Month: July 2012

ECB’s Draghi Repeats The Party Line, Forces Another Brief EUR Squeeze, Sends Futures Soaring

by

– ECB’s Draghi Repeats The Party Line, Forces Another Brief EUR Squeeze, Sends Futures Soaring (ZeroHedge, July 26, 2012):

When you can’t act, you talk. Sure enough, here we go again:

  • DRAGHI SAYS ECB WILL DO WHATEVER NEEDED TO PRESERVE THE EURO
  • DRAGHI SAYS THE EURO IS IRREVERSIBLE
  • DRAGHI SAYS YIELD DISRUPTING POLICY TRANSMISSION ARE IN ECB REMIT
  • DRAGHI SAYS SHARING SOVEREIGNTY ON EU LEVEL TO COME
  • DRAGHI SAYS LAST EU SUMMIT WAS MOMENT OF RECOGNITION

And of course the weak hands cover until they realize Draghi just said absolutely nothing, as at this point everything is in Germany’s hands. And not only has Germany not said anything, and won’t until September when the constitutional court will approve or deny the ESM, but in fact they have been saying overnight that Spanish bonds are not eligible for EFSF purchases. In the meantime, Europe has devolved from a continent of coordinated action to coordinated jawboning.

Read moreECB’s Draghi Repeats The Party Line, Forces Another Brief EUR Squeeze, Sends Futures Soaring

And Here Is What Former Goldman Sachs Managing Director And ECB President Mario Draghi CAN Do, In His Own Words

by

– Mario Draghi (Wikipedia):

Draghi was then vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm-wide management committee (2002–2005). A controversy existed on his duties while employed at Goldman Sachs. Pascal Canfin (MEP) asserted Draghi was involved in swaps for European governments, namely Greece, trying to disguise their countries’ economic status.

– And Here Is What Draghi CAN Do, In His Own Words (ZeroHedge, July 26, 2012):

For those stunned that the market is reacting as euphorically as it is to remarks which are basically a rehash of prior Draghi statements and are nothing new, or that bond yields are ripping in on the implicit threat that Draghi may reactivate the SMP, in the process further subordinating bondholders and cramming them down forcing even more selling, here is a sampling of previous Draghi statements explaining what he can do, and more importantly, what he is allowed to do under the existing European framework. Which is why we find it not very surprising that Draghi waited until all usual German suspects are on vacation and are thus unable to immediately issue a press release as to the structural limitations of what Draghi can do. Because when in doubt, ask this: does export-heavy Germany want a strong or a weak euro?

Read moreAnd Here Is What Former Goldman Sachs Managing Director And ECB President Mario Draghi CAN Do, In His Own Words

Study: ‘Children In High Fluoride Areas Have Significantly Lower IQ Scores’ (Journal Published By The National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences)

by

– Developmental Fluoride Neurotoxicity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Environmental Health Perspectives):

Abstract

Background: Although fluoride may cause neurotoxicity in animal models and acute fluoride poisoning causes neurotoxicity in adults, very little is known of its effects on children’s neurodevelopment.

Objective: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies to investigate the effects of increased fluoride exposure and delayed neurobehavioral development.

Methods: We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Water Resources Abstracts, and TOXNET databases through 2011 for eligible studies. We also searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, as many studies on fluoride neurotoxicity have been published in Chinese journals only. In total, we identified 27 eligible epidemiological studies with high and reference exposures, endpoints of IQ scores or related cognitive function measures with means and variances for the two exposure groups. We estimated the standardized mean difference (SMD) between exposed and reference groups across all studies using random effects models. We conducted sensitivity analyses restricted to studies using the same outcome assessment and having drinking water fluoride as the only exposure. Cochran test for heterogeneity between studies, Begg’s funnel plot and Egger test to assess publication bias were performed. Meta-regressions to explore sources of variation in mean differences among the studies were conducted.

Results: The standardized weighted mean difference in IQ score between exposed and reference populations was -0.45 (95% CI -0.56 to -0.35) using a random-effects model. Thus, children in high fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those who lived in low fluoride areas. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses also indicated inverse associations, although the substantial heterogeneity did not appear to decrease.

Conclusions: The results support the possibility of an adverse effect of high fluoride exposure on children’s neurodevelopment. Future research should include detailed individual-level information on prenatal exposure, neurobehavioral performance, and covariates for adjustment.

