Eyewitness To RFK Assassination Says There Was a 'Definitely a Second Shooter'

"...Vancouver resident Nina Rhodes-Hughes — a 78-year-old American-born television actress and a local theatre enthusiast in the city's Bowen Island community — was serving as a volunteer fundraiser for Kennedy's campaign when he was fatally shot in a kitchen pantry at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968.

He died from his wounds about 24 hours later, on June 6. Five others injured in the

The Renegade Economist Interviews Ann Pettifor on Economics and the Global Financial Crisis

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Rick's Café Américain

An early bear raid saw the gold bears stuffed.




Je n'oublie jamais, chérie.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Two Highways

Occupy the SEC on Wall Street Banks, JPM 'Hedging,' and the London Whale

JPM's 'hedging' is really prop trading.

I suspect strongly that this is the basis of their 'silver hedging' as well.

Net Asset Value Premiums Of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

Premiums on gold are historically thin.

Gold Bull's Long Term Trendline - The Indispensable Chart

Although they cannot resist its inevitable climb because of the changes in the global monetary system and the ongoing currency wars, the Western central banks wish the increase in the price of gold to remain 'orderly.'

And so it is.











Thanks to my friend Nick Laird at Sharelynx.com.



Nick has one of the most amazing collections of charts on the web. 
Browsing his historical

Comex Silver Inventories - Bullion Banks To the Rescue

As I pointed out last week, inventories had fallen to historic lows ahead of the big delivery period.

The bullion banks have anticipated this and have shown some strength ahead of the period.

Stiglitz - Politics Is At the Root of the Problem

Where Stiglitz refers to 'free markets' here, he means the 'efficient markets hypothesis.' That is, if markets are left entirely to their own devices they will manage themselves, honestly and efficiently.

Government and regulation are the problem, and they distort markets. Therefore if you 'free' markets from the influence of imperfect supervision, the natural efficiency of the market will

Excerpt From 'Debt Generation' - We Are All Kettled Now

We Are All Kettled Now

30 Mar 09

 For anyone who has never been ‘kettled’ it is when the police at a protest suddenly close ranks and refuse to let anyone leave. You suddenly find you are held against your wishes. The police will not explain why, and they won’t allow any exceptions. You suddenly have no control over what is happening, and no discussion is permitted. A decision made by someone

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

Gold and Silver were held in range again, and continue to wind within the symmetrical triangles that are fairly visible on the chart.

Unless there is a major liquidity event, most likely triggered by Europe, the bias seems to the upside.

Eric Sprott warns that there are 'global shocks coming' in this interview at King World News. I think he is right.


I put a heavy hedge back on what is

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

We had a little follow through today as the market shook off the weak US GDP number and the continuing problems in Europe.



Next week on Friday is the April Non-Farm Payrolls report.



It is well worth listening to this interview on the US economy by Richard Yamarone on King World News.



There will be no sustainable recovery until the system is reformed.  Stimulus will not work because

US Economic News Next Week - April Non-Farm Payrolls

Here is the key macroeconomic news next week in the US.



Non-Farm Payrolls at the end of the week will tend to dominate.



Otherwise its the latest European macro jitters, and of course, more US earnings reports.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Gold to $10,000 oz. - Walkin' On the Sun

In general I do not like to post flat out projections for anything at much higher than the current market price, but directionally I think we might be facing a market dislocation in the metals to the upside for some fairly well identified fundamental and technical reasons.

I do not think that a domestic US gold standard is inevitable at all.  I think it is still rather unlikely.

 But I do

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Smells Like Teen Spirit

VIX has dropped below the 50 DMA.



Stocks may be poised to break out, but GDP tomorrow may be important for any further upward progress.

US Department Of Labor Is NOT Banning 'Farm Chores' For Children

Several people sent me this news about the US Department of Labor banning farm chores, so I thought I would take a look at it.

Google news showed that the citations were all from social conservative sites, and most if not all were quoting a single site that printed this news this morning.

No major news media was carrying the story.

 Here is what I found out about it. You can read the entire

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Jack of All Trades, And We'll Be All Right

The capping on gold and silver is hard to miss.



There was a fairly stiff gut check tossed at gold around the time the FOMC decision came out, but it bounced back quickly.



Paper and physical are in a bit of a struggle here, and so we see price winding tighter and tigher on the chart.



Intraday commentary on the financial system here.   Tavakoli 'tells it like it is.' 

