Dirtt

Marc Faber: Equities Safer than Dollars

"The staggering amount of dollar-denominated debt in the system, $50 trillion or so, is a gigantic synthetic short against the dollar. If you're a publicly traded company and have $10 billion in bonds outstanding, you can't repay that debt in Euros or yen or pesos. You have to repay it in dollars, and if you have other currencies you have to sell them for dollars to repay the loan. So the dollar may go a lot higher in the short run if the economy starts to implode. After the carnage is over -- whenever that may be -- the dollar will likely sink into the sunset. "

Concur

Bernanke's Dark Kingdom

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

Oh Albert! We could use a man like you right now.

You have to love B.S. Bernanke's justification for disallowing full disclosure. Is this a fair paraphrase?

'If we allow full disclosure you - the American people - won't like what you see. And the international community will like it less. Ergo. Interest rates will skyrocket.

Is that what you - American taxpayers - really want?'

NO! Ben. It's not 'what' we want. But 'what' we don't want is for 'it' to get any worse. Get it.

Ultrashort ETFs: Now It's Less Embarrassing to Admit Owning Them

Couldn't you keep this secret and let the cat out of the bag at higher prices?

Next week should be fun. I'm expecting "them" to try and pump some more life into the indexes. And unlike the mystery behind the location of the TARP money (UBS...shhhhhh!) empty malls and commercial space is getting harder and harder to hide. Especially when advertising the availability of the space is how it gets filled.

Looking at some of the weekly charts you almost have to refrain from drooling on the keyboard. Keeping the coffee away is hard enough. But remember to expect the unexpected. I'm just hoping the unexpected right now is that "they" won't let the bulls out or the bears in.

I'm constantly seeking reasons why I'm wrong on a trade but with hard to hide results the FED may want to switch from unattainable cheap money to injecting opium into the nations water supply.

That could throw some cold water on the bear plight. Good hunting out there.

P.S. When the "short seller" was being vilified in the media for bringing down the banks (and not the bankers/pols who really brought down the banks) I was wearing my ultra-shorts like they were badges. The problem was that by the time I could explain what an ultra-short was they were too many beers in to care anymore. God help us.

Groundbreaking WSJ Story on Gold

Well at least the debate is passionate!

Gold overshoots each direction. Some excellent cycles work gives the yellow brick a decent chance to visit the sub-750 area for maybe a nano-second. The premiums charged for buying gold coins is almost ridiculous and that says plenty about where this market is going. Small investors....band together and take delivery on the 100-ounce bar. You might enjoy getting that premium too.

Populism vs. Bernanke, Round Two

Obama 'too smart' is pretty funny. I know banging on him for the teleprompter is getting old but the bull**** is getting so thick that can you blame him...who could keep it well organized without either a) busting out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter b) exposing what he truly believes (which would create excessive damage control issues in editorial dept. everywhere but at IBD and the WSJ) c) sending foreign money back out of the US markets d) all of the above.

Look. Ben's most compelling argument is that essentially the cost of borrowing will 'go through the roof.' And if interest rates go through the roof then unemployment will skyrocket and the vicious cycle will undermine the American economy and essentially the global economy in most places. And it is a fine reason to slam a lid on this bill.

And being born in 1967 makes me a 40-something w/o children yet. And it means I'm not a baby boomer or a Gen X/Yer. In retrospect I am happy to be sandwiched in between the generation that perpetrated this economic mess on America and the brainwashed generation that - with the assistance of said baby boomer - helped to perpetrate this bull**** change story on America. The latter - the Useful Idiots are quite the bunch aren't they. To paraphrase a great line from Animal House - a movie I had to sneak into as a minor - ultra-skinny, ignorant-to-facts & pretending-you're-from... is no way to live your life.

How does any of this pertain to the article? Well as I plan my exit strategy from the grips of Rham & Co I truly do not wish anymore misery on my homeland. And the sooner we deal with the inevitable rise in interest rates the sooner the children and grandchildren of Generation X & Y can't stop making the grotesque payments on the US debt.

And if that means that Ben must show to the world how bad we (really you - I've been frugal by choice for some time now) screwed it all up then so be it. And if it means that the hollow and farce claims to "the greatness of the baby boomer" fall like - well pardon the pun - a house of cards the so be it. And if it means unemployment at 20% for the next decade then so be it.

