Jul
19
2010
Back on July 3, I suggested the fundamentals of the US Dollar were not looking to strong what with everyone beating a path back to the Euro. Why they would want to do that is another story.
The Dollar has since dropped into my target range of 82.50 so it is probably time to take profits and enjoy your week while waiting for the next opportunity to arrive.
Jul
19
2010
Have not heard much about the Czars lately in the mainstream media. You recall the Czars are the folks who are appointed and maintained by the executive branch who do not answer to Congress and are funded in the executive budget. These are the folks who can rock and roll through the federal bureaucracy with complete abandon.
The list you see below is not warranted to be complete or accurate to the last dime. Anyone wishing to be fully informed should make their own inquiries. This list does say a great deal about Obama, his ideology and intentions. Whether you wish to call him incompetant, a socialist, or pick your label, these folks are marching to his command and he cannot disown them unless you let him.
Read on, and remember in November.
| CZAR | Czar Position | Summary |
| Richard Holbrooke | AfghanistanCzar | Ultra liberal anti gun former Gov. Of New Mexico. Pro Abortion and legal drug use. Dissolve the 2nd Amendment |
| Ed Montgomery | Auto recovery Czar | Black radical anti business activist. Affirmative Action and Job Preference for blacks. Univ of Maryland Business School Dean teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member. |
| Jeffrey Crowley | AIDS Czar | Radical Homosexual.. A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for gays. |
| Alan Bersin | Border Czar | The former failed superintendent of San Diego . Ultra Liberal friend of Hilary Clinton. Served as Border Czar under Janet Reno – to keep borders open to illegals without interference from US |
| David J. Hayes | California Water Czar | Sr. Fellow of radical environmentalist group, “Progress Policy”. No training or experience in water management whatsoever. |
| Ron Bloom | Car Czar | Auto Union worker. Anti business & anti nuclear. Has worked hard to force US auto makers out of business. Sits on the Board of Chrysler which is now Auto Union owned. How did this happen? |
| Dennis Ross | Central Region Czar | Believes US policy has caused Mid East wars. Obama apologist to the world. Anti gun and completely pro abortion. |
| Lynn Rosenthal | Domestic Violence Czar | Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Vicious anti male feminist. Supported male castration.Imagine? |
| Gil Kerlikowske | Drug Czar | devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal, Former Chief of Police in Liberal Seattle. Believes no American should own a firearm. Supports legalization of all drugs |
| Paul Volcker | E conomicCzar | Head of Fed Reserve under Jimmy Carter when US economy nearly failed. Obama appointed head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board which engineered the Obama economic disaster to US economy. Member of anti business “Progressive Policy” organization |
| Carol Brower | Energy and Environment Czar | Political Radical Former head of EPA – known for anti-business activism. Strong anti-gun ownership. |
| Joshua DuBois | Faith Based Czar | Political Black activist-Degree in Black Nationalism. Anti gun ownership lobbyist. |
| Cameron Davis | Great LakesCzar | Chicago radical anti business environmentalist. Blames George Bush for “Poisoning the water that minorities have to drink.” No experience or training in water management. Former ACORN Board member (what does that tell us?) |
| Van Jones | Green Jobs Czar | (since resigned).. Black activist Member of American communist Party and San Francisco Communist Party who said Geo Bush caused the 911 attack and wanted Bush investigated by the World Court for war crimes. Black activist with strong anti-white views. |
| Daniel Fried | Guantanamo Closure Czar | Human Rights activist for Foreign Terrorists. Believes America has caused the war on terrorism. Believes terrorists have rights above and beyond Americans. |
| Nancy-Ann DeParle. | Health Czar | Former head of Medicare / Medicaid. Strong Health Care Rationing proponent. She is married to a reporter for The New York Times. |
| Vivek Kundra | Information Czar | Born in New Delhi , India . Controls all public information, including labels and news releases. Monitors all private Internet emails. (hello?) |
| Todd Stern | International Climate Czar | Anti business former White House chief of Staff- Strong supportrer of the Kyoto Accord. Pushing hard for Cap and Trade. Blames US business for Global warming. Anti- US business prosperity. |
| Dennis Blair | Intelligence Czar | Ret. Navy. Stopped US guided missile program as “provocative”. Chair of ultra liberal “Council on Foreign Relations” which blames American organizations for regional wars. |
| George Mitchell | Mideast Peace Czar | Fmr. Sen from Maine Left wing radical. Has said Israel should be split up into “2 or 3 ” smaller more manageable plots”. (God forbid) A true Anti-nuclear anti-gun & pro homosexual ”special rights” advocate |
| Kenneth Feinberg | Pay Czar | Chief of Staff to TED KENNEDY. Lawyer who got rich off the 911 victims payoffs. (horribly true) |
| Cass Sunstein | Regulatory Czar | Liberal activist judge believes free speech needs to be limited for the “common good”. Essentially against 1st amendment. Rules against personal freedoms many times -like private gun ownership and right to free speech. |
