The Fraud Shotgun: The Overlapping Fields of Fraudulent Fire that Drove the Crisis
by William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives
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I have written a series of articles recently that focus on appraisal fraud. I did so because appraisal fraud allows such '
clean' tests of what (
and who) drove the financial crisis and how many different private and public sector actors could have easily prevented the crisis had they acted against the fraud epidemics.
Read more >>
What We Read Today 08 August 2013
Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today's list.
The top of today's reading list has Kate Mackenzie at the Financial Times wondering what is supporting over-leverage in China ........ and the last article wonders what the effect will be of smart women not having children.
Markets Close Up On Moderate Volume, Expect More Of The Same
Closing Market Commentary For 08-08-2013
The afternoon session followed the same path the past 2 sessions chose to follow, interesting! The trading was moderate to light staying within a tight narrow band that only the HFT computers could make a profit. Traders for the most part have stayed away from this casino market as it could break without warning.
By 4 pm the averages had all moved into the green showing very modest gains. Whether or not the bull run will continue tomorrow or the next day, most analyst believe we have more to go before we see a massive correction. However, I expect the Markets to continue this pattern of three days again tomorrow.
Market Fall Fakes Out Bears As Bulls Take back Lost Ground
Midday Market Commentary For 08-08-2013
Markets slid lower in a fake out that took the bears by surprise when the BTFD folks jumped in and started to snatch up the 'bargains'. As of 12:15 the numbers are increasing steadily on moderate volume that suggest the bull are not quite done yet.
Not sure who or what is manipulating today's session, but I am not convinced that this melt-up is a solid as it might appear to some investors.
TSA Expands its Power Despite Raising Complaints
The TSA is expanding its' reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos and train terminals. These exorbitantly paid "parking lot" attendants are encroaching further into American citizens Constitutional Rights to have more control.
Morning Highs Are Quickly Erased As Investors Take Profits
Opening Market Commentary For 08-08-2013
Premarkets were up some +0.40% and melted back when the US Continuing Claims rose by 3,000 to 333K. The SP500 futures fell 3 points but soon melted back up as investors decided to ignore the news.
At the opening bell, markets gaped upwards from yesterday's close where the large caps shot up +0.50% and the small caps led the way at +0.65%. The BTFD folks, as well as sellers, were out in force creating a moderate volume of trading that quickly started to melt the averages downwards.
But the euphoria didn't last very long.
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China: Trade Rebounds
Econintersect: China's exports were up 5.1% in July from the same month in
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2012, imports increased by 10.9% and the country saw a trade balance surplus of $17.8 billion.
Bloomberg News called the data a "
further sign economy stabilizing". Expectations had been for less than half the increase in exports. The higher number increases the possibility that China will be able to reach the government goal of achieving 7.5% GDP growth for 2013.
Detroit, Public-Sector Unions, and JFK
Written by Frank Li
Detroit is in bankruptcy - what a disaster!
There are numerous articles about this disaster already, from diagnosis (Detroit, and the Bankruptcy of America's Social Contract), to its implication for the rest of the country (Detroit's Warning for Chicago - and Others), to a possible solution (Detroit Ran Into The Inviolable Rule Of Economics). What's missing in the mainstream media are the wisdom and honesty to identify the root cause of the Detroit disaster in order to work toward a real solution and prevent more disasters like this from happening across the country.
Is This the End of the Potash World as We Know It?
Investing Daily Article of the Weekby Ari Charney, Investing Daily
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Potash may be a key ingredient in fertilizer, but that hasn't stopped it from suffering one of the steepest declines in pricing since the peak of the global commodities bull market prior to the Great Recession. Of course, this drop was preceded by a parabolic climb from $200 per tonne at the beginning of 2008 to $875 per tonne in early 2009.
That stratospheric rise incentivized producers to boost supply, and the resulting glut has exacerbated the industry's pricing woes. Since then, potash prices have fallen by more than half, to around $400 per tonne, and the latest news suggests that prices could plunge further, to $300 per tonne or less.
