THe
FaLL oF BeN...
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 10/28/2013
.
Ben's
Adam and Janet is Eve
These
morons are simply naïve
The
forbidden fruit
Is
infinite loot
But
the serpent named Keynes they believe
The
Limerick King
.
Visual
Combat Fine Art Prints
Inquiries:
[email protected]
"Obama
Built That" - Behold Obamacare In All Its Lines Of Code Glory
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013
"Obama built
that"... And now good luck tearing it down and its several hundred
million lines of code, and rebuilding it from scratch.
False
Alarm: Obama Will Continue Spying On "Allies" After All
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - In a dramatic change of events that is a)
sure to not win the administration any goodwill point with the citizens of the
free, or enslaved, world or their insolvent leaders so desperately reliant on
the US for day to day funding, and b) will confirm the state of complete policy
chaos that is at the core of the Obama administration's handling of the
ObamaPhone spygate (where for some reason the fact that the US spied on
foreigners, as it should, has taken far more precedence over the NSA
intercepting and recording each and every domestic communication, with neither
checks nor balances), the
earlier reported news originating from the Chair of the Senate Intelligence
Committee Dianne Feinstein, who said that "the White House has informed me
that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support" was a
fabrication.
29
Uncomfortable Truths About Soaring Poverty In America
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - Did you know that the number of Americans on
welfare is higher than the number of Americans that have full-time jobs?
Did you know that 1.2 million public school students in the U.S. are currently
homeless?
Anyone that uses the term "economic recovery" to describe what is
happening in the United States today is being deeply insulting to the nearly
150 million Americans that are considered to be either "poor" or
"low income" at this point. Yes, things are great in
New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, but almost everywhere else
economic conditions continue to steadily get worse. The gap
between the wealthy and the poor is at a level that America has never seen
before, and this is beginning to create a "Robin Hood mentality" that
could cause a tremendous amount of social chaos in the years ahead. Despite unprecedented borrowing by the federal
government in recent years, and despite unprecedented money printing by
the Federal Reserve, poverty in the United States keeps getting worse with each
passing year. The following are 29 incredible facts which prove that
poverty in America is absolutely exploding
Abenomics
One Year Later
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - One year later and due mainly to the fact
the Japanese stock market has risen an astounding 70% year-over-year,
talking-heads, politicians, and central bankers proclaim Abe's trip into the
monetary policy black hole as a success (it would seem on that basis that the head
of Venezuela's central bank deserves a Nobel prize). Abe has managed to devalue
his nation's currency by 25.5% against the USD in that time and the
price of Japanese government bonds (despite some early teething trouble with
the government's repressive activity) is practically unchanged up 0.75% on the
year. But away from the 'market', inflation is rising (but thanks to
import prices) and wages languish down 0.9% as the trade balance is
collapsing. One thing is for sure - dueling QEs between Japan and the USA
make for highly correlated FX and equity market co-movements...
Nobel
Prize Winner: Bubbles Don't Exist
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - No wonder investors don't take economists
seriously. Or if
they do, they shouldn't. Since Richard Nixon interrupted Hoss and Little Joe on
a Sunday night in August 1971, it's been one boom and bust after another. But
don't tell that to the latest Nobel Prize co-winner, Eugene Fama, the founder
of the efficient-market hypothesis. No matter the facts, Fama has his story and
he's sticking to it. "I think most bubbles are 20/20
hindsight," Fama told Cassidy. The rest of us, who lived through
the tech and real estate booms while Fama was locked in his ivory tower, know
that in a boom people go crazy. There's a reason the other term for bubble is
mania.
As
Obama Asks If He "Should Be Worried" About Bitcoin, ATMs Arrive In 5
Canadian Cities
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - The world's first Bitcoin ATM will
be ready for use this week at a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada.
Created by Las Vegas based Robocoin, the new ATM in Vancouver will allow users
to turn bitcoins directly into Canadian dollars, or turn Canadian dollars into
bitcoins. As The Telegraph reports, the ATM first scans the user's palm to
ensure security and transfers are limited to CAD$3,000 per day. Until now, the
currency existed only on the web but the introduction of these ATMs brings
bitcoin-as-cash usage closer. The RoboCoin kiosks are expected to make the
process of buying and selling Bitcoins much easier says Jordan Kelley, the
company's chief executive. "Our goal is to make Bitcoin truly
grandma-friendly," says Kelley. This is especially notable in
light of President Obama asking Eric Schmidt if "Bitcoin is
anything he has to worry about?"
Gold
Tests 5-Week Highs. "Should Continue Pushing Higher": Citi
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - On the back of dismal data this morning
merely compounding the belief that whatever happens, there will be no Taper
anytime soon (and record high physical premiums over spot as Indian demand
surges), gold prices broke back above $1360 this morning to five-week highs. Of
course, that 'rise' was very quickly squelched as stocks POMO'd higher from the
US open; but, as Citi's FX technicals group notes, the break of $1343 points to
a test of $1430 and a bias to testing back above the $1522-32 region.