Someone asked, why

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Apple Dumplings

APPL came in with very good results last night, and so the markets rallied led by tech.



No breakouts, so we are still waiting to see which way this goes.



Today was a good day to go for a walk.

Tavakoli: Another Financial Crisis Looming, And You're On Your Own

Janet Tavakoli takes the gloves off and tells it like it is in the cover story in the May 2012 issue of Research Magazine.


You'll have to read it here, because I doubt you would hear this in any of the mainstream media.
 
I hate to apply the overused term 'expert,' but Janet is a highly credentialed expert in financial derivatives with years of practical experience.   That does not mean that

MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Collapse Since Lehman - Reckless Disregard

The question is not what the politicians and monied interests in Washington and New York will do to restore confidence in the financial system.

Rather, it is what they are willing to do, how far they will go, to save themselves and their cronies after the next financial collapse and disclosure of pervasive fraud and theft occurs. 

 From what we have seen at MF Global,  the answer is that not

PBS Frontline: Money, Power, and Wall Street

As promised, this has just become available.  You can watch the first two hours here:

PBS Frontline: Money, Power, and Wall Street


Episode One: Derivatives Spark a Credit Boom and the Mispricing of Risk


                      The Attempted Whitewash - "We never saw it coming."
                      Understates the extent of the fraud and Greenspan and others involvement in promoting a

MF Global Customer Money Unvaporized: 'Substantial Portion Went to JP Morgan'

"The final $680 million or so was transferred to other financial institutions with which MF Global did business, including a substantial portion that went to JPMorgan. Giddens said his team has "a solid basis for seeking the recovery of some of the funds that were transferred to JPMorgan," and is engaged in ongoing talks on the issue."


As they say in the trade, Q. E. D.   (quod erat

Missouri's Sound Money Bill

"I don't think this has any practical implications,” says David Rapach,
associate professor of economics at St. Louis University. “This could be
a combination of nostalgia toward both states' rights and the gold
standard, but we moved away from those types of models for good
reasons.”

Perhaps the good professor has never heard of Gresham's Law, or seen The Hunger Games.   But it does fit

Michael Hudson and Max Keiser - Beggars Without Borders - Is the EU the New AIG?

The more I examine the financial, political, and economic structure of the European Union, the less sustainable and sensible it appears.

Having a common currency without allowing for transfer payments to make up for the lack of a flexible currency exchange is almost incredible considering the diversity of the region.

And when one adds the fact that each country is expected to issue its own

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Winding Winding...

There is little doubt that gold and silver are being 'capped' here.  

The question is which way they will break out and up, or down, as the winding tension in the market becomes unsustainable.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - All Eyes On AAPL

All eyes are on AAPL which reports earnings and revenues at 4:30 PM.


Tomorrow afternoon is the FOMC rate decision, and on Friday the advance GDP number from Q1.

US Leads Developed Nations In Percent of People In 'Low Wage Work'

This could be a good question on a quiz.



With regard to Victorian England I have seen estimates that show that almost 20 percent of workers were 'in service,' that is, were employed as domestic servants.



I see where they are already bringing back debtor prisons in the States.

And Australia and New Zealand are falling behind it appears.
  Some stubborn fascination with equality no doubt,

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Two Day Fed Meeting Weighs on Metals

The money-printers will announce their latest decision on Wednesday around 2:15 PM, after their two FOMC meeting.

Gold and silver typically sell off into such meetings so today was no real surpise. The correlation with the equity markets allowed our short stock hedges to function well.

I put out the latest Net Asset Value premiums this afternoon, and PHYS produced a fairly surprising .94%

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

700 million shares had traded on the NYSE at the bell, and that is light, and symptomatic of the lack of broad participation in this market. Shares are getting tossed around like hot potatoes among speculators and trading programs, with little conviction.

The two big pivot points of expected news will be on Wednesday when the Fed reports its FOMC decision and economic outlook, and on Friday

Net Asset Value Premium of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

The premium on PHYS is about as low as I can recall seeing.

It is so low that I checked for news of a secondary offering but found none.

Weekly US Economic Calendar

The Fed has a two day meeting and will report their decision and outlook on Wednesday.

The US will report the Advanced GDP number for Q1 on Friday.

Banking On Fear: Why the Policy of Stuffing the Banks With Money Does Not Help the Real Economy

"The big banks are buying up what they call fixed income instruments (bonds and other debt backed paper) and at the same time offering CDS insurance on the same. Just like they bought and sold protection on mortgages..."This is a fairly good description of why the policies of Bush and Obama have failed to effect an economic recovery.

