Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Riot madness spreads across UK

From: RussiaToday | Aug 8, 2011

Violence, vandalism and looting has now spread from London to Birmingham and Liverpool. In all three cities rioters are clashing with police, torching buildings and cars. It follows unrest over the weekend after a 29 year-old-man was shot dead by police.


London burns as rioters torch buildings

From: Euronews | Aug 8, 2011

Rioting and looting has spread across London and on to several other cities in Britain's worst unrest in decades.


JPMorgan sees Gold at $2,500 by year end

From Zerohedge:

We though we had seen it all... Then JPM's Colin Fenton came out with a prediction of gold hitting $2500 by year end. That's right: JP Morgan... $2500...."Gold and sugar have potential to run a lot higher. It has been clear for weeks that the prompt CMX gold price has been building in a rising probability of a reflaring of financial crisis, gaining by 9.7% since June 30 as the MSCI World Equity index dropped by 10.1%. The correlation in daily price changes between these two assets has dropped to –0.09 from +0.29 over the prior year. Gold’s correlation against TIPS has doubled to 0.35 from 0.18. Against Italian and Spanish 5-year sovereign CDS prices, the gold correlation has moved to 0.27 and 0.32, from 0.07 and 0.04, respectively. Before the downgrade, our view was that cash gold could average $1800 per oz by year end. This view will likely now prove to be too conservative: spot gold could drive to $2500 per oz or higher, albeit on very high volatility.".....read on

Bank of America Defaults Risk Soars To Highest Since June 2009


From Zerohedge:

Last week, when discussing the ongoing collapse in the house of cards that Ken Lewis built and which Brian Moynihan is helping bring down, we asked readers if they "Got Bank Of America CDS?" both in general, and in the aftermath of the disclosure that "New York AG Says BAC's $8.5 Billion Settlement Is "Unfair and Misleading"." We hope the answer was yes for most, as BAC CDS just jumped to the highest since June 2009, hitting 235 bps after exploding by almost 10% overnight. And with the stock now trading with a $7 handle, we are very much concerned TARP 2 is coming soon, only this time BAC will be formally split up, for no other reason than to spin Countrywide off and most likely see it end up with Fed funding.....read on

Shares in free fall amid global panic

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Australian stocks have plunged by more than 4 per cent, losing about $50 billion in value, as carnage on overseas markets spread to the local bourse amid fears the world could tailspin into a new recession.

Around midday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 185.5 points, or 4.65 per cent, at 3800.6, after sinking as low as 3765.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index had slumped 192.6 points, or 4.75 per cent, to 3864.1.

Added to the $135 billion lost since last Tuesday when the selloff began local shares have shed nearly $200 billion in value. The Australian market is now down more than 20 per cent from its recent peak in April, which is the usual definition of a bear market.

The dollar joined the rout, sinking as low as 99.98 US cents, down from $US1.0221 late in New York, as investors bet on a rate cut at the RBA's next meeting early September. The Aussie has lost more than 9 per cent in little over a week, quashing any thought that it might be a new safe haven.

Other regional markets opened sharply lower too, with Japan's Nikkei index losing 3.6 per cent, or 324.08 points, to 8773.48.

Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the fall in Australian stocks was bigger than expected.

‘‘Objective fundamentals have been thrown out the door - people are making decisions on sentiment and emotion, and there’s a bit of margin selling too,’’ he said. ‘‘You’re going to see more until there’s a catalyst to turn it around.’’

Mr Heffernan said blue chip stocks were suffering as were stocks with lower liquidity, which tend to be smaller stocks.

‘‘There’s blood all over the place,’’ he said.....read on


Dow Plunges More Than 600 Points After Downgrade

From: AssociatedPress | Aug 8, 2011

Stocks plunged Monday as anxiety overtook investors on the first trading day since Standard & Poor's downgraded American debt.


Aussie Dollar falls below parity as investors rush to Gold


click on any image for clearer detail

Anarchy in UK as London turns into war zone

From: RussiaToday | Aug 8, 2011

Another round of riots in London. Groups of youths are clashing with police in Hackney - in the north-east of the city and Lewisham in the south. It follows unrest over the weekend after a man was shot dead by police.


S&P 500 Extends Worst Slump Since 2008 Bear Market


From Bloomberg:

U.S. stocks tumbled, dragging benchmark indexes to their biggest slump since December 2008, amid concern that a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s may worsen an economic slowdown.

All stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX) retreated for the first time since at least 1996 as the index’s 10 main groups fell more than 5.3 percent. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) tumbled 20 percent to lead financial shares in the S&P 500 down 10 percent, the most since April 2009. Ford Motor Co. (F) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) slumped at least 8.3 percent, pacing losses in stocks most-tied to the economy. Chevron Corp. (CVX) dropped 7.5 percent as oil slid.

The S&P 500 retreated 6.7 percent to 1,119.46 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge slumped 11 percent in three days, the most since November 2008, and fell to the lowest since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 634.76 points, or 5.6 percent, to 10,809.85 today. About 18 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges at 4:52 p.m., the fifth-highest volume since mid-2008, Bloomberg data show. Treasuries rose......read on

I followed a false Prophet

I wish to repent my sins ~ I followed a false Prophet, he offered me Hope & Change, but he delivered Misery and Despair. I should have heeded the words of my spiritual adviser, Dr. David Manning in 2008, he don't understand the world.


Gold gives Obama the 2 finger salute as it hits new highs




United States of Denial

From: AssociatedPress | Aug 8, 2011

President Barack Obama says the U.S. always is and always has been a triple-A country, despite its rating agency downgrade.