Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Tuesday 04.17.2012
Weak Selling Leaves Gold Open to Bigger Bounce
By Rod David - Minyanville.com
The following are the latest daily summaries of my ongoing intraday coverage, providing context to interpret price action. Any prices listed are for a contract's current "front month." Their direction tends to correlate with any ETFs listed for each.
Today's Highlight: Gold started the week feigning further reaction down from last week's bounce high. Any delay in confirming it Tuesday would be very bullish to resume the bounce.
Tony Robbins, Ron Paul And Ben Bernanke All Agree:
The National Debt Crisis Could Destroy America
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Is there one thing that Tony Robbins, Ron Paul and Ben Bernanke can all agree on? Yes, there actually is. Recently they have all come forward with warnings that the national debt crisis could destroy America if something is not done. Unfortunately, our politicians continue to spend us into oblivion as if there will never be any consequences. When Barack Obama took office, the U.S. national debt was 10.6 trillion dollars. Today, it is 15.6 trillion dollars and it is rising at the rate of about 150 million dollars an hour. During the Obama administration so far, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from 1776 to 1995. The United States now has a debt to GDP ratio of over 100 percent, and another credit rating agencydowngraded U.S. debt earlier this month.
Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop
BY JOE DUARTE - FinancialSense.com
The financial markets move into a new week on pins and needles as some major technical gauges continue to flash cautionary signals. And when you add the nuances caused by high frequency computer, algorithm based trading, fueled by extra real time quotes, you've got a recipe for disaster.
What makes this week most interesting is that the news is just as likely from the earnings front than from anywhere else as there are too many stories that are on their way to their next step, but not that many new stories developing.
China Adds Treasuries for Second Month on Reserve Growth
By Daniel Kruger and Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
China remained the largest foreign U.S. creditor in February amid a rebound in the country's foreign-currency reserves as Japan's purchases of Treasuries picked up.
China's holdings rose for a second straight month, increasing by 1.1 percent to $1.18 trillion, U.S. Treasury Department data released yesterday show. Those of Japan, America's second-largest lender, climbed 1.2 percent to $1.096 trillion as the Asian nation continued to intervene in the currency market to stem yen's appreciation. Net foreign purchases of Treasuries rose $41.2 billion, or 0.8 percent, to a record $5.1 trillion, the data show.
The Next Global Crash:
Why You Should Fear the Commodities Bubble Investors have gone crazy for commodities, pouring money into everything from oil to copper. Just like the world's mania for tech stocks in the 1990s, this boom is headed for a bust.
By Ruchir Sharma - TheAtlantic.com
As playwright Arthur Miller once observed, "An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted." Most of the illusions that defined the last decade -- the notion that global growth had moved to a permanently higher plane, the hope that the Fed (or any central bank) could iron out the highs and lows of the business cycle -- are indeed spent. Yet one idea still has the power to capture the imagination of the markets: that the inexorable rise of China and other big developing economies will continue to drive a "commodity supercycle," a prolonged upward rise in the prices of commodities ranging from oil to copper and silver, to textiles, to corn and soybeans. This conviction is the main reason for the optimism about the prospects of the many countries that live off commodity exports, from Brazil to Argentina, and Australia to Canada.
Keiser Report: Too Broke To Go Broke (E275)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert discuss the hot topic of currency wars in China and Americans being too broke to go broke while hoping to outrun the global flash crash. In the second half of the show Max talks to Rick Ackerman of Rick's Picks newsletter. They discuss flash crashes, market making, options trading, manipulating markets and more.
Europe's Short Vacation
By Nouriel Roubini - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – Since last November, the European Central Bank, under its new president, Mario Draghi, has reduced its policy rates and undertaken two injections of more than €1 trillion of liquidity into the eurozone banking system. This led to a temporary reduction in the financial strains confronting the debt endangered countries on the eurozone's periphery (Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland), sharply lowered the risk of a liquidity run in the eurozone banking system, and cut financing costs for Italy and Spain from their unsustainable levels of last fall.