Or will we make a choice so selfish that we pass this problem on to our kids that aren't even born yet? For that we should rot in hell. No?

Another Look at the Climate Change Bill

hsr0601: Thanks for making my point. It doesn't matter what we do here if China continues on it's path to dominate the world economy. Do you think they give a rats arse about climate change or whatever we are calling it this month.

They'll just fire up more coal plants.

And Big Jake. To conclude this with "You gotta love Washington" was enough to cause the churning in my stomach. Nice kid gloves perspective. Now take the gloves off and try this again.

What is in play here is SINISTER at best. This bill is intended to punish DNC opposition under the guise of climate-whatever. And it adds to the Sorosian attack on the American Taxpayer.

"Gotta love Washington?" No. More like time to take a flamethrower to it. And the idea that 'Americans don't know how good the have it' rings very hollow today. I'll lay the groundwork to take me and my productivity to a country that deserves it and just hope and pray that the 2010 elections will make 1993 look like - well - a tea party....English style.

Again that little maniac Ross Perot had one of the better quotable lines. That giant sucking sound is getting louder and louder. And some of those jobs will go to Americans. In what country is where the shrewd will prosper. I have a few hunches.

Memo to Automakers: Follow Cisco's Lead

Well yes.

Leaving out the UAW "leadership" in this discussion is a mistake. Why is it so un-American to verbally slam the unions? Union workers getting paid $31 per hour to play crossword puzzles at so called 'job banks' is a revelation too sick to stomach.

We need America to make cars like we need unemployed inner city janitors to buy and get cash out of a house - another brainchild of Congressional "leadership."

And it is the same "leadership" that is empowered to "fix" the economy. WTF. If we don't FIX the LEADERSHIP inside the beltway by 2010 then the part of America that is drowning in her own greed will pull the rest of us down under by our toes.

Polygraphs For Politicians Act of 2009. Anyone else willing to sign that into law?

Homebuilder Trends: What To Do About Inventory? [Housing Tracker]

What to do with some of the inventory?

Pass out nail pullers. Some of those newly built communities on the fringe of suburbia have no chance of being filled even in the intermediate time frame.

So take them apart and ship them off to China. They will create short term jobs. Remove inventory and supply the demand in Asia.

The Chickens Come Home to Roost, But Have We Really Learned from Our Mistakes?

You have to laugh and find humor...otherwise we might seek other forms of expression.

Allen is "dead on balls accurate." We live on an island 3000 miles from the Port Of Los Angeles. Stockpiling food and water (and air for you in metropolitan areas) is critical. Thankfully we can grow all year.

Taxation Without Representation. The grass roots movement which commenced in 1764 may have seemed a little radical at the time. And what does it tell you when members of Congress say 85% of their constituents told them to vote NO but they still voted YES. Who in the hell are they working for anyway?

It's the year 2008. And when 85% of the voters say NO to this scale of taxation and those that represent us say YES what other mantra rings true?

When I say "keep the powder dry" I mean it in its contemporary form (pundits on Wall Street) and its historical form (real patriots...the Minutemen.) And perhaps the impending revolution will be a peaceful one. The pension funds for many in law enforcement suffered the same fate.

Tar and feathers for the BOLD FACE LIARS is a remedy I'd sign on to.

Reasons to Cheer Lehman’s Demise

The " shenanigans in real estate and mortgage- backed securities" go far beyond the CEO's and the "Three Stooges" as suggested by another contributor to Seeking Alpha - two of the "Three Stooges" being Bernanke and George Bush.

Well. Okay. Either that contributor is the tail end of the election manipulation that is at the core of what almost no one is willing to acknowledge or his hubris ranks right up there with the Harvard and Yale genius that designed the 'house of cards' falling from (false)grace. Good work chaps (or is it lads). I could have found someone from Cal State Northridge who could have created this 100-year calamity FOR FREE and in less time.

Would the employment of an independent regulator of the GSE's in 2006 have curtailed the malfeasence yet to come home to roost?

Who installed the lobbyists in upper management at the GSE's?

