this means nothing. Estimates have been revised downward over and over. Management and Wall Street analysts have placed blame with this floundering company on the economy, but this is simply not the case. 

American Heroes Don't Last

Politicians use several means to hide the real problems from voters. One of their biggest partners in this deception is the media, which helps deliver messages they want the public to hear. When critical issues are discovered within the administration, this often leads to replacement of politicians who simply tried to serve the best interests of voters. For these politicians, a forced resignation is the price of loyalty to voters. This was the fate of former Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neill. But he is not alone, as there have been many others with this same fate throughout U.S. history. These are America’s true heroes because they have tried to serve the best interests of voters.

Kitco: The CNBC of Gold

I was doing some research on gold propaganda and came across some interesting information I wanted to share with readers.  It turns out that Euro Pacific Capital (the brokerage firm Peter Schiff heads) holds the exclusive rights to broker certain Perth Mint products in the United States. Therefore, he has a financial interest in promoting physical gold as an investment, as opposed to gold ETFs due to the points I mention in my previous series "Fool's Gold." If you want to read an advertisement for the Perth Mint, you can try reading Crash Proof. But I would not waste your money on this "How to Invest in Doom for Dummies" book.

More Incompetence from the SEC

Last week, a federal judge dismissed an insider trading case made by the SEC against Mark Cuban.  I discussed this case several weeks ago.  "U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater ruled that the SEC could not hold Cuban liable for insider trading because the agency didn't allege the billionaire NBA team owner had agreed not to trade based on confidential information he received about an Internet search engine company, Mamma.com Inc." Let me say that this is a HUGE joke. Think about it.  Just because the company did not explicitly get Cuban to promise not to use the information for his gain, that's supposed to mean there was no insider trading?  WRONG. Someone has to pay the price for this fraud; if not Cuban than the CEO of Mamma.com.  Cuban acted illegally.  Shareholders were ripped off. 

How to Receive a Free Copy of The Wall Street Investment Bible

Would you like a FREE copy of The Wall Street Investment Bible?   Well here's your chance to get this very valuable book.    Mr. Stathis is offering a free copy of his n...

Get Your FREE Copy of Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble

That's right, I said free. I'll even pay for shipping.  All you have to do is help yourself.  Okay, so what does that mean?  

Wall Street Wins at the Expense of Main Street; AGAIN

Fresh off the press, Bank of America basically gets a "get out of jail" free card for securities fraud and criminal indictments by BAC and MER executives by sending a few million dollars to the SEC.  http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/03/news/companies/bank_of_america_sec/?postversion=2009080314 I'm curious as to what $33 million will do for thousands of shareholders who lost billions of dollars due to misinformation, lies and deception by BAC and MER.  Adding insult to injury, these criminals are getting bonuses using taxpayer dollars. 

Read the Writing on the Wall: Pull Your Accounts from BAC

After helping to destroy Citigroup, former CEO Sallie Krawcheck has taken over the top spot at Bank of America's global investment management division. 

Wall Street Wins, You Lose; AGAIN

Today we have yet another case whereby the SEC has reinforced the precedent of securities fraud.  This sickens me to the bone.

Investors Fooled Again by the SEC

The reported news of SEC actions to move towards a ban on flash trading pose nothing more than a smoke screen to fool investors into thinking the SEC is watching out for their best interests.  As history shows, this could be no more further from reality.  Let me be clear about this.  Despite all you may have heard about how flash trading has led to huge profits for the big wirehouse trading firms like Goldman Sachs, this is simply not true.  Flash trading is trivial. And it certainly doesn't account for any meaningful proportion of profits from the likes of Goldman. 

The Case for Market Timing

To those of you who say it's impossible to time or forecast the market; to those of you who keep wasting your time reading and watching the clowns positioned as so-called "experts" by the me...

Why No One Won a Pulitzer for Financial Reporting (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1, I basically handed the ingredients for a Pulitzer to a few reporters from the New York Times and LA Times, but they were too ignorant and arrogant to recognize the full value of my donation. Alternatively, perhaps they were told not to pursue things by their superiors due to the ramifications to the banking cartel and the SEC. Either way, the truth was hidden from you. Let me elaborate a bit. You see, last year, I sent these journalists my 30-page formal report to the SEC which showed clear insider trading in WaMu. As well, I discussed how the banking cartel took WaMu down illegally (and possibly conspired) via naked short sales, knowing that one of the members of this cartel would be able to buy up their assets at pennies on the dollar. I also discussed the role of former SEC Chairman Chris Cox in facilitating this. 

How to Get a Free Copy of my New Book, America's Healthcare Solution

I've been working feverishly trying to complete my healthcare book. It's been a very difficult challenge juggling this project off-and-on for three years. 

Death by Media (Part 3)

As many of you know, the media black-balled me and continues to today for a very good reason. They are protecting the agendas of their financial sponsors – the financial industry and corporate America, despite the fact that there are not even five individuals who collectively can match my track record. In the future, I will continue to provide examples of just how reckless the media hacks are. It should be a criminal offense for the media to air some of these guys, especially when the media positions them as experts.   

Easy Money in Healthcare 'Till September

I don't know if anyone read the two posts I made on Monday about healthcare and HMOs, but they were lost when the site was hacked since I did not have a backup that recent.  Anyway, in case you did not see, what I basically said was that the HMOs and drug stocks would continue to rally until at least September (assuming at least neutral market strength) before more details of the healthcare bill come out.

The State of the Nation's Housing

I was prepping for an interview later today on the real estate market and I ran across a nice piece from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies release a couple of months ago.

More Useless Trash from the Financial Media (Part 1)

As I sat at home on this early Saturday morning doing some research, I ran across an article I wanted to bring to your attention.  First, I want you to notice the title.  Next, I want you to notice the publication. And finally, I want you to ask yourself if the title/claim lives up to its expectations.  The title of this piece is "How to Sell a Stock Short," published in Smart Money.  Once again, we have another journalist who most likely has never shorted a stock in her life, yet acting as some experienced pro.  The most disturbing thing about this article other than the fact that she didn't show the reader how to short stocks, is the fact that Smart Money is engaging in the facilitation of the stock market casino mentality by even discussing the most risky technique for investors. 

This COULD Be the Wake Up Call

More of Less From Obama

In tradition with the previous empty bag delivered by President Bush, President Obama has continued to offer Americans more of less when it comes to ways to ensure a viable retirement. In reality, Obama's announced changes do nothing more than ensure Washington gets financing for its reckless spending habits, while lining the pockets of the largely useless mutual fund industry.     You might recall that President Bush increased the limits for retirement savings plans after the dotcom collapse vaporized the retirement accounts of many Americans. 

Off-Shore Drilling: Just Another Scam

It’s a game Washington plays. And they’ve become quite good at it. In fact, it’s a game where both parties are on the same team. Their opposition? The American people. So what is this game Washington plays so well? The game of deceit and distraction. You see, the fact is that both parties have fooled Americans into thinking they are different so you will believe that one of them holds the solutions to America’s problems. But this is simply untrue. The fact is that both parties are essentially the same. Sure, you will have a few differences here and there – Obama wants to cut taxes on working class Americans while McCain wants to cut taxes for the wealthy, etc. But the fact is that there really isn’t much difference between the two.

Greenspan: A Fan of China

This is the reality as I see it: Back in 2001, the US government realized that a full correction from the Internet Bubble would have been devastating since in its early stages alone, it destroyed 50% of the paper wealth.  Rather than let the natural economic forces run their full course, the government chose to “toss money out of a helicopter” as the new Fed Chairman likes to say. This was the only way to delay the fallout of the largest asset bubble in the history of the world.   

The Recovery is Strong?

All throughout the post-bubble period, Greenspan and President Bush have been claiming how “solid” and “strong” the recovery has been since the recession of 2001-2002.   WRONG. As I have been saying for over a year,the “recovery” has been very weak and the clever use of government statistics has fooled many Americans.But individually, for many Americans their financial condition as much worse (whether they realize it or not).   Today, Americans struggle to pay their utilities and gasoline bills, many Americans do not have health insurance and the “job creation” that has occurred has been mainly in Asia with the help of corporate America and President Bush’s Jobs Creation Act.   Meanwhile, of the jobs that have been added, most have decreased benefits such as healthcare and companies are no longer offering pension plans but are placing the burden on employees by offering a 401k plan.   The chart below shows the current recovery statistics versus other post-war recoveries. And although the numbers are from the government’s own distorted and misleading statistic database, you can see that it still shows how weak the recovery has been.

Current State of the Economy

Despite recent reports of improvements in unemployment numbers and record corporate earnings growth, the state of the U.S. economy and financial markets are not what they may seem.  Much of this data has been due to the smoke and mirrors trickery of the government, including the use of the discouraged worker designation, record low corporate taxes, loose credit policies of the Federal Reserve, and overseas expansions by corporations, which have provided inexpensive goods to credit-happy Americans. However, this illusion of short-term gains has come at the expense of record trade deficits and a wave of job losses for Americans.  But now with credit tightening and home equity loans depleted, soon American consumers with falter due to the delayed effects of lack of real job growth, declining job quality and employee benefits, and a negative savings rate, all in the face of the repricing of up to $3 trillion of outstanding residential mortgage debt in 2006 alone, as well as rising credit card interest payments. 

Email Response to Navellier's Disasterous Investment Advice

Below is a marketing piece sent via email by Louis Navallier - one of these newsletter clowns who have no Wall Street experience and who look to make money from your greed. 

If You Want Lies, Follow the Media

Rather than offer valuable insight from real experts with no agendas, the media hand-picks clowns to reinforce Wall Street’s propaganda. It’s a game designed to screw you while they make money from Wall Street commercials and ads. And of course, Wall Street takes your money as you naively sink it into the stock market without knowing the risks. 

Economics Commentary

I decided to include a response I made to a well-known website regarding the Business Week article “Unmasking the Economy: Why Its So Much Better than You Think” Here is the link to the online version of the article: 

"No Bailouts" So You Say Mr. Paulson?

Yesterday, I discussed the consequences of the proposed bailout of Fannie and Freddie. While Paulson has hinted that there will be no government bailout for Freddie and Fannie, he clearly left the door open to intervention. "It is clear that some institutions, if they fail, can have a systemic impact." However, financial players need to be disciplined in managing risk and not expect the government to fly to their rescue, he added.   "For market discipline to effectively constrain risk, financial institutions must be allowed to fail," he said.   Let’s take a look at the implications of what he has said. First you need to understand that a “bailout” can be interpreted in many different ways.

Bailouts or Bull****?

With all that’s happened with the real estate and banking crisis, the word “bailout” has been plastered throughout the media with little discussion of exactly what a bailout entails. Supplying money to a distressed company does not by itself represent a bailout. It all depends on where the money is coming from, and whether or not a moral hazard has been created. Bear Stearns vs. LTCM Let’s look at some “bailouts” from the past. Let me just tell you right off the bat - Bear Stearns did not receive a bailout. Forget what you’ve read. They’re all wrong. Why do I say this? A true bailout creates a “free ride” for the recipient via government assistance. In other words, a bailout creates a moral hazard - the tendency to behave irresponsibly and/or take on excessive risk - because the penalty for failure has been removed. Thus a moral hazard causes the bailed out company to act irresponsibly in the future, knowing that failure will be forgiven by taxpayer dollars. Rather than a real bailout, the Bear Stearns deal was a gift to the "kingpin" of the Federal Reserve banking system – JP Morgan - and likely the Fed’s punishment to bear for not participating in the "bailout" of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) a decade ago. In the case of LTCM, participating banks received a 90% stake in the fund for money THEY CONTRIBUTED. But similar to the Bear Stearns deal, there was no moral hazard created for LTCM because they had to exchange ownership for cash. In the Bear Stearns deal, the Fed handed JP Morgan $30 billion of taxpayer money, while guaranteeing JP Morgan’s potential losses would not exceed $1 billion. Considering Bear's clearing and prime brokerage units are most likely worth $18 billion, plus Bear’s $1 billion Madison Ave. headquarters, plus JP Morgan's ability to keep Bear's best employees (probably valued around $2 billion including revenues from client accounts), minus restructuring and retention charges of say $2 billion - JP Morgan will net somewhere around $18 billion on the deal with virtually no risk. Make no mistake about it - this deal will be recorded as one of the biggest financial heists in U.S. banking history once people truly understand what really happened.

The Healthcare Reform Legislation Process

I just ran across this outstanding video presentation explaining the complex process associated with passage of healthcare reform.  I highly recommend you have a look.  

Just One More Reason to Boycott GM

So many people speak of moral hazards, usually at their own convenience. Most of you have heard the term used when referring to bailouts.  Moral hazard basically means that companies or individuals will have an incentive (due to the absence of any penalty) to act irresponsibly. You can define moral hazard in many ways. The bottom line is that it defines the American Way, as long as we are talking about the wealthy and big corporations.  

History Always Repeats

Can you imagine what would happen to the bank, Wall Street, real estate and mortgage executives if they were in China? They wouldn’t be around by now. But this is America, where CEOs commit accounting, shareholder and taxpayer fraud, destroy companies and leave with $200 million while taxpayers, investors, and even consumers end up screwed. It’s happened in the past; not just during the dotcom bubble but over and over for decades. And of course it’s happening now. You better believe it’s going to happen again and again unless you call for the heads of these crooks and vote every single member of Congress out of office, and make sure these issues are addressed adequately by anyone who wants a spot in Washington.  

Too Big to Fail? Says Who?

It’s a nice scare tactic to feed to Americans. How does Washington know they are too big to fail? How does Washington know their failure would be worse than the consequences of a government bailout? I can guarantee you that no one in Washington has an idea about what Fannie, Freddie and AIG had on their books. If the proper regulations had been in place – regulations that mandated transparency and disclose, we could make a fair assessment. Instead, Washington uses the scare tactic as a way to generate the biggest bailout in world history.  Why would anyone believe Washington’s bogus excuse that these entities were too big to fail when they have been clueless for years? 

Here is Where Your President's Mind Is

I ran across an article that might have blown past many of you.  This article clearly demonstrates where President Obama's mind is...occupied with BS.  Perhaps you tuned into the VMA recently.  I certainly didn't.  I don't even know who this Kayne or swift people are, nor do I care.  Even if I was a fan of these singers, I don't think I'd be watching some music awards unless I was a teen. I could care less about such trash. But that's just my own mindset. In fact, I had no idea what the fuss was all about until I researched it.

Gauging Bernanke's Propaganda vs Doomsday Con Men

As I correctly identified a couple of months ago, the propaganda campaign by the media, Washington and Wall Street has been very strong and continues to grow each day. It's been so effective that it has left all of the doomers in the dust, as they have been warning about a market correction for many months. Meanwhile, subscribers of the AVAIA newsletter have I been positioned to take advantage of the hype, while understanding the downside risk. You see, this is how the game is played. Knowing what SHOULD happen is only partially helpful. It's much more important to know what WILL happen.  And if you sit around month after month, year after year dwelling on what SHOULD happen, you will miss out on tremendous gains....kind of like how the gold bugs have been predicting doom for 20 years and missed out on huge market gains.

Who Hijacked and Shutdown the Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWS)?

After watching the video below, you might wish to check the previously published presentation for additional insight into answering this critical question.  What Happened to the Occupy Wall Street Movement?

CNN - CIA News Network

America's media censorship is also the most deadly because the Zionist-controlled media (which plays Americans like puppets) disguises its censorship to actually make you think that Freedon of Speech exists.

This is News?

I recently ran across a story that I wanted to show you because I wanted to point out a few things. It was written by the Associated Press, so that means it was syndicated in hundreds of newspapers across the U.S.  Before you read it, I want you to note a few things. First, they refer to this period as the "Great recession."   As I have mentioned many times in the past, this period will be recorded in history books as America's Second Great Depression.  But it will only be acknowledged as a depression once they figure out how Washington and the Fed have "kicked the can" forward as a way to mitigate the effects of the fallout.  This approach will only make things worse and more lasting. 

We Need More of This

You might recall a piece I wrote about Martin Weiss back in June. He runs a large newsletter service down in what I call "Scam Alley" or the West Palm Beach region of South Florida. 

Pump-and-Dump Scheme of the Day

Have a look at the pump-and-dump scheme of the day. These guys don't ever quit because the SEC is too understaffed to go after them.   By the way, have you ever noticed virtually all of these email newsletter scammers have a similar general appearance?   They look like crooks!!  I suppose there are times when looks AREN'T DECEIVING!  

More Propaganda

Have a look at the latest piece of trash coming from Alan Zibel, the Associated Press' so-called real estate reporter.  First of all, he claims rel estate is in a "four-year slump."   The real estate correction began anywhere between late 2006 and early 2007 depending upon what you are looking at. Median prices for single-family homes peaked in late summer-early fall of 2006 but there was still robust although activity until ealy 2007. That makes it a three-year "slump" at best.  That's a bit trivial but not for a professional reporter who covers real estate for the largest syndicated newswire in America, whose stories reach thousands of publications around the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

Is Core Scientific Research in Decline?

In America's Financial Apocalypse (extended 2006 version), I made the case for a trend of declining basic research from core scientific disciplines such as chemistry and physics.  I also noted Western Europe's surge past the U.S. in patent applications.    As the chart below illustrates, the U.S. is not increasing R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP, while Asia continues to pump more and more money into R&D.     Finally, I discussed the continuing trend of declining dollars from Washington to support organizations such as the NSF that provide grants for core research.  As a result, over the years, corporate America has filled this funding gap.  This trend has served to damage core research further.    On Tuesday, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three Americans (although two have additional citizenship; Canadian and British) for the development of fiber optics and the charge-coupled device. Without a doubt these two developments were huge and have catapaulted the telecommunications and the photography industries. Together, they have played a primary role enabling the collection and transmission of digital data.  However...

October Newsletter Delivers a Great Swing Trade

On October 5th, before premarket trading, we released the most recent AVA Investment Analytics newsletter.  Among the other topics covered was an in-depth analysis of previously profiled sec...

More Obama Mania

I've always felt that the Nodel Peace Prize was a joke, and a disgrace to bear the Nobel name by it. News of the latest winner only confirms this in my opinion.

General Electric: Look Out Below

For years, investors boasted what a great company General Electric was. Even CEOs marveled at the company's ability to consistently deliver strong earnings growth despite its massive size. ...

Bank of America: Extortionists

I ran across this video and it reminded me that I was supposed to write a quick piece about how BAC recently DOUBLED the interest rate on my credit card, despite the fact that it w...

The Cold, Hard Truth About Obama by Nader

I hate to even direct anyone to a Tech Ticker video since the head of this Internet propaganda venue is headed by none other than Henry Blodget, former Wall Street analyst who pumped the dotcom stocks...

More on the SEC

The following assessment is based on my own opinions about the SEC after an external examination. In my opinion, the SEC has been designed intentionally to operate with extreme inefficiency in...

WaMu Insider Trading & Naked Short Selling

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece discussing allegations of insider trading and illegal naked short selling of Washington Mutual, involving the banking cartel and potentially their hedge fund clients. In that piece, I provided a link to the SEC complaint I submitted on October 7, 2008. You might have noticed the complaint was marked as a “draft.” Some people have asked me of the complaint was ever submitted since it is marked as a draft.

Key Publications by Mike Stathis

For those of you who are new to AVA Investment Analytics, we advise you to take the opportunity to get up to speed on things. Below is a brief list of key articles written by Stathis over the pas...

Fiscal Survey of States

I've been working overtime on my soon-to-be-released healthcare book. The problem is that in the editing process, I keep running across new information that I can't help but to add.

Barrack Obama: Puppet of Zionist Elitists and Homosexual Crackhead?

Hopefully by now you realize that Obama is nothing more than a puppet for Zionists who really run America. Most of these Zionists are Jewish.

America's Healthcare Solution

Would you like to become a virtual expert in healthcare in a few days? You will, if you read my new book, America's Healthcare Solution.

Kudlow on Healthcare: Wrong as Always

I wanted to see what Larry Kudlow was up to with his latest propaganda so I checked a site he recently began making posts on. Let’s have a look at Kudlow’s healthcare propaganda.

Don't Be Played for a Fool

A while back, I wrote a piece discussing why no one won a Pultizer last year for reporting on the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Out of some 65 prizes, not one journalist ...

Selling You With Baseball Legends and the Buffett Name

Although I'm buried in work, I just had to stop and take some time to write a piece demonstrating another example how the forces out there are against you. They are vultures, and they seek

Mike Exposes AirBNB CEO Chesky as Jewish Parasite and Criminal

America's Financial Apocalypse: 2009 Update

Posting When It Matters I want to thank those of you who've patiently waited during my apparent hiatus. I certainly wasn't on vacation. I don't take vacations. As I've said in the past, I'm not one ...

America's Most Dangerous Enemy Lies From Within

Everyday, as I think about what has happened to this nation, I feel like I’m living through a nightmare.     Washington keeps brainwas...

Profiting from ObamaCare

I wanted to alert all subscribers that I just sent out a Mid-December special report: Profiting from ObamaCare, in which I lay out what I feel will represent a very good chance of some short-term trades feeding off of the recent momentum of the healthcare bill.  If you did not receive this report and you are a subscribe, please email us and we will resend it. 

ObamaCare Spells DISASTER for Americans (Part 1)

Most Americans have been fooled into thinking one party has the solutions to the nation’s problems, when the facts paint a much different picture. You need to understand that both parties are the same. As history shows, you get the same result regardless who resides over the White House and Congress.

ObamaCare Spells DISASTER for Americans (Part 1 con'd)

But of course Wilson gave his support for a bill signaling great news for physicians, health insurers and the entire medical-industrial complex.

ObamaCare Spells DISASTER for Americans (Part 2)

In part 1, I discussed the illusions of America's democracy, and pointed to the media as a key player in the web of deceit that has fooled most Americans to think they live in a democracy. I also discussed the lobbyists' role in healthcare reform. 

Confessions of a Drug Rep

If America ever expects to fix its broken healthcare system, all the problems must first be identified. Only then can a solution be engineered. While Obama's plan certainly provides no real solution, the current system is clearly broken and needs a radical overhaul. Perhaps you’ve been brainwashed by the talking heads, Washington liars and other hacks that have been paid off by the industry to make you think the healthcare system is just fine. If you already have not already figured it out, you can’t trust ANYTHING from the media, especially CNBC and FOX.  Do I need to name names? Virtually everyone in the media, from the talking head neo-cons (Limbaugh, Hannity, Levine, Savage, etc.) to the clowns on televised networks and those they interview – fall into one of these categories: they're either lying or they're ignorant when it comes to healthcare.  Either way, listening to their propaganda will only hurt you in the end.  How can I make such a broad assumption? You need to understand that the healthcare industry spends BILLIONS of dollars in ads and commercials in the media each year, so the media is going to focus on interviewing hacks who support their agenda. Even Peter Schiff realizes that his brainwashed his sheep audience will blindly accept anything he says. When you have such a terrible track record, without facing any scrutiny for your blunder, it points to a significant part of the problem in America. The masses are largely unintelligent, impulsive beings, who anxiously await further brainwashing. This largely explains why America is pretty much finished. As a manner by which to remain consistent with his extremist viewpoints, Schiff has also misrepresented the problems with healthcare.  Before passing judgment on whether he’s simply clueless or he has hidden agendas, I’d like to see how much money the healthcare industry will contribute to his campaign. That should paint a pretty good picture. And because he obviously lacks a full understanding of this very complex industry, he certainly has no real viable solutions. Yet, this has not stopped him from using his media club status to position himself as a healthcare expert, as he seeks a seat in the Senate.  But Schiff's solution could be even more damaging than Obama's healthcare reform.  Of course, I really shouldn’t even call it Obama’s reform, because he has basically let the various members of Congress (most of which who have been paid off by healthcare lobbyists) write the bill, without having any idea what’s in it. In fact, most of Congress has no idea what’s in the bill. Those who know best what’s in “Obama’s healthcare reform” should go to the authors – healthcare lobbyists.   And then there’s Ron Paul, who thinks America’s derailed free market system is the best way to deliver healthcare.  Paul is either clueless or else he does not have the backbone to challenge the most powerful lobbyist group in Washington (other than AIPAC).  I’d like to know how much money Paul has received from the healthcare industry. Instead of spending time researching or confirming what they read and hear by America’s propaganda machine, most Americans swallow what they have been fed by this very dangerous industry.  Many of these liars claim America’s healthcare system is “great” and it’s “the best healthcare system in the world.” However, I have previous demonstrated how this is simply not true by any stretch of imagination. As you can imagine, the list is quite long. Unfortunately, ObamaCare will do nothing to address America’s healthcare crisis.  In fact, it is very likely to make it much worse. Most people don’t realize that the American Medical Association is actually part of the problem. Let’s take a look at the front lines of drug makers - the drug reps; these are the guys and gals who get physicians to write as many prescriptions of their company’s drugs as possible.   One might assume drug reps have at least a general science undergraduate degree. After all, many physicians rely on drug reps to educate them on the latest drug therapies and mechanisms of action. In reality, it is very rare for reps to have any science background prior to becoming a drug rep. Why might this be?   Perhaps Upton Sinclair said it best; “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.” Drug reps need sales skills more than an understanding of science and medicine. Drug companies teach their reps only what they want them to know. This helps them become more passionate salesmen since they only learn the most favorable side of the picture. If drug reps had a basic science background, they might be able to decipher biased research and realize the harmful effects of the drugs they pitch. That certainly wouldn’t contribute to sales.

America Has Been Destroyed by the Jewish Mafia. Life is Better in Asia.

Late to the Party

Many of you are aware of my forecasts about the economy, real estate, the stock market, gold, oil, etc. from my books, articles and newsletter.

Signs of a Depression

I wanted to remind you not to lose sight of the big picture. It’s advisable to try to make money during an illusion only if you know the reality. Remember, consumer confidence and investor sentiment can and often creates illusions that can lead to big gains in stock market. But at some point, reality sets in.

America Needs Seven Days in May

I run across a movie that some of you older folks might remember. I find it quite ironic, and perhaps more relevant today than (although not nearly as good as) the movie version of ...

New York Attorney General vs Intel

What's the relevence of the attached file below?  The answer will be discussed in the January 2010 Intelligent Investor. 

The Realities of America's Free Market Economy

On many occassions, I have made mention of the fact that, despite popular belief, America's economy really does not operate with free market dynamics. I really focus on this premise in America's Healthcare Solution.  In virtually every industry, you see a variety of activities that act to disrupt true free-market forces. Some industries are worse than others.  In my opinion, the industries that have the worst free-market dynamics are healthcare, finance, and energy. In  contrast, I view the consumer electronics market as the industry with the best free market dynamics. But as you will see, if this industry is the closest America can come to free market dynamics, we have some really big problems.

AIG, Geithner and Goldman Sachs: Another Example of Useless Media

Some of you may have wondered why I have said nothing about the latest AIG-Geithner connection. Let me give you a hint. The answer is the same as the reason why I did not mention anything about the Ken Lewis drama. You might recall few months ago, the media was buzzing about how Ken Lewis, former CEO of Bank of America, made claims that former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Federal Reserve pressured Lewis to buy Merrill Lynch. Of course, I already knew this from day one. Now, the media has seized the latest drama, as an attempt to make you think they are on your side, by clouding the airwaves with the Timothy Geithner/AIG/Goldman scam.

