The market dropped 96 points in the last half hour of trading today. 65% of the total trading volume for the day occurred in this period and trading for the day was almost double the recent average. The end of the trading day usually is higher in both trades and pricing due to program trades. Today is definitely an anomaly.
David DeGerolamo
I received this flyer to “share”. It will be distributed at the GOP convention this weekend.
David DeGerolamo
Is the GOP intruding into local or state and national primaries?
Are they recruiting and supporting newly switched Democrats and RINO opportunists to run against conservative incumbents or principled new candidates?
Are they running Decoy Candidates so as to manipulate elections and place their puppets?
Is Vice Chairman Wayne King the acting henchman? [And for whom? Sen Rucho? Rep Tillis?]
“ETHNIC CLEANSING IS THE POLICY, STRATEGY AND TACTICS THAT WILL AFFECT YOU, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN THE COMING MONTHS” is part of a Facebook post by Alexander Kinyua. He is charged with first degree murder as well as first and second degree assault against 37 year old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei- Kodie. He’s currently being held at the Harford County Detention Center awaiting an initial appearance before a judge.
Kinyua ate the heart and brain of his victim so I would expect insanity to be his defense.
Alexander Kinyua, a 21-year-old Morgan State University student, has been charged in the killing and dismemberment in Harford County of a 37-year-old man, and while not much was immediately known about the circumstances of the crime, Kinyua’s online trail points to a troubled young man. Continue reading
I have had several discussions recently about how to “fix” the Constitution. The fixes (not meant to be inclusive) are simple:
1. Article 1, Section 8 – enumerated powers:
Add “and this time, we mean it.“
The preamble would not be considered to be the basis for any law.
2. Add Thomas Jefferson’s section for removal of a member of the Supreme Court by Congress as part of the checks and balances of all three branches of government. Continue reading
Quite a bit of negative news brewing so far this week which I have already addressed, such as the BFA/Bankia fraud, and the fact that Germany and the US are selling bonds that lose money, and get away with it simply because they are “safer” than other instruments of similar class.
Well, today I present a few key points of interest along the road to ruin –
1) Nearly every market is a loser this morning, BFA/Bankia is just one factor in the slump-fest today, as negative data and worse expectations flow through world markets – much larger than the typical daily volatility:
S&P 500 (SPX) -6.1%
Nasdaq Composite (COMP) -6.9%
Crude oil (NMN: CLN2) -16%
Spain Ibex 35 (XX:IBEX) -12.3%
Japan Nikkei 225 (JP:100000018) -10.3%
Hong Kong HSI (HK:HSI) -11.7%
Russia RTS (RTG: RTS) -20.3%
Euro vs. dollar (EURUSD) -6.2%
CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) +41% Continue reading
See additional comments on Tea Party Nation.
Obama chose to align the United States with Muslim Brotherhood rebels in Syria whose goal is to establish a new Caliphate. The consequences of this choice are now clear: if the rebels are successful, Syria’s “huge stock of chemical and biological weapons” will be at risk of becoming the property of Al Qaeda. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is not true as Obama has now found out. This is true of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda and Russia. Putin now holds the keys to the Middle East, Europe and our president. We will have to wait to see if Obama will be more flexible before he is “reelected” as Putin is a chess grand master when it comes to foreign affairs and manipulations. I suspect that we will not have to wait too long to see what Putin’s price will be in addition to Russian monitors in Syria as Obama is suggesting.
David DeGerolamo
US President Barack Obama, though widely expected to pursue direct action against Syrian ruler Bashar following the Houla atrocity, is preoccupied with what he regards as a greater threat to the world: a potential grab for the huge Syrian stock of chemical and biological weapons by Al Qaeda’s or other terrorist organizations. This is reported exclusively by DEBKAfile’s Washington and intelligence sources. Continue reading
Job cuts jumped by 53 percent in May from April in the United States, with Hewlett-Packard’s layoffs propelling the computer industry to the top spot among the biggest job cutters this year, a report by consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed on Thursday.
Employers announced plans to cut 61,887 staff from their payrolls in May, 67 percent more than in the same month of last year. The figure represents the most job cuts since last September.
The computer industry dominated job cuts this month, with 27,754 layoffs, of which 27,000 were at Hewlett-Packard. Year to date, the computer industry announced 32,599 job cuts, followed by the transportation sector with 24,193 and the consumer products sector, with 21,846, the report showed.
“We may see more job cuts from the computer sector in the months ahead,” John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. Continue reading
It seems the Muppets have been well-and-truly Oscar’d this time. Combining Goldman’s once-in-a-lifetime equity buying opportunity position recommendation with their short Treasuries trade has produced an astoundingly un-positive return of -29% in just 48 days (based on SPY (stocks) and TBT (ultra-short TSYs given duration and beta). Extrapolated using the only tool that counts (Birinyi’s famous ruler) this means your account is Corzined by Thanksgiving – happy holidays.
Percentage performance of the Goldman ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trade recommendation from 3/21…
Another pensioner has committed suicide in Greece due to overwhelming personal debt. Despair over his unborn grandchildren’s future and the fate of his country were listed in his farewell note. The people of Greece made a fatal mistake: they transferred their faith in God to faith in the state. The Socialist state offers empty promises that people should recognize but the prospect of hope instead of despair, has an irresistible allure. A majority of America saw this allure with the phrase “hope and change”. The new phrase “Forward” has its history steeped in Communist dictatorships. Well we were promised “transparency”.
