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Bear market is here! Are you prepared? <-- source
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Mike Larson | Friday, October 7, 2011 at 7:30 am
Have you viewed the brand new video presentation Martin Weiss and I have put together yet? Have you clicked here to watch America’s Financial Doomsday — at absolutely no cost?
I sure as heck hope so. Because I’m convinced more than ever that we are entering a new bear market, and a double-dip recession. And if you do NOT follow the powerful, step-by-step instructions we give here — to both protect your wealth and profit — I believe you’re going to regret it.
Why do I say that?
Because the evidence of a renewed bear market and economic slump is irrefutable. Just consider:
* The Dow has dropped 2,000 points in less than three months …
* The S&P 500 has dropped roughly 20 percent — the classic definition of a bear market …
* The Russell 2000 Index of smaller capitalization stocks just dropped to the lowest in 13 months …
As if that weren’t enough, the cost of obtaining dollars to pay off dollar-based loans is surging to three-year highs in Europe. Credit default swap costs for insurance on bank bonds — and European sovereign debt — is at or near record highs. Junk bond yields are soaring, while issuance of mortgage bonds and leveraged loans is plunging. Those are straightforward credit market indicators of extreme stress.
Meanwhile, on the economic front:
* The Conference Board’s index that tracks how tough it is for consumers to find a job surged to the highest since 1983 …
* Challenger, Gray & Christmas tracked more than 115,000 corporate layoff announcements in September, the most since April 2009!
* Home construction dropped 5.3 percent in August, pending home sales fell for the second month in a row, and new home sales slumped to the lowest since February.
Why a Replay of 2008
Is All but Inevitable!
Why are we back in the soup again? Why did the great post-recession rally fizzle out? Simple: We tried to paper over our problems with the same failed policies that got us into the mess in the first place!
We tried to combat a debt crisis brought about by borrowing and spending too much money we didn’t have by borrowing and spending even MORE money we didn’t have!
We tried to combat excessive leverage brought about by keeping interest rates too low and money too easy by pushing rates even lower and easing monetary policy even further!
We tried to deal with mega-banks that had delved too deeply in complex financial instruments by bailing them out and merging them into even BIGGER mega-institutions, rather than letting weak banks fail and chopping them up into more manageable entities!
Advertisement
Most importantly, and tragically, policymakers from Washington to Frankfurt to Tokyo learned the wrong lesson from the 2008 meltdown. They decided we should have a policy of “No more Lehmans” — regardless of the costs.
“This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers.” — George Soros, hedge fund investor.
So now rather than just having a bunch of troubled banks dragging us down, we have troubled banks AND troubled sovereign nations! Greece is already on the verge of default, while Portugal and Ireland aren’t far behind.
Italy’s debt rating was just slashed three notches by Moody’s, while France’s debt costs are soaring due to fear its AAA is in jeopardy. Even the core of Europe — Germany — is taking heat as its potential bailout tab climbs sky-high!
Your Crucial Steps
for Self-Defense!
Nobody would like to be optimistic more than me. But as I’ve said repeatedly, when it comes to the markets, I have to be a REALIST. Hope has no place in investing strategy. So I continue to counsel you to:
Eliminate most of your stock exposure, taking advantage of bear market rallies to do so at better prices.
Eliminate exposure to real estate and riskier bonds, with the understanding that higher REIT or junk bond YIELDS don’t mean squat when the PRICE of your income-generating investments is tanking.
Add inverse ETFs as hedges and profit-generating vehicles on rallies until the big-picture fundamental and technical outlook changes.
Again, you’ll find much more detailed instructions in our America’s Financial Doomsday video, accessible online for free here.
Until next time,
Mike
Mike Larson graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Journalism and a B.A. degree in English in 1998, and went to work for Bankrate.com. There, he learned the mortgage and interest rates markets inside and out. Mike then joined Weiss Research in 2001. He is the editor of Safe Money, Safe Money's Crisis Trader, and LEAPS Options Alert. He is often quoted by the New York Sun, Washington Post, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel, and he has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg Television and CNBC.
Friday, October 7, 2011
All about the 9th Wave - Carl Johan Calleman
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I found this to be very interesting stuff.
Hope you enjoy as well ;)
If you prefer the original source link it is here
Greg
---
Dear Friends,
Below follow a few voices on the Ninth wave that I think are very well worth pondering and adds to the monumental significance of the current year of 2011.
For those wanting to learn how to follow the ninth wave please see
http://4-ahau.com/en/Nine_Days_Count.html from Pierre Lejoyeux.
