April 6, 2015

Bits Bucket for April 6, 2015

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.




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130 Comments »

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-06 01:54:24

Travel day, I am up way too early. Presently, WTI is up almost 3%. Asian demand is up. Asia gets the growth, the U.S. gets the higher prices does not seem like a good deal to me.

Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:37:00

Nationwide crackdown on distracted driving starts today, do not post on HBB while driving!

Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 08:16:50

Last Wednesday in Stamford, CT., the highway cops dressed up ONE cop as a highway worker. He spotted bad behavior and radioed other patrol cars to pull folks over.

“All told [in one day], the officers wrote up 56 tickets for cell phone use, 18 for texting while driving, 11 red light violations for people running the light at the bottom of southbound Exit 8 at Elm Street, three driving without license tickets and one man, who was texting someone, for driving an unregistered vehicle.”

If you ask me, this is a pretty good haul for what IMO are real safety violations. Much better than BS money boxes.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/article/Police-crackdown-on-distracted-driving-nets-75-6173717.php

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 08:27:59

Hello Donk.

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Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 08:54:12

Hey, how are you today? Last year the Stamford folks ticketed one lady for eating breakfast and driving with her knees, but I didn’t see any restrictions on one-handed Cheetos. Enjoy! :grin:

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 10:41:55

Or feed bags….. :mrgreen:

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-04-06 09:11:50

actually this i approve of…..our problem here is traffic lights get out of sync back up traffic on the LIE access road, and 20-30+ cars go up the wrong way on our one way street …luckily there are very few kids on the street, and if cops would sit at the top of the hill they could write tickets almost every day .

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 09:22:35

the officers wrote up 56 tickets for cell phone use

Don’t all “newish” cars have hands free Bluetooth interfaces built into their radios these days? I don’t make calls while I drive, but I can answer incoming calls by pressing a button on my steering wheel and talk hands free.

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Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 10:28:30

You sound like the 20%. The 47% slackers in this country are lucky to have a functioning car, much less a bluetooth.

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-06 11:29:17

My ‘96 Camry has an analog Bluetooth called speaker phone…

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 11:36:12

The 47% slackers in this country are lucky to have a functioning car, much less a bluetooth.

But they love their gadgets. The car might be a POS beater, but it probably has a kick-butt aftermarket stereo, purchased with their EIC refund.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2015-04-06 05:06:05

Why doesn’t the “Solar Industry” train these “new” workers themselves? Specifically - the way they should be trained?

———————

Here Comes Solyndra 2.0: Obama To Hire 75,000 Solar Workers
ZeroHedge - 04/05/2015

Clearly having not learned their lesson from ‘interfering’ in free markets (and all the deflation-creating over-supplying, crony-capitalizing, taxpayer money-wasting malinvestment that goes with it), NBC News reports, The White House has announced a goal to train 75,000 workers in the solar industry by 2020, many of them veterans. In a sentence only President Obama could utter, he explains “these are good-paying jobs that are helping folks enter the middle-class.” Climate ‘fixed’, folks ‘fixed’, veterans ‘fixed’ middle-class-economics ‘fixed’… and we are sure it will be unequivocally good for America (until trade wars pick up once again).

Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 08:07:08

You don’t want to help our veterans?
Why do you hate America?

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-04-06 10:01:14

as usual the problem is you dont need a lot of education and its mainly for blacks it was here, solar job training get on the roof haul the stuff up there screw it together, labor…..but it you never had an outside job well…..we have nothing for you.

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-04-06 19:57:25

You sure have a problem with black people. Every post is “black people this, black people that”.

You should diversify, and hate brown people too.

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-06 10:48:19

You could say the same thing about kids at state universities studying nursing, accounting, or engineering. Why don’t those industries train their own workers? Why must the taxpayers pay that training?

Comment by 2banana
2015-04-06 12:02:37

???

College is free?

I guess you haven’t seen the massive debt students have when they graduate.

And most nursing, accounting, or engineering companies do have training programs for their new college hires.

Maybe they should wait for obama to pay for it.

Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-06 12:49:11

The average state pays half the cost of a degree at a state university. Given the current cost of a bachelor’s degree, that half is a lot of money.

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Comment by 2banana
2015-04-06 05:07:57

The FSA VOTES

Seriously - why don’t squat where the squater is?

————-

Squatter living rent and mortgage free
Fox 32 Chicago | Apr 2, 2015 | Craig Wal

Tinley Park squatter living rent and mortgage free

The problem with squatters is hitting home in an upscale Tinley Park Subdivision.

