Life has a funny way of reminding a person that he is not really in control of what is going on around him. While he may be proficient in a few specific areas, his overall knowledge is limited. Last night my hot water heater decided to go on vacation and I thought I’d try to be a real man and fix it. I have a general knowledge of how a hot water heater...

I absolutely shutter when progressives try to explain economics. While I agree that large corporations are going to use their resources to receive protection at the cost of their competitors and their consumers, Hudson talks as if it is some class logic mentality of “us vs. them”. He doesn`t make a very good case that there is this parasitic...

From the NY Times: Moody’s Slashes Ireland’s Credit Rating H/T Calculated Risk Moody’s … cut Ireland’s credit rating by five notches to Baa1, with a negative outlook, from Aa2 and it warned further downgrades could follow. The rating remains investment grade but if it were to move down by three more notches, Irish debt would be classified...

by Karl Denninger Amusing report, really…. In recap: Orders up materially while shipments are down. (Bawhahahaha we know where will end up right?) Prices paid skyrocketing while prices received are going up - but much slower.  More margin collapse evidence. Number of employees dropped big. Headline sounds great, but the internals on the...

by Tyler Durden Sometime we wonder if we are the only ones who are stunned by the ridiculousness coming out of the stock market on what seems a daily basis. Luckily, there is at least one other person out there who, like us, take a bemused approach to the endless insanity. As Albert Edwards says in his latest note: “I’ve been doing this...

by Karl Denninger I tawt I taw Liesman tay tomething tintelligent! In the week ending Dec. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 420,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 423,000. The 4-week moving average was 422,750, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average...

So far this week we have been seeing fear creep in the equities market. This Wednesday we started to see fear (green indicator) reach a level which tells me to start looking for the market to bottoming. I do follow a few other charts and indicators which warn me of a possible trend reversal (high probability setup) before it takes place but the US Dollar...

by Tyler Durden Dylan Ratigan, having recently reincarnated himself as an activitst against the meddling of the banking oligarchy in American everyday lives, and a proponent for job creation, has hit the road, literally, with his inaugural event for his Steel on Wheel movement. The event starts at 7pm, and will be held in Seneca Falls. The idea...

The March NASDAQ 100 closed lower due to profit taking on Wednesday as it consolidated some of this month’s rally. The low-range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Thursday. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but remain neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near-term. If March extends the...

By Phil at Phil’s Stock World Revisiting the massive global oil scam… Last year, Phil calculated that this $2.5 Trillion dollar operation was 50 times the size of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme. “It’s a number so large that, to put it in perspective, we will now begin measuring the damage done to the global economy in “Madoff...

Market pundits and prognosticators are all worried as to whether Santa is going to deliver presents to Wall Street this year. While we have seen the S&P 500 reach new highs in December, the S&P 500 is facing a wall of resistance around the S&P 1250 area. Based on price action today, Santa may not be coming to Wall Street in 2010. Market...

By Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT Analysts and pundits provide various reasons for the bull market in Gold. This includes emerging market demand, low interest rates, money printing, central bank accumulation, central bank policies and falling gold production. These are all good reason but there is one reason which stands apart and will drive precious metals...

Gold Scent I’ve noted before that at intermediate turning points we will usually see breadth diverge from price. The McClellan oscillator is now showing a large negative divergence and has moved back below zero despite the market making new highs. On a slightly more serious note we are also starting to see a divergence in the advance/decline...

Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist The defaultistas and hyperinflationists are enthralled by the fact that bond yields are rising.  After all, you can’t really have either of the preceding environments without rising yields.  Surely, this is a case of the bond vigilantes awaking from their slumber, right?  Not so fast.  There is an obvious...

by Tyler Durden Today we get a brief glimpse of what will happen to the Fed’s balance sheet when rates surge. In the span of one day, the Fed took an $8 billion unrealized loss on its $1.07 trillion in Bonds, TIPS and Agencies. It also likely experienced a comparable loss on its MBS portfolio. It’s a good thing the Fed has $57 billion in...