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The Science of Getting Rich: CHAPTER VII [excerpt] by Wallace D. Wattles #Gratitude

--- Gratitude THE ILLUSTRATIONS GIVEN IN THE LAST CHAPTER will have conveyed to the reader the fact that the first step toward getting ...

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

@jcpenny Learn to DEAL WITH a #deflationary environment! @kohls @sears @kmart @BestBuy @staples @Target

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Just a couple of quotes from the article below..

"Many shoppers may need to see the markdowns to believe they're getting a good deal, said Barbara Kahn, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School."

BULLSHIT! The key word in the sentence above is "BELIEVE" as in (be fooled, be played for a sucker by misleading ads). Most consumers are well aware of the fact that they are being screwed by retailers, always! ONE OF the main problems is "professors of marketing" who believe that they have properly educated themselves as far as how to "manipulate consumer behavior". <-- This is my own comment.. "Johnson said future ads will do more to explain the new pricing scheme"

Perhaps consumers are sick and tired of having "new pricing schemes" properly explained to them by "marketing wizards" precisely because everyone realizes they are nothing but SCHEMES! Designed for no other purpose than to grab as much of our worthless imaginary fiat as humanly possible, as quickly as possible.

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J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson gets lesson in pricing <-- source

Susan Berfield,Sapna Maheshwari

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Here's a riddle: How do bargain hunters know they're getting a bargain if there's no hunt? The answer is, they don't.

That's one of the lessons Ron Johnson has learned in his six months as chief executive officer of J.C. Penney. Johnson developed Target's "cheap chic" persona before moving to Apple, where he created the world's most profitable stores. Now he wants to wean Penney's middle-market customers from a steady diet of coupons and almost constant discounting.

So far, they're not buying.

"The transition has been tougher than we anticipated," Johnson said during a May 15 presentation to investors.

Johnson's strategy was deceptively simple: replace Penney's relatively high list prices - which it aggressively discounted - with lower everyday "fair and square prices."

The early results have been dismal. The department store chain, with 1,100 U.S. stores, had overall revenue of $3.2 billion in the first quarter, and lost $163 million during that time. Sales at stores open more than a year fell an average 19 percent. The number of people coming into Penney stores dropped by 10 percent, and the number of those who bought something fell, too, by 5 percent.

Before Johnson's arrival, a pair of sandals at Penney might have been priced at $39.99 and, after all the coupons and discounts, sold for $29.99. Now the shoes are available for an everyday price of $30 from the start. Johnson's setup allows special monthlong values for some items; in May, for example, the sandals could go for $22. And if some are still in stock, they would later be marked down to the so-called best price of $15 on the first or third Friday of the month (when most shoppers get their paychecks).

Couldn't figure it out

"I went into a store a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't figure out what was what," said Jay Margolis, a former executive at Limited Brands.

Johnson was recruited to Penney by Bill Ackman, whose hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, owns 18 percent of the 110-year-old retailer.

In January, Johnson unveiled his four-year plan to transform Penney into America's favorite store. In a presentation to investors and suppliers, he described a department store built around a so-called town square, with up to 100 boutiques carrying items made by well-known brands specifically for Penney. The first store-within-a-store will sell home goods by Martha Stewart.

But Johnson said first he had to fix the pricing. "We wouldn't have had access to many of our new brands and design partners without implementing a new pricing model," he said by e-mail.

Less than 1 percent of all Penney merchandise was sold at full price prior to his arrival. The company offered 590 promotions a year, yet the average customer made only four visits during that time.

"That means the customer ignored us 99 percent of the time," Johnson said in January. "Steve (Jobs) would have called this insanity. J.C. Penney spent $1 billion (on promotions), and the customer ignored us. It's like in junior high school, if you keep calling a girl and she doesn't call back, you seem desperate."

Although Johnson said future ads will do more to explain the new pricing scheme, that may not help as much as he hopes.

Many shoppers may need to see the markdowns to believe they're getting a good deal, said Barbara Kahn, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School. That's especially true when it comes to the basic items - from underwear to dinner plates - that Penney mostly sells.

