behind-the-matrix

Declaration of war against banksters

2011-03-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

Starting Monday if you want to read on you will have to use a different blog since this one still will be blocked when I am back.

http://behindthematrix.wordpress.com

Declaration of war via peaceful cyber warriors

Hacker Group Anonymous Brings Peaceful Revolution To America: Will Engage In Civil Disobedience Until Bernanke Steps Down

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/12/2011 21:30 -0500

The world's most (in)famous hacker group - Anonymous - known for effectively shutting down their hacking nemesis security firm (with clients such as Morgan Stanley and, unfortunately for them, Bank of America)-HBGary, advocating the cause of Wikileaks, and the threat made by one of its members that evidence of fraud by Bank of America will be released on Monday, has just launched communication #1 in its Operation "Empire State Rebellion." The goal - engage in "a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful, civil disobedience" until Ben Bernanke steps down and the "Primary Dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy effective immediately."

The Anonymous manifesto:

We are a decentralized non-violent resistance movement, which seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the organized criminal class.
One-tenth of one percent of the population has consolidated wealth in unprecedented fashion and launched an all-out economic war against 99.9% of the population.
We are not affiliated with either wing of the two-party oligarchy. We seek an end to the corrupted two-party system by ending the campaign finance and lobbying racket.
Above all, we aim to break up the global banking cartel centered at the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, Bank of International Settlement and World Bank.
We demand that the primary dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy, effective immediately.
As a first sign of good faith we demand Ben Bernanke step down as Federal Reserve chairman.
Until our demands are met and a rule of law is restored, we will engage in a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful, civil disobedience.
In our next communication we will announce Operation Empire State Rebellion.

Glorious Chairman Ben - our free advice to you: change your e-mail password stat...

Your rating: None Average: 4.9 (69 votes)

SPX update

2011-03-10T15:17:00.000-06:00

SPX is breaking below the trend support and the market closes almost exactly on the 55MA at 1295 which is a sign of trouble as the NDX closed clearly below. As said earlier the countertrends whenever weekly golden crosses occur are a regular pattern as the 50 week MA is crossing the 200MA the coming week Keep.selling any strength from now on adding to the shorts as the NDX has activated the H&S pattern. The SPX has already lost 4% from the top since the Jupiter Saturn heliocentric opposition and last time it went for a 25% drop in 1990. I am not sure yet how low we go this time as Hedge Funds are long at as we can see for Gold right now a little liquidation has started but we are far away from any oversold market right now but 1275 is a good short term support but we should expect a drop to the 200 MA over time as it represents a 50% drop from the summer lows. The FED will fight the bears fierrceful as if they also loose the stock game they become obsolete and Wallstreet will be in big trouble if another crash occurs - ultimate trouble.

Thursday brainstorming

2011-03-10T14:44:00.000-06:00

1. Well China exports did the trick but its rather the imports I think as commodity prices have exploded - anyway markets are breaking below supports for the NDX and SPX ( later more on that).
I even heard that US Intel expects Gadaffi to win the civil war but that might just be an excuse for Sarkozy's suggestion for a surgical air strike on Libya seems very hypocritical now as the protest wave arrives fully in Saudi Arabia - Saudis opened fire to day which is serious trouble for Obama as his allies are now attacking civilians as well how can they argue that attacking Gadaffi is any better than Saudi's?

excerpt

Saudi Police Open Fire At Protest Rally

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/10/2011 13:25 -0500

Crude

AP reports that the Saudi police open fire at protesters in Qatif after government warns demonstrators it will not tolerate protests. In other words, the shootings will continue until morale is restored. Look for crude to go antigravitational here.

2. Another good news for bears is that there are fewer of them as more have capitulated

excerpt

NYSE Short Interest Declines Again, Just In Time For Market Drop

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/10/2011 10:58 -0500

While not at the lows from January, when NYSE short interest hit a multi year low of 12.4 billion shares, the just released update shows that into the end of February, total short interest once again declined from the Mid-February dead cat bounce which saw it at 12.8 billion, with the latest print at 12.6 billion shares. And now that the market is finally realizing that there is a several hundred point vacuum underneath if indeed there is even a brief break in Fed monetization, the number of shorts that may opt to cover on the market's way down is far lower than in recent history. Of course, this is what happens when everyone bets on the Bernanke Put and said Put starts to sputter, which simply means that the Fed chairman, who traditionally equates economic growth with the Russell 2000 is more boxed into a corner, than ever: QE3 will second gold to 2,000 and oil to 1,50. No QE3 will send the S&P to sub 1,000. Place your bets.

brainstorming wednesday

2011-03-09T09:05:00.000-06:00

1. Gadaffi did not go for the offer and keeps bombing the rebels that can have 2 reasons - first would be he wants to sit down for negotiations with better cards as he wants to keep the wealth he has stolen from the state to some degree besides his life. The second more likely to his profile and actual astro pattern is that he feels confident to keep his position with help from China and Russia - which he will not at the end because the benign pattern is only til June ( which is rather the max. he can get from this civil war ). China on the other hand is not too happy about rising oil prices as it fuels a problem they already have at hand the inflation spike. Russia will enjoy the situation very much as they can max out their profits on oil.

excerpt

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have launched new air raids on the oil city of Ras Lanuf and are closing in on the western town of Az Zawiyah.
Fresh reports of rockets landing on Ras Lanuf came on Wednesday, leading to a growing concern for the city's gas facilities, which if bombed, could spell disaster for people living in the area.
Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Ras Lanuf, said fighter jets were circling overhead and the rebels were firing back.
"What we are hearing is intense and repeated attacks by Gaddafi's airplanes on the rebels," she said.
"The air force is concentrating on the big junctions at the entrance to the town. The fact that it’s such consistent black smoke could well means there is oil underneath it. It is continuing to burn.
"The opposition fighters are extremely panicked."
Khaled Kwafi, a member of the opposition forces based on the outskirts of the city, told Al Jazeera that people were killed and injured in the attack.
"An hour ago we saw warplanes in the sky. We heard very huge explosions and lots of smoke. Our people tried to go there but they were stopped," he said.
"We heard there are people killed and injured there."
Forces loyal to Gaddafi are also reported to have surrounded the rebel-held western town of Az Zawiyah, close to the capital Tripoli.
The Libyan government claims it has taken back the coastal town of Bin Jawad after heavy shelling there.
Meanwhile, in his second televised speech in as many days, Gaddafi once again alleged involvement of foreigners in the rebellion against his more than 41-year-old rule.
In an address on state TV early on Wednesday he warned of a plot to colonise Libya. As proof, he said his security forces had captured several foreigners during a raid on Monday.
"Yesterday, the mosque that the security forces regained power over, they had in this mosque, they had weapons and alcohol as well. Some of them come from Afghanistan, some of them come from Egypt, some of them come from Algeria, just to misguide our children," Gaddafi said.

2. That Bill Gross has completely sold out of Treasuries is rather alarming in the current context and proves that Government lies about inflation as stated many times. He seems to think as I assumed earlier as well that rather bonds will drag down equities. Therefor he is high on cash because opportunity will present itself once the process is triggered but first world bond markets have to price in inflation which is an ugly event once it starts.

excerpt

Exclusive: Bill Gross Dumps All Treasuries, Brings Total "Government Related" Holdings To Zero, Flees To Cash - No QE3?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/09/2011 09:02 -0500

And many thought Bill Gross was only posturing when he said he is getting the hell out of dodge. Based on still to be publicly reported data by Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, in the month of January, has taken its bond holdings to zero(and -14% on a Duration Weighted Exposure basis). The offset, not surprisingly, is cash. After sporting $28.6 billion in "government related" securities, TRF dropped to $0.0, while its cash holdings surged from $11.9 billion to a whopping $54.5 billion (based on total TRF holdings of $236.9 billion as of February 28).This is the most cash the flagship fund has ever held, and the lowest amount in Treasury holdings since January 2009 before it was made clear that the Fed was going to adjust QE1 to include Treasurys in addition to Mortgage Backed Securities. PIMCO's Treasury holdings peaked in June 2010 at $147.4 billion and have declined consistently ever since. And while we expected that the spike in MBS holdings (at times on margin) was indicative of an expectation that QE3 would monetize mortgage backed securities, the ongoing decline in that asset class now leads us to believe that Bill Gross is now convinced there will be no QE3 at all, at least based on his just putting his money where his monthly pen is! And if Bill Gross, the most connected person to the upcoming actions by the Fed, believes there is no more quantitative easing, it is really time to get the hell out of dodge in all security classes - bonds, and most certainly, equities.

brainstorming tuesday

2011-03-08T11:05:00.000-06:00

1. We have an interesting situation at hand short-term as Gadaffi got a 72h option to get out without prosecution card from the opposition but one condition is that any military action has to stop first. It is in so far interesting as we will have a 48h benign market situation at hand by an Astro patterm before on the 11th Uranus enters Aries. This is the only realistic option out for Gadaffi if international institutions do refrain from prosecution as well which would make it a likely scenario for a descent thinking man but he is rather eccentric to say the least and may bet that China and Russia keep the Nato away. So far the scenario we could repeat that consolidation pattern seems to work out again after testing yesterdays lows market has turned up again with banks as the leading sector

Rebels set demands for Gaddafi exit

Head of Libyan opposition says Gaddafi 'will not be pursued' if he quits within 72 hours and stops bombing countrymen.

Last Modified: 08 Mar 2011 14:36 GMT

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Rebels will not pursue Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over crimes they say he has committed if he steps down from his post in the next 72 hours, the head of the rebel National Libyan Council has told Al Jazeera.
"If he leaves Libya immediately, during 72 hours, and stops the bombardment, we as Libyans will step back from pursuing him for crimes," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the opposition National Council, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
He said the deadline would not be extended beyond 72 hours.

NDX update

2011-03-07T13:25:00.000-06:00

Basically we are repeating exactly the same consolidation in those ovals and the low was so far just to the previous one again. The overall picture is a bit different though as we had close by already a consolidation this could become rather a Head & Shoulder with the support line being the neckline but we need to break below the 2308 support to have a good indication that the neckline will be challenged and even broken. Otherwise we might just turn upside again but with the latest development that Obama is considering a military option the odds are we test the neckline this week as a war is not priced in yet. Although it will not be a fullscale operation anyway as Iraq or Afghanistan. The target of that H&S would be 130 points below down to the 2170 area. The second test of the 55 day MA is another difference to the earlier consolidation and shows implied weakness of the market. Within 24h we will have a good clue how to go from here - astrology also rather hints to an imminent escalation.

part 2

2011-03-07T12:13:00.000-06:00

2. The escalating situation in Libya drags down markets despite merger Monday. War likely scenario is getting priced in as Uranus is about to enter Aries - im astrology the 0 degree of Aries is a very important degree and can trigger crises if hit by a challenging planet like Uranus and what makes the whole thing even more challenging is the square it has with the North Node. Plus Saturn makes a square to the USA sun which has a natal Sun Saturn square hence they are and will be challenged big time by the current situation.

excerpt

From Reuters:

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that NATO was considering military options in response to the situation in Libya.