Anyone who has a strong faith in God would never consider suicide. Salvation is a gift given to one individual. The belief of “collective salvation” by the president shows a limited knowledge of Christianity. However, a nation can be punished collectively when their rulers do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Although this can be considered to be national suicide caused by rulers, the price is paid by the people. A national debt that is twice the entire assets of the United States is reason for despair. That despair can only take root in a people who have lost their faith or have misplaced it in a hopeless state.
David DeGerolamo
UPDATE: EURUSD ended under 1.2400, and 2Y Bunds at 0.00% yield. Financials underperformed in stocks and credit with senior bank spreads back up to 300bps and LTRO Stigma jumping 12bps to 177.5bps (near record wides). All European equity indices are down for the week with Spain’s IBEX unsurprisingly the biggest loser down almost 8%. ~~~NNNNN~~~
Spain Bank Bailout Doomed
This is just the beginning of the Bankia fallout for Spain. We will continue to see drops and shifts in the European markets for weeks to come, as the rest of the direct and indirect losses are revealed. But the point is, the structural flaws have now been categorically proven to go well beyond just the sovereign bond question – the entire European economy’s solvency is the foundational question at issue, as I have previously written, and this question is a very dynamic one. Continue reading
US President Obama recently vetoed a detailed Franco-Saudi plan for ending President Bashar Assad’s rule by means of a massive air strike against his palace that would at one fell swoop wipe him, his family and top leadership circle out, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report.
Their plan was for the presidential palace situated atop Mount Qassioun northeast of Damascus to be devastated by French warplanes taking off from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Syria’s Mediterranean coast and Saudi and United Arab Emirates bombers flying in through Jordan.
They would bomb the palace for 12 hours in several sorties while at the same time American fighter jets launched from a US aircraft carrier cruising in the Mediterranean or Red Sea would shut down Syria’s air defenses, which are considered among the most sophisticated and densely-arrayed in the region.
US warplanes would also keep the Syrian Air Force grounded and prevented from repulsing the incoming bombers. Continue reading
From last Wednesday’s ECB rumor that ramped stocks higher and financials more than anything else, Goldman and JPMorgan have retraced it all and the rest are reverting rapidly on the total refutation of any rumors. There is one financial however that is still up 6%…
cough BofA cough…
UPDATE: An hour later – BofA has tumbled over 2%, reverting rapidly from unreality…
Can you go hard?
I mean, can you drop the civility and the reflex polite smiles when you are face to face with a Liberal idiot?
Most of you have seen that I am usually patient and tolerant. I can also speak up and get ugly quickly, both online and in person. And I do not believe in proportional response.
Consider: Your Liberal co-worker or neighbor goes to the polls and pulls the lever for politicians who will go to your City Hall, State House and DC to tax you more, restrict you more, and reduce the quality of life for you and yours.
Does that co-worker/neighbor deserve your polite smiles, your patience and tolerance?
Is he not living every single day and taking actions that hurt you?
The defection of a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat to the Republican Party is raising some eyebrows.
Jo Ann Nardelli, a state committeewoman and founding president of the Blair County Federation of Democratic Women, has switched her political affiliation to the GOP, citing her Catholic faith and President Obama’s embrace of gay marriage as reasons.
During a press conference last week, Nardelli cited President Obama’s recent announcement in support of gay marriage as a central reason for her defection, endorsed Mitt Romney for president and changed her party registration to Republican, The Altoona Mirror reported.
“As the Democratic Party has taken the stand for same-sex marriage, then I must make a stand on my faith that marriage is between a man and a woman. God’s principles for life never change. His guidelines, given in Scripture, produce fruitful lives when you follow them,” Nardelli, a pro-life Democrat for more than 40 years, said at the Blair County Courthouse. Continue reading
UPDATE 5/30-1100EDT: PNSN now trading at 0.20/share with no volume to speak of.
FORM 8k Filing 29-May-2012 – Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Costs Associated with Exit… On May 28, 2012, Penson Financial Services, Inc. (“PFSI”), the U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary of Penson Worldwide Inc. (the “Company” or “we”), entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “APA”) with Knight Execution & Clearing Services LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Purchaser”), pursuant to which the (i) Company will sell certain assets of PFSI’s futures clearing business (the “FCM Business”), including but not limited to, customer contracts, segregated customer account assets, assets relating to the foreign currency exchange business, membership seats and licenses for clearing exchanges, and other related assets to the Purchaser; and (ii) the Purchaser will assume, subject to specified exceptions, certain liabilities and obligations under customer contracts in the FCM Business (the “Sale”).
In consideration for the Sale, the Purchaser agreed to make an initial payment of $5.0 million in cash to PFSI (the “Initial Purchase Price”). A portion of the Initial Purchase Price will be held back in respect of any exchange membership and other assets that are not transferred at the Closing, provided that such holdback shall not reduce the amount paid at closing to less than $2.5 million. At this time, the Company is not able in good faith to estimate (i) the total amount or range of amounts of costs expected to be incurred in connection with the Sale, or (ii) the total amount or range of amounts of the charge that will result in future cash expenditures, if any, that might be required in connection with the Sale.