He got it backward

Johnson said at the January presentation that shoppers distrusted the store because it offered so many discounts it was impossible to know the real price. Yet he may have gotten it backward.

"Underneath the bargain craziness is a lack of trust in business," said Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist and professor at Golden Gate University. "But now J.C. Penney has made it look like its customers were buying cheap stuff. People are looking at it the opposite way J.C. Penney had hoped."

Susan Berfield is an associate editor at Bloomberg Businessweek. Sapna Maheshwari is a Bloomberg writer. E-mail: sberfield@bloomberg.net, sapnam@bloomberg.net

This article appeared on page D - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/26/BU9I1ONEKH.DTL#ixzz1wGm41cc4

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

$SPX m15

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Here's why I'm short $TLT - 20 year treasuries

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I think it's called mean reversion..

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$SPX crucial spot on m15

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Chart shows m5 tunnel test (top blue line = 200 EMA (196 anyway..)) with 62 EMA (yellow dashed line) looming just above. Daily level at 1310.5 along with bearish m15 tunnel resistance.

I'm trying to get to 1291 area (weekly level) to cover my bad entries for a little profit..

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

#Intervention or #Manipulation - Central #Banks vs We the people

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The central banks CALL it intervention when THEY do it..

Intervention

in·ter·vene (ntr-vn)
intr.v. in·ter·vened, in·ter·ven·ing, in·ter·venes
1. To come, appear, or lie between two things: You can't see the lake from there because the house intervenes.
2. To come or occur between two periods or points of time: A year intervened between the two dynasties.
3. To occur as an extraneous or unplanned circumstance: He would have his degree by now if his laziness hadn't intervened.
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4.
a. To involve oneself in a situation so as to alter or hinder an action or development: "Every [central bank] faces choices about how and how much to intervene in [markets]"

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b. To interfere, usually through force or threat of force, in the affairs of another nation.
5. Law To enter into a suit as a third party for one's own interests.

Or..

Manipulation

manipulate
Verb

1 influence or control shrewdly or deviously; "He manipulated public opinion in his favor" [syn: pull strings, pull wires]
2 hold something in one's hands and move it
3 fake or falsify; "Fudge the figures"; "cook the books"; "falsify the data" [syn: fudge, fake, falsify, cook, wangle, misrepresent]
4 manipulate in a fraudulent manner; "rig prices" [syn: rig]
5 control (others or oneself) or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage; "She manipulates her boss"; "She is a very controlling mother and doesn't let her children grow up"; "The teacher knew how to keep the class in line"; "she keeps in line" [syn: keep in line, control]

6 treat manually, as with massage, for therapeutic purposed

If WE were to do what the central banks do it wouldn't be called either of these.. It would be called a crime..

Crime

crime   [krahym] Show IPA
noun
1.
an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited.

2.
criminal activity and those engaged in it: to fight crime.
3.
the habitual or frequent commission of crimes: a life of crime.
4.
any offense, serious wrongdoing, or sin.
5.
a foolish, senseless, or shameful act: It's a crime [for the central banks to save themselves and their corrupt governments no matter the cost to society].


I say what they are doing is the real crime..

Central banks call what they do Quantitative easing

Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional[1][2] monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank buys financial assets to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy. This is distinguished from the more usual policy of buying or selling government bonds to keep market interest rates at a specified target value. A central bank implements quantitative easing by purchasing financial assets from banks and other private sector businesses with new electronically created money.[3][4][5][6] This action increases the excess reserves of the banks, and also raises the prices of the financial assets bought, which lowers their yield.[7]

But when WE do it it's called Counterfeiting

Counterfeit money is imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of the state or government. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery.

Roman coins were struck using a minting process, not cast, so these coin molds were created for forgery.
Counterfeiting is probably as old as money itself. Before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. A form of counterfeiting is the production of documents by legitimate printers in response to fraudulent instructions. During World War II, the Nazis forged British pounds and American dollars. Today some of the finest counterfeit banknotes are called Superdollars because of their high quality, and likeness to the real US dollar. There has been a considerable amount of counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins since the launch of the currency in 2002.

