John Butler on the Dollar Liability and Gold's role as the Insurance

RT Lauren Lyster...

End of the Road

The Emperor is Naked: David Stockman

Source: Karen Roche and JT Long of The Gold Report  (5/4/12)

A "paralyzed" Federal Reserve Bank, in its "final days," held hostage by Wall Street "robots" trading in markets that are "artificially medicated" are just a few of the bleak observations shared by David Stockman, former Republican U.S. Congressman and director of the Office of Management and Budget. He is also a founding partner of Heartland Industrial Partners and the author of The Triumph of Politics: Why Reagan's Revolution Failed and the soon-to-be released The Great Deformation: How Crony Capitalism Corrupts Free Markets and Democracy. The Gold Report caught up with Stockman for this exclusive interview at the recent Recovery Reality Check conference.

The Gold Report: David, you have talked and written about the effect of government-funded, debt-fueled spending on the stock market. What will be the real impact of quantitative easing?

David Stockman: We are in the last innings of a very bad ball game. We are coping with the crash of a 30-year–long debt super-cycle and the aftermath of an unsustainable bubble.

Quantitative easing is making it worse by facilitating more public-sector borrowing and preventing debt liquidation in the private sector—both erroneous steps in my view. The federal government is not getting its financial house in order. We are on the edge of a crisis in the bond markets. It has already happened in Europe and will be coming to our neighborhood soon.

...for the rest of the interview

Daniel Kahneman - The Trap of Thinking That We Know

"All I know is that I know nothing" - Socrates

Takuma Sato

Takuma Sato was up to his old F1 ways again today. At least he only crashed himself out. Franchitti was pretty lucky there. Franchitti opened the door just enough to let him through, but, then seemed to have second thoughts and squeezed Sato - errrr defended his position. I was hoping Sato would be more patient, but, he would have lost too much momentum if he lifted. A leopard cannot change their spots. Oh well, Kamikazi, indeed.

@JamesGRickards Interview China

SpaceX Dragon docking with International Space Station - Live

This morning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will attempt to berth with the International Space Station. If everything goes well, Dragon will grappled by the Canadarm around 1205 GMT (8:05 a.m. EDT).
Live broadcasting by Ustream

Time Will Tell

JPMorgan’s Senior Officers’ Addiction to Gambling on Derivatives

by William K Black, PhD JPMorgan’s flacks and apologists have, unintentionally, exposed the fact that their cover story – hedging gone bad – is false. JPMorgan runs the world’s largest gambling operation in financial derivatives. The New York Times reported the key facts, but not the analytics, in an article entitled “Discord at Key JPMorgan Unit is Faulted in Loss.” The analytics suggest that the latest JPMorgan cover story – it was JPMorgan’s “Achilles the heel” (based in the UK) who caused the loss – is misleading. The thrust of the story is that in the beginning JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office (CIO) was run by a fair princess (Ina Drew) and all was fabulous. Sadly, Ms. Drew contracted Lyme’s Disease and was unable to ensure peace and prosperity in her land. The evil Achilles Macris, based in the UK, became disloyal and mean. He made massive, bad purchases of financial derivatives that caused major losses. CIO senior officers based in the U.S. (and women to boot) tried to warn Achilles but he screamed at them and refused to listen and learn. The just king, Jamie Dimon, did not act promptly to save his kingdom from loss because of his great confidence in Princess Drew. The personal story of Achilles acting like a heel makes compelling journalism, but it obscures rather than clarifies the analysis as to why JPMorgan poses a clear and present danger to the global economy. ...for the rest of the story... http://bit.ly/MGzB5e

Jon Corzine lobbies CFTC - "Internal Repos" Come on

Watch Jon Corzine's Washington Influence on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

@JamesGRickards - Currency Wars

@JamesGRickards JP Morgan Trade and European Financial Crisis

Jim Rickards is interviewed from 3:00 mins to 25:00 mins.

@JamesGRickards and Rick Santelli - The JP Morgan Trade

@JamesGRickards on European Debt Crisis

Lehman on Steroids

Jim Rogers Interview

Jamie's Cryin'

Lee Quaintance & Paul Brodsky

Untitled

Biderman and Bianco

Teahupoo

More Surfing Videos

This day at Teahupoo- Aug 27th 2011 during the Billabong Pro waiting period is what many are calling the biggest and gnarliest Teahupoo ever ridden. Chris Bryan was fortunate enough to be there working for Billabong on a day that will go down in the history of big wave surfing. The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water.

Kelly Slater described the day by saying "witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people's lives all day long, it's life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life."