Another Media Establishment Bites the Dust and I'm VERY HAPPY

A few days ago, the liberal radio network, AirAmerica ended all programming and announced that it would soon be filing for chapter 7.  Before I continue, I think a little background info might be noteworthy. You see, back when I wrote America's Financial Apocalypse, President Bush was the current puppet in the White House. So I knew that AirAmerica would be the best chance I'd have to warn people about the upcoming depression, expected to commence with the real estate meltdown.

What Alex Jones Doesn't Want You to Know

A few months ago, I wrote a brief piece on how Alex Jones has brainwashed so many people. Well, actually, I only discussed a tiny portion of it. I have not had the time to write more about Jones, but I will in the future.

Reviewing Obama's Promises

Just a reminder how you can never trust any politcian who represents a fascist dictatorship, whether we are talking about George Bush, Barrack Obama (Barry Soetoro) or the next puppet who will replace Obama (Soetoro).

It's Official: The Tea Party Movement is a Scam

I have previous written a few posts about the so-called Tea Party Movement, discussing how many Americans have been fooled by this front for the Republican Party. Sure, of all of the Tea Parties across the nation, there were some that did not embrace the right-wing agendas - at least in the beginning.

The ONLY Man Qualified to Serve as U.S. President in Four Decades

Over the next several days I'm going to write a piece on the man I feel was the only qualified presidential candidate in more than four decades, Ross Perot Sr. 

America. What Went Wrong (Part 2)

Continuing where I left off from last time... Rather than huge manufacturing industries reminiscent of America’s “Old Economy,” the “New Economy” is characterized by high-tech firms large and small.   Much of America’s formerly world-leading manufacturing industry has either relocated overseas or has been sold to foreigners. This article was originally written in 2010 as a followup to the material I first wrote about pertaining to US trade policy in my banned 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  This book was not only the ONLY book in the world to have accuractely forecast nearly every major event related to the blow up of the real estate bubble and stock market, but also detailed numerous wide ranging topics that promised to adversely impact the US if not corrected, including the nation's healthcare system, soaring college costs, pension underfundedness, Social Security and of course, US trade policy.  See Also: Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 1) Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 2) Free Trade And The Jewish Mafia Ford As A Crystal Ball For America Ford: Playing Its Last Hand? GM Lines Up for Its Take Washington's War Against America's Middle Class Video: Educating A Libertarian Hack From Harvard 7 Myths About US-China Trade and Investment  The Scam Called Globalization The Dirty Secret about Hedonics & Globalization Thailand, Globalization and Real Estate Economics America. What Went Wrong? (Part 1) America. What Went Wrong? (Part 2) America's Second Great Depression

This Could Happen to You

A while back, I published an article discussing allegations made by Larry Sinclair regarding his sexual encounter with President Obama several years ago.  Please review this material here. I wanted to provide you with a follow-up on Mr. Sinclair. I think you will find it very interesting as much as you will find it a bit scary.  Now, is Mr. Sinclair credible? Is he a crackpot?   Maybe is honestly believes what he is saying but is suffering from severe delusions.  What do you think?   I think everything Mr. Sinclair is saying is absolutely true. That doesn't mean that I think he is completely sane.

Promoting Buffett's "Greatness" to Make Money

The article is of just one more of the thousands that the financial media continues to churn out about what a great investor Warren Buffett is. 

Iran's Ahmadinejad Echoing What Most Intelligent American's Already Know

I wanted to post a link to a brief article discussing Ahmadinejad's statement regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. 

Fraud, Mastered by the Criminal Banking Industry

I have discussed the financial industry on numerous occasions. My sentiment has not changed.    Those looking for some kind of investment “payday” should stay clear of the banks as an investment. The risk is still very high.

More Propaganda from Washington's Corporate Media Partner

Last week, Forbes published an article discussing cities across the U.S. "where the recession is ending."   Let me begin in a tone that many of you have come to expect. The author was intentionally lying as an attempt to drum up consumer confidence, or else it was written by a complete idiot with absolutely no understanding of what is going on; perhaps a combination of the two. 

Another Example of America's Highly Flawed Healthcare System

Soon, my latest book, America's Healthcare Solution will be released, allowing those with an interest in the healthcare system to see precisely what is wrong with the healthcare system. And as the title indicates, I also provide a solution; well, really it's a combination of solutions.  Since I will get absolutely 0 level of promoting for the book (just as with the case of America's Financial Apocalypse) I will continue to promote it myself. So for those of you who get tired seeing my self-promotion activities, please understand the reason. Of course, much like the case with America's Financial Apocalypse, I also expect to receive no credit for really dissecting down the problems found within the healthcare industry, as well as providing a viable solution.  The media is hell bent on making sure I stay out of reach of people, and so too are the guys who are either in the media club, or who aspire to be; namely the bloggers and others.

Bloomberg to the Rescue, Delivering "News" to Investors

Here's an article discussing the fact that JP Morgan and Citigroup escalated the collapse of Lehman Brothers by increasing the collateral and altering terms and conditions for lending.

Zionist Media & Zionist Washington: Selling You Another War Using Lies and Manipulation

Many of you know how I have been discussing how the Zionist control over America is causing you to lose your liberty, your money, and economic opportunities. Zionist groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Anti Defamation League (ADL), women’s lib groups, Planned Parenthood and hundreds of others have worked hard to destroy the heritage of the United States, while collapsing the previous strength of the family unit. They have made individuality a sin. All of these things have been done in order to destroy the individuality and unity of the people of the U.S.

How to Quickly Spot Useless Financial Websites and Blogs (Update)

This article was originally published on March 19, 2010, but I have decided to repost it because it's getting ready interesting. I encourage you all to ask Mish why he would not want to mention the WaMu fraud I reported in my SEC complaint.  As the insider trading case is obvious and I am willing to bet any amount of money to anyone on this. The SEC holds the evidence. I also claimed that WaMu was NOT insolvent.  As we now know, according to court testimony from JPMorgan, WaMu was in fact NOT insolvent. So why isn't the seizure and fire sale reversed?    

Pictures of Your Town

Living in one of the cities less affected by the economic collapse, I'm curious to see how things are where you live. I can tell you that although I'm in Dallas (which was not affected as much by the real estate bubble) the real estate market continues to remain very weak.  If anyone has any pictures that YOU HAVE TAKEN, or would like to take showing the roadside "real estate investor special" for sell signs that I see everyday in Dallas, or anything else that shows how bad things are, please send them to us and I will post the pictures, maybe will a few words to comment.

Market Forecasting Tutorial (Pt 1)

Today, I'm going to show you some relatively simple techniques that will (hopefully) help you learn how to forecast market direction and timing. And I am going to look at the current market conditions to illustrate these points. Although market forecasting is arguably the single most important skill an investor can possess, it is rarely mentioned. With little surprise, it is perhaps the most difficult skill to master. When market forecasting is mentioned, most analysis emphasize volatility indexes, oscillators and other indicators like put/call ratios, market breadth, Rydex funds, money flow, etc. While these indicators are often helpful, they are insufficient for forecasting market direction and timing.  

Market Forecasting Tutorial (Part 2)

This is the second part of a 3-part series on market forecasting. Part 1 can be found here. As you recall, the Dow made an all-time high in October 2007. Since then, it has made lower lows and lower highs, typical of a downward trend. But how far and how long will this bear market last?   First of all, we need to remember that the previous bullish rally was quite fast, with the lion's share occurring over 6 months (May to October 2007) for around 18% gains.   What does that mean?   Well, in my opinion, it means the bullish rally was not that valid.   Remember, price validity strengthens with time.

Market Forecasting Tutorial (Pt 3)

This is the final part of a 3-part series on market forecasting. Part 2 can be found here.

Market Forecasting Tutorial (Pt 2)

This is the second of a 3-part series on market forecasting. Part 1 can be found here. As you recall, the Dow made an all-time high in October 2007. Since then, it has made lower lows and lower highs, typical of a downward trend. But how far and how long will this bear market last?

Real Estate Confusion, or Lies?

Do you ever become confused over daily economic data? If not, then you probably aren’t paying close attention.   But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.   If you don’t pay real close attention and spend a good deal of time analyzing what’s really going on, you’re probably better off not paying any attention to the data at all because it is designed to confuse you; to manipulate the truth.

Opening Statement from the June 2021 Intelligent Investor (part 1)

Opening Statement from the June 2021 Intelligent Investor (part 1) Originally published on June 10, 2021 (pre-market release)   Overview New coronavirus variants continue to spread throughout the world. The latest mutation has been discovered in Vietnam and is related to the Delta variant (B.1.617.2 variant) which was first discovered in India. Thus far, there are no data that indicates currently known variants are resistant to approved vaccines. Given the media’s focus on highlighting the most severe manifestations of the coronavirus pandemic, for some it might be difficult to believe that the global economic recovery remains on an uptrend. Consumer and business demand have rebounded significantly in recent months, pointing to higher commodities pricing. We have already seen many commodities reach multi-year highs. Notably, some commodities have begun to correct in price after having recently reached record-highs (e.g. lumber, copper, and palladium). Although the U.S. economy is experiencing a reflationary surge due to pent-up demand, supply chain bottlenecks and record-low interest rates

ObamaCare: Soon to be the Worst Bill Passed in U.S. History (Part 1)

With Obama’s healthcare bill ready to sign, democrats are celebrating. Meanwhile, (supposedly) enraged republicans insist payback will come in November. This is part of the typical back-and-forth theatrics staged to galvanize voter support for each party. Please do not allow yourself to be fooled by these games.  As the facts show, both parties are essentially the same when it comes to issues that matter most to working-class Americans; free trade and healthcare, as first detailed in America’s Financial Apocalypse. As you shall soon see, President Obama's healthcare reform bill falls way short of what is needed as a part of America’s economic revitalization. In fact, it is likely to create more long-term problems for consumers, all while boosting industry profits. Regardless what you may hear and read from America’s tightly-controlled media monopoly, the healthcare industry will continue its string of excessive profits at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. This is how things have always been ever since the medical-industrial complex took hold of healthcare after the Second World War.

ObamaCare: Soon to be the Worst Bill Passed in U.S. History (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1...   Back in the 1990s, when President Clinton proposed price caps for health insurers, the industry engineered a massive smear campaign, defusing the plan before it even got off the ground. When you see railroading like that, you know the proposal is favorable to consumers. In contrast, as Obama began his campaign for healthcare reform (as a way to dodge financial reform), the industry didn’t seem to be too worried. That should tell you what’s really going on. The entire industry was cutting deals behind closed doors well over a year ago to ensure the ball stayed in their court.

The Global Warming Scam

I can't recall if I have shared my views on global warming with you. I do believe I mentioned it briefly in one of my previous newsletter issues. I want to go on record as saying that I believe these scares of global warming are fraudulent. I have a comprehensive background in the physical and biological sciences, so I would like to think that I have a pretty good understanding of science. While I have not studied global warming in the depth I would like, I feel that I have studied it in sufficient detail for me to conclude that it is a hoax. As you can imagine, I am certainly not the only one to share this view.

Exposing Hacks, Followers, the Confused and the Clueless (a work in progress)

As you might imagine, I am currently focused on writing the April AVAIA newsletter. In the past, I have discussed how the financial media deceives and lies to its audience. I have also discussed why it would engage in these tactics. As examples, I have written about Jim Cramer, Larry Kudlow and other hacks on CNBC. Over the next several weeks, I will be posting material here discussing a long list of what I consider to be hacks, followers, clueless individuals and those with financial agendas and bias that serve as their primary impetus for their views. I am going to show you that these individuals are in the media club. And I am going to show you what I consider to be evidence in support of this. Hopefully, by now you understand how dangerous it can be to pay attention to anyone in the media club. 

The Real Estate Bubble the Media Hid and Why I Was Banned

When many people mention the collapse these days, the most common response I've heard is "everyone knew it was coming."   Perhaps you've heard the same. 

Con Men Unite: Stefan James Teams Up With Robert Kiyosaki

Is US Health Really the Best in the World?

For years, industry hacks and political opportunists have paid off America's media monopoly to ensure its audience remains in the dark as to the realities embedded within America’s broken healthcare system.  As you might imagine, most of these bribes have come in the form of soft dollar arrangements, namely through the industry's multi-billion dollar annual ad campaign.   But we certainly cannot forget the industry bribes to Washington.   When the pharmaceutical industry spends say a few hundred million dollars on ads and commercials with televised networks like NBC, that’s certainly within the limits of the law.

Realities of the Neo-Cons' Multi-Trillion Dollar War

You may have heard about the turkey shoots by U.S. military and mercenary groups (Blackwater) in Iraq. The problem is, a good deal of the turkeys are innocent Iraqi civilians, some of which are women and children. According to various estimates, anywhere between several hundred thousand to 1.2 million people have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

More Smokescreens from the SEC

I don't want to waste anymore time on this than I have to. Let me just say that the SEC's latest bogus attempt to prevent another securitized asset blow up is a complete joke. The SEC is expected to recommend that the Wall Street firms underwriting asset-backed securities be required to hold 5 percent of the loans. Asset-backed securities in this case includes mortgages (although they are really mortgage-backed securities), credit card, auto and other loans. Notice the headline  - "SEC Seeks Tighter Rules on Asset-Backed Securities." With some "skin in the game," the thinking goes, the firms would be more careful to ensure that borrowers are properly screened.

Killing You with Drugs: Legally

Is there any reason why Pfizer shares are down today?   Just yesterday, shares were trading at ~ $17.30. Today, with the DJIA up by 0.7%, Pfizer is down by nearly 1%.   A clue to this sell-off MIGHT be due to the anticipation by investors of increasing pressure to change the way drugs are prescribed. This could also trigger several lawsuits down the road. Recently, another study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association discussing elevated suicide risks associated with the use of anticonvulsant drugs. Anticonvulsants have been approved by the FDA for people diagnosed with epilepsy.  Of course, this is not the first study showing anticonvulsants raised the risk of suicide.   In 2008, the FDA required all anticonvulsant drugs to have a warning label that disclosed a two-fold increased risk of suicide. However, warning labels are rarely effective. They simply enable drug companies to continue to sell what many experts feel to be dangerous drugs, while having the safeguard of a disclaimer.

Should California Get a Bailout?

As some readers might recall, without budget solutions from the Governor and Legislature, the California State Controller was forced to issue IOUs to several State payees last July in order to prevent a $2.8 billion cash shortage. IOUs began printing July 2, and ended September 3 of last year.   The California State Treasurer began redeeming the IOUs September 4, 2009, and sent out more than 89,000 letters to remind holders of IOUs of the redemption.   Each IOU accrued interest through September 3, 2009, but holders do not earn interest past that date. The letter includes redemption instructions and contact information for any IOU holders who have questions about the redemption process.   It is difficult to imagine why anyone holding these IOUs would delay their redemption, given the state’s worsening financial condition.   To usher in the New Year, California declared a state of fiscal emergency after facing shortfalls of $6.6 billion for the year. This adds to the previous declarations made in 2009.   But that’s by no means the full extent of the state’s deficit. Over the next 16 months, California faces a $20 billion deficit. I expect it to get much worse without radical cuts to the budget.    As you might realize, California has been struggling to close its budget gap for well over a year, using job furloughs, cutting healthcare to families in need and many other methods implemented to save the state money. But the furloughs were overturned in court battles.   Now state government employees have been told they will face a 5% wage cut across the board. And they will have to pay for more of their retirement plan.

More Tea Party Scams

Previously I have discussed how the Tea Party movement has been taken over by the republican party. This and so many other activities have taken place because the vast majority of Americans are FOOLS. Yesterday, the idiot and liar, Sean Hannity, first commissioned by the Bush administration to create propaganda for the war in Iraq, was scheduled to speak before a crowd of 13,000 tea party sheep at the University of Cinncinati.  Similar to all of these events, profiteering arrangements had been made in advance, with tea party organizers and Hannity looking to profit from sheeple who have no idea they are being had by the republican party. 

Another Useless, Irresponsible Journalist Confirmed

A few months ago, I wrote an article discussing how the same incompetent bozo financial reporters who missed EVERYTHING (causing YOU to lose your shirt in the stock market) have since taken book leave.

Which Nation Poses the Biggest Threat to the World?

First of all, we need to look at nations that have or could have nuclear warheads. Is it North Korea?  In the past, the U.S. media and Washington have told Americans that North Korea is a potential threat to the U.S. However, that claim is mostly hot air. North Korea isn't able to even feed its population.  And it's certainly in to position to pose a threat to the U.S., much less the rest of the world. Anything you have heard in the past about North Korea is simply part of the political bargaining game.  What about Iran?  Iran is of course the latest nation to be earmarked by Zionist Washington as a threat. However, Iran poses no threat to the U.S. Iran only poses a potential threat to Israel. That is precisely the reason why Washington and the media have created fictional accounts of Iran as a danger to the U.S. Maybe it's China. How about Russia?  Wrong and wrong again. I'll give you some hints to this very critical question. The nation posing the biggest threat to the world is the nation that:

Greg Zuckerman is Confronted With the Truth and Runs Like a Coward

Here is the email exchange between myself and Greg Zuckerman, mentioned in a recent article.    Mr. Zuckerman, Instead of trying to make Paulson look like some genius, why not try doing some investigative journalism to see why he is paying Greenspan a 7-figure "consulting" salary. It's Greenspan’s cut of the heist.  As the facts show, I predicted the details of this collapse in 2 books written in late 2006. Yet, the media has continued to ignore me. Why? because they don't want people to know the about nation's biggest problems: free trade and healthcare, which I detailed in this book. I was discussing healthcare and the entitlements as a cause of this depression and now the Calvary arrives to discuss healthcare. Yet, they have not dared discuss free trade.

Zuckerman's Desperate Attempts at Damage Control

I just ran across an article by Zuckerman, discussing the Paulson/Goldman Sachs fraud and had to laugh.  If you aren't familiar with the background on Zuckerman, read this recent article I wrote. I didn't even read the WSJ article in its entirety (I don't waste time on deceit) because I already knew what he has up to. I found what I was searching for in the first few sentences.

Propaganda from the Associated Press on the SEC-Goldman Case

I want you to read an article by the Associated Press. As you will see, it was very deficient, hardly critical of the SEC and the banking fraud, and left out key issues.   This is just another example how the media brainwashes the public. I run across this type of deceit all day every day. The article is in italics. My comments follow in bold.   Goldman Case Shows Power of SEC's Bully Pulpit The Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud case against Goldman Sachs signals a new era of toughness for an agency beset by a series of public blunders.   This statement is complete bullshit. Show me the executives of the major banks in prison serving 30-year terms with no parole, and then I'll be convinced of "a new era of toughness" for the SEC.   Yet as it aims to become a tougher cop, the SEC faces a new obstacle: Banks have grown faster than the penalties the agency typically imposes. The sheer size of Goldman — whose quarterly profit just hit $3.3 billion — means court-approved penalties are likely to be too small to hurt it financially.   This is practically the only accurate statement made in the entire article.

Another Reporter Gets Called Out

Previously, I published an article illustrating how Greg Zuckerman, author of a book that praised Paulson as some investment God, has lost all credibility as a journalist now that the facts have surfaced about how Paulson made his big score. Have a look. Next, I published a piece showing how Zuckerman went into damage control mode, after the SEC released its complaint alledging fraud against Goldman Sachs, while mysteriously absolving Paulson of any wrongdoing. He wrote a piece that still claimed it was a "bet" rather than fraud. Have a look.   I wanted to publish an email I sent to a reporter from the Slate, an online “news” site owned by the Washington Post.    In the past, I have discussed how many newspapers have started online sites and renamed them, while hiding the fact that they own them.   Why have they done this?  

Update on America's Second Great Depression (Part 1)

Overview Washington, Wall Street and their partners in crime, the media, have continued to spread the myths of an economic recovery since late summer 2009. In response to the propaganda, the stock ...

Opening Statement from the April 2021 CCPM Forecaster

Opening Statement from the April 2021 CCPM Forecaster Originally published on April 4, 2021 (pre-market release)   Overview As expected, commodities retreated last month as seen by the continuous commodities ETF, GCC after having mounted a tremendous rally through late-February. Meanwhile, Gold and silver remain in an intermediate-term bearish trend that began in the late-summer of 2020. It is important to note that the longer-term trend in gold remains bullish.  With the $1.9 trillion stimulus package having been approved by Washington last month, President Biden is now focusing his efforts to get the much anticipated $2 trillion infrastructure package passed. Although the infrastructure bill is in our opinion less than what is needed, it would certainly provide some improvement to the nation’s outdated infrastructure as well much needed boost to employment. Oil Inspired by the recovery progress being made in Asia, OPEC+ recently raised oil prices for delivery to Asian nations. In contrast, OPEC+ lowered pricing in the U.S. after agreeing to gradually boost output by 1.1 million bbl/day between May and July from cuts announced by Saudi Arabia in January.    

Opening Statement from the June 2021 CCPM Forecaster

Opening Statement from the June 2021 CCPM Forecaster Originally published on June 4, 2021 (pre-market release) Overview New coronavirus variants continue to spread throughout the world. The latest mutation has been discovered in Vietnam and is related to the Delta variant (B.1.617.2 variant) which was first discovered in India. Thus far, there are no data that indicates currently known variants are resistant to approved vaccines. Given the media’s focus on highlighting the most severe manifestations of the coronavirus pandemic, for some it might be difficult to believe that the global economic recovery remains on an uptrend. Consumer and business demand have rebounded significantly in recent months, pointing to higher commodities pricing. We have already seen many commodities reach multi-year highs. Notably, some commodities have begun to correct in price after having recently reached record-highs (e.g. lumber, copper, and palladium). Although the U.S. economy is experiencing a reflationary surge due to pent-up demand, supply chain bottlenecks and record-low interest rates could progress into a more lasting period of inflation down the road. But

Opening Statement from the April 2021 Intelligent Investor (part 1)

Although the yield on the 10-year Treasury Note remains in a strong uptrend, its appreciation has been more contained since the March issue. This is clearly good news for the stock market. As previously discussed in March, the rapid rise in the yield has been attributed to expectations of inflation by investors. The reality is that no one can know for certain why Treasury yields have risen because we do not know the reasoning of each investor who has sold bonds causing yields to increase. We believe the increase in Treasury bond yields is to be expected given the improvement in the economy rather than due to concerns about high levels inflation. Some investors may have sold bonds due to inflationary concerns. And this may have helped account for the rapid increase in the yield. But we believe the majority of investors sold treasury bonds for other reasons. Note that when

Opening Statement from the May 2021 Intelligent Investor (part 1)

The Real Story of Monsanto

Okay folks. I've been working on the May newsletter over the past few days and one of the securities submitted for analysis was Monsanto. I've actually meant to do some write-ups on the controversial nature of the company but I haven't had the time. So you can bet I selected it as one of the securities to discuss. Instead of selecting just one security, I decided to discuss a few (but in less detail) because I received so many submissions that I feel should be discussed.

How to Catch a Falling Knife (Yes it Can Be Done)

In the Wall Street Investment Bible, I discussed other securities I that had a good chance of bankruptcy down the road (e.g. Blockbuster and Sirius Satellite). Regardless what ultimately happens with these companies, my analysis has thus far been correct. Since analyzing these companies, shares have declined by about 90%.   In the most recent newsletter, I discussed some stocks in the past that I was able to determine that the market was wrong about. The reason why I mentioned this was to demonstrate my track record assessing distressed securities and securities facing challanges.  Why might it be important to gain confidence from subscribers in my abilities to assess distressed securities?  Because this is the best way to make a lot of money. It's also one of the most risky.  Hundreds of stocks have been battered by the financial apocalypse. Thus, the ability to determine whether or not to invest in these stocks and when to invest has never been more important. Most recently, Goldman Sachs and British Petroleum have seen big losses in market cap. At some point, investors might begin to question whether they represent tremendous value or tremendous risk. Here, I show a summary of the argument I made for a stock that was seen as very questionable in the past, hoping to provide you will the basic process you need to follow if you want to seperate yourself from the herd. Of course, the following presentation is very simplified and does not include all of my analysis.  The company is Merck.  You might recall in the fall of 2004, the Vioxx scandel broke. Shares of Merck collapsed from over $50 to around $30. A few weeks later, Mrk fell to the mid 20s. Panic was everywhere.

The Dow Takes Everything Down With It, EXCEPT

Rather than a sigh of relief, Greece's bailout signals more to come from Eastern Europe.  And rather than a more peaceful Greece, it the EU-IMF bailout is likely to result in major riots and civil unrest due to harsh demands placed on many segments of this nation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average revealed worries by investors, fearing much more to come from Europe (forget the S&P 500, the DJIA is and will always be the key index to watch; if you follow the S&P it's because you have been programmed by the clowns in the media, who follow Wall street hacks like a lost puppy). With the DJIA down by over 225 points (2.02%), by itself, it means nothing.

Mearsheimer and Walt: The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

In the past, I have made mention of Mearsheimer and Walt's book, The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, although I have not read it (I have no time!). I do know the book's premise from reading articles and watching interviews they have given.  Mearsheimer and Walt, both Jewish professors at the University of Chicago and Harvard respectively, received virtually no coverage for what was originally a paper, later turned into a book discussing the control over U.S. foreign policy by Israel. They concluded that without the control over Washington by the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) America would not have invaded Iraq.  The virtual media shutout seems quite odd, given that two very well-respected professors discuss a critical topic. It is especially odd to see America's Jewish-controlled media black-ball Jews, which only happens when Jews expose the truth as it pertains to Israel. You should note the striking predominance of so-called experts flooded throughout the media who happen to be Jewish.

Huge Market Sell-off. What Should You Do? Buy, Sell or Hold?

Subscribers to the AVA Investment Analytics newsletter will be receiving a special report that discusses forward direction of the market, as well as analysis of selected securities. This report will be delivered no later than Sunday.  As I will show, if you happened to time the purchase of one of the securities I have been recommending for many months now, you could have made 150% today; not with leverage or options. If you had bought this security at market bottom today, you would have seen it appreciate by 150% by the close of the market. I will not only be discussing what I see in the market now and going forward, but I will discuss more than 1 dozen securities - technicals and valuations.

I'm Going to Teach You the Secrets to Getting Wealthy

If you clicked this article thinking I was serious, then I strongly advise you to take notes as you read through this piece. The title of this article, is, never has been and never will be something I will claim to teach you because as much as I know about business and investments, I can tell you there are no secrets, unless you consider hard work a secret. Rather than the title to my own article, this title is the common theme used by the investment gurus; you know, the marketing clowns plastered all over TV and the Internet, preying on the desperate and broke. In the past, I've discussed cheeseball marketers. These are the guys who lie, deceive and use other tactics to make the sheep think they will lead you to easy riches.  /article_details-279.html Note that Donald trump and Robert Kiyosaki wrote a book together a few years ago. Why? because they wanted to team up their cheeseball marketing to suck more sheep into their trash bin, while making themselves wealthy.

Europe: Taking the Path Blazed by the U.S. with Similar Consequences to Come

After the threat of a continued sell-off in the global capital markets, leaders of the EU, IMF (and most likely members of the White House) arranged an emergency bailout fund to calm the markets. Today, Wall Street is celebrating the news of a proposed $1 trillion bailout for European nations in danger of defaulting on sovereign debt.  Do not be fooled. This news should only be taken as a temporary sign of relief. You should use this temporary momentum to extract money from the sheep while you can because the good times aren't going to last.

