Business Summary Links By Day

 

 

Dave’s Daily: http://www.etfdigest.com  BERNANKE IN ABC MODE ON ABC 3-27-12 ‘Sure, it’s one of my favorite movie scenes and I couldn’t resist it. The Fed is in full campaign mode as great as Obama and his GOP rivals. When stock prices seem in doubt the Fed is ready to launch more assurances accommodation (money printing) will be available. Monday’s rally was typical as we head toward the end of the quarter. Hedge fund performance fees are on the line and any way to boost these profits is job one. Top holdings for hedge funds include the usual suspects: AAPL, IBM, INTC, BAC, DIS, HD etc. With little volume it’s easy for algos and hedge funds to prop stocks on little hard news. Tuesday we briefly saw more of this. Just as markets were weakening a story appeared using the Fed’s favorite oracle, the WSJ, as Fed governor Rosengren stated, “more stimulus is on the table”. Immediately HFT algos jumped and markets rose if only briefly.On its face, the Fed wants higher stock prices to boost confidence in the economy. However from a practical view all they’ve succeeded in doing from my perspective is debasing the dollar creating inflation. The latter will be a problem for the next administration and even the current generation. It’s an all about “now” market in a politically charged year… , Bernanke Claims That The Fed Has Averted A Second Great Depression By Bailing Out The Too Big To Fail Banks  http://albertpeia.com/weareinsecondgreatdepression.htm  [  To the contrary, because of his policies and particularly the bailouts which facilitated consummation of and even greater frauds, the real economy, the nation, taxpayers will suffer a more severe fate than even that obfuscated by bad policy in this election-year expedience! ‘… When the last financial crisis began, the U.S. national debt was about 10 trillion dollars. Today, it has risen to 15.5 trillion dollars. So Bernanke did not fix anything. The best that can be said is that he kicked the can down the road a little bit and made our long-term financial problems a lot worse at the same time. Bernanke can create money out of thin air and loan it to his friends all he wants, but he is not going to be able to prevent this house of cards from crashing down…’ . He’s as much a fraud and incompetent bozo as ‘his buds who put him there’ for their purpose / benefit. The guy’s a dope http://albertpeia.com/30bunglebenbernankequotes.htm  , a fool which fact is lost on no one vis-à-vis the debased Weimar dollar  http://albertpeia.com/10reasonsdollarreservecurrencyending.htm  , who’s delusional  http://albertpeia.com/bunglerbenfedfedsfailure.htm . He’s a total fraud!  ] , Graham Summers’ Free Weekly Market Forecast (a tenuous balance)  March 26, 2012 By gpc1981 ‘…big trouble is lurking just beneath the surface. And should anything upset the current balance being maintained, we could see some real fireworks in the markets in short order.Indeed, we are facing a confluence of negative factors regarding Europe (political, monetary, fundamental, and technical) that indicate BIG TROUBLE could be hitting in May-June …’ , SkyNet Wars: How A Nasdaq Algo Destroyed BATS (What really happened is that a malicious, 100% intentional Nasdaq algorithm purposefully brought BATS stock to a price of 0.00 within 900 millisecond of the company's break for trading!) Following the May 2010 flash crash, the investing public hoped that as part of its "exhaustive report", the SEC would find and hold responsible the various components of a broken market structure, be it HFTs, ETFs, stubbing and sub-pennying algorithms, and all the other knowns and unknowns we have covered over the years. Instead, in what would prove to be a move of cataclysmic stupidity (if sadly understandable - the SEC, like everyone else "in charge" is used to dealing with a gullible and simplistic public, which has no access to the real data and analysis, and whose opinion could be easily manipulated, at least until now), the regulator blamed and scapegoated it all on a Waddell and Reed trade (we wonder just what the quid pro quo was to get the asset manager to roll over and take the blame despite protestations to the contrary, at least in the beginning). The result was that the same investing public realized that market structure is so corrupt, and so robotically mutated, there is no place for the small investor in this broken market. Last week's BATS IPO fiasco merely confirmed this. And as usual, BATS (whose chairman Ratterman has just been demoted even as he stays on as CEO) decided to take the "passive voice" approach and blame it all on a faceless, emotionless, motiveless "software glitch"… What happened is that a malicious, 100% intentional Nasdaq algorithm purposefully brought BATS stock to a price of 0.00 within 900 millisecond of the company's break for trading! This is open SkyNet warfare.’ , This Is The World's Balance SheetIt is rather surprising that in a world in which anything and everything is only about money, it is next to impossible to find a consolidated balance sheet of the world's insolvent economies (i.e., the developed countries: US, Japan and the Euro Area). So for all those seeking a visual presentation of all the liabilities that have to be inflated away by the central banks (because that's what this is all about), rejoice: the broke world is presented below in its glory. The irony is that the problem would be quite fixable if it weren't for one minor issue: the bulk of the world's assets also happen to be its liabilities! At the end of the day, this may prove to be the fatal flaw in the chairman's attempt to dilute the global liabilities, he will be doing the same with the assets. , Six Variations On A Theme By PrinteriniA prevalent theme over the past 3 months has been the emergence of the Schrödinger world, where on one hand we have a world as it is, and on the other, as central planners, propaganda media, and a president caught up in a reelection campaign would want it to be. Luckily, that world only had a binary bifurcation associated to it - and a simple observation of the mythical collapsed its wave function in less time than it would take BATS to commit corporate suicide.  