Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

Hussman: Plan To Exit Stocks Within the Next 8 Years? Exit Now

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:29:30 GMT

``It's notable that while these extremes sometimes occurred at the exact market high, other instances were only proximal to those highs, resulting in brief retreats and a final push higher. We don't know whether the current instance will have consequences similar to the 1929, 1972, 1987, 2000 and 2007 ones, but suffice it to say that these conditions were more notable for their outcomes over the completion of the full market cycle than they were for their immediate outcomes.''

Italy's "Le Pen" draws thousands at rally in Rome

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:17:41 GMT

``Opinion polls suggest that Mr Salvini is rapidly gaining in popularity... Mr Salvini's fiery rhetoric against the European Union, immigration and austerity politics had led to comparisons being drawn between him and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen.''

Forget all our other troubles -- the Russians are coming!

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:14:43 GMT

The establishment anti-Russia/anti-Putin campaign went into overdrive last week because of anger that a peace deal was reached in Minsk. The Russophobes want the conflict in Ukraine to continue to justify the sanctions on Russia. They want the Russian economy seriously weakened, regardless of the cost to the Russian people - believing this will eventually lead to ‘regime change' in Moscow and someone like Garry Kasparov or Mikhail Khodorkovsky taking over in the Kremlin.
They've never forgiven Putin and Lavrov for blocking war against Syria in 2013 and for having the temerity to stand up and defend legitimate Russian national interests. Don't these damn ‘Ruskies' know their place!

Doral Financial in Puerto Rico Is (FINALLY) Shut Down by Regulators

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:10:59 GMT

``Doral Financial, the troubled Puerto Rico bank that was once a darling of Wall Street before becoming known as a political pariah on the island, has been shut down by banking regulators. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation expects to lose about $748.9 million from Doral's collapse, making it the most costly bank failure since April 2010, when another Puerto Rican bank collapsed.''

University of Oregon results favors Obama's fiduciary standard for investment advisers

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:00:18 GMT

``Last week, President Obama jump-started efforts to require all financial advisers to -- gasp -- put their clients' financial interests ahead of their own... Chalmers and Reuter compared returns between do-it-yourselfers and those advised by brokers. Turns out, investors who fended for themselves outperformed the broker-advised investors by about 1.25 percent a year. Statistically speaking, the difference is roughly equivalent to the 0.9 percent annual fee charged by the advisers, Chalmers said in an interview.''

Fed Vice Chair Fischer says rate hike most likely "June or September"

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 20:57:12 GMT

``"It's interesting that September is creeping into the debate. It suggests the Fed is in no rush," Mr. Costerg said. "Fischer leaves the impression the Fed is quite open-minded and in a data-watching mode."''

Andrew Maguire -- LBMA Paper Ponzi To Be Crushed As Gold And Silver Markets Change Forever (Chinese Gold Fix, etc.)

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 15:33:30 GMT

``Here is a small portion of what Maguire had to say about the launch of the new exchange -- where he will have a seat: "Up to now the end-user hasn't been able to directly access the wholesale market. As institutions, producers, refiners and other end-users all share the same platform and enjoy complete anonymity from the bullion banks, it removes the power from the bullion banks' concentrated hands. This is why it (the new exchange being launched is) a game-changer.''

BREAKING BAD (DEBT) -- EPISODE TWO (Consumer Debt and Subprime Rises)

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 15:26:43 GMT

``It is mind bogglingly ludicrous for financial institutions to loan 110% of the value of a vehicle over a seven year term when the vehicle depreciates by 10% the moment you drive it off the lot and 50% in the first three years. It is even more preposterous for these financial institutions to loan 126% of the value of a vehicle for 71 months at 10% interest to someone without the means, income, or willingness to repay the loan. But, these are the current terms offered to subprime borrowers''

The euro may be riskier than you think - Alasdair MacLeod

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 16:41:58 GMT

`` Varoufakis almost certainly understands that the Eurozone is in a weaker position than the bureaucrats and finance ministers themselves believed. It was important for them to become aware of this reality, which was central to his approach. It appears that under the Lisbon Treaty, Eurozone states cannot expel Greece: she can only leave with everyone's unanimous agreement, including her own. And they probably didn't realise that playing hardball against Greece would force the ECB to write off debts approaching ten times her equity capital of only €10.8bn... In the wake of this episode the status of the euro as money is likely to be increasingly questioned, not just in the foreign exchanges, but by its users as well. ''

Greek PM says 'forget about third bailout'

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 16:39:20 GMT

``"Some have bet on a third bailout, on the possibility of a third bailout in June. I'm very sorry but once again we will disappoint them," the PM declared, adding that "the Greek people put an end to bailouts with their vote."''