Update on British Petroleum

A couple of weeks ago, I released a report discussing how I was able to get in on Merck for big gains, while virtually everyone else left the company for dead after the Vioxx scandal played out. /article_details-527.html I used that example to give you an idea what you need to do to determine whether a stock should be bought after a catastrophe, and when to buy it (I show several other examples in The Wall Street Investment Bible). Finally, the article illustrates that you need to have an exit strategy in advance. It was a prelude to a report I would be writing for BP. Despite the problems for BP, it is apparent that Wall Street has been unwilling to let the knife fall as much as it should. The support for BP shares (relative to the nature of the oil well leak and the uncertainty involved) has been overwhelming.

Even in China, the Rich Get Punished

You should realize by now that in the U.S., if you have money, you don't go to jail, regardless of the crime. The more money you have, they better your chances to escape the law.  Not one single criminal of the thousands responsible for the dotcom collapse were sent to prison; not even Steve Case (AOL); not even the bums at Global Crossing; none of the dotbombs that committed accounting fraud. What about the back-dated options scandal? Today, we have not seen a single criminal indictment by the Department of Justice for the criminal bastards responsible for this global collapse. Every single one of the executives from the major banks should already be rotting in prison. Alan Greenspan too should be in prison.

An Easy Way to Receive One of My Books for FREE: Fight the Media Liars

Effective immediately, I am announcing a way for you to receive a copy of any single one of my books currently in print, or 5% off of the newsletter. It’s quite simple and you will most likely enjoy doing it. Here’s all you have to do.

DO SOMETHING, Even if it's Something Like This

Here is a quick email I sent to one of the government shills/idiots (I do not know whether this person is lying or just an idiot) regarding a news release reporting how inflation has "faded." The article is here. This is the email I rolled out...

The Media: WAY Behind the Curve as Always

Those who read America's Financial Apocalypse (especially the 2006 expanded edition) know that I covered the problems with Social Security extensively.  Combined with the "Retirement Blues" chapter, I challenge anyone to find a book that covers the problems and addresses the solutions in more detail.  Yet, we have a publication, US News and World Report, a completely useless publication at that, posting an article on "Ways to Fix Social Security."  

Is the Dallas Economy Really that Healthy?

A few weeks ago, I discussed the fact that the media has been fabricating signs of recovery in certain cities across America.  Close to half of the cities on the road to recovery (according to the media liars) are located in none other than the state of Texas. As you will recall, I set the record straight on this propaganda.  I  ran across another piece several days later and couldn't resist emailing the hack reporter to set him straight. But I failed to mention a couple of things.  For many years, Dallas has had one of America's lowest consumer credit ratings. Furthermore, as the report from Experian discusses, Dallas is second in the nation in consumer credit card debt per person, coming in at a whopping...are you ready? ..... $26,599!  That's an average figure per person!  

New Market Forecast + Update on BP

As subscribers to the AVAIA newsletter know, the special report released on May 9 was quite accurate. In short, anyone who had access to the special report could have avoided up to an 8% loss due to the market decline. Alternatively, those who may have not wanted to go to cash could have hedged the downside through the purchase of index puts. 

Brief Market Notes

I wanted to give you an overview of what I see today and explain how you should view things, emphasizing the need to understand your own investment strategy, because I know that those who read this site comprise ST traders, swing traders and long-term investors. For those who read my latest special report, today's market activity should come as no surprise. As you will recall, I mentioned the likelihood of a short-term bounce in the market. 

4 Stocks Poised to Move Big

I don’t make it a habit of analyzing short interest data. However, I always check the data when I initially scan a security because it can help when analyzing the charts. Of course, if I want to design an entry/exit strategy, it becomes very important to know the short interest and the short interest ratio of the security in question.     Over the past few days, I managed to run across four stocks that stuck out like a sore thumb due to their high short interest ratio, all of which appear (on the surface) to be fundamentally sound.   If a company is sound, why would investors take short positions?   Investors take short positions for a variety of reasons. Sometimes you can determine why the stock has a large short position. Other times, there are no clear reasons because it will depend on the investment strategy of the funds that have taken short positions.   While there are numerous reasons investors take short positions, the four most common are:   (1)   To bet on an earnings disappoint, downward guidance or revision (2)   Extreme overvaluation (3)   To hedge other positions in the portfolio (4)   As part of a long/short strategy (which can also include number 3)   When there is no obvious reason for a large short position, I have found that it is often due to extreme overvaluation or a large run up in shares. The higher a stock rises, the more optimism has been priced into the stock. And if it disappoints, shares could tumble.   Of course there are many other reasons why short interest can be high.   When analyzing short positions, you should also look for the duration of the short interest as well as the trend of decreasing or increasing short shares. In other words, you want to know how many shares have been short over the past 6 or 12 months.   On the other hand, regardless of the situation, it is rare for the short interest to be high if the company is a megacap, like Microsoft (although large caps on occasion can have a large short interest ratio)*     *A specific case that comes to mind was that of Tyco. This was previously a company hailed by virtually every fund and money manager on Wall Street. Many called fund managers were calling Tyco the next GE. However, in early 2002 at a price of $55, I made the call that it would collapse after studying the trailing 12-month short-interest data. My determination was also based on suspicions of massive accounting fraud. Over the next seven months, shares collapsed to around $12.  Below you can see where I have included the 1-for-4 reverse split in 2007 so you can understand the historical performance of shares.           When a stock has a large short interest ratio, it (often) means those who have taken a short position expect the stock to decline due to some event. Sometimes, investors simply pile onto the shorts due to a follower effect.   However, just because the short interest ratio is high does not mean the stock will fall hard. If something unexpected happens that causes the stock to rise, the shorts will rush to cover their position (or close the short). This will create an accelerated buying spree that will often cause they stock to soar. This is of course known as a short squeeze because the shorts get squeezed out of their position.   Thus, some investors buy stocks than have large short interest ratios, hoping for a short squeeze. Of course, sophisticated investors don’t blinding go long hoping for a squeeze. They most often have other information that leads them to believe that the shorts have misinterpreted or exaggerated their analysis.   A short squeeze is more frequent with small or micro cap stocks, especially when the float is small.   There are many things that can cause a stock to rise. First, the shorts might be wrong. Instead of a big earnings miss, the company might report a huge upside. But even a rising stock market can cause they stock to rise. However, when funds short a stock they usually adjust for potential market movements so as to offset this possibility. This can be accomplished in many ways. I don’t want to stray off of the topic so I won’t go into that.   In this article I am going to briefly discuss these stocks.   I will follow up with an analysis of each, identifying the best candidate for a short in the June issue of the AVA Investment Analytics newsletter.   The four stocks with large short interest ratios are Netflix (NFLX) at 27.5%, Synaptics (SYNA) at 44%, Coinstar (CSTR) 24.9%, and Constant Contact (CTCT) at 30.1%.   One could argue that each firm is strongly positioned within their respective industries. In fact, you could even argue that each is an industry leader. This is one reason why I found it noteworthy that each had a large short interest.    So what I plan to do is give you a brief commentary on each one and let you decide whether you want to play the short or the squeeze, or maybe just do nothing at all and watch what happens.     Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) is in the driver’s seat of the video rental industry. Great management, a formidable strategy, superior cash management and brilliant execution took this once small business and made it into a multibillion powerhouse in less than 15 years.   You might want to read a recent article I wrote which discussed predictions I made a few years ago regarding NFLX and Blockbuster.                        Synaptics, Inc. (SYNA) is the world leader of interface solutions for digital devices. Chances are high that your laptop computer uses Synaptics touch pad. Synaptics also provides touch pads for smart phones, MP3s, video and many other devices.   If you happen to follow this stock, you might recall shares collapsed overnight a few years ago after Apple announced it would not be using Synaptics any longer. Historically, SYNA has had an off and on relationship with Apple.                     I will finish this analysis in the June 2010 issue of the AVA Investment Analytics newsletter, along with many other topics. For a partial sample of past newsletters see here.         

Mike Stathis on Developing an Investor Mindset

The Solution for Financial Advisers

Today, up to 90% of investors want to change their broker. Can you blame them?  Fortunately for brokers, investors really don’t have anywhere else to go because most of them are generally the same. They follow the generic perma-bull analysis the large Wall Street research departments churn out, or else they follow the doom and gloom herd. Both approaches are useless because they represent extremes. Neither approach focuses on risk management. But that hasn’t stopped investors from changing; and change they have. Most likely, these investors are in for the same song and dance in the future, because I’ll guarantee you the coast is far from clear. We are looking at a minimum of ten years of market swings, bear traps and more devastation. I can assure you that FAs who plan to continue running the outsourced money management and mutual fund type business are going to lose much of their business in the coming years. Only those FAs who provide a more customized approach will thrive in what promises to be at least a decade of more market turbulence. Have a look at this recent article from the New York Times. Thus, financial advisers who have access to the expertise of someone who predicted this collapse in detail will have a competitive advantage. They will be able to retain current clients and grow their business.  As the records indicate, I predicted the details of this collapse unlike no other person in the world, with specific forecasts about real estate declines, specific forecasts about stock market declines, and of course, specific investment ideas, all of which panned out quite nicely. And I have maintained my stellar track record throughout 2009, with securities recommendations that have in some cases outperformed the DJIA by 300%. Moreover, my market forecasting record is virtually flawless. As all financial advisers are well aware, if you can forecast the market accurately, you can save your clients from huge losses, while delivering massive gains. Those familiar with my track record know this firsthand. I know what’s going on, and what’s ahead. Others merely made general statements that were known by many as a way to market their business. Don’t be fooled by the media. The guys the media claims to be experts, the guys they claim predicted this mess simply did not. The facts are in print. And the broadcasts have been recorded. And if you followed the advice of these “experts” it’s very likely that you did worse than those who stayed in the U.S. stock markets.  To start the New Year off, I’m rolling out a new program designed to help financial advisers and small financial institutions retain existing clients and attract new ones.  Their clients will have access to my research and analysis in a way that is complimentary to their business. At the option of advisers, their clients (perhaps their selected clients) will receive the AVAIA newsletter at a deep discount (depending on the number of subscribers) or even for free. As well, I will hold conference calls to discuss my forecasts for the market and economy, investment opportunities, securities analysis (fundamentals and technicals), commentary on recent M&As, IPOs, and much more. Some financial advisers will have clients who don’t want to be overwhelmed by the massive volume and analysis found in the AVAIA newsletter, so they will only be interested in the live conference calls. The decision will be up to the financial advisers how to best customize my expertise to help grow their business and improve the performance of their clients’ accounts. The calls will be tailored to the investment approach and objectives of each adviser’s line of business. It will like having your own investment strategist, equities analyst and trading expert. The best thing about is that you will have the leading expert in the world on this economic collapse. Those financial advisers who begin the transition out of mutual funds and externally managed accounts will be best positioned for the new era of the retail securities industry. Those who do not will suffer declining business. Imagine if you had a chief investment strategist who predicted everything underlying this collapse in detail, along with winning strategies and specific investments. Your clients would have been warned and properly positioned in advance. With your guidance, they’d have actually made money or at least avoided losing it.  With your guidance, they would have also known when to get back into the market. They’d love you. And they’d tell their friends and family about you. Your business would skyrocket. Imagine how easy it would be to send prospects a copy of my 2 books showing them how I made predictions like no one else. How many new clients do you think you could bring in knowing that you have me as your firm’s investment strategist and equities analyst? I’d say your business would soar. If properly positioned, this advisory program is guaranteed to help you keep you clients and add several accounts.  It could be the best move you’ve ever made for your business. Look at my track record and I’m sure you will agree.  Don’t forget that I’ve been where you are. I’ve worked on Wall Street managing retail clients, so I know what you’re up against. I also know how to deliver unique value that no other financial adviser can offer. Although the AVAIA newsletter is not yet one year old, several financial advisers have subscribed. I expect many more when others find out about my track record. But I will only be able to offer this service I’ve mentioned to a small number of financial advisers, so you will be provided with a high level of exclusivity. Those who have an interest should contact the staff for more details. But you need to hurry because there are only a limited number of spots.  If you’re not already sending us an email to find out the details, it’s probably because you haven’t read America’s Financial Apocalypse, (preferably the extended 2006 version) Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble, or The Wall Street Investment Bible. You simply don’t know my track record.     

Obama Seizes Another Opportunity to Distract from the Most Important Issues

Hopefully by now you are familiar with all of the campaign promises Obama made prior to winning the 2008 presidential election. Unfortunately, he has broken virtually every single one of his promises.  After only a few months in office, it was clear to me that Obama had surpassed Bush's disastrous performance which took him 8 years to establish. This is something I thought would be impossible to achieve over my life time. Here are just a few of Obama's broken promises: (1) Immediate removal of troops from Iraq (2) Restructure free trade policy (3) Provide universal healthcare (this was a lie from the beginning since his plan never included universal healthcare) (4) Those responsible for the financial crisis would be held accountable (5) No signing statements (6) Wall Street reform The list goes on.  Not only did Obama not withdrawal troops immediately, or even months later, he sent more. As part of the plan to fool the American sheeple, the global elites awarded Obama with a Nobel Peace Prize shortly after he gave the order to bomb a civilian region, killing hundreds. This is beyond a disgrace. We have a fascist government in America, worse than Nazi Germany. And the clueless masses in America continue to be brainwashed by the media.  STOP WATCHING, LISTENING, and READING anything the media monopoly puts out. They are lying like Hell. They are controlling your minds.

Shift to Natural Gas Will Not Lower Energy Costs

Serving as a catalyst for BP's oil spill, Obama recently addressed the need for the U.S. to move forward with an initiative to emphasize utilization of its vast natural gas reserves. This is just another distraction by Obama to cover up from his failed healthcare reform and the soon to be failed Wall Street reform. In the recent past, the switch to natural gas has been argued as a means by which to blaze a path towards cleaner air, less foreign oil dependency and lower energy costs. However, benefits expected from a shift to natural gas are not likely to pan out. First, while natural gas is a cleaner burning fossil fuel than oil, replacing oil with natural gas amounts to little more than replacing landmines with hand grenades. The real solution to clean air is to focus on solar and bioenergy (but not ethanol). In addition, America must erect a public transportation system that will reduce its dependence on autos.

BP in Short-Selling Free-Fall

A month ago, Wall Street rushed in to support BP shares. As a result, while shares had lost a good deal, the falling knife had not commenced. With the past two days' plunge in price, shares are now in free-fall. But you shouldn't think institutions are selling as much as they are shorting. In my opinion, most of the institutions unloaded the shares they had planned to sell due to the event a few weeks ago. Now it's the shorts which are causing the stock to collapse. Today, I picked up a (very) small percentage of my total intended position towards the close of the trading session.  I did so with the thought that shares will head lower.  Why did I buy then? 

Which Company Faces the Highest Risk of a Slowing Growth Due to the Deep-Water Drilling Ban?

I'll be concise here. The White House's recent 6-month ban on deep water drilling could send ripples throughout the industry, specifically for oil exploration firms that have a large amount of ultra-deep water drilling operations.  Due to their depth, ultra-deep water drilling exploration is the most risky, and could face some severe and and permanant restrictions down the road.  So which company is likely to be impacted the most by new regulations in deep and/or ultra-deep water drilling?

BP: Out for Now, New Lows Likely

Just a quick note. Although I only took a small position in BP recently, based on my most recently analysis, I feel there is a significant chance shares will make new lows soon. 

Nurses are Right about the Problem but Wrong about the Solution

Last week, more than 14,000 nurses from Minnesota hospitals staged a 1-day walk-out as a sign of protest over excessive patient loads.    The nurses are right about staffing shortages and overloaded responsibilities. However, their solution – hiring more nurses will add further costs pressures to America’s unsustainable healthcare bubble. Without radical change, this bubble promises to burst, adding yet another dimension to America's healthcare crisis. Most people already know that America spends far more than every other nation on healthcare by every measure, at 18% of GDP, while failing to provide coverage for over 40 million Americans. In contrast, all developed nations in the world spend anywhere from 6.8% to 10% of GDP (France is the lone exception, with 11% of GDP on healthcare) for a system of healthcare that delivers better standards of care and provides coverage to every citizen, regardless of employment status, income or age. Despite the overwhelming myths spread by politicians, pundits and many journalists, the quality of U.S. healthcare is mediocre. In fact, on a per dollar basis, it is the worst healthcare system in (at least) the developed world. Furthermore, the outrageous costs of healthcare in the U.S. have created a unique consequence, unseen elsewhere in the world; that of medical bankruptcies. According to studies by medical researchers at Harvard, medical bankruptcies now account for about 50% of all personal bankruptcies each year in the U.S., at over 1 million. It would be natural to assume that virtually all of those who have fallen victim to medical bankruptcy lack health insurance.

Target-Date Funds: Another Dangerous Investment Epiphany

You may have heard of one of the newer (marketing) "innovations" developed by the mutual fund industry called target-date funds. They were launched a few years ago as a way to ensure investors they had developed a better way to manage investment risk after many saw their retirement accounts vaporize during the dotcom collapse. The idea behind target-date funds is simple and seemingly useful. You select funds based on your target retirement year. Based on the year selected, these funds gradually invest in more conservative financial instruments as your retirement date approaches. For instance, if you plan to retire in 2025, the current holdings of a typical fund might hold say 80% equities and 20% bonds. By 2020, the allocation might have gradually shifted to 40% equities and 60% bonds. The rational for the reallocation to bonds is that equities are more volatile, so as your investment horizon (retirement date) draws near, you will want to have a less volatile portfolio so as to have a more predictable income stream.

Results of the Poll: Which Country Has the Largest Percentage of Outstanding Government Debt in the Form of Net Credit Default Swaps?

Portugal, at 5%. 

Widening My Distance from BP

Two weeks ago, I made a brief post stating that I pulled out of BP and was going to stay clear (at least on the long side) because I had some pretty good indicators that told me shares were headed for a new low, below the $29 dollar mark.  /article_details-567.html On Friday shares fell just below $27.  Other than a possible short-term bounce (which I would not try to play if I were you), I expect shares to continue further. 

The Cost of My Censorship by the Media

I wanted to announce some changes expected to be placed in effect in the near future. Without going into details at this time, I just want to alert those of you who might be interested in subscribing the newsletter that due to the severity of the financial impact my being banned by the media and Internet, the cost of the annual subscription is likely to double from the current promotional rate by this time next year, except for subscribers who have (or will lock in the life-time promotional rate). 

Even Canadians Refuse to Take Things Lying Down

This weekend during the G-20 summit in Toronto, thousands of protesters lined the streets to voice their anger at the meeting of the global elites.  Already more than 600 demonstrators have been arrested. Meanwhile, additional protesters showed up at detention centers protesting the arrest of these demonstrators. What is truly remarkable is that even Canadians, some of the most peaceful, nicest people you will find anywhere; people who are also known to engage in frequent use of marijuana (which induces complacency) - understand what is happening. 

Double-Dips, Economics and Ice Cream Cones

I want to expand on a short discussion from the economic section of the July newsletter.  And I am making it available I want to expand on a short discussion from the economic section of the July newsletter.  And I am making it available for everyone because I want to show you how you are being fooled by the various clowns out there.  Over the past several weeks, you may have heard the back and forth debates regarding the possibility of a double-dip recession between the various media hacks and clowns they interview. The overwhelming question has been, “Will the U.S. enter a double-dip recession?” Have you ever stopped to ask yourself exactly what a double-dip recession is? Let me cut to the chase. There is no such thing as a double-dip recession. Even the NBER does not have a clear definition of this term. owns out there. 

It's Getting Really Old

Some readers have made remarks here and there, like "yes we know the media is full of ****."   Well, amazing as it seems (to me) after writing extensively about the topic, many people still don't seem to get the message. The message is not only that the media is filled with liars and idiots, all hand-selected specifically to exploit its audience for the benefit of its financial sponsors, BUT ALSO that you must not allow this to continue. You must fight back. I would have thought people would have done something about it, like contact them non-stop and demand an end to the hacks, liars and clowns, all of which have terrible track records. Obviously, the fewer people who know about this site, the smaller the force to counter the media.

The Hidden Dangers of Lax Immigration Policy and Open Borders

This article was originally written in 2010 as a followup to the material I first wrote about in my banned 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  This book was not only the ONLY book in the world to have accuractely forecast nearly every major event related to the blow up of the real estate bubble and stock market, but also detailed numerous wide ranging topics that promised to adversely impact the US if not corrected, including the nation's healthcare system, soaring college costs, pension underfundedness, Social Security, illegal immigration, and of course, US trade policy.  America’s former greatness was created by the hard work of struggling immigrants, who earned their right to become U.S. citizens. They did not ask for nor receive handouts. And they certainly didn't have the audacity to protest against federal immigration law. They did not cheat the system. Most came to the United States with little money or formal education. Many came without fluency of the English language. But they worked hard to overcome barriers. They fought wars for this nation. They built this nation. They sacrificed many things for the chance that their children could...

Moving an Inch Closer Towards a Free Market Economy

A few months ago, I discussed the fact that the U.S. really doesn't have a free market economy, as so many claim. Once you spend some time examining the activities of various industries, this becomes clear. A free market economy provides consumer choice because it fosters an environment for healthy competition.  

Why Hyperinflation Isn't Coming to the U.S.

For more than two years now, many Americans have heard warnings of hyperinflation from the large consensus of misguided individuals, whose agendas serve as the basis for their ridiculous claims. Much of this nonsense has come from the gold bugs and perma-bears, although it is often difficult to distinguish between the two. Sprouting from this group of fear-mongers is a larger number of naïve followers whose mission is to also be inducted into the media club, while they too profit from selling gold ads and other financial arrangements made with gold dealers. Many of these individuals spend their entire day watching CNBC and blogging, so as to feed off of the daily smoke-and-mirrors, because they know that millions of sheep continue to watch this trash, despite the fact that CNBC and other financial media establishments are arguably more responsible for your investment losses than even Wall Street. But it’s important to keep in mind that financial experts don’t spend their days giving television interviews, attending investor conferences and rehashing the daily drama from the financial media. These are marketing activities. Real financial professionals are doing research and servicing their clients. And those in the financial industry don’t spend their day blogging, unless they are starving for business. Regardless of their position along this food chain of deceit, they are all opportunists. They’ve been trying their hardest to pump up the price of gold, while making ludicrous claims of imminent hyperinflation and a Zimbabwean-like currency devaluation for the dollar.  Some of them know these myths are nothing more than complete fabrications of deception designed to profit from their sheep audience. Others actually believe their mentors who have attained a celebrity status within the media despite their lack of credibility. But reality does not matter to them. They understand the power of numbers. If something is repeated over and over, most people will believe it. This is one of the most basic tricks used by America’s media monopoly. My advice is to spend less time listening to what you hear and more time researching the full track record of the so-called experts in the media.

Are Online Bank Accounts Really Guaranteed?

For many years, banks have offered a slew of incentives to get you to shift to online banking. They’ve gone to extremes to transform your records from paper to digital as a way to boost profits, without truly informing you of the security issues. Meanwhile, they assure you that it’s 100% safe and guaranteed to be secure, backed by the bank.   Over the years, I’ve probably turned down a few thousand dollars in cash offers from banks that have tried to get me to shift to online banking. No way Jose.   Why have I refused to put my banking accounts online?

Bill Gross Pushing for MORE Bailouts for PIMCO

Two years ago when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were collapsing, former Goldman Sachs CEO and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson repeated the promise of “no more bailouts,” so as to calm ...

Covert Operations (A MUST-READ)

Subscribers to the AVA Investment Analytics newsletter might recall a few months ago I criticized a nonpartisan think tank for its sudden departure from meaningful discussions related to America's insidious trade policy. Incidentally, abandonment of the organization's position on the detrimental effects of unfair trade coincided with the appointment of its head figure to a top advisory position in Washington. If I had not been sensitive to the issues of trade, and if I had not been following this think tank for some time, I would not have noticed the organization's internal gag order on trade issues since their top man departed for the White House.   From this experience I was reminded that you must always remain on-guard with respect to ALL sources you have come to trust in the media (if you can find any), including "think tanks" that claim to be nonpartisan.    Nonprofit think tanks are required to be nonpartisan in order to qualify for their tax-exempt status. In reality, I have not been able to identify a single nonpartisan think tank in all of my efforts.

How to Get a Free Copy of America's Healthcare Solution

In yet another attempt to encourage you to call out the hacks, I am announcing a contest. It's quite simple. All you have to do is submit the most ludicrous statement or prediction by anyone in the financial media, any of the so-called experts, officials in Washington, Wall Street, economists and so on, pertaining to the real estate market, the stock market, the economy, employment, healthcare, or anything else related.  The time should span 2006 to present. The best submission will win a free copy of America's Healthcare Solution.  Each individual can make only one submission containing up to five (5) quotes. In other words, you can only send one email, but it wan contain five (5) quotes, all from the same person, or from different individuals. You must also include the person, date, where it appeared and a link containing your source. It must be verifiable. 

More BS from the Washington Mafia, Delivered by America's Puppet In-Chief

This evening, President Obama delivered a 20-minute address announcing the end of combat in Iraq.  Caving into pressure from critics who have continued to criticize Obama's numerous failures since entering the White House, Obama announced the need to focus more on the U.S. economy.  Remember, according to the White House, Washington hacks and the Federal Reserve, the economic recovery is still underway.  So then, do you really think Obama's announcement is what it really seems?   In reality, Washington and the other members of the mafia understand that the recovery is little more than an illusion built on now-expired subsidies and a whopping stimulus package that has done little more than provide a temporary boost to the economy, while adding to the nation's long-term debt. 

Interview with Mike Stathis Released

Effective immediately, and for a limited time only, we are offering readers a transcript of a recent interview given by Mike Stathis, the Chief Investment and Trading Strategist of...

Reverend Terry Jones. The Latest Tool of the Media

You may have heard of plans by a tiny Church in Florida to burn the Qur’an on the ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. The man in charge of this ridiculous spectacle, Reverend Terry Jones, continues to receive massive media exposure from America’s media monopoly. First, I want you to ask yourself how such a small group (the church has approximately 50 members) was able to obtain worldwide media exposure. Second, ask yourself what could possibly be gained by highlighting this man and his plans to burn the Qur’an.   The answer is clear. The media is using Jones’ display of hate and ignorance as a lever of mind control. In order to decipher the methods of mind control utilized by the media, you only need draw upon primitive psychological tactics. Jones' immediate and unwarranted rise to fame is similar to that enjoyed by Octomom, Paris Hilton, Joe the Plumber and countless others.

Filtering Through the Noise

Early last month, the Commerce Department released the latest GDP data. For Q2 of 2010 the GDP growth came in at 2.4%, missing the consensus estimate of 2.5%. The Commerce Department also released its latest revisions to 2007-2009 GDP data. As I had predicted, the economy shrank more than the previous estimate of 2.6% versus the 2.4% data recorded last year. That made it the largest drop in GDP since 1946. Moreover, the revisions in August indicated 0% economic growth for all of 2008 versus the previous estimate of 0.4%. Finally, in 2007 the economy grew by only 1.9% versus the previous 2.1% figure. Overall, since the recession began in December 2007 through June of 2010, GDP has declined by 4.1% according to the latest revisions by the Commerce Department. Fast-forward to a month later. On August 27, the Commerce Department revised the Q2 2010 GDP data downward. From April to June (Q2) the GDP was revised down to 1.6%, from the initial 2.4% estimate. This latest data has strengthened the growing consensus that the “recovery” is weakening. I have continued to insist that the initial GDP data would be revised down significantly. This is precisely what we are now seeing. By now, you should understand that there is no recovery in progress. The recession is alive and well, now entering its 34th month.  This is a fact which no one who is familiar with the economic environment can legitimately refute. Let me be crystal clear.