A much more fun world emerges when one enters the superstring reality of the Federal Reserve, and especially its chairman, where there are not two, not three, but a whopping six dimensions of (mis)perception, all dependent on one's point of view. Courtesy of Silver Circle we present them all. , On Europe's 'Stealth' Money PrintingThis consequence has two rather ugly consequences, it removes still further collateral (assets encumbered) from bank balance sheets and further delays the needed adjustment process (read deleveraging) across the banking sector. , Taylor 'Rules' Fed Independence In QuestionJohn Taylor, of the Taylor-Rule, who has not been sheepish with his views towards the Fed openly questioned the Fed's independence during a speech to the Joint Economic Committee today. During his testimony at the hearing on the 'Sound Dollar Act of 2012', Taylor noted: "The discretionary interventions of the Federal Reserve have been ratcheted up in such unprecedented ways in recent years that they raise fundamental questions about the future of monetary policy." Perhaps more pointedly, especially given Bernanke's speech today on the Fed's extreme actions and given the hope for a constant interventionist role for the Fed to keep our economy market afloat "The fact that the Fed can, if it chooses, intervene without limit into any credit market - raises more uncertainty, and of course raises questions about why an independent agency of government should have such power." , CTRL+SPIN 3: The Fed Propaganda Tour Live Re-Educates Us On Their Response To The Financial CrisisUPDATE (via Bloomberg): *BERNANKE: `FORCEFUL' RESPONSE PREVENTED WORSE RECESSION and AIG HAS STABILIZED - phewee... [Yes, indeed; this b***s*** is now beyond the pale! ]Today could be the day when all your beliefs and misconceptions of the great central banking machine are set straight. After explaining to us in the previous two lecture how the gold standard is just silly, why central banks are constitutionally awesome, and how the Fed almost single-handedly created the US since World War II, today's piece-de-resistance is Bernanke's take on his own response to the financial crisis. We are sure it will be thorough in its discussion of the massive and entirely hidden loans for nothing that were given to the banks, how they encouraged the risk-taking that led to it via their regulatory mis-controls, and removing MtM and unlimited free-money helped the world go around - all the while maintaining a strong-dollar policy inline with Treasury's apparent mandate. As far as Word-Bingo: Tweet if you hear the word 'Helicopter' or 'Printing Press' or 'Level 3 Assets are all worthless illiquid junk at best' and if Bernanke says 'CDO' more than 10 times, we all get an animated silver bear. , A Lesson For Europe: Why Iceland Won't Join The EuroIn a brief but as usual succinct statement, MEP Daniel Hannan points out the country that decided to say no to establishment-rules and stuck to its guns by taking losses, devaluing its currency, and growing its way out of its pit of despair. The eloquent Englishman notes Iceland's current enviable position in terms of not just growth but Debt to GDP and proffers upon his European Parliamentarian peers that perhaps, just perhaps, there is a lesson in here for all European governments (cough Greece/Portugal cough). 67% of 'shrewd and canny' Icelanders are now against joining the Euro. , It's Official - The Fed Is Now Buying European Government BondsAs if the 'risk-less' dollar-swaps the Fed has extended to any and every major central bank were not enough, William Dudley just unashamedly admitted that the Fed now holds 'a very small amount of European Sovereign Debt'. , The Gap Between Reality And Consensus Is Growing FastGuest Post: Welcome to the United States of Orwell, Part 2: Law-Abiding Taxpayers Treated As CriminalsLaw-abiding taxpayers are treated like criminals while the criminal class of financiers and State apparatchiks are free to loot and pillage muppets and taxpayers alike. It's actually very simple: whatever the state or Federal government does to you, that's legal. Whatever action you take to protect your rights is illegal. In case you have any doubts about where our "leadership" is taking us, please review these Assorted quotes by Fascists or about Fascism. , Confidence Drops As Consumers Brace For Surge In InflationGermany: The Final Frontier... Whose True Debt/GDP Is Now 140%Case Shiller Finds Home Prices Declined For 9th Consecutive Month In January Despite January being the first of 3 record warm winter months, which saw virtually all other economic indicators boosted on the heels of 'April in February', today's incomplete Case Shiller data (Charlotte, NA was missing), indicated that in the first month of the year, prices across the top 20 MSAs dropped once again, posting a 9th consecutive decline, declining by 0.04% to 136.60. The Seasonally Adjusted print brings the average home price to December 2002 levels. And just to avoid Seasonal Adjustment confusion which courtesy of a record warm winter is all the rage, the NSA data showed a -0.84% drop in January. , Bill Gross: "The Game As We All Have Known It Appears To Be Over"First it was Bob Janjuah throwing in the towel in the face of central planning, now we get the same sense from Bill Gross who in his latest letter once again laments the forced transfer of risk from the private to the public sector: "The game as we all have known it appears to be over... moving for the moment from private to public balance sheets, but even there facing investor and political limits. Actually global financial markets are only selectively delevering. What delevering there is, is most visible with household balance sheets in the U.S. and Euroland peripheral sovereigns like Greece." Gross' long-term view is well-known - inflation is coming: "The total amount of debt however is daunting and continued credit expansion will produce accelerating global inflation and slower growth in PIMCO’s most likely outcome." The primary reason for Pimco's pessimism, which is nothing new, is that in a world of deleveraging there will be no packets of leverage within the primary traditional source of cheap credit-money growth: financial firms… As for the endgame: "Is a systemic implosion still possible in 2012 as opposed to 2008? It is, but we will likely face much more monetary and credit inflation before the balloon pops. Until then, you should budget for “safe carry” to help pay your bills. The bunker portfolio lies further ahead."