The policy of 'saving the banks' first and foremost, and of

The Case Against Lehman Brothers - The Credibility Trap

This documents the investigation into Repo 105 and the fraudulent transfers between New York and London, and when the accounting firm of Ernst & Young knew of them. The SEC and the Federal Reserve were there at the company, with access to the records, when all this happened.

And of course, there have been no indictments. And the reason may be that the SEC and the Fed, in their desire to

Max Keiser Interviews Gonzalo Lira On the European Crisis

Currency Wars: Rickards On Gold, QE, and the Economy

Jim Rickards is interviewed by FutureMoneyTrends.com.



Part 1 is focused on Gold manipulation and why gold plays such an important role in the world, even if conventional wisdom doesn't believe so, gold is not only being watched by central bankers, as Mr. Rickards put, "the gold price is being managed."






Part 2 expands into the economy and probability of more quantitative easing (QE).

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Winding Into the Apex, Slowly

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - A Lazy Wind into the Weekend

Comex Silver Inventory Watch - Heading Into May-July Delivery Period

The long term decline in deliverable supply at this price level could become quite interesting.



The only ways to obtain more deliverable inventory to meet a bulge in demand is to game the rules on the ability to take physical delivery or let the price rise by buying on the open market.

   

The push by the CFTC for position limits may tighten the ability to take delivery from 1,500 to

Goldman Sachs Employee Facing Insider Trading Probe

And the fails just keep on coming.

They will toss the small fry while the big wheel keeps on turning.

Reuters
Goldman Sachs facing a new insider trading probe
By Emily Flitter

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a Goldman Sachs employee for insider trading, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers who attended a hearing in U.S. federal court in New

Double Barreled Blast of Max Keiser and Matt Taibbi (With Outtakes)

Wall Street as organized crime.  An excellent discussion with Matt and Max.




The entire show including the first half with Stacy Herbert discussing Goldman Sachs and their $22 million dollar fine for sharing unpublished info between analysts and traders is here.


Outtakes from this week's Max Keiser Show (with Matt Taibbi As Max's Samoan Attorney)



The businessman in a suit is a young

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Winding Up for a Move - Tomorrow Is Stock Option Expiry

The trick in trading is not to 'predict' in advance which way the metals will break in the short term, or any market for that matter. I have seen plenty of guys waste their trading accounts and their time trying to find 'the perfect system.' 

Believe me, if there was such a system, you would not find it.   And especially you would not find it on a publicly available site.

The best system

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Coiling Ever Tighter Into the Apex

VIX remains above the 50 DMA but fairly low so the 'yellow flag' is out.

Hedges in place.

As a reminder tomorrow is stock option expiration.

A Message on the Need to Reform the Financial System -- From Herbert Hoover

This speech was given by Herbert Hoover as the country was caught in the depths of the Great Depression 6 December 1932, as he was leaving office, largely perceived as a failure.

I have sympathy for Hoover and rightfully so. For many years I saw his portrait every time I would visit the headquarters of the IEEE in New York City. I read about his magnificent acts of logistical organization and

Frontline: Money, Power, and Wall Street

Coming April 24 and May 1, four hours in two parts.

There has been no genuine and effective reform, and no real recovery. And there is clear and present danger of another financial market collapse.

The truth of what really happened was led down a blind alley, and strangled. And no one saw or heard anything.

When it becomes available I will put up a link for those who would access it via

A Study On Speculation in the OIl Market For Those Economists Who Have Apparently Not Seen It

Here is a study from the St. Louis Fed on Speculation in the Oil Market that indicates that speculation contributed about fifteen percent to the increase in prices in the oil market during a recent price increase.

Anyone who trades these markets and follows the real economy does not require such a study to tell them what is plainly visible to their own eyes, especially when the studies always

Bill Moyers: It Pays To Be Rich - And a Tribute to Bernard Rapoport

It's all part of Obama's Raw Deal.

If he is Hoover, what is Mitt? More of the same, or something a little more edgy perhaps.

And as a counterpoint to mindless greed and the cult of self, a touching and moving tribute to Bernard Rapoport, who was fully human, greatly loved, and a great man, a pillar in the stream of a generation that has lost its way and its honor, and has forgotten the

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Chart

Intraday rant about market speculation and manipulation here.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

These markets are wound a bit tightly, and may break in either direction probably based on some stimulus or trigger event.