Phillipe de Vos, author of "l'Enneagramme dans la pratique soufie" adds a comment that I believe also puts the current development in North Africa in context by clarifying the meaning of the Gregorian year 2011 from a Muslim perspective:
"I find your explanation of the two different dates and time frames of 260 and 234 days very interesting. When we add the 234 days after the March 9, 2011 date we arrive at October 29. This year the latter date is the beginning of the Muslim pilgrimage the hajj, based on the lunar Muslim calendar and it is well known by Sufi masters that Imam Mahdi (= Kalki in Islamic culture) will arrive during the pilgrimage when the Arafat day (the 9th day of the pilgrimage) is a Friday.This is called the biggest pilgrimage - hajj al akbar - and it happens this year 2011, as Arafat day is then a Friday. This convergence is very interesting and in fact in the Islamic world this has already been announced without knowledge of the Mayan calendar. The particular role of Imam Mahdi is to bring Islam to its original state: The sanatana dharma or "din al qayyim", which is a Quranic word meaning "eternal law". The Sufi masters say, no more religions, no more Sufism and no more divisions. All will be "rabbaniyin" (Lord) as says sheik Nazim Cyprus mufti and leader of naqchabandi Sufi way."
Sharon Jorgenson points out the uniqueness of the Ninth wave:
For 16.4 billion years this material world has pulsed according to the rhythm of the tzolkin round, whether the shorter 260 day cycle or its overtones such as the 260 tun Planetary Underworld. In fact 8 of the 9 Underworlds neatly divides into 260 equal time periods, except for the last. The Universal Underworld is 234 days long, thus requiring each tzolkin combination (sun sign) to emboss less than one solar 24-hour day. This makes the Universal vibration unnatural, immaterial and out-of-phase with the rest of creation. Of what value is that? One might speculate that the purpose of the Universal Underworld is to loosen one's consciousness from this physical reality...allowing for transcendence. BUT first we will have to get "down & dirty" with the material world. The abstractions generated by the left brain during the National Underworld are being stripped away, along with its ordered, comfortable categories in a foreseeable future: our new vision consists of patterns in the Now. We are not in control -- a study of the Mayan Calendar has always brought this conclusion, now viscerally we shall experience it. "Letting go" may be the big theme of the Universal Underworld.
It may also be of interest to see that among certain Christian groups in the US, notably Harold Camping we are in for a judgment day within the ninth wave:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/may-21-2011-judgment-day_n_804166.html. While to many the idea of a judgment day means the end of the world it may also mean a time when people are going in different directions depending on what choices they make.
The year 2011 and the ninth wave is also marked by some powerful numerology as for instance from Mark White: Okay... here is one to ponder over! This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/34 ......... NOW go figure this out.... take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL .... 111.... crazy year its gonna be! CRAZY.
or Sharon Jorgenson: To me what is more intriguing now is whether we already know something essential (outside of the Mayans) about a 9-day count through a study of numerology. Could the Universal energy wax and wane like this [1 - 9 then 9 - 1] being in a wave form instead of a typical endless repetition of nine counts. Did you know that 1111111111 x 111111111 = 123456789987654321? That is ten 1's times nine 1's. Put them in a calculator to see for yourself, a perfect 18 digit number. Basically we're looking at a conversion of base ten to nine with the new agers favorite tool: 11 11. What does that mean for the scientific, rational, digital, AND natural minds which are lodged in a 10 count?
or Carl Johan Calleman: I feel numerology, also of Gregorian and Muslim dates, will gain a higher importance than ever before in the Ninth wave. What you are saying Sharon then is that the 123456789987654321 climb is an expression of the 11:11. It seems this is a year of both 1's and 9's, alpha and omega of the evolutionary creation process. To me it however seems a little bit asymmetric to have 9 1's multiplied with 10 1's. If instead 9 1's is multiplied with 9 1's 111111111 x 111111111 it becomes 12345678987654321. This would be true if we look upon the 9th energy as the same energy lasting for two days. If that is true it is by itself a very strange thing to experience. We have lived with a tzolkin where every day carries a new energy mostly creating some kind of polarity between them. What would it be like to go through two days in a rowthat would have the same energy? Is this some kind of preparation for a stable stage of life on a higher level after October 28, 2011?
Best
Carl Johan Calleman
about 8 months ago
---
Lance Blumenthal
A crucial link to the importance of the number 9, which suggests via another source that Carl's calculated the dates correctly.
Justin Lawless discovered a new way at looking at numbers. Based on the fact that the microcosm is the macrocosm, as Fintan Dunne Suggests, that everything in Universe is apparent in the human body.