 

Frontrunning: March 27, 2012

6.0+ Magnitude quake strikes near Tokyo (USGS)

  • Ireland Faces Legal Challenge on Bank Bailout (Reuters)
  • Bernanke says U.S. needs faster growth (Reuters)
  • Spain Promises Austere Budget Despite Poll Blow (Reuters)
  • Orban Punished by Investors as Hungary Retreats From IMF Talks (Bloomberg)
  • Obama vows to pursue further nuclear cuts with Russia (Reuters)
  • Japan's Azumi Wants Tax Issue Decided Tuesday (WSJ)
  • Australia Losing Competitive Edge, Says Dow Chemicals CEO (Australian)
  • OECD Urges ‘Ambitious’ Eurozone Reform (FT)
  • Yields Less Than Italy’s Signal Indonesia Exiting Junk (Bloomberg)

 

The Daily Market Report Mar 27th, 2012

• US Richmond Fed Index tumbles to 7 in Mar, well below market expectations of 18, vs 20 in Feb.
• US consumer confidence fell to 70.2 in Mar, just above market expectations of 70.0, vs upward revised 71.6 in Feb.
• US S&P/Case-Shiller home prices -0.8% (nsa) in Jan for 20-cities, 9th consecutive monthly decline.
• Germany GfK consumer confidence ticks lower to 5.9 in Apr, below expectations of 6.1, vs 6.0 in Mar.
• Germany import price index +1.0% m/m in Feb, in-line with expectations, vs +1.3% in Jan; +3.5% y/y, also in-line.
Taiwan LEI +0.9% m/m in Feb, vs negative revised +0.8% in Jan.
Hong Kong trade balance -HK$45.8 bln in Feb, vs -HK$8.9 bln in Jan.

US S&P/Case-Shiller home prices -0.8% (nsa) in Jan for 20-cities, 9th consecutive monthly decline.

Mar 27th, 2012 07:34 by News

O.E.C.D. Chief Urges Europe to Increase Euro Firewall to 1 Trillion Euros

Mar 27th, 2012 06:52 by News PG View: You don’t build “the mother of all firewalls” unless you think there is still the risk of the mother of all fires…

Home prices hit a 10-year low

CNNMoney | Home prices have fallen a whopping 34.4% from the peak set in July, 2006.