On Mallow Street where homes sell for $350,000 or more, a woman has been living in a house rent and mortgage free for two years.

“It’s very frustrating, our property taxes are very high, I work nights to pay mine and to help support my family. And I just see her coming and going without a care in the world it’s enormously frustrating,” said neighbor Patti Yara.

And no one is more frustrated than Rob Moss, who bought the property as an investment last November, but can’t get Michele Parker to move out.

“I’s beyond frustrating, everything that she says has been a lie, she’s strong us along and like I said we were nothing but generous with their offers we are working with her,” said Robert Moss with A. Tarraf Construction

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-06 06:59:35

Can’t Rob Moss have the sheriff evict the squatter? Whatever happened to laws against trespassing?

 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-06 09:41:38

Don’t move here - you won’t like it.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2015-04-06 05:09:37

Fake…but accurate.

The ends justify the means.

—————

No repercussions for Rolling Stone reporter, editors in U.Va. rape story
wash times | 4/5/15 | Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

There will be no repercussions for the investigative reporter or editors responsible for a now-retracted

Rolling Stone cover story in November that falsely accused Phi Kappa Psi fraternity members at the University of Virginia of gang-raping a freshman coed.

In a stinging report released Sunday evening, an independent review by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism said the magazine was reckless in vetting its sources, including the purported victim, identified only as “Jackie,” and neglected “basic, even routine journalistic practice.”

The 12,866-word report, released Sunday night after more than three months of comprehensive research, said the story’s author, Rolling Stone contributing editor Sabrina Rubin Erdely, could have avoided catastrophe had she contacted other sources for fair comment.

“The editors invested Rolling Stone’s reputation in a single source,” the report said.

Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:29:50

And a million Red Pills were swallowed :)

Womyn when you wake up at 40 alone and past your sell-by date, be sure to thank a feminist!

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-06 06:41:30

+1

Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:48:11

The statistics on young men and marriage do not lie

Fifty years of Marxist feminism, and this is what you get

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Comment by Northeastener
2015-04-06 09:03:14

There are still some good women out there. My wife would love to quit her job and be a “stay-at-home mom” and “trophy wife” (at 41, she still looks like she did in college, with just a few more wrinkles around the eyes). Women’s lib holds no allure for her.

Maybe I just got lucky…

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:16:15

And a million Red Pills were swallowed :)

That thought crossed my mind as well. Talk about a high profile SNAFU. I wonder how much this is being discussed between men on campuses across the country.

Meanwhile, the bad boy studs (about 3% of the male student body) get to bang most of of the girls on campus and never get accused of rape because they’re “hawt”. Only creepy “average guys” get accused after a consensual encounter.

Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-06 09:44:52

Survey says: As reported in the UK end of last year in a two part series on young men and desire to be married - um……not happening what with society favoring the women over the men - Bottom line for young men reporting - why bother - too much risk and divorce just ain’t worth the two nights of momentary pleasure a week.

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Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 08:58:36

Not sure how you can accuse feminists of being 40 and alone, when feminist Sabrina Rubin Erdely clearly isn’t alone.

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-04-06 20:00:37

Shhh… you’re spoiling the narrative that comforts them.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 20:13:35

That stats don’t lie. It doesn’t all women will get left on the shelf, but a lot of them will.

 
Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-04-07 07:49:38

Porn is not a substitute.

 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 13:20:30

Article closed for reader comments, because Marxist feminists and online social justice warriors are f*ing cowards:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/06/jackie-uva-rape-details-rolling-stone-report

How’s that cat collection growing, eh cupcake?

 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-04-06 05:18:52

I told you guys rate hikes were off the table 6 months ago. Its time to expand your margin accounts and buy more stocks.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-06 07:02:30

It’s time to load up on T-bills and precious metals. Rates are low, the T-bills and metals prices will remain low. Because the “smart money” is into stocks and long term bonds.

Back up the truck and load up.

cryptocurrency too.

Dark Coin is no more….Its name has been changed to Dash.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 11:13:19

Why go to cash when the stock market is going up like gangbusters?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 11:16:20

Should you follow Mohamed El-Erian and move your investments to cash?
Published: Apr 6, 2015 11:33 a.m. ET
The former PIMCO chief says central banks have pushed asset prices to ‘very elevated levels’
Bloomberg News/Landov
Mohamed El-Erian: ‘There is a massive gap right now between asset prices and fundamentals.’
By Cullen Roche

Mohamed El-Erian, the former chief executive officer at PIMCO, revealed an interesting personal asset allocation in a recent interview: He’s holding mostly cash. Here’s the excerpt:

Q. Where is your money? Stocks? Treasuries? Bonds?

A. “It is mostly concentrated in cash. That’s not great, given that it gets eaten up by inflation. But I think most asset prices have been pushed by central banks to very elevated levels.”