Explosion in San Bruno Highlights the Dangers of Natural Gas

A few months ago, as the BP drama was in full thrust, momentum was building for natural gas as a primary source of fuel in the U.S.  At that time, I wrote an article explaining why a shift to natural gas wouldn't lower energy prices.    And as far as providing a safer source of fossil fuels, I stated that a shift to natural gas would actually cause the loss of more human lives.  Please have a look at excerpts from this article.    "Washington should do all that it can to enable oil companies to harvest oil and gas so as to minimize foreign dependency. This includes a continuation of off-shore drilling.   The current oil spill should serve as a valuable lesson. With better safety and emergency response mechanisms in place, deep-oil drilling can be made safe and come will little threat of another disaster. 

More on the Media's War Against the Truth

By now, you are probably familiar with the financial media's ban on me despite my world-leading track record in numerous areas of economics, real estate, market forecasting and so on.

AVA Investment Analytics Announces Awards for America's Best Contrarian Indicators

As part of our mission to expose the truth and cut through the smoke and mirrors games played by the media and Internet marketers, we have identified America's best contrarian indicators. This award goes to those who claim to be investment experts whose advice and recommendations are best utilized by doing the opposite of what they say. In determining this award, we examined the track records of all candidates dating back to several years. As you can imagine, with so many clowns out there with such horrendous track records, this was a painstaking process. However, after expensive analysis, we have come to a decision as the best contrarian indicator, and it's an 8-way tie. The co-winners are as follows:

Warren Buffett. The Newest Addition to the List of Hacks

I wanted to direct your attention to the latest trash from Bloomberg; a propaganda piece commissioned by the White House, featuring Warren Buffett's take on the economy.  See here.  First of all, as I previously discussed, there is no such thing as a double-dip unless you are talking about ice cream cones. Please refresh your memory on this analysis here. It should be clear to you that Buffett is either a bold-faced liar or senile, as it's quite obvious to anyone who has examined the data that the recession is alive and well, now in its 34th month. I discussed this fact here.  Of course, after losing more than $30 billion in Berkshire Hathaway in 2008, apparently, Buffett doesn't look at too much data these days. But why bother to look at data when you can simply give an interview and suck the sheep into your agenda? Read about the side of Buffett never discussed by the criminal media monopoly here.

More Manipulation from the Media to Appease Angry Americans

Just a quick note, as I head back to some late-night work. I ran across this news story just now discussing another "victory" by a tea party candidate and I wanted to show you how the Associated Press is trying to manipulate people into believing that these candidates are any different than the others.  Let's have a look.

Obama Continues the Tradition of Discriminating Against Whites

Why in America is it only discrimination if it's a white person doing or saying something against another race?  Black, Hispanic, Asian and kids of other races are taught that they should be proud to be Black, Hispanic or Asian. But when it comes to Whites being proud to be White, they are labeled as racists.   Haven't you had about enough of this hypocracy and social injustice?   It doesn't matter what race you are, if you a level-headed fair person, you can see this just isn't right. And if it doesn't end soon, I can guarantee you it's going to erase much of the progress made in U.S. race relations over the past three decades.  I don't even want to begin to discuss affirmative action. As those who read America's Financial Apocalypse might recall, I glazed over this controversial issue because i did not want it to be the focus in readers' minds.

The Housing BIG Picture

Each month, the media lines up to read the results of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. This group of indices are generated and published by Standard & Poor's and Fiserv Inc. Keep in mind that these indices are maintained by the Index Committee members drawn from Standard & Poor's, Fiserv CSW, and so-called “leading industry experts.”   The objective of these indices is to measure the growth in value of residential real estate regions across the U.S. The total report includes 23 indices - 20 metropolitan regional indices, two composite indices and a national index. Perhaps the most talked about is the 20-city housing price index.   Despite having access to a tremendous amount of data as a primary contributor to these indices, Mr. Shiller seems to be about as lost as Ben Bernanke when it comes to real estate forecasting.   Remember, Shiller’s role in the construction of these indices is that of monthly data analysis, not real estate forecasting. Despite this, the media lines up to report what he has to say regarding forward-looking estimates of the housing market; something he has been highly unsuccessful in providing for several years now.   As his documented record shows, Shiller has flip-flopped numerous times on his housing forecasts over the past few years. Upon full examination of his track record over the past few years, rather than a forecaster, I would classify Shiller as a broadcaster.   Credible forecasts are made over a several-month or several-year period, and they hold. When adjustments are required, they aren’t made each month, but over a several-month period. While monthly data might be helpful to analysts as a source of generating knee-jerk activity, such a short-term outlook does nothing to help potential homebuyers who look for trends instead of monthly swings.   Furthermore, monthly forecasts do not provide any value when you alternate between being bearish and bullish. When you see these monthly flip-flops, you should not mistake them as forecasts. They are nothing more than broadcasts. Broadcasts serve no other function than to create confusion within the market place. However, rather than place blame on Shiller, the media is to blame because they have positioned him as a forecaster when in fact he is merely a broadcaster.   In America’s Financial Apocalypse (among other things that have materialized) I forecast a median house price decline of 30% to 35% from peak levels reached in mid-2006. The book was released in late 2006. This is close to where we are today (see reference 1 at the end).   Since 2007, I have insisted the housing market would get worse in coming years. I stand by my original forecasts made in my 2006 book. As you can imagine, there have been no real improvements to the U.S. housing market in 2010, despite claims made by the establishment (Washington, Wall Street, real estate shills, the media, academic economists and others tied into the system).   The national median existing home price for all housing types was $182,600 in July, up 0.7% from a year ago. Distressed home sales accounted for 32% of transactions in July (unchanged from June), versus 31% in July 2009.   Now let’s have a look at what the real estate industry’s main cheerleader and clown has to say. Quoting Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR)...   “Thanks to the home buyer tax credit, home values have been stable for the past 18 months despite heavy job losses,” Yun said. “Over the short term, high supply in relation to demand clearly favors buyers. However, given that home values are back in line relative to income, and from very low new-home construction, there is not likely to be any measurable change in home prices going forward.”   Once again, Yun is dreaming. Over the past few years, Yun has made a name for himself as the “Jim Cramer” of real estate forecasting (see reference 2 at the end).   While home prices are back in-sync with incomes in a FEW cities, in the vast majority of cities home pricing remains high relative to median incomes. Incidentally, most of these cities never experienced much of a bubble in housing.

NBER Pressured to Concede an End to the Recession in June 2009

You might recall an article I wrote a few month ago, discussing ridiculous terminology that has been embraced by every sheep on earth; double-dip recession.  See here to refresh your memory. As part of my argument that the recession had not ended, I pointed to the fact that the NBER had not yet concluded that the recession had ended. Well, this has changed recently. I'm not going to say much here. The title says it all. Have a look here. It's clear to me that the NBER has given into pressures from the White House to make bogus claims that the recession ended in June 2009. Remember, this is an election year. With just two months remaining before facing voters, democrats are shaking in their pants because there hasn't been a single bit of good news or positive developments since Obama has been in office. Americans should be accustomed to that. Bush didn't do a damn thing for the people as well. For Americans, it doesn't really matter who wins these elections because the Washington mafia always yields the same results that empower corporate America at the expense of the people. Understand that, while I view the NBER as more credible than other economic organizations, the fact is that they still bow down to Washington and the Federal Reserve because it's made up of academic economists, all with strong ties to Washington and the Federal Reserve. Have a look at the list of researchers and see where they are from. If you have a good deal of time on your hands, you might want to research their ties more closely. 

How to Make Tons of Money by Selling Your Soul to the Devil

I ran across one of these "How to Make Tons of Money With No Money and Minimal Effort" BS propaganda pieces, so I thought I'd show you just how naive people are. The article is another one of those that basically states you can set up a blog and post ads from Google's Adsense, and be on your way to easy money.

The Big Secret about U.S. Healthcare (UPDATED)

UPDATE: article re-edited on September 30, 2010. Apparently, the use of scare tactics works well for a population whose minds have been hijacked by the corporate-controlled media establishment. For instance, a few years ago, President Bush and his neo-con clan used the WMD scare tactic in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. More scare tactics were used to pass the unconstitutional Patriot Act. (1) (2) A few years later, as the financial system got stuck in the game of musical chairs, Henry Paulson and the Federal Reserve bank used the “too big to fail” scare tactic in order to justify the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which opened the door for the unconstitutional passage of TARP. As we all know, the banking cartel labeled “too big to fail,” is much bigger today, while Fannie and Freddie have no real future in their current form. Meanwhile, financial reform has been a complete joke. (3) (4) Even media celebrities have used scare tactics as a way to convince Main Street that they must own gold, as these hacks land huge endorsement deals. (5) The same approach of using scare tactics has also worked exceptionally well for the healthcare industry. Whenever republicans want to attack proposed changes to America's uncompetitive, mediocre, wasteful and costly healthcare system, they scare Americans with warnings of socialized medicine.  However, the facts reveal a much different picture than that painted by politicians and others who have been bought off by the industry. As the data reveals, the vast majority of developed nations with universal healthcare score higher than the U.S. in the most critical measures of medical care. I have discussed these discouraging realities on many occasions. (6) (7) Whenever democrats offer solutions to America's broken healthcare system, they focus on big government. This too favors the industry because it adds more tax dollars for the medical-industrial complex to siphon off. Either way, the fundamental problems found within the U.S. healthcare system are not being addressed. For instance, politicians never mention the need for drug price caps as a manner by which to curtail healthcare inflation, nor do they mention the need to refocus medical delivery on prevention. It is widely known that more than 60% of all healthcare expenditures in the U.S. arise from preventable medical conditions. Finally, politicians certainly would never propose jail time for CEOs whose companies have been found guilty of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid (tax payer fraud). As the dotcom charade and the current economic fiasco have confirmed, the U.S. has become a nation where CEOs are immune from criminal prosecution. (8) (9) (10)  Moreover, Washington remains determined to protect the excessive profits of the medical-industrial complex because they have bought off virtually every politician in the nation. We see a similar alliance between Washington and other industries, as expressed by what’s known as free trade. This destructive and highly unfair strategy has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs over the past several years. (11) Regardless of the position held by democrats or republicans, the fact is that the healthcare industry dictates healthcare policy. As a result, the industry has created a path of unsustainable healthcare economics at the expense of tax payers. Yet, as the data shows, tax payers fund the majority of annual healthcare expenditures. Thus, tax dollars account for a large bulk of the profits enjoyed by the medical-industrial complex. (12)

Europeans Standing Up to Oligarchs and Criminal Bankers

In the past, I've discussed how Americans should be taking notes as they watch Europeans resist the various austerity measures and other forms of control enacted by the oligarchs. Despite the fact that America suffered a much large banking bailout than Europeans, Americans have sat on their lazy asses and done nothing to organize meaningful protests which address the real problems and criminals responsible for the global recession (most likely soon to be a global depression). Meanwhile, Europeans are showing that they won't take the abuse.  This is what you do when you have your mind and soul intact. You fight let these SOBs know they serve you, not vice versa. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_europe_austerity_protests http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-09-29-europe-austerity-protests_N.htm This is what you do when your mind and soul has been hijacked by the media machine. /article_details-596.html In case you haven't figured it out by now, they won. They beat you. They raped you. America's fascist Establishment comprised of banking, corporate, political and media elites have screwed you so hard and deep, you've lost all touch with reality.   Americans need to get off of their asses and TAKE ACTION NOW, before it's too late.

Deflation Hype

Last month, I followed up on a discussion I began in over a year ago as to why hyperinflation would be a very unlikely scenario in the U.S. In summary, this devastating scenario is a virtual impossibility despite the printing frenzy by the Fed because the banks have held onto most of this newly printed currency, keeping it out of the hands of consumers. (1) I discussed this fact over a year ago when I first debunked the deflation myth. (2)  

Multiculturalism Acknowledged as a Disaster

Those who read America’s Financial Apocalypse might recall I discussed the problem of immigrants failing to integrate into U.S. society. This is just one of hundreds of prophetic conclusions made in this book. This past weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the Christian Democratic Union about the nation's immigration problem.   In short, she said that this idea of multiculturalism has failed and that immigrants need to do more to integrate into German society, starting with learning the German language.    "And of course, the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side-by-side and to enjoy each other... has failed, utterly failed."   Turkish President Abdullah Gul urged the Turkish community living in Germany to master German.

An Important Proclamation from Israel

If you research many sources, you will see this and similar statements constantly pop up, whether issued recently or many years ago. The more time you spend research things for yourself with an open mind, the more pissed off you are likely to become after realizing that in fact you have been had. The Jewish mafia does indeed control America, and they are raping you day by day.  Please have a look at the recent article from the Jerusalem Post.

Social Media: The Most Overhyped Trash of My Lifetime

Just a few thoughts on social media because I don't want to waste much time on such a useless topic.  I laugh when I hear these ridiculous estimates of Facebook being worth $10 to $15 billion. It's ridiculous.  It's not a real business. It has no competitive advantage. It has no original content. It's merely a fade, and a useless one at that. It's a website.  It's complete garbage. The only reason it's been successful is due to the lack of real competitors, as well as a herding effect. You might recall the hype behind Myspace a couple of years ago when it had no real competitors. Twitter is an even bigger joke, as is Linked In.

A Note About The Economy and Stock Market

Some of you my be wondering why I'm writing about multiculturalism and other topics while "currency wars" are taking place, or the effects of "QE2".  Seeing these buzz words should tell you the real deal. These things are meaningless. They are non-events.  This is just a reminder that you aren't going to see trivial trash here. If I'm not talking about something you are hearing about elsewhere, that means it's noise and you shouldn't waste your time with it.  Understand that the media wants to dramatize everything so that you spend much of your day reading and watching their trash. This is how they make money. Advertisements.

ALERT: Close All Accounts With Charles Schwab ASAP

I want to warn those of you who have accounts with Charles Schwab to close your accounts immediately. The situation involves errors in order entry for which Schwab refuses to acknowledge or correct.

The Zionist Jewish Mafia and Its Enablers

I want to be crystal clear about things. What I am about to discuss has been stated in bits and pieces in the past in some of my previous articles. Here I want to bring things together so that you understand the big picture. And I want to do this by providing you with hand-selected videos that demonstrate these ideas. This is an article that will take you a couple of hours to finish due to the number of videos I have posted.  As you might imagine, I already knew what I wanted to say so virtually all of the time I devoted to this piece was spent selecting the right videos. This took several days. Hopefully, you will understand why I have sacrificed such a large amount of time preparing this piece. I could have spent this time towards income-generating activities, or at the very least for recreational time. Thus, I hope you spend time to watch each video at least once, and use the piece as a catalyst for further research.   I hope you will also pass this article to everyone you know. And ask them to examine the facts and address the issues rather than impulsively label you as a racist, as they have been programmed to do. The United States of America is run by a huge crime syndicate, whose center of command includes the Federal Reserve Banking System, Wall Street, corporate America, and the Council on Foreign Relations. It is the Zionist Jewish mafia, and it has been in existence for quite some time. Please have a look at this brief article which discusses the early days of this mafia. Here, I attempt to show you just how powerful and dangerous this mafia has become.

Israeli Immigrant Attacked by Ignorant American

Before you read my commentary, I’d like you to watch the following video because I want you to form your own impressions without my influence. There are many things about the following video that caught my attention. If you are like me, you will be compelled to watch it several times.

Ireland Bailout Talks Timed to Save the Global Markets

I'll be brief here. If you retrace the events over the past two years and you are familiar with the market activity, you will come across one recurring trend; the timeliness of bailouts and other measures orchestrated by the global elites in order to prevent or reverse the collapse of the global stock markets. This occured with the announcement and approval of TARP, it occured with Greece and it now occured with Ireland.

Rules of the Game

A few months ago, I ran across a typical propaganda piece from America’s corporate media discussing why U.S. corporations aren’t hiring.   Frank Ingarra, co-portfolio manager of Hennessy Funds said companies are hesitant to hire because of uncertainty surrounding costs associated with financial regulation and healthcare reform.   "Companies are not hiring because they don't know the rules of the game," said. "When you don't know the rules, you pack up and go home." Reference    Mr. Ingarra simply doesn’t have a clue what is going on. By now you should understand that the media interviews those who are either naive or else will represent the agenda of their Wall Street and Washington partners.  

More Hot Air from the SEC

Today, an article appeared discussing how the SEC has been investigating an "insider trading network."  Although the details have not been released, several prominent hedge funds were mentioned as potential alleged violators. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704170404575624831742191288.html?mod=yhoofront   I want to be clear that this is merely a smoke screen. Even if charges are brought against these funds, this would represent a drop in a vast ocean of insider trading that has come to characterize all of Wall Street.   The SEC remains desperate to try and restore investor confidence after the biggest stock market scam in world history. I'm not talking about Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. You will recall that his scam had nothing to do with the global collapse. In fact, Madoff was a victim of the larger fraud perpetrated by Wall Street. The SEC and the media have used Madoff as the sacrificial lamb in order to shield the much bigger criminals, whose fraudulent actions have affected every person on earth.

Submit a Security for Analysis

The December newsletter will include analysis of 1-3 securities submitted by subscribers, in addition to the other securities planned for coverage. All newsletter subscribers are encouraged to submit one (1) security for analysis.  The security must be listed on the AMEX or NYSE. It must have a market cap of at least $500M.  The deadline for submission is Monday, November 29th, The securities will be selected based on a variety of variables, including but not limited to the learning points it offers readers, when extremes in risk or opportunity exist, and how much mass appeal it may have. Send your submission to info@avaresearch.com  

U.S. Economic Analysis from the July 2010 Newsletter

This article was taken from a section of the July 2010 AVA Investment Analytics newsletter. While more than five months have passed since the release of this report, it has been published to demonstrate that real forecasts and accurate insight does not change from day-to-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month.   The Federal Reserve A few weeks ago the Federal Reserve stated they now feel the so-called “recovery” is occurring at a more rapid rate. As a result of this “progress,” they raised their 2010 GDP estimates. Despite this accelerated “recovery,” they plan to leave rates essentially unchanged most likely through most of 2010. Thus, their statement and their actions contradict each other. Reality is much different than what you hear from Washington and the media. Unemployment is still terrible and the problems in Europe will surely affect the U.S. economy as well as multinational corporations. Investors are just beginning to realize risks that remain. In response, the stock market has sold off by about 14% after topping 11,300 in March of this year. Investors who have followed my guidance have been insulated from these losses. In fact, subscribers to this newsletter rode the market up from the March 2009 lows all the way up to the top and were urged to exit a few months ago. In past issues, I have tried to demonstrate that the global bubble has reflated. There is simply too much currency in circulation; not just the dollar, but all currencies. This further highlights evidence of a global bubble, which not only failed to correct adequately, but has now been reflated. What this means is that the risks have been elevated back to near pre-crisis levels. The main risks are credit, liquidity and sovereign debt. Reflation of the global bubble combined with increasing risks are reasons to focus on risk management. Unlike mutual funds, individual investors are not required to remain in the stock market at all times. Thus, they have a huge advantage. Make sure you utilize it! Throughout this treacherous period, your biggest enemy is likely to be your own greed, impatience, and panic. If you succumb to these emotions, you stand to lose much of what you have. As a result of this vulnerable predicament, at any time, the global markets could implode, although I would expect such an event to occur over several months, and would be catalyzed by a string of economic problems from around the globe.

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WikiLeaks Targets Mike Stathis to Uncover His Forecasting Methods

Mike has been targeted by WikiLeaks because of his highly successful proprietary trading methodologies which have successfully predicted and timed the stock market collapse down to a few hundred points, the collapse and bailout of Fannie and Freddie even before the real estate bubble popped, and many other forecasts that have made his readers a boat load of money.

Obamanation

Back in early 2007, very few pundits gave Obama a chance in the 2008 Democratic presidential race. At the time, Hilary Clinton and others were front runners. But things would soon change.   Prior to the 2004 presidential campaign, George Soros & Co. were working to position Obama as a serious contender in 2008. They put together a propaganda book based on some episodes of Obama’s life, filled with the inspiration and glory often seen in fiction novels.       Mysteriously, the book, “Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father” was released in the summer of 2004 just a few days after Obama’s speech endorsing Senator John Kerry during the Democratic National Convention in late July 2004. Although this ghost-written book was intended to boost his status as a serious presidential candidate in 2008, the book was a very poor seller up until 2008.           Listen to the speech that introduced Obama to American voters and take note of the rhetoric and hypocrisy ever since he entered the White House. It’s truly a disgusting display of betrayal to all Americans.     

Max Keiser, Alex Jones and their Lackeys Scamming People AGAIN

(Updated on December 14, 2010) I hate to waste time on useless scumbag liars and profiteers. However, if you want to be a great investor, you have to be able to recognize trash in order to avoid it. I want to alert you to the latest scam being led by the biggest opportunities, liars and censoring scumbags in the world today. As a manner by which to boost their own swollen bank accounts, disinfo agents Alex Jones and Max Keiser have been promoting a campaign get sheep across the globe to buy silver with the (ridiculous) intent to crush JP Morgan. Their reasoning is as follows. Since the bank has a large short position in silver, if people buy it in hoards it will drive up the price causing them to sell at a big loss. Furthermore, since JP Morgan's short position is (allegedly) so huge, it would be impossible for the bank to liquidate without massive losses, causing the stock to, as Keiser states "go to 0."

The Global Bubble Has Reflated

Back in the Spring of 2009, the World Bank forecast that the global economy would contract by 1.7% that year; the first global contraction since the Great Depression (yet another clear indicator we are in a depression). As it turns out, they were quite conservative (as you would expect). Latest numbers from the World Bank show a decline in global GDP by 2.2% for 2009.   As I have alluded to on numerous occasions, it has been much of the developing world (China, Brazil and India) that have actually helped curtail the global contraction. Without their help, the global economy would have shrunk by around 3% in 2009, maybe more.   In this article, I will present various excerpts from a recent (January 2010) report by the World Bank, while following up with my assessment.   Ultimately, I will make a case that the global bubble is well on its way to reflating, if not already there.

Jewish Mafia Control Exposed

Elements of the Jewish Global Banking Mafia

I will be expanding this data over the next several months. For now, have a look. I have presented this information for you to keep so that he next time someone calls you an anti-Semite for saying Jews run the world's banking system, you can back up your claims with facts. I will be compiling similar data regarding the media, corporate America, academia, Washington and other centers of Jewish power. 

Max Keiser Article UPDATED

I have updated the Max Keiser article to include additional pictures and key videos. /article_details-659.html

America's Second Great Depression 2010 Year-End Update (Part 1)

“Regarding the Great Depression. You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” [1] That quote was taken from a speech made by then Board of Governors member Ben Bernanke in 2002 to the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, Bernanke’s pledge has been broken. As clueless as Bernanke has been, if you follow what he says closely, on occasion you will see his own admission that the U.S. is either in a depression or is certainly headed for one.   For instance, on Tuesday November 30, 2010, as Bernanke attempted to defend his recent decision to buy $600 billion of U.S. Treasuries, he made ridiculous claims that this quantitative easing would lead to more jobs. He then used the often used scare tactic to justify this move by saying that a long period of high unemployment could exact a steep social cost.   "There are obviously very severe economic and social consequences from this level of unemployment," so getting new jobs, getting unemployment down is of an incredible importance."   “The unemployment rate is still going to be high for a while, and that means that a lot of people are going to be under financial stress.”   Recently, Bernanke predicted unemployment will remain high for "four or five years."  [2]   So what is Bernanke trying to say? Read between the lines for yourself. First, he has said that there will be very severe social and economic consequences from this high level of unemployment. What does “Very severe social and economic consequences” mean? Quite simply, it means a depression.   Then, on December 5, 2010, Bernanke stated that unemployment will remain high for four or five years. By now I’m sure you realize any estimate that sides with optimism by the Fed is a severe understatement. What that means is that high unemployment will last much longer.   But this by no means provides any useful guidance by Bernanke. It should be obvious to any rational adult that we are in a depression. I detailed the causes and effects of this depression in America’s Financial Apocalypse four years ago. My track record can be found here: /article_details-341.html   So who should you be listening to? Ben Shalom Bernanke? The hacks in the media? You can decide for yourself.   Now if you’ve decided to listen to me, I’m going to tell you why the unemployment rate is so high and will remain high for many years to come. But you’ll have to wait for Part 2 of this article.   First, let’s summarize what has happened. Over the past two years we have seen some of the worlds strongest, oldest, most successful financial institutions file for bankruptcy or participate in forced buy outs to avoid further crisis.   First, in early March 2008 Bear Stearns collapsed due to lack of confidence from investors. By the summer, Indy Mac had failed and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were insolvent. [3] [4]   Throughout 2007 and 2008, many investors were told by the hacks on TV that the financials represented a “great value.” As a result, the sheep piled in. Thereafter, they watched shares collapse. [5]   By the first week of August 2008, everyone else was fixated on Fannie and Freddie. But I already knew their fate, as I had previously instructed investors to short Fannie and Freddie and many other mortgage and bank stocks in my 2007 book, Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble.   I was already looking ahead. I warned readers we would see an earnings meltdown. I advised investors to sell, and aggressive investors to short the market. "Standard & Poor’s earnings estimates for Q2, Q3, and Q4 of 2008 are -11%, 40%, and 60% respectively. Remember, this the same S&P that rated the mortgage junk AAA. It will also be the same S&P that will end up issuing drastic revisions in earnings once the bottom falls out. But that won’t help investors after the fact." "Sure, it’s possible that we will see the market rally over the next couple of months. If so, you would be wise to sell. More aggressive traders might consider shorting it entirely once it tops out based on the 1-year resistance trend line." Source: /article_details-84.html   During the first week of September, Fannie and Freddie were placed into government conservatorship to prevent each from failing. Eight days later, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection. [6] [7]   On the same day, Bank of America announced it would purchase Merrill Lynch at a huge premium. Immediately after the deal was announced I discussed that this was one of many bailouts disguised as a buyout arranged by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. [8]   The following day, AIG received a government bailout to the tune of $85 billion. This would be the first of more installments to come. Of course, the only reason AIG was bailed out was because Goldman Sachs stood to lose $20 to $30 billion. [9]   Understand that Bernanke was directly responsible for these deals, and each one was littered with fraud.   Less than two weeks later, Washington Mutual was suddenly seized despite having received a clean bill of health through at least the rest of the year by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Obama, Puppet of the Jewish Mafia (Part 1)

“The great majority of the Senate of the United States...somewhere around 80 percent...are completely in support of Israel, anything Israel wants. This has been demonstrated time and again, and this has made it difficult." “The Israelis object to an imposed settlement I don't know what they mean by an imposed settlement. It's quite obvious, without the all out support by the United States in money and weapons and so on the Israelis couldn't do what they've been doing. So we bear a very great share of the responsibility for the continuation of this...of this state of warfare." Senator William J. Fullbright Fulbright made these statements during CBS’s “Face the Nation” in 1973. Since that time, Israel’s control over Washington has grown tremendously, like a malignant cancer. Is this really true you ask? I’ll let you decide for yourself. Let’s begin with something more current. After facing intense pressure to axe his entire economic team due to their strong ties with Wall Street and the Federal Reserve, Obama’s advisers basically opened the door for Larry Summers’ departure. Obama has narrowed down his choices to replace Zionist Jew and Wall Street insider, Larry Summers as the next Director of the National Economic Council. Let’s take a look at Obama’s remaining candidates.