Euro Weakens Ahead of Spanish Debt Sales; Oil Climbs
By Lynn Thomasson and Kristine Aquino - Bloomberg.com
The euro weakened against most of its 16 major counterparts before Spanish bill sales, while Australian stocks rose and oil in New York climbed.
The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3118 as of 9:22 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.2 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index and Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures were little changed. Oil in New York advanced for a second day, gaining 0.2 percent to $103.10 a barrel.
All Eyes on Spain
BY DOUGLAS NOLAND - FinancialSense.com
"To talk about a bailout for Spain at the moment makes no sense. Spain is not going to be rescued. It's not possible to rescue Spain. There's no intention to, it's not necessary and therefore it's not going to be rescued." Spanish Prime Minister Marino Rajoy, April 12, 2012
The respite from the European debt crisis has run its course, and with the return of market stress comes a ratcheting up of vitriol directed at the Germans. I find it all worrying. For a moment today I tried to take comfort from a UK Telegraph headline that scrolled by on the Bloomberg screen: "Worrying Is Good for You and Reflects Higher IQ." I'm adding this to my list of notions that sound appealing and I only wish were true.
Spain: Too Big to Fail and Too Big to Save Spain, while attempting to comply with new European austerity rules, still fears that the situation has created "a vicious circle that strangles Spain."
By John Mauldin - Minyanville.com
I fully intended to ignore Spain this week. Really, truly I did. I had my letter all planned, but then a few notes drew my attention, and the more I reflected on them, the more I realized that the inflection point that I thought the European Central Bank had pushed down the road for at least a year with their recent €1 trillion LTRO is now rushing toward us much faster than ECB President Mario Draghi had in mind when he launched his massive funding operation.
The War for Spain
BY JOHN MAULDIN - FinancialSense.com
I fully intended to ignore Spain this week. Really, truly I did. I had my letter all planned, but then a few notes drew my attention, and the more I reflected on them, the more I realized that the inflection point that I thought the ECB had pushed down the road for at least a year with their recent €1 trillion LTRO is now rushing toward us much faster than ECB President Draghi had in mind when he launched his massive funding operation.So, we simply must pay attention to what Spain has done this week – which, to my surprise, seems to have escaped the attention of the major media. What we will find may be considered a tipping point when the crisis is analyzed by some future historian. And then we'll get back to some additional details on the US employment situation, starting with a few rather shocking data points. What we'll see is that for most people in the US the employment level has not risen, even as overall employment is up by 2 million jobs since the end of the recession in 2009. And there are a few other interesting items. Are we really going to see 2 billion jobs disappear in the next 30 years?
Spain Government May Take Over Some Regions' Finances;
Spanish 10-Year Yield His 6.15%,
CDS at Record High; Mission Impossible Madrid Threatens Intervention as Regional Debt Worries Mount
By Mike Shedlock
Madrid has threatened to seize budgetary control of wayward Spanish regions as early as May if they flout deficit limits, officials said – as investors took fright at the fragility of some eurozone economies.
Concerns about overspending by Spain's 17 autonomous regions and fears that its banks will need to be recapitalised with emergency European Union funds undermined confidence in the country's sovereign bonds, forcing down prices and pushing yields up above 6 per cent on Monday – towards levels considered unsustainable.
Spain has accepted mission impossible
By Wolfgang Münchau - FT.com
the markets panicking because Spain may fail to hit its deficit targets, or are they panicking at the thought that Spain may succeed? That, to me at least, is the key question facing eurozone policy makers. The ultimate outcome of the eurozone crisis will depend to a large extent on how that question is answered.
News coverage seems to suggest that the markets are panicking about the deficits themselves. I think this is wrong. The investors I know are worried that austerity may destroy the Spanish economy, and that it will drive Spain either out of the euro or into the arms of the European Stability Mechanism.
Euro Area Seeks Bigger IMF War Chest on Spanish Concerns
By Patrick Donahue and Simon Kennedy - Bloomberg.com
European officials travel to Washington this week seeking a bigger global war chest to combat the debt crisis as Spain's government battles to quell renewed market turmoil over its finances.