Obama, speaking after talks with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, said the two countries agreed that violence by the Libyan government against its people was unacceptable.

White House Provides Update On Operation "Nobel Peace Prize" - "Use Of Ground Troops Not At Top Of List"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2011 12:56 -0500

Earlier, we reported that Obama mentioned that NATO is currently evaluating military options against Libya. Now, White House spokesman Carney adds some additional color on what Operation "Nobel Peace Prize", aka the invasion of Libya, will look like. From Reuters: "White House says no option removed from table on Libya response but use of ground troops not at top of list."Does that mean air force intervention is at the top? Luckily Zero Hedge readers know very well that the USS Enterprise is now peacefully sailing in the Mediterranean, awaiting for its moment in the sun. And on the use of the SPR: "White House says no specific price point would trigger the use of oil reserve; the issue is oil supply disruption." But what supply disruption: wasn't the spin up to now that Libya is largely irrelevant for the US from a supply perspective?

3. America going for bankruptcy in faster pace despite the budget cut charade.

February $223 Billion Budget Deficit Largest Ever

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2011 13:04 -0500

Well, it's one way to start a deficit cutting scramble. Washington Times reports that the preliminary number for the February deficit, which will formally be released by the FMS shortly, is $223 billion: this is the largest single month deficit in history! So much for prudent budgets and all that. At least the number can only get better from here. Unless, of course, it gets much, much worse, and rates continue creeping higher, resulting in 30% of total revenues being dedicated to paying gross interest, as was previously discussed on Zero Hedge. Then 40%. Then 50%... One gets the picture.

Brainstorming monday

2011-03-07T06:07:00.001-06:00

A Turkish court order closed down all blogspots from Google because a cabel TV provider was unhappy with 2 blogs showing soccer matches. Thats why I could not write for a few days - since I am out of the country on a a business trip for a week you can see posts on this one. Once I am back you will have to switch to my wordpress blog which still works. No need to say that the internet will be under frequent attack from now on on a global scale even as Pluto will be square Uranus for 3 years and the ruling powers will abuse the power they have and run into fascism again since that was alos fired up 84 years ago when Uranus was in Aries the last time and Pluto in Capricorn is anyway a very rigid force of power and governments tendency to totalitarianism which we last time had 240 years ago during the independence war of the USA but obviously with a different technology. This is quite a combination and what we see inthe Arab countries is just the foreplay of things to come i the next 4 years as this both very extreme energies will clash and a global war is very likely.

1. Back to the markets the NEW MOON kicked off another upside spike with APPLE as mentioned before the main driver as it will make a new high in the 360-70 region before it tops out in about 2 weeks as we need 2 new weekly highs to complete the count to 13. The IPAD 2 is not a big improvement compared to the new Android tablets hiting the market this spring and as soon as honeycomb has the final version ready in one month. We are building a volatile top as anticipated and will have diverging indices as the tech segment might outperform and banks likely underperform. Furthermore retail keeps rushing in which was the target of the bull campaign to unload the stuff on them which takes some time and is call distribution as they need to sell them while creating the illusion the market will even rise further they can not afford to have disruptions but at the same time the QE2 will come to an end in June which is about the time frame they have. Still the Middle East development is a big risk as it can escalate easily thats why the western governments hold back still as a full scale intervention could destroy the bull spirit. On March 11th when Uranus enters Aries things in the Middle East will rather become more intense and we will repeat a pattern we had back in 1928 when Jupiter and Uranus were both in Aries the difference though is that Saturn is opposite which is rather a disturbing factor which will become exact on the 28th.
Jupiter in Aries which happens every 12 years created benign factors overall but always has a sharp correction in the mid term area except for 1987 which even created a big crash but that would be an isolated view as the interaction of all 10-12 stars and asteroids has to be considered. Uranus in Aries last time 1927-34 created even a depression after a big upside run the destructive forces were even bigger. This Uranus will later this year gear into a square with Pluto for 3 years as mentioned before and will active very destructive forces with the sign placements both have. At some point this rally will end in a bloodbath which is also quite obvious from the fundamental situation as the world is as broke as never before and just keeps the deadman walking money printing procedure as long as it gets before the situation will escalate and the elite will create a global war to get rid of the bad debts.

tuesday brainstorming

2011-03-01T07:32:00.001-06:00

1. The middle east is going to spiral into a full fledged trouble zone as Uranus is about to enter Aries which will make revolutionary forces to be much more forceful and gain more momentum from unexpected angles. For Iran its the perfect storm and they will be with China on support as is the Bankster gang of Rothschilds are as well. Both can gain new resources in oil once all dictators are eliminated they buy of any new ruling elite. Still a dangoerous game as 2 opposing parties go for a different outcome of the same basic event.
The FED will have a hard time to keep up their Poınzi game - even the master Ponzi-man Madoff called it an disgusting event from prison which bares quites some irony. On the other hand they have almost reached the target as the name of every bull campaign is to unload it on the reatil market at the top and the fall for the pressure the FED setup with high inflation and now interest paid they jump on the ever rising stockmarket.
The weakest foreign policy yteam for a long time Obama / Clinton are overwhelmed and lack any leadership in this historic events as they see the dictators USA supported for the benefited of controlled oil supply in place are dismantled for what they are and the 'evil' islamic terrorists turn out to be rather the better democrats as the original spirit America was founded on. America deployed the same strategies as the Brit empire did on Americans before the Independance war.Saudies sending tanks to Bahrain is no different than Saddam invading Kuweit in my book how weird things have become as Saudis are scared to death they might be next.

excerpt

Silver Hits Fresh Post Hunt Brother High Of $34.43 On News Saudi Has Sent Tanks To Bahrain

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/01/2011 07:12 -0500

If RIA Novosti's update on the Middle East escalation is correct, the Middle East's worst kept secret, that Saudi Arabia would interfere militarily in Bahrain before the country fell, has just been confirmed. From RIA: "Saudi Arabia has sent dozens of tanks to Bahrain, where anti-government protests continue for about two weeks, Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said on Tuesday. Eyewitnesses reported seeing "15 tank carriers carrying two tanks each heading towards Bahrain" along the 25-km King Fahd causeway, which links the small island nation of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia." And while nobody expects the DXY to do much if anything on this news, now that the dollar is irrelevant in the FX realm, the same can not be said about silver. Silver just hit $34.43 minutes ago, the highest print in the last 31 years.

2. Hyperinflatin despite all denial in full gear

From now on a bigger crash of bond markets is just a matter of time but not optional as central banks are robbing the Mainstreet class by keeping doctored inflation numbers and and interest rates at grave low levels to create profits for banksters.

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Factory input costs leapt across the globe in February, the latest sign of rising inflationary pressures, while euro zone manufacturing grew at its fastest in nearly 10 years, surveys showed on Tuesday.

British manufacturing also grew strongly, at its fastest pace in nearly two decades, and Indian factory growth accelerated. But in China, where the authorities have raised rates and bank reserve requirements multiple times since last year, factory growth slipped to its slowest pace in six months.

Overall, the February purchasing managers' indexes provide the latest evidence of growing inflationary pressure from a sharp rise in commodity prices. Crude oil prices hit 2-1/2 year highs last week on supply concerns after uprisings in Libya.

"With the latest surge in commodity prices yet to fully feed through into consumer prices, inflation could well climb further in the next few months," said Martin van Vliet at ING.

The output price index in the 17-nation euro zone hit a record high for the survey, which was conducted February 11-21 before oil prices spiked again last week.

SPX update

2011-02-28T11:35:00.000-06:00

We are clearly in this trading channel and have recently challenged the resistance level and testing the imminent uptrend since Aug. last week. It still survived the first attack but should try once again even this but more likely next week with a positive drop below. The Apple recovery is one of the factors plus the month end window dressing but even more so the return of the retail investors to the stock-markets this year. We have a weekly Golden Cross in the DOW and about to in the SPX which ironically is most of the time an indicator for an imminent counter-move of at least 5%.. We have a little time window of 2-3 days where Venus will be in a benign sextile to Uranus while it moves into a new sign (Aquarius) which is again a perfect timing of Apple to launch a new product ( might not be a coincidence at all) which could drive Apple stocks to the 360 levels once again.SPX could test the 1350 level before turning down within this context as we now enter month 7 count with a 13 which means that the top could take a few more weeks to be finished. but with a 10% correction in between as the bigger tops have this wild distribution patterns. As the FED and the other banksters keep the ponzi-rally going with an unprecedented liquidity infusion some indicators seem to be irrelevant but its rather more a matter of delay and rather worse outcome.

brainstorming Monday

2011-02-28T10:07:00.000-06:00

1. Was a bit premature to say that the uptrend was broken for the SPX as we challenged it for 2 days but managed to turn around at the 1300 support. Well as you will say later today this volatile top is going t be a little more tricky as Apple messes around again to the upside with IPAD 2 being announced on Wednesday - it closed the gap and trades above 350 again. Where is a chance for new highs in case of Apple anyway even the Tech indices may make minor new highs this week - more on that ay the index updates.

The FED creates the ultimate bubble and if they do not follow up with QE3 markets will crash anyway but even if they come with another round if inflating markets a Dollar crash might harm stocks as well as the FED digs America into its own grave and another round of Ponzi scam might be to much of poison. Right now they seem to have succeeded anyway as retail rushes in to buy all those bubbly stocks and the rate of change for Apple products will not produce more buyers as no one can refresh his gadget on a yearly basis but Apple can still steal a bit more from classic PC consumers but that is already priced in around 360.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011

INVESTOR SENTIMENT READINGS

High bullish readings in the Consensus stock index or in the Market Vane stock index usually are signs of Market tops; low ones, market bottoms.