Don’t be fooled by the money illusion

MarketWatch | Rising prices are making some statistics look better than they really are.



Dead Man Walking Economy

Doug Casey | People should be cutting expenses to the bone.

 

Turkey Once Again Proves That Gold Is First And Foremost Money

Zero Hedge | The Turkish central bank has doubled the amount of gold that lenders can hold in reserves (as opposed to paper money – Lira) as part of their reserve requirement changes.



Obama Requests $770 Million to Fight Global Warming Overseas

CNS News | The Obama administration has requested $770 million in federal funds to combat the effects of global warming in developing countries.



The Great Student Loan Debt Default: Over $270 Billion in Loans Are 30 Days Or More Past Due

Mac Slavo | Like the housing bubble, which was predicated on easy money and rising prices, student loan lending has increased to unprecedented levels over the last decade.

 

Miscellaneous Business Headlines

27-Mar-12 08:44PM  Barclays Gas Note Joins ETN Minefield ETFguide 08:18PM   Train Reading: Apple At $600. Who Knew? at The Wall Street Journal 06:26PM  Your First Move for Wednesday, March 28 at CNBC 05:45PM  Bernanke Tells ABC Economic Recovery Has 'Long Way To Go' at The Wall Street Journal 05:31PM  Tomorrow's Tape: Get Set For Durable Goods Orders at The Wall Street Journal 05:09PM  U.S. Economy Weaker Than Government Data Show TrimTabs at The Wall Street Journal 05:00PM  Minyanville's T3 Daily Recap: Market Turns Red in Last Hour After Quiet Day at Minyanville 04:48PM  Fund Flows Say 'More Banks' As Quarter End Draws Closer at Barrons.com 04:37PM  Stocks Succumb to Late Selling at The Wall Street Journal 04:30PM  The Ubiquitous Mr. Bernanke at The Wall Street Journal 04:19PM   Consumer Concerns Shift From Jobs to Gas Prices at The Wall Street Journal 04:00PM  MARKETS FALL AFTER LATE SELL-OFF: Here's What You Need To Know Business Insider 03:26PM  Fund Flows Say 'More Banks' As Quarter End Draws Closer at Barrons.com 03:24PM  InPlay: Stock indices falter during final hour -- Dow -18, S&P -1.3, Nasdaq Comp +5.1 Briefing.com 03:20PM  Hawk v. Dove: Speeches Offer Competing Views Over Fed Stimulus at The Wall Street Journal 03:11PM   BofA on Small-Cap Stocks: Sell in March and Go Away? at The Wall Street Journal 03:03PM  Fed's Rosengren: More Stimulus Is Still on the Table at The Wall Street Journal 02:45PM  BofA on Small-Cap Stocks: Sell in March and Go Away? at The Wall Street Journal 02:19PM  InPlay: Minor new high Nasdaq Comp +10, Dow +3.2 and S&P +1.2 still range bound Briefing.com 02:04PM  Former Fed Governor Warns of Dangers of Proposed Reforms at The Wall Street Journal 01:50PM  Midday Market Report: Consumer Confidence Dips, Stocks Barely Budge at Minyanville 01:43PM   Another Tool for Your Box at TheStreet 01:27PM  InPlay: Stock indices flirt with lower end of tight ranges -- Dow -10, S&P -0.8, Nasdaq Comp +5.2 Briefing.com 01:26PM  U.S. Sells 2-Year Notes at Highest Yield Since July at The Wall Street Journal 01:21PM  Stocks, Beauty Pageants Are Birds of a Feather at The Wall Street Journal 01:06PM    What Next for BATS? at The Wall Street Journal 12:39PM  Foreign Banks Borrowing Fewer Dollars at The Wall Street Journal 12:38PM  InPlay: Stock indices remain narrowly confined but edging toward upper end of ranges -- Dow +7.6, S&P +1.2, Nasdaq Comp +6.8 Briefing.com 11:43AM  VIX Traders Revving Up For A Hairier Few Months at The Wall Street Journal 11:40AM  9 Weeks to Better Options Trading: Butterfly Spreads at Minyanville 11:29AM  Watch Live: Bernanke Lecture on Financial Crisis at The Wall Street Journal 11:27AM  Index, ETF option volumes near midday optionMONSTER 11:18AM   [video] Trader: A Correction Would Be Healthy at TheStreet 11:12AM  Secondary Sources: Student Loans, Entrepreneurship, Labor Market at The Wall Street Journal 11:08AM   Consumer Confidence Slips a Bit, Stocks Roughly Flat at The Wall Street Journal 10:46AM   The Bulls Try to Bum Rush Quarter-End at Minyanville 10:17AM  Fed Has Done Enough to Protect U.S. From Europe, Official Says at The Wall Street Journal 09:55AM  S&P Case/Shiller: Home Prices Back to 2003 Levels at The Wall Street Journal 09:40AM  InPlay: Limited but slightly favorable bias for stock indices -- Dow +9, S&P +1, Nasdaq Comp +0.9 Briefing.com 09:40AM  Are Technicals About to Go Bounty Hunting? at Minyanville 09:34AM   A Look at Case-Shiller by Metro Area at The Wall Street Journal 09:25AM  Minyanville's T3 Morning Market Call: Futures Fade After Strong Monday Rally at Minyanville 09:24AM   Morning Links: QE3 Definitely Not Off the Table at The Wall Street Journal 09:10AM  One of Wall Street's Biggest Bulls Expects a Pullback at The Wall Street Journal 09:10AM  Pre-Market Primer: US Futures Flat Ahead of Consumer Confidence, Home Prices at Minyanville 08:57AM  Vital Signs: Pending Home Sales at The Wall Street Journal 08:50AM  Has High-Frequency Trading Destabilized Markets? at Minyanville 08:48AM   Walgreens Earnings: Streak of Two Straight Quarters of Shrinking Margins Broken, but Profit Falls at Wall St. Cheat Sheet 07:56AM  [video] Fed Adds Gains to First-Quarter Results at TheStreet

