Showing posts with label stock market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stock market. Show all posts

Video: Trader Tells BBC People Can Profit in the Coming Crash

Governments don't run the world, Goldman Sachs runs the world. "In less than 12 months," the trader said, "the saving of millions of people is going to vanish. And this is just the beginning." You better read this... September 30, 2011 - An independent market trader made world news headlines earlier this week by telling the BBC that the euro rescue plan will fail and, as a result, markets will crash (video below). He warned people to "get prepared" to survive the next depression. Alessio Rastani was interviewed on the BBC on September 26, and what he said stunned those in the studio. Although Rastani's predictions are full of doom and gloom, some of his words are actually encouraging even for little guys like you and me. "I'm very confident that this particular rescue plan - it doesn't matter how much money they want to put in - it's not gonna work," Rastani said. "This problem cannot be solved," he said. "I'm fairly confident the euro is gonna crash, and it's gonna fall pretty hard because markets are ruled right now by fear. Investors and the big money, the smart money, I'm talking about the big funds, the hedge funds, the institutions, they don't buy this rescue plan. They basically, uhm, they know the market is toast. They know the stock market is finished." That's all pretty ominous, and very bad news for Europe if Rastani is correct. Not everyone will inevitably suffer, however, as he went on to say. "The euro, as far as they're concerned, they don't really care," Rastani said of the "smart money" and institutions. "They're moving their money away to safer assets, like treasury bonds, 30-year bonds, and the U.S. dollar. So, it's not gonna work." There, did you catch that? Rastani listed "safer assets" that could provide shelter, if you will, for some of us in the coming economic typhoon. There's even more hope, as you will see in a moment. When asked by the news anchor what could raise investor confidence and possibly avoid the financial meltdown that Rastani predicts, he shook his head and raised an eyebrow. He then provided a shocking answer to the anchor's naive question. "That's a tough one. Uhm, personally, it doesn't matter. See, I'm a trader. I don't really care about that kind of stuff. If I see an opportunity to make money I go with that. So, for most traders it's not about, we don't really care that much how they're gonna fix the economy, how they're gonna fix the whole situation. Our job is to make money from it. And, personally, I've dreaming of this moment for three years." In other words, Rastani and other traders are not afraid of the coming economic tsunami. They will profit from it, just as many profited in the Great Depression of the 1930's. Does that make Rastani and his fellow traders evil? Well, no, it does not. Remember that Rastani did not cause Greece to spend itself into bankruptcy, nor are he and his trader colleagues reponsible for decades of the socialist programs that have put so much of the rest of Europe into the financial dumpster. Rastani and his friends, as traders, respond to the buffoonery of nations and corporations. Vultures have an unfairly bad reputation, but it should be remember that they do not kill anything. They merely swoop in to wait and watch the dying gazelle, then take advantage of the fact that it died without their intervention. Traders don't kill. They scavenge, and like the vulture, that means cleaning up messes that most others don't want any part of. "I have a confession," he went on to say, "which is, I go to bed every night, I dream of another recession. I dream of another moment like this. Why? Because people don't seem to really remember, but, the depression in the Thirties wasn't just about a market crash. There were some people who were prepared to make money from that crash, and I think anybody can do that. " That bears repeating, because Rastani indicates that ordinary people can survive the predicted Great Depression Two. "The depression in the Thirties wasn't just about a market crash. There were some people who were prepared to make money from that crash, and I think anybody can do that." Yes, you and me! "It isn't just for some people and the elite," Rastani said, "Anybody can actually make money. It's an opportunity. When the euro and the big stock markets crash, if you know what to do, if you have the right plan to set up, you can make a lot of money from this." Sounds good, right? While your employer crashes, you could right the wave and end up on top, right? "For example," Rastani explained, "hedging strategies is one. Investing in treasury bonds, that sort of stuff." This is not complicated stuff, assuming you still have any cash left to invest. Rastani urges those of us who are able to invest to do it now, without delay. "This economic crisis is like a cancer," Rastani told the nervous news anchor in studio. "If you just wait and wait, thinking this is going to go away, just like a cancer it's gonna grow and it will be too late. What I would say to everybody is, get prepared." He cautioned that it is useless to hope that governments will "sort things out." His reason for saying that: "Government don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world. Goldman Sachs does not care about this rescue package." People need to learn how to "make money from a downward market," Rastani said. The first thing you should do, he said, is protect your assets (assuming you still have any). "Because in less than 12 months," he said, "the saving of millions of people is going to vanish. And this is just the beginning." Excuse me. I'm off to buy some ammo and freeze dried food. RELATED: Newsmaker: Alessio Rastani - Sydney Morning Herald