Three weeks after European leaders unveiled emergency euro- area funding exceeding the symbolic $1 trillion mark, concerns about Spain's position have ratcheted the nation's borrowing costs to the highest levels this year. Crisis-fighting resources will dominate talks at the International Monetary Fund's spring meeting in Washington from April 20-22.
Thanks, JQ, for the following...
Iceland did not forgive mortgage debt wholesale.
Prosecutions Summing up at former Iceland PM negligence trial
Yesterday and today are the final days of the Landsdómur trial against former Icelandic PM Geir H. Haarde. The prosecution summed up yesterday and the defence is doing so today.
Mortgage Debt Relief Icelandic government outlines household debt relief plans
The Icelandic government today signed a declaration of intent with the country's pension funds and loan providers aimed at tackling the problems of indebted householders.
The declaration allows for the worst positioned householders to reduce their debt by up to 70 percent of the value of their property. A government press release estimates that some 60,000 households could benefit from the new deal.
Credit Card Legislation Legislation on foreign-denominated loans enacted in Iceland
Legislation regarding unlawfully foreign-denominated loans to Icelandic households has come into force following its enactment by parliament. Financial institutions now have 90 days to convert foreign-denominated automobile loans in accordance with the interest rates published by the Central Bank of Iceland. Furthermore, households with housing mortgages will have the option of converting the loans into inflation-linked loans or non-indexed loans.
However, they did:
• Default on their debt..
• Prosecuted a Prime Minister..
• Adjusted Credit Cards debt that had been pegged to other currencies. Serious blessing to the Icelandic consumer.
• Allowed seriously underwater mortgages to get written down and gave the occupants interest free un-indexed loans. Imagine that! Consumer debt relief and loan value write downs. Hasn't happened in the US to my knowledge.
• And is having an economic recovery.. They followed something akin to capitalism by letting the banks fail.
OptionsXpress Accused by SEC of Naked Short-Sale Violations
By Joshua Gallu - Bloomberg.com
OptionsXpress Inc. (OXPS), the Chicago brokerage acquired by Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) last year, was accused by U.S. regulators of using sham "reset" transactions as part of an abusive naked short-selling scheme.
The company and four executives violated Securities and Exchange Commission rules in conducting trades from at least October 2008 to March 2010 designed to give the illusion of compliance with rules governing short sales, the SEC said in a statement today. An OptionsXpress customer was also accused by the SEC of participating in the alleged violations.
Banks Seen Dangerous
Defying Obama's Too-Big-to-Fail Move
By David J. Lynch - Bloomberg.com
Two years after President Barack Obama vowed to eliminate the danger of financial institutions becoming "too big to fail," the nation's largest banks are bigger than they were before the nation's credit markets seized up and required unprecedented bailouts by the government.
Five banks -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc.,Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. -- held $8.5 trillion in assets at the end of 2011, equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy, according to central bankers at the Federal Reserve.
Keiser Report: Somali Style! (E274)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert debt fondue and Central Banks. They also talk about Somalia's stable shilling and the lesson it holds for Europe. In the second half of the show Max talks to professor and economist, Constantin Gurdgiev about the new book of essays he's edited - What if Ireland defaults? They discuss the good cop, bad cop routine by the Troika in Ireland and what lessons can be drawn from the Russian default of the late 90's.
Romney's Lead Economist Urges Policies
that will Cause the Next Financial Crisis
BY WILLIAM K BLACK PHD - FinancialSense.com
Presidential nominees of either U.S. party can secure economic advice from any economistin the world. This makes it all the more amazing and sad that they choose economists with track records of disastrous policy advice. Bill Clinton chose Robert Rubin, George W. Bush chose Gregory Mankiw, Obama chose Lawrence Summers, and Mitt Romney chose Mankiw. Rubin and Summers led the Clinton administration's efforts to gut financial regulation. Mankiw led the efforts under Bush. Collectively, these efforts created the criminogenic environment that produced endemic financial fraud ("green slime").
