STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 6 August 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 6 August 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 5 August 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 5 August 2013
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Dow Jones 15,612.13 -46.23 (-0.30%)
S&P 500 1,707.14 -2.53 (-0.15%)
[font color=green]Nasdaq 3,692.95 +3.36 (0.09%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.49% -0.03 (-1.19%)
30 Year 3.58% -0.03 (-0.83%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.










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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Fuddnik]

1. They missed 100 in the Senate

[Tansy_Gold]

2. I know, right?

We used to have a columnist in the AZ Repulsive, Dave Liebowitz (referenced here http://homebrewedtheology.com/welcome-to-the-republic-of-arizona.php), who referred to the state legislature as "the 90 dwarfs." That was in the good ol' days when we had elected officials who would make comments such as, "I didn't know you were Jewish; you don't have a big hooked nose" or "Why should high school teachers need more education than first grade teachers? Don't high school students already know how to read?"

Do we have ANY elected officials ANYWHERE who actually do anything positive for the human condition?


And yeah, I know, you're in FL and I'm in AZ and it's kind of a toss-up as to which is worse politically speaking. Well, wait a minute. Is there any state that DOESN'T have more than enough looney tunes in gubmint?

[DemReadingDU]

12. Ohio has plenty of loonies, n/t

[xchrom]

3. Italian Recession Becomes Longest On Record

http://www.businessinsider.com/italian-recession-now-longest-on-record-2013-8

Italy just released second quarter GDP figures, which showed that the country continued to contract last quarter.
GDP fell 0.2% in the second quarter after contracting 0.6% in Q1, beating consensus estimates for a 0.4% decline.

Year over year, GDP fell 2.0%, better than expectations for a 2.2% decline.

However, at eight quarters running, Italy's recession is now the longest on record.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/italian-recession-now-longest-on-record-2013-8#ixzz2bBRlsTlr

[xchrom]

4. MORGAN STANLEY: The Fed's Decision To Taper In September Is Now Dependent On A Single Data Release

http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-tapering-depends-on-august-jobs-data-2013-8

A weaker-than-expected July jobs report in the U.S. on Friday did a little to temper consensus expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper back the pace of monthly bond purchases it makes as soon as the September FOMC meeting.

Strength in prior job reports this year has been the cause for big sell-offs in the bond market as traders price in increased chances of tapering, but Friday, the market had the opposite reaction, piling into bonds and sending yields lower.

Now, Morgan Stanley chief U.S. economist and former FOMC secretary Vincent Reinhart says the Fed's decision over whether or not to begin tapering in September comes down to one more datapoint: the August jobs report, due out in a month.

"The net consequence of the neither hot-nor-cold report is that the Fed really will be data dependent in its decision on tapering at its September meeting," writes Reinhart in a note. "If the August jobs report is weaker than the print on Friday, then it would be difficult to justify dialing back policy accommodation. A report around these July payroll gains or stronger, the Fed can assert that there has been enough sustained improvement to justify scaling back the pace of its purchases."



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-tapering-depends-on-august-jobs-data-2013-8#ixzz2bBTOTYZy

[xchrom]

5. Jeff Bezos' Shocking Washington Post Buy Was Not A Business Deal — It Was A Cultural Statement

http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-shocking-washington-post-buy-was-not-a-business-deal--it-was-a-cultural-statement-2013-8


The sale of the Washington Post to Amazon founder and multibillionaire Jeff Bezos for $250m – just under 1% of his wealth – reads like the coda of a Tom Wolfe novel. A great American institution is bought by an internet entrepreneur, part of a Silicon Valley elite, whose rocket-ship ride to stratospheric wealth has coincided with the implosion of the galaxy of influential brands born before the era of the microprocessor.
It is the first newspaper purchase in over a decade that has shaken American journalism out of its sleepwalk to oblivion, and made the wires hum with something other than bad news. Has this changed the narrative of inevitable decline? A seriously successful son of the new economy has dropped a small amount of pocket change on a title of international significance, but uncertain outlook. Bezos is a man who can afford $42m to spend on a giant clock built inside a mountain – which, one might speculate, is a relatively safe investment compared with a newspaper that has recorded seven consecutive years of declining income.

The motivation of Bezos to buy a newspaper will, no doubt, be picked over in the financial pages, but this is not a business deal; it is a cultural statement. News is not the industry that it once was, or an industry at all. It is a cultural good, the format and delivery of which needs remaking for a different set of consumer needs and capabilities.

It is highly unlikely that the immediate key performance metric for the Washington Post's new owner will be increased profitability and a soaring share price. Or any share price. In a finely-worded, short and poignant letter to the staff, proprietor Don Graham noted that in discussing the Post's future with publisher Katherine Weymouth, they "began to ask ourselves if our small public company was still the best home for the newspaper".