The human hand has 4 fingers and a thumb. The ligaments that are attached to the fingers are linked to the muscles in the forearm, while the thumb has a separate unit of muscles that act independently in the base of the hand.
So if we call the left thumb 0, and the right thumb 9, and the left fingers represent +1, +2, +3 and +4, while the right fingers represent -4, -3, -2, -1. Just as the human body has a mirror plane running down the spine (*Australian Aborigines call the two parts of the brain The Spine Brain and the Skull brain), then so too does the macrocosm, Universe.
As you can see, the positive numbers are mirrors of each other, while 9 and zero are bases of completion. How are they bases of completion you might be thinking? 0+1, 0+2, 0+3 and 0+4 are numbers 1 to 4, including the base 0 = 5 numbers.
9-4, 9-3, 9-2 and 9-1 = 5, 6, 7 and 8, with their base from which the 4 negative numbers are subtracted, 9 gives us the remaining 5 numbers.
As Bucky Fuller discovered, the smallest possible unit in universe is the tetrahedron, which is 4 equilateral triangles in a pyramid form. All of Universe is made up of these and combinations of these.
Coincidence?
My thoughts, expanding on Justin's ideas are that 4 digits mirrored is the same as the smallest unit, the tetrahedron, while zero is the positive (or outside) surface of the earths spherical mirror plane, while 9 is the negative surface (or inside) of the spherical mirror plane. So a tetrahedron in the Outer Plane is mirrored in the Inner Plane.
To see some interesting linkups on patterns relating to Phi and the Octave Base Ten system, you can find Justin's description here:- http://treeincarnation.com/articles/Number.htm
To see another weird interlinking that occurs between the Octave Base Ten and the decimal system, you can see my post here:- http://breakfornews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=68740#68740
* - To see more about Aboriginal Spirituality you can see a transcript by Steven Guth here:- http://www.kheper.net/ecognosis/essays/Aboriginal_Spirituality.html
I suggest that you view and listen to all of the stuff on Fintan Dunne's TreeIncarnation site. My post related directly to the Octave Base Ten system is at the bottom of the conversation, but I suggest you read the entire conversation.
I found this to be very interesting stuff.
Hope you enjoy as well ;)
If you prefer the original source link it is here
Greg
---
Dear Friends,
Below follow a few voices on the Ninth wave that I think are very well worth pondering and adds to the monumental significance of the current year of 2011.
For those wanting to learn how to follow the ninth wave please see
http://4-ahau.com/en/Nine_Days_Count.html from Pierre Lejoyeux.
Phillipe de Vos, author of "l'Enneagramme dans la pratique soufie" adds a comment that I believe also puts the current development in North Africa in context by clarifying the meaning of the Gregorian year 2011 from a Muslim perspective:
"I find your explanation of the two different dates and time frames of 260 and 234 days very interesting. When we add the 234 days after the March 9, 2011 date we arrive at October 29. This year the latter date is the beginning of the Muslim pilgrimage the hajj, based on the lunar Muslim calendar and it is well known by Sufi masters that Imam Mahdi (= Kalki in Islamic culture) will arrive during the pilgrimage when the Arafat day (the 9th day of the pilgrimage) is a Friday.This is called the biggest pilgrimage - hajj al akbar - and it happens this year 2011, as Arafat day is then a Friday. This convergence is very interesting and in fact in the Islamic world this has already been announced without knowledge of the Mayan calendar. The particular role of Imam Mahdi is to bring Islam to its original state: The sanatana dharma or "din al qayyim", which is a Quranic word meaning "eternal law". The Sufi masters say, no more religions, no more Sufism and no more divisions. All will be "rabbaniyin" (Lord) as says sheik Nazim Cyprus mufti and leader of naqchabandi Sufi way."
Sharon Jorgenson points out the uniqueness of the Ninth wave:
For 16.4 billion years this material world has pulsed according to the rhythm of the tzolkin round, whether the shorter 260 day cycle or its overtones such as the 260 tun Planetary Underworld. In fact 8 of the 9 Underworlds neatly divides into 260 equal time periods, except for the last. The Universal Underworld is 234 days long, thus requiring each tzolkin combination (sun sign) to emboss less than one solar 24-hour day. This makes the Universal vibration unnatural, immaterial and out-of-phase with the rest of creation. Of what value is that? One might speculate that the purpose of the Universal Underworld is to loosen one's consciousness from this physical reality...allowing for transcendence. BUT first we will have to get "down & dirty" with the material world. The abstractions generated by the left brain during the National Underworld are being stripped away, along with its ordered, comfortable categories in a foreseeable future: our new vision consists of patterns in the Now. We are not in control -- a study of the Mayan Calendar has always brought this conclusion, now viscerally we shall experience it. "Letting go" may be the big theme of the Universal Underworld.