 

 

 

 

 

AP Business Highlights 

...Yahoo Market Update…

 

                                                               _______________________________________

                                                                       { some prior links of current interest }

 

A Warning Sign For The World  http://albertpeia.com/warningsignfortheworld.htm,  20 Signs You Might Be A Typical American Worker  http://albertpeia.com/20signsoftypicalamericanworker.htm , 10 Signs That America Is Decomposing Right In Front Of Our Eyes   http://albertpeia.com/10signsamericadecomposing.htm , 8 Reasons Why The Greek Debt Deal May Not Stop A Chaotic Greek Debt Default   http://albertpeia.com/8reasonsgreekdebtdefaultstillcoming.htm , 55 Interesting Facts About The U.S. Economy In 2012   http://albertpeia.com/55factsaboutus2012economy.htm  ,  http://albertpeia.com/debtpercapita.jpg  , Double-dip recession setting in across eurozone: EU , America 1950 vs. America 2012    http://albertpeia.com/downhillslideofamerica.htm , Society’s Five Stages of Economic Collapse  http://albertpeia.com/5stagesofcollapse.htm ,  No Housing Recovery - Case Shiller Shows 8th Consecutive Month Of House Price Declines, Goldman: Germany Is Now On The Hook By €1 Trillion (Or 40% Of GDP), 20 Economic Statistics To Use To Wake Sheeple Up From Their Entertainment-Induced Comas  http://albertpeia.com/20ecostatstowakesheeple.htm  , Central bank balance sheet expansion since end 2007  Mar 1st, 2012 by News (ZeroHedge) — SNB +230%; Fed +222%, BOJ +125%, BOE +87%, PBOC +93%, ECB +51%. USA Gold / PG View: Pretty strong evidence that the rally in bonds — and by extension the rally in stocks — is nothing but a charade. , 10.7 Percent: Unemployment In Europe Is Worse Than It Was At The Peak Of The Last Recession  http://albertpeia.com/europeunemploymentworsethanrecession.htm , Inflation Is A Tax And The Federal Reserve Is Taxing The Living Daylights Out Of Us   http://albertpeia.com/inflationisatax.htm  , 15 Potentially Massive Threats To The U.S. Economy Over The Next 12 Months  http://albertpeia.com/15massivethreatstoeconomy.htm , 1 Through 30 – The Coming U.S. Financial Crisis By The Numbers http://albertpeia.com/1-30usfinancialcrisiscoming.htm Greece Has Defaulted - Which Country In Europe Is Next?    http://albertpeia.com/greecehasdefaultedwhonext.htm , Five Charts That Prove We’re in a Depression and That the Federal Reserve and Washington Are Wasting Money gpc1981  http://albertpeia.com/usindepressionfedandgovwastingmoney.htm  , Broken Promises: Pensions All Over America Are Being Savagely Cut Or Are Vanishing Completely .http://albertpeia.com/uspensionscutorvanishing.htm  , America Is Being Transformed From A Wealthy Nation Into A Poor Nation At Breathtaking Speed   http://albertpeia.com/ustransformedfromwealthytopoor.htm , ECRI Stays with Recession Call  New American | The vicious cycle is starting where lower sales, lower production, lower employment and lower income [leads] back to lower sales…BOB ADELMANN New American Tuesday, March 13, 2012 http://albertpeia.com/ecricallsrecession.htm , Consumer prices rise on high gas costs But outside higher pump prices, inflation stayed mild. (Washington Post) [ Wake up! They’d have a hard time denying what’s in plain sight for everyone to see. Yet, apparently they’ve not gone grocery shopping lately; you know, all that catered food for fools in Washington.  , Financial Crisis Phase II Is Ahead at Forbes Bert Dohmen In late 2007, I wrote the book Prelude To Meltdown, predicting the global crisis that occurred the following year.  I now see a similar confluence of events that warns of phase II of the global crisis… My work shows that “the new recession has started.”