Bernanke Bailout
August 14, 2008 5:30pm by Barry Ritholtz
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Is this post a good contrarian indicator, of future market behaviour?
Election year.
The Bush Cartel will do everything it can to prop up the house of cards IMO.
Beware the Ides of January, Earth Year 002,009.
Cheers,
Peter
Ditto to “In cash” comment.
BR, you are getting really negative here.
Did you ever plot your negative sentiment against equities inversely?
Might be interesting IMO.
BR buy signal on Friday of Options Week during the (may be volatile) slumber time of August?
I don’t think you can plot “his sentiment” against equities, because you probably do not fully comprehend his sentiment and the timeline associated with it. My two cents…
Barry’s sentiment PeterR?
What about yours? Think everything is honky-dory out there?
If everything is honky-dory for YOU, well, more power to you.
Alas, we humans live in society. As a matter of fact, we can’t do do otherwise.
Hence, why not take a peak of what’s happening outside your universe? You might be surprised.
To re-Pete:
“Election year, Election year, . . . . . . ”
Cheers,
Peter
PS — Subtract the Anger, if you are interested in a Clear View, folks IMO.
Bespoke on seeking alpha has excellent charts showing % of stocks above 50-day avg: energy looks washed-out and a buy, SPY and consumer discretionary a sell. anyone?
This is so painfully accurate! Thank you for the visual…
Thinks keep breaking in unexpected places…why is silver getting pummeled in Asia…down 10% right now???
This cartoon is not contrarian..you want contrarian? I’m betting all the US recession calls are wrong…it will be a global depression.
there are still optimists (from barrons):
“Of course, while July inflation numbers may show almost no inflation month on month as per our estimates, the monetary loosening signal may be some way away.
— Devina Mehra, chief strategist
— Nikhil Gupta
First Global”
that was on wednesday. so funny he he he
Steve – I think the paper metals market is de-coupling from the physical market. It is hard to buy physical gold and silver at the current paper prices.
Two examples of shortage notices:
From Kitco,
IMPORTANT:Due to the volatility of the market, we are experiencing a significant increase in the volume of shipments going out. Although Kitco and our depositories are working hard to stay on top of this, you may experience a delay in your order being processed by our vault, and sent out to you. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your patience and understanding.
From APMEX, Due to the recent price fluctuations, APMEX is experiencing a temporary shortage on certain popular products.
If you have recently placed and order with us, you can be confident your items have been reserved for you and are awaiting your shipment date.
We are actively scouring our sources to locate additional inventory to satisfy the needs of our valued customers.
Given today’s inflation numbers the selling in metals makes little sense unless deflation is winning. If deflation is winning then rate cuts and helicopters are coming soon.
Dale,
Thanks for the info…I don’t follow metals like I used to. I am in the deflation camp now. The avg. Chinese makes about $3,000 a year. How can they prop the global economy?China spent a huge chunk of the money we sent there for products on a 2 week Olympics. Is that going to create a long-lived asset? Will the avg. Chinese buy silver as an investment? Makes no sense. What is the Shanghai Comp down this year…60% I think. I always wondered if the global synchronized boom would lead to a global synchronized bust…I bet that it will.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9828
“I’m in show business, why come to me?”
“War is show business, that’s why we’re here.”
– “Wag the Dog” (1997 film)
Last week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had just announced record losses, and so had most reporting corporations. Unemployment was mounting, the foreclosure crisis was deepening, state budgets were in shambles, and massive bailouts were everywhere. Investors had every reason to expect the dollar and the stock market to plummet, and gold and oil to shoot up. Strangely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300 points, the dollar strengthened, and gold and oil were crushed. What happened?
It hardly took psychic powers to see that the Plunge Protection Team had come to the rescue. Formally known as the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, the PPT was once concealed and its very existence denied as if it were a matter of strict national security. But the PPT has now come out of the closet. What was once a legally questionable “manipulator” of markets has become a sanctioned stabilizer and protector of markets.
…..continued
That cartoon is spot on in my opinion.
Sentiment is only reality squeezed through perception. The economy pretty much sucks right now for most everyone.
Too bad incompetence isn’t a prosecutable crime. Greenspan would look nice in an orange jumpsuit.
I’m glad Big Picture is willing to step and state some facts. The honesty is refreshing. Pretty sad…but very true.
On 04/05/2008, Goldbug Jim Sinclair made a bet that Gold would hit 1650 by Jan 2011. Is he starting to sweat yet?
“My position on timing and price is that Gold will trade at USD $1650 before the second week of January 2011. I am offering a $1,000,000USD wager to a financially qualified party that this will occur within the stated timeframe.”-J.Sinclair,04/05/2008
Who ended up taking his bet?
We are probably living through the most manipulated “free markets” in world history. Nevertheless, the move towards the $ likely reflects the tipping point in perception between waning inflation and oncoming deflation in the US.
Anyone who owns gold should be aware of the DZZ – a double short gold note. I use it to hedge against the gold fund that I own. Gold is losing its utility as an inflation hedge here but will retain its other functions – as a safe haven from currencies undergoing devaluation and as a hedge against “fear trades” during global instability.
From time to time (like this week), unusual movements in the currency markets suggest the use of this hedging instrument, and this can save money during large price breakdowns. Unfortunately there is no equivalent for silver.
History will probably reveal that a massive currency intervention was carried out this August. The US and Japanese governments would be the most likely to collude as the Japanese export market is often maintained by keeping the yen at an artificially low level. The scale of the $ move does seem incongruous with the direction of US interest rates – Treasuries make a big move to lower yields and the $ rallies?….. I smell rotting fish.
Leftback is right. Gold is and always will be. Markets move like schools of fish- what are they thinking? What happens when China comes back from the Olympics? Deleveraging is the major theme now- impossible to swim against as a riptide.
What a crime. Wall street going to the discount window with WORTHLESS PAPER and still paying dividends!!!!
Once we get the court jester out of the White House we may hopefully begin making changes to make America great again. I have never seen such inept management. The administration surrounds themselves with like-thinkers, therefore, radical approaches to deal with current problems can never get solved. America has become pathetic in the eyes of the world. We have lost our leadership ability – thank you Mr Bush.
«What a crime. Wall street going to the discount window with WORTHLESS PAPER and still paying dividends!!!!»
This is the Paulson/Bernanke way to make sure that in America WINNERS (in particular those who generously contribute to Republican campaign funds) get rewarded for their superiority. America wouldn’t be the country it is unless investment bankers and CEOs and stockholders were richly rewarded for being the awesome WINNERS that they are.
:-)