Financial topics

[Marc]

Regarding the Ann Barnhardt rant(s), I think Marc Faber laid out a decent strategy in the video I posted where he cautions against doing too much of anything.

I happen to know a trader who had ALL his money in an MF Global account. What he got back was automatically transferred to PFG by the CFTC!!! Can you believe it??? Whereupon, he lost almost all of his remaining money.

I've always said regarding futures accounts, put no more than single digit percentages of your net worth into futures accounts. And the above is the reason and has been the reason for a long time before MF Global blew up. The risk has been there for a long time lying dormant. After all, how long did the PFG fraud remain hidden?

There is nothing out there that is completely safe in this environment and putting large percentages of savings into anything is risky. I could just as easily envision a situation where all US Treasury debt receives an across the board haircut, while segregated futures account cash balances remain exempt from any haircut. The irony in that one would be that many investors may believe at this point that if they put their futures account balances in t-bills that will keep them protected from fraud.

I've also cautioned people against too much "mattress money" because you never know if the government will recall the currency and require that you take any notes you want redeemed to a designated bank to exchange them for new currency. And in the bank you may find a friendly government rep tabulating transactions by SS number who will register anyone who has more than X amount of total currency exchanged for "further investigation".

Very wise investment-risk-management advise, Higgs. I cannot disagree with any of it; and yes, even "quite safe" investments such as T-bills and even "under-the-mattress cash" (to also count that as an investment of sorts) can be subject to risk, in these very volatile times, such as via possible haircuts and currency controls. The mantra of putting one's eggs in sufficiently different baskets, both in terms of those who hold the eggs and the types of eggs chosen (provided that they seem to be "good eggs," of course), is not only very wise, but not super-hard to do, even for a casual or novice investor. Thanks for sharing. —Best regards, Marc

[aedens]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/todays-ma ... lls-report

Not playing this round.

[aedens]

Yea I have been trying to whistle past the second derivative but the print today will resolve that anyway.

https://www.quantsig.net/

[aedens]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/interview ... ncy-trader

Within equities, HFTs tend to focus heavily on ETFs. The manipulation is far less in most individual stocks.
TCR: Good to know. What long-term effects do you see as a result of HFT?
GARRETT: I think the biggest issue is the erosion of trust. The markets are becoming so difficult to understand, and there are so many predators, that I think people will start to withdraw and place their money elsewhere.

[aedens]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/ ... 7O20120703

[Bjorn]

Aedens / Marc / All:

Excuse my ignorance, but I read the postings daily and see the continual comments about how crazy it is to be in the market at this time. I couldn't agree more...but where to stash cash? CDs/Treasuries/precious metals? I keep by brokerage with balanced ETFs, but the swings are getting me seasick. Any high level suggestions for the layman?
Bjorn

[aedens]

STAGE 2. The Slippery Slope for the Optimistic Humans who's mental attitude interprets the situations and events as being best (optimized)
The economy goes into a slow but steadily increasing decline. Unemployment is on the rise. Ever increasing numbers of people receive government assistance in one form or another. People are paid not to work. Government spending has increased dramatically. The price of gold, silver, and other precious metals rise to prices unheard of just a few years earlier. Inflation reaches the double digit levels.
In this order I will post level three later.
Primary Assets:
1.Cash
2.Precious Metals, Gold and Silver coins
3.Job Stability
4.Elimination of debt
5.Health Insurance
6.Home Equity
7.Automobile with good MPG
8.Acquiring secluded land more than 40 miles from densely populated areas

http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_2_e ... wartz.html

[aedens]

Drug lords ban crack in favelas. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 25735.html
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/201 ... drugs.html

http://classicalvalues.com/2012/08/terr ... ing-drugs/

[Higgenbotham]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejnyzrPUIJI

A few weeks ago I was asked about the future price of gold and silver. So related to that, I ran across this interview with one of Charles Nenner's people and he gives their opinion. I'll try to sum it up. Gold and silver are bottoming but will probably go lower. I don't think he gave an estimate of how much lower or how long it would take. Then gold should go up to about $2500 and silver back up toward $50 but may not exceed $50.

For some background, I follow Nenner. Like any prognosticator, he is far from perfect. This year, in Forbes, he said sell stocks by April 19 or when the S&P hits 1449, whichever comes first. Last I heard, on financialsense, he said the S&P may go up toward 1400 but he doesn't think it will get over 1400. Those were pretty good calls so far.

http://brucekrasting.com/wp-content/upl ... ddata1.png

[aedens]

http://www.therightscoop.com/west-i-don ... e-a-spade/

The battle now is between people like ME Governor Le Page, who want to restore fiscal sanity to American life, and those who merely wish to destroy the private economy and monetary system. By ensuring that as many people as possible are dependent upon government for their livelihoods, liberals in states like ME are treading the path blazed a century ago. by V.I. Lenin. What a shame most of them do not appreciate this irony of repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Tangent Capital LZ