It may also be of interest to see that among certain Christian groups in the US, notably Harold Camping we are in for a judgment day within the ninth wave:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/may-21-2011-judgment-day_n_804166.html. While to many the idea of a judgment day means the end of the world it may also mean a time when people are going in different directions depending on what choices they make.
The year 2011 and the ninth wave is also marked by some powerful numerology as for instance from Mark White: Okay... here is one to ponder over! This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/34 ......... NOW go figure this out.... take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL .... 111.... crazy year its gonna be! CRAZY.
or Sharon Jorgenson: To me what is more intriguing now is whether we already know something essential (outside of the Mayans) about a 9-day count through a study of numerology. Could the Universal energy wax and wane like this [1 - 9 then 9 - 1] being in a wave form instead of a typical endless repetition of nine counts. Did you know that 1111111111 x 111111111 = 123456789987654321? That is ten 1's times nine 1's. Put them in a calculator to see for yourself, a perfect 18 digit number. Basically we're looking at a conversion of base ten to nine with the new agers favorite tool: 11 11. What does that mean for the scientific, rational, digital, AND natural minds which are lodged in a 10 count?
or Carl Johan Calleman: I feel numerology, also of Gregorian and Muslim dates, will gain a higher importance than ever before in the Ninth wave. What you are saying Sharon then is that the 123456789987654321 climb is an expression of the 11:11. It seems this is a year of both 1's and 9's, alpha and omega of the evolutionary creation process. To me it however seems a little bit asymmetric to have 9 1's multiplied with 10 1's. If instead 9 1's is multiplied with 9 1's 111111111 x 111111111 it becomes 12345678987654321. This would be true if we look upon the 9th energy as the same energy lasting for two days. If that is true it is by itself a very strange thing to experience. We have lived with a tzolkin where every day carries a new energy mostly creating some kind of polarity between them. What would it be like to go through two days in a rowthat would have the same energy? Is this some kind of preparation for a stable stage of life on a higher level after October 28, 2011?
Best
Carl Johan Calleman
about 8 months ago
---
Lance Blumenthal
A crucial link to the importance of the number 9, which suggests via another source that Carl's calculated the dates correctly.
Justin Lawless discovered a new way at looking at numbers. Based on the fact that the microcosm is the macrocosm, as Fintan Dunne Suggests, that everything in Universe is apparent in the human body.
The human hand has 4 fingers and a thumb. The ligaments that are attached to the fingers are linked to the muscles in the forearm, while the thumb has a separate unit of muscles that act independently in the base of the hand.
So if we call the left thumb 0, and the right thumb 9, and the left fingers represent +1, +2, +3 and +4, while the right fingers represent -4, -3, -2, -1. Just as the human body has a mirror plane running down the spine (*Australian Aborigines call the two parts of the brain The Spine Brain and the Skull brain), then so too does the macrocosm, Universe.
As you can see, the positive numbers are mirrors of each other, while 9 and zero are bases of completion. How are they bases of completion you might be thinking? 0+1, 0+2, 0+3 and 0+4 are numbers 1 to 4, including the base 0 = 5 numbers.
9-4, 9-3, 9-2 and 9-1 = 5, 6, 7 and 8, with their base from which the 4 negative numbers are subtracted, 9 gives us the remaining 5 numbers.
As Bucky Fuller discovered, the smallest possible unit in universe is the tetrahedron, which is 4 equilateral triangles in a pyramid form. All of Universe is made up of these and combinations of these.
Coincidence?
My thoughts, expanding on Justin's ideas are that 4 digits mirrored is the same as the smallest unit, the tetrahedron, while zero is the positive (or outside) surface of the earths spherical mirror plane, while 9 is the negative surface (or inside) of the spherical mirror plane. So a tetrahedron in the Outer Plane is mirrored in the Inner Plane.
To see some interesting linkups on patterns relating to Phi and the Octave Base Ten system, you can find Justin's description here:- http://treeincarnation.com/articles/Number.htm
To see another weird interlinking that occurs between the Octave Base Ten and the decimal system, you can see my post here:- http://breakfornews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=68740#68740
* - To see more about Aboriginal Spirituality you can see a transcript by Steven Guth here:- http://www.kheper.net/ecognosis/essays/Aboriginal_Spirituality.html
I suggest that you view and listen to all of the stuff on Fintan Dunne's TreeIncarnation site. My post related directly to the Octave Base Ten system is at the bottom of the conversation, but I suggest you read the entire conversation.