Last Week

2 Weeks Ago.

3 Weeks Ago

Consensus Index
	Consensus Bullish Sentiment	75%	74%	71%
Source: Consensus Inc., P.O. Box 520526,Independence, Mo.
Historical data available at (800) 383-1441 . editor@consensus-inc.com
AAII Index
	Bullish	36.6%	46.6%	49.4%
	Bearish	36.1	25.6	26.9
	Neutral	27.2	27.9	23.7
Source: American Association of Individual Investors,
625 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611 (312) 280-0170.
Market Vane
	Bullish Consensus	64%	67%	67%
Source: Market Vane, P.O. Box 90490,
Pasadena, CA 91109 (626) 395-7436.
FC Market Sentiment
	Indicator	57.3%	57.3%	57.0%
Source: First Coverage 260 Franklin St., Suite 900
Boston, MA 02110-3112 (617) 303-0180 . info@firstcoverage.com

FC Market Sentiment is a proprietary indicator derived from actionable sell-side trade ideas sent by the sell-side to their buy-side clients over the First Coverage platform. Over 1,000 institutional sales people at more than 250 firms participate on the First Coverage platform and have contributed hundreds of thousands of ideas since inception. Each Idea is associated with a ticker or sector and is tagged bullish or bearish by the creator. This data is aggregated at the sector, industry and market level. The FC Market Sentiment score ranges from 0-100 (0=most bearish, 50=neutral, and 100=most bullish) and represents a completely objective, real-time view into what advice the sell-side is providing to their buy-side clients

Citigroup Panic/Euphoria Model

2. Besides volatility with now get SKEW from the CBOE which is a very good indicator combined with VIX.

We have now reached the same setup as in late April 2010 before the Flash Crash and correction.

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It's A Skewed, Skewed World

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/23/2011 18:23 -0500

Ben Bernanke

From Credit Trader

CBOEs recent introduction of the SKEW Index brings the realities of the options market (and real fear indexes) to retail investor's eyes. With so much attention paid to the VIX (the anachronsitic FEAR index) and especially its dropping over the last few months, investors are led to believe that risk is reducing but lo and behold, as many Pros know, the cost of protecting against a much more serious drop (or tail event) has increased quite notably with out-of-the-money options vols rising notably. The chart below shows this quite clearly as VIX (At-the-money vol) ebbs away (red arrows) as the day-to-day vol of more 'normal' mark-to-market movements is culled thanks to the liquidity fueled effervescence, the rise in out of the money (or crisis/event risk) vol has risen dramatically (white arrows). This can only go on so long as vol arbitrageurs will creep up the moneyness curve (to hedge the tail risk) and eventually impact the ATM. This happened in early 2010 and is happening again currently.

The recent moves in the major credit indices also fits with this world view as any smarter-than-the-average bear capital structure arbitrageur knows that the skew (and specifically the out of the money vol market) has a much better relationship with credit than the near-the-money. One other potential way to think of this (hattip to Artemis recent article on this) is that the skew better represents the real market value of the Bernanke Put (i.e. how much is the market pricing in the never-ending story of a Fed-provided safety net) - perhaps notable that the SKEW began to rise very shortly after Jackson Hole and the QE2 plan came online.

brainstorming Friday - part 1

2011-02-25T07:34:00.002-06:00

1. Another indicator for a top is that the banksters succeeded in convincing retailers to jump on the bull campaign at the tops as the fund flows below show. We have a serious inflow in domestic stock funds the last weeks , which is a U-Turn to last years where we had constant outflows. That is exactly what Bernie boy is aiming for so his bankster friends at Goldman and JPM can dump it on Mainstreet what they were carrying all the way to the top. This is capitulation as they were sick and tired earning no interest but watching markets go up they do the exactly wrong thing now while brokers have a party as the money goes from money market funds to front-loaded equity funds must likely.

excerpts

Long-Term Mutual Fund Flows
February 16, 2011

Washington, DC, February 16, 2011 - Total estimated inflows to long-term mutual funds were $9.30 billion for the week ended Wednesday, February9, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Flow estimates are derived from data collected covering more than 95 percent of industry assets and are adjusted to represent industry totals.

Estimated Flows to Long-Term Mutual Funds
Millions of dollars

		1/12/2011	1/19/2011	1/26/2011	2/2/2011	2/9/2011
Total Equity		6,533	4,959	5,111	1,760	5,849
	Domestic	3,762	3,311	3,242	1,414	4,921
	Foreign	2,772	1,649	1,869	346	928
Hybrid		2,140	1,556	1,941	1,662	1,885
Total Bond		-975	-2,165	742	577	1,561
	Taxable	1,393	3,584	3,447	1,749	3,027
	Municipal	-2,368	-5,748	-2,704	-1,173	-1,466
Total		7,698	4,350	7,794	3,998	9,295

Equity funds had estimated inflows of $5.85 billion for the week, compared to estimated inflows of $1.76 billion in the previous week. Domestic equity funds had estimated inflows of $4.92 billion, while estimated inflows to foreign equity funds were $928 million.

Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income securities, had estimated inflows of $1.89 billion for the week, compared to estimated inflows of $1.66 billion in the previous week.

Bond funds had estimated inflows of $1.56 billion, compared to estimated inflows of $577 million during the previous week. Taxable bond funds saw estimated inflows of $3.03 billion, while municipal bond funds had estimated outflows of $1.47 billion.

Money Market Mutual Fund Assets
February 24, 2011

Washington, DC, February 24, 2011 - Total money market mutual fund assets decreased by $5.14 billion to $2.751 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, February 23, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Taxable government funds decreased by $6.31 billion, taxable non-government funds increased by $3.02 billion, and tax-exempt funds decreased by $1.85 billion.

Assets of Money Market Mutual Funds
Billions of dollars

		2/9/2011	2/16/2011	2/23/2011	Change
Taxable Government		789.47	789.99	783.68	-6.31
	Retail	165.21	165.22	164.88	-0.33
	Institutional	624.26	624.77	618.80	-5.98
Taxable Non-Government		1,636.31	1,640.78	1,643.81	3.02
	Retail	564.42	561.71	560.36	-1.35
	Institutional	1,071.89	1,079.08	1,083.45	4.37
Tax-Exempt		324.81	325.28	323.43	-1.85
	Retail	205.53	205.09	204.49	-0.59
	Institutional	119.28	120.20	118.94	-1.26
Total		2,750.58	2,756.05	2,750.91	-5.14
	Retail	935.16	932.01	929.73	-2.27
	Institutional	1,815.42	1,824.04	1,821.18	-2.87

Retail: Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $2.27 billion to $929.73 billion. Taxable government money market fund assets in the retail category decreased by $330 million to $164.88 billion, taxable non-government money market fund assets decreased by $1.35 billion to $560.36 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $590 million to $204.49 billion.

Institutional: Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $2.87 billion to $1.821 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable government money market fund assets decreased by $5.98 billion to $618.80 billion, taxable non-government money market fund assets increased by $4.37 billion to $1.083 trillion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.26 billion to $118.94 billion.

2. I also checked Gaddafi's astro chart and he is in for some serious distress as Uranus challenges some crucial natal positions but at the same time he has also benign patterns. Which leads me to the conclusion he will be able to hold out for a bit ( like weeks) before more dramatic patterns are triggered. That could last til June actually that he keeps his power but serious turmoil is indicated for now anyhow. As Mars is square his natal Uranus Saturn conjunction right now for a few more days if he stays in power the next days riding out the imminent aggression against him will be able to stay for a couple more weeks at least.

On the other hand I have a strong impression that the powers behind the scenes do not have a real interest to solve the situation as they do benefit from higher oil prices and they want to spread the revolution to more places probably even to Saudi Arabia.

part 2

2011-02-24T13:43:00.000-06:00

It is save to say now that we broke the uptrend for the SPX and as the chart tells we have quite some downside within the bigger uptrend channel which is still a correction but a steep one as our target is now the 1125-75 bigger price window within the next months. The tricky part though is that being still in month 6 within a bigger 9 count we could still be within a distribution pattern for the next weeks but right now it looks like wave 5 of 5 is done. The next days the downside will resume though a small bounce is possible on Monday depending on the Libya drama. Today is a day 3 count and bounces happen around 5/6 but also in price terms we first should hit the 1275/80 level before a bounce is likely. Escalation is possible well into next week as the Full Moon has exactly marked the top the initial wave down should last another week. Plus a big potential for panic liquidations

excerpt

Surges - Total Free Cash Lowest Since July 2007, Just Prior To Quant Wipe Out

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/24/2011 11:54 -0500

New York Stock Exchange

The NYSE has released its January margin debt data. Not surprisingly, total margin debt hit a peak of $290 billion, the highest since September 2008, but the one category that shows just how much purchasing is occurring on margin is total Free Credit less Total Margin Debt drops to the lowest since the all time credit bubble peak in July of 2007! At ($45.9 billion) this number is just below the ($52.8) billion last seen just before the August 2007 quant wipe out which blew up Goldman's quant desk, and arguably was the catalyst for the beginning of the end. In other words, as we have shown, everyone is now purchasing on margin and the level of investor net worth is the lowest in over 3 years. Which means that should the market decline from this week persist and the Fed be unable to stop it, the margin calls will start coming in fast and furious, and unwinds in otherwise stable products like gold and silver are increasingly possible as hedge funds proceed to outright liquidations.

Brainstorming Thursday - part1

2011-02-24T10:50:00.001-06:00

1.The Spy game but not the Hollywood version - Jack Bauer meets Darth Vader mix agent confirmed by USA officaly as he was caught after killing 2 Pakistan agents. accusations that the CIA contractor was recruiting Taliban which the US government claims to fight against and more so delivering with nuke and bio-weapon technology makes the whole Afganistan war to the farce it is. 100k US soldiers plus allies and plenty of expensive Blackwater contractors hunting 5k Taliban they did recruite and train themselves so they can kill US troops that ia how weird politics is these days - only confusing if you do not have the NWO at heart.
On the other hand it is no secret that the Pakistan military is supporting the Taliban themselves they are supposed to fight that makes a very perverse mix from double interests and would make a great movie if it were not all evil. Making conspiracy theories less theoretical by all means as Soros funds almost all the organisations who are responsible for the current revolts and shake up of dictators in the middle east which drove oil prices higher owned by the same Rothschild/Rockefeller gang who will have made a killing the last 2 weeks.

excerpt

CIA Agent Caught Red-Handed Aiding Pakistani Terrorism?

Submitted by George Washington on 02/23/2011 15:20 -0500

CNN notes:

News that the American accused of killing two Pakistani men is a CIA contractor has intensified an already highly charged situation in Pakistan.

"Raymond Davis is a CIA Guy," read the headline in the Daily Times newspaper Tuesday.

***

Davis was jailed January 27 after fatally shooting two men who pulled up to him on a motorcycle in a bustling Lahore neighborhood.

***

The 36-year-old Davis is a former member of the U.S. Army special forces and had been employed by security firm XE Services, previously known as Blackwater.