Read moreStudy: ‘Children In High Fluoride Areas Have Significantly Lower IQ Scores’ (Journal Published By The National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences)

Batman Shooter James Holmes Received Grant Money From National Institutes Of Health

by

See also:

– Batman Shooter James Holmes Was On Hardcore Pharmaceutical Drugs

– Colorado killer James Holmes received grant money from National Institutes of Health (Natural News, July 24, 2012):

As if there wasn’t anything negative to add to the story of the horrible massacre committed during an opening weekend midnight matinee of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colo., this past weekend, you likely will be sickened to learn that the suspect, James Holmes, had previously been awarded a $26,000 taxpayer-supported grant to go to school.

The grant, which was one of six awarded to the brightest of students by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., is considered extremely prestigious. NIH is part of the Department of Health and Human Resources.

The agency awarded the stipend to Holmes and also paid his tuition to the highly competitive neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Denver. Five other students at the school were also given the stipend.

It wasn’t clear if any of the funds were used by the suspected gunman to purchase the vast array of weapons, 6,000 rounds of ammunition and other gear – such as his bulletproof vest, shin, groin and neck protectors, as well as a gas mask and other items – he used in the attack and to booby trap his apartment.

Read moreBatman Shooter James Holmes Received Grant Money From National Institutes Of Health

Olive Oil Lowers Mortality By A Quarter And Heart Disease By Nearly One-Half

by

– Olive oil lowers mortality by a quarter and heart disease by nearly one-half (Natural News, July 24, 2012):

Followers of the popular Mediterranean diet have known for years that eating fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and plenty of extra virgin olive oil is beneficial to health. Recent studies have continued to bolster this eating pattern, with much less emphasis on overcooked meats, hydrogenated fats and fried foods. They may not realize that many of the benefits come from the monounsaturated fats provided by the liberal use of fresh-pressed olive oil.

Reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Spain found that the monounsaturated fats found in olive oil work synergistically with essential fatty acids such as the omega-3 fat, DHA to enhance their incorporation into cell membranes. The scientists found an association between greater olive oil intake and a lower risk of dying over an average of 13.4 years of follow-up.

Read moreOlive Oil Lowers Mortality By A Quarter And Heart Disease By Nearly One-Half

Hong Kong Completing 1,000 Ton Gold Vault

by

– Hong Kong Completing 1,000 Ton Gold Vault (ZeroHedge, July 26, 2012):

…

In Hong Kong they are completing work on its largest gold vault due to open in September which can hold 22% of the gold that is in the US facility Fort Knox.

The new secure storage facility will compete with services set up by the Airport Authority Hong Kong in 2009 that serviced governments, commodity exchanges, bullion banks, refiners, wealthy individuals and exchange-traded funds.

The new facility is within the international airport compound and its capacity is 1,000 metric tons.

This signals the growing interest from China currently the world’s second largest consumer of gold in owning physical gold bullion.

…

U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Must Disclose Veteran Drug Test Documents

by

– VA Must Disclose Veteran Drug Test Documents (Courthouse News Service, July 23, 2012):

(CN) – Veterans won another court order requiring the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hand over more documents about its Cold War-era drug experiments on thousands of Vietnam veterans.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in Oakland, Calif., said the documents requested were “squarely relevant” to the claim that the government failed to adequately notify veterans of the chemicals they were exposed to and what that exposure might do to their health.

The Army and the CIA, with the help of Nazi scientists, used at least 7,800 veterans as human guinea pigs for testing the effects of up to 400 types of drugs and chemicals, including mescaline, LSD, amphetamines, barbituates, mustard gas and nerve agents, the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers claim in a 2009 class action.

The government covered up the true nature of its experiments, which began in the 1950s under code names such as “Bluebird,” “Artichoke” and “MKUltra.”

In “Project Paperclip,” the Army and CIA allegedly recruited Nazi scientists to help test various psychochemicals and develop a new truth serum using its own veterans as test subjects.

“Over half of these Nazi recruits had been members of the SS or Nazi Party,” according to the class action. “The ‘Paperclip’ name was chosen because so many of the employment applications were clipped to immigration papers.”

Veterans say the government was trying to develop and test substances that could trigger mind control, confusion, euphoria, altered personality, unconsciousness, physical paralysis, illogical thinking and mania, among other effects.

Read moreU.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Must Disclose Veteran Drug Test Documents

UK GDP Slump: Economy Contracted By 0.7% In The Second Quarter Of 2012

by

Imagine my absence of shock.