Looking at FBI Entrapment | Beware
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On August 28, 2008, two childhood friends from Midland, Texas, Bradley Crowder and David McKay, traveled north to join thousands of protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC). In the company of six Austin activists, Crowder and McKay were ready for adventure, and prepared, in Crowder’s words, to protest to “change the world.” What began as a journey of hope, however, ended in sudden catastrophe. Crowder and McKay’s efforts to mark their opposition to the Republican administration and the U.S. involvement in Iraq resulted in multiple charges of domestic terrorism and a high-stakes entrapment defense in federal court. What the “Texas Two” hadn’t realized in Minnesota was that their trusted comrade, Brandon Michael Darby - the very activist to whom they had looked for inspiration and guidance - was in fact an FBI informant.
Continue reading
On August 28, 2008, two childhood friends from Midland, Texas, Bradley Crowder and David McKay, traveled north to join thousands of protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC). In the company of six Austin activists, Crowder and McKay were ready for adventure, and prepared, in Crowder’s words, to protest to “change the world.” What began as a journey of hope, however, ended in sudden catastrophe. Crowder and McKay’s efforts to mark their opposition to the Republican administration and the U.S. involvement in Iraq resulted in multiple charges of domestic terrorism and a high-stakes entrapment defense in federal court. What the “Texas Two” hadn’t realized in Minnesota was that their trusted comrade, Brandon Michael Darby - the very activist to whom they had looked for inspiration and guidance - was in fact an FBI informant.
Continue reading
The "pee-bag" #plan is not a #joke
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Wait! No "poop-bags"?! WTF?! LMAO
Source
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AMSTERDAM — The Dutch national railway has an unusual solution for passengers who need the bathroom on a train line designed without them: plastic bags.
The rail operator underlined that the bags, introduced Friday, are for use in emergencies only, when a train has stopped and passengers can't be evacuated. The idea has been met with incredulity by politicians and the general public already unhappy with the short-haul "Sprinter" trains' bathroomless design.
NS spokesman Eric Trinthamer confirmed Friday the "pee-bag" plan is not a joke. The bags are kept out of sight in the conductor's booth.
The bags have a cup-shaped plastic top and contain a highly absorbent material that turns urine into a gel-like mixture. After use the bags can be sealed and thrown in the trash.
Wait! No "poop-bags"?! WTF?! LMAO
Source
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AMSTERDAM — The Dutch national railway has an unusual solution for passengers who need the bathroom on a train line designed without them: plastic bags.
The rail operator underlined that the bags, introduced Friday, are for use in emergencies only, when a train has stopped and passengers can't be evacuated. The idea has been met with incredulity by politicians and the general public already unhappy with the short-haul "Sprinter" trains' bathroomless design.
NS spokesman Eric Trinthamer confirmed Friday the "pee-bag" plan is not a joke. The bags are kept out of sight in the conductor's booth.
The bags have a cup-shaped plastic top and contain a highly absorbent material that turns urine into a gel-like mixture. After use the bags can be sealed and thrown in the trash.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
ANONYMOUS Message concerning Invade Wall Street #OccupyWallStreet Not #InvadeWallStreet
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Merely passing along some information I saw.. Who knows if this is real or that is real or what the fuck is real? You? LMAO
This one sounds more like Anonymous to me..
Always thought there was something strange about that invade wall street thing out of nowhere.. Smelled like FBI to me.. That's how they catch people now days you know? They trick them into doing something stupid..
Trust but verify
Greg
---
Citizens of the world
We are Anonymous! Recently something very disturbing has come to our attention. You must take all notices and information claiming to be 'Anonymous' with a grain of salt. Consider EVERYTHING.
Operation Invade Wall Street is bullshit! It is a fake planted operation by law enforcement and cyber crime agencies in order to get you to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement. It proposes you use depreciated tools that have known flaws such as LOIC.
Anonymous would never tell you to use LOIC - Not after the arrests and failures of Operation Payback.
Anonymous wouldn't attack NYSE on a HOLIDAY - It is debatable if Anonymous would ever even attack NYSE.
Be wary friends!
We are Anonymous
We are Legion
We do not Forgive
We do not Forget
Expect Us
Be wary of imitations!
Here is the source post
Merely passing along some information I saw.. Who knows if this is real or that is real or what the fuck is real? You? LMAO
This one sounds more like Anonymous to me..
Always thought there was something strange about that invade wall street thing out of nowhere.. Smelled like FBI to me.. That's how they catch people now days you know? They trick them into doing something stupid..