They are thirsty for liquidity and real investment and must have one or the other. Real investment is sidelined by fear of corruption and has been chased to the sidelines by rampant speculation by the HFT cowboys.

Bart Chilton of the CFTC Discusses Position Limits - Economists Remain Craven, Compromised, Blind

Bart Chilton discusses position limits and commodity price manipulation with Becky Quick and her assistant.

Silver is mentioned at about 5:35 on the tape.

'Speculators' might be confused with 'investors' if you come from the land of the privileged hedge and vulture funds.

Speculators look for market inefficiencies and exploit them, thereby contributing to price discovery in a healthy market.

The 'Raw Deal'

Senate Banking Committee to Hold MF Global Hearing Next Week

"How can people trust the harvest, unless they see it sown?"

Mary Renault

Here is the cast of players for the next Senate Hearing on MF Global as reported by the NY Times.

The problem that this hearing will seek to address is the lack of confidence in the markets and how to restore it.

The appearance of Mr. Freeh is new, and the characterization of it by the Times is interesting.

I doubt

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Bear Raid Breaks Momentum

The paper money munchkins and metal bears are making their stand for gold at $1650 and silver at 32. That seems fairly obvious. They will hold it until they cannot, and then will fall back to defend a slightly higher price level. I like to think of it in American football terms. The bulls are going for a first down, and the bears are trying to hold them back.

Silver came in this morning

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Risorgimento della Gola

The IMF raised it's world growth projections from 3 to 3.5%. Since the only group that is worse than the IMF projecting growth rates is the Fed, I think we can write than one off to jawboning at best, but nothing of lasting substance.

The rally was in part a wash and rinse, a way to catch the bears off balance, and was triggered largely by India which cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

The premium in PSLV for silver remains historically low.

I thought the bear raid this morning was all about breaking the upward momentum in silver in order to keep gold under wraps at 1650.

More on that later in the gold and silver commentary.

The Quebec Students Strike

"But the most interesting resistance happening right now is going on in Quebec, Canada. There are, according to one representative report, over 165,000 students on strike from class out of a 495,000 student body.

Quebec is looking to increase their tuition 75% over the next several years; students responded by starting what is now the longest strike in the province's history. It's gone on

SEC Charges OptionsXpress with Naked Short Selling Scam

And the fails just keep on coming.

MF Global was check-kiting (in addition to outright theft) and OptionsXpress was 'stock kiting' in some targeted and fairly impressive volumes.

Their mistake was involving the retail side of the trade.   Naked short selling and price manipulation is only permitted for professionals of TBTF institutions and  campaign contributing hedge funds.

Bloomberg

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

Gold closed about where it had opened on Sunday evening, and silver closed slightly higher.

And yet the miners took a minor beating as it were.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - No Resolution Yet

There was no clear breakout or breakdown on stocks.

There is also a strong possibility that we move to a sideways chop from here to the next big market move in May.

Why Has the American Economic System Failed, and What Are We Going To Do About It?

"We always want to keep in mind what the function, the purpose, of the economy is. The purpose of an economy is not producing GDP. It is increasing the welfare of citizens, and it is increasing the welfare of most citizens. And the American economic system has failed, and failed very badly. Most Americans today are worse off, most American households have lower real income adjusted for inflation

Joseph Stiglitz: Is Mercantilism Doomed to Fail? And With It the US Dollar?

This is Joe Stiglitz' presentation at the INET conference in Berlin last week. He speaks about mercantilism, and I added the tagline about the dollar.

The one point I wish to make emphatically is that only under a fiat currency trade system can these large deficits and surpluses be created, in the same manner as the debt bubbles, and asset bubbles.

This is not a new idea, of the natural

Michael Hudson: Debt: The Politics and Economics of Restructuring

I have been watching the presentations from the New Economic Thinking's (INET) Paradigm Lost Conference in Berlin.

Here is Michael Hudson's talk on Debt and Restructuring from April 13, 2012

The Criminal Manipulation of Food and Commodity Prices

Michael Greenberger of the University of Maryland has been an outstanding spokesperson for financial reform.  I have carried his interviews before.

He served on the CFTC with Brooksley Born in the late 1990's. This is how I first became aware of his opinions about regulatory matters.

I had hoped he, among some notable others, might have found a place in the Obama Administration if it had

Saving Capitalism From the Capitalists: Are the Trading Desks Destroying the Futures Markets?