GREEK DEBT CRISIS PANICS WALL STREET

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks plunged Thursday as investors succumbed to fears that Greece's debt problems would halt the global economic recovery. The Dow Jones industrials slid almost 1,000 points before recovering to a loss of 465... More from Associated Press There have been massive protests in Greek cities for weeks, and they seem to be getting more and more violent. At least three people died when protesters threw a bomb into a bank, setting it on fire. (Video below.) The severe debt crisis in Greece threatens to send the European Union into a tailspin as massive financial aid is debated there. The country is literally on the verge of collapse, financially and socially. Meanwhile, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and England are not far behind in terms of financial mismanagment. The EU is in serious danger of a financial meltdown, which would in turn have profoundly negative effects on the world economy. Is capitalism to blame? Actually, no: It's decades of bad socialist policies. The dumbest comment I've ever seen about the Greek crisis comes from a knucklehead on Twitter today. He wrote, "So why does anything in Greece affect the US economy? Are shortages of feta cheese and olives going to threaten the economic recovery?" Minutes later, he wrote, "In honor of Greece's decision to stick a dagger in my 401k value, the least they could do is buy me a gyro platter for dinner." If you don't know the answer to that, pal, you deserve to lose your 401(k).

Obama's GDP Shell Game

Trouble is, it's a lie. Well, to be charitable, let's call it an exaggeration. The Obama Administration is bragging about a "5.7 percent growth in gross domestic production (GDP)," but skeptics abound

The so-called growth wasn't growth at all. Rather, the "improved" growth rate number was due largely to inventory adjustments. In other words, the Obama Administration is playing a slight of hand in a shell game of funny math. The inventory adjustment factor is important, as we will learn in a moment. As for "growth," employment is still over 10 percent nationwide, in no small part because businesses large and small are worried about the future. 

The Salt Lake Tribune states the frighteningly obvious in an article today: "The economy boomed at the end of 2009, growing at the fastest rate in more than six years. Now if only it could keep it up. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the second straight quarter of growth. But analysts warn it's unsustainable. Consumer spending, chilled by double-digit unemployment and scant wage gains, remains weak. Also, the benefits of government aid and higher company output to feed stockpiles will dwindle." Full Article... 

The numbers are as artificial as Michelle Obama's sudden adulthood pride in her country. Even the mainstream media - believed by many, included myself, to be sympathetic to Obama - is rather skeptical about the GDP growth. 

MSNBC is skeptical: "The U.S. economy turned in a surprisingly good performance in the fourth quarter, surging ahead by 5.7 percent on an annual basis, according to a government report released Friday. Or did it?" MSNBC continued: "Obama noted that last years’ massive economic stimulus program had also 'stopped the flood of job losses.' He also repeated his administration’s commitment to spur job growth to re-hire the 8 million workers sidelined by the worst recession in 60 years." 