Q. So we’re nearing a bubble?

A. “Go back to central banks. Central banks look at growth, at employment, at wages. They are too low. They don’t have the instruments they need, but they feel obliged to do something. So they artificially lift asset prices by maintaining zero interest rates and by using their balance sheet to buy assets.

“Why? Because they hope that they will trigger what’s called the wealth effect. That you will open your 401(k), see it has gone up in price, and you’ll spend. And that companies will see their shares are going up and they will be more willing to invest. But there is a massive gap right now between asset prices and fundamentals.”

This is something I run into quite a bit these days. Investors are convinced that stocks are overvalued and excessively risky, and they also believe that bond yields can only go up and will therefore result in principal loss. This leaves the investor paralyzed and unable to feel comfortable doing anything except sitting in cash. And the years go by, and they find themselves simply losing out to purchasing-power erosion.

The simple reality of the financial markets is that someone somewhere always ends up holding cash. Someone always feels like they’re falling behind. So don’t feel so bad about that part. But a 100% cash position is entirely irrational most of the time because it leaves you totally unprotected against inflation. For most investors, even the most conservative, we should be protecting against two risks:

1. The risk of purchasing-power loss.

2. The risk of permanent loss.

Comment by Rental Watch
2015-04-06 13:03:51

Some would say that a 2% loss to inflation is better than a 20% loss in a crash.

The problem is that you might wait years for the “crash”, and in the meantime, the fundamentals of the company of whatever stock you own might improve, and you forego any dividends in the meantime.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 13:08:25

What inflation Rental_Fraud?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 14:00:40

The only year since 1954 when U.S. inflation was at a comparable (negative) rate to that so far in 2015 was in 2009, in the wake of the Fall 2008 financial collapse and at the inception of the Fed’s quantitative easing program, which ended late last year.

There has been no year with double-digit deflation since 1932, and the few subsequent episodes through 1954 were relatively minor.

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-06 20:14:59

After a 100% or more runup in stocks and bonds over 6 years, a 1.6% 5 year yield in notes would not really be a pain in the a$$

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 22:56:37

I’m curious about Goldman Sachs’ prediction of a 2 pct return on the S&P 500 over the next year. Why just not park your cash under the mattress, instead of risking a loss for a paltry expected return of 2%?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:37:37

If you thought stocks were going to drop later this month, why wouldn’t you sell immediately, rather than waiting to catch a falling knife?

Industries | Tue Apr 7, 2015 1:24am EDT
Related: Energy
UPDATE 2-Brent falls over 1 percent after Goldman forecasts lower prices

* Goldman sees little upside for $40 a barrel U.S. crude outlook

* U.S. stocks to hit top in April, rebuild by Oct -Goldman

* Weekly U.S. crude stocks to extend build for 13th week -survey

* Coming up: API weekly inventories data by 2030 GMT (Updates prices)

By Henning Gloystein and Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, April 7 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday, paring overnight gains of nearly 6 percent, after Goldman Sachs said prices needed to remain low for months to achieve a slowdown in U.S. output growth.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-06 05:34:05

Priorities of the man on the street.

http://time.com/3771818/john-oliver-edward-snowden-last-week-tonight/

And when they’re this stupid, can you blame Wall Street and Washington for wanting to screw them over?

I did think Oliver was a bit cruel to Snowden.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 10:40:54

Worth a watch right there. Strange Ed S is far more sophisticated than the bumbling fool the media makes him out to be.

Why is that?

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-06 11:48:07

Thanks for the comment, HA. I was thinking something was seriously off with that clip, and I don’t mean the man on the street interviews, that’s always low hanging fruit. I’ve been doing a bit of a slow burn since I saw it.

So here’s my little rant: I used to think John Oliver was funny but he’s revealed himself to be a snidely tickety-boo limey creep on the order of Piers Morgan. He seems to have taken a totally nasty delight in taking a hero like Snowden and trying to prove to him that what he did was worth nothing and that the people he’s tried to help are worthless. Snowden was decent and dignified, and the creepy limey worm shoved that laptop in his face with contemptible triumph. It’s very possible that many of the folks on the street did know who Snowden is, but of course Oliver would never show that, now, would he?

And let’s consider the fact that Snowden has been under enormous stress for a long time now. How totally nasty of Oliver to try to reduce his act of courage to a dumb sideshow. Oliver isn’t worthy to lick Snowden’s bathroom floor.

