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Contrarianism: The New Consensus

There’s been a book written on this topic -

“The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economics, Societies, and Nations” by James Surowiecki

www.randomhouse.com/fe.../

Up 12.53% in 2010?

Have to agree with Egg and Moon on this one.

I doubt there ever has been or ever will be a projected loss on the S&P.

China executes a former securities trader for embezzlement, the first person in the industry to be put to death. "Preserve your moral integrity and don't set too much store by business results," Yang Yanming said just before dying. He took the whereabouts of 65M yuan ($9.5M) of the misappropriated funds with him to the grave.

These banksters have committed crimes that, IMHO, are as bad, if not worse, than those who actually find themselves on death row in the United States.

Perhaps they could somehow be prosecuted for treason rather than fraud? The economic crisis precipitated by their immorality IS a threat to national security.

Stimulus Spending and Lost Hope for Markets

Perhaps some patriotic American who understands the potential of the natural gas resource could be drafted to contest the Democratic party presidential nomination for 2012? No doubt, the end result would be an Obama coronation.

At least it would bring this issue into the spotlight for a period of time. Maybe it would get Obama’s attention. The natural gas issue needs someone with Obama’s charisma and starpower to get behind it. Boone Pickens is probably too old.

On the other hand, maybe someone on the Republican side, with a focused campaign platform, could ride this issue all the way to the white house in 2012? The natural gas issue needs to be brought into the public imagination during a presidential campaign if entrenched interests are to be overcome.

Stimulus Spending and Lost Hope for Markets

article -

The United States has vast untapped supplies of natural gas and could create incentives for Detroit to much more rapidly deploy fuel efficient cars and trucks. Developing domestic energy and making more efficient vehicles could create thousands of jobs in 2010, not in the next decade.
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Natural gas could be our salvation.

Why this is not being pursued aggressively boggles the imagination.

I’m guessing that someone, somewhere in a position of great power and influence strongly opposes the development of the natural gas resource?

Perhaps someone’s afraid that if America pursued this resource, it would somehow upset the applecart in the Middle East?

Perhaps someone’s been bought off by the established players in big oil?

Again, it boggles the mind.

Nov. same-store sales (actual vs. Briefing.com estimate), update #1:ARO +7% vs. +10%.APP -11% vs. -3%.BKE +1.4% vs. +4%.BONT -6% vs. +1%.COST +6% vs. +8.2%.HOTT -11.7% vs. -7.9%.LTD +3% vs. -2.3%.PLCE -13% vs. +0.8%.SMRT -7.2% vs. -6.5%.SSI -12.5% vs. -5.3%.ZUMZ -8.5% vs. -8.1%.10 misses, 1 beat.

These dismal performances tell us something about the state of the US economy.

The Recurring Gold 'Bubble'

Look at the gold price this way

What could possibly happen to derail the gold price? What could pop this “bubble?” What could possibly change in the next year or ten to bring down gold?

I can’t think of anything.

Sure, Volker style interest rates could do it, but this is so improbable that it’s hardly worth mentioning.

The worst case scenario I can imagine for gold is that it trades flat at current levels for some time.

Reich: Don't Expect Lost U.S. Jobs to Return

Structural unemployment goes well beyond Larry, Tim, and Ben.

This is a situation that's been developing for at least 30 years.

Fight Global Warming With Free Condoms?

Maybe we should drop condoms from helicopters all over Africa and Asia?

I’m only half joking. The real problem facing the world is overpopulation.

The piece linked by Mayascribe reminds me of Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal."

Interesting that Malthus came along only about 50 years after Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal was published in 1729.

America was settled as Europe’s population grew beyond her carrying capacity in the 18th century, given the technology of the day. (Forget any crazy notions about pilgrims fleeing religious persecution, etc. The impetus for the export of people to the “new world” was economic.)

The same situation is now playing out on a global scale, except that there’s no longer a “new world” where we can export our surplus people.

300 hundred years of more or less continuous population growth has created the ponzi scheme economy that is modern day North America.

According to Gallup, Thanksgiving week spending plunged 25% from a year ago, and couldn't even muster a rise from the week before. "There's no indication in Gallup's spending data during recent weeks, or so far this year, that this year's spending will do anything but trail last year's depressed spending levels during the holidays," firm says.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


On Dec 01 08:02 PM Northern Dancer wrote:

> On Dec 01 07:45 PM Robespierre wrote:

Uranium's Bright Future

If you want a pure play on the price of uranium, without mining company risk, check out Uranium Participation Corp. (U) on the TSX. For US investors, this would also provide currency diversification into the loonie.

At what point does China start to look overbuilt - building for the sake of building, and generating economic numbers for the sake of numbers?

From the Chinese perspective, anything is better than more dollars.

Even empty buildings.

Black Swans: Sometimes We're the Turkey, Sometimes We're the Farmer

The United States is the turkey.

China is the farmer.

The Troubled Role of Government in the Economy

Very nice summary -

Congress is the Core Problem of the Economy

Item (6), Congressional intervention on behalf of lobbied-for special interests is THE major problem. It has proved that trickle up economics does not work.

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Essentially, the elite has sold out the middle class to make a quick buck. Witness the spectacular bull markets of the 80's and 90s, which were in no small measure the result of globalist policies that allowed international wage arbitrage to grow and take root, hence the unemployment problem we now have. At the same time, no serious effort was made to wean America from foreign energy sources, hence the trade deficits.

Reform must start with campaign finance reform and efforts to curb lobbyists. The GOOH movement seems like a promising place to start. (See goooh.com/)

Best Black Friday Forecast in 5 Years

Read a report somewhere this morning (already forget where) that media were manipulating camera angles and herding people together so as to make malls appear more crowded.