The TurboTax Crime Wave Taxpayers deserve the same defense
from IRS penalties as Tim Geithner
By RODNEY P. MOCK And NANCY E. SHURTZ - WSJ.com
This year more than three-fourths of all individual tax returns will be filed electronically, and a growing number will come from people who used tax-preparation software. As modern and efficient as this is, the law has not caught up. Taxpayers who employ an accountant or other preparer have some protection from daunting penalties if the IRS finds mistakes. Software users who prepare their returns without help have little or no protection.
Tax time also means tax cheating
By Claudia Buck - The Sacramento Bee
An anonymous letter arrived at The Bee recently from a worried spouse. The woman said she was "terrified" that her husband's tax cheating would land them both in federal prison. Her husband, she said, didn't report all their rental property income because "everyone does it."
What, she asked, happens to "tax cheaters like my husband" and what are my options?
Taxes—Who Really Is Paying Up
By ANDREA COOMBES - WSJ.com
Do you pay your fair share in taxes?
Even as President Barack Obama pitches the "Buffett rule" to ensure that millionaires pay at least a 30% tax rate, some commentators are decrying the fact that about half of U.S. taxpayers don't pay any federal income tax.
But our tax system is more complex than any sound bite or simplistic headline can illustrate.
Tax time pushes some Americans to take a hike
By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
(Reuters) - A year ago, in Action Comics, Superman declared plans to renounce his U.S. citizenship.
"'Truth, justice, and the American way' - it's not enough anymore," the comic book superhero said, after both the Iranian and American governments criticized him for joining a peaceful anti-government protest in Tehran.
Taxes and Economic Breakdown
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
If a nation wishes to become prosperous, it must be free. America is the prime example of a free country becoming the richest country in the world. Toward the beginning of the modern era the Netherlands freed itself from Spain, and became prosperous. But as Spain languished under the Inquisition, all the plundered gold of the Americas could not save her from decline. In ancient times the Roman Empire suffered economic decline because freedom was curtailed under the later emperors. We see examples in history, again and again: if freedom is compromised, prosperity will also be compromised.
But how do we understand the term freedom?
There's nothing more uncertain than taxes Tax rates on track to soar, unless politicians can agree
By Jack Nutter
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — For most American taxpayers, the U.S. income tax filing deadline is coming and then will be gone. The dreaded 1040, W-2, 1098 and 1099 forms and more will be a distant memory until next year.
Many taxpayers spent hours gathering information and then filled out the appropriate forms on a computer program, by hand or paid a professional service for the privilege of contributing to this great Republic. Some taxpayers will get a refund but many others will have to write a check to the U.S. Treasury. Almost everyone will be grumbling when it is all over for one reason or another.
You Are Free To Travel—If The IRS Lets You
By Gonzalo Lira
A bill that nobody is paying any attention to is sailing through Congress: Senate Bill 1813. It passed the Senate by 74 to 22, and is expected to sail through the House as well. It's an act "[t]o reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes."
It's the "and for other purposes" part of the title that has me worried — specifically Section 40304: "Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain unpaid taxes."
This section would give the IRS the power to keep a U.S. citizen from traveling — and it's another example of Executive Power run amok. It's another example of how the United States is turning into a police-state.
Romney Specifies Deductions He'd Cut
By SARA MURRAY - WSJ.com
PALM BEACH, Fla.—Mitt Romney, speaking at a private fundraising event on Sunday, offered the first details of deductions he would eliminate or limit in order to offset the income tax cut he has proposed for all taxpayers.
Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said he would eliminate or limit for high-earners the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, and likely would do the same for the state income tax deduction and state property tax deduction.
Pothole Nation Infrastructure vs. the Cherished Priorities of the Rich
by SAM PIZZIGATI - Counterpunch.org
Investing in infrastructure used to be a political no-brainer. Politicians of nearly every ideological stripe supported government spending on everything from school buildings to bridges.