… Over the past 33 years, we have called the start of every recession, often on the exact month, or within one month, of the official start as determined one year later by the official arbiter of recession, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)… However, inflation is far understated for political reasons. Currently, the GDP deflator is 1.8%, which hardly reflects the true rise in prices. Therefore, what is counted as “growth,” is actually price increases. Actual inflation, according to free market economists who calculate inflation as it was done in 1980 before the politician re-engineered it, is now more than 11%. Using that to adjust GDP for inflation, would show that the economy is now in a very sharp contraction…’ , Conned 2012: Joseph Kony Is A CIA Contractor  [ Yeah, cia, mossad, kony, they look like and are a bunch of spooks. ] Saman Mohammadi | Former European MP, journalist, and author Richard Cottrell says Lord Resistance Army is backed by CIA and Mossad. , 11 Reasons Why America Would Be A Better Place Without Goldman Sachs [ If only it was just 11 and not an endless number of reasons why the aforesaid is true! And, though america particularly, not just america, but the entire world as well! ] http://albertpeia.com/americabetterwithoutgoldmansachs.com  , The Obama Flag: Who Decided That It Was Okay To Replace The Stars On The American Flag With The Face Of Barack Obama? http://endoftheamericandream.com http://albertpeia.com/monkeyflag.htm   [Aside from the desecration issues, from a purely aesthetic perspective, that picture on the flag of that ugly monkey obama is an absolute disgrace and affront to any rational person’s aesthetic sensibilities!] , Who Decided That It Would Be A Good Idea.... http://albertpeia.com/misplacedfaith.htm  , As US Rakes Largest Monthly Deficit In History, 2012 Tax Revenues Net Of Refunds Trail 2011Guest Post: Money from Nothing - A Primer On Fake Wealth Creation And Its Implications (Part 1)What is fraud except creating “value” from nothing and passing it off as something? Frauds interlink and grow upon each other. Our debt-based money system serves as the fraud foundation. In our debt-based money system, debt must grow in order to create money. Therefore, there is no way to pay off aggregate debt with available money. More money must be lent into the system to make the payments for old debts. This causes overall debt to expand as new money for actual people (vs. banks) always arrives at interest and compounds exponentially. This process is called financialization. Financialization: The process of making money from nothing in which debt (i.e. poverty, lack) is paradoxically considered an asset (i.e. wealth, gain). In current financialized economies “wealth expansion” comes from the parasitic taxation of productivity in the form of interest on fiat lending. This interest over time consumes a greater and greater share of resources, assets, labor, and livelihood until nothing is left., Guest Post: Money from Nothing - A Primer on Fake Wealth Creation and its Implications (Part 2) Only in a debt-based money system could debt be curiously cast as an asset. We’ve made “extend and pretend” a quaint phrase for a burgeoning market for financial lying and profiteering aimed toward preventing the collapse of a debt- (or lack-) based system that was already doomed by its initial design to collapse. , Guest Post: The Audacity of Bonuses At MF GlobalIn the spirit of George Orwell’s Animal Farm commandment: “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal then others” comes the galling news that bankruptcy trustee, Louis Freeh, could approve the defunct, MF Global to pay bonuses to certain senior executives. This, despite the fact that nearly $1.6 billion of customer funds remains “missing” or otherwise partially accounted for, yet beyond the reach of those customers, perhaps forever, since before the firm declared bankruptcy on October 31, 2011... ,