Did
The Fed Kill The Long-Term Investor?
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - Gone are the days where people looked
towards next year when building their portfolios, or five years down the road as they
approach retirement. Now from a combination of apprehensiveness and shear
paranoia in our unstable markets, investors are looking only as far as they can
throw for their personal investment decisions. In more than 30 years of money
management, Lance Roberts has never seen such a rapid change in the way people
make financial plans. Instead of saving for the future, many are opting
for fast gains - yet at the same time they want low risk. Others are
playing it completely safe. In fact, in a quarterly poll, 83% of respondents
said they were holding on to their cash versus investing in the stock market.
White
House To Stop Spying on Allies, Dianne Feinstein Promises
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - Continuing to play Obama like a fiddle, the
Snowden revelations have done more to change US foreign policy in a few short
months, than all laws passed since the advent of the Patriot Act. In the latest
example of just this, moments ago, USA
Today first and the WSJ
and others subsequently, reported that according to Dianne Feinstein, chair
of the Senate Intelligence Committee and an NSA supporter, the National
Security Agency has stopped gathering intelligence on allied political leaders,
a practice that has drawn global criticism. "The White House has
informed me that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support,"
according to Feinstein. It was not immediately clear if this is an implicit
admission that the White House actually did know about
the NSA's spying on foreign leaders over the past decade, and lied about being
unaware. Recall that Obama denied
just this last night, but at this point the pit of lies is so deep, few
actually care or are keeping track.
5
Years & 6000 Points: Can Janet Yellen Make It Different This Time?
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - The NYSE Composite is indicating some
uncomfortable symmetry currently. As NewEdge's Brad Wishak notes, the index
(which represents 61% of the market capitalization of globally listed
companies) has risen about the same amount over the same period as in the
run-up of the last debt-fueled bubble (only this
time the valuations are notably richer). Will Janet Yellen make sure this
time is different...? Or is the right question, 2007
USA or 2006 Zimbabwe?
Guest
Post: Culture Of Ignorance - Part I
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 -The kabuki theater that passes for
governance in Washington D.C. reveals the profound level of ignorance
shrouding this Empire of Debt in its prolonged death throes. Ignorance
of facts; ignorance of math; ignorance of history; ignorance of reality; and
ignorance of how ignorant we’ve become as a nation, have set us up for an epic
fall. It’s almost as if we relish wallowing in our ignorance like a fat lazy
sow in a mud hole. The lords of the manor are able to retain their power,
control and huge ill-gotten riches because the government educated
serfs are too ignorant to recognize the self-evident contradictions in the propaganda
they are inundated with by state controlled media on a daily basis.
Ron
Paul On Faux Fed Transparency: "Believe Me, The 'Big Stuff' Is Done In
Secret"
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 -
As Rand Paul grows more
vociferous with regard the Janet Yellen nomination, he and his father are once
again pressing for more transparency into what really occurs at the Fed. While
some argue that there has never been a more 'transparent' Fed as we are plagued
with volumes of double-speak (projections and prognostications), Ron
Paul explains in this brief clip that "the big stuff is done in secret,"
including international central bank bailouts. His hope, based on the
fact that Janet Yellen is a self-described agent of transparency that "the
time is ripe," to truly audit the Fed.
Did
Apple's Cash Holdings Of $146.8 Billion Just Peak?
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 -
While the market is focused on
AAPL's income statement, we decided to take a quick glance at its balance
sheet, where we looked at - what else - its infamous cash hoard. Once the envy
of every company in the universe, AAPL's cash and equivalents, while still very
impressive at a record $146.8 billion, is potentially a reason of concern.
Because while AAPL's Q4 $9.9 billion in cash from operations were certainly
impressive as a result of the company's recent shareholder friendly overtures
it has been burning cash at a far faster clip than in prior quarters and spent
$7.8 billion in Q4 in dividends and share buybacks. So much so, that the
amount by which its total cash holdings grew in the quarter was a tiny $140
million, a far cry from prior quarters when it generated billions in cash in
any given quarter. So one wonders: was this the peak for the most fantastic
cash balance growth in history?
Apple
Beats Q4 Earnings But Guides Lower On Q1 Margin Sending Stock Lower
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 - 16:38
Moments ago, AAPL beat the top
and bottom line as follows:
- Q4 EPS of $8.26, Est. $7.92
- Q4 Revenues of $37.5 billion, Est. $36.84
- Q4 gross Margin: 37.0% vs Est. 36.9%
That was the good news: the bad
is as follows:
- IPad sales of 14.1 million missed estimates of 14.3
million
- Q1 margin between 36.5-37.5%, below the street estimate of
37.74%, which is what according to some is pushing the stock lower after
hours
Welcome to the commodity world:
after all this is what AAPL wanted with the 5C right?
Last-Minute
Buying Frenzy Sends S&P 500 To New All-Time Higherer High
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 10/28/2013 -
Shitty data, worse earnings,
worst volume, new highs.