Digital Media Use Set to Exceed TV Time This Year
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
Digital media use of American adults will surpass TV use for the first time this year. According to recent eMarketer estimates, Americans aged 18 and older will spend an average of 4 hours and 40 minutes per day on their computers and mobile devices, exceeding TV time by 9 minutes.
Infographic of the Day: What Does Your College Major Say About Your IQ?
Sure, everyone thinks his college major is best, but until now, we were forced to go by cocktail party conversation and/or odds of post-graduation employment for metrics. Now we can parse majors by IQ, too.
June 2013 Consumer Credit Growth of 6%
Written by Steven Hansen
Econintersect's analysis is that total consumer credit growth has accelerated 0.2% month-over-month, and the year-over-year growth is 5.9% - relatively unchanged from last month. This month consumer credit headlines are correctly stating the real growth.
Read more >>
Central Bank Independence: BoE Helped To Tranfer Nazi Gold
by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101
Apparently, the publication of new documents of the Bank of England has revealed a dark spot there. The Guardian reports:
Bank of England records detailing its involvement in the transfer and sale of gold stolen by Nazis after the invasion of Czechoslovakia were revealed online on Tuesday.
The gold had been deposited during the 1930s with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the so-called Central Banker's bank, as the Czechoslovak government faced a growing threat from Germany.
China Leads the Way in Renewable Energy Investment
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
China surpassed the United States as the global epicentre of renewable energy investment in 2012, attracting a mammoth 65 billion dollars of investment. This represents a 20 percent improvement on 2011's figure and a staggering 30 percent of the G-20 total.
Earnings Reports Masking the Rest of the Equation: Risk Remains High
Written by Mitchell Clark, Profit Confidential
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It is earnings season and corporate numbers are plentiful.Blue chips are mostly reporting decent financial metrics, but I want to address the other side of the equation.
Investment risk in many capital market assets is still very high. And the reason why it's very high is the fiscal and monetary experiments taking place around the world.
PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) announced another good quarter that beat expectations, and while the outlook for the beverage and snack market is decent, this is only part of the picture facingequity market investors.
Is Saying 'NO' the Distinctive Sign of the French?
Written by Hilary Barnes
Genetically modified organisms, of which Homo sapiens is undoubtedly an example; are not welcome in France, not even if modified by H. sapiens.
France does not allow genetically modified maize (Zea mays), such as Monsanto's MON810, to be sown or grown in the fields of France and when France's version of the Supreme Court at the end of July declared the legislation enforcing this rule void, President Francois Hollande promptly declared -
"The moratorium will continue."
Non-Convincing Melt Up Of The Averages End Session
Closing Market Commentary For 08-07-2013
Markets closed down after recovering from this mornings lows but now where near the gap of the opening.
Most pundits are claiming investors are concerned about the Fed tapering the QE, personally the sell off may have been concerned investors, but rise was a manipulative foot-work of the HFT computers and DaBoyz.
I have written a series of articles recently that focus on appraisal fraud. I did so because appraisal fraud allows such 'clean' tests of what (and who) drove the financial crisis and how many different private and public sector actors could have easily prevented the crisis had they acted against the fraud epidemics. 
2012, imports increased by 10.9% and the country saw a trade balance surplus of $17.8 billion. Bloomberg News called the data a "further sign economy stabilizing". Expectations had been for less than half the increase in exports. The higher number increases the possibility that China will be able to reach the government goal of achieving 7.5% GDP growth for 2013.
Potash may be a key ingredient in fertilizer, but that hasn't stopped it from suffering one of the steepest declines in pricing since the peak of the global commodities bull market prior to the Great Recession. Of course, this drop was preceded by a parabolic climb from $200 per tonne at the beginning of 2008 to $875 per tonne in early 2009.
It is earnings season and corporate numbers are plentiful.Blue chips are mostly reporting decent financial metrics, but I want to address the other side of the equation.