Some of the ill-effects that counterfeit money has on society are:[1][2] a reduction in the value of real money; and increase in prices (inflation) due to more money getting circulated in the economy - an unauthorized artificial increase in the money supply; a decrease in the acceptability of paper money; and losses, when traders are not reimbursed for counterfeit money detected by banks, even if it is confiscated.

Central #Bank "Transparency interferes with our ability to break the #law" #ECB

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Greece’s banking system is being propped up by an estimated €100bn or so of emergency liquidity provided by the country’s central bank – approved secretly by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

“You don’t say when you are in an emergency situation, because then you make the situation worse. So I really don’t see the usefulness of being more transparent,” Luc Coene, Belgium’s central bank governor, explained in a Financial Times interview this month.

Continue reading full article on Financial Times

Thursday, May 17, 2012

$CL m5 during downtrend

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$GBPJPY daily

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Devalued currency best salve for beleaguered Europe

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By Rachel Marsden
May 17, 2012

While your co-workers hover around the water cooler debating whether it matters if Mitt Romney bullied some kid in his youth, a formerly First World nation called Greece is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Why, you might ask, should Middle America pry its overworked eyes away from Jennifer Lopez gyrating around in a bodysuit on "American Idol" long enough to bother caring?
Now replace "Greece" with "your bank." It suddenly matters a little more, doesn't it? What if your bank couldn't loan you money, give you a mortgage or allow you to ring up credit-card debt, all because the bank abruptly had much less with which to leverage your lifestyle since Greece decided to finally pull itself off fiscal life support? Granted, American banks only hold about $2 billion in Greek debt bonds, according to a 2011 Federal Reserve survey. But more significantly, they hold $34 billion worth of such bonds in Italy and Spain. If these two countries ever decide to flake out -- a real possibility, referred to as "contagion" -- good luck trying to get your bank to finance that car you can't afford.

Not that staying in the eurozone would prevent collapse, either. If anything, it would only hasten the demise of the other member states. The eurozone fell into this crisis due to the stunningly illogical idea that a cost-heavy system could support itself indefinitely. When reality slowly dawned on the European powers that be, they proposed a series of desperate tax grabs, many under the guise of environmentalism and climate change. Too little, too late, and way too scammy to be worth pursuing for any single national leader who risks being voted out of office as a result of martyring himself for Europe.

Sheer political will continues to be the only container keeping this high-entropy system from blasting into full chaos. The scene of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy browbeating German Chancellor Angela Merkel to bail out Greece in the very first installation of this graphic international snuff-film series should remain a symbol of why the whole concept was destined for disorder.

The most troublesome thing of all is that logic and pragmatic realism, however painful, are still taking a back seat to short-term appetites. Voters in France and Greece proved that they're willing to cycle through governments over and over until someone fixes their predicament. They want Santa Claus, as if they were 5 years old again. They don't care if Mom and Dad are broke and have no money -- they're going to sit on that lap and scream until the magic elves at the North Pole workshop are commanded to make it all better. Rejecting austerity is like asking Santa for a Ferrari and a baby brother when your parents are broke and post-menopausal.

New French President Francois Hollande was apparently mugged by reality on the way home from his victory party, as he admitted before even taking office that he'd discovered the fiscal situation in France was even worse than portrayed by his predecessor. While likely disappointing for some, that admission is a reassuring sign of sanity.

I have no idea what goes on in the heads of anti-austerity French, Greeks or any other citizens of financially strapped European countries who think there's an alternative to austerity that's any less drastic than an entire systemic revamping of the welfare state and public service. Even austerity measures have had a minimal impact thus far, mainly because the situation is so dire in countries like Greece that almost any countermeasure is just a case of putting a Band-Aid on a gushing head wound. Austerity is the very least that ought to be inflicted in an attempt to reverse course, and voters don't even want that.