Dan Norcini is my friend, one of the more savvy people I know in the markets. He has made his living as an off-exchange trader for many years. The concerns he has about the viability of the markets is genuine, and of great importance.

People forget the reasons why some markets exist, what their function in support of the real economy is fundamentally all about.

The responsibility for this

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

Gold and silver both gave up gains today as it was 'risk off' in the markets and at least for today that meant the metals went lower.

The chart formations on the daily price charts are obvious. What is not so clear is what the market is going to do with them, since we are in the sort of situation where we must wait for the market to signal which way it is going to break out of some big

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Chart - Risk Off in the Wash and Rinse Cycle

Wells Fargo set record profits this morning and JPM beat the numbers.

Despite this stocks slumped giving back their gains from yesterday.

Citi reports before the bell on Monday and the Street is pessimistic.

For Capitalism to Survive, Crime Must Not Pay

There are too many people in the financial sector, with their enablers, familiars, and camp followers, engaged in distorting markets and public policy discussions while collecting their enormous and counterproductive entitlements from corruption, fraud, and the misery of others.

They are crippling the economic recovery. These are not 'job creators' or even real wealth creators; they are con

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

To say that these are fairly cynical traders' markets, rather than anything tied to fundamental valuations, is an understatement.

The trading desks engage in heavy handed bear raids, smacking the price of bullion and related markets like miners down lower, and then ride them slowly back up to trend.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

There are far too many people in the financial sector collecting the

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Wash, Rinse, Repeat

A continuing rebound in the trend channel, as the Street anticipates more sugar from Uncle Ben.

Securitization - The Undead Heart of the Shadow Banking System

Here is a study of the shadow banking system, and what changed that helped to fuel the credit bubble and the financial collapse.

The root of this was in the overturning of the Glass-Steagall, the well funded lobbying effort for deregulation in the financial sector under the banner of the efficient markets hypothesis and the trickle down theory, and of course, a systematic undermining of

Net Asset Value of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

The premium on PSLV remains rather low by historical standards.

SP 500 Futures IntraDay

This is obviously a bounce off the longer term trend, that is now starting to challenge the short term downtrend.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

Intraday commentary on the eurodollar and gold here.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Bounce - VIX Remains Slightly Elevated

Stocks bounced today after the big decline yesterday in part because of some optimism on earnings after last night's Alcoa beat.

The rally was a bit subdued. Let's see if more earnings come in positively.

Eurodollar Update - Hunting The Black Swan - Gold and the Eurodollar

As you know eurodollars are US dollars held anywhere overseas by banks as a foreign currency liability or asset.

Eurodollars were formerly tracked by the Federal Reserve and were included in their M3 figures. In fact, the reason that the Fed stopped issuing its M3 is because it stopped tracking eurodollars. The other components remain.

But the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS,

Comex Registered Silver Inventory Falls Below 30 Million Ounces Again

Comex Registered Silver inventory has dipped back below the 30 million ounce level as deliveries and withdrawals bring it back down near historic lows.

Perhaps they can lease some from SLV as the situation may require. The central banks may stand ready to lease increasing amounts of gold for sale into the markets if the price rises too fast, as Mr. Greenspan had said, but they are fresh out

Mike Maloney on Gold and Silver Manipulation

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Remarkable Flight to Safety on Euro Jitters

There was a remarkable intra-day reversal in gold as stocks slumped hard on fresh European debt jitters of the Italian and Spanish variety.

This divergence was probably a flight to safety, as gold soared but silver lagged.

Gold had also come to the bottom of its short term trend channel, so the selling algos were likely a bit old.

I did some buying in the early part of the day as gold and

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Sharp Correction on Risk Off

The equity markets sold off sharply today on fresh jitters about the sovereign debt of Italy and Spain.

It is also quite important to remember that stocks have been very overbought short term and were ready for a correction.

Gold Moves Sharply Higher For No Particular Reason Yet Seen - Remarkable Divergence

I am checking various rumours, but so far nothing in the news can explain this remarkable short term rally in gold.

I am not going to bother repeating the rumours at this point, as they are mere speculation in my opinion.

This is a significant divergence from the equity markets. Silver also has rallied, but lagged a bit.

I would not chase it here, although that is easier for me to say as I

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

A pop up rally on expectations that the demise of QE is greatly exaggerated.