John Oliver, ignorant media whore. All for a few cheap laughs, and I noticed there were precious little of them, too.

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-06 12:17:52

Did I also mention that Oliver is an insufferable toady?

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 12:43:13

jiminy crips who gives a shit? ES is a patriot.

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-06 17:34:19

I have no idea who John Oliver is.

I do know who Snowden is and I respect him a lot. It’s an age old question; what price is worth it for truth. Some will pay nothing, others everything.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:08:29

The weakness of those of us who take a gaudy satisfaction in our ideas, and battle for them violently, and face punishment for them willingly and even proudly, is that we forget the primary business of the man in politics, which is the snatching and safeguarding of his job. That business, it must be plain, concerns itself only occasionally with the defense and propagation of ideas, and even then it must confine itself to those that, to a reflective man, must usually appear to be insane. The first and last aim of the politician is to get votes, and the safest of all ways to get votes is to appear to the plain man to be a plain man like himself, which is to say, to appear to him to be happily free from any heretical treason to the body of accepted platitudes – to be filled to the brim with the flabby, banal, childish notions that challenge no prejudice and lay no burden of examination upon the mind.

– H. L. Mencken
BAYARD vs LIONHEART
July 26, 1920

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 05:57:16

William Kristol rallies the base:

http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/special-editorial-kill-deal_908909.html

He has a net worth of $200,000,000

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-06 06:00:26

The Gong Show continues.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 06:50:07

^Right? Wait until the Lieberals wheel out their liars.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-06 06:43:13

More Kabuki theater. Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Diamond remain our true masters, ratified by the sheeple with a 95% vote for their water carriers Obama, McCain, and Romney, and now a new bunch of Wall Street fluffers and neo-con stooges.

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-06 17:35:20

Isn’t it more like 45%?

 
 
 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-06 05:58:49

Heh, Wenner has decided the journalist and the weenie editor involved in the story will keep their jobs. And that should tell you that “journalism” is DOA in the US.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?_r=1

I used to read Rolling Stone voraciously. It used to have some great stories by some really good writers. Not any more. Not even close. I read another Rolling Stone piece online yesterday and it was, to say the least, a painful experience. Misspellings, dis-jointed run-on sentences, sentences that were actually phrases because they just cut off in the middle. Clearly it was written by an i-phone journalist and edited by an i-phone editor, if it was even edited at all.

Wenner must really be out of it these days. His mag isn’t even fit for bathroom reading anymore.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-04-06 08:45:49

It used to have some great stories by some really good writers.

Don’t forget, it was essentially the only MSM publication willing to call a spade a spade during the downturn. I’ll give them credit for that for some time…

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:02:59

In other newz, the Rolling Stone rape article is a big fat fraud. But thanks for all the free Red Pill publicity!

Enjoy those lonely decades with your cats and boxed wine, ladies, because we are leaving the plantation

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-04-06 07:43:21

I had never heard of this story until now. It seems a bit odd that you never hear about a story, and suddenly it’s national news when the newspaper never confirmed anything. Didn’t Fox news go to the Supreme Court to for the right to broadcast fake news?

And what it in the WORLD does any of this have to do with the fact that men haven’t generally contributed to society for decades now?

Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 07:55:45

That 70% of black children in this country are born out of wedlock is a real victory for feminism

Lean in and smash that patriarchy!

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:45:04

That 70% of black children in this country are born out of wedlock is a real victory for feminism

As are 50% of all children born to women under the age of 30. Single motherhood (along with dependence on SNAP cards and being on a years long waiting list for a Section 8 voucher) has become the norm, not the exception. Baby Mommas knocked up by multiple bad boy (and deadbeat but really, really hawt), baby daddies.

You’ve come a long way, baby.

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Comment by Northeastener
2015-04-06 09:07:40

One word… contraception.

I can already hear the complaints: “But, that’s just sexist!” “But that’s just racist!”

Turns out Idiocracy was a documentary masquerading as entertainment.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 11:40:11

You’re assuming all those single mother pregnancies were unintentional.

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:51:00

I had never heard of this story until now.

Really? It was a big deal when Rolling Stone first published it, touted as further proof of the so called on campus rape epidemic, that is until the story was proven to be a complete fabrication.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 10:15:27

And what it in the WORLD does any of this have to do with the fact that men haven’t generally contributed to society for decades now?

I thought men were like bicycles to fish. Why do you need them to contribute anything?

 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2015-04-06 23:22:13

“And what it in the WORLD does any of this have to do with the fact that men haven’t generally contributed to society for decades now?”