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-shocking-washington-post-buy-was-not-a-business-deal--it-was-a-cultural-statement-2013-8#ixzz2bBUzKk9a

[Tansy_Gold]

16. No shit, Sherlock. n/t

[DemReadingDU]

21. Ian Welsh: Jeff Bezos Purchased the Washington Post for influence and power in DC

8/5/13 Why Jeff Bezos Purchased the Washington Post

Newspapers don’t make much money any more (though in the 90s they made returns in the teens regularly.) What they do still have, though, is influence and power. Even though newspapers don’t have the reach television does, they determine the stories of the day—they control the news cycle more than any other part of the media. More than that, newspapers are intelligence bureaus. Rupert Murdoch, no fool, would spend hours on the phone with beat reporters, picking their brains.

Power leads to money. Amazon is under what Bezos must consider attack (as in making Amazon pay sales taxes), and he needs influence, power and intelligence in DC. The Washington Post, at 250 million, is an absolute steal, even if it loses money every day.

http://www.ianwelsh.net/why-jeff-bezos-purchased-the-washington-post/

[Fuddnik]

24. The same reason Rev. Moon started the Washington Times.

[xchrom]

6. The Washington Post's Financials Suggest Bezos May Have Gotten Himself A Huge Bargain

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-washington-posts-financials-suggest-bezos-may-have-gotten-himself-a-huge-bargain-2013-8

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has yet to describe his plan for the Washington Post, which he just bought for $250 million. Even though the newspaper itself is part of an industry that's in free fall, the finances of the Washington Post as a standalone paper actually have some bright spots.
He may have gotten a bargain.

Here's what Bezos is getting for his $250 million, based on the company's 2012 annual report

***SNIP

But the online section of the Post is pretty healthy:

Online revenue (washingtonpost.com and Slate, mostly) increased 5% to $110.6 million
Display online advertising revenue increased 6% in 2012,
Online classified advertising revenue decreased 1% in 2012.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-washington-posts-financials-suggest-bezos-may-have-gotten-himself-a-huge-bargain-2013-8#ixzz2bBXPHZPn

[xchrom]

7. DECADE-LONG AUSTRALIA MINING BOOM TURNS TO BUST

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINAS_REACH_AFTER_THE_BOOM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-06-03-18-50

MACKAY, Australia (AP) -- The Australian mining boom built over a decade on Chinese hunger for energy and raw materials is turning into bust for many business owners as China's cooling growth reverberates through a country accustomed to winning from the rise of an Asian economic giant.

Endowed with vast mineral resources, Australia has been the envy of the Western world for avoiding recession during the global financial crisis while other wealthy countries drowned in debt. But the country now faces a potentially painful transition as it weans itself off a heavy reliance on its two biggest exports, coal and iron ore.

Australia's dilemma underscores that China's long run of supercharged growth has given it enough weight in the world economy to create not only winners, but losers too when its own fortunes change.

Trade between Australia and China equaled 7.6 percent of Australia's $1.5 trillion economy last year, a dramatic threefold increase from a decade earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of trade data. During that time, mining companies gushed multibillion dollar profits while jobs as mundane as maintenance commanded salaries above $120,000.

[xchrom]

8. AUSSIE DOLLAR SPIKES DESPITE RATE CUT

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-06-05-59-50

LONDON (AP) -- The Australian dollar was the main mover in fairly subdued financial markets Tuesday after the country's central bank cut its main interest to a record low.

The currency was up 0.9 percent at $0.8996 as the quarter-point rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which took the main rate to 2.5 percent, was accompanied by a less dovish statement than expected. Notably, the bank removed language about the potential for further cuts.

"Hopes for a large 50 basis point cut were disappointed with the Bank settling for another 25 point move and a neutral tone in its accompanying statement," said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International. "The Aussie dollar duly found support."

Australian shares did not benefit from the rate cut, and the S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.1 percent lower at 5,105.60.

[xchrom]

9. AUCTION SET FOR GOLD FORTUNE AMASSED BY RECLUSE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RECLUSES_GOLD_FORTUNE_?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-06-03-48-10


FILE - This Feb. 26, 2013 file photo shows gold Mexican 50-peso pieces that once belonged to Walter Samaszko, Jr. that were up for auction in Carson City, Nev. Samaszko, 69, died in June, 2012, leaving thousands of gold coins and bouillon in his garage. One batch, mostly bullion, was sold at auction in February for $3.5 million. Another auction Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 at the Carson City courthouse includes more than 2,600 coins to be sold in six lots. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cathleen Allison, File) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The final treasures of a quiet man who collected a fortune in gold coins are going on the auction block Tuesday.