I have rarely seen a market that is subject to so much blatantly phony 'commentary' as the metals market.

The talk on Bloomberg financial television this afternoon was that the Jobs Report was misleading, and that more people are not working because they want to 'take it easy.' 

The unemployed just want to retire

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

Earnings season kicks off after the bell tomorrow with Alcoa.

A fairly moderate reaction to stocks in the first day of trading after the 'big miss' in the Jobs Report last week.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

JPM Trader Bruno Iksil Driving Derivatives Markets with 'Massive Positions' and 'Excess Capital'

A secretive JPM Trader in London, alternatively known as 'the London Whale' or 'Voldemort,' is distorting the credit derivatives markets with massive positions, and a willingness to move them advantageously in the markets.  It is a classic case of gambling with other people's money, in this case the excess capital provided by the Fed and the Treasury.

I am sure they are all legitimate hedging

Bill Moyers Interviews Paul Volcker: Gambling With Your Money

Gambling With Your Money - Bill Moyer's Journal

Blythe Masters Speaks Out On JPM and Market Manipulation: Take Our Word For It

A number of people have asked me what I think about Blythe Masters' interview on CNBC in which she categorically denies that JPM is involved in anything but legitimate hedging of customer positions in the silver market.

I think a detailed description of all of JPM's hedging positions in the futures and derivatives market, and the related customers and bullion holdings, should be supplied to

MF Global Trustee Giddens in 'Substantive Talks with JPM' Over Return of Stolen Customer Funds

It is nice to see that JPM is cooperating with Mr. Giddens, who is investigating their role in the funds that were stolen from MF Global's customers.

It remains to be seen how much, if any, money that they will return.

But it is good news to see that someone is stepping up besides the Commodity Customer Coalition.

It will be interesting to hear what Edith O'Brien will disclose when she

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - The Dr. Evil Strategy and Some Targets

"The exact methodology being deployed that enables the dominant commercial traders to pull this scam off repetitively, aside from outright collusion, is High Frequency Trading (HFT). HFT is the collusive bundling of advanced computer hardware and software that is so advanced and powerful that it has achieved the power to move prices sharply with little actual trading required in setting prices.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Why Is This Market Like Every Other Market?

The markets today were marked by thin volume and largely artificial intra-day price movements. Traders were squaring off ahead of the three day weekend so there was a slight downward bias except in tech, which was cheered by the awarding of the Facebook IPO to the NASDAQ, and of course, perpetual Apple-mania.

Cautionary words about Europe and the upcoming earnings season had the markets on

Unfulfilled Dreams: A Tension At the Heart of the Universe

"...So many of us in life start out building temples: temples of character, temples of justice, temples of peace. And so often we don’t finish them. Because life is like Schubert’s "Unfinished Symphony." At so many points we start, we try, we set out to build our various temples. And I guess one of the great agonies of life is that we are constantly trying to finish that which is unfinishable.

MF Global: The Awkward Construct of a Dual Bankruptcy and the Two Trustees

I outlined the somewhat adversarial relationship between the two trustees due to the odd and awkward construct of the bankruptcy a few days ago. Louis Freeh Asks for $25 Million From MF Global Estate to Pay the Defense Costs of Corzine and Execs.
"I am not an attorney and have never been personally involved in a bankruptcy so I am not particularly knowledgeable in the finer points of US

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Even the Orchestra Is Beautiful

Each and every market maker a virgin. If you don't believe me, don't take my word for it, go ahead, ask Helga.








Betty and Helga

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

Oh Say Does That Star Spangled Banner Yet Wave...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Says They Must 'Break Up Their Big Bank Monopolies'

What a world, when the premier of China sounds like Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt.  His observations of the problems they face with the biggest banks in China must surely resonate with people in the developed nations.

I do not know how to translate this into Chinese, but the Premier is free to use it in his speeches:
"The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with

JPM To Pay 'Wristslap Fine' in Misuse of Customer Segregated Funds at Lehman Brothers

JPM extended a significant amount of credit to Lehman Brothers prior to their collapse.

In extending the credit, JPM assumed that the customer money that was being held by Lehman Brothers could be freely used by the firm, and therefore was a legitimate part of its valuation. The comparison to MF Global is obvious.

In other words, if MF Global had not failed to meet its margin call and gone

When Is QE Not Really QE, a Bailout Not Really a Bailout?

When the going gets tough, the sneaky take it off balance sheet.