Why were the GSE's donating soft money to influence congressional elections? And why did the GSE's feel compelled to influence anything at all let alone elections?

And the "three stooges?"...Your contributor failed to include Jamie Gorelick, Frank Raines and Susan Molinari not to mention a former FBI hack. That's four excluding Bernanke and Bush. Shall we begin to tally up those in Congress. If we add the list IBD just compiled of RNC & DNC looters then three DOZEN doesn't even scratch the surface.

Mr. Morici is right about the collateral damage. But what about the root of the malfeasance.

Who in the hell would put lobbyists in control of an operation which demands experience in finance? And why can Barney Frank speak publically about matters that the SEC would normally find dubious if not flat out illegal?

America is waking up because a few true patriots remember 1764 and the commencement of the Taxation Without Representation grass roots movement. Centuries later we are no better. REVOLTING.

RNC / DNC: Crisis? What Crisis?

Thank you for the article.

If we don't stop talking about and
If we don't stop trying to enlighten and
If we don't stop lifting the wool over their eyes and
If we don't stop feeling livid, angered, disgraced

Then they will get away with it.

This is not like coming home from an overly long visit to the In-laws only to find the car wrecked and house trashed by wasted teenagers. It's the moment you found out that someone emptied your bank accounts too.

We KNOW money went from the GSE's to 527 Groups which "TA DAAA" over course went into congressional campaigns all over the nation. I wouldn't be shocked if 100 out of 100 senators have blood on their hands. And the House. Oh My God. Carnage.

So why not start by having the 527 Groups pay the money back to us? Simple start. EH. And then the Jamie Gorelick's and the Frank Raines' and the Susan Molinari's of this disgraceful chapter in American history can spend a little time to think about new careers in a federal concrete cell complete with Chinese steel bars.

And THEN we will pay for the damage the "wasted teenagers" did to the precious house.

Fannie, Freddie Headed for Conservatorship

It's amazing. It's like finding cocaine in your child's bedroom and you blame their cheerleading coach for not improving her technique.

America is in DENIAL. And the fallout is tremendous. From Bill Clinton's lawyer (puppet) Jamie Gorelick to Susan Molinari the collateral damage to BOTH the DNC and RNC is historic. This is why the outrage is muted FOR NOW.

99% of America just doesn't get it yet. But when they do get IT heads are going to roll. And people we know we don't like AND people we used to like should face the music. PRISON.

Being a recipient of the bubble you'd think I'd be happy. NO. I care about America. And THEY took the most important asset class in the world and turned into a loose slut.

SHAME ON YOU!!!

What's in Store for the Fertilizer Industry?

I've been wondering too. When I'm not researching equities I might be buying and applying organic fertilizers. Prices have stabilized but stabilized high. Same with chicken feed.

And the difference between the 70's and now amount to 3 billion extra mouths to feed. And from what I'm being told nitrogen in particular from China was slowing considerably before summer (based on what I saw from the pre-Olympic sailing invasive species hyper-population no wonder if they are consuming nitrogen domestically). Employing nitrogen-fixing species in farming is a useful but slower process and not practical for corn.

And if prices fall won't that drive supply out of the market too? As long as we are stuck with ethanol as a "solution" fundamentals IMHO will prevail. The buy signal? Mirror mirror on the wall.

Bill Gross: Politicking for His Own Bailout

Implications are heating up. If this chapter in American history weren't so very disgraceful then it would be hysterical. Instead we get both.

My questions seem to go unanswered. Who installed the lobbyists in the GSE's? The money flow (looting) from the GSE's to the 527 Groups to the campaign coffers is every bit as big an issue as the bailout.

Even though I have my answers the questions bear (pun intended) repeating. Does America have to bring a class action lawsuit against the perpetrators to finally get those who should be prosecuting off their you know whats?

Ya' know Bill. Give me heads on a platter and then we'll talk bailout. What a disgrace!!

Bracing for Another Round of Credit Related Woes

The final wave of foreclosures has yet to pound the market. The most dubious and most sinister mortgages were made at peak prices. Housing inventories are about to swell.

"Unless you've been over-weighted Treasury bonds and oil futures since mid-2007 the odds are pretty high you're losing money"

Ultra short etf's are nice snacks.