Obama, Puppet of the Jewish Mafia (Part 2)

I continue where I left off from Part 1.  So let’s have a look at more of Obama’s Jewish appointees. David Axelrod – Special Adviser to the President; Axelrod, a Zionist Jew serves as Obama’s political strategist. He is also very well connected in the business and political area, as well as within the big Jewish money in Chicago such as the large Pritzker family of billionaires. Jared Bernstein – Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President. Bernstein comes from the Jewish-led right-wing think tank, the Economic Policy Institute. Although the EPI claims it is non-partisan, the facts arguably reveal a different story. The EPI has been known for its research into the economic impacts of free trade. However, ever since Bernstein moved to the White House, the EPI has stayed clear of the subject. Rahm Emanuel - White House Chief of Staff; son of a Zionist terrorist; dual-citizen of Israel and America. Yet, when it came time for serving his nation, Emanuel didn’t join the U.S. military during the Gulf War. He served in served in Israel’s military. Similar to most U.S.-Israeli dual citizens, it’s clear that Emanuel’s top loyalty is with Israel. I consider such a mentality to present a threat to U.S. national security. Prior to entering Washington, Emanuel utilized Jewish Mafioso networking to secure a lucrative job at an investment bank, although he had no prior experience in business. But that didn’t matter because he was Jewish. And if you are Jewish and you work on Wall Street, you will make a huge sum of money. Emanuel lived up to this reputation, pulling in over $15 million in less than 3 years at the firm. While serving in Congress, Emanuel was the top House recipient of donations from Wall Street, hedge funds, private equity fund, banks, and the overall financial industry during the 2008 election cycle, all while the financial crisis was collapsing. It looks like Wall Street knows where its money is best-spent. Tim Geithner – Treasury Secretary and formerly President of the New York Fed (which is by far the most powerful and influential branch of the Fed). But you shouldn’t assume that he is a winner just because he holds a high office. Most individuals in the U.S. in positions of power got there because they have done the right things for the wrong people. This applies to the private sector as much as in the public. Geithner was one of the key architects of the Bear Stearns giveaway to JP Morgan, as well as TARP. Like virtually all of Obama’s appointees, Geithner has been a complete disaster and has been a total failure at every position he has served.  

The Foreclosure Gate Distraction

Over the past few months we have heard about a variety of questionable practices from banks looking to seize the homes due to chronic mortgage delinquencies. Each day more drama is added to the picture. It has become the center of focus for many media hacks who want to exploit the frustration and anger they have with Wall Street and Washington. These hacks are the same individuals who hid the realities of the real estate bubble a few years ago. Back then, they ran advertisements for mortgage companies and get-rich-quick real estate schemes. Today, they have positioned themselves as your savior, all while pitching gold and silver. Do not be fooled by these hacks. All the care about is making money selling ads. A few years ago, mortgage and real estate companies were forking over the most money for ads. Today, gold and silver dealers lead the way.  While your favorite media hero continues to fool you as a consumer advocate, you need to ask why this individual did not warn you about the economic collapse. Furthermore, you need to ask why the big fraud is not being addressed; real estate securities fraud that resulted in the collapse of the global economy.  In my opinion, extensive coverage of this “foreclosure gate,” as it has been termed, is merely a distraction to keep Americans focused on smaller issues.  We still have not seen any of the Wall Street banking executives face criminal investigations for securities fraud. This remains as the biggest unresolved issue in the nation today. Yet, no one with real media exposure dares mention this.   Even Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide recently settled with the SEC to the paltry sum of $67.5 million, much of which will be paid for by Bank of America. From 2002 to 2006, Mozilo landed nearly $400 million in salary and stock compensation, including millions of dollars (in excess of the amount of the SEC settlement) from stock he dumped just prior to the collapse of Countrywide.   This bailout by Bank of America shareholders allows Mozilo to escape facing charges of insider trading. This is preposterous, but should come as no surprise if you understand how things work in the U.S.  

Another Warning about the Media

As those who have been following me for some time know, I place a big focus on reminding readers about the media. So for those of you who are new to this site, I want to warn you about the media because many people have been brainwashed to believe the trash that’s been plastered on TV, the radio and print media. And I will tell you right now that 99% of what you have heard from the media (TV, radio, print and Internet) is complete BS. The simple fact is that the media could care less about supplying its audience with credible and unbiased experts. This is why you see so many extremists claiming hyperinflation is a 100% certainty in the U.S. and other false prophecies. Others claim that the U.S. is already in a deflationary spiral. [1] [2]   On the other end of the spectrum, you see Washington and Wall Street hacks making claims of a strong recovery and so on. The only thing the media cares about is making money, and it does this by selling ads. If you listen to extremists, whether they are perma-bears or perma-bulls, you stand to lose even more money.

America's Second Great Depression 2010 Year-end Update (Part 2)

I continue where I left off from Part one of this report. [1]  Ever since the summer of 2009, economists from both Washington and Wall Street have told us that an economic recovery was in progress, but the data reveals a strikingly different picture. Some even insisted that a recovery began in late spring. You should note the source of these claims, as well as their agendas, so as to determine the underlying motives for disseminating this propaganda.   Regardless whether we point to the spring, summer or fall of 2009 or even 2010, the facts remain the same. There has been no real progress made in the economy. In fact, the actions taken by Washington, the U.S. Treasury and the criminal Federal Reserve Bank have assured the effects of this depression will persist for decades.   As the data shows, this “recovery” has been the slowest of any previous recession stretching back to the Great Depression.   How may we account for this?

A Follow Up on Tesla and Elon Musk

America's Second Great Depression 2010 Year-end Update (Part 3)

I continue where I left off from Part 2 of this report. [1] In support of their claims of an economic recovery, Washington cheerleaders and Wall Street hacks continue to focus on ancillary metrics like GDP and corporate profits, all while fudging inflation data. [2] [3] The claim made that a recovery is in place can be easily refuted using simple math. If you don’t have healthy employment, you don’t have a healthy economy. In a nation whereby consumers account for close to 70% of the economy, economic growth is ultimately driven by jobs. [4] Before we examine the GDP data, I wanted to discuss some of the shortfalls with the use of this metric as an indicator of economic growth. The gross domestic product is a measure of the value of all goods and services produced in the national economy available for consumption. As the single most relied upon metric of economic health, GDP has numerous flaws which I detailed in America’s Financial Apocalypse and elsewhere.

Recent Stock Pick Soars AGAIN

On Sunday, we alerted readers to the fact that one of Mike's favorite stocks soared by some 25% in the first 3 days after the January 2011 newsletter was released. In this issue, he reiterated his bullish sentiment for the stock and stated that it could really take off soon.     After the next day of trading, we once again alerted readers that this same stock continued its very strong move. By Monday it had appreciated by 30%.      Today, during intraday trading, shares have soared again by nearly 11%, bringing the 6-day increase since the newsletter was released to more than 40%.     Subscribers who got in on this have easily paid for the cost of a couple of years of the newsletter subscription fee. Other subscribers who got in on it when we reiterated our bullish sentiment in August, November and December are likely to have made enough money to cover the cost of subscription for many more years.   

Understanding the Proper Use of Gold and Silver

For a couple of years now, many investors have been bombarded with claims of hyperinflation and a Zimbabwe-like fate for the U.S. dollar. These gold bugs would have you believe that gold has value as a form of currency. They have made these claims hoping that everyone will line up to buy gold, so as to raise the price. The swarm of gold bugs has reached out to cover every crevice of the media, from television and radio networks to print media and the Internet. And their efforts have been quite effective. Today, gold ATMs are being rolled out across the U.S. to take advantage of the hype generated by this misguided and deceptive movement of gold pumpers. As I have discussed many times in the past, predictions of hyperinflation and a Zimbabwe-like fate for the dollar are complete nonsense. In my opinion, anyone who states otherwise is either a fool or else is lying in order to pump up the price of gold. [1] [2] [3] Others have positioned gold as a hedge against deflation. While this is a valid investment strategy, the problem is that the U.S. is unlikely to face a deflationary period of long duration, but rather intermittent bouts of deflation over the next several years. The reason for this is simple. The Federal Reserve remains committed to printing its way through this economic depression. As you can imagine, this is only going to increase the duration and severity of this dark period. Furthermore, because gold and silver experience bull-bear investment cycles of very long duration similar to other commodities (although I do not consider gold to be a pure commodity), a buy-and-hold strategy for gold and silver is very risky for those who do not have a relatively low cost basis because gold and silver are now in the later stages of their bull market cycle. The lower one’s cost basis, the larger one’s cushion to protect against price corrections, or even a trend reversal signaling the beginning of what promises to be a very long and painful bear market cycle.

Trouble in Brazil or More Good Times Ahead?

Today, the Brazil's central bank is likely to raise its key interest rate, the SELIC as discussed in the January newsletter. Analysts estimate a 50 basis point hike. If this occurs, it will place short-term rates at 11.25%. The global inflation trend is driving this decision, as food and energy costs have hit Brazilian consumers particularly hard over the past several months.  On the other hand, raising rates threatens to create another inflationary force through the carry trade as foreign banks and other institutions flood even more capital into the nation to take advantage of these rates. The problem is that foreign capital has been responsible for artificially inflating the Real. As you can imagine, this has not hurt Brazil's very important export trade. 

Understanding Manipulation of Gold by the Media

While still working on Wall Street, I began recommending gold in late 2001 to my clients just when the bull market had commenced. As you might imagine, it was very difficult to convince older investors that gold was beginning to enter a bull market after it had done nothing for nearly two decades. By 2006, I felt this bull market was still in the early stages when my gold forecast was officially published in America’s Financial Apocalypse. A good portion of this forecast included the effect of propaganda on the price of gold as the collapse began. Up until the past couple of years there have been some real drivers of the gold bull market. In contrast, over the past couple of years the massive wave of propaganda delivered by an enormous network of gold hacks has been the primary driver of the bull market in gold. Nevertheless, the price of gold has largely remained within a permissible volatility range over that period. However, bubble-like price spikes threaten to end this bull market prematurely. We have already seen a few of these price spikes over the past couple of years. [1] Fortunately for gold investors with a buy-and-hold strategy, these brief periods of mania and panic have been followed by price corrections. Most of these individuals have failed to recognize importance of these adjustments. Let me explain.

My Warnings About Social Media Echoed by the Media

As many of you will recall, I recently discussed the ridiculous valuation of Facebook by Goldman Sachs, designed to dump off pumped up shares to naive and greedy investors. Recently, I ran across an article whereby some clown made a ridiculous case for an eventual $100 billion valuation for this social "networking" website. I didn't bother to waste my time tearing apart this article because the claims made by the author accomplish this task sufficiently.  I hope you are able to spot the psychology here. Quite simply, the guy wanted to generate a large number of reads by selecting a topic that was already in focus, and making outrageous claims as a way to boost traffic. This is a common tactic used by the media.  I want to remind you that you need to avoid these clowns and the sites that publish this kind of material. If you read this trash you are only reinforcing their strategy of delivering trash and delusions.

Consolidated Trash: A Look at AOL & Huffington Post

Recently, I reminded readers of a very lucrative (and what I felt was a very obvious) long-short equity strategy I discussed that would have yielded huge returns to those who opted to take on this risky maneuver.   I normally don’t recommend that everyday investors take short positions because it’s extremely risk for many reasons. Most non-professional investors fail to recognize the risks involved with shorting securities because taking a short position is just a mouse click away if you have an online brokerage account. That in itself is an entirely different issue that needs to be addressed by the SEC. Unless you have a good deal of relevant investment experience, you’re not likely to full appreciate the risks involved with shorting. Some unwary investors have learned the hard way after taking a short position, only to watch helplessly as the stock is halted during the trading session prior to the release of a major announcement. While such events can swing either way, more often than not, such an announcement is likely to go against you if you’re short. There are times when I feel very confident about a company’s bleak future. In the past, I have made the bold move to publish a short recommendation in a book. As discussed recently, I made this call when presenting my analysis of Blockbuster in the Wall Street investment Bible. I added that a nice example of an effective long-short strategy would be to take a long position in Netflix and a short position in Blockbuster. As many of you recall, I also made this call for Fannie, Freddie, the banks and homebuilders in Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble, released in early 2007. In this book my main strategy for making money from the real estate bubble was to short real estate-related securities. I made specific mention of those securities I felt most likely to collapse and provided guidance as to the timing. I even included a brief tutorial for those who were not experienced shorting stocks. First on this list were Fannie, Freddie, Accredited Lender, Novastar, and Fremont General. Next were the banks and homebuilders. I also discussed that General Electric and General Motors were likely to get hit really bad. The downside associated with putting these calls into a book is that I had no way to change my mind if I turned out to be wrong. So if things didn’t turn out as I anticipated, I might have looked silly. But that wouldn’t have been the first time a person made a poor investment call in a book. In fact, I challenge you to see if you can find a book that has ever specifically instructed readers to short a stock. You are unlikely to find a single case because shorting is a short-term strategy that often reverses. The point I want to make is that all investment strategies must always be managed. Even if someone has overwhelming evidence to indicate a company is destined for demise, the fact is that no one has a crystal ball. Things can and often do change over time. Thus, if you ever plan to take a short position you must hedge your position. And you must manage the position throughout its duration. One way to hedge a short position is to purchase call contracts. But you cannot expect to receive a full hedge against the position unless you select in-the-money calls (whereby the strike price is below the price of the underlying stock at the time you short it) to account for slippage, frictional costs, exit premiums and other less obvious costs. Many investors don’t like to pay the added costs involved with hedging, but I can assure you it is well worth the price. Here I want to show you another example of a more recent long-short position. Note that I am not recommending investors take this long-short at this point. There are man better opportunities out there. I merely wanted to point it out to show the irony. As many are aware, a few days ago AOL announced its purchase of Huffington Post for around $315 million. Immediately after the announcement the Internet was buzzing with the news. First , let’s take a brief look at Huffington Post.  

The Truth About Charitable Remainder Trusts

Middle East Dispatch: The Latest on the Middle Eastern Turmoil

As many of you know, I do not normally respond to or discuss daily news bits because in most cases it's just noise unless you are a day trader. And if that's the case, my advice to you is to take your money to Vegas instead, as your odds will be better and you will have a much better time.

The Associated Press and the GM Pump-and-Dump

I wanted to point out another example of the need to be critical when you come across "news."    In the vast majority of cases, news stories are centered on hidden agendas that come from the top of the organization. Often, when the hidden message or twist on facts is meant to assist the agendas of America's fascist government, the orders are sent from a PR official at the White House. When the deceit is meant to help the agendas of the corporate side of America’s fascist government, the orders come from corporate executives themselves. In order to understand this mechanism, you must realize that government and corporate offices maintain very close ties with media producers, editors and top media executives. In some cases, they have direct links with some of the more experienced and tenured journalists, like David Brooks. Brooks represents an obvious example of a journalist who consistently and explicitly serves the agendas of America’s fascist regime. But there are many others like Brooks. Usually, there are no phone calls made to the media to ensure the propaganda hits the American sheeple. Media executives already know how the game is played. This is why they hold high positions. The same can be said of high-ranking government officials and corporate executives. Much like the rest of the world, in America individuals rise to positions of power and money because they do the right things for the wrong people. Early on they become sell-outs to the crime syndicate that runs America’s fascist government. After they have established a reliable track record of their loyalty, they actually become members of this fascist regime. As it stands today, the real terrorists of the American people are not hiding in caves in Afghanistan or in the mountains of Pakistan. The real terrorists of the American people reside in Washington, the Federal Reserve and the CIA. They are top executives of the Fortune 50. They also work in the media. It is quite unfortunate that most Americans are unaware of this horrific reality.

Trader's Notes and Forward Catalysts

Trader's Notes and Forward Catalysts

The Two Most Important Economic Events I am Watching Right Now

Right now I'm focusing on two central bank decisions remaining for this week. The first and most important in my view is that from Brazil. Last week, discussions centered around a 75bp hike. Recall that Brazil raised rates by 50bp just a few weeks ago.

Exposing the Realities Behind Family Limited Partnerships

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of publishing the only guest piece on this website since it was launched nearly two years ago. It was a brief article discussing the realities behind Charitable Remainder Trusts.  If you have not yet read this article, please have a look (unlike me, Mike has an exceptional ability to get to the point without ranting). Today, Mike Wald has submitted another eye-opening article discussing the realities behind a common estate planning technique known as a Family Limited Partnership.

What Sector Has Been the Place to be as the Market Has Dropped?

Over the past few weeks, the stock market has corrected a bit due to the various global risks. Notably, the only people who have made money during this time have been traders. But that assumes they have been able to trade through this uncertainty, which isn’t likely. There is one exception though. That’s right. There has been one sector that has performed spectacularly over the past few weeks. So what is it? Healthcare. This should come as no surprise to those who read America’s Healthcare Solution. As many of you know, I have recommended healthcare as one of the top two industries to invest in going back to my recommendations in America's Financial Apocalypse (2006 extended version).

The WSJ Pump of AOL

Today the WSJ ran a story discussing AOL's sinking ISP business, all while adding a positive twist to this largely useless company using the commentary of Ross Sandler of RBC capital Markets. Sandler suggests that AOL is not likely to compensate for rapidly declining ISP subscribers, and will eventually have to abandon its strategy of investing in content and opt to sell off the company piece by piece. I agree with him on that. But then Sandler states that these assets combined could fetch $30 per share.

Important Economic Data

More Signs of Inflation Pressures in the U.S. The PPI rose 1.6% in February, well above the consensus of 0.7%. The bulk of the upside surprise was due to a 3.9% jump in food prices. Notably, the increase in food prices was partly reflected a 48.7% surge in vegetables, which accounts for about 4% of the food index. It should be with little doubt that food prices will continue to increase globally over the next several months.

Phony Paul Craig Roberts Exposed

Okay so let me get this straight. You have a man who served as an official under the Reagan administration, so he was partly responsible for NAFTA. This same man later worked for the Wall Street Journal (and we all know the financial media has an especially high affinity for liars and con artists). Hence, this man has been responsible for destroying the middle class in the USA, as well as having been part of the financial disinformation network that's designed to cause Main Street to lose money.  He is the enemy of the American people. Yet, he begs for their money so he can "pay the expenses" for his blog.

What is the Employment Picture in the U.S. Really Saying?

Jobs Data   As in previous months, the private sector accounted for all the job gains in February, with an addition of 222,000 positions, up from a mere 68,000 job additions in January. This represented the largest gain since April 2010. Does this represent a sign of recovery?   Once you examine these job additions, you will see that the trend of low-wage, low/no-benefit, dead-end jobs remains firmly intact. [1]   Payrolls in the goods-producing industries saw a weather-related bounce of 70,000, with construction increasing 33,000 after shedding 22,000 jobs in January. Manufacturing, a sector that is powering the “recovery,” added 33,000 jobs.   So is manufacturing making a come back in the U.S.? See for yourself.

Information on the Dividend Gems April Issue

ATT Technical Analysis

Harry Dent. Economist, Futurist & Contrarian Indicator

UPDATED info on Harry "Doomsday" Dent and his SHITTY track record (20014 - 2015): EXPOSED: More Doomsday Charlatans (Agora Financial Pt 1) Harry Dent, Wall Street Investment Bible and Brazilian Real Estate Moron of the Month: Harry Dent (Take 2) In the past, I have discussed the many ways the media deceives, spins and even lies about financial information as a way to please its financial sponsors, all while creating drama so as to captivate its sheep audience. The goal of the media is two-fold. First, the media has to establish a large audience because the size of the audience determines the amount they charge companies that pay for sponsorships and advertisements. Second, the media has to make sure to keep its corporate sponsors happy. This goes well-beyond airing the ads companies have paid for. Since corporate America and Wall Street buy the vast majority of ads and sponsor all sorts of shows, events and programming segments, the media always slants things in the favor of corporate America and the financial industry. For drug companies, this means the media will downplay the dangers of prescription drugs or air news on harmful side effects in ways that are deemphasized. The delivery of the propaganda is finessed so as to not alert the audience that the media sleeps in the same bed as those who buy the ads. When it comes to the financial media, the agendas are less conspicuous for those who have not been induced into a mild hypnotic trance. Unfortunately, the media uses countless tactics to induce this mild state of consciousness in its unsuspecting audience. The unique thing about the financial media is that it extends throughout the entire media monopoly. For instance, when CBS or ABC reports on the stock market, the economy and other issues they draw upon reports or even journalists from CNBC or the Wall Street Journal. As well, all major television networks, radio stations, newspapers, periodicals and websites have formed partnerships with financial media programs. The game is simple. The financial media creates the perception of valuable programming so as to attract its audience. Financial and economic news is reported in variable degrees in order to ensure the goals of the sponsors have been met. Sometimes this results in reporting knee-jerk events, exaggerations, distractions, and other techniques. Other times the reporting is more focused but highly deceptive. Among some of the more common strategies used are flooding, censorship, stacked decks. The media is controlled both by corporate America and Washington. Thus, the media provides much more detriment than value. The financial media seeks to create panic and fear, mania and confusion, all while spinning, lying and censoring so that its sponsors feel like their money has been well-spent. As a result, Main Street tends to act on impulse so as to trade more frequently, most often with confusion and misdirection. This benefits E-Trade, Charles Schwab, Ameritrade and other online brokerage firms. And because these investors are acting out of emotion, misinformation and deception, Wall Street is pleased because it allows them to more easily take the money of Main Street. Other times, mutual funds and insurance companies are propped up by the slanted opinions of the financial commentators or fund analysts. This provides the opportunity for front running by both Wall Street and individuals connected to the media, whether through their friend, relatives or others within their syndicate. These acts of securities fraud occur on a daily basis and add a sizable portion to the massive skimming and other fraudulent activities that steal billions of dollars from Main Street daily. The media will never discuss how fund companies stick their customers with exorbitant fees, nor will you hear how many of the fees are hidden. Finally, the media will never point out the fact that equity mutual funds are the absolute worst investment to have during a bear market, as this would upset the companies that spend billions of dollars advertising on these networks. When the media interviews professionals from the financial industry, more often than not these individuals serve as marketers with terrible track records. You certainly wouldn’t come to that conclusion based on their introduction. TV journalists hype up each of their pitch men to ensure they are perceived as credible experts so you will see value in tuning in. It is a very rare event when the media bothers to independently verify the track record of its guests. Instead, the TV journalist reads their bios as if everything that has been written is true. After all, it’s not in the best interest of journalists to uncover lies and exaggerations made by those selected to serve as members of the financial media club. Over the past couple of years I have exposed the reality behind several individuals who have been positioned by the financial media as experts. If the media claims some guy predicted the financial crisis, then by God they must have according to the sheep. Main Street acts inherently naïve as they automatically associate media exposure with credibility instead of spending adequate time to verify track records and look for bias and agendas. The reputation of these hacks spreads like a virus. The more they are seen and heard, the more Main Street attaches credibility to their views. Before you know it, everyone thinks Meredith Whitney, Nouriel Roubini, Marc Faber, Robert Shiller, Peter Schiff, Harry Dent, Robert Prechter, Martin Weiss and countless others predicted the financial crisis.  More Ridiculous Market Predictions from Dent Today I wanted to mention another individual who has been positioned by the media as a credible expert despite his dreadful track record. Perhaps you have heard of Harry Dent. Like the vast majority of this crew of mass marketers, Dent serves as a much better contrarian indicator than anything else. Like others in the media club, Dent knows how to tell a good story. Combined with media status, Dent has been successful in terms of selling his books and newsletters. However, his track record has been another story. As you will see, similar to the other so-called experts who regularly appear in the media, Dent is a professional marketer and speaker, not a credible economist or investment expert. Remember, real experts don’t spending most of their time giving media interviews, hitting the speaking circuit, making YouTube videos, and other marketing activities. These tasks are the focus of individuals like Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins. But they are also the focus of Harry Dent, Peter Schiff and the others. A few weeks ago, Harry Dent came out in the media with warnings of a coming market collapse over the next few months. Below I summarize Dent’s “predictions.” The stock market could top 13,200 by late summer then collapse to 3000. Oil and gold have already topped out and are headed down. Real estate will go down by 50-60%. Before I demonstrate how Dent is no different than the rest of the marketers who have been positioned as experts, let’s have a look at these “latest predictions.”

Market Pulse and Earnings

Website with Book Excerpts for the Wall Street Investment Bible..

We have completed the website for the Wall Street Investment Bible. This site contains a good deal of introductory chapter excerpts from this very comprehensive, unique and informative text.

Dent's Critics

Does the US Mint Know Where Gold Prices Are Headed?

Two years ago, the US Mint announced that it would discontinue production Gold Eagle coins. Perhaps this was due to waning demand, as gold was approaching $1000/ounce. On the other hand, it's not as if enthusiasm for gold was in decline. Finally, the Mint is able to adjust production relative to demand. Thus, we ask why was production of these coins halted? If you ask gold bugs, they're sure to tell you that the Mint simply ran out of gold. In fact, the Mint even pointed to supply issues as the reason for halting production back in late 2008. Of course, this complete hogwash. So then, why did the Mint stop producing Gold Eagle coins?  If we examine a chart of the iShares gold ETF, you can see that ever since the Mint stopped producing Gold Eagles, gold has nearly doubled in a span of right around two years.     This raises the question... Did the US Mint have good reason to believe the price of gold would trend upward for at least a year? While some might feel that the Mint has no concern whether or not they expect gold to rise or fall when making decisions whether to make gold coins, the fact is that the Mint is run like a business, with certain sales and profit hurdles. If you don't believe that, just add yourself to their email notification list.

Be Careful About Buying into the Silver Selloff

As many have noticed, silver has collapsed from a recent multi-year high of more than $48/ounce. In just a few days of trading, silver has dropped by nearly 30%.  What has triggered this massive selloff? In my opinion, the rapid selloff in silver has been due primarily to three factors:

Is Gold and Silver Pumper David Morgan a Bozo and Con Man? Watch This and Decide for Yourself

Decide for yourself. It shouldn't be too hard unless you're really dumb.  

LDK Set for a Big Move

I wanted to mention a stock that has a good chance of a large move over the next few weeks, if not sooner. LDK is a China-based solar panel company that took part in the solar energy bubble a few years ago. Since its ~$76 all-time high reached shortly after its public debut, shares collapsed to a low of $3.75 during the market lows in early March 2009. 

The Media's Latest Distraction: bin Laden's Porn Collection

The Jewish-run media monopoly continues to leverage the recent bin Laden murder as a victory for America and President Obama. But bin Laden had nothing to do with 9-11. Most likely, he died several years ago.

Follow Up on LDK

A week ago, I alerted readers to what I felt was as close to a sure thing as possible when discussing the downside to LDK. Those who decided to call in for trading guidance landed a huge score with gains of about 25%. Let's have a look at a summary of that article. "I wanted to mention a stock that has a good chance of a large move over the next few weeks, if not sooner. But this does not provide the full picture. Even more important, LDK is currently testing a very important (although fairly strong) technical support at around $10. In addition, the stock is down by nearly 4% today. Although the recent trading volume has been low and on the declining side, the volume has been huge since the stock corrected from its February 2011 highs of $15.10.  If LDK falls below this support (and the breakdown is confirmed) shares are likely to collapse another 20% before taking a breather.  On the other hand, if the stock holds the support, we are likely to see a nice rally as the shorts become squeezed.  Either way, the chances of high and increasing volatility for the stock over the next couple of weeks are high." Here is the full article.