Trust but verify
Greg
---
Citizens of the world
We are Anonymous! Recently something very disturbing has come to our attention. You must take all notices and information claiming to be 'Anonymous' with a grain of salt. Consider EVERYTHING.
Operation Invade Wall Street is bullshit! It is a fake planted operation by law enforcement and cyber crime agencies in order to get you to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement. It proposes you use depreciated tools that have known flaws such as LOIC.
Anonymous would never tell you to use LOIC - Not after the arrests and failures of Operation Payback.
Anonymous wouldn't attack NYSE on a HOLIDAY - It is debatable if Anonymous would ever even attack NYSE.
Be wary friends!
We are Anonymous
We are Legion
We do not Forgive
We do not Forget
Expect Us
Be wary of imitations!
Here is the source post
Bernanke warns recovery 'close to faltering' [With commentary]
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writers – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Europe has a debt crisis. America has a jobs crisis. Corporate profits could be in trouble. World financial markets are in turmoil. And no one seems prepared to ride to the rescue.
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Corporate profits "could be" in trouble? (Simply put so far prevented by manipulation by government and our very own central bank) The Real Story Behind Those "Record" Corporate Profits
---
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned Congress on Tuesday of what most of America has sensed for some time: The economic recovery, such as it is, "is close to faltering."
The central bank chief spoke on a day when the stock market spent most of the trading hours in bear market territory — down 20 percent from its most recent highs in April. A late-day rally helped the market finish higher.
Bernanke's exchange with lawmakers seemed to capture the growing belief that no one is prepared to help the global economy in any meaningful way anytime soon. Speaking in unusually frank terms, he also captured the nation's sour economic mood.
The Fed chief was asked about protests around Wall Street, which went on for an 18th day as demonstrators railed against corporate greed and expressed frustration over the economy.
Bernanke replied: "I think people are quite unhappy with the state of the economy and what's happening. They blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess. And they're dissatisfied with the policy response here in Washington. And at some level, I can't blame them."
"Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a very good situation," he added. "That's why they are protesting."
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And another reason is because so many of them know that 9% unemployment number is bullshit. Stop lying / manipulating.. Check Alternate Unemployment Charts on ShadowStats.com for a more accurate unemployment number.
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Throughout the day, traders and U.S. policymakers kept one eye on Europe, where a debt crisis has dragged on more than a year. Investors worry that a messy default by Greece could hurt European banks and their American counterparts.
On Tuesday, the Greek finance minister said the nation has enough money to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders through the middle of next month — and that was seen as good news. Bernanke told Congress there was little the Fed could do about Europe's problems.
"Unfortunately, we are innocent bystanders here," he said. "I am persuaded they are aware of the risks."
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How can Bernanke SAY that we are innocent bystanders and can do nothing after he himself doled out billions to foreign banks?! Fed loaned hundreds of billions to foreign banks and companies
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Bernanke said he believes the Fed's latest move to help the economy would be "meaningful but not an enormous support" for the economy. The program, known as Operation Twist, is designed to lower long-term interest rates so people and businesses will spend more money.
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Forever the plan is to figure out a way to trick, encourage or force people / business' to spend more money that they do not have. Apparently via the use of credit. Isn't that exactly what got us here in the first place?!
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"It should help, somewhat, on job creation and growth," the Fed chief told Congress.
"It's particularly important now that the economy is close, the recovery is close to faltering."
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It is, and has been, demand, a lack thereof, that is the issue and Bernanke knows that.
---
"We need to make sure that the recovery continues and doesn't drop back and that the unemployment rate continues to fall," he added.
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This is just plain disingenuous. The true goal is to keep corporate profits propped up and one of the best and easiest ways to do that in a weak economy is to fire workers.. Pretty simple economics there. That's the way our system works, like it or not.
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The Fed has used most of its tools to help the economy. It said this summer that it expects to keep interest rates super-low into 2013. Congress is inclined to cut, not raise, spending. Europe is resisting bold steps to save its most troubled economies. And fears are rising that a recession is on the verge of seizing Europe and eventually spreading around the world.
"We have already taken interest rates down to zero ... and this Congress doesn't seem to be able to do anything," said David Wyss, former chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "So not much good is going to happen."
Investors seem to think so. Stocks sank early Tuesday on fears about Europe, before rising in late morning on Bernanke's suggestion that the Fed might be open to doing more to help.
Then they tumbled again in the afternoon, only to surge in the final 30 minutes of trading on a report that European leaders might be working on a plan to prop up banks there.
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Obviously the only so-called "bulls" in the equity markets are the Federal Reserve Bank and their bankster friends (Primary Dealers) who are willing to do their bidding.