The body of Walter Samaszko Jr. was found in his Carson City home in June 2012. After his death, a cleaning crew hired to tidy his modest, ranch style home where he had lived for four decades came upon a stunning discovery - boxes and boxes full of gold coins and bullion collected over an unassuming lifetime. It was enough to fill two wheelbarrows.

One batch, mostly bullion, was sold at auction in February for $3.5 million. Now, more than 2,600 coins are set to be auctioned in six lots Tuesday at the Carson City courthouse.

"These are the rated coins; the collector types," said Alan Glover, Carson City Clerk-Recorder who is charge of handling Samaszko's estate. "It's a little more complicated on the pricing that it is on the bullion," he said Monday.

[xchrom]

10. UK 'bad bank' repays 1.9 billion pounds to taxpayers in first half of 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/uk-ukar-results-idUKBRE97506K20130806

(Reuters) - Britain's "bad bank" that is running down the loans of two bailed-out lenders said on Tuesday it repaid 1.9 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) to the government in the first six months of 2013.

UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), a state-run 'zombie bank' that does not take on new business, said it has now returned 6.6 billion pounds to the government. It owed 48.7 billion pounds when it was created in October 2010.

UKAR, Britain's seventh largest mortgage lender, is winding down the loans of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, two of Britain's customer-owned building societies which were nationalised in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Chief Executive Richard Banks said he still expects the process of repayment to take a decade but UKAR will continue to make regular repayments to the Treasury and taxpayers should get all their money back.

[xchrom]

11. Italy recession drags on but GDP falls less than expected

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/uk-italy-gdp-idUKBRE9750AJ20130806

(Reuters) - Italy's economy shrank by less than expected in the second quarter, adding to recent signs its longest post-war recession is bottoming out but still marking the eighth consecutive quarter of contraction.

Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent following a 0.6 contraction in the first three months, and dropped 2.0 percent on an annual basis, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Tuesday.

A Reuters survey of analysts had expected a second quarter fall of 0.4 percent, down 2.2 percent annually.

Leading indicators over the last few weeks have suggested the recession is easing and many analysts are predicting a return to very modest growth in the fourth or possibly even the third quarter.

[xchrom]

13. Pension deficits still widening at top UK companies - report

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/uk-britain-pensions-companies-idUKBRE9750FT20130806


(Reuters) - The pension funding gap of Britain's top companies has widened in the past year despite billions of pounds of corporate cash being injected into retirement schemes, a report said on Tuesday.

Pension consultants LCP said pension scheme deficits for companies in the UK's FTSE 100 blue chip stock index grew to 43 billion pounds at June 30 compared with 42 billion a year before, as fund assets didn't generate enough cash to cover obligations.

The finding is an illustration of the impact of repeated rounds of "quantitative easing", under which the Bank of England has been buying back bonds to boost economic growth, contributing to a sharp drop in the yield on British government gilts - a staple investment for pension funds.

Pension funds have been left searching for higher-yielding investments such as real estate while they wait for gilt yields to turn higher.

[xchrom]

14. From manufacturing to car sales, Britain bounces back

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/uk-industrial-output-idUKLNE97500E20130806

(Reuters) - British manufacturing grew much more strongly than expected in June, suggesting the country's recovery is broadening just as the Bank of England prepares to set out its plan for steering the economy back to health.

Car sales also rose, house prices continued to climb and British retailers had their best month since 2006.

Along with Monday's purchasing managers index showing the services sector growing at its fastest in more than six years, it all confirmed a rebound that was unheralded just a few months ago. There are some concerns, however, that much of it is being driven by easily lending and increased debt.

Manufacturing rose by 1.9 percent in monthly terms, stronger than even the highest forecast in a Reuters poll and its fastest growth since July of last year.

[xchrom]

15. French Cross Rhine for Work to Escape 10% Unemployment

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-05/french-cross-rhine-for-work-to-escape-10-unemployment.html

Anne Marie Maiweg, who lives in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, doesn’t mind her 45-minute trip to work by tram and bus. It takes her to a place where she found a job on the first try: Germany.

Maiweg was hired earlier this year by a shop in the German town of Kehl, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) across the Rhine River from her region of Alsace.

“It was easier for me to find a job in Kehl than in Strasbourg,” the 42-year-old mother of three said in fluent German while standing behind the counter of the Engelhard & Herr toy store on Kehl’s main pedestrian shopping street. “In Germany, they take people more easily and train them for new work even if you have worked in a totally different area than the one asked for.”

With unemployment in Alsace at about 10 percent and the jobless rate in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg where Kehl is located at about 4 percent, an increasing number of French people are crossing the border for work. Their commutes highlight how the euro region has one currency -- and 17 different labor markets.

[xchrom]

17. Family Offices Chasing Wealthy’s $46 Trillion in Assets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-05/family-offices-chasing-wealthy-s-46-trillion-in-assets.html


Michael Cole says his offices, adorned here with a Warhol print, are designed to appeal to 'the new billionaire.'