Mutual Fund Disasters: The Rise and Fall of Bill Miller

From 1991 through 2005, Legg Mason’s Bill Miller was the only mutual fund manager to have beaten the S&P 500 Index each year for that 15-year period. That should have been a warning sign alone. Instead, everyone called him a genius. I suppose no one read When Genius Failed.

Blast from the Past: Mike Stathis Explains Why Bill Gross' Total Return Fund is a Huge Scam

Equities Research Briefing: MSFT-Skype Deal

We have released a presentation summary of a research briefing published two weeks ago discussing Microsoft's acquisition of Skype.  You can access this document by clicking on the "PDF Version" tab below. For a detailed discussion, including valuation and trading analysis of MSFT, please contact us to check for availability and rates for a live call. 

Ryan's Healthcare Scam

According to estimates from the CEPR, Ryan's proposal to essentially gut Medicare will save the government $4.9 trillion from 2022 to 2084. However, costs of private coverage shifted to beneficiaries would add an additional $34 trillion more than what would be paid under traditional Medicare.

Mike Exposes the Robin Hood Stock Trading App as a Deceptive Scam Targeting Ignorant Millennials

Premarket Morning Comments Christmas Eve Premarket Dec 24 2018

The Solution to Greece's Sovereign Debt Crisis

In the very first issue of the Intelligent Investor (June 2009), I discussed problems in Europe that became a reality several months later. “It is likely that America will end up on the hook for the majority of the bailout funds needed for Eastern Europe via the IMF…In the end, I feel the long-term fate of the European Union (EU) will be threatened; not so much for economic reasons as for the continued destruction of each nation’s sovereignty. Already, common laws of the union are causing social disruptions based upon cultural differences within each member nation. It is perhaps for this reason that the union has aggressively opened its doors to nations outside of the union as a way to dilute the cultural and racial identities of each nation. But we have already seen a glimpse of what this offers—mass riots, arson and destruction. No doubt, the tensions will worsen due to the severity of the global meltdown. One thing is for certain. In order for the union to succeed, all nations must be provided with a somewhat equivalent infrastructural base. Otherwise, the disparities in commerce will present problems. Let me give you a simple example of this. Arguably, Germany has the most modernized road system in Europe. This enables an efficient means of transportation for a vibrant consumer and business activity. In contrast, Greece’s transportation infrastructure is horrendous. As a result, the cost structure for goods and many services is higher by necessity. This disparity leads to a relative difference in the strength of the Euro depending on which nation you are in. But there are other economic uncertainties, such as who will bail out troubled nations. Given the economic, social and sovereignty issues, it is possible that by 2020, Germany will pull out of the union, most likely for economic reasons alone. If that happens, you can bet France will soon follow. If both nations exit, the Euro will be pretty much finished. To be clear, I am not predicting the fall of the Euro, but rather raising this very real possibility. It is only by a full consideration of all scenarios that we can construct a comprehensive risk management strategy.”   A few months later weeks before problems in Greece emerged, in October 2010 German Chancellor Angela Merkel shocked EU officials and other globalists by proclaiming that multiculturalism in Germany has been a complete failure. Those who understand the mechanisms by which Zionists have imposed multiculturalism throughout the western world (all while working towards a homogenous population in Israel) are not likely to be surprised by Merkel’s conclusions. What was surprising was that she openly admitted it. Even if the EU were to commit towards equalizing the infrastructural base of member nations, it should be clear that this is no longer economically feasible. It should also be apparent that the EU ruling class would never place this as a goal because it would diminish the economic advantages obtained by advanced EU member nations, from less developed nations. Finally, the multicultural "time bomb" would remain unless EU leaders unanimously decided to cast away this policy which clearly creates societal dysfunction and diminished solidarity. Resolving infrastructural disparities from within the EU would be analogous to Washington raising the minimum wage to its appropriate inflation-adjusted level of around $11 per hour. Washington would never permit this because it would diminish the economic benefit of allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter the U.S. This is something I pointed out in the 2006 version of America’s Financial Apocalypse. Several years before the sovereign debt crisis escalated in Greece, and even before the global financial crisis had commenced, I had concluded that the European Monetary Union (EMU) would be much different by say 2022 due to both economic and societal tensions. Although the IMF continues to push for bailouts for emerging nations from within the European Union, the IMF has publicly admitted (in a 2010 publication) perhaps by accident, that the demise of these now vulnerable nations has been primarily due to their membership within the EU. According to official data from a variety of sources, the current accounts in seven nations within Southern Europe (i.e. Southern Euro Area, SEA) have imploded since the mid-1990s. For instance, in 1994, these nations maintained an overall average current account balance (which can be likened to an annual trade surplus) to an average deficit of 10% in 2008. [1] When the current accounts of Northern Europe (the Northern Euro Area, NEA) are examined, eight nations have accumulated current account surpluses over the same period. [2]   How SEA Economies Collapsed Numerous sources including the IMF and other economic organizations linked within the network of global powerbrokers have acknowledged that the decline in the current accounts of SEA countries coincided with their entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU). This trend continued after their subsequent adoption of the euro.  For instance, according to economic data, during the period spanning 1994–2008, the deterioration in current accounts coincided with a large decrease in private saving rates and, to a lesser extent, with a rise in investment rates, while public saving actually improved. Although the EU has been in existence for decades, the formation of the EMU (linking most of the members of the EU into a unified currency) has been a more recent development. According to the IMF, it was the creation of the EMU and, especially the introduction of the euro that drove the declines in current accounts by allowing member nations to maintain their investment levels above what could be financed from lower domestic saving. As stated by the IMF, “…economic integration improved access to the international pool of saving, but it did not necessarily make it optimal or sustainable. Even in countries in which an increase in investment played a more important role in the current account deterioration (Spain and Slovenia), most of the increase took place in less productive nontradables sectors, such as construction. Although the current global financial crisis has forced some reduction in current account deficits, they are expected to remain high in the medium run as a result of the countries’ low productivity and weak competitiveness.”   Thus, the unionization of Europe has largely been responsible for the current economic problems seen in Greece, Italy, Spain, and other nations. They were doomed from the beginning. What Was the Impetus for the EMU? Similar to U.S. trade policy over the past twenty years, which has gravitated towards the use of cheap labor from abroad by unconditional acceptance of globalization theory, the EU (and later the EMU) was engineered to exploit the cheap labor of southern Europe for the benefit of the more advanced northern European nations. However, these globalists failed to account for contingent liabilities associated with the unification of very different economies and societies, each with a unique and rich history. The U.S. is facing a somewhat similar predicament, as millions of illegal aliens have flooded into the various social support services, making these vital resources less available for U.S. citizens.  Moreover, the various societal problems have become widespread. Although the IMF acknowledges that the fiscal troubles seen in southern Europe have been primarily due to the numerous economic imbalances that developed upon their entry into the EU, the IMF’s official policy remains dedicated to providing financial assistance in order to keep these nations as members within the EU and the EMU. That should give you an idea exactly what is going on behind the scenes. As you can imagine, Germany’s decision to help Greece has been a complete disaster for both Germany and Greece. Although Germany’s economy has rebounded well since the global recession, it has been dragged down by the weight of the financial woes of emerging Europe, while Greece is now locked into a global chess match. Certainly, Greece faced many problems prior to entering the EMU. Specifically, the nation’s public pension system had been in deficit for years. However, these deficits accelerated after entering into the EMU. Accordingly, the only way Greece will permanently emerge from its mess is to dump the European Union. Conditional financial assistance from the IMF will only delay the fundamental problems, at best. At worst (and most likely), mandatory austerity measures layered upon numerous policy changes and other actions will lead to a less desired fate for Greece over the longer-term period.   Short-term fixes in the form of bailouts and other types of financial assistance from the IMF, Germany and other nations will not lead to a permanent fix for Greece or other nations in southern Europe. On the contrary, the economic landscape of Greece, like other nations under the grip of the IMF, will be reengineered at the expense of Greek citizens for the benefit of advanced nations within the EU. How the IMF Exerts its Power In the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, the World Bank and IMF were created. The World Bank is typically led by Americans while the IMF is led by Europeans. However, the common link of leadership often places Jewish bankers and politicians at the helm. The emphasis on “Jewish” bankers and politicians is a very important distinction, as you can imagine.  The World Bank is an international bank whose stated purpose is to assist developing nations in need of humanitarian relief, with the stated purpose of reducing poverty. This stated goal serves as a front for the bank's power-grab. The current World Bank president is Robert B. Zoellick, a Jew and former Goldman Sachs managing director, PNAC and CFR member, former Deputy Secretary of State and US Trade Representative.   Former World Bank Presidents Paul Wolfowitz (2005–2007) - JEWISH; former Deputy Secretary of Defense, spearheaded Iraq War with PNAC. James Wolfensohn (1995–2005) - JEWISH; former Solomon Brothers executive, founder of Wolfensohn & Co. Lewis T. Preston (1991–1995) - JEWISH; former president and CEO of JP Morgan. Barber Conable (1986–1991) - JEWISH; former congressman and U.S. senator. Alden W. Clausen (1981–1986 - JEWISH; former president, chairman and CEO of Bank of America.

Code of Conduct for the Police State Known as the USA

Over the weekend, a group of individuals decided to demonstrate just how bad the Police State has progressed in the U.S. So, they paid a visit to the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC, and began dancing.

The Media's Role in the War on Terror

The media continues to utilize countless tactics designed to heighten public perception regarding the critical need to advance America’s war on terror. We see this on a daily basis. Often, the media states bold-faced lies regarding so-called terrorist activities, so as to enrage Americans.   Other times the media stages complete fabrications of events so as to portray the message Washington wants to be sent to the American people. Many alert, independent-minded Americans; Americans representing a dying breed - are aware of this. Others suspect it.

LinkedIn Special Report

Japan Entering Recession

Over the past few months I have been discussing my view that Wall Street analysts and economists, and global economic consortiums such as the IMF have been underestimating the impact of the earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan, as well the spillover effect throughout the globe.  I have been stating that Japan's GDP will come in significantly lower than has been reported. In the June issue of the Intelligent Investor, I reiterated this view. Below are GDP forecasts for Japan from the IMF released just a couple of months ago.  

The End of Free Speech on the Internet

Blast from the Past: Survey of Gold Pumping Cons & Clowns on YouTube

This video was originally created in late 2013 (not certain). 

U.S. Economy Enters the 42nd Month of Recession

I have discussed the fact that the recession which officially began in December 2007, has not yet ended. Anyone who claims otherwise is either a hack or else has no idea what is going on. As the economic data begins to weaken (as predicted several months ago in the Intelligent Investor), the "double-dip" debate is likely to take center stage.  Do not allow yourself to be fooled by this ridiculous drama.  Do not waste your time reading or listening to these fools.

IMF Sex Scandal Points to the Bigger Picture

To give you an idea of the type of scum aligned with the globalist push to enslave people through further corporatization and policies which empower banks, all while robbing citizens of promised benefits which they have already funded, one need look no further than the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Once you understand how the IMF fits into the grand scheme of things, it should come as no surprise that the head of this organization, Zionist Jew Dominique Strauss-Kahn faces charges related to sexual assault by a hotel maid.  See here. Perhaps equally disgusting was the fact that Kahn was staying in a $3000 per-day hotel suite and driving around in a Porsche; this from a man belonging to France’s Socialist Party and thought of as the leading candidate for Presidency. This should tell you what is really going on. Rather than some organization offering emergency aid to nations in financial distress, the IMF is just another element of the global crime syndicate that has taken complete control over the western world. As one might expect, Kahn is being defended by another Zionist Jew who has experience representing other scum and crime gangsters. I would be very surprised if Kahn is found guilty of the charges, or does not face anything other than a suspended sentence. This is the way things work in a world run by elite criminals. Immediately upon being arrested, Kahn and his attorney already stated that it was a set-up as a part of a politically-motivated smear campaign. How does Kahn explain his long history of similar behavior? “It’s not the first time that DSK is involved in this kind of actions at the Sofitel. That’s where he always stayed. It happened several times and for several years. Everyone knew it in the hotel.” See here.  Like all Zionist scum, Kahn thinks very highly of himself. He even believes the propaganda created by the Jewish-controlled media that’s always used to make these Zionist ring leaders into heroes and great thinkers, when often they are nothing more than crooks and frauds. Want some examples? How about Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, Lloyd Blankfein, Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, Rahm Emanuel, Bernie Madoff, Michael Miliken, Sanford Weill, Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, Ace Greenberg, Jamie Dimon, just to name a few. The list is endless. Jewish-controlled Hollywood does the same thing, except they add minorities into the mix, all while denigrating Caucasians. “Strauss-Kahn also noted that he trailed only Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on a list of 100 ‘global thinkers’ compiled last November by Foreign Policy magazine. Strauss-Kahn was cited for his ‘steely vision at a moment of crisis’ — for convincing Germany to help bail out Greece’s debt-laden government, and for helping to put the brakes on defaults in Hungary, Pakistan and Ukraine.” Reference   However, reality paints a much different picture. Germany’s decision to help Greece has been a complete disaster for both Germany and Greece. Germany has been dragged down by the weight of the financial woes of emerging Europe, while Greece is now locked into a global chess match. The only way Greece will emerge from its mess is to dump the European Union. I discussed this in a recent article. Why is it that it’s always the crooks and scum who are thought of as great thinkers? Warren Buffet, a great thinker? – NOT. Bill Gates, a great thinker? – NOT. These men are merely money-obsessed individuals who find ways to cheat the system. If you want to see a list of the world’s top thinkers, you should start by looking...

2011 Mid-Year Economic Update

Warning about Disinfo Websites and Trash Events

If I were to list the number of websites that have banned me or ignored me for the purpose of distancing themselves from the "good cop," as bad cops always do, the list would be into the thousands.

LinkedIn Engaging in Illegal Business Practices

I'll be short about this because I have better things to do than devote my time to useless companies who boast a basic website as their main asset. For several years now, LinkedIn has blatantly violated ICANN SPAM laws by allowing its members to send subscription invitations to anyone they choose.

IPO Research: Dunkin Donuts

We have completed an extensive analysis of the upcoming Dunkin Donuts IPO. This analysis will be available for all institutional clients via CC. Others who wish to access this research should contact us to arrange a live call. 

The Roberts and Celente Circus Show

I always suspected something just wasn't right about Paul Craig Roberts.  After all, he was inducted into the political environment under Reagan, as a junior Treasury staff member. Next, he was a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal. 

China's Real Estate Bubble

Please see the PDF attachment below for information regarding a research call available to institutional clients (under a subscription services arrangement) and other investors (who must pay a fee for the call) discussing the timing and consequences of the bursting of China's Real Estate Bubble.

Scratching the Surface of the Zionist Multiculturalism Agenda

I have no need to write about what has been stated by the lady in this video.  If you can't figure it out after listening to her, I suggest you start using your brain.

Bob Chapman: Complete Clown, No Credibility

I wanted to briefly address this hack, Bob Chapman. I will go into more detail when I get more time. For now, note the following:

A Brief Note on Murdoch

I have not had the time to write about the Murdoch/News Corp scandal. However, I don't feel like wasting the time writing about what I have known for many years. Besides, I'm sure you are all getting your daily dose from the media. Furthermore, I don't like to jump on a story when the media harps on it because that would make me a follower of the media when the fact is that I have known that Murdoch and his Zionist Jewish media buddies have controlled the UK, US and other western nations for some time now. It's quite obvious. Thus, the recent events that have unfolded do not surpirse me one bit. 

Why Microsoft Will Buy Netflix

When to Buy and Sell. Japan as a Case Study

Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, government and Wall Street economists downplayed the impact on Japan’s economic growth as well as that of the rest of the world. Next, the nuclear reactor meltdown began to worsen and still, these same economists minimized the economic impact of these events.          In the Intelligent Investor newsletter, I discussed that these estimates had been significantly downplayed. My view was that the combined impact of the catastrophes in Japan would add a significant component to what I had already forecast as a slowdown in the global economy in the second half of the year. I even wrote a follow-up on the site several months later confirming this reality. See here. At the time, there was not even mention by Wall Street or any of the establishment economists (ECB, IMF, etc.) of the possibility of a slowdown in the second half of the year. Thus, once again, the so-called experts confirmed just how useless they really are.

Analysis of the AT&T/T-Mobile Deal

By now, most of you have heard about AT&T's buyout offer of Deutsche Telekom T-Mobile. The deal, totaling $39/$40 billion ($25 billion in cash and about $15 billion in stock, or 8% of AT&T stock) would add nearly 40 million wireless subscribers to AT&T for total of around 129 million, vaulting it past Verizon Wireless' 102 million. The combined company would serve about 43 percent of U.S. cellphones.

Cheerleading from IMF Won't Rescue the Global Economy

Below we have posted the most recent revisions to economic data, including estimates through 2011 (Japan and Spain) and 2012 (U.S. and China). It will be interesting to see when the IMF decides to issue more accurate economic projections that are in-line with reality.

The Reality of the Debt Ceiling Drama

Over the past several weeks, the media has had a field day covering the debt ceiling talks between both political parties. It’s been dominates news headlines for more than a month. Prior to the latest distraction by the media, the focus was Casey Anthony, followed by Congressman Weiner, then Casey Anthony again.  I wasn’t even aware how large of a media campaign on this topic was (since I don’t waste time watching TV) until I was visiting some relatives for a few days. During my visit I was exposed to the media circus show that my relatives had been glued to. I have not discussed the debt ceiling talks, other than brief mention in our research publications. The reason why I have not spent time discussing this topic is because it is not really worth mention. In short, it has been a complete fabrication engineered by both parties as a manner by which to muster political power for the 2012 elections.  Everywhere you look you see people talking about it. It’s shocking to see how people believe anything the media and Washington keep repeating. I would have thought that at least some Americans learned not to trust Washington or the media after the WMB charade.   Yet, everyone else seems to think the issue is critical as discussed by the media. Indeed, it is remarkable to watch American puppets who actually think the debt ceiling issue is relevant. If you have been glued to the TV to hear the debt ceiling drama, you have been wasting your time. In order to keep things grounded, you need to understand that several forces are touting a debt default as a manner by which to exploit people for political and financial gains.  For instance, late last year Meredith Whitney discussed her ridiculous predictions of municipal defaults on 60 Minutes. The piece was journalism at its worst, designed to create drama and boost the dwindling ratings 60 Minutes continues to receive.  I set the record straight on Whitney. See here >> Deconstructing Meredith Whitney's Default Predictions. Here, I present the realities of the debt ceiling issue. However, I will not spend much time on this topic because I can think of several other ways to spend my time more wisely, such as sleeping.  Let me point out a few things so you can fully understand the realities of the debt issue. With about $14.3 trillion in total debt, Washington is looking to do something that has served more as a gesture than anything else. For nearly 50 years, Washington has raised the debt ceiling by more than 70 times. It has been this trend of raises that has enabled fiscal mismanagement by Washington for decades. Does Washington need to rein in spending?  Certainly. However, the current debt ceiling drama has been engineered in order to mentally prepare Americans to accept cuts to vital programs, while ignoring Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and continuing the most costly and unnecessary war in history. As a part of these theatrics, politicians from each side of America's fascist government are using the drama they have created in order to further their own political aspirations. So what is involved in raising the debt ceiling?

Economic Hightlights from July

Although the global economy has mounted a superficial rebound from the trough hit in 2009, increasing risks remain, both intermediate- and longer-term. The intermediate-term risks are based primarily on faulted economic policies intended to deal with the economic collapse. These actions have resulted in a reflation of the global credit bubble. The longer-term risks are also related to this reflation, in addition to a definite scaling down in public spending for various programs in advanced and certain emerging nations. Despite this superficial economic progress, the “recovery” remains uneven with advanced nations lagging far behind the progress made in emerging nations. Most notably, advanced nations continue to experience persistently high rates of unemployment. Germany remains as the only notable exception in terms of advanced economies that are doing well. However, even Germany will soon be pulled down due to weakness in the EU.

Debt Ceiling Resolution Smashes HMOs and Healthcare REITs, While Boosting other REITs

On Friday, Amerigroup (AGP) reported disappointing earnings partly due to an account error. However, after adjusting for this issue, earnings still came in considerably lower than consensus. The combined bad news sent shares tumbling by around 40%.   Most HMOs with a good deal of Medicaid exposure also sold off (CNC, WCG, MOH). In addition, even the larger more diversified HMOs showed weakness (UNH, AET, CI, WLP). Weakness in the HMO sector continues today. Despite beating earnings estimates nicely, even Humana (HUM) is showing weakness today.  

Charles Schwab and E-Trade Facilitating Securities Manipulation

How to Manage a Market Correction

When determining how to manage a market correction, one of the first things you need to consider is how each of your holdings has performed over the correction period. In order to arrive at this assessment, we examine relative strength. Relative strength measures the performance of a security versus an appropriate index over a given time frame. When we see a security that is performing worse than the given benchmark or index, we say that it is underperforming. When we see a security that is performing better than the given index, we say that it is outperforming. While relative strength is often very useful for trading purposes, its utility diminishes during a stock market collapse. Often during a collapse, most securities that have outperformance eventually lose their performance edge. It was for this reason that I advised readers to look first to sell their winners in the market forecasting section.

Stock Market and Economic Overview

Approximately three months weeks ago the U.S. markets began to correct. We warned about this first correction in the May issue of our firms paid research publications.

CNBC Working with Wall Street to Take More of Your Money

Over the past several days, I'm sure you've heard your fair share of debate regarding the recent downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard & Poor's. I have personally avoided this noise. However, I inadvertently ran across some comments by some clown on CNBC that I wanted to show you. According to this guy, U.S. debt should be rated as junk bonds. You’ll hear the same ludicrous statement from Peter Schiff, Mark Faber, Jim Rogers, and the rest of the clowns.   Before you click the video link below, I want you to notice the commercial before the video. This guy from Schwab reminds me of one of those infomercial scam artists who tell you they can teach you to trade stocks using a computer program. 

Banks Look to Craig's List to Exploit the Desperate

First, they made huge commissions loaning you money to buy overpriced real estate. They convinced you that real estate “is a great investment,” and “property values never go down.” Of course, both statements are completely inaccurate, as I first detailed in the 2006 release of America’s Financial Apocalypse.  Janitors were claiming $200,000 annual incomes in order to get approved for mortgages. And most banks didn’t bother to verify these claims. Illegal aliens were buying homes using false documentation. Mortgage reps encouraged prospective home buyers to lie on their applications, insisting that “everyone does it.” The delusions of easy money to be made from real estate encouraged many Americans to purchase homes they really couldn’t afford because they wanted to maximize their real estate profits.

Evidence Banks Have Bought Off Washington

One of the themes I have been emphasizing over the past few years focuses on the destruction of the U.S. economy and control over the political system by lobbyist groups. As long as lobbyists exist, America will continue to be run by corporations. What does this really mean? It’s quite simple. Control over government by corporate interests is defined as fascism. This is precisely the type of government that has presided over United States for well over three decades. As long as corporate interests control Washington, the United States will never have a government that resembles a democracy, much less a republic. When so-called experts in the media discuss America’s problems and offer solutions, you are not likely to hear mention of the power held by lobbyist groups. On rare occasion when the influence of lobbyists is mentioned, it is only in passing. Never will you hear anyone in the media recommend an end to all lobbyist activities as one component of restoring America’s past greatness.

Krueger Will Not End the Nightmare on Main Street

Yesterday, President Obama announced his nomination of Alan Krueger to serve as Chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. Thus far, this council has been nothing short of an abject failure. Thus, you should already know what to expect from Krueger, another Jewish academic from the Clinton administration. If approved by congress, Krueger will replace Austan Goolsbee, another Jewish academic appointed by Obama, who replaced Christina Romer, yet another Jewish academic. Clearly, Obama’s White House is beginning to look like one big fat Jewish wedding.  Once you consider who really runs Washington, it is of no mere coincidence that not one single Wall Street executive has been indicted for their role in massive securities fraud that resulted in the destruction of the global economy. This illustrates just one aspect of the power held by the powerful Jewish mafia. Previously, I discussed the control Jews (Zionists and non-Zionists alike) have over the U.S. Please review these articles so you can appreciate the full impact of this control. By now, it should be clear that Obama remains under the control of Israel and American Jewry more so than any president in U.S. history. { [1]  [2]  [3]  [4] } Jewish Americans comprise about 2% of the U.S. population, yet they control virtually every aspect of U.S. society. I see it on a daily basis. Perhaps many of you do as well. However, most people fail to recognize the obvious because they have been programmed to keep their eyes closed. As someone who works in the financial industry, I come across a good deal of media. Everytime a story is written or broadcast, I always check the names of the authors, editors and producers. It’s pretty shocking to consider the percentage of Jews in each of these industries. Once you examine top positions in Washington, it’s especially frightening. We are talking about individuals with top loyalty to Israel running our foreign policy. The key phrase here is “top positions” because you won’t find many Jewish individuals in low-level positions in government or in the private sector. Have you ever seen a Jewish individual working at a commercial bank? Hell, they won’t even take a branch manager slot because they don’t have to stoop so low. They have a nice executive position waiting for them compliments of Jewish networking.

Is the EPI Racist Against Whites?

I'm going to say much about this other than to point to the obvious. First, as I have discussed in the past, virtually every so-called think tank in the U.S. is run and/or funded by Jews and Jewish money. This remains a well-guarded secret hidden from the naive and unsuspicious public eye in the U.S.    The relevance of Jewish dominance of think tanks is tremendous because these organizations help determine social and economic policy through their very close ties to Washington, academia and in some cases, corporate America.    Here, I show you a chart created by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. This chart points to a racial agenda in my view. 

October 2011 Global Economic Summary

The incompetence of Washington was most recently demonstrated by the debt ceiling drama. Now the dog-and-pony show staged by the ECB, EU and IMF has added to waning consumer and investor sentiment across the globe to create a crisis in confidence. The timing of this charade could not have been worse, as this unnecessary turn of events has hit the global economy during a period when it was predetermined to weaken on its own force due to the depletion of stimulus funds. As a result of these seemingly intentional destructive actions, most of the economic gains made as the result of tax subsidies and bailout funds since the financial crisis of 2008 have been erased. Meanwhile, substantial downside risks to global growth remain. Notably, a default of Greek sovereign debt appears imminent. Finally, the risk of significant shocks to Brazil and China has increased. At the very least, Brazil is likely to face more problems in 2012, and possibly thereafter depending on several variables. I have been warning about the risks to emerging economies for some time now.

Global Economic Analysis: Japan

After being surpassed by China in recent years, Japan commands the third largest economy in the world. Similar to the case with China (although its rise largely occurred in the last two decades) Japanese emergence as an export powerhouse occurred during in the second half of the 20th century...

Global Economic Analysis: France

As the sovereign debt crisis continues to worsen due in large part to incompetent leadership, more attention is being given to France. Similar to the case seen in the U.S., the decline in domestic demand in France accounted for most losses in output during the 2008 financial crisis. In contrast, the decline in net exports accounted for the bulk of output losses in Germany. Thus, the crisis-related damage was entirely demand-driven for Germany. Moreover, while France suffered a more moderate decline in output during the trough of the crisis, its recovery has also been more tepid. Indeed, while both output in Germany and the U.S. had surpassed their pre-crisis levels by 2011 Q1, France still had not by then fully recuperated its output losses associated with the crisis and the recession. The fact that France experienced larger domestic output losses due to the crisis for a more prolonged raises the possibility of more lasting damage to the economy.