– UK GDP slump: Osborne’s blundering incompetence made the economy sicker (Guardian, July 25, 2012):

Yes, it was raining. Yes, we had an extra day off to celebrate the Queen’s 60 years on the throne. Even so, news that the economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2012 came as a real shock.

The City had been braced for bad news, but not this bad. Analysts had expected a 0.2% drop in output, and were taken aback by evidence that Britain’s double-dip recession has not only extended into a third quarter but is deepening as well. Bad was not really the right word to describe the figures. Catastrophic was better.

Read moreUK GDP Slump: Economy Contracted By 0.7% In The Second Quarter Of 2012

Japan Posts Biggest First-Half Trade Deficit On Record

by

– Amid energy shortages, a record first-half trade deficit for Japan (Washington Post, July 25, 2012):

TOKYO — Japan posted its biggest first-half trade deficit on record, according to government figures released Wednesday, highlighting the economic consequences as this nuclear-averse country imports fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.

The Ministry of Finance reported a 2.92 trillion yen (or $37.3 billion) trade deficit, which reflected not only Japan’s surging need for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also weakened exports to slumping markets like Europe and China.

The world’s third-largest economy has averted economic crisis this year largely because of a spike in domestic demand, spurred by reconstruction of the earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northeast.

Read moreJapan Posts Biggest First-Half Trade Deficit On Record

Global QE Is Coming: Let the Gold Mania Begin! – ‘Nearly 50% Of The Total Outstanding Debt Of The World’s Top 10 Debtor Nations Needs To Be Rolled Over By The End Of 2015’!!!

by

– Global QE Is Coming: Let the Gold Mania Begin! (Financial Sense, July 20, 2012):

In my last article I commented on Japan’s coming debt time bomb (Massive Japanese Debt Monetization is Coming, Yen to be Devalued), in which I made the case that Japan had a tremendous amount of their debt maturing over the next three years and that the Bank of Japan was likely to monetize much of it and weaken the Yen as a result. Since then I’ve dug a bit deeper and taken a look at the top 10 debtor nations of the world to see if they too had a large portion of their total outstanding debt maturing in the near future. What I found startled me: Nearly 50% of the total outstanding debt of the world’s top 10 debtor nations needs to be rolled over by the end of 2015.

While fears over a European contagion and a hard landing in China have driven investors into sovereign debt like the U.S. and Japan, how long can this continue and will investor demand for sovereign debt be able to soak up the total supply over the next few years? It is my belief that global central banks will be the buyers of last resort and will be monetizing the debt in massive quantities over the next two and half years. This may perhaps be the catalyst leading to the mania phase for gold as investors all over the world attempt to protect themselves from global quantitative easing and global currency debasement.

…

US: Anaheim Police Fire On Journalists As Unrest Continues (Video)

by

Related info:

– US: Chaos Erupts After Anaheim Cops Open Fire On Unarmed Crowd With Women & Children (Videos)

– Anaheim police fire on media as unrest continues (The Raw Story, July 25, 2012):

Anaheim Police officers reportedly fired pepper balls and bean bags at demonstrators and journalists Tuesday night during the latest round of protests against last weekend’s police shootings.

Freelance journalist Tim Pool posted a video of himself and another journalist, Amber Lyon, being fired upon, an incident he first mentioned while live-streaming the protests Tuesday night. Pool also said during his live-stream that he was fired at after identifying himself as a media member. Staff members at KFI-AM also reported via Twitter that they were fired upon.

A video posted by KPFK-FM reporter Amber Stephens shows protesters gathered outside Anaheim City Hall Tuesday afternoon, chanting “no justice, no peace” at the officers guarding the door. Riot police eventually emerged from the building. According to KNBC-TV, the crowd measured in the hundreds, with at least five people being arrested.

Tuesday’s protests were the latest response to the fatal shooting of Manuel Diaz on Saturday. Diaz was killed while running away from police, which triggered a confrontation between residents that culminated in police firing similar riot-control weaponry into a crowd of women and children and a police dog, which Police Chief John Welter later said escaped from its vehicle, attacking a woman and her baby. Residents’ outrage intensified after police shot and killed another man, identified by The Los Angeles Times as Joel Mathew Acevedo, after Acevedo allegedly fired at officers during a chase.