Karen McNeill, Ph.D., used to teach history at the University of California, Berkeley. In June, she took a job as head of family history with Ascent Private Capital Management, a new unit of U.S. Bancorp (USB) that manages the affairs of ultra-wealthy families.

McNeill’s job is to help Ascent’s clients discover their pasts, skeletons and all, and gain perspective on their Gatsby-sized fortunes. The job is the creation of Michael Cole, Ascent’s president, who’s determined to make Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest U.S. lender, a contender in the market for high-end financial services.

Cole, 53, and McNeill are based in San Francisco, where Ascent has one of its five offices, all decorated in white, and all inspired by Apple Inc. stores and Virgin America Inc. aircraft cabins, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its September issue.

[xchrom]

18. Trade Gap in U.S. Narrows to Lowest Level Since October 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-06/trade-gap-in-u-s-narrows-more-than-forecast-to-34-2-billion.html

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in June to the lowest level since October 2009 as crude oil imports declined and American companies shipped more goods abroad.

The gap shrank 22.4 percent to $34.2 billion from a revised $44.1 billion in May that was smaller than previously estimated, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 72 economists called for a $43.5 billion deficit. Exports increased to an all-time high while imports fell to a three-month low.

The smaller trade bill, which reflected increased U.S. shipments of capital goods and petroleum, indicates second-quarter growth was stronger than initially estimated. At the same time, a projected pickup in consumer and corporate demand may encourage American companies to accelerate import purchases.

“The trade picture could be shifting a little” given projections for a pickup in U.S. consumer demand, Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the report. “In terms of business confidence here in the U.S., things are shifting toward a more domestic demand-driven economy.”

[xchrom]

19. German Orders Gain Most in Eight Months in Recovery Sign

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-06/german-factory-orders-rise-most-in-eight-months-as-recovery-seen.html

German factory orders increased by the most in eight months and U.K. industrial production beat forecasts in June, adding to evidence of a nascent recovery in Europe. Italy’s economic contraction slowed.

German orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, increased 3.8 percent from a month earlier, driven by contracts for bulk items, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast a gain of 1 percent in June, according to the median of 42 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. U.K. output climbed 1.1 percent from May after stagnating for three months, the Office for National Statistics said in London.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said last week that a “tentative” stabilization in the 17-nation euro area, which excludes the U.K., is under way after at least six quarters of contraction. That may benefit Germany, the region’s biggest economy, as its export-focused manufacturers boost European sales to counter a slowdown in Asia. The country’s leader, Angela Merkel, faces parliamentary elections next month.

“The above-average big-ticket orders mean that the June number overstates the real economic dynamic,” said Stefan Kipar, an economist at BayernLB in Munich. “Still, given the discernible upwards movement in the confidence indicators, continued economic rejuvenation can be expected for the second half of the year.”

[Hotler]

20. Good morning everyone. Have a good week and stay safe. n/t

[DemReadingDU]

22. PonziWorld: Hindenburg Clusterfuck 9.0

8/5/13 Unprecedented Complacency, Zero Conviction
The U.S. stock market has turned into a ludicrous circus act, fully under the control of Central Banks and HFT bots. But apparently nobody gives a damn, since complacency is also off the charts as the four year Central Bank "put" has lulled everyone into a coma.

Meanwhile, conviction in terms of volume, has literally fallen off a cliff. Today's SPY (S&P) ETF hourly volume was 50% that of last Christmas Eve volume and a mere 38% of July 3rd hourly volume, both half trading days before major holidays...


h/t: Zerohedge for identifying another Hindenburg Omen. The S&P was off a mere 2.5 points, but the number of new highs was half that of Friday while new lows climbed 50% to the highest level in two months...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-05/lowest-volume-day-year-ends-hindenburg-omen

Nothing Matters, Until it Collapses:
As we see below, low options volatility has preceded every single crash of the past 10 years. In reality, it has preceded every single crash in world history. It's only when people don't expect something bad to happen that it can do the most damage. Unlike 2007 when the markets were already starting to price in some amount of "adverse" volatility, today, options implied volatility continues falling as the markets grind ever-higher. This chart alone makes a complete and utter mockery of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Buying options vol when it was cheap(est) has consistently made money. Buying options vol when it was very expensive, never pays off. Still, everyone buys options after the market has already crashed. In this cycle, Central Banks have made hedging financially impossible by artificially depressing realized volatility for so long (which feeds back into options volatility), therefore, they've already set the markets up for a sky dive without a parachute...





http://www.ponziworld.blogspot.com/2013/08/mass-complacency.html

[Tansy_Gold]

23. Fascinating video in GD about Allen Stanford

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023413110#post1

Well worth watching, and thanks to malaise for posting it.