Among the lowest volume days in NYSE single-stocks, S&P futures
trading, and VIX options saw stocks levitate back to overnight highs
during the day only to slide lower to around unch by the close. Trannies
have managed 11 up days in the last 13 and gained 10.3% - sure why
not? S&P 500 hit new all-time highs but ended the day well off its highs.
Gold hit 5-week highs but faded back to modest gains. The USD rallied early and
faded to unch by the close. Treasuries rallied early on but faded into close
+/1bp on the day... The pattern was the same across most assets but a very
last minute 4.5 point rampapalooza closed the S&P at all-time highs.
Environmental
Fascism: The Ecofascists Are Slowly But Surely Taking Over America
The environmental fascists
believe that if people are allowed to have large amounts of freedom and liberty
that the planet will literally be destroyed. That sounds crazy, but that
is what they actually believe. Left to our own devices, they are fully
convinced that global warming and out of control pollution will transform the
earth into an uninhabitable hellhole. Therefore, they believe that it has
become necessary to strictly manage human behavior “for the good of the
environment”. With each passing year, the control of the social planners
gets even tighter. Today, they have banned certain kinds of light bulbs,
they are putting mandatory “smart meters” into our homes, and they have
instituted all kinds of ridiculous regulations concerning what you can do with
your own land. Tomorrow, they plan to put “black boxes” into our vehicles
and move most of us into “stack-and-pack” housing that has communal bathrooms
and no elevators. There is a reason why these people are called
ecofascists. The “true believers” of the environmental fascism movement
actually believe that they are “saving the world” by being control
freaks. They truly believe that they know better than the rest of us, and
they love to get into positions of political power so that they can impose
their will on everyone around them. (Read More.....)
Something
Is Killing Life All Over The Pacific Ocean – Could It Be Fukushima?
Why is there so much death and
disease among sea life living near the west coast of North America right
now? Could the hundreds of tons of highly radioactive water that are
being released into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima every single day have
anything to do with it? When I wrote my last article about Fukushima, I
got a lot of heat for being “alarmist” and for supposedly “scaring” people
unnecessarily. I didn’t think that an article about Fukushima would touch
such a nerve, but apparently there are some people out there that really
do not want anyone writing about this stuff. Right now, massive numbers
of fish and sea creatures are dying in the Pacific Ocean. In addition,
independent tests have shown that significant levels of cesium-137 are in a
very high percentage of the fish that are being caught in the Pacific and sold
in North America. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the
largest nuclear disaster in the history of mankind has been (Read More....)
Did Google Collude With Obama Administration to Censor
Video?
Paul Joseph Watson | Clip exposing atrocities of US-backed
rebels in Syria was sent out by Obama’s hijacked Twitter account.
Biased Politifact Website Claims Obama
Promise On Existing Health Plans Still “Half True”
Steve Watson | Despite Mass
Cancellations, rate hikes.
Barack Obama’s Twitter & Facebook Hijacked
by Syrian Electronic Army
Paul Joseph Watson | Video about US-backed rebel atrocities
sent to 76 million followers.
ICE memo: Obamacare eligibility info will not be used to
enforce immigration law
Daily Caller | The Obama
administration is assuring immigrants that applications for Obamacare will not
be used to enforce immigration law.
Dems demand refund from ObamaCare website
contractors
The Hill | Five House Democrats
are asking the Obama administration to seek a refund from the companies that
built the ObamaCare website.
“This Morning” Report: Policy
Cancellations, Premium Increases Add To Obamacare Frustration
CBS News | Some Americans are
being surprised, not only that they are being booted off their current plans,
but at how much they’re being asked to pay for new ones.
Report: White House stopped phone
tapping of foreign leaders this summer
CNN | The Journal report did not
specify who gave the shutdown order or the date it was issued.
AP Photo: Checkpoint Cops Point Guns
at Americans’ Heads
Paul Joseph Watson | Fallujah-style security comes to
Sacramento.
A Welcome US/Saudi ‘Reset’
Ron Paul | Last week it was
reported that Saudi Arabia decided to make a “major shift” away from its 80
years of close cooperation with the United States.
Spain summons US ambassador over claim
NSA tracked 60m calls a month
London Guardian | El Mundo
newspaper reports having seen NSA document that reveals extent of agency’s
monitoring of Spanish phone calls.
Food
Stamp enrollment more than doubles in a decade
UPI | Enrollment in the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has more than doubled in the past
decade even during times of economic growth, U.S. researchers say.
Mark Faber Fears “Stocks Could Be Dead Money For A While” But
“Gold Has Bottomed”
Zero Hedge | “Since September
2011′s $1921 peak, gold has been in correction mode,” Mark Faber tells
Barrons in this brief clip.
The Entire US Fiscal And Monetary Policy Gambit (In One Cartoon)
Zero Hedge | It’s like deja vu
all over again…
29 Incredible Facts Which Prove That Poverty In America Is
Absolutely Exploding
Michael Snyder | Did you know
that the number of Americans on welfare is higher than the number of Americans
that have full-time jobs?