DaveW

Will Hutton sums up competing proposals to reform the banking system (spinning off the riskier arms of banks vs. demanding more capital), and concludes: Mervyn King is right – the time has come to break up the megabanks.

The megas no longer are able exist in a managed risk state. The too big to fail became too big for morals, too big to be reasonable, too big to control. Their entire existence has become defined by absolute greed buffered by political corruption. They and their Washington ilk have done more damage to this country than any terrorist group could ever hope to. Even now, after all the damage they have done, they game the system in their trading rooms with taxpayer monies to feed their addiction. No, it's not that we 'should', it is that we MUST level the five megas who carry the most derivative exposure and their upper mgt must see real and hard jail time. If we do not do that now, by God, the American people will do it by either voting out our worthless, self-serving politicians, or by mob force. I pray for the former, but the latter could easily happen if we keep getting raped and ignored.

Reflation Supported by Stocks, Commodities and Oil

Chris,
you took a lot of heat in early-August by calling people into the market at S&P 1000. A good example of trading what you see and not trading what you feel. In hindsight, we now know that this rally 'engine' has been powered not only by MM's like yourself, but backstopped with .gov 'nitro-fuel'. The kick-the-can approach by our leaders has created a dangerous market: dangerous for bears as it could go to 1200-1300 from here, dangerous for bulls as a real crash risk is increasing. But, there I go again, basing my investing on how I feel, not on what the charts are saying. At any rate, hats off to you for taking the heat and standing by your training, experience and conviction - you are wealthier than I since August.
Best of luck,
Dave

Still waiting on confirmation — very close to getting our answer

Thank you Susan, always appreciate your straight forward and sound articles. Long the VXX with stops just above the March trend line. BTW, on any substantial correction it will be interesting to see how strongly the $US rallies. I suppose treasuries will be the safe haven of choice. But, with the global printing presses running 24/7 I wonder if gold wouldn't be the superior safe asset?

BRING THE TROOPS HOME - NOW!!

Having trouble finding the article on the Army Times site, could you please supply the link? Thank you in advance.

Don't Try to Pick a Top in this Market

Oh come on now, what's with the thumbs-down-fest!? There's plenty of room on S.H.'s blog for more than just one of us... LOL

RON PAUL - MY IMPRESSIONS

I hope he comes to Seattle! Only two years ago I would never have considered Ron Paul as a real candidate. Now, he has my vote in 2012. This turnaround came on my own, by simply watching what was going on around me. Funny how perceptions can change. My hope is that exact change has come, or will be coming, to many more.

Don't Try to Pick a Top in this Market

"Don't Try to Pick a Top in this Market"
The market action from mid-July has taught this new trader that very lesson. And if you finally do catch the top, after the seventh try, the stop-losses average out to the price you would have paid by shorting after confirmation anyway! LOL

Seriously, nice post Suzanne and I agree, 76 on the Dollar must hold to keep your 1080-1120 range. Next line of retreat for the $ is 75 and I wouldn't put it past Ben to put it there in the near future to really put some steam behind this blow-off top. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Folks, don't get tempted to give in under the enormity of our problems and say 'what can I, one person, do to change anything?' Don't give in. Get involved. All across our great country people are organizing locally to protest government over-spending, government over-involvment and government protectionism of the very people who are at the epi-center of this mess. Local involvement brings one into community with other concerned citizens, it gives hope to 'real change'. Where the voice of one can feel impotent, the voice of many brings great possibilities. Wake up and let's change America!

The Great Unwind

"What is less clear is how hard the feds will try to prevent the inevitable."

In my opinion, it has become quite clear how hard the Fed will work to try to prevent deflation. The answer is: they will do *whatever* it takes, no matter how potentially destructive in the long term it may be. There is nothing they will stop at to prevent short-term pain. Therefore, bears must be extremely careful where they draw their 'lines in the sand' and be willing to retreat quickly and minimize losses. Bulls, as sweet as the previous months have been, must fight the urge to eek out further upside, 'sell at the top' is just about as hard at buying at the bottom. To finer tune the question, at what point will the Fed begin to protect bonds and the $US at the expense of the market? Soon me thinks. But, when this turns and I increase my short exposure, I will be ready for the Fed's next WMD's - they won't stop their assault on deflation until all foreign backers of our debt flee, that's when things get really ugly...

Let's analyze the dollar on a weekly chart...

Hi Suzanne,
Checking in to see what you're thinking and remembered your Sept. 1st call. Well done! $US now heading toward 76.2 support? Gold looking to break definitively above $1000 soon? An interesting drama unfolds.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts in the futes!

Scary but true: it was nothing more than good ol' fashioned trial and error that saved the global economy from meltdown.

So instead of quick pain we now have to deal with slow, protractred pain spread over the span of many, many years. yeah, clap yourselves on the back boyz, ya did a wonderful job...

There Are No Good Choices for the Fed

The market/pundits/bloggers will find one to attribute it too, after the fact... Sentiment cycles play a big role in volatile markets.


On Sep 13 08:44 AM LE wrote:

> What do you think is the primary impetus (or impetuses) for the 2nd
> dip of the double dip that you think we face?

9/11

Thank you for doing this J.Q. I for one, will never forget, to the end of my days on this earth...

Expect a Huge Money Supply Contraction

Speaking of all that Fed monetization, let's check in with the Fed's inspector general to see exactly where that money has gone.....err, on where the investigation into where that $ has gone.....err, what money? can you repeat the question??

You have to see it to believe it:
www.youtube.com/watch?...

A Rude Interruption for Markets

I prefer:

"Tide, it'll take out Kook-Aid stains, while you enjoy a day at the beach!" [an omg do we have kool-aid stains...]


On Sep 10 08:08 AM Roger Knights wrote:

> "while it's OK to swim in the sea of "everything goes up", when the
> tide goes out it's best not to drink the Kool-Aid on the beach."
>
>
> That's a really muddled metaphor. How about:
> "A rising tide of Kool-Aid covers many a sin."