Nemtsov was no threat to Russian govt - presidential spokesperson

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 16:18:53 GMT

``Irina Khakamada, an opposition figure who was Nemtsov's ally in the SPS party (Union of Right Forces), called the murder a "provocation" aimed at destabilizing Russia.''

14,600 blighted properties demolished in Ohio under program

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:36:14 GMT

``More than 14,600 blighted properties around Ohio have been demolished in the past two years under a program aimed at benefiting areas affected by foreclosures, the state's attorney general said Friday.''

U.S. economy slowed in Q4, but growth outlook still "favorable"

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:14:02 GMT

``U.S. economic growth braked more sharply than initially thought in the fourth quarter amid a moderate increase in business inventories and a wider trade deficit, but strong domestic demand brightened the outlook" -- We suspect the "consumer confident" aspect of this "mixed outook" is a phantom...

Greece runs out of funding options despite euro zone reprieve

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:02:29 GMT

Shut out of debt markets and faced with a steep fall in tax revenues, Athens is expected to run out of cash by the middle or end of March. Its finance minister has warned that Greece will struggle to repay creditors starting with a 1.5 billion euro IMF loan repayment due in March.
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Greece had also hoped it could tap the almost 11 billion euros of leftover money in the Greek bank stabilization fund, but euro zone finance ministers have decided the money would be returned to the Luxembourg-based euro zone bailout fund.
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A senior Greek banker said the expectation in Athens remained that the ECB would relent and allow some leeway on T-bills.
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The onus is now on Athens to rush through reforms to unlock the remaining aid.

Can a Stock-Trader-Turned-Convict Start a New Life? (THE STORY OF ROOMY KHAN)

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 19:48:55 GMT

Since January 2008, as Roomy had ostensibly been going about her usual business -- analyzing companies, gathering snippets of privileged corporate intelligence and deciding which stocks to buy and sell -- she was secretly assisting the F.B.I. in a long-running investigation into insider trading at Wall Street hedge funds. Khan was the right woman for the job: Since about 2006, she herself had been trading on inside information. When the F.B.I. caught up with her, she began helping them -- at first reluctantly and then with theatrical flair. She taped telephone calls with her bosses, business associates and even a neighbor. Most important of all, she taped calls with her ex-boss, Raj Rajaratnam, whom the government had been eyeing for a decade.
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I met Khan in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in September, five months after she was released from prison and three months after she was transferred from a halfway house to her own home. I wanted to understand how a highly intelligent woman like Khan -- she has a degree in engineering, two in physics and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley -- wound up committing a crime like this. What sorts of calculations had she made to convince herself that the benefits of cheating outweighed the possible costs?
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In February, she received a rejection [from Wharton business school], but she's waiting to hear from several other schools. If she doesn't get in anywhere, she would like to write a book, perhaps go on the lecture circuit, sharing with aspiring traders and business people the cautionary tale of her easy slide into committing crimes

Greek Gov't raises concern over payment to IMF in March

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:18:43 GMT

``Greece is due to pay the IMF 1.6 billion euros next month but Flambouraris said that Athens might ask to delay this payment for two months. Greece has a total of 7.27 billion euros in obligations next month of which 4.6 billion euros is in treasury bills that are due to be rolled over. The government's first T-bill issue will have to take place by Thursday as 1.6 billion euros has to be rolled over the next day.''

The US recovery story is a fraud: SocGen's Edwards

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:26:00 GMT

``"The downturn in U.S. profits is accelerating and it is not just an energy or U.S. dollar phenomenon -- a broad swathe of U.S. economic data has disappointed in February," he said in a research note published Thursday.''

China's Real Estate Bust Worse Than It Seems

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:18:47 GMT

A record decline in new-home prices in January has, as my Bloomberg News colleagues reported this week, prompted Chinese officials to contemplate additional stimulus measures, including reducing the required down payments on second homes and eliminating sales tax after only two years of ownership instead of five.
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"This is a supply-side correction in property," Yao writes in a new report. "While housing sales will likely improve this year, construction and all the industrial activity that depends on it will not. Therefore an upturn in housing sales will not deliver as much of a boost to growth."

Chinese diplomat tells West to heed Russia's security concerns over Ukraine

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:13:11 GMT

``Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, was quoted by state news agency Xinhua late on Thursday as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality" with Russia.''

Police beating people protesting currency collapse in Kiev

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:11:04 GMT

``Oh yeah, and the reason those people are protesting: under Yanukovich, dollar cost 8 hryvna. Now, it costs 34! Those people have dollar loans -- if before paying back say $50 a month took a quarter of their salary, now it may be more than they earn.''