Global Economic Analysis: Italy

While we have certainly seen commonalities such as high unemployment, reduced output, and fiscal stress, the economic collapse has also forced the leaders of each nation to take a good look at their nation’s strengths and weaknesses. The case of Italy has revealed a great deal.

Italy, France and Japan Economic Analysis

As a reminder, we released an economic analysis of Italy, France, Japan and the US in the October Global Economic Analysis research report.

Investment Strategy Video Tutorial

We have just released an investment strategy video tutorial for subscribers to Dividend Gems. In this video, Mike discusses some unique perspectives that can be implemented into one's investment strategy, using examples of two securities from the Dividend Gems Recommended Securities List.

Telcom Analysis Video Presentation

In this 23-minute video, Mike discusses ways to play the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, and summarizes the business fundamentals of Sprint, Clearwire, MetroPCS, Leap Wireless, offering actionable investment and trading recommendations for each. This video presentation has been made available at no cost to subscribers of the Intelligent Investor. Others can purchase access to this video for only $49. Please contact for payment instructions. 

Debunking the Myth that China is Selling U.S. Treasury Securities

For a couple of years now, the extremists, gold bugs, perpetual doomers and others who know more about marketing than economics and investments have used numerous scare tactics as a manner by which to manipulate gold.  These individuals like to mention gold manipulation by banks to explain the selloff, but never mention that the manipulation of gold by banks is a normal situation. In contrast, they never admit that they are manipulation gold pricing through the use of propaganda, scare tactics, myths and even bold-faced lies. This later type of manipulation borders on securities fraud. It is an issue that the SEC must address.   Regardless which one of these prophets of doom you give your attention to, you are likely to hear 10% fact and 90% fiction; if you're lucky.   The key to manipulation is to discuss a few things that most people are aware of so as to gain the trust of your subjects. Next, you spin the facts, throw in scare tactics and manufacture your own brand of reality, all of which leads you to gold as the only solution to save you from the financial apocalypse.   One need not be an expert in criminal psychology in order to decipher these tactics. All it really takes is a basic understanding of reality plus a bit of common sense.   As I have discussed in the past, virtually every single one of the myths disseminated by these snake oil salesmen is completely wrong, from threats of hyperinflation and gold confiscation, to claims that gold hedges against inflation and that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is headed to 1000. I have laid out irrefutable support against these claims.   Once you investigate the training, track record and expertise of these individuals, you are likely to realize that they are nothing more than marketers lacking any credibility whatsoever. The list of these hacks is virtually endless and I have discussed several of them in the past.   Unfortunately, the vast majority of individuals who have chosen to pay attention to them trust what they say so they do not bother to investigate their credentials, agendas and track record.   Others lack the basic skills required to appreciate the erroneous nature of these hacks and their myths. This later case demonstrates just how unsophisticated most investors are.   Part of the problem is that humans by nature tend to believe anything that is repeated over and over. This basic principal of human behavior is utilized by the media every day. It is for that reason that many people have come to believe these ridiculously flawed myths propagated by gold bugs, without bothering to examine agendas and credibility. They feel that if something is repeated, especially by numerous individuals, it must be true, otherwise the media would not air them.     The flaw in this assumption is that the media sides only with those who pay for advertisements and it certainly isn’t their audience.   Among the myths that have been spread by radio talking heads like Alex Jones, Max Keiser and Glen Beck, as well as gold dealers and their associates is that China has been selling U.S. treasury securities.   Many of the gold bugs directly associated with gold dealers have also been preaching this myth. You know who they are. We have seen this myth in print and on television. It is of no coincidence that gold bugs associate with Jones, Keiser and Beck, for they are of the same breed of snake oil salesmen and profiteers.   This myth has been propagated in order to offer support for ridiculous claims that the U.S. dollar is headed to zero and Washington will be unable to finance its debt. This claim represents yet another factual error that has been designed to cause the sheep to flock to gold.   It remains a mystery to me how so many people could fall for these myths, all while not realizing that these hacks have agendas. I guess most people really are that naïve.   In past articles I have effectively debunked the numerous myths about gold, hyperinflation, the dollar and other related topics. The following represents a partial list of these critical reads.   Did You Get Fleeced By Max Keiser, Alex Jones and the Rest of the Stooges? Dismantling John Williams' Hyperinflation Predictions Deconstructing Meredith Whitney's Default Predictions Understanding Manipulation of Gold by the Media Understanding the Proper Use of Gold and Silver Max Keiser, Alex Jones and Their Lackeys Scamming People AGAIN Why Hyperinflation Isn't Coming To The U.S. The Media Macarena Manipulation of Gold and Silver Prices Fool’s Gold [Part 1][Part 2][Part 3] To date there has not been a single critic from the financial community who has so much as attempted to counter my claims. The reason is simple. They can’t because I am right. And they won’t because it would draw attention to something the media lacks; someone with unbiased credibility. The mechanism by which these manipulators operate is not by one of debate but through flooding their myths to the sheep. This is the primary reason why the media has banned me. The media represents lies and promotes sell-outs, all of which are focused on lining their pockets at the expense of their audience. This premise is well-documented. These gold sites post nothing but delusional accounts of economic data and analysis linking it to reasons to buy gold. You won’t see any debate on these sites because the purpose is to manipulate gold prices through dissemination of false, twisted and one-sided information. Whenever you see a one-sided slant to any site that seeks to profit from pitching something, you had better run like hell. You sure as hell won’t see any of the articles referenced above on any of these sites because it might cause viewers to actually think. Even in cases when I have posted these articles on the same sites as those who I have addressed publish, they have stayed clear of any response. The reason for this lack of response is simple. When you are outmanned the best strategy is to retreat. The last thing these individuals would want to do is draw attention to an unbiased financial professional because it would spoil their party of deceit and lunacy.  Since the November 2008 financial crisis, we have continued to hear that China has been selling U.S. Treasury securities. We have been told this myth by the media (mainstream and alternative) as well as the gold hacks. I am here to tell you that they are either lying or else they are morons; perhaps both.    Here, I am going to definitively show you once and for all that the commonly discussed myth that China is selling U.S. Treasury securities is simply not true. In fact, you are going to see the exact opposite.   Before I do that, you must understand a few things about sovereign securities.     

Peter Schiff Exposes Porter Stansberry's False Claims to Make You Think He is Different

In the past, I have discussed that Porter Stansberry made numerous false claims in his snake oil video, The End of America. The video is so full of crap that I cannot watch it to remind myself of the details. I do recall that Stansberry claims that his "research" firm is one of the largest in the world and other BS to make himself seem credible.  Make no mistake. Stansberry runs a boiler room newsletter service in the same manner as everyone else in that industry. There are no exceptions.

The Real Reason Why Unemployment Will Remain High

It took quite a long time for Washington to finally concede something that was apparent; the nation’s excessively high unemployment rate would remain elevated for several years. But their admission has come with a twist. Instead of pointing to the true reason for this demoralizing reality, establishment economists have offered some ridiculous excuses to account for America’s persistently high unemployment rate. The purpose of this propaganda campaign is to place blame on unemployed workers, rather than address the misguided economic policies established by America’s fascist government. Why is it important to properly identify the source of persistently high unemployment?  Only by properly identifying the real reasons for the elevated and chronic level of unemployment will adequate solutions be possible. It follows that if the true reasons accounting for this worrisome trend are not identified and acknowledged, America stands a good chance to lose much more than a decade. We are talking about the continued and permanent decline in living standards for the middle- and working-class.   Let’s look at some facts. • There have been between 5 and 6 unemployed Americans for every job opening since mid-2009, suggesting a shortage of jobs. This ratio is roughly double what it was in the last recession and reflects, in large part, that job openings are one-fourth lower now than they were in the last recovery. • In the first 12 months of this recovery there were 32.0 million job openings, 10.0 million fewer than the first 12 months of the prior recovery, one known for being a jobless recovery. • The shortfall of job openings in this recovery compared to the last one is pervasive: it is evident in nearly every sector including labor intensive service industries such as hospitality, entertainment, and accommodation. Construction is responsible for just 6% of the overall shortfall in openings in this recovery compared to the last one. • Layoffs during the early stages of this recovery are comparable to those in the prior recovery, and cannot explain high unemployment. In attempt to identify the cause of the persistently high unemployment rate, two arguments being debated by America’s highly controlled and delusional opinion-makers, otherwise referred to as establishment economists. Let’s take a look at each of these misguided viewpoints. Establishment economists working for the left-wing contingency of America’s fascist government claim that the high unemployment rate is merely a consequence of cyclical unemployment, which is related to changes in demand that occur through business and economic cycles. During the first two years of the Obama presidency, the cyclical unemployment argument was unanimously accepted. In contrast, establishment economists working for the right-wing contingency of America’s fascist government claim that the persistently high unemployment rate seen in the U.S. is due to structural factors. Thus, according to these hacks, the lack of growth is due to what is known as structural unemployment. More recently, the structural unemployment argument has been disseminated for the sole purpose of increasing the momentum of the Republican Party going into the 2012 elections.  As you will see, both arguments are wrong. Each argument has been offered as the only explanation to account for the persistently high unemployment rate in order to distract Americans from the real cause. Without surprise, it turns out that both arguments support the long-term trend of boosting corporate profits at the expense of working-class livelihoods. Thus, both arguments are supportive of America’s fascist government, whether we are talking about democrats or republicans. [1] The table below represents the official data compiled by economists at the IMF (as well as a large contingency of establishment economists in the U.S.). They have used this data to conclude that most industries are facing unemployment due to structural issues. As you can see, they have concluded that most job losses have been due to structural factors.  

UK Economic Analysis: Housing and Banking Risk

Just released for subscribers of the Intelligent Investor is a 30-minute video presentation discussing the risks of an additional housing market correction, as well as the risks posed to the global financial system by a meltdown in UK's banking system.

Is Peter Schiff REALLY Still Pimping the Euro?

As time moves forward, while my own forecasts and recommendations continue to serve as a crystal ball, many of those made by Peter Schiff of Europacific Capital continue to form an embarrassing display.   Remember, Schiff has been pimping the euro for years discussing how much stronger it is and how the dollar was headed for 0.   I actually kind of feel sorry for the guy.  On second thought. I don't. After all, he landed a huge amount of money by receiving mass media exposure just because he is Jewish. The worst part is that this money came from the pockets of sheep who feel for his ridiculous views. In the video below, as late as the end of October of 2011, he was still talking about the dollar being worse than the euro.  This folks, is simply shocking. While the EMU faces the very real threat of being destroyed completely and permanently, Schiff keeps talking up the euro.  Notice how the Jewish media never criticizes this ridiculous forecasts because of course he is Jewish. The same can be said of Faber and the other Jewish marketers. Notice also how Schiff is backing down on his previous hyperinflation mantra. I actually made mention of this change in sentiment in a recent article, but I could not locate the video at the time. Watch the Video With the euro facing complete destruction, the name Europacific Capital doesn't sound so reassuring to me. And when Asian faces its collapse (and I can assure you it will), how will Schiff position his firm..EURO..PACIFIC Capital?    I feel sorry for those who have bought into his ridiculous views and horrendous forecasts. I wouldn't be such a critic of Schiff if it weren't for the fact that so many people (due to their lack any reasonable level of intelligence) believe Schiff knows what he is talking about because the media airs him every day. As the facts reveal, Peter Schiff was wrong about much more than he was right about. And he continues to be wrong about much more than he is right about. In fact, the only things he has been right about were obvious to many. Okay Peter many people knew about a real estate bubble and a credit bubble created by the banks. But when it came to issues that distinguish someone as a real expert versus a salesman, Schiff never made the leap from a salesman. Finally, you should note that Schiff has been saying the same thing like a broken record for MANY years, which in itself calls into question even the most obvious of his predictions. Details Peter, it's always about the details. If you cannot nail the fine details on a consistent basis, you will be better off buying the S&P 500 Index and holding it. You see folks, Schiff is a marketer and salesman, so he must stick to his sales pitch. It has nothing to do with going with the best investments. It's all about selling your theme. In Schiff's case, he will cling onto the euro BS until the end. This certainly won't help those who listened to him about the euro. Perhaps Peter should subscribe to our institutional research so he will know what's going on. I'm sure his clients would certainly appreciate such a move because I can guarantee you his clients' portfolios would do much better. On second thought, he doesn't need to perform. All he needs is media exposure. After all, he realizes that there are plenty of idiots who watch TV who will fall for his pitch. This explains why all of these guys bend over backwards for media exposure. If Schiff really knew what the hell was really going on and could translate it into excellent returns, he would be running a hedge fund, not a brokerage firm and not a mutual fund. You can be blatantly wrong and still collect management fees by running a brokerage firm.  Ken Fisher serves as a good example. And you can also make a good deal of money running a mutual fund even if the PERFORMANCE SUCKS, like David Tice's Prudent Bear Fund (sold to Federated). But you won't make any money running a hedge fund unless you're right. The financial professionals reading this understand exactly what I'm talking about. Again, you need to ask yourself why you aren't reading or hearing about these realities elsewhere. The answer is simple. Those who know about the things I expose either don't give a damn about Main Street. They're only concerned with lining their pockets. That often means they have to keep their mouths shut, which is one reason why I left Wall Street.

LinkedIn Insiders Head for the Exit Gates

Several months ago, I wrote a short piece discussing what I believed to be illegal business practices used by LinkedIn.   In an earlier note, we released a detailed analysis of LinkedIn, focusing in its IPO valuation, business risks, the IPO valuation process and several other topics critical for investors interested in shares of this social media firm and others like it.     You will recall that LinkedIn sold about 8% of its total outstanding shares to the public in its IPO debut. In other words, the float was 8%.   As of today, seven months later, the number of shares available in the market is approximately 40%. Meanwhile, the share price of LinkedIn has declined by about 22%, or about 12% after adjusting for the decline in the Nasdaq.

December 2011 Economic Overview

Morgan Stanley recently downgraded its forecast for 2012 global growth to 3.5% from 3.8%. Remember in August, Morgan Stanley cut its global forecast for GDP growth down to 3.9% (from 4.2%) and 3.8% (from 4.5%) for 2011 and 2012, respectively.   In June, the IMF forecast 2.5% and 2.7% GDP growth in 2011 and 2012, respectively. This latest revision comes closer to the organization’s 2% benchmark for a global recession.    Also recall in September the IMF cut U.S. GDP growth forecasts to 1.5% and 1.8% for 2011 and 2012, respectively. The consensus growth estimates for the U.S. in 2011 and 2012 from Wall Street analysts and private economists was also cut in August to 1.5% and 2.2% for 2011 and 2012, respectively.    On September 29, Citigroup slashed its global GDP growth forecast to 3% and 2.9% for 2011 and 2012, respectively. This was the bank’s second downward revision in less than a month.

Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 1)

In many ways, the social media craze really isn’t much different than its trash TV counterpart, which often features episodes from the lives of self-absorbed, dysfunctional, attention-seeking individuals who have allowed TV cameras into their homes for the chance at fame. Perhaps the most ironic aspect of “reality TV” is that the majority of these shows are scripted. Regardless whether you tune into the Learning Channel, the History Channel or the Biography channel, you’re likely to run into one of several broadcasts of wasted air time highlighting the challenges of morbidly obese individuals in their quest to lose weight, resolve behavioral issues and other unfortunate predicaments. Other shows place idiots and heathens on center stage for a fighting match. Most of these programs are specifically intended to pervert and corrupt society through glamorization of vanity, greed, promiscuity and vulgarity, as only the Hollywood establishment of homosexuals, pedophiles, drug addicts and other demented souls could accomplish.

December 2011 U.S. Housing Market Overview

The real estate market continues to show little signs of life. Despite record-low mortgage rates and a collapse in home prices, builders see little demand for new homes due to the record-high overhang of existing homes on the market, including the record-high level of foreclosed properties (4.29% of all active loans) which have continued to gain most attention from buyers due to much lower prices. Even more disturbing is that the fact new foreclosures are outpacing foreclosure sales by a factor of 3 to 1. This means that the existing home inventory due to foreclosures is growing by 3 times the rate of foreclosure sales. But there may be some relief in sight for the rapid flood of foreclosed properties hitting the market. Due to the robo-signing and foreclosure gate scandals, foreclosures are setting new records in with respect to the time it takes for these properties to be processed through the legal system. The average loan in foreclosure has now been delinquent a record 631 days. To some, it would appear that the easiest way to save a good deal of money would be to simply stop paying their mortgage (and property taxes) and live rent free for a couple of years. Economists insist that a healthy housing market is the key to an economic recovery because it creates jobs. After previous recessions, housing accounted for at least 15% of economic growth in the United States. Since the official end of the recession in June 2009, it has contributed only 4%. Economists have pointed to this data to explain why the economy shows no signs of recovery. Economists look closely at new homes sales even though these sales only comprise 20% of the total because new home construction is thought to have a much larger impact on the economy. According to the National Association of Home Builders, each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue. Although we here at AVA Investment Analytics feel this claim is exaggerated, the more important issue is that a healthy real estate market does not lead to a truly healthy economy unless such an economy. A healthy real estate market is a consequence of a healthy economy because homebuyers need good stable jobs to afford a home. Robust creation of good jobs holds the key to a healthy economy.

Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 2)

We continue from Part 1   Facebook’s Bait-and-Switch When Facebook began it didn’t have any advertisements. Similar to most small companies which embrace the capitalist growth model, Facebook changed from serving its users to serving corporations. I argue this was Zuckerberg’s intention from the very beginning. We have seen the same transformation take place (albeit more slowly) with eBay, Yahoo!, YouTube and several other sites. The strategy used by most websites is to first focus on building a large user base. This is achieved by offering exceptional features or posting original content or some other way to create the perception of value. The intent is to lure users. Once the user base is large, the site owners pull the old bait-and-switch routine as they begin to focus more on the advertisers than the users. While most people take the bait, rarely do they spot the switch or else realize its full ramifications. Alternatively, they don’t care when these sites realign themselves towards corporate agendas because society has conditioned them against forward-thinking.   Like all social media, Facebook is designed as a Trojan horse. It markets itself as a site for its users. This is specifically why the term social networking is often used by users to reflect the perceived utility of these sites.  However, social media has been designed specifically to hook users into a myriad of ads, many of which are disguised. In this manner, it resembles traditional media. Facebook isn’t merely in the business of selling ad space. It sells targeted ad space based on each user’s profile and pattern of use on the site. The ads are selected and placed in a way to capture the most attention from each individual based on their preferences, behaviors, likes and dislikes.   Corporate America spends nearly $400 billion each year in advertising and marketing, and nearly half of this amount is spent online.  With billions of dollars to be made, can you really trust Facebook with your information? Corporate ad dollars are drawn to social media because ads are linked to the statistics, emotions and behavioral patterns of each user. Ads found on social media are designed to focus on certain aspects of emotional and psychological response and reaction so that subconscious messages are implanted into the mind of the targeted user. This type of advertising is much more manipulative that the Joe Camel category.   While Microsoft and Google surpass the data collection and analysis technologies used by Facebook, the big distinction is that users remain largely anonymous when they use websites and applications run by Microsoft and Google. In contrast, when you use social media, you have no anonymity. That means advertisers can target your thoughts and anticipate your reactions.

Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 3)

Previously I discussed how Facebook has reaped tremendous benefits from mass promotion by the (Jewish-run) media. I also discussed the real agenda of social media pointing to the dangers to society. Finally, I detailed how Facebook has received the full support of Jewish finance capital. Thus, Facebook represents one of many cases of promotion of a Jewish-run business by the Jewish mafia.   Part 1   Part 2   Here, I discuss how Wall Street and the media have engineered a pump-and-dump scheme in order to steal billions of dollars from unsuspecting investors. I will also discuss how the media promotes Jews as a way to enrich them while neglecting its perceived role as a provider of unbiased and credible insight.

The Jewish Mafia is Not a Religious or Racial Label

Careful observers can spot numerous examples of Jewish control, fraud and deceit everywhere they look. These deviant activities are widespread throughout Wall Street, the banking industry, the media, corporate America and the federal government. As influential as these segments of society are, the control held by the Jewish mafia certainly does not end there. Their influence can be found in virtually every aspect of U.S. society. The same applies to Canada and Europe.     The Jewish mafia works in a unified manner in order to more easily achieve its objectives. Over the decades, this mafia has caused U.S. society has become weakened and perverted, both economically and morally, all while Jewish-controlled Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, media and government continue to defraud and deceive the people.   Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the Jewish mafia is that it has successfully duped the U.S. to fight wars for Israel. This has cost millions of lives, trillions of dollars, and a life time of suffering for the survivors. Without a doubt, America is headed towards complete economic and moral insolvency if something is not done to radically alter the power structure of the Jewish mafia from its reach into Washington.   As one delves into each segment of society to identify control by the Jewish mafia, we cannot forget that this vast crime syndicate rarely acts alone. Without the greed and criminality of gentiles, the Jewish mafia would be much less effective. Much of the same can be said about the victims of the Jewish mafia. As long as greedy, dishonest and naive people exist, the Jewish mafia will have plenty of victims.     The Jewish mafia continues to gain more power each day, without any challenge whatsoever. In past decades, they were careful to rule from the sidelines so as to avoid any notice by others. With each passing day, this mafia continues to take the spotlight as if to deliver the message that they don’t care if people realize they are in control of things.  

Tired of Internet Ads? Let Me Show You How to Block Them

One of the faster growing ad firms is called Ad Choices, which is run by Turner Broadcasting. Ad Choices is frequently used on many sites, including Yahoo! for instance.

Jewish Media Criminals Continue to Get Us Shut Down

We will be forced to raise our rates in coming months. These rate increases will continue into indefinately as long as our reach remains completely restrained due to the ban placed on us by the JEWISH MEDIA CRIMINALS.

Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 4)

Previously I discussed the dangers of the media, pointing to numerous examples, from Google and Yahoo! to Wikipedia. I also discussed how Wall Street and venture firms orchestrate pump-and-dump schemes. And I have attempted to tie all of this into Facebook.  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Here, I discuss more details of pump-and-dump mechanism carried out by Wall Street and venture capital firms. If you pay close attention, this just might be one of the more informative articles you will read as an investor because it will help you understand how to spot and therefore avoid stock bubbles instead of getting caught in the media hype, as most do.   When one asks market advocates why the capital markets are so important to the U.S. economy, the usual response is something like this…

Don't Be Fooled by Jared Taylor's American Renaissance. It's Run By Jews

Opening Statement from the July 2019 Intelligent Investor (part 1) 

Opening Statement from the July 2019 Intelligent Investor (part 1)  Originally published on July 11, 2019 (pre-market release) Overview The U.S. is now enjoying its longest economic expansion in history. As well, the U.S. stock market continues to make new record highs as it adds to the longest bull market in U.S. history. And even more upside is expected over the next several months. But much depends on the details of successful trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. A sustained period of record low interest rates has fueled the search for yield which has enabled the real estate market to post pre-crisis highs. Although interest rates have risen beyond record-low levels over the past few years, the real estate market remains quite strong along with consumer spending. Finally, the stock market has also benefited from low rates. The post-crisis period has thus far been particularly good for dividend securities relative to net historical returns. Because we believe the upper limit for short-term interest rates is being approached, our expectation of a continued low interest rate environment bodes well for the real estate and stock markets. Adding a strong labor market to the mix ensures the continuation of strong consumer spending and sentiment. On the surface the U.S. economy looks quite strong. The unemployment rate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in close to 70 years (1960s). However, such a low unemployment rate has led to a disproportionate low rate of wage growth. Although wages are rising, the rate of increase is below that expected given such a low unemployment rate. Thus, the exceptionally low unemployment rate alone should not be viewed to confirm the strength of the economy. Clearly there’s another side to the employment data that’s not being discussed openly by officials. Although wage growth has been incommensurate with the low unemployment rate, consumer price inflation remains relatively subdued. Based on current economic data and forward projections, we believe there is no need for the Fed to raise interest rates much more than 25 to 50 basis points (most likely) over the next 12 months. Moreover, persistently low U.S. Treasury yields continue to slant the Fed with a more dovish bias.  Although solid, the U.S. economy is not nearly as strong as it appears on the surface. During a period when the fiscal stimulus is waning, trade uncertainty has caused variable damage to numerous sectors within the business world. Fortunately, consumer sentiment and spending remain very robust. In addition to rising geopolitical risks as well as worrisome weakening in the Eurozone, we cannot forget about the numerous risks embedded within China’s financial system. Combined with risks from trade, China’s financial system has become much more fragile.  There are many other issues of concern, such as the persistently high...

Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 5)

Previously I discussed the dangers of the media, pointing to numerous examples, from Google and Yahoo! to Wikipedia. I also discussed how Wall Street and venture firms orchestrate pump-and-dump schemes. And I have attempted to tie all of this into Facebook.  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3    Part 4   As I have stated before, I can almost guarantee you that LinkedIn (LNKD) and Groupon (GRPN) will trade significantly lower than their IPO debut in coming years if not sooner. Although it is impossible to know the fate of these overvalued firms for certain (because the cash they have raised in their IPO enables them to acquire a host of other Internet assets), my guess is that LinkedIn and Groupon will trade in the single digits within 2-4 years. 

Do You Have a Financial Advisor/Money Manager/Financial Planner? You Better Read This

Without drawing this out into a long piece, we wanted to remind everyone of a few realities which we will summarize below. If you have someone handling your investments, you had better damn well make sure they are following someone who knows what's going on.

February 2012 Global Economics Summary

Over the past nine months we have emphasized our view that much more risk lay ahead relative to estimates given by Wall Street, the IMF and others. We have also continued to remind readers that investor’s perception of risk is likely to bounce from region to region over the next few years, similar to the movement of a ball in a pinball machine. Moreover, the possibility of a cascading sequence of adverse economic events is possible at every target this ball strikes.  Just prior to the initial market selloff in 2011, we warned subscribers of the Intelligent Investor of a market correction in the May 2011 issue. We also provided warnings a couple of months earlier pointing to a weakening global economy in the second half of 2011. The peak risk during this cycle occurred in early October 2011.