Davis began working for the CIA nearly four years ago. He was assigned to Pakistan in late 2009. He was living with other security personnel at a safehouse in Lahore before the shooting incident.

On Monday, a U.S. government official also said that Davis was a CIA contractor providing security for CIA officers.

The U.S. at first falsely claimed that Davis was a diplomat with the State Department and should therefore be granted diplomatic immunity:

Despite the revelation of Davis' true line of work, U.S. officials on Monday renewed their argument that he has diplomatic immunity and must be released.

***

Before Monday, U.S. officials had described Davis only as an employee who was attached to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and who was working at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore at the time of the shootings.

But the deeper story is that Davis allegedly actively aided and abetted terrorism. As CNN notes:

Some newspapers cited unnamed sources to link Davis with "terrorist activity" and the Pakistani Taliban.

"CIA agent Davis had ties with local militants," read the headline in The Express Tribune.

The Tribune quoted an unnamed "senior police official" as saying Davis was suspected in masterminding terrorist activity.

"His close ties with the TTP (The Pakistani Taliban) were revealed during the investigations," the paper quoted the police official as saying. "Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the insurgency."

The Star explains:

In a story published Tuesday, the English-language Express Tribune quoted a Punjabi police official who said Davis was actually working with the Pakistani Taliban in a bid to stoke insecurity in Pakistan and support the argument that its cache of nuclear weapons isn’t safe.
Call records of Davis’s cellphone allegedly establish his link to 27 Taliban militants and a sectarian group known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the police source said.

Reuters points out that two other CIA contractors were involved in a fatal car accident last month while trying to help Davis. Reuters notes, and have now quickly departed from Pakistan, and notes:

Two U.S. officials confirmed media reports the two men involved in the fatal accident were working and living in the same building in Lahore as Davis. They said all three men were working on similar security assignments for the CIA.

Most dramatically, South Asian news agency ANI reports that - according to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service - Davis was giving nuclear and biowarfare materials to Al-Qaeda:

Double murder-accused US official Raymond Davis has been found in possession of top-secret CIA documents, which point to him or the feared American Task Force 373 (TF373) operating in the region, providing Al-Qaeda terrorists with "nuclear fissile material" and "biological agents," according to a report.

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is warning that the situation on the sub-continent has turned "grave" as it appears that open warfare is about to break out betweenPakistan and the United States, The European Union Times reports.

The SVR warned in its report that the apprehension of 36-year-old Davis, who shot dead two Pakistani men in Lahorelast month, had fuelled this crisis.

According to the report, the combat skills exhibited by Davis, along with documentation taken from him after his arrest, prove that he is a member of US' TF373 black operations unit currently operating in the Afghan War Theatre and Pakistan's tribal areas, the paper said.

While the US insists that Davis is one of their diplomats, and the two men he killed were robbers, Pakistan says that the duo were ISI agents sent to follow him after it was discovered that he had been making contact with al Qaeda, after his cell phone was tracked to the Waziristan tribal area borderingAfghanistan, the paper said.

The most ominous point in this SVR report is "Pakistan's ISI stating that top-secret CIA documents found in Davis's possession point to his, and/or TF373, providing to al Qaeda terrorists "nuclear fissile material" and "biological agents", which they claim are to be used against the United States itself in order to ignite an all-out war in order to re-establish the West's hegemony over a Global economy that is warned is just months away from collapse," the paper added.

However, ANI's allegations are uncorroborated at this time, and it is unknown whether Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service said anything of the sort.

2. Rather more depression when anything else despite Geithner claim things are better probably he always thinks of Wallstreet speaking of Mainstreet since the boss of the IRS also had some trouble delivering correct tax statements despite a briefing from the IMF. Still with commodities at record levels and still no official inflation some more miracles of the Harvard breeded bankster stats may show up to prove that the emperor is still not naked.. Zero interst rates around the world produce equity bubbles which will ultimately solve the jobless situation as the next global war will bring people back to work even if it happens to be in uniforms chasing evil terrorists the CIA has produced. That will ultimately solve the pension fund short comings as the collateral damage will reduce the number of receipients and the Rothschild boys will deliver the weapons - everything ends well ... just not for Mainstreet again.

excerpt

New Home Sales Plummet 13% To 284,000 Annualized Rate, 19K Actual Homes Sold Lowest Monthly Ever

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/24/2011 10:16 -0500

Census Bureau

Middle East

New Home Sales

While the quant funds are desperately seeking modelers for a "deranged middle east dictator" algo, the US economy continues to prolapse. From the release: "Sales of new single-family houses in January 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 284,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 12.6 percent (±11.2%) below the revised December rate of 325,000 and is 18.6 percent (±15.4%) below the January 2010 estimate of 349,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2011 was $230,600; the average sales price was $260,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 188,000. This represents a supply of 7.9 months at the current sales rate." Less than 500 homes (Z) sold in the over $750,000. And the stunner: only 19k non-annualized homes were sold. The lowest monthly total ever. (and as JT Smith points out, of the 19K, 53% were vacant lots or under construction).

part 2

2011-02-23T14:15:00.000-06:00

2. As Apple goes ...the rumors and events driving the Apple stock determine the stock market moves again. Apple confirms early release of IPAD 2 via an event on March 2. Only that many android devices with same specs as the Ipad 2 likely will have are hitting the market place - some of them even have better features very likely but we have to wait and see the details as they get released to make a better judgement.
So far the SPX defends the 1305 level after we went below intraday but the world has problems beneath anything Apple can solve with nice and cool gadgets.

excerpt

Apple on Wednesday sent out official invitations for a media event next week on March 2 in San Francisco, presumably to show off its second-generation iPad.

According to The Loop, Apple sent out invitations to the media on Wednesday. The event will be held as usual at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

An image sent with the invitation shows an iOS calendar icon with the date March 2. The calendar is peeling away to show an iPad screen in the background, confirming that the event will indeed be about the iPad.

The announcement confirms a rumor from earlier this week that Apple would host a media event next Wednesday. Apple is expected to show off a new iPad with faster hardware and a FaceTime camera.

Earlier Wednesday, AppleInsider was informed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities that overseas supply chain sources expect Apple partner Foxconn to build between 4.5 million and 5 million iPad 2 units in the first quarter of 2011. That would be followed by another 3 million to 4 million units in April.

The analyst has also said that the iPad 2 will feature an upgraded display that will be feature improved anti-reflection capabilities, though not a higher pixel density. The new device is expected to be thinner and lighter with more RAM, a faster CPU, and improvedgraphics processing capabilities.

More than 60 percent of the first wave of iPad 2 shipments are expected to be 3G-capable models. Apple is expected to build 3G models with both GSM and CDMA cellular radios -- and perhaps even a "world mode" device that would support both technologies in one.

Some third-party cases for the iPad 2 have also shown an extra port on the side of the device. Initial speculation suggested it could be for a Mini DisplayPort adapter, but given evidence that Apple is poised to announce a new high-speed data port called "Thunderbolt" in the shape of a Mini DisplayPort slot, it's possible the space could also be used for data connections as well as video output.

Apple has waited longer into the year in 2011 to announce its next iPad. The first-generation device was revealed in late Januaryof 2010, though the Wi-Fi-only model didn't ship in the U.S. until April.

First-year iPad sales blew away even Apple's own expectations, topping 15 million by the end of calendar 2010. Apple executives said they were surprised at how quickly the iPad moved past the "early adopter" phase and became a mainstream hit.

Even before the iPad 2 is officially announced, the rumor mill has already started for the iPad 3. Some reports have claimed that Apple will offer a new, high-end device differentiated from the second-generation iPad as soon as this September. Such a move would allow Apple to offer a refreshed product line alongside its introduction of new iPods before the holiday buying season.

brainstorming wednesday

2011-02-23T10:58:00.002-06:00

1.So far the price action is very constructive but we need break below the 1300/05 level to gather more and severe downside momentum. The sentiments remains bullish hence the market has plenty to go on the downside.

excerpt

Date Published	Percent Bullish	Percent Bearish
02/23	53.3	18.9
02/16	52.2	19.6
02/09	53.4	23.3
02/02	52.7	22
01/26	55.1	19.1
01/19	56	20.9
01/12	57.3	19.1
01/05	54.5	20.5
12/29	55.6	20
12/22	58.8	20.6
12/15	56.8	20.5
12/08	56.2	21.3
12/01	55.4	21.8
11/24	55.7	21.6
11/17	56.2	20.2
11/10	48.4	23.1
11/03	46.7	24.4
10/27	45.6	24.4
10/20	45.1	22
10/13	47.2	24.7

SPX update

2011-02-23T07:29:00.000-06:00

In order to confirm the likely correction we need to close below the uptrend support around 1305 today for the SPX - ideal on a weekly close. Gaddafi can not be forced out as easily as Mubarak as we have a complete different setup of power. Almost no US influence the regional warlords are the crucial factor. The Mubarak dive of the markets was before the weekend and things got resolved over that weekend and markets turned up on the spot as America pushed the buttoms. Now they have to ride it out the whole week at least but the real factor for trouble is rather the 'Whitney' factor bankruptcy of municapilities and states accompanied by a budget shut down very likely being an even bigger drag down factor. Also the star stocks like Apple,Amazon and Netflix having trouble going ahead from a technical and fundamental point of view. The weekly 13s and daily counts do confirm a top at place but the price action needs to confirm yet as yesterday was promising but not definete as we need to see how the weekly closes turn out. Astro has worked as good as it gets as some malice patterns are working right now and hyperinflation is rising its head which is the most dangerous factor as it is usually the harbinger of wars to come.

part 3

2011-02-22T12:27:00.000-06:00

4. Coming back to the technical and astro picture as we seem to have made an high at the phong Full Moon opposite Neptun and we are running now into the meaga clash pattern on the 23rd and another one on 25th after the Venus Saturn square at the WE we are due for more dramatic events in Lybia and elsewhere.
We were above monthly Boll levels in most indices and opened theweek with gaps down which remain in place so far and likely we have seen the high in the exoected window but in order to confirm we need to close below 1300 SPX not because its a big round number but to break below the uptrend support since Aug. which happens to be at that level. LAst time we had the Major clash Patter ( heliocentric Jupiter Saturn opposition ) was back in July 1990 which triggered a 25% decline wi,th a similar event as Saddam invaded Kuweit and Guldf War 1 followed in August. As Gadaffi has no intentions to let go and has already shown how determined he is to fight ( ruthless to say the least) for his power. Usa has almost no grip on his military compared to Egypt as Italy has the closest relationship and Berlusconi rather kişsses Gadaffis hand he has plenty to loose. This fight will escalate and rather get ugly as the Rothschild have to gain a lot of oil interest here and the Gadaffi clan will not get the smooth treatment of Mubarak who was an ally of those forces trying to establish a NWO (New world order). After the close I will make a more detailed technical analysis how this wave should work out but the bulls got trapped on Friday that looks save to say so far.