I feel sorry for any man unlucky enough to get mixed up with you if this is indeed what you believe. Hateful rhetoric.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:40:29

I’ve noticed in the shop where I work, the men generally have responsibility for the big vision outside-the-box thinking tasks, while the women are rather more process oriented, that is, they keep the ship running. I’m sure this reflects centuries of sexism as well as current gender discrimination, rather than simple differences between men and women.

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Comment by goon squad
Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:19:05

More warmism, here from real journalists at the New York Times:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/science/beneath-california-crops-groundwater-crisis-grows.html

And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 09:05:34

Metro Denver gets 25% of its water from aquifers, which are expected to be sucked dry within 20 years.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-06 07:17:40

I have it on good authority from a blogger here quoting settled science that this is the fate for anyone who lives 10 ft. above sea level or lower within the next 10 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QboA41mP7qg - 278k -

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 06:40:44

Is it true that the number of gold shorts is currently at a record level.

If so, why?

Comment by bink
2015-04-06 07:29:26

Sounds uncomfortable.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:16:21
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-06 20:16:07

Those are the best gold shorts I ever saw

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-06 07:50:51

A Global Financial Reset Is Coming: ‘A Deal Is Being Made Between All The Central Banks’

Mac Slavo
April 5th, 2015

Because the price of gold has been suppressed to allow governments and central banks to accumulate it cheaply, Neumeyer sees opportunity in the mining industry and that’s why his latest mineral bank project is mimicking their actions and buying up physical mining assets around the world.

And though Western mainstream media pundits argue that the recent strength of the U.S. stock market and the U.S. dollar are proof positive that an economic recovery has taken hold, Neumeyer says exactly the opposite is happening.

The reason for the recent rise in the value of the world’s reserve currency, he suggests, is a result of the massive unwinding of U.S. debt as private investors and governments around the globe know a rush for the exits is coming soon:

http://www.shtfplan.com/…ming-a-deal-is-being-made-between-all-the-central-banks_04052015 - 362k -

Comment by rms
2015-04-06 08:11:45

‘A Deal Is Being Made Between All The Central Banks’

Isn’t that called collusion?

“Collusion is an agreement between two or more parties, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair market advantage.” –Wikipedia

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:48:27

If central banks make a deal, it’s legal, and hence not collusion, which is illegal.

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-04-06 22:27:25

If central banks make a deal, it’s legal, and hence not collusion, which is illegal.

Reminds me a bit of that Nixon line…

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:43:21

That’s where I got the idea.

P.S. We are going to visit the Nixon Library next month…looking forward to it!

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:34:00

The reason for the recent rise in the value of the world’s reserve currency, he suggests, is a result of the massive unwinding of U.S. debt as private investors and governments around the globe know a rush for the exits is coming soon

So they’re saying that the dollar is going UP because investors are dumping US debt? Doesn’t the opposite happen under such circumstances?

Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 09:13:36

Or it could be smart money simply selling high. If the dollar stays high, they will be seen as pocketing gains and “getting rich by selling too soon.” Or, if the dollar drops, they will be seen simply as being the first to panic. Win-win.

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Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 06:58:52

And speaking of Drudge links, here New York City gives the right to vote to non-citizen Free Sh*t Army

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/02/new-york-city-non-citizens-local-elections

Permanent Democrat Supermajority

Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-06 10:15:24

Did you notice that the headline had the word “could” in it, or did you just read the Drudge link?

Comment by oxide
2015-04-06 10:50:49

Ditto for Obama “hiring” those 75000 solar workers. Obama’s not hiring. All he’s doing is expanding an already-existing program to train veterans in solar via programs at community colleges. It probably costs very little in tax money.

On the local voting, several towns already allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. One would think that Drudge would agree with this, as it is clearly an exercise of States’ Rights.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-04-06 07:44:45

The house prices need to decline.

 
Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 07:48:17

Here’s one for the badge lickers and uniform fetishists:

http://www.businessinsider.com/whites-are-far-more-likely-than-blacks-to-approve-of-the-use-of-force-by-police-2015-4?op=1

Whitey may be demographically doomed in this country, but nothing “rallies the base” better than police kicking the sh*t out of black and brown people

Comment by rms
2015-04-06 08:07:03

“Bad boys, bad boys… What’cha gonna do? What’cha gonna do when they come for you?” –Bob Marley

Comment by ibbots
2015-04-06 10:27:27

Eh….while the song is reggae, not all reggae songs are sung by Bob Marley, just fyi.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:18:49

Whitey may be demographically doomed in this country, but nothing “rallies the base” better than police kicking the sh*t out of black and brown people

Whitey is deluded if he thinks that officer skinhead is his friend.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 12:18:44

Comply or Die has come to my little burg.

http://www.reporterherald.com/popular/ci_27846023/sheriffs-office-investigates-gunshot-death-south-loveland-updated

Wanna bet the city officers will be cleared in the shooting by the sheriff’s dept?