| John Holdren | Science Czar | Fierce ideological environmentalist, Sierra Club, Anti business activist. Claims US business has caused world poverty. No Science training. |
| Earl Devaney | Stimulus Accountability Czar | Spent career trying to take guns away from American citizens. Believes in Open Borders to Mexico . Author of statement blaming US gun stores for drug war in Mexico . |
| J. Scott Gration | Sudan Czar | Native of Democratic Republic of Congo . Believes US does little to help Third World countries. Council of foreign relations, asking for higher US taxes to support United Nations |
| Herb Allison | TARP Czar | Fannie Mae CEO responsible for the US recession by using real estate mortgages to back up the US stock market. Caused millions of people to lose their life savings. |
| John Brennan | Terrorism Czar | Anti CIA activist. No training in diplomatic or gov. affairs. Believes Open Borders to Mexico and a dialog with terrorists and has suggested Obama disband US military |
| Aneesh Chopra | Technology Czar | No Technology training. Worked for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals. Anti doctor activist. Supports Obama Health care Rationing and salaried doctors working exclusively for the Gov. health care plan |
| Adolfo Carrion Jr.. | Urban Affairs Czar | Puerto Rican born Anti American activist and leftist group member in Latin America . Millionaire “slum lord” of the Bronx , NY. Owns many lavish homes and condos which he got from “sweetheart” deals with labor unions. Wants higher taxes on middle class to pay for minority housing and health care |
| Ashton Carter | Weapons Czar | Leftist. Wants all private weapons in US destroyed. Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America .. No Other “policy” |
| Gary Samore | WMD Policy Czar | Former US Communist. Wants US to destroy all WMD unilaterally as a show of good faith. Has no other “policy”.
|
Jul
4
2010
Three words said frequently. Sometimes by those who don’t really mean it. Those who don’t believe in God and those whose vision of America is far out of synch with the founders and our forefathers who steered this nation through 200 years of history.
These are three words that summarize as succinctly and elegantly as can be done the central glory and tenents of America. God from whom the blessing of inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness flow. Bless, the bestowing of the Lord’s favor and America the land of the free and the home of the brave.
We live in grave and perilous times. By focusing on me, myself, and I and allowing ourselves to be finessed by leaders whose self interest is attained at the cost of our own we have empowered collectivists who honestly believe they know better than mere mortals, or our immortal founding fathers what is good for us.
We are at a crossroads. We can continue down the road to collectivism, where the will of the many as interpreted by corrupt, self serving politicians, or we can recapture the America of our forefathers. We can show Ben Franklin that we have a republic and we are are going to keep it.
I am not one of those skeptics, or fatalists, that believe the best days of America are behind us. I believe Americans will retake their country not by force of Arms as Jefferson said might be needed, but by the ballot box. Come November America will speak. Come 2012 America will speak again.
We are not all on the same page. We Americans will disagree about this and that. What we do agree on is America the land of the free and the home of the brave where all have the opportunity to pursue their dreams, hold property, speak their minds, and protect their lives with arms where needed.
Happy Independence Day, and
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Jul
3
2010
We have seen quite a roller coaster ride for the once mightly US Dollar since the Greek debt crisis hit. The Dollar had been enjoying a healthly counter trend rally, when the world beat a path back to the safe confines of the Dollar as the Euro, everyones favorite alternative currency took a pasting.
Nothing has changed as to the fundamentals of the Dollar. Debt increases into the misty future, world diversification out of the greenback into heaven knows what. The emergence (again) of the BRIC block.
As you can see from the chart, the orchestrated defense of the Euro by the central banks and the US Fed is working. The Euro is having a nice bounce, and the Dollar is headed lower. The brave can short with a target of 82 to 81 with a stop close above 86. Should another Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, English drama hit, close out fast for the Dollar will be a big beneficiary.
The old saying Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick applies. But then profits go to the bold.
May
7
2010
Much has been written in the last couple of days about the stock market and the 1000 point intranet day break on the DJIA. The reasons attributed to the break are all reasonable, but they lose sight of the events. The stock market is a market of stocks. Bull markets and bear markets mean that most stocks and indexes are running one way. But, first and foremost the market reflects the economic view of it’s participants.
If most investors believe the economy is growing, then stocks should do well because the companies are doing well. If most participants feel the economy is doing poorly, their positions will reflect that view. through it all there will be stocks that run against the main market trend based on their own fundamentals.