Watch carefully what the Fed and the Treasury do, not so much what they say.

Times of India
IMF chief calls on US for more cash
3 April 2012

WASHINGTON: IMF managing director Christine Lagarde implored the United States to help back-stop debt-ridden European countries Tuesday, wading neck-deep into bubbling US political waters.

More Evidence of Fraud: MF Global's Inscrutable Accounting Error - Who Shot Jon?

"The theory is that someone at the firm overrode internal controls that safeguarded customer funds and transferred money out of them to shore up the company's global liquidity position. Congress and federal investigators are particularly focused on the role of Jon Corzine, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and governor of New Jersey, and whether he purposely directed his treasury department to use

Gold Daily And Silver Weekly Charts - FOMC Minutes Trigger a Sell-Off

The FOMC minutes at 2 PM NY time set off a sell signal in gold of about 2.25%, and to a lesser extent stocks .90% and silver which was down 1.44%.

All three recovered somewhat into the close.

These are highly manipulated markets, so tread carefully. It is better for most non-professionals to be out of them, and to have their wealth stored in honest assets as far away from the Anglo-American

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Desperately Seeking Buyers for the Bernanke Bubble

The FOMC minutes precipitated a drop in the markets.

Gold and some of the miners were hit hard, with silver, bonds and stocks down to a lesser extent. The US dollar rallied.

The rationale was that there would be no QE and that perhaps the FED would raise rates. Given the recent data from income tax receipts and wages this appears to be more a fantasy than a sound fiscal policy.

I don't

Remembering the 44th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's Last Speech

Martin Luther King's Last Speech

3 April 1968, Church of God in Christ, Memphis, Tennessee



On 4 April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and abuse those whom God has sent as messengers to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you would not let me.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

The FOMC minutes at 2 PM NY time set off a sell signal in gold of about 2.25%, and to a lesser extent stocks .90% and silver which was down 1.44%.

Reggie Middleton On Bank Fraud and Financial Ponzi Schemes

Financial analyst Reggie Middleton is interviewed on a range of topics by Max Keiser.
- Fed bought 61% of new Treasury debt issuance distorting markets
- Higher oil prices are due to monetization of the currency and not increased demand
- Higher education has all the characteristics of a debt bubble
- Big name investment banks are taking advantage of their clients in order to make short term

McKenna: JP Morgan Chase Knew MF Global 'All Too Well'

"JPM had a history with Dennis Klejna. He was the head of compliance at Refco when that firm failed. JPM was one of the underwriters of the Refco IPO and agreed in April 2010 to pay $49.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit over that firm's collapse less than two months after going public in 2005...

Klejna was not criminally charged over his involvement in the Refco fraud, but he did sign a

Louis Freeh Asks for $25 Million From MF Global Estate to Pay the Defense Costs of Corzine and Execs

The legal and ethical issues in the MF Global financial collapse and bankruptcy are particularly interesting.

Here we have a company whose management, or at least some parties in that management, based on the evidence at hand, apparently stole a significant amount of money (about $1.6 billion) from their customers. Some of portion of that $1.6 Billion was transferred to at least one large

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

“Our public credit is good, but the abundance of paper has produced a spirit of gambling in the funds, which has laid up our ships at the wharves as too slow instruments of profit, and has even disarmed the hand of the tailor of his needle and thimble. They say the evil will cure itself. I wish it may; but I have rarely seen a gamester cured, even by the disasters of his vocation.”

Thomas

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Biderman's Outlook for April

The light volume ramps higher continue on.

FOMC minutes tomorrow and the Jobs Report at the end of the week.

According to this the Fed is buying 61% of US debt. That leaves quite a bit of hot money looking for beta in the equity and junk markets.

More Evidence of Fraud at MF Global and the Intent to Commit Fraud - Hunger Games

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,
They kill us for their sport."

William Shakespeare, King Lear
I noted reports on this from account holders last year, who had their requests for wire transfers, which are the customary manner of moving large sums from bank to bank, denied and instead were issued checks at a much slower pace. The checks of course bounced when they were received and

The Bi-Partisan Criminogenic Fraudulent JOBS Bill

When the Republicans and the Democrats agree wholeheartedly about something these days hold on to your wallets.

Chris Hayes needs to cut down on his caffeine intake a bit, otherwise an excellent discussion. And of course please ignore any obnoxious commercial that precedes it.

I wanted to highlight this because it is Obama's bill. If and when it enables a new round of financial fraud his