You’d think that two officers could wrestle a dude to the ground and cuff him. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two officers became antagonistic first and provoked him. Why? Because they did that to me at a routine traffic stop once. Of course, I kept my cool and “complied”, which is much better than getting shot full of holes.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-06 08:32:43

Obama’s New Executive Order Banning Donations To Edward Snowden Challenged With 33 Cent Donation

By Jackson Marciana for Counter Current News | April 6, 2015

An Oregon man decided to openly troll President Obama, in an act of protest against the treatment of political exile Edward Snowden. Kristopher Ives is a software programmer who taunted President Obama to come arrest him for openly breaking the law and violating an executive order that bans people from sending donations to Snowden.

Snowden, you will recall, was the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified files to journalists back in 2013. He later fled the U.S. and was granted temporary asylum in Moscow.

Kristopher Ives only sent Snowden 33 cents worth of bitcoin, assuming that it would in fact be intercepted by the government. But for him, it was a statement, more than a donation that he expected to land in the electronic purse of Snowden.

“It’s not much but it’s the principle of the matter,” Ives posted all of this on Reddit, writing: “Please come arrest me. I live in Oregon and my name is Kristopher Ives and you can reach me at 503-383-1047.”

Ives said in an interview with The Oregonian that this was timed with Obama’s executive order being announced on the Internet on Friday.

“I don’t want to play the tin foil-hat person,” Ives said, explaining that at first he thought the news of the prohibition was a joke, “but it just seemed so odd to (sign an executive order) on April Fools.”

But Ives looked it up on the Federal Register, and sure enough, it was very real.

The order reads: “Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities.”

Specifically, Ives explains, this seems to prohibit Americans from sending Edward Snowden bitcoin donations.

Ives said that Snowden is this generations “Deep Throat“, the FBI official who leaked information about the Watergate scandal to The Washington Post, leading to President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation.

The business technology website ZDNet agreed with Ives’ reading of the executive order. They published a piece on Friday as well that noted that the order “effectively rules out donations to Edward Snowden.”

“In a post on Reddit’s Bitcoin subreddit, members pledged to donate to the whistleblower’s relief fund, despite the wording of the new executive order suggesting that doing so was illegal,” ZDNet explained.

Ives told Oregon Live that nearly 1,000 donations worth $46,342.09 have made their way to Snowden’s Bitcoin account since the signing of the executive order on Wednesday.

The Reddit thread claims that the donors have used “Edward Snowden’s Official Legal Defense Fund” donation site launched by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (link).

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-06 08:33:13

Es “Heb” not “Jeb”

(Reuters) - Likely Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush, who was popular among Spanish-speaking voters while Florida governor, marked himself as “Hispanic” on a 2009 voter registration application, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Viva Jebito Boosh! LOL…

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 08:59:11

Why not? He became Catholic in 1995. I’ll bet his Mexican wife Columba makes Enchiladas every Sunday for dinner and chilaquiles for breakfast. If that doesn’t make you Hispanic, I don’t know what does.

Kidding aside, I just watched a video of him speaking Spanish in a news conference. Not bad. He is definitely fluent and has virtually no American accent when he talks in Spanish.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-06 09:12:00

You can immerse yourself in another language and culture but you can’t change your race.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 09:21:11

Why not? Lola changed her gender.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 09:36:42

FWIW, Hispanic isn’t a race. There are Hispanics and of all races: white, black, mestizo, even Asian. I’ve met Mexicans of Asian descent in Mexico, and I can assure you they were as Mexican as Pancho Villa.

That said, Jeb calling himself Hispanic is a stretch. He was born a gringo and did a half decent job of assimilating during his time in Mexico, but he’s still a gringo. Yeah, he married a Mexican woman, so maybe he’s an “honorary Hispanic”. I will say one thing though, his Spanish is better than that spoken by many Mexican American politicians.

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Comment by ibbots
2015-04-06 10:36:58

Don’t tell that to Michael Bloomberg as seen here in his historical Spanish language warning to the citizens of New York (the funs starts at 27 seconds or so):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hyF_zgpjFo

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 11:48:49

LOL! Now that was bad Spanish.