You can watch video from last night’s protest, posted by the Associated Press on July 25, below:


YouTube

100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind

by

– 100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Other Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind (Economic Collapse, July 24, 2012):

Every single day more Americans fall into poverty.  This should deeply alarm you no matter what political party you belong to and no matter what your personal economic philosophy is.  Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are either “poor” or “near poor”.  For a lot of people “poverty” can be a nebulous concept, so let’s define it.  The poverty level as defined by the federal government in 2010 was $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four.  Could you take care of a family of four on less than $2000 a month?  Millions upon millions of families are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in this economy, and no matter what “solutions” we think are correct, the reality is that we all should have compassion on them.  Sadly, things are about to get even worse.  The next major economic downturn is rapidly approaching, and when it hits the statistics posted below are going to look even more horrendous.

When it comes to poverty, most Americans immediately want to get into debates about tax rates and wealth redistribution and things like that.

But the truth is that they are missing the main point.

Read more100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind

Goldman Sachs Murders ‘Muppets’, Tells Them To Stay Long Spanish, Italian Bonds

by

See also:

– Goldman Sachs Does It Again: Muppets Slaughtered

– How To Lose All Your Money With Goldman Sachs

– Goldman Murders Muppets, Tells Them To Stay Long Spanish, Italian Bonds (ZeroHedge, July 24, 2012):

Curious just how we were 100% certain that the June 29 summit was an epic disaster, in addition to the obvious? Because in a note from that morning we said the following: “Below is Goldman’s quick take on the E-Tarp MOU (completely detail-free, but who needs details when one has money-growing trees) announced late last night. In summary: “We recommend being long an equally-weighted basket of benchmark 5-year Spanish, Irish and Italian government bonds, currently yielding 5.9% on average, for a target of 4.5% and tight stop loss on a close at 6.5%.” By now we hope it is clear that when Goldman’s clients are buying a security, it means its prop desk is selling the same security to clients.” Sure enough, its prop desk was selling, and selling, and selling. Since then Spain and Italy have blown out, and only the strange tightening in Ireland has prevented yet another stop loss from the squid which is now known for cremating clients more than anything else. The stop loss is certainly not far: the basket is now at 6.20%, and has just 30 bps to go until yet another batch of Goldman clients is slaughtered. Which is now only a matter of time – Goldman just told its clients it has a little more of its 5 Year exposure left to sell, and then it will be done. Of course by then another muppet murder scene will have to be cordoned off.

From Goldman’s Francesco Garzarelli:

Read moreGoldman Sachs Murders ‘Muppets’, Tells Them To Stay Long Spanish, Italian Bonds

Gary Gensler Explains How CFTC Allowed PFG To Steal $200 MM In Client Funds 8 Months After MF Global

by

– Gary Gensler Explains How CFTC Allowed PFG To Steal $200 MM In Client Funds 8 Months After MF Global (ZeroHedge, July 25, 2012):

Former Goldman appartchik Gary Gensler is about to take the stage (again) and explain why the CFTC should exist at all after allowing not only MF Global but a few weeks ago, Peregrine Financial, to steal hundreds of millions in client money without any regulatory supervision at all. All we can say here is: Free Corzine!

Read moreGary Gensler Explains How CFTC Allowed PFG To Steal $200 MM In Client Funds 8 Months After MF Global

Six Reasons Why Spain Will Be Forced To Request A Sovereign Bailout

by

– Six Reasons Why Spain Will Be Forced To Request A Sovereign Bailout (ZeroHedge, July 24, 2012):

Just as the summer finally arrives in Northern Europe, the Eurozone crisis is heating up once again. With an increasingly flat (heading to inversion) yield curve, and spreads at record wides,  Spain appears to be in a downward spiral of market turmoil that might require a full-fledged TROIKA bail out. However, as UBS points out, rather than taking the country off the market, the program would have to allow Spain to keep borrowing from private investors. Any bail out of Spain would have to be designed in a way that would also be applicable to Italy. Spain has been the most recent crisis focus, and looks to intensify further with nothing immediately in sight that could reverse the trend. We, like UBS, have argued for some time that a full-fledged TROIKA program will ultimately be unavoidable and the following six reasons briefly explain why anything else is a pipe-dream.