The more conservative pols would typically favor highways, the more liberal preferred mass transit. But nearly all elected officials considered quality infrastructure essential. Businesses simply couldn't thrive, even conservatives understood, without it.
25 Signs That Middle Class Families
Have Been Targeted For Extinction
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The middle class in America is being systematically wiped out, and most people don't even realize what is happening. Every single year, millions more Americans fall out of the middle class and become dependent on the government. The United States once had the largest and most vibrant middle class in the history of the world, but now the middle class is rapidly shrinking and government dependence is at an all-time high. So why is this happening? Well, America is becoming a poorer nation at the same time that wealth is becoming extremely concentrated at the very top. At this point, our economic system is designed to funnel as much money and power to the federal government and to the big corporations as possible. Individuals and small businesses have a really hard time thriving in this environment. To most big corporations these days, workers are viewed as financial liabilities. Most corporations want to reduce their payrolls as much as possible. You see, the truth is that most corporations want to be just like Apple. If you can believe it, Apple makes $400,000 in profit per employee. Big corporations don't care that you need to pay the mortgage and provide for your family. Their goal is to make as much money as possible. And most of the control freaks that run our bloated federal government don't care much about middle class families either. To many politicians and federal bureaucrats, middle class families are "useless eaters" that are constantly damaging the environment with their "excessive" lifestyles. In this day and age, neither the federal government nor the big corporations really have much use for middle class Americans, and that is really, really bad news for the the future of the middle class family in America.
Michigan government unleashes armed raids
on small pig farmers, forces farmer to shoot all his own pigs
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger - NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) NaturalNews can now confirm that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has, in total violation of the Fourth Amendment, conducted two armed raids on pig farmers in that state, one in Kalkaska County at Fife Lake and another in Cheboygan County. Staging raids involving six vehicles and ten armed men, DNA conducted unconstitutional, illegal and arguablycriminalarmed raids on these two farms with the intent of shooting all the farmers' pigs under a bizarre new "Invasive Species Order" (ISO) that has suddenly declared traditional livestock to be an invasive species.
Insane Michigan government announces plan
to destroy ranch livestock based on hair color
and arrest hundreds of ranchers as felons
by Mike Adams, NaturalNews.com - (March 27, 2012)
(NaturalNews) The state of Michigan is only days away from engaging in what can only be called true "animal genocide" -- the mass murder of ranch animals based on the color of their hair. It's all part of a shocking new "Invasive Species Order" (ISO) put in place by Michigan'sDepartment of Natural Resources(DNR). This Invasive Species Order suddenly and shockingly defines virtually all open-range pigs raised by small family farms to be illegal "invasive species," and possession of just one of these animals is now a felony crime in Michigan, punishable by up to four years in prison.
The Return of Judge Roy Moore
by CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI - CounterPunch.org
It's hard to keep Alabama out of the news. Two of its recent newsworthy events deserve attention. The first is its attempt to improve on the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, a 76-page statutory creation as remarkable for its length as for its content that was designed to rid the state of illegal immigrants.
As drafted, the Act prohibits anyone from giving an illegal immigrant a ride to church (or any other place for that matter). In addition, illegal aliens may "not be permitted to enroll in or attend any public postsecondary education institution." Both of those provisions, among some others, were blocked by a federal court whose decision is being appealed. The proposed revisions slightly soften some of the harsher provisions. Among those softened is the protocol to be followed when a law enforcement officer stops someone. Whereas the original legislation required a law enforcement officer to determine the immigration status of anyone stopped by the law enforcement officer for any reason, the determination is now only required if a person is "lawfully arrested or is issued a traffic citation. . . ." Mysteriously, the amendment adds a provision that says when an arrest or citation is issued to the driver, the officer may also inquire as to the citizenship of everyone else in the car even though none of them has been issued a citation or been arrested. Someone smarter than I can explain the logic of that.