 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-06 10:21:10

With the money he has, they may have a cook or a housekeeper who prepares their meals. Although that woman would probably be Hispanic.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-06 11:44:11

There you go. All upper class Mexicans have servants from the Mexican lower classes.

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-06 09:30:31

Who’s your Daddy?

Why do farmers get a free pass from Brown?

George Skelton
Los Angeles Times

Gov. Jerry Brown targets the 20% of developed water that flows to urban use; ag takes up the other 80%

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-drought-20150406-column.html

Comment by Puggs
2015-04-06 11:27:34

“If youz like yer fruits and veggies you can keep yer fruets and veggies.

 
 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-06 09:57:22

STAY.
OUT.
OF.
DEBT.

Comment by goon squad
2015-04-06 11:45:17

+1 for the 1996 Toyota Camry

My truck celebrates its 16th birthday this year

Comment by Puggs
2015-04-06 14:21:33

Solid old cars rule! And it still drives quiet and compliant on the road. ODO low at 160K. Going another 160K hopefully!!

 
 
Comment by Interested Observer
2015-04-06 12:47:28

+1 for the 1998 Honda CR-V. 17 years of trouble free driving.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-06 17:42:45

My Chevy is 17 years old is still going strong at 285,000 miles. Road salt is not my friend though.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 20:03:30

That brine $hit they spray on the roads in New England dissolves vehicles. Tinned copper straps terminated with good self tappers(IronEaters @$1 each)between front and rear axles to points on the body helps. NeverSeez slathered on the rotor hubs where the wheel contacts the hubs makes a complete uninterrupted ground.

Rubber isolation is not your friend.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:44:21

Nother good reason to live where it never rains nor snows…

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Comment by Concerned Floridian
2015-04-06 12:13:25

Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank. Just one more step closer to currency reserve status.

http://larrysummers.com/2015/04/05/time-us-leadership-woke-up-to-new-economic-era/

 
Comment by azdude
2015-04-06 14:32:58

bad news is good news again. Is this market a joke or what?

Comment by Neuromance
2015-04-06 17:19:53

I was puzzled this morning as to why the futures were down before the open. Weak market data means the Fed doesn’t raise interest rates so the only game in town is the stock market for money seeking yield. I think the market would have gone up even if Dudley hadn’t come out for the Fed backing off its interest rate increases. Dudley just threw gasoline on the fire and the market reacted enthusiastically.

But realize also, that people who make money in this market have execution times in the milliseconds and have extremely good information. Joe6Pack trying to day trade will lag the pack in execution and thus be the bag holder.

Comment by azdude
2015-04-06 18:02:06

maybe they should wheel out a fed member every week? this bs is just ridiculous and looks desperate as h@ll to me.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 19:15:44

I think you will agree that it is a safe assumption that no rate hikes or corrections are in the near term Wall Street outlook. You really can’t go wrong going all-in to stocks. Back up the truck and take your fair share off the Wall Street casino winnings!

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:46:03

How many more head fakes are due to be thrown in the Greek debt crisis before the situation is finally resolved?

Or is “extend-and-pretend forever” in play?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 19:20:21

Grexit, Grexodus or Grexident?
Situation in embattled southern European state is becoming increasingly precarious
Anti-establishment protesters outside the Greek parliament in Athens recently. Photograph: EPA/Dimitris Lampropoulos
Caroline Madden
Mon, Apr 6, 2015, 07:06
First published: Mon, Apr 6, 2015, 01:15

Recently the Financial Times ran an interesting letter from a reader who put forth the etymological reasons why we should consider ditching the portmanteau ‘Grexit’ in favour of ‘Grexodus’.

He pointed out that the origin of the word exit is Latin, whereas exodus comes from Greek, before going on to suggest that exodus is preferable because it has more positive connotations.

But of course there is a third possibility, with some commentators now mooting the ‘Grexident’ theory, arguing that an accidental series of events could result in Greece leaving the euro zone.

Certainly, the situation in the embattled southern European state is becoming increasingly precarious. According to Bloomberg, market metrics indicate that Greece is in danger of sinking under the burden of its debt. And in a recent note, Deutsche Bank warned that the risk of a “political accident” remains high in Greece as banks are running out of liquidity and the government is running out of cash.

The bank highlighted a € 460 million debt repayment due to the International Monetary Fund today as a possible trigger for default.

“In order to secure further bailout funding, a reform list approved by Europe needs to pass parliament,” a spokesman for Deutsche Bank told us. “Our baseline remains that a resolution can be reached, but uncertainty will remain high.”