So what's the solution? The best thing that could happen would be for the euro to be forced down in value to stimulate exports, to promote local products over foreign ones, and to boost domestic production -- similar to the way that China has benefitted from keeping the yuan devalued, much to the irritation of President Barack Obama and leaders in other Western nations. This would get the economic ball rolling again and improve European productivity, rather than leaving the task to China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets. This idea certainly couldn't be any worse than what's been tried to date. And it beats waiting around for Santa Claus to get elected.

Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and former Fox News host who writes regularly for major publications in the U.S. and abroad. Her new book, "American Bombshell: A Tale of Domestic and International Invasion," is available through Amazon.com. Her website can be found at http://www.rachelmarsden.com.

#Trade $AUDUSD long(s) m5 chart

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Monday, May 7, 2012

#Trade $AUDUSD m15 Here's the tunnel we are dealing with

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This should have been included in that last post.. sorry ;)

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#Trade $AUDUSD short #FX

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There's some stuff on the chart..

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Predatory Lending - Where TF is the oversight?!

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How stupid are (sh)people anyway?!

Got this in the mail last week..

From Sun loan company..

Top of page designed to look like a check.. Ask for up to $3,500.04 etc, etc..

And goes on to advertise "FOR ANY WORTHWHILE PURPOSE"

Here's the ad.. (highlights are my own..)

Dear (imagine your own name here)

We are happy to let you know that we have "the help you need" for Mother's Day, "or any other financial need you may have." You have been pre-selected for a loan from $150.00 up to $3,500.04.

That's right! We are ready to make you a loan! Celebrate Mother's Day with your mom, your wife or someone who has been just like a mother to you. Use your loan for a nice dinner, beautiful flowers or a special gift.It's "your" money to spend however you wish. If you prefer, you can use it for other expenses you may have, like vehicle repairs or monthly bills.

Whatever the amount you need, Sun Loan is prepared to make all of your loan arrangements with fast, "friendly" service. We can take your application by phone and your loan can be completed in about 30 minutes. "It's just that easy."

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Standard payday loan, predatory / sub-prime lending type crap..

Here's the hilarious part (IMHO).

In the fine(r) print, on down the page is this statement..

Your APR will be between 52.62% and 159.18% depending on the size and term of your loan. { Apparently not on your perceived ability to repay or credit worthiness as it states here it's based on "the size and term of your loan". }

My question is how can the American people ever be expected to believe "oversight" exists at all when we constantly see these examples of, apparently COMPLETELY LEGAL, loan sharking?!

Who is responsible for this oversight?

Why are Americans who can't afford to buy food loaned fiat at 159.18% APR while the Federal Reserve Bank GIVES FIAT AWAY FREE (0.00 - 0.25% to the Too Big To Fail & investment bankers?!

Things in the economy of the USA are completely upside down and to date, since the financial sector implosion of 2008, are at the very best exactly the same (NO CHANGE) if not much worse.

It seems obvious to me that a large majority of this economy is based strickly on no more than predatory / sub-prime lending and / or government / Federal Reserve Bank driven economic bubbles.

Wake up people.. Capitalism is done for.. what we are currently witnessing is something entirely different.

I'd just call it economic predation.

Here's the SUN LOAN company website Have fun there doing whatever it may be you would like to do there ;)

Greg

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Here's what happened to oil $CL

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The "levels" referred to in the chart below were drawn using the technique covered in the link below

Drawing levels in a non-arbitrary way #FX #trading

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Friday, May 4, 2012

#Trading the "tunnel system" is relatively easy - This morning's NFP moves on an m1 chart #FX What I think I know

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You'll never catch me saying I know everything.. At times all system's can and will fail catastrophically and this is why we must all strive to protect our capital first.

The word risk does have a definition..

{

1. A probability or threat of a damage, injury, liability, loss, or other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be neutralized through preemptive action.

}

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/risk.html#ixzz1tvlqex2m

The chart is self explanatory to save me typing here ;)

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$SPX h4 update

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Stop Hunting Illustrated #FX #trading

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This chart shows yesterday's initial trade setup (Short USDJPY)

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Though I closed the trades Friday morning, pre-NFP, net -10 pips (damnit) this next chart demonstrates how well the strategy played out..