The Simple Idea That Is Transforming Health Care A focus on quality of life helps medical providers see the big picture—and makes for healthier, happier patients
By LAURA LANDRO - WSJ.com
A very simple question is changing the delivery of medical care:
How is your health affecting your quality of life?
For decades, numbers drove the treatment of diseases like asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. Public-health officials focused on reducing mortality rates and hitting targets like blood-sugar levels for people with diabetes or cholesterol levels for those with heart disease.
Ouch! Decade of Obamacare Will Cost $1,160 billion
By Michael Barone PatriotPost.us
How much will Obamacare -- call it the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if you like -- cost over the next 10 years?
More than you've been led to believe, reports Charles Blahous of George Mason University's Mercatus Center. To be specific, he projects it will add $1,160 billion to net federal spending over the next 10 years and at least $340 billion to federal budget deficits in that time.
Secret Service Sex Scandal Upsets Obama Colombia Trip
By Eric Martin and Kate Andersen Brower - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama came to Colombia seeking to erase an image of the U.S. in Latin America as over-assertive Yankees who exploit the region at will. He left with the stereotype reinforced.
The sixth Summit of the Americas that concluded yesterday in the Caribbean city of Cartagena was supposed to focus on trade in the Western Hemisphere. Instead, 11 U.S. Secret Service agents became the center of attention after they were sent home for allegations of misconduct involving a prostitute.
'Buffett Rule' fails Senate test vote Democrats vow election-year push
for 30% tax on millionaires
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A White House-backed proposal to force millionaires to pay at least 30% of their income in taxes before charity failed a test vote in the Senate on Monday, but Democrats vowed to keep pressing it this election year.
The so-called "Buffett Rule," named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, needed 60 votes to advance. It got 51.
Banks Hold Down Mortgage Casualties
By MortgageDaily.com - The Sacramento Bee
DALLAS, April 16, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to fewer bank failures, mortgage-related casualties fell. If the trend continues, this year's count could land under a hundred for the first time since 2006.
From Jan. 1 through March 31, Mortgage Dailytracked 27 mortgage-related business closings. Among the total were 16 FDIC-insured banks -- including some that weathered the Great Depression. During the same period in 2011, there were 37 mortgage-related casualties. The improvement can be attributed to a decline in bank failures.
Housing policy is holding back America's recovery
By Edward Luce - FT.com
In the coming weeks, Washington will discover whether Edward DeMarco, acting regulator of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is susceptible to political pressure. Most Americans have not heard of Mr DeMarco. But millions of homeowners will be affected by what he decides. One way or another, that will also apply to his nominal boss, President Barack Obama.
More than four years after the bubble burst, the moribund US housing market has shown signs of life. Much like the welcome but still modest falls in US unemployment, it would be premature to celebrate the housing market's recent stirrings. Just as the US labour market is conditioned by the millions who have dropped out of it, so house prices are anchored by the 11m or so Americans whose homes remain "underwater" (ie houses that are worth less than their mortgages).
U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Fell in April to Three-Month Low
By Alex Kowalski - Bloomberg.com
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders fell in April to a three-month low, a sign the industry is still trying to gain its footing.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence decreased to 25 this month from 28 in March, the Washington-based group said today. Economists projected no change in the index, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings below 50 mean more respondents said conditions were poor.
So far High Gasoline Prices are not Affecting Inflation
By Ed Dolan - OilPrice.com
Recently many commentators have worried that rising gasoline prices will derail the fragile recovery of the U.S. economy. The latest inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows little sign that any such thing is happening yet.
The headline all-items CPI for urban consumers rose at a 3.54 percent annual rate in March, down from 5.03 percent in February. (I base these rates on the unrounded CPI data supplied by the Cleveland Fed and state monthly data as annual rates.)
Apple Shares Lose Shine
By STEVEN RUSSOLILLO and JONATHAN CHENG - WSJ.com
The meteoric stock-price rise that has propelled Apple Inc. to become the world's most-valuable company is showing signs of faltering, threatening to drag much of the market down with it.