Via UBS FX Strategy:

The Eurogroup last week formally approved a €100bn bank bailout but as our banking colleagues have argued, the programme generates no equity and no funding and is thus unlikely to make any lasting difference either to the limited market access of the banks or to the credit crunch affecting the country. Also, the decision at the June EU summit to take a first step towards a banking union has done very little to ease the pressure. The market initially assumed that the €100bn would be offloaded from the sovereign balance sheet to the ESM by the October or December EU summits once an ‘effective supervisory mechanism’ had been created.

However, subsequently it became clear that:

Read moreSix Reasons Why Spain Will Be Forced To Request A Sovereign Bailout

Politicians And Their Advisers Routinely Demand That Reporters Allow Them Final Editing Power Over Any Published Quotations

by


Obamney, the next US President

– Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back (New York Times, July 15, 2012):

The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.

They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name.

Most reporters, desperate to pick the brains of the president’s top strategists, grudgingly agree. After the interviews, they review their notes, check their tape recorders and send in the juiciest sound bites for review.

The verdict from the campaign — an operation that prides itself on staying consistently on script — is often no, Barack Obama does not approve this message.

The push and pull over what is on the record is one of journalism’s perennial battles. But those negotiations typically took place case by case, free from the red pens of press minders. Now, with a millisecond Twitter news cycle and an unforgiving, gaffe-obsessed media culture, politicians and their advisers are routinely demanding that reporters allow them final editing power over any published quotations.

Quote approval is standard practice for the Obama campaign, used by many top strategists and almost all midlevel aides in Chicago and at the White House — almost anyone other than spokesmen who are paid to be quoted. (And sometimes it applies even to them.) It is also commonplace throughout Washington and on the campaign trail.

The Romney campaign insists that journalists interviewing any of Mitt Romney’s five sons agree to use only quotations that are approved by the press office. And Romney advisers almost always require that reporters ask them for the green light on anything from a conversation that they would like to include in an article.

Read morePoliticians And Their Advisers Routinely Demand That Reporters Allow Them Final Editing Power Over Any Published Quotations

Tony Blair, Currently A Senior Adviser To JP Morgan: Don’t Hang Bankers

by

…, because burning them is so much more cost-efficient.

– Tony Blair: Don’t Hang Bankers (ZeroHedge, July 25, 2012):

Mainstream economist Nouriel Roubini said recently:

Nobody has gone to jail since the financial crisis. The banks, they do things that are illegal and at best they slap on them a fine.  If some people end up in jail, maybe that will teach a lesson to somebody.  Or somebody hanging in the streets.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair – currently employed as a senior adviser to JP Morgan – said today:

We must not start thinking that society will be better off “if we hang 20 bankers at the end of the street” ….

Where’s all of this coming from?

The American government’s top official in charge of the bank bailouts writes:

Americans should lose faith in their government. They should deplore the captured politicians and regulators who distributed tax dollars to the banks without insisting that they be accountable. The American people should be revolted by a financial system that rewards failure and protects those who drove it to the point of collapse and will undoubtedly do so again.

Only with this appropriate and justified rage can we hope for the type of reform that will one day break our system free from the corrupting grasp of the megabanks.

Economics professor Randall Wray writes today:

Read moreTony Blair, Currently A Senior Adviser To JP Morgan: Don’t Hang Bankers

Italian Provinces Warn Cuts May Close Schools

by

– Italian provinces warn cuts may close schools (Reuters, July 23, 2012):

Italian regional authorities may not be able to open schools after the summer break if spending cuts planned in the government’s latest spending review are carried through, the head of the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI) said on Monday.

“With these cuts we won’t be able to guarantee the opening of the school year,” UPI President Giuseppe Castiglione told reporters in Rome.

Read moreItalian Provinces Warn Cuts May Close Schools

Government Panel Report: Japan And TEPCO ‘Ignored Nuclear Accident Risks’

by

– Japan and TEPCO ‘ignored nuclear accident risks’ (Telegraph, July 23, 2012):

Japanese and Tokyo Electric Power officials ignored the risks of an atomic accident because they believed in the “myth of nuclear safety”, a government panel’s report on the Fukushima crisis said on Monday.

“The fundamental problem lies in the fact that utilities, including TEPCO, and the government have failed to see the danger as reality as they were bound by a myth of nuclear safety and the notion that severe accidents do not happen at nuclear plants in our country,” said the 450-page report.

The study, completed by a government-appointed panel including scholars, journalists, lawyers and engineers, also said Fukushima staff were poorly trained to deal with the crisis after the plant’s reactors went into meltdown last year.