part 2 - the plot behind the revolution

2011-02-22T11:17:00.000-06:00

3. As I mentioned earlier it can not be a coincidence that all those 'revolutions' break out at the same time is that they were prepared with a systematic approch by Soros and friends who is a power broker and hedge fund manger for the Rockefeller /Rotschild gang looks like an plausible angle to see the whole drama as an public event but rather an orchestrated change of power. The numbers below are very likely just a small fractions of the efforts made to prepare this events and mto in order to control and orchestrate them much more powerful tools will be deployed and at work right now. Creating so called democracies has been the Rothschild agenda for a century now as they are easy to control and manipulate if you are cash rich and control the money and media.

excerpt from

http://blacklistednews.com/Rothschilds-Stage-Revolutions-in-Tunisia-and-Egypt-To-Kill-Islamic-Banks-In-Emerging-North-African-Markets-/12797/0/5/5/Y/M.html

THE MEANS: SPONSOR PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS
These Rothschild revolutions are done under the pretense of bringing democracy and deposing despots, but the real aim is to initially create chaos and a leadership vacuum, then quickly offer a solution: install a puppet that will do the economic bidding of the Rothschilds. The citizens gain freedom of speech and association, but become economic serfs.
These revolutions are most likely coordinated at the highest levels by the Rothschild’s International Crisis Group. Mohamed ElBaradei is already being touted as a new leader for Egypt. ElBaradei is a trustee of the International Crisis Group. Another board member of this group is Zbigniew Brzezinski. George Soros sits on the executive committee. The later two are ubiquitous front men for the Rothschilds.
The revolutions are from the same playbook as the fairly nonviolent “color revolutions”. These revolutions have been successful in Serbia (especially the Bulldozer Revolution (2000), in Georgia’s Rose Revolution (2003), in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (2004), in Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution and (though more violent than the previous ones) in Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution (2005), and Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution. Iran’s Green Revolution (2009) was unsuccessful.

Liberal billionaire George Soros funded training of activists in North Africa.

The Guardian reported (Nov 26, 2004) that the following were “directly involved” in organizing the colour revolutions: George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute, and Freedom House. The Washington Post and the New York Times also reported substantial Western involvement in some of these events.
Activists from Otpor in Serbia have said that publications and training they received from the US based Albert Einstein Institution staff have been instrumental in the formation of their strategies. The Albert Einstein Institution is funded by the Soros Foundation and NED. (Wikipedia)
In the article, “Georgia revolt carried mark of Soros” (November 26, 2003), the Globe & Mail reported, “[Soros' Open Society Institute] sent a 31-year-old Tbilisi activist named Giga Bokeria to Serbia to meet with members of the Otpor (Resistance) movement and learn how they used street demonstrations to topple dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Then, in the summer, Mr. Soros’s foundation paid for a return trip to Georgia by Otpor activists, who ran three-day courses teaching more than 1,000 students how to stage a peaceful revolution.”

Egyptian activists wearing Otpor shirts. Otpor was started by Soros in Serbia and has trained activists in other colour revolutions

Several protest organizers on the streets in Egypt last week were wearing Otpor t-shirts.   These t-shirts are given out by Otpor at training sessions. This is only to say that there may be a link here, between Soros and Tunisian protesters.
In 2007-08, Freedom House [funded by Soros and the Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative (MEPI)] ran the following program: “New Generation of Advocates, a MEPI-funded program that supports young civil society activists working for peaceful political change in the Middle East and North Africa, spearheaded the “Lawyers against Corruption” campaign in Tunisia.”(Freedom House website). The group of “journalists, lawyers, and other activists who advocate for democratic reform” had a meeting with then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a trip to Washington on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008. In May 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the group of activist/dissidents. Freedom House reported on their website that the group also visited “U.S. government officials, members of Congress, media outlets and think tanks . . . After returning to Egypt, the fellows received small grants to implement innovative initiatives such as advocating for political reform throughFacebook and SMS messaging.” (emphasis added)
And also from the Freedom House website: “From February 27 to March 13 [2010], Freedom House hosted 11 bloggers from the Middle East and North Africa for a two-week Advanced New Media Study Tour in Washington, D.C.”
In 2010, Soros’ Open Society Institute funded a grant called ‘Can It Tweet its way to Democracy? The promise of Participatory Media in Africa’ described on the OSI website as “. . . . Ethiopia and Egypt have been the current focus of the research programme; the OSI funding will allow the project to be expanded to include: Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Eritrea and Rwanda. . . . it is hoped that it will contribute to the understanding of the new media in Africa and its links to democratization. It is also intended that the study will be used as a source material for future research.”

Facebook and Twitter were the primary means of organizing the revolution in Egypt: “Activists from Egypt’s Kifaya (Enough) movement – a coalition of government opponents – and the 6th of April Youth Movement organized the protests on the Facebook and Twitter . . . .” (Voice of America)
In the Foreign Policy Journal, Dr. D.K. Bolton (Jan 19 2011) writes, “NED [National Endowment for Democracy] and Soros work in tandem, targeting the same regimes and using the same methods. . . . At least ten of the twenty-two directors of NED are also members of the *****cratic think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations . . . .” (The Council of Foreign Relations is the American sister of the Rothschild’s Royal Institute of International Affairs in Britain: both are instruments of *****cratic control hiding in plain sight.
The following is a partial list of grants from the NED website for 2009 (the latest year available):
In Tunisia the focus was on training youth activists:
“Al-Jahedh Forum for Free Thought $131,000 To strengthen the capacity and build a democratic culture among Tunisian youth activists.
“Mohamed Ali Center for Research, Studies and Training $33,500 To train a core group of Tunisian youth activists on leadership and organizational skills to encourage their involvement in public life. [MACRST] will conduct a four-day intensive training of trainers program for a core group of 10 young Tunisian civic activists on leadership and organizational skills; train 50 male and female activists aged 20 to 40 on leadership and empowered decision-making; and work with the trained activists through 50 on-site visits to their respective organizations.
“Association for the Promotion of Education $27,000 To strengthen the capacity of Tunisian high school teachers to promote democratic and civic values in their classrooms. APES will conduct a training-of-trainers workshop for 10 university professors and school inspectors, and hold three two-day capacity building seminars for 120 high school teachers . . . .”
The above organizations and others have been recipients of ongoing NED grants in Tunisia, as the following list from previous years indicates:
2008: Al-Jahedh Forum for Free Thought received $57,000 to train Tunisian activists;   Mohamed Ali Centre for Research got $37,800; Tunisian Arab Civitas Institute, $43,000 for training teachers in “civic values” and the Center for International Private Enterprise, $163,205 “to inculcate free enterprise doctrines among Tunisian businessmen, which reflects what NED is really aiming for in its promotion of “democracy and civil values”: globalization” (Bolton, 2011)
2007: AJFFT received $45,000 to develop Tunisian Activists; The Arab Institute for Human Rights got $43,900; The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) $175, 818; The Mohamed Ali Center for Research, Studies, and Training $38,500; Moroccan Organization for Human Rights $60,000 “To strengthen a group of young Tunisian attorneys as they mobilize citizens on reform issues.”
In Egypt, the number of NED grants doubled in 2009 to 33 democracy projects totaling $1.4 million and the focus changed from promoting private enterprise to training young human-rights lawyers, and identifying and training youth activists. It will be interesting to see when (if?) NED publishes its 2010 grants. From the NED website—a sample of the grants for 2009:
Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth (EULY) $33,300 To expand the use of new media among youth activists for the promotion of democratic ideas and values. EULY will train 60 youth activists to use filmmaking for the dissemination of democratic ideas and values. The Union will lead a total of four two-month long training workshops in Cairo to build the political knowledge and technical filmmaking skills of participating youth involved in NGOs.
Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS) $48,900 To strengthen youth understanding of the Egyptian parliament and enhance regional activists’ use of new technologies as accountability tools. AITAS will conduct a series of workshops for 300 university students to raise their awareness of parliament’s functions and engage them in monitoring parliamentary committees. AITAS will also host 8 month-long internships for youth activists from the Middle East and North Africa to share its experiences using web-based technologies in monitoring efforts.
Bridge Center for Dialogue and Development (BTRD) $25,000 To promote youth expression and engagement in community issues through new media. BTRD will train youth between the ages of 16 and 26 in the use of new and traditional media tools to report on issues facing their communities. BRTD will also create a website for human rights videos and new media campaigns in Egypt.
Egyptian Democracy Institute (EDI) $48,900 To promote accountability and transparency in parliament through public participation, and to build legislative capacity. EDI will produce quarterly monitoring reports and hold seminars to discuss the overall performance of Parliament and offer recommendations on legislation proposed in the People’s Assembly. EDI will monitor, collect, and document evidence of corruption in Cairo and Alexandria
Lawyers Union for Democratic and Legal Studies (LUDLS) $20,000 To support freedom of association by strengthening young activists’ ability to express and organize themselves peacefully within the bounds of the law. LUDLS will train 250 youth activists on peaceful assembly and dispute resolution
Our Hands for Comprehensive Development  $19,200 To engage Minya youth in civic activism and encourage youth-led initiatives and volunteerism. Our Hands will hold two public meetings for local youth to discuss challenges and to identify youth leaders who would benefit from additional training courses. Participants will produce a short film on youth political participation, and develop and implement action plans for resolving problems facing youth in the governorate. Our Hands will also provide Minya youth an opportunity to learn from the experience of and network with Cairo-based activists and NGOs.
“Youth Forum  $19,000 To expand and maintain a network of youth activists on Egyptian university campuses and to encourage the participation of university students in student union elections and civic activities on campus. . . .”
NED and Soros have been injecting millions of dollars into the training of North African, pro-democracy teachers, lawyers, journalists and youth activists. In 2009 they more than doubled their training efforts. Why, at this time, has the 30-year support of these dictators been undermined? The prize is the rapidly-rising economies of North Africa. It coincides with the efforts of Ben Ali to make Tunisia the financial center of North Africa and to promote Islamic banking. The Rothschilds want North African Muslims to borrow from Rothschild banks and pay interest at rates the Rothschild central bank decides: they do not want them to be able to borrow from Islamic banks and not pay any interest. The Rothschilds want Muslims to trade their present political oppression at the hands of brutal dictators for future economic serfdom under the control of banker Lord Rothschild.

tuesday brainstorming

2011-02-22T09:52:00.000-06:00

1. As expected Apple adds a lot of volatility to the markets with a sharp correction besides all the turmoil in the Middle East the market does not seem to take serious at all except for commodity traders. The insane PPT plus hedgefund entourage scam keeps buying dips so far although the changes in the Middle East are historic events which will not go away any time soon rather the opposite as things are poised to get even more dramatiğc as America will not give up its turf withoıut a fight. Where is no coincidence that all this events happen at the same time for many reasons someone is pulling strings and the COLD WAR 2 is fully triggered if it stays a cold one. Markets have not discounted anything so far.
Coming to Apple for a moment a new line of Mac books are due this Feb it seems but they are less important more important is the rumor that the new Ipad may be delayed til summer which is bad as every buyer will wait for the new version or switch to competitors. The Merrill boiler room pushes the envelope of the bull scam.

excerpt 1

Merrill Lynch Note To Clients: "Buy The Dip"

excerpt 2

Production bottlenecks at Apple manufacturing partner Hon Hai could delay the next-generation of Apple's iPad until June, a new report claims.