---
The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished the day up 2.3 percent at 1,123.95, or about 33 points above what would be considered bear market territory.
Economists at Goldman Sachs forecast in a note this week that Europe could fall into recession by winter. That would push the U.S. economy to "the edge of recession" by early 2012, said Andrew Tilton, an economist with the firm.
Even if a global recession can be avoided, the U.S. economy faces a bleak outlook. Some economists fear that Congress could worsen things by cutting taxes or raising taxes this year or next.
Tilton forecasts overall economic growth of just 1.7 percent this year, followed by a scant 0.5 percent annual rate in the first three months of next year. For all of 2012, he projects 1.4 percent growth. Normal growth is more like 3 percent.
European finance ministers suggested Tuesday that holders of Greek debt might have to absorb larger losses than originally thought. Banks that hold Greek bonds would suffer. A recession in Europe would also hurt U.S. exports to the region, damaging corporate profits at home.
Still, Wyss said, "Policy seems to be as frozen there as it is in Washington."
U.S. lawmakers have their own challenges with debt.
Congress is intent on cutting spending over the next several years. At the same time, Congress might let a Social Security tax cut expire at year's end. Income tax cuts could expire in 2012.
Based on those assumptions, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect growth below 2 percent this year, next year and in 2013.
For most Americans, such weak expansion would feel like a recession.
And it wouldn't reduce chronically high unemployment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last month that the unemployment rate will remain near 9 percent through the end of 2012.
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ie; unemployment to remain near 22%
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In his testimony, Bernanke said the Fed is prepared to support the economy. But he made clear that the Fed's efforts to force down long-term interest rates are no "panacea for the problems currently faced by the U.S. economy."
"Fostering healthy growth and job creation is a shared responsibility of all economic policymakers, in close cooperation with the private sector," Bernanke said.
Yet there is little likelihood of significant help from Congress.
President Barack Obama's $447 billion job-creation bill has run into resistance from Republicans and even some Democrats in Congress. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says the Republican-led House won't vote on Obama's plan in its entirety.
Cantor said that while Republicans could back portions of the president's plan, "this all-or-nothing approach is unreasonable."
Obama is sharpening his strategy to blame Republican lawmakers if the bill, or at least a significant portion of it, doesn't pass by year's end.
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All politics, all the time.. Both parties..
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The Fed may not be able or willing to adopt further stimulus. David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, a Denver consulting firm, said the Fed could decide at its policy meeting next month to take no further steps, especially because its past two policy decisions drew an unusually high three dissenting votes.
The dissenters have opposed the Fed's continuing efforts to force long-term rates ever lower. They worry about the risk of inflation and shrinking interest income for retirees and other savers.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Link back
WASHINGTON (AP) — Europe has a debt crisis. America has a jobs crisis. Corporate profits could be in trouble. World financial markets are in turmoil. And no one seems prepared to ride to the rescue.
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Corporate profits "could be" in trouble? (Simply put so far prevented by manipulation by government and our very own central bank) The Real Story Behind Those "Record" Corporate Profits
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned Congress on Tuesday of what most of America has sensed for some time: The economic recovery, such as it is, "is close to faltering."
The central bank chief spoke on a day when the stock market spent most of the trading hours in bear market territory — down 20 percent from its most recent highs in April. A late-day rally helped the market finish higher.
Bernanke's exchange with lawmakers seemed to capture the growing belief that no one is prepared to help the global economy in any meaningful way anytime soon. Speaking in unusually frank terms, he also captured the nation's sour economic mood.
The Fed chief was asked about protests around Wall Street, which went on for an 18th day as demonstrators railed against corporate greed and expressed frustration over the economy.
Bernanke replied: "I think people are quite unhappy with the state of the economy and what's happening. They blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess. And they're dissatisfied with the policy response here in Washington. And at some level, I can't blame them."
"Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a very good situation," he added. "That's why they are protesting."
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And another reason is because so many of them know that 9% unemployment number is bullshit. Stop lying / manipulating.. Check Alternate Unemployment Charts on ShadowStats.com for a more accurate unemployment number.
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Throughout the day, traders and U.S. policymakers kept one eye on Europe, where a debt crisis has dragged on more than a year. Investors worry that a messy default by Greece could hurt European banks and their American counterparts.
On Tuesday, the Greek finance minister said the nation has enough money to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders through the middle of next month — and that was seen as good news. Bernanke told Congress there was little the Fed could do about Europe's problems.
"Unfortunately, we are innocent bystanders here," he said. "I am persuaded they are aware of the risks."