Apple's shares plunged 4.1% on Monday, extending their slide to a fifth consecutive day and sparking worries about whether the maker of iPads and iPhones may be headed for a bigger descent. Apple is now down 9.9% from its intraday peak of $644 hit on April 10, just shy of the 10% level that market watchers call a "correction." On Monday, Apple fell $25.10, to $580.13, in 4 p.m. Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.
Soros, Trichet and the Asians
By David Marsh, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Just as financier and philanthropist George Soros was in Berlin last week to warn the Germans of impending doom in economic and monetary union (EMU), Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank, was swinging through London to tell the English that (with any luck) all will be well.
The remarks of these two luminaries (of which more later) are undoubtedly significant. However, as Europe's innate contradictions over the euro tie it into ever more intractable knots, the field on which the single currency's future will be played out is shifting slowly, but perceptibly, away from European capitals to Asia.
Ron Paul Interviewed by Judge Napolitano
Dr. Ron Paul is a longstanding defender of the constitution. Virtually unbreakable due to his squeaky clean record. The mainstream media and politicians are forced to make up lies to discredit him.
U.S. Midwest hit by storms and tornadoes; 5 dead
By MarketWatch
Tel Aviv (MarketWatch) — Thunderstorms and dozens of tornadoes ran across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma on Saturday into Sunday, weekend media reports say.
Five people, including two children, were killed early Sunday after a tornado hit the northwest Oklahoma city of Woodward, CNN reported, citing a spokeswoman for the state Medical Examiner's Office.
A town of about 250 people, Thurman, in southwest Iowa, was about 75% destroyed due to the severe weather, reports said. In Creston, Iowa, southwest of Des Moines, a hospital was hit by winds or a tornado and was damaged, but no patients or staff were hurt, reports say.
Repsol's Cuban Progress an Open Door for U.S.
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
Spanish energy company Repsol said its exploration campaign off the Cuban coast was moving pretty slowly. Started in February despite a backlash from U.S. lawmakers, the Cuban government said the drilling campaign could break its reliance on Venezuelan reserves. After a false start in 2004, Repsol said geological conditions were impeding Cuban developments. Perhaps the slow pace for Repsol provides time for a strategic reset for Washington if it's savvy enough.
India Overtakes China
as Largest Importer of Iranian Crude
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
India has finally overtaken China as the largest importer of Iranian oil during the first quarter of this year. They achieved this due to a surge in buying ahead of the EU sanctions, due to take effect in July, which could severely reduce supply, and the fact that China has reduced its own purchases in a conflict over new contract negotiations.
During the first quarter of 2012 Indian imports were up by 23 percent from 2011 levels of 351,00 barrels per day (bpd) to 433,000 bpd, and more than China's 256,000 bpd. In fact whilst India's imports have increased by 23 percent, China's have fallen by 40.3 percent over the same period.
North Korea's Kim Says His Regime Can't Be Blackmailed
By Sangwon Yoon - Bloomberg.com
North Korea won't be bullied by its nuclear-armed enemies, third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un said in his first public address at a military parade as South Korea warned that his regime may conduct an atomic test.
Dressed in a dark Mao suit and standing on a podium high above Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang yesterday, the new leader said, "the days of enemies threatening and blackmailing us with nuclear weapons are forever over." Goose-stepping soldiers, mobile rocket launchers and tanks rumbled through the streets below in a celebration broadcast on state television.
Obama, Rice Condemn North Korea's Failed Missile Launch
After North Korea's much-hyped long-range missile broke apart early Friday, President Obama joined world leaders in denouncing the launch, saying the international community would take further steps to isolate the country. Angus Walker of Independent Television News reports.
Too Early To Talk Success or Failure in Iran Nuclear Talks
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Here is an interesting notion: The Iran nuclear talks in Istanbul were not a "failure", but globally crippling sanctions could be.
Trigger happy Israelis and a US election campaign season that requires the illusion of immediate action effectively hijacked the talks, which opened on Saturday and concluded with a deal to meet again on 23 May in Baghdad.
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