About Those Inventory Adjustments: Sounds good, doesn't it? Sure does, until you understand that those are lies - excuse me, exaggerations - by Obama. Again, MSNBC (emphasis added): 

"But when you look a little more closely at the numbers, it quickly becomes apparent that it’s hardly time to start breaking out the champagne. A big part of the latest GDP gain comes from a statistical adjustment for changes in inventory levels that don’t reflect real growth. Over the past year, businesses cut deeply into those inventories — not wanting to get stuck with unsold goods. Now that they’ve cut them to the bone, the rate of inventory-cutting has slowed. The way the GDP is calculated, that slowdown adds to “growth” — even though it doesn’t reflect increased production or sales. If you back out that inventory adjustment, GDP grew only 2.2 percent." 

Wow! Obama is claiming a 5.7 percent GDP growth, but it was really only 2.2 percent? That's one heck of a difference. 

The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch offered analysis, too, and it was also skeptical: 

"Even with healthy growth in the second half of the year, the economy shrank 2.4% in 2009, the worst year for GDP since the 10.9% drop in 1946, when the United States geared back to a peacetime economy. Business investment fell the most since 1942. Read the full report on the government's website.

What? Obama is saying that the GDP is just great, fantastic, but the experts at the Wall Street Journal - who eat, sleep and make love to these kinds of numbers - tell us that the economy shrank in 2009, and that business investment was the worst since World War Two? Is Obama exaggerating? 

The Market Watch report continued (emphasis added): 

"In the fourth quarter of 2009, about two-thirds of the growth came via the swing in inventories. Excluding the change in inventories, final sales increased at a 2.2% annual rate, a signal that the economy remained weak despite stellar topline numbers. Consumer spending increased at a 2% annual rate, down from 2.9% in the third quarter when the government's so-called cash-for-clunkers program boosted auto sales." 

Golly. Why is Obama not bragging about those numbers? Could it be because he knows damned well that they're a bit closer to reality - much too close - than he likes? Or could it be that he's so stupid that he doesn't understand Economics 101? Regardless of my opinion of Obama as a dishonest, socialist, self-hating American, I cannot believe that he's stupid. He's a very bright man, really. His exaggerations about the "growth" of the GDP, however, assume that you and I are not so bright. Fortunately, some of us are bright enough to understand that what may seem like innocent, over-eager exaggerations by Obama are really bald faced lies. 

RELATED: 

Obama's Dow-struction, a Video Rant

This guy is pissed off about the poor handling of the economy by Baracko Bama. He vents in this video, posted March 3, but it's a rational vent worth listening to. You can see more videos from "URaHero" at iReport.com.

Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

IT'S WORKING: STOCKS ROAR BACK

Ha! So much for doom and gloom. (Uh oh. If the economy bounces back, what with gas prices way down and the markets way back up, why..... Barack Obama might have to start talking about other things!!! Like, you know, Ayers, Rezko, his non-record, his ties to anti-American organizations, his questionable citizenship, his wife, ACORN, and more! Uh oh!) NEW YORK - Wall Street stormed back from last week's devastating losses Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 936 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors. All the major indexes rose more than 11 percent. FULL SCOOP at AP / Yahoo! News... UPDATE: Asian Stocks Trading in US Post Biggest Rally in Seven Years - Bloomberg

DON'T PANIC: DOW CLOSES BELOW 9000

Dow plunges below 9,000 on credit fears Dow...........8,579.19 ...-678.91 ...(-7.33%) Nasdaq .....1,645.12 .....-95.21 .....(-5.47%) S&P 500 .....909.89 ......-75.05 ......(-7.62%) DON'T WORRY, PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL FIX EVERYTHING. That's right, after he raises taxes on half of the small businesses, nobody will be laid off. Nope! Under Obama, those businesses will magikally hire more people! Sure! And when Obama forms his "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the US military, why, that will magikally decrease the national debt! You bet! And when President Obama makes the tax code even more complicated, and you start paying more taxes (think Stroger, think Daley, think Springfield), well Comrade, you'll thank the gods that Barack Obama has taken over. Remember, we have nothing to fear but the fear of fearing fear itself.