Analysts Vincent Chen and Alison Chen with Taiwan-based research firm Yuanta Securities Co. issued the report, Bloomberg said on Monday.

"Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production and it is taking time to resolve them,” said Chen. "As a number of Android 3.0 tablets are being launched in April and May, the delay in iPad 2 shipments may give the Android camp a brief window of opportunity."

According to the analysts, design changes made before the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month have caused the delay. A June launch would also likely coincide with the release of the next-generation iPhone, which has typically occurred every June.

Hon Hai stock dropped 2 percent on the Taipei index Monday to its lowest close since Dec. 2 last year.

2. The inflation cheat as the bankrupt banks - 'deadman walking operation' - forces central banks to print even faster worthless money. In general the charts blow give you a better idea waht the overall inflation numbers should look like and nott the phony government lies.

excerpt

6 Charts Which Prove That Central Banks All Over The Globe Are Recklessly Printing Money
Published on 02-19-2011	Email To Friend Print Version
Share\| By Michael Snyder - BLN Contributing Writer If the U.S. dollar is being devalued so rapidly, then why does it sometimes increase in value against other global currencies? Well, it is because everybody is recklessly printing money now. The 6 charts which you are about to see below prove this. The truth is that it is not just the U.S. Federal Reserve which has been printing money like there is no tomorrow. Out of control money printing has also been happening in the UK, in the EU, in Japan, in China and in India. There are times when one particular global currency will fall faster than the others, but the reality is that they are all being rapidly devalued. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for a global economic nightmare. Right now you can almost smell the panic as it rises in global financial markets. Investors all over the world are racing to get out of paper and to get into hard assets. Just about anything that is “real” and “tangible” is hot right now. Gold hit a record high last year and it is on the rise again. In fact, it just hit a new five-week high. Demand for silver is becoming absolutely ridiculous right now. Oil is marching up towards $100 a barrel again. Agricultural commodities have exploded in price over the past year. Many investors are even gobbling up art and other collectibles. Paper money is no longer considered to be safe. All over the globe investors are watching all of the reckless money printing that has been going on and they are becoming alarmed. An increasing number of investors and financial institutions are putting their wealth into hard assets that are real and tangible in an effort to preserve their wealth. The other day, a reader of this column named James sent me some charts that he had put together. I thought they were so good that I asked him if I could include them in an article. These charts show how central banks all over the globe have been recklessly printing money. Over the last 30 years virtually the entire world has developed a great love affair with fiat currency…. So is everyone printing money? The U.S. is printing lots of money….. Source, The St. Louis Fed The Bank of England is printing lots of money….. Source: The BoE The EU is printing lots of money…. Source: The ECB Japan is printing lots of money….. Source: The BoJ China is printing lots of money….. Source: The People’s Bank of China India is printing lots of money….. Source: Reserve Bank of India Of course anyone with half a brain can see where all of this is ultimately headed. In the end, inflation is going to spiral out of control and we are going to witness financial implosion on a global scale.So why don’t these nations just adopt sound money? Well, it turns out that if you are a member of the IMF, you are specifically prohibited from having gold-backed currency. Yes, you read that correctly. In fact, U.S. Representative Ron Paul once sent an open letter to the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve asking about this and he received no response. The following is the content of that letter…. Dear Sirs: I am writing regarding Article 4, Section 2b of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Articles of Agreement. As you may be aware, this language prohibits countries who are members of the IMF from linking their currency to gold. Thus, the IMF is forbidding countries suffering from an erratic monetary policy from adopting the most effective means of stabilizing their currency. This policy could delay a country’s recovery from an economic crisis and retard economic growth, thus furthering economic and political instability. I would greatly appreciate an explanation from both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve of the reasons the United States has continued to acquiesce in this misguided policy. Please contact Mr. Norman Singleton, my legislative director, if you require any further information regarding this request. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Ron Paul U.S. House of Representatives Sadly, the truth is that the global elite don’t want nations to start adopting gold-backed currencies. They want countries to use fiat currencies that they can openly manipulate for their own benefit. At this point, every nation on earth (to the best of my knowledge) uses a fiat currency. All of the major global currencies are being continually devalued. In fact, there are times when counties will purposely devalue their currencies even more rapidly in order to gain a competitive advantage in world trade. This is why so many investors now have such an aversion to paper currency. It starts losing value the moment you take possession of it. In some areas of the world, “gold fever” is absolutely exploding. For example, China imported five times as much gold in 2010 as it did in 2009. On the Shanghai Gold Exchange, trading volume soared 43 percent during the first 10 months of 2010. Gold, silver and other precious metals are now seen as a great hedge against inflation worldwide. Investors all over the globe are demonstrating a strong preference for “real money” over “paper money”. So what does all of this mean? It means that some tremendous imbalances are being built up in the global financial system. The central banks of the world must continue to inflate these bubbles with constantly increasing amounts of paper money and debt in order to keep the game going. If at some point the reckless money printing comes to a screeching halt it is going to unleash hell on global financial markets. But if all of this reckless money printing continues we are eventually going to see horrific inflation all over the planet. In fact, we are already seeing significant inflation happening in many areas of the globe. Almost every single day a new headline about inflation in China seems to pop up in the financial news. Rising food prices are sparking unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere. Even U.S. consumers are starting to see some uncomfortable price increases at the gas pump and in the supermarket. So it is not just Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that is off his rocker. The whole world is going crazy with money printing. Hopefully this whole thing is not going to end as badly as many of us fear that it will. But right now the central banks of the world are pumping unprecedented amounts of cash into the global financial system, and those in the global financial system are funneling a very large percentage of that cash into hard assets. Unless something changes, that is going to mean that prices for basic necessities such as food and gas are going to continue to rise. This is quite a fine mess that we are in.

part 2

2011-02-18T10:44:00.001-06:00

3. Another peace nobel prize for Obama? - the watcher of democracy in the middle east - after all we really get some 'change' but probably not the one he had in his mind.

excerpt

Follow News Of Live Shooting In Bahrain On Al Jazeera

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/18/2011 10:27 -0500

The situation in Bahrain is now critical, with live fire raining (literally: the army is shooting from helicopters on citizens and journalists) on protesters, resulting in dozens killed, even as Libya (9th largest crude reserves in the world) is rumored to be in a comparable situation. The countdown on Saudi Arabia is now on. Watch the latest development at Al Jazeera which is now broadcasting live from Manama.

And from the New York Times:

Government forces opened fire on hundreds of mourners marching toward Pearl Square Friday, sending people running away in panic amid the boom of concussion grenades.

A Western official quoted a witness saying that the shooters were from the military, not the police, and that protesters began dropping to the ground after the firing started.

It was not immediately clear if the army was using live ammunition or rubber bullets to fire at the crowd, mostly young men who had been part of a funeral procession for protesters killed earlier in a crackdown by police on their peaceful revolt against the government.

Minutes later, forces in a helicopter fired on a reporter and videographer who were shooting a video on the latest violence.

That earlier crackdown killed at least five people and, once again, left the Obama administration in the uncomfortable position of dealing with a strategic Arab ally locked in a showdown with its people.

On Thursday, the masses of once-peaceful protesters were transformed into a mob of angry mourners chanting slogans like “death to Khalifa,” the king, while the opposition withdrew from the Parliament and demanded that the government step down. At the main hospital following the violence, thousands gathered screaming, crying and collapsing in grief.

On Friday, the funerals created a potential new flashpoint as mourners chanted antigovernment slogans. In the village of Sitra, south of Manama, a crowd of thousands accompanied the coffins of Ali Mansour Ahmed Khudair, 53, and Mahmoud Makki Abutaki, 22, both killed by shotgun fire on Thursday.

4 Trouble ahead in the EU as Jupiter / Pluto square is about to peak next week- still people keep buying Euro as the chart still suggest another test of the 1.38 level. On the other hand I never thought America let the Dollar be strong for long just as long as Bond auctions were marketable to foreigners but now with evident inflation pressure

excerpt 1

The CPI Sham Revealed (Again, and again, and...)

A reader in Ireland says people need to look at the MIT Billion Prices Project which shows (if you care to think, and that may only be the both of us) that as of 1/1/2011, the billion prices index was at 101.1223 and as of Wednesday of this week it was 102.454.

That's 1.3317% inflation (for everything in the US) in about 47-days. Which means what?

Well, given there are 7.7659... 47-day periods in a year, we can set our inflation expectations presently on at least 10.34%.

the EU takes an expensive Euro which they will tolerate for now as it dampens the inflation for now and makes the Chinese imports cheaper while only the Germans will have a real competitive disadvantage in the global export game. Problem for all is though the inflation will bring down the house of cards on which the ponzi scam is build as bonds will drop sharply at some point.

Portugal "Insolvency Sweeping Under The Rug" - Friday Edition

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/18/2011 09:51 -0500

It's a day ending in Y. Meaning it is time for the ECB to go ahead and sweep another billion or so Portuguese bonds under the rug. Because you can't have the 10 Year yield at all time highs (as in yesterday) and for that relentless stream of lies emanating from every ECB bureaucrat's orifice to be taken seriously, can you. We give the ECB another month before they realize what the SNB figured out long ago: it's best to give up when it comes to direct market manipulation. We are confident Portuguese bonds will hit another all time high yield by the middle of next week. And at some point European taxpayers may just ask what all their money is being spent on.