ENCYCLOPEDIA of Bozos, Hacks, Snake Oil Salesmen & Faux Heroes

The following text and descriptive images comprise the prelude to the Encyclopedia of Bozos, Hacks, Snake Oil Salesmen & Faux Heroes.  The full report includes hundreds of pages of text, hundreds of annotated images and dozens of videos detailing a very large number of the plethora of con artists, idiots and fakes largely from within the financial and financial publishing industries.  In 2017 we added a new resource portal to the Encyclopedia focused on displaying thousands of annotated images exposing the various con artists and shills from the financial media.  This portal is called the "AVAIA Image Library" and can be accessed by logging into your Member or Client account and clicking on the blue box to the left of the Home Page directly under the top image carousel.  "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." Mark Twain                   Typical media is manufactured PR designed to sell you products and ideas paid for by those who pony up the bucks.                 Let it be known that Mike Stathis has been banned by all media (mainstream and alternative) and all websites. You need to ask yourself why the leading investment analyst in the world has been banned by ALL media. Spend some time on our website and you will learn why. If a website or other source of insight pertaining to topics in finance, economics, the capital markets, investments, precious metals, trade, globalization has not not referenced the work of Mike Stathis, the source cannot be trusted and should be considered disinfo.  Mike has also been banned by Google Adsense (within the first month of using it, which really enabled us to see how fraudulent the media is). Even email marketing services like Constant Contact and iContact, which charge fees for use have banned Stathis from being a paid customer (Mike had the last laugh though because he called hedge funds he knows and instructed them to short Constant Contact, sending the stock plummeting by 50% over the next several months). There is not a single website that will publish Mike's content except for PressTV.  However, now that PressTV is in partnership with Veterans Today (a disinfo site that removed Mike's articles and banned him because the site is for complete disinfo, run by Jews). Did you know it was Mike Stathis who was responsible for getting PressTV banned from Europe?   That's right. Here is the article that achieved that. The Rape of Greece by the Jewish Bankers It looks like the Jewish Mafia is running scared of Stathis. Publication of this article also led to other actions taken by the Jewish Mafia against PressTV, including removal of is Adsense account on You Tube. The Death of America  It is indeed a shame that PressTV does not realize that it is working with several Jewish disinfo agents. The fact is that REAL sources of credibility who side with the people get banned. They are not celebrated by any media as saviors, mainstream or alternative. Whenever you see someone being positioned as on the side of the people to a large audience, you can bet they are either disinfo or controlled opposition. Here is a tiny list of the many examples: Alex Jones, Ron Paul, David Stockman, Paul Craig Roberts, Michael Lewis, Matt Taibbi, Nomi Prins, Michael Moore, etc.                         Michael Lewis? Another Jewish fraud who distracts from the real issues by focusing on nonsense.     It is time to wake up. This massive publication is designed to achieve that critical objective. As we entered the Information Age people started to believe that everyone could now be successful investors because we all had access to the same information. This couldn’t be further from the truth. First, everyone still does not have access to the same information. Second, information alone was never valuable. Unless you are able to know what information is good or bad, reliable or shaky, you may as well shut yourself out of the information loop because more so than ever, information is being manipulated by a multitude of ways.       It’s been about access to information, but rather the interpretation of information. If you don’t know how to decipher deceptive or inaccurate information from reasonable information, you’re going to lose your ass in the stock and bond markets. That is an absolute guarantee. I will also guarantee you this. You have about a 0.1% chance of deciphering information correctly on your own. If you are unwilling to accept this reality, chances are that you do not have what it takes to do well investing because a good part of success in investing mandates understanding your limitations and working within these boundaries. Those who either fail to understand their limitations or else delves into areas for which they are not competent nearly always fail, often times in a very big way. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to learn how to make money from the investment process, you must first learn who and what sources to avoid, otherwise you will get blasted. The ENCYCLOPEDIA focuses on this aspect of the investment process. The second thing you must do is align yourself with a proven expert; an expert who has demonstrated an excellent track record. Finally, if you want to optimize your learning experience and become the best investor you can be, you must be able to learn from great investors. Those investors must be willing to share with you their insights on how to improve your skills. This requirement is often related to the second. Forget the thinking that you will be able to read books by so-called "great investors" and obtain valuable insight. That just isn't going to happen, EVER. How do we know this?  Because we have searched the financial/investment publishing world extensively. The confusing or misleading thing for many investors is that they might THINK a book has provided them with some valuable or unique insight when in reality, such investors know so little that the hurdle for satisfying their thirst for investment knowledge is quite low.  Our chief investment strategist Mike Stathis satisfies all three of these critical steps. He exposes the clowns, has an outstanding track record, and provides his clients with unique insights that help them become better investors. In part, we specifically sought to address this issue by identifying various hacks and charlatans. The result was Encyclopedia of Bozos, Hacks, Snake Oil Salesmen and Faux Heroes. But we aimed further. Our ultimate goal was to present this material in a way that would help readers spot these charlatans on their own. This ENCYCLOPEDIA is no doubt the single most valuable resource for investors and consumers alike because it addresses rule number one; avoid liars, con men and morons. If you follow any such individuals, you are destined to fall into the gutter. Only by learning who you cannot trust will you begin to understand who you can trust. This publication contains descriptions of individuals and websites that should be avoided at all cost because they provide false information so as to manipulate the naive. The individuals in the list are marketers, snake oil salesmen, idiots and/or complete con artists. Many have used basic psychological techniques to position themselves as spokesmen and even “saviors” or “heroes” of the common man, so as to get their sheep followers to open their wallets, similar to the tactics used by televangelists.  Virtually every single individual discussed in this ENCYCLOPEDIA is also an extremist. This too is part of the tactic used to lure the masses because the typical person (who is not that bright) can more easily grasp extremes. In this massive and rapidly expanding ENCYCLOPEDIA, we present the means and methods of these charlatans so that the reader can become skilled in spotting others who work in the same manner. The number new con games are being created faster than we can keep up with. However, when it comes to exposing the doomsday con men, notice how they all say the same things and deliver the same messages: “The U.S. is broke and the dollar is headed to 0.” “The U.S. stock market is set to collapse to 1000 to 3000.” “The U.S. is going to hit hyperinflation and gold is the only way to protect your wealth” “Gold is headed to the moon.” “We can save you from the apocalypse for a small price.” Of course, only an idiot or crook would make these ridiculous claims. These clowns lure their unsophisticated sheep into their vortex of illusion and deceit using statements like “the Federal Reserve currency printing is out of control.”         Then they twist and exaggerate facts while adding a crock of shit to the mix, all of which leads to fear and anxiety for those who are stupid enough to buy into this pitch. The genesis of this deceptive method was arguably first used by Kevin Trudeau on a large scale. Next, the method was adapted by Alex Jones. Jones refined this technique a good deal, making him one of the biggest bullshit artists alive today. More recently, we saw this method applied to the investment world, first by Peter Schiff, then by Porter Stansberry, Zero Hedge, Max Keiser and others.   Now it is being used by Chris Martenson, Doug Casey and others.               Even before Schiff got into the game of issuing delusional scare tactics, Martin Weiss was pulling off even more ridiculous pitches when Schiff graduated college more than 20 years ago. This ENCYCLOPEDIA has been in development for several years under the investigative lead of Mike Stathis. We continue to find out new information about these charlatans. We also continue to add new charlatans to this list. It is constantly being updated and reedited, so check back periodically. While the list is focused on investment-related charlatans, we expect to gradually expand it to include internet scam artists, such as internet marketers, gurus, MLM scammers, and many others who seek to exploit the desperation of the huge and growing population of individuals who are in a situation of financial vulnerability. These are the individuals targeted by these scam artists. This encyclopedia is GUARANTEED to provide the most insightful awakening of its kind, all while saving the would-be victims who without reading and studying this report, would be subject to potentially losing at minimum, tens of thousands of dollars due to poor investment advice and in some cases, complete scams. Now if you think this huge pool of idiots, liars and con men are restricted to the Internet and so-called alternative media, think again. Every single mainstream media firm is also involved in pumping the delusional, misleading and inaccurate statements, predictions, comments and forecasts of these clowns. This is a fact. Don't believe me?  Well, all that means is that you are not a careful observer of the media. Don't worry though because those who are patched into our research and other publications develop the skills needed to be able to spot things that previous flew past them undetected. And if you ever want a chance to be a good investor, you must have this ability as a basic part of your skill set. Okay so let me give you a very brief example of just one of the pieces of evidence confirming that the biggest media firms are also involved in pumping con men, idiots and losers, all with miserable track records. Like most major media firms which have a large financial division, each year Reuters holds what calls its “Reuters Investment Outlook Summit” in New York. Bloomberg has several of its own, as does Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, CNBC and so forth. Okay so let me give you a very brief example of just one of the pieces of evidence confirming that the biggest media firms are also involved in pumping con men, idiots and losers, all with miserable track records. We all know what kind of dog-and-pony show such events sponsored by CNBC would be, but surely Reuters’ event must be legit, right? After all, Reuters claims to be an unbiased newswire. As you are going to discover, the summits Reuters’ holds are bogus, and filled with media clowns. Here's how they define their summits: "Reuters Summits are your direct link to top business leaders, investors and regulators. Our journalists interview heavyweights in a particular industry, spin out hard-hitting breaking news and sharp analysis that can often move markets. If you want to understand what the insiders are thinking, look for Reuters Summits."   So who are some of the clowns selected as these "heavyweights" by Reuters? Jim Cramer, Robert Prechter, Nouriel Roubini, to name a few. As you can imagine, virtually every major clown is on one or more of these summits hosted by the criminal media. The disturbing thing is that Reuters basically endorses its participants indirectly by claiming its summit has credibility. Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, CNBC, FOX, and so on run the same kinds of bullshit scams featuring clowns, knowing that most people are sheep and actually think the media is legit. Sadly, neither Reuters nor any media firm can be held legally responsible for endorsing the chumps it endorses. However, I feel this is completely illegal given the fact that Reuters receives ad revenues from these clowns. But we must not forget who runs the media, who runs the legal system, who runs virtually all major law firms, and who most of the big judges are. They are all part of the Jewish Mafia. And take a guess who runs the SEC. This also explains why none of the Wall Street crooks have gone to prison. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? As a professional analyst, I just report the facts and provide an objective assessment based on the facts. There is no fiction or extrapolation here folks. Make no mistake. Virtually every single one of the clowns in the media dubbed as an economic or financial "expert" is always Jewish, represents a Jewish-run firm and/or spends lots of money advertising. Oh and by the way, for those of you who have been unfortunate enough to throw away your money on publications from the so-called "financial newsletter industry," you might now realize why the price of subscription to their trash is so high...much of the cost is going to those who advertise for them…the media. So, in effect, you are paying the media to promote these con men, all while you lose your ass in the stock market. That, folks is fraud. And they get away with it because they are the Jewish Mafia.           If this is your first time reading this, you are going to be overwhelmed and shocked because chances are extremely high that one if not all of the sources you thought you could trust for financial and economic information will be discredited here. It was pretty shocking to learn that after many years of investigation, virtually eveyone out there is a con man looking to exploit you. Are people inherently good?  After reading this, you just might have a different take on humanity.    The text and descriptive images you have just examined comprise the prelude to the Encyclopedia of Bozos, Hacks, Snake Oil Salesmen & Faux Heroes.  The full report includes hundreds of pages of text, hundreds of annotated images and dozens of videos detailing a very large number of the plethora of con artists, idiots and fakes largely from within the financial and financial publishing industries.  You can gain access to the full contents of this massive educational library exposing the names and tactics of the various financial charlatans by signing up as a Member or Client.  Check here for Client and Member Benefits. Check here for Member Resources.   In 2017 we added a new resource portal to the Encyclopedia focused on displaying thousands of annotated images exposing the various con artists and shills from the financial media.  This portal is called the "AVAIA Image Library" and can be accessed by logging into your Member or Client account and clicking on the blue box to the left of the Home Page directly under the top image carousel.  Sign into your account to enter the ENCYCLOPEDIA.     Special Promotion For New Members And Membership Renewals        

A Look at Some Big Moves in Some Big Stocks

At AVA Investment Analytics, we cover a very large number of securities; many more securities than the 65 or so that we provide trading guidance for in our newsletters. The key to our success is knowing several companies well enough to know when to buy and well to sell. We also determine the probability of each security to hit/miss/beat earnings estimates. Finally, we utilize our stock market forecast to determine a scenario analysis for each security in order to generate a relative risk profile. Despite the fact that we are very limited in our abilities to provide subscribers to our newsletters with frequent trading opportunities, we have managed to blow away the indices each year (a precise determination of the outperformance level is impossible because we provide a scenario analysis for each security in these publications, so each investor will have different results. And we lack the man power to determine the results for each scenario for each security each month). 

Market Guidance & Investment Strategy

Taken from the opening section from the March 2012 issue of Dividend Gems   In late January the Federal Reserve Bank announced that it intended to keep short-term interest rates at current levels until at least late 2014. This announcement has several ramifications. First, it implies that fixed income yields will remain low for some time. This bodes well for the U.S. stock market. Second, it increases the chance of a sudden and large rise in interest rates beyond 2015. Third, it further increases the possibility of further quantitative easing, which is also likely to boost the stock market. While the Fed has indicated that it did not envision another phase of easing, its actions speak louder than their words, as Fed officials have already discussed a modified form of easing. Last month we discussed that the S&P 500 Index was in the process of closing in on the very important gap at 1360. As of March 13 (intraday), the S&P 500 is trading at 1383, and has thus confirmed the bullish sentiment. Again, this is a very positive development that we feel was catalyzed by the interest rate announcement by the Federal Reserve in late January.       Furthermore, the S&P 500 Index has also blown past its short-term gap at 1372. Although it is still too soon to technically confirm a continuation of the short-term bullish trend, based on other variables and in absence of significant material events, we feel this bullish move will continue.       Last month, we compared the two most recent periods of economic and market risk (summer 2010 versus fall 2011). In this analysis, we noted the striking level of pattern symmetry, adding support for a continuation of the bullish move in the U.S. equities markets. We must also take note of the much higher level of price volatility from the more recent period of ascent from the trough (fall 2011).

The Next Shoe to Drop

This discussion was taken from the Global Economics section from the February 2012 issue of the Intelligent Investor newsletter.   While the problems in Europe are far from over, this is news that everyone is aware of. If you want to do really well as an investor you must remain ahead of the curve. So instead of telling you that Portugal is in trouble, or guessing which nation will be after Greece...which by the way is really a useless discussion unless you happen to live in one of those nations or you hold teh soverign debt...I am going to look a few steps ahead so you can begin preparing for the next tidal wave. For several months now, I have been discussing the risk to developing and emerging economies; a risk created by financial institutions from advanced economies. Although there has not yet been a clear-cut collapse of developing Asia or the emerging economies, we have seen some select episodes of this inescapable consequence.  

April 2012 Big Picture Report (Part 1)

In past issues of this publication we have discussed numerous variables we look at when forecasting the market. Our work in market forecasting is but one component of the design and implementation of a prudent investment strategy.

April 2012 Big Picture Report (Part 2)

A couple of months ago, we briefly discussed negative implications of GDP revisions. Here, we examine these revisions in more detail. We close this piece with an overview of global risks, as well as the solution to the problems in Europe. U.S. GDP data revisions released on July 29, 2011 indicate that the depth of the (officially stated) 2007–2009 recession was deeper than formerly thought. In addition, the subsequent period designated as an “expansion” was not as strong as previously reported. For instance, previously published estimates reported an annual decrease in GDP of 2.8% between Q4, 2007 and Q2, 2009. However, the revised reports state that real GDP decreased at an average annual rate of 3.5%. This revised data show that the cumulative decrease over the six quarters of contraction is now estimated at 5.1%, compared with 4.1% in the previously published estimates. This constitutes the largest slide in GDP since the Great Depression (or since the beginning of BEA’s quarterly real GDP estimates which began in 1947). The revised estimates also show larger decreases for Q4, 2008 (-8.9% vs. -6.8%) and for Q1, 2009 (-6.7% vs. -4.9%).

Market Guidance from March 2012 Dividend Gems

Originally Published on March 13, 2012, Dividend Gems Opening Statement   In late January the Federal Reserve Bank announced that it intended to keep short-term interest rates at current levels until at least late 2014. This announcement has several ramifications. First, it implies that fixed income yields will remain low for some time. This bodes well for the U.S. stock market. Second, it increases the chance of a sudden and large rise in interest rates beyond 2015. This does not bode well for the stock market. Third, it further increases the possibility of further quantitative easing, which is also likely to boost the stock market. While the Fed has indicated that it did not envision another phase of easing, its actions speak louder than their words, as Fed officials have already discussed a modified form of easing. Last month we discussed that the S&P 500 Index was in the process of closing in on the very important gap at 1360. As of March 13 (intraday), the S&P 500 is trading at 1383, and has thus confirmed the bullish sentiment. Again, this is a very positive development that we feel was catalyzed by the interest rate announcement by the Federal Reserve in late January (chart 1).

Lessons in Active Management

Originally Published on March 13, 2012 Taken from March 2012 Dividend Gems   Most dividend investors make the mistake of using a buy-and-hold approach. Rather than being concerned about their total account value, they focus on their stream of income from cash dividends. As a result, most dividend investors remain fully invested. This is the wrong approach. While it is certainly important to focus on the dividend income, it is perhaps more important to focus on risk. This mandates that investors understand many variables that allow them to forecast the stock market. But there is no specific formula that can be consistently utilized to understand and measure risk.  By having reasonable estimates of market forecasting, valuation analysis and other variables, investors can make prudent asset allocation decisions in accord with their risk tolerance, investment objectives and skill level. This means that there will be times when investors will be majority invested in to the stock market and times when they have a good deal of cash.

Economic Focus: Canada

In this report, we analyze Canada's economic health, its long-term fiscal challenges and examine whether the nation is experiencing a real estate bubble. In this part of the discussion, we dissect the inner workings of the Canadian real estate finance sector, pointing to striking differences and similarities with the U.S. Finally, we discuss the risks of an economic slowdown that could pose as a challenge for Canada, independent of shocks to the euro zone, as well as from a slowdown in the commodities sector.

Opening Statement from the January 2012 Intelligent Investor Newsletter

After nearly four years of harsh economic consequences, we have seen little if any progress by the criminal puppets in Washington. Despite the continuous lies from a variety of partisan sources, there has been no real job creation. We have only heard delusions, excuses and lame duck proposals. Without surprise, not one single individual from the economic, academic or media circle has called for the criminal prosecution of countless Wall Street executives for their role in securities fraud that wrecked the global economy. Despite claims from the Obama Administration and its supporting institutions, there has been no Wall Street reform, no healthcare reform and no trade policy reform. Yet, Americans continue to be distracted and fooled by the media establishment, which continues provide an amble supply of talking head puppets supportive of the fascist establishment known as “democracy and free markets.” Establishment economists and Wall Street shysters have played a prominent role in the propaganda campaign as well. While the denials and distractions continue, no one has addressed the real problems.

The Future of the U.S. Real Estate Market (Intro)

Taken from the January 2012 Intelligent Investor   Overview Home ownership has been a vital component of Washington’s economic strategy for decades. The marketing end of this strategy has positioned home ownership as a key element of the so-called “American Dream.”  For millions of Americans who are under water with their mortgage, facing foreclosure or in one of many stages of default, home ownership has become an “American Nightmare,” riddled with a variety of caveats ranging from millions of foreclosures, the poor effect and other undesirable consequences.  The Real Estate Bubble chapter in America's Financial Apocalypse* opened with a discussion illustrating why home ownership is usually not a prudent investment choice. Let’s take a look at a small portion of the discussion presented in this book… "A few decades ago, the real estate and mortgage industries devised a marketing campaign to increase business. They began preaching a myth to Americans that home ownership is always a great investment with no risk, because “home prices always go up.”     As a matter of fact, these industries have even made claims that real estate is a better investment than the stock market and has led to more millionaires. These statements are simply not true as historical data indicates.    As a result of this propaganda, most Americans have the misconception that they can buy a home and it will always go up in price. But this is not necessarily true, especially when buying during the last stages of a real estate bubble.   Even without the effects of a bubble, in many cases the annual expenses associated with home ownership wipe out most of the gains in appreciation, yielding relatively modest returns.     For the average American, the fact is that residential real estate typically provides about the same rate of return over a twenty- to thirty-year period as a money market mutual fund after you deduct the total costs of property ownership. However, unlike a money market fund, owners of real estate have significant liquidity risk as well as other risks specific to this asset class.   Of course, there are several variables that can deviate from these results, such as obtaining a low-interest fixed mortgage, buying a home in an area that becomes rejuvenated, and so forth. But these are not typical conditions and therefore cannot be relied upon with much certainty. Regardless, widespread speculation continues to fuel perhaps the biggest real estate bubble ever seen in America. And the consequences are going to be devastating for millions."   Source: America’s Financial Apocalypse, 2006 (expanded edition, chapter 10)   Today, you hear several individuals preaching what this book proved prior to the collapse in real estate. I would like to remind you that it’s easy to warn of a fire once the fire is ablaze. Such individuals are always late to the party.**

The Future of the U.S. Real Estate Market (Part 1)

Taken from the January 2012 Intelligent Investor   Boosting home ownership rates has been a goal shared by all previous U.S. Administrations. With the housing market still vulnerable, the Obama Administration has been pointing more towards sustainable home ownership. As a part of the ongoing debate on fiscal consolidation, some have raised the question of whether the U.S. should reconsider its role in housing finance.  The United States has a complex housing finance system with numerous measures that explicitly target home ownership. Most of these measures are indirect/off balance sheet in nature such as providing tax expenditure policies and offering federal credit, insurance and guarantee programs. These programs are also very expensive, and primarily benefit middle- and high-income households.

Exposed: Texe Marrs & Obama, Alex Jones & Ron Paul

In the past, I have written some pieces on Obama, Alex Jones and Ron Paul. Because I cover so many things, from investment and economic analysis, to healthcare and politics, my time continues to become more limited.   That is the result when you have been cut off from the world by the Internet and the media, and this censorship is being done as a way to starve our operations financially.   Therefore, in effort to save some time I have identified several videos that say much of what I would otherwise spend time writing.   While I do not necessarily agree with everything in each of these videos, I do agree with their overall message and tone.   I want to also encourage you to check the free videos posted in the library (click here) because in the future these videos will be restricted to members and subscribers of our newsletters.   We have already spent the time to locate and download more than 500 critical videos that are not yet posted. We continue to add to this database and will post more in the future.    The first video focuses primarily on the Rothschild-Illuminati-Free Masonry connection. Before you watch it, I wanted to make a few points.

The Future of the U.S. Real Estate Market (Part 2)

Taken from the January 2012 Intelligent Investor   This is a continuation from Part 1 of this 3-part series. Click here to read Part 1.   Historical Examination of Home Ownership Rates The home ownership rate was fairly stable prior to WWII, ranging from about 43% to 48%. During the Great Depression, Washington created numerous subsidies in order to boost demand (e.g. government-insured loans from the VA). By the late 1960s, home ownership soared to nearly 64% where it would largely remain for several decades, buttressed by several additional subsidies and a transformation in housing finance. The baby boom effect also led to the surge in home ownership. Since most first-time homebuyers are between 25-40 years of age, most baby boomers bought their first home in the 1970s. After experiencing a large drop in home ownership rates in the 1980s (the reasons are mixed; some say inflation, others say tax rate cuts, others say reduced affordability), the 1990s was the period of the housing boom.

The Future of the U.S. Real Estate Market (Part 3)

Compared to the U.S., housing finance in Canada is less subsidized by the government. In fact, the Canadian government’s housing finance policies do not explicitly favor home ownership unlike the case seen in the U.S. This is likely to come as a surprise to many, given the stereotype that the Canadian economy is largely socialist.

SCAM ALERT: Harry Dent Minion, Charles Sizemore Wants to Sell You His "Secret" Strategy that Beats S&P 500 by 2000%

Global Economic Overview, May 2012

Originally Published on May 11, 2012 (May 2012 Dividend Gems)   As we enter a new cycle of global macroeconomic risk, the U.S. stock market continues to resist being pulled into the euro zone vortex. Despite having recently declined to a low of 12,689, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has since rallied past 13,350, only to face another retracement. It is now poised to experience a more sizable retracement. While the S&P 500 has faced a similar series of volatile movements, it maintains a technically weaker outlook in coming days/weeks. All things considered, thus far the U.S. market has remained fairly bullish due to continued earnings strength. However, earnings momentum is fading. During the early part of earnings season about 80% of companies beat consensus estimates. As of May 10, that figure is down to 66.16% with 458 of 500 of the firms in the S&P 500 having reported. Despite the relatively strong performance seen in Consumer Staples in recent months, Procter & Gamble missed earnings by a large margin. Meanwhile, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark and Kraft continue to shine. At the other end of the spectrum, oil-related securities continue to show considerable weakness. Notably, Chevron has thus far held up considering the retracement in crude pricing.    Although Cisco beat consensus earnings estimates, shares plunged after managed lowered full-year 2012 earnings. Many analysts are now beginning to question whether the Information Technology sector will maintain its outstanding earnings growth through 2012. Corporate profit margins for firms in the S&P 500 continue to remain high. Combined with record-low interest rates, the U.S. stock market remains positioned for continued upside, albeit after the current risk cycle has passed. Another concern related to future earnings (and thus market valuation) is the issue of corporate profit margins. Despite concerns of an approaching contraction in profit margins, we do not believe this is likely for another two years or more due to a variety of reasons. 

How to Short Stocks: Critical Lessons from the Intelligent Investor

In The November 2010 issue of the Intelligent Investor, we listed 25 stocks with high short interest that we felt were of interest. These stocks were not necessarily those with the highest short interest, rather they stood out as potential candidates for big moves in coming months for a variety of reasons. We noted that the presentation should be viewed as an educational segment because our analysis was very superficial. Nevertheless, we provided a brief fundamental and technical analysis of each of these stocks in order to point to what we felt would result in some very substantial moves (up or down) in coming months. The following passage was taken from the November 2010 issue to describe the purpose and best use of this material: “Below I have listed some securities with high short interest ratios that I found interesting. Remember, a high short interest ratio increases the chances of a large upward or downward move in shares, depending on material events such as earnings, upgrades/downgrades, etc. After each security I have listed some brief notes. However, this should by no means be taken to imply a full assessment. Each assessment involved about a 20-second glance at the basic numbers. Using my economic forecasts and estimates for different industries, I made these notes. In many cases, the notes do not consider specific fundamental issues. The bottom line is that this should be taken only as a very crude starting point.”   In the April 2011 issue we conducted a more in-depth analysis of the same securities and discussed their price trend since November. “In this section I provide an update from November when I listed some stocks that could offer trading opportunities due to a large short interest held by investors in most (but not all) of the following securities. As I previously discussed, one cannot and should not look at the short interest as the only gauge of investor sentiment. You must also examine the short interest ratio, fundamentals, valuation, contingent liabilities, and other risks. Finally, it is often very important to factor in your forecast of the overall stock market. I typically do not advise non-professional investors to ever short securities because it is the most risky investment move one can make. One of the most reliable indicators for gauging a bearish price performance of securities with a large short interest is the formation of a trend of increasing short interest over the course of a year. If you make the decision to short securities in the future, you should always wait for critical technical support levels to break down rather than taking a short position due only to a large short interest. The reason for this is two-fold. First, you are charged monthly interest to hold a short position and these fees can add up over time. More important, you could get caught in a short squeeze. Therefore, it is best for most who decide to short a security to pile in once the price decline has been established as confirmed by the technical data.”   Here, we are going to show you an update of these securities since we last mentioned them a year ago. You will notice that the comments we provided were generally bearish in nature (overvalued, poor fundamentals, forward challenges, etc.). This implies that we were pretty much bearish on most of these securities to the extent that we would have felt fairly comfortable holding short positions over an extended period, but ONLY if the fundamentals did not change. In some cases the fundamentals did change. This caused a short squeeze. As you will see in some of the charts, there were a few of the stocks that soared as a result of a short squeeze. If you were to have covered your short positions in these stocks once they began to squeeze, your total return for the entire short portfolio would have been very, very high. While we did offer an updated analysis to clients who scheduled a conference call, we did not provide a follow-up analysis for subscribers Okay, so let’s begin. For each group of 5 securities we will first provide the linear plot followed by the log plot.