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How can Bernanke SAY that we are innocent bystanders and can do nothing after he himself doled out billions to foreign banks?! Fed loaned hundreds of billions to foreign banks and companies
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Bernanke said he believes the Fed's latest move to help the economy would be "meaningful but not an enormous support" for the economy. The program, known as Operation Twist, is designed to lower long-term interest rates so people and businesses will spend more money.
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Forever the plan is to figure out a way to trick, encourage or force people / business' to spend more money that they do not have. Apparently via the use of credit. Isn't that exactly what got us here in the first place?!
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"It should help, somewhat, on job creation and growth," the Fed chief told Congress.
"It's particularly important now that the economy is close, the recovery is close to faltering."
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It is, and has been, demand, a lack thereof, that is the issue and Bernanke knows that.
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"We need to make sure that the recovery continues and doesn't drop back and that the unemployment rate continues to fall," he added.
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This is just plain disingenuous. The true goal is to keep corporate profits propped up and one of the best and easiest ways to do that in a weak economy is to fire workers.. Pretty simple economics there. That's the way our system works, like it or not.
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The Fed has used most of its tools to help the economy. It said this summer that it expects to keep interest rates super-low into 2013. Congress is inclined to cut, not raise, spending. Europe is resisting bold steps to save its most troubled economies. And fears are rising that a recession is on the verge of seizing Europe and eventually spreading around the world.
"We have already taken interest rates down to zero ... and this Congress doesn't seem to be able to do anything," said David Wyss, former chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "So not much good is going to happen."
Investors seem to think so. Stocks sank early Tuesday on fears about Europe, before rising in late morning on Bernanke's suggestion that the Fed might be open to doing more to help.
Then they tumbled again in the afternoon, only to surge in the final 30 minutes of trading on a report that European leaders might be working on a plan to prop up banks there.
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Obviously the only so-called "bulls" in the equity markets are the Federal Reserve Bank and their bankster friends (Primary Dealers) who are willing to do their bidding.
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The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished the day up 2.3 percent at 1,123.95, or about 33 points above what would be considered bear market territory.
Economists at Goldman Sachs forecast in a note this week that Europe could fall into recession by winter. That would push the U.S. economy to "the edge of recession" by early 2012, said Andrew Tilton, an economist with the firm.
Even if a global recession can be avoided, the U.S. economy faces a bleak outlook. Some economists fear that Congress could worsen things by cutting taxes or raising taxes this year or next.
Tilton forecasts overall economic growth of just 1.7 percent this year, followed by a scant 0.5 percent annual rate in the first three months of next year. For all of 2012, he projects 1.4 percent growth. Normal growth is more like 3 percent.
European finance ministers suggested Tuesday that holders of Greek debt might have to absorb larger losses than originally thought. Banks that hold Greek bonds would suffer. A recession in Europe would also hurt U.S. exports to the region, damaging corporate profits at home.
Still, Wyss said, "Policy seems to be as frozen there as it is in Washington."
U.S. lawmakers have their own challenges with debt.
Congress is intent on cutting spending over the next several years. At the same time, Congress might let a Social Security tax cut expire at year's end. Income tax cuts could expire in 2012.
Based on those assumptions, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect growth below 2 percent this year, next year and in 2013.
For most Americans, such weak expansion would feel like a recession.
And it wouldn't reduce chronically high unemployment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last month that the unemployment rate will remain near 9 percent through the end of 2012.
---
ie; unemployment to remain near 22%
---
In his testimony, Bernanke said the Fed is prepared to support the economy. But he made clear that the Fed's efforts to force down long-term interest rates are no "panacea for the problems currently faced by the U.S. economy."
"Fostering healthy growth and job creation is a shared responsibility of all economic policymakers, in close cooperation with the private sector," Bernanke said.
Yet there is little likelihood of significant help from Congress.
President Barack Obama's $447 billion job-creation bill has run into resistance from Republicans and even some Democrats in Congress. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says the Republican-led House won't vote on Obama's plan in its entirety.
Cantor said that while Republicans could back portions of the president's plan, "this all-or-nothing approach is unreasonable."
Obama is sharpening his strategy to blame Republican lawmakers if the bill, or at least a significant portion of it, doesn't pass by year's end.
---
All politics, all the time.. Both parties..
---
The Fed may not be able or willing to adopt further stimulus. David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, a Denver consulting firm, said the Fed could decide at its policy meeting next month to take no further steps, especially because its past two policy decisions drew an unusually high three dissenting votes.
The dissenters have opposed the Fed's continuing efforts to force long-term rates ever lower. They worry about the risk of inflation and shrinking interest income for retirees and other savers.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Link back
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