Just how likely is it that Greece will depart the euro, whether by means of a Grexit, Grexodus or Grexident?

Some commentators have said it all comes down to what’s going on in the corridors of power in Athens; in other words, it’s very difficult to call it at this stage.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:53:58

Watching my 2 hours annual allotment of college hoop. What a game! Who says white men can’t jump?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 18:55:44

What is it about top politicians’ siblings?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 19:08:43

How many of you folks have suffered a broken rib while using Stairmaster?

Senator Harry Reid’s brother charged with DUI and battery of a police officer
- Larry Reid was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 95
- The incident happened on a highway in Nevada near Boulder City
By James Gordon For Dailymail.com
Published: 08:13 EST, 5 April 2015 | Updated: 18:34 EST, 5 April 2015
Private matter: Larry Reid was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 95 near the edge of Boulder City city limits

Senator Harry Reid’s 73-year-old brother has been arrested and charged with driving drunk and hitting a police officer.

Larry Reid was arrested for DUI about 12:40 p.m. between Boulder City and Searchlight in Nevada.

Mr. Reid was also charged with battery of a police officer, driving across a median, resisting arrest, not wearing a seat belt and possession of a gun while under the influence of alcohol.

A trooper saw Larry Reid’s Lexus SUV in the dirt median with the engine still running, Patrol spokesman Trooper Loy Hixson said.

The Nevada Senator’s office released a statement confirming that Larry Reid is the Democrat’s brother, saying only that it is ‘a private matter.’

Details of the arrest were not immediately available since the official complaint had not been filed with the court.

Meanwhile, his older brother, Senator Harry Reid, who recently suffered an accident while exercising, said in a video message last week he would not seek re-election next year, and threw his weight behind New York Senator Chuck Schumer to replace him when he leaves office.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-06 19:49:44

I detect teeth-gnashing rage.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:51:22
 
 
Comment by Patrick
2015-04-06 20:20:12

I just cannot see how the Fed can raise interest rates. If they do, then the stock market probably will tumble and all of that 40 bn a month they used to purchase mbs from the banks has been invested in the stock market by those banks to reduce their leverage.

Interest up = bank assets tumble (same position as before mbs sold)

Interest up = more expensive usd; global economy fails

Stays the same = bank’s unsold mbs suffers increasing losses that can no longer be hidden as black rot takes hold and house shadow inventory becomes bigger “gardens”. Now mark to market.

Goes down = deflation - and probably the only real way out of this.

Our real problem is the two shadows - housing and banking - they both have negative inter relationships - fix one, damage the other.

Only an extra dollar made = real growth - can fix this system. When are they going to start addressing this aspect ?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:45:56

I’m not expecting them to tighten soon, but rather to wait until after the stock market collapses of its own weight, at which point nobody will be able to blame the Fed for popping the bubble.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:47:11

…history has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums.

– Sir Alan Greenspan

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-06 23:34:49

Oil Falls After Goldman Sachs Forecasts Lower Prices
Reuters | Updated On: April 07, 2015 10:06 (IST)
Singapore: Oil futures fell on Tuesday from overnight gains of nearly 6 per cent after Goldman Sachs said prices needed to remain low for months to achieve a slowdown in US output growth.

Benchmark crude prices surged on Monday as traders reassessed how quickly Iran might increase exports after a preliminary nuclear deal and judged that a months-long rise in US crude inventories may be slowing.

Brent May crude had dropped 60 cents to $57.52 a barrel by 0339 GMT, after hitting $58.24 in the previous session, it highest since March 27.

US May crude was down 39 cents at $51.75 a barrel, after ending Monday at the highest closing price since Feb. 18.

The US benchmark may get another boost as refineries return from maintenance and take more crude to prepare for peak summer fuel demand, said Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

“A lot of people are waiting to see some improvement in the supply-demand balance and we’re getting closer to the time when it might happen,” Mr Spooner said.

Goldman said in a research note it expects US crude inventories to top-out in April and subsequently draw down at 350,000 barrels per day during May-September, when demand for fuel to power cars and air conditioners is at its greatest.

Still, the bank said it saw little upside for its $40 a barrel forecast over the next three months as inventories would likely rise again by October, pressuring prices into 2016.

“Prices need to remain low in coming months to achieve a sufficient and sustainable slowdown in US production growth,” the bank said, adding that the US production outlook for 2016 makes its forecast for $65-a-barrel oil next year look too high.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-07 00:24:47

Are stocks just plain too risky to bother with them?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-07 06:08:11

phony scandals

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-07 06:43:51

crater

 
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