All images where shot by Chris Bryan using the Phantom HD Gold camera. To see more of Chris' work check out his website. WWW.CHRISBRYANFILMS.COM

Music: Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun' by M83.

by Chris Bryan


..via MPORA http://video.mpora.com/watch/5Pgs2slxu/hd/

ECRI's Achuthan, again

J. P. Morgan and Credit Derivatives

Investing in Credit Derivatives - Blythe Master

Barry Bannister (Stifel Nicolaus) Macro Overview

BY BARRY BANNISTER CFA05/09/2012

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This is the first page of an in-depth analysis of macro-trends provided by Barry Banister, CFA. The full article can be viewed below in fullscreen mode or by clickinghere.

1. U.S. Equity Outlook: S&P consolidates mid-12, then ~1,400 year-end, ~1,600 2013/14 then a correction mid-decade leaving the S&Pflat point-to-point 1998 to 2015. It is difficult to break out of the sideways large-cap trading range (i.e., the secular bear market).
2. Fiscal & Monetary Policy: Deficits and negative real rates “create” low-quality profits by pulling demand from the future and creatingan artificially competitive currency. Low quality profits lead to a lower market P/E ratio. Bank credit de-leveraging math doesn’t add up.
3. Europe & China: Germany pursued a solely deflationary solution for peripherals and is seeing an EU rebellion, and China may find thatconsumption is not “top-down” the way construction, export industry capital spending & government spending are state-directed.
4. Labor & Housing: Increasing construction (There are signs non-residential is more attractive than residential) lifts GDP andemployment, but soft inflation-adjusted house prices prolong the U.S. balance sheet adjustment. Wages should rise with the dollar.
5. Dollar/Commodities: The U.S.$ has bottomed, commodities & U.S.$ are opposites. U.S. rebalancing is 3 years ahead of the Eurozone(past the lender of last resort stage/entering contagion) and 4 years ahead of China (post-tightening “we can handle slowdown” stage).

...via Financial Sense

MacroSlides2Q12

In the Night Kitchen

Rabobank tolerated doping on cycling team, De Rooy claims

By: 

Cycling News

Published: 

May 5, 08:40, 

Updated: 

May 5, 11:53

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Michael Boogerd would always target the race

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Medical staff said to have overseen riders' activities; Boogerd claimed as HumanPlasma client

Team Rabobank tolerated the use of doping up until at least 2007, according to a Dutch newspaper. The riders could select their own products, but the team medical staff made sure that they did not hurt their health, theVolkskrant newspaper claimed. At least three former riders, including Michael Boogerd, were also said to have been involved in the HumanPlasma blood doping ring, as well.

Cyclingnews has contacted Raboank for comment on the story.

According to the Volkskrant, Theo de Rooy who was team manager from 2003 to 2007, did not deny that there was doping on the team. “If it happened, it was a deliberate decision by the medical staff,” he said, but claimed not to know of the HumanPlasma involvement.

De Rooy, who reffered to the whole matter as “medical care” rather than doping, indicated that the efforts were to some extent overseen by someone within the team structure. "If you have a number of knowledgeable people who pick up the right signals from the riders, you can brake and steer them."

The former manager said that the team took no “unreasonable risks” in the matter. "But when it comes to medical care, you need to find the limit. You can't say you risk your life (in dangerous descents, for example, ed.), but when it comes to medical care, it does not matter. Then you're not an  athlete? For me it has always been: the health and well being of the rider in the short and long term.”

De Rooy said it was the responsibility of each rider “to determine how far he would go in the medical field”, the newspaper reported. The team management did not encourage or pay for doping, and was not officially allowed. .

He also acknowledged that he had disciplined riders who wanted to organize their own medical care outside the team structure. “Michael Rasmussen was not the first, for that matter. I had to take disciplinary action once before. By not using riders in races, for example.”

Rasmussen was removed from the Tour de France after the 16th stage, whilst leading the race, and fired by Rabobank, for having lied about his whereabouts in the time leading up to the Tour. De Rooy left the team shortly thereafter.

HumanPlasma involvement

At least three Rabobank riders were involved with the Humanplasma blood bank in Vienna, the story claimed. Stefan Matschiner, who was the power behind the blood doping  scheme, claimed that Michael Boogerd was one of them.

The newspaper said that 37 athletes from various disciplines used the transfusion services, and that Matschiner made appointments for them, maintained the contact with them and accompanied all but one of them to their appointments. All but one of the athletes, at any rate. Matschiner claimed that Boogerd brought with him the blood of another unnamed Dutch cyclist.

Boogerd denied any involvement. “I deny that I have been there,” he said.

Matschiner was the manager and supplier for Bernhard Kohl, who whilst riding for Gerolsteiner, won the mountains competition and finished third in the Tour de France in 2008. He subsequently tested positive for EPO-CERA and was suspended. Kohl made a full confession.

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