Famed investor says stocks on 'sugar high'... Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of giant bond manager Pimco. The investor says the recovery may be gaining steam but is no different than a kid who eats too much candy at one of the birthday parties his 6-year-old daughter attends. "We're on a sugar high," El-Erian says. "It feels good for a while but is unsustainable."His point: This burst of economic activity fed by government spending and near-zero interest rates will soon peter out.As CEO at Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pimco, El-Erian, 51, oversees nearly $1 trillion in assets, more than the gross domestic product of most countries. So when he talks, people listen…What he's saying now:

· Stocks will drop 10 percent in the space of three or four weeks, bringing the Standard & Poor's 500 index below 1,000 - though he's not predicting when.

· The unemployment rate will be hovering above 8 percent a year from now.

· U.S. gross domestic product will grow at an average 2 percent or so for years to come - a third slower than we're used to.

…"I'm calling it as I see it," he says. "I'm not optimistic or pessimistic - I'm realistic."

AP: Ponzi collapses nearly quadrupled in '09 (AP) It was a rough year for Ponzi schemes. In 2009, the recession unraveled nearly four times as many of the investment scams as fell apart in 2008, with "Ponzi" becoming a buzzword again thanks to the co... NY Times’ Krugman Sees ‘Reasonably High Chance’ Economy Will Contract “The things we know about are all gonna be negative in the second half of next year.”

S&P sells on a price-to-earnings multiple of 88 after the recent financial results. That is a horrendous overvaluation. A reasonable p/e would be around 18-25…’ Economist Wachtel says practices that caused crisis in play, toxic assets still there, and economically sound lending not viable …El-Erian, 51, oversees nearly $1 trillion in assets, more than the gross domestic product of most countries. So when he talks, people listen…What he's saying now: Stocks will drop 10 percent in the space of three or four weeks, bringing the Standard & Poor's 500 index below 1,000 - though he's not predicting when… Breaking Point 2010: Top Trends with Gerald Celente …DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE IN 2010 FOR THE UNITED STATES TO END UP AS BADLY AS ARGENTINA A DECADE AGO? “Worse! Worse than Argentina because our debt problems are worse. This is classic empire decline. Argentina was not even an empire. We’re fighting wars in foreign countries as we are depleting the Treasury .…That’s why we are calling it:    Breaking Point 2010!”

Market moves and the lunatic fringe IMPLODING equities, exploding credit default swaps, soaring gold and slumping oil — if, at any time over the past 18 months, it seemed that markets were in the grip of lunacy, it may be because investors are, technically, lunatics. Sprott Calls The Fed “A Ponzi Scheme” As Half A Trillion In Treasury Purchasers Are Unaccounted For Here is the recent missive from Sprott Asset Management (written by Eric Sprott & David Franklin). It is a tad long but well worth the read. It basically explains plainly what is going on behind the Fed’s curtains to fund the massive US deficit. At first it seems that the common US household is stepping up and lending Uncle Sam the almost $2 billion.