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

m1 redux $GBPUSD (#Time sensitive material)

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Saved by the last tunnel???

Looks like the stops were in about the right place so far LMAO

Primary Dealer bastards!

Click to.. (it's a mystery this time..)


Here's my m1 (get it while it's fresh) $GBPUSD

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Click for larger image (I only say that because I see it said elsewhere.. Are people really that f'ing stupid?)


#Credit card / #debt #slave offers - F #Citi - Wake up sheeple!

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I got TWO identical offers yesterday from Citi (which I love because I want every bank to waste fiat sending me mail as often as possible..)

LOW intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers and purchases

They are even NICE enough to say how they WANT you to use the card!

0% introductory APR on your purchases

Use your card every day, for everything you need - from gas and groceries to clothing, Mobil phone payments, household expenses and more - and pay zero interest for 18 months from date of account opening.

After that, the APR will be 12.99% - 19.99% variable, based on your credit worthiness.

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It appears, to me anyway, that not only have banks NOT changed at all but they are STILL desperate for cash and willing to do ANYTHING to get ahold of YOUR fiat via debt slavery!

Here we see how Citi encourages anyone / everyone to use their credit card for ALL purchases.

Unemployed and facing not only foreclosure but unable to put food on the table or clothe your children? Let Citi help you out! They are giving away FREE money! WOOHOO! It's free for 18 months anyway.. unless.. ONE of your payments happens to arrive a day late.. then it's billable at 29.99% interest! Even though the banks themselves can borrow the SAME WORTHLESS FIAT from the Federal Reserve at 0.00 to 0.25% !!! What a f'ing deal THAT is! Borrow fiat at 0.00% and loan it back out at 13% to 30% !

USURY sucks! Don't DO IT anymore!

These "offers" are 10 times worse than an ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage)! Your interest rate can skyrocket from 0.00% to 30% OVERNIGHT if you're a day late on your payment (or a payment doesn't clear)!

CITI DISCLOSURES

Don't forget Citi was / is a big player in the whole foreclosure (CORRUPTION & FRAUD) debacle!

Here's What Citigroup Said Today About Foreclosure-Gate And Mortgage Repurchases

Don't forget ALL the Too f'ing Big To Fail banks are thieves and they are ALL still playing the SAME debt slavery games and they're EVEN BIGGER NOW!

I hope the days are past that people fall for this debt trap BS!

They obviously WANT unemployed people to get a credit card and max it out for normal living expenses while they wait patiently for a late or returned payment which allows them to instantly bump the interest rate to 30% meaning anyone dumb enough to fall for this crap is at that point likely doomed to be a debt slave for life. Unless they file for chapter 7 bankruptcy.

My own suggestion to you, if you do happen to be struggling, is to get as many of these cards as you possibly can and max them ALL out with NO INTENTION of ever paying back the f'ing fiat!

Don't use them to buy food, gas and clothes! Use them to buy physical gold and silver to the max! (Please see disclaimer at bottom of page).

Buy your gold and silver on credit, hide / bury it, and file for chapter 7 bankruptcy!

Credit and fiat are NOT the same thing! Gold and silver are at least REAL!

Greg

"This blog and website are for informational, educational and discussion purposes only. Ancient_Warrior's Ancient_Battle's blog is not a law firm and not a registered investment advisor. Even though topics may be discussed on this blog that involve legal or investment issues, nothing on this blog shall be deemed to constitute the practice of law, legal advice or investment advice. No reader should act in reliance on anything discussed in this blog without prior consultation with a licensed professional who is qualified to evaluate the reader’s individual facts and circumstances and offer an informed professional opinion with respect thereto. If any reader takes action or makes decisions based solely on the information on this blog without prior consultation with a qualified, licensed professional, the reader does so at his or her own risk and agrees that Ancient_Warrior's Ancient_Battle's blog shall have no liability resulting from such unilateral action or decisions by the reader."

More below

Update $SPX monthly chart WTF?

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