More On That European Liquidity Crisis: A Sudden Surge In Dollar Funding Needs?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/18/2011 09:41 -0500

The most amusing explanation we have read so far for the dramatic spike in punitive MLF borrowing over the past two days is that there has been a "fat finger" from a bank which indicated a too low allocation at the last term MRO. In other words, someone moved the decimal comma and now has to pay an additional 100 basis points of interest (annually) on €16 billion in borrowings. Citi's Jurgen Michels explains it best: "After the strong use of the ECB’s marginal lending facility yesterday by €15bn there is a further increase in the use of the facility to €16bn today. This suggests that some banks have not tapped enough liquidity in the ECB’s Main Refinancing Operation (MRO) on Tuesday, which was allotted on Wednesday. The MRO – which is still provided with full allotment – only had a modest use of €137 bn. Comment: Unless the ECB provides term-liquidity until the end of the running MRO (next Tuesday) we will continue to see a high use of the marginal lending facility." In other words: the ongoing surge in the MLF borrowings is now priced in. And to confirm just how clueless in reading market information CNBC is, the Comcast station looked at flat Euribor as an indication of market calmness. Unfortunately, as European banks have bypassed borrowing from each other (for about a year now) and go straight to the ECB either directly or via collateral pledges, as a lender of first and last resort, Euribor is about as useful as you know what on a nun. We present another stress indicator, which however is much more difficult to replicate: European Commercial Paper, denominated in dollars. And the surge there is unmistakable.

brainstorming Friday - part 1

2011-02-18T08:36:00.001-06:00

1 Inflationary pressures keep rising while signals for a rate hike is increasing - given the GDP expectations of the FED of roughly 4% in 2011 ( if they were real economic growth) why interest rates are kept at zero. Only one explanation where is no growth and banks are still bankrupt and keep getting the zero interest infusions to make them look alive while they still get robbed within as the average personal cost which is mostly bonus pays is around 50%. That is systematic theft from savers to greedy banksters and their dear friends in DC.

except

Chinese Futile Inflationary Response Intensifies As PBOC Hikes RRR By 50 bps, Again

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/18/2011 07:44 -0500

China continues to joust with windmills as its latest attempt to counter inflation, a 50 bps RRR hike, is now history, and will be just as successful as all of its previous RRR, and interest rate hikes at rebuffing gentle Ben's attempt at genociding a few hundred million additional serfs. Luckily for now the "silver for rice" trade continues, keeping a lid on rice prices. Indicatively, as we showed previously, neither interest rate hikes nor RRR have any impact on the Chinese market whatsoever, confirming that the only source of global liquidity that matters resides in the Marriner Eccles building.

Acute Liquidity Crisis In Europe Confirmed As Borrowing Surge On Marginal Lending Facility Continues For Second Day

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/18/2011 07:26 -0500

European Central Bank

The one thing that nobody is conveniently talking about that has suddenly become a big flash red light, the surge in borrowing on the ECB's Marginal Lending Facility which we noted yesterday, continues for the second day in a row, removing all speculation of this being a technical or calendar glitch, and confirming that some financial entity in Europe has entered its death rattle. Today, the ECB announced that after borrowing €15.8 billion in overnight liquidity, the highest since the program's inception in 2009, we got another increase in borrowing, this time at €16 billion in overnight liquidity needs. With expectations that this borrowing surge at a last resort rate of 1.25% would normalize disappearing, we are surprised the reaction in the EUR is not far greater: the EURUSD did contract modestly overnight, but if this is indeed the proverbial first domino we would be very concerned about the long term prospects of the European currency. What is most concerning is that after revelations of check kiting at Irish banks yesterday, which confirms that banks are using a legalized ponzi scheme to literally print each other money, that some bank - any bank - will need to resort to such a high rate source of overnight capital. As European collateral has no quality thresholds, and as the ECB will accept anything, it makes no sense for any bank to pay incremental interest just to transfer borrowing to an overnight facility with a punitive rate - simple as that. If this continues for a third day on Monday, it may well be time to follow Hugh Hendry's advice, and panic.

2. We have reached the Full Moon and 23rd clash pattern time window for the top and even if DC keeps Steve Jobs alive by having him attending a 'ghost-meeting' nobody saw him at - Apple and the NDX are now very vulnerable which will very soon drag the whole market down. The tensions in the Middle East are beyond any control now at the Peace Noble price winning president does not live up to any standard which would make him deserve such an honor in this global charade of democracy. Which Iran can now explore fully to its benefit and weaken Israels influence in this region - markets are slow to react so far as they want it to go higher no matter want in their manipulation scam to dump some overpriced useless facebook stocks o the public while banks keep stealing money from Mainstreet.It is about time people rise up against all their corrupt governments as they have not changed anything but making it even easier for the grand big theft globally.

excerpt

Bahrainis Urge Democracy as Crowds Swell; Protests Spread

By Glen Carey and Caroline Alexander - Feb 18, 2011 1:58 PM GMT+0200

A Bahraini Shiite woman holds a signs that reads in Arabic 'We sacrifice our souls and blood for martyrs' during the funeral of two men who were killed the day before during violent police raid on anti-regime protesters, in the village of Sitra, east of Manama on Feb. 18, 2011. Source: AFP/Getty Images

Play Video

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi, discusses the impact of civil unrest in parts of the Middle East on the price of oil. He speaks from Riyadh with Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television's "Global Connection." (Source: Bloomberg)

Bahraini army tanks take position near Pearl Square in Manama, Bahrain. Photographer: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

A wounded Shiite Bahraini demonstrator is taken to a hospital in Manama after beign assaulted by riot police. Photographer: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

A senior leader of Bahrain’s Shiites said the government must resign and parliament shut down pending a transition to democracy in an address to the biggest crowd in five days of protests as unrest spread to Libyaand Yemen.

Abdulwahab Hussain told more than 10,000 demonstrators in front of a mosque in Sitra, south of the capital, Manama, that the minister of the interior should be tried after at least five people were killed in a police crackdown on the protests. “The government is unstable,” he said. “The police can’t break the will of the people.”

Earlier, thousands of mostly Shiite Muslims attended the funeral of two protesters, hugging their coffins and shouting: “We sacrifice for Bahrain.” Government supporters staged counter-demonstrations in Manama today.

The dissent in the Persian Gulf island state that is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet follows the toppling of autocratic rulers by popular movements in Egypt andTunisia and marks the spread of dissent into the Persian Gulf, where most of the Middle East’s oil is produced. The past week has also seen anti-government protests and clashes in Libya, Africa’s biggest holder of crude oil reserves, and Yemen, a producer of liquefied natural gas. Brent crude futures this week rose to the highest level since 2008.

In Yemen, the biggest crowd since protests began more than a week ago gathered to demand the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, president for three decades, and police and government supporters attacked demonstrators with stones and batons.

In Libya, opponents of Muammar Qaddafi, in power for more than 40 years, camped out in the eastern port city of Benghazi preparing for further protests, after clashes in several cities yesterday left a reported 24 people dead, the Associated Press said.

Government Supporters

Supporters of Bahrain’s government drove their cars near the U.S. Navy headquarters in Manama, waving the national flag and pictures of the royal family.

Bahrain’s Shiites make up some 60 to 70 percent of the population, which is about 740,000 according to the CIA World Factbook. They claim discrimination by the country’s Sunni ruling family and its supporters.

The army fired teargas, buckshot and rubber bullets in an overnight crackdown yesterday, targeting a crowd of protesters gathered at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama calling for a constitutional monarchy and a change of government in the Shiite-majority country ruled by Sunni royals. Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the focus of the demonstrators’ demands, has held the office for four decades.

‘Without Any Warning’

“They started firing from the bridge without any warning, then they started firing from their cars,” said Hussein Ali, 42, who was at a rally site at 3 a.m. yesterday when security forces arrived. “There were women and children in tents. I saw cars running over tents. It was terrifying, a nightmare. Small children and women were falling over.”

The police attack “has broke up and fragmented protests, but you could still get people who aren’t broken and find another catalytic moment,” said Scott Lucas, professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham in England. “They just need to find a gathering point.”

In Libya, 24 have been killed at protests this week in five Libyan cities demanding the government’s overthrow, New York- based Human Rights Watch said in a statement. The deaths were in the second- and third-largest cities, Benghazi and Beyida, according to Al Arabiya television.

There is an absence of independent reporting due to Libya’s tight press restrictions and activists used the Internet and social media to call for yesterday’s “Day of Anger” rally. Qaddafi has ruled since 1969 while tolerating no dissent.

Gunfire in Yemen

Gunfire broke out in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on the eighth straight day of anti-government demonstrations. More than 20,000 protesters streamed out of Friday prayers toward the presidential palace, overwhelming police efforts to contain them. “After Mubarak, Ali,” they chanted, calling on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit.

Saleh said this month he won’t seek another term when the current one ends in 2013. “A number” of people have been killed since demonstrations began, the official Saba news agency said yesterday, without elaborating.

Bahrain’s authorities said the intervention by security forces was necessary to restore order.

“The country was on the brink of a sectarian abyss,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said at a press conference yesterday. “It was a very important step that had to happen. Police took every care possible.”

part 2

2011-02-17T11:18:00.002-06:00

3. Sick Mr Jobs meets Obama - it might be a hoax though to cover up the health condition as White House has not confirmed the names.

excerpt

Jobs, Zuckerberg, Schmidt to Talk With Obama in California

By Kate Andersen Brower - Feb 17, 2011 7:20 AM GMT+0200

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is among technology industry executives President Barack Obama will meet with today in the San Francisco area, according to a person familiar with the private session. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt. Photographer: Denis Doyle/Bloomberg

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt are among the technology industry executives President Barack Obama will meet with today in the San Francisco area, according to a person familiar with the private session.

The president will discuss the U.S. economy and job creation with the executives as he promotes the $3.7 trillion budget he released this week that aims to keep up government funding for education and research.

The White House hasn’t released the names of those who will attend. The person familiar with the meeting spoke on condition of anonymity because the details haven’t been made public.

The person said that General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey Immelt, who Obama picked to lead a White House council on competitiveness, also will be at the meeting.

“The focus of the discussion is innovation and job creation,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said yesterday. The executives attending “know a lot about private sector job growth,” he said.

“All the smart graduates today want to go to Google and Facebook instead of Wall Street,” said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who co-founded a company that became Nextel Corp., now Sprint Nextel Corp. “Without innovation and a growing economy out in” Silicon Valley, “we’re not going to be competitive,” he said.

Growth Areas

Warner, who met Zuckerberg on Jan. 19 at Facebook’s Palo Alto, California, headquarters to discuss innovation and tax policy, said in an interview that the Internet and social networking have been one of the rare areas of growth in the U.S. economy during a decade without “a massive amount of innovation.