The great bull market of 1982 – 2007 ended with the banking crisis of 2008. We are now in a cyclical bear market. One that will take years to unfold and is not measured in one day breaks like yesterday or 1987. From the March 2008 low of 6500 on the DJIA to the rally peak of 11000 the market retraced about 75% of the break. Right on the Fibonacci retracement numbers.
However the rally masked a weak underlying economy Wall Street pundits withstanding. Unemployment is horrible and not getting much better. Housing prices which backstop American’s consumer spending rare week with minimal regional improvement driven by tax subsidies and easy money. Companies have been showing better earnings by bottom line cost cutting rather than top line growth.
The debt situation, both government and consumer is horrible with no signs of improvement. Americans are borrowed out, as are state and local governments. Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and others are borrowed out. Our federal government is spending money, in deference to drunken sailors, like there is no tomorrow. Markets see all of this. They build fundamentals into price.
Prices are in the process of adjusting to the new fundamentals. The market is looking through managed news and looking at reality. The reality is not pretty and the adjustment is not over.
Bear moves can happen with great speed as we saw in 2008 and again yesterday. Stocks are pricing the
fundamentals. This is what free markets do. More regulation will not solve the problem of volatility which will be
with us. As long as there are markets.
Absent major philosophical changes in government both elected and administrative branches of government the future is at best a question mark.
There is a solution. This is the American Solution. Let the people go. Let business do business. Cut taxes, cut regulation, cut spending. Like the flu, things get worse before they get better. When we go back to basic American economics the market will turn overnight. Absent that, it will be a long year.
Apr
26
2010
It is a bit of market folklore that bull markets climb a wall of worry. Put another way, when everyone realizes the news is good and the economy is humming the chances are excellent it is late in the game on Wall Street.
Over the last year we have had a long string of experts tell us it is a bull market, buy, buy, buy. This great bull market we are told is due to a recovering economy. Unemployment rates are at multiple decade highs, and consumer spending has been acting like an overloaded airplane attempting to clear a tree line at the end of the runway. Where is the recovery?n
Today we see Caterpillar release good earnings on lower revenue. Much of the good earnings news has been based on cost cutting rather than revenue growth. Economists are headed for the administration wood shed because they admitted in public that the stimulus programs have not worked. Obamacare we now are told will not reduce costs and will likely increase premiums. A newsflash that would be obvious to any thinking humanoid.
This plus almost certain tax increase to pay for the stimulus programs, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the national debt make for a really lousy stock market incubator.
Since March 2009 stocks have rallied strongly on easy money, low interest rates, and unfettered optimism by Wall Street and media shills. Now short interest is rising, oil dropping, and insiders are likely easing toward the sidelines.
Who knows what will trigger a market break and test of the March 2009 lows, but until they are tested, hold, and a new rally begins, we have had a splendid bear market rally, not a bull market. Investors beware.
Apr
19
2010
Several of the folks I follow on Twitter have commented recently about rude tweets and a general lack of manners on the web. I feel their anguish, would that something could be done about it.
This is part of what is generously referred to as a coarsening of civility in society. Everyone feels free to act like the poor relation that shows up for the family Thanksgiving celebration, gets drunk and obnoxious to the point of ruining the holiday for everyone else.
Unfortunately, our society has lost the means of disciplining or correcting those who stray from civility. In times past these corrections might have ranged from remonstrance by an elder, to a trip outside for harsher measures. Now, for a variety of reasons, those mechanisms are gone.
As a result, there are all to frequently no ‘consequences’ for anti social behavior save internal discipline which is very short supply these days. So, what to do? There is no silver bullet solution, but there are a few steps that we as a people can take, such as:
Take responsibility for your actions. The devil did not make you do it.
Take the ‘law’ into your hands. We can, we must as others may not do it for us.
Do not excuse or laugh off uncivil actions. Say something!
Think before acting. If an action would offend you, it will offend others.
Reward civil behavior, even if only with a ‘thank you’.
A return to a more civil society will be difficult, but with a personal commitment from all of us it can be done!
Laus Deo
Apr
12
2010
Absolutely nothing! Some people believe that a positive message is a requirement for success at the polls. Well, look where YES has gotten us. Obama and liberals for generations have campaigned on warm, fuzzy, look what great things your government is going to do for you if you vote for us and ignore those rascally republicans.
That is precisely what got us into this fix in the first place! Of course, we all remember “Yes you can!” Yes brought us big government, high taxes, lousy service, and overwhelming ambition of those whoo exist to promise us more “Yes” if they stay in power.
I suggest a platform of NO that will win in November.
NO socialized medicine
NO tax increase for anyone
NO big government
NO Arab oil
NO Washington NO, not with our money
NO Jihad
Let’s teach politicians to say NO!