4. Rolling Stone comes with some amazing details to the corrupt system run by Wallstreet banksters

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216?page=1

excerpts

.... "You put Lloyd Blankfein in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for one six-month term, and all this bullshit would stop, all over Wall Street," says a former congressional aide. "That's all it would take. Just once."

...

Nobody goes to jail. This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collectively destroyed hundreds of billions, in fact, trillions of dollars of the world's wealth — and nobody went to jail. Nobody, that is, except Bernie Madoff, a flamboyant and pathological celebrity con artist, whose victims happened to be other rich and famous people.

This article appears in the March 3, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone. The issue is available now on newsstands and will appear in the online archive February 18.

The rest of them, all of them, got off. Not a single executive who ran the companies that cooked up and cashed in on the phony financial boom — an industrywide scam that involved the mass sale of mismarked, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities — has ever been convicted. Their names by now are familiar to even the most casual Middle American news consumer: companies like AIG, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Most of these firms were directly involved in elaborate fraud and theft. Lehman Brothers hid billions in loans from its investors. Bank of America lied about billions in bonuses. Goldman Sachs failed to tell clients how it put together the born-to-lose toxic mortgage deals it was selling. What's more, many of these companies had corporate chieftains whose actions cost investors billions — from AIG derivatives chief Joe Cassano, who assured investors they would not lose even "one dollar" just months before his unit imploded, to the $263 million in compensation that former Lehman chief Dick "The Gorilla" Fuld conveniently failed to disclose. Yet not one of them has faced time behind bars.

....

Aguirre joined the SEC in September 2004. Two days into his career as a financial investigator, he was asked to look into an insider-trading complaint against a hedge-fund megastar named Art Samberg. One day, with no advance research or discussion, Samberg had suddenly started buying up huge quantities of shares in a firm called Heller Financial. "It was as if Art Samberg woke up one morning and a voice from the heavens told him to start buying Heller," Aguirre recalls. "And he wasn't just buying shares — there were some days when he was trying to buy three times as many shares as were being traded that day." A few weeks later, Heller was bought by General Electric — and Samberg pocketed $18 million.

After some digging, Aguirre found himself focusing on one suspect as the likely source who had tipped Samberg off: John Mack, a close friend of Samberg's who had just stepped down as president of Morgan Stanley. At the time, Mack had been on Samberg's case to cut him into a deal involving a spinoff of the tech company Lucent — an investment that stood to make Mack a lot of money. "Mack is busting my chops" to give him a piece of the action, Samberg told an employee in an e-mail.

A week later, Mack flew to Switzerland to interview for a top job at Credit Suisse First Boston. Among the investment bank's clients, as it happened, was a firm called Heller Financial. We don't know for sure what Mack learned on his Swiss trip; years later, Mack would claim that he had thrown away his notes about the meetings. But we do know that as soon as Mack returned from the trip, on a Friday, he called up his buddy Samberg. The very next morning, Mack was cut into the Lucent deal — a favor that netted him more than $10 million. And as soon as the market reopened after the weekend, Samberg started buying every Heller share in sight, right before it was snapped up by GE — a suspiciously timed move that earned him the equivalent of Derek Jeter's annual salary for just a few minutes of work.

The deal looked like a classic case of insider trading. But in the summer of 2005, when Aguirre told his boss he planned to interview Mack, things started getting weird. His boss told him the case wasn't likely to fly, explaining that Mack had "powerful political connections." (The investment banker had been a fundraising "Ranger" for George Bush in 2004, and would go on to be a key backer of Hillary Clinton in 2008.)

Aguirre also started to feel pressure from Morgan Stanley, which was in the process of trying to rehire Mack as CEO. At first, Aguirre was contacted by the bank's regulatory liaison, Eric Dinallo, a former top aide to Eliot Spitzer. But it didn't take long for Morgan Stanley to work its way up the SEC chain of command. Within three days, another of the firm's lawyers, Mary Jo White, was on the phone with the SEC's director of enforcement. In a shocking move that was later singled out by Senate investigators, the director actually appeared to reassure White, dismissing the case against Mack as "smoke" rather than "fire." White, incidentally, was herself the former U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York — one of the top cops on Wall Street.

Pause for a minute to take this in. Aguirre, an SEC foot soldier, is trying to interview a major Wall Street executive — not handcuff the guy or impound his yacht, mind you, just talk to him. In the course of doing so, he finds out that his target's firm is being represented not only by Eliot Spitzer's former top aide, but by the former U.S. attorney overseeing Wall Street, who is going four levels over his head to speak directly to the chief of the SEC's enforcement division — not Aguirre's boss, but his boss's boss's boss's boss. Mack himself, meanwhile, was being represented by Gary Lynch, a former SEC director of enforcement.

Aguirre didn't stand a chance. A month after he complained to his supervisors that he was being blocked from interviewing Mack, he was summarily fired, without notice. The case against Mack was immediately dropped: all depositions canceled, no further subpoenas issued. "It all happened so fast, I needed a seat belt," recalls Aguirre, who had just received a stellar performance review from his bosses. The SEC eventually paid Aguirre a settlement of $755,000 for wrongful dismissal.

Brainstorming Thursday - part1

2011-02-17T06:43:00.000-06:00

1. It does not feel good sometimes what we do in this line of work but since it may have a great impact I will make an exception by doing some yellow press rumor analysis since it can really be a market mover. The sudden leave of Jobs after his 2nd cancer treatment seemed to have settled the health situation is actually quite a turning point of the overall market with Apple being the heavy weight of plenty indices. Apple made a double 13 daily yesterday but is in week 11. The Full Moon today brings unfortunately a negative pattern Jobs has in his birth chart to full capacity as he has a Saturn / Pluto square on his birth-chart and since Neptun triggered a T-square with that pattern Jobs has his serious cancer problem again. Now the Full Moon will be opposite Neptun on Pluto as the following story hits the yellow press. Lets hope for Steve Jobs that he gets well after all but it any case he will not run Apple anymore which will effect the stock negatively short term and long term.

excerpt

Is Apple's Afterhours Weakness Based On The Assessment Of A Less Than Credible "Doctor?"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/16/2011 21:36 -0500

As is by now well-known, Apple stock is underperforming after hours following reports of an allegedly sickly-looking Steve Jobs leaving the Stanford cancer center. The National Enquirer has released photos supposedly of an emaciated Jobs, yet one who is not readily identifiable as the Apple CEO. The National Enquirer, who initially reported the news today (to be published tomorrow), talked to critical-care physician Dr. Samuel Jacobson, who said, “Judging from the photos, he is close to terminal. I would say he has six weeks.” That said, given the reliability of The National Enquirer, waiting for further news before jumping to conclusions is advised. Furthermore, as TNW reports, "We’ve done a little digging into Dr. Samuel Jacobson. Jacobson appears to be a Florida based pulmonologist (breathing doctor) – not Oncologist. Which would naturally make you wonder just how qualified he is to diagnose someone via a photo, especially outside of his speciality." Obviously, a prudent question. While there is still no definitive confirmation either way, and Apple has not issued any statement, the stock has moved on the news, and we believe that this information should be shared as it is in the public doman and market moving.

The National Enquirer photo (via TNW).

And more from TNW:

It has been confirmed today that Steve Jobs is receiving treatment for cancer in the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, California. RadarOninereported today that it’s the same Clinic where Hollywood Actor the Late Patrick Swayze was undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer in April 2009.

There has been no formal confirmation of what type of cancer Jobs is being treated for or if he is being treated at all for cancer from the Apple spokes team. Jobs was not forthcoming about the reason he took a medical leave of absence.

Photographs of the 55-year-old Apple CEO were taken on Febuary the 8th outside the clinic and are reported to be published by the The National Enquirer tomorrow morning.

In one photo, Jobs was getting out of his car a day after a full day of work at the company’s Cupertino campus. The photos show Mr Jobs looking painfully frail and weak, with his jeans and dark top hanging loosely on his 6ft 2in, thin body.

Jobs has previously withheld information on his health, such as when he was treated for a form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009, something that worries Apple investors who feel the company’s future rests in his visionary leadership.

The Daily Mail spoke to Dr Jerome Spunberg, a certified Oncologist with 40 years experience, who said: “Mr Jobs is most likely getting outpatient chemotherapy at Stanford because the cancer has recurred.”

He continues: “He is terminal. What you are seeing is extreme muscle wasting from calorie depravation, most likely caused by cancer. He has no muscle left in his buttocks, which is the last place to go. He definitely appears to be in the terminal stages of his life from these photos. I would be surprised if he weighed more than 130lb.”

2. True words from an unexpected source

A Very Critical Bank Of America On The Fed's Third Mandate, And Why BofA Is Not Bullish But "Bubblish"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/16/2011 22:13 -0500

Ever since the advent of QE2, few if any, sellside analysts employed by Too Big To Fail banks have dared to voice a negative opinion of the Chairman's third mandate, that of raising stock prices (for obvious reasons: nobody will bite the hand that feeds them trillion in taxpayer bailout money). Which is why we continue to believe the BofA credit strategist Jeffrey Rosenberg is one of the few men standing who dares to call it how it is. In his latest piece, Rosenberg lays out what is the most harshly (yet diplomatically) worded criticism of QE we have read to date. "In our view, the longer term problem with such a strategy is that in delaying the adjustment to the root causes of the credit crisis, namely excessive leverage in the economy and financial markets, the essential vulnerabilities from that excessive leverage remain. What triggers their realization again is the inflationary shock leading to an interest rate shock that undermines the cheap cost of that debt that currently enables its maintenance." As for the implicit assumption that savings and wealth are inversely correlated, Rosenberg points out the glaringly obvious: "Inflation erodes the value of those savings and decreases their standard of living." The only option left: "Lowering the value of savings creates a powerful incentive to take on investment risk to maintain the real purchasing power of those savings." And while everyone getting aboard the investment ship at the same time is a horrible idea when it happens in one country, it is a guaranteed disaster waiting to happen when it occurs at the global level. Which is precisely what has happened: "Today, we see that same pattern again at play. But this time, it’s not limited to just the US Fed policy. Globally, central banks are pursuing coincident easy money policies. And even in Emerging Markets where the inflation fears stand most acute, the policy rate increases are just keeping up with inflation increases. The result: global negative or zero real policy rates." The entire global "economy", which really means stock market, is now one timebomb, just waiting for the first central banker error-induced 'crack' to appear in the windshield, following which the destruction will be unprecedented.

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Estimated Flows to Long-Term Mutual Funds
Millions of dollars

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Billions of dollars