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stockholmer
stockholmer's Journal
stockholmer's Journal
December 25, 2011
http://www.presstv.ir/Program/217470.html
In this edition of the show Max interviews Mike "Mish" Shedlock from Sitka Pacific Capital.
He talks about the biggest stories that define the year 2011 both in terms of markets and the economy as a whole.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock is an investment advisor at Sitka Pacific Capital. He writes the widely read Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.
2011 economic review-On the Edge with Max Keiser
http://www.presstv.ir/Program/217470.html
In this edition of the show Max interviews Mike "Mish" Shedlock from Sitka Pacific Capital.
He talks about the biggest stories that define the year 2011 both in terms of markets and the economy as a whole.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock is an investment advisor at Sitka Pacific Capital. He writes the widely read Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.
December 25, 2011
There may be 147 companies in the world that own everything, as colleague Bruce Upbin points out http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that-control-everything/ and they are dominated by investment companies as Eric Savitz rightly points out. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the-147-companies-that-run-the-world-theyre-you/ But it’s not you and I who really control those companies, even though much of our money is in them. Given the nature of how money is invested, there are four companies in the shadows that really control those companies that own everything. Before I reveal them, some light math:
According to the 2011 annual factbook http://www.ici.org/pdf/2011_factbook.pdf from the Investment Company Institute, there is $24.7 trillion in all the mutual funds in the world (a little less than half from the US http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=usb&tab=searchtabquotesdark ). Based on data from the ICI, $1.24 trillion of this is directly invested in index funds, plus another $992 billion in assets beyond that $24.7 trillion in Exchange Traded Funds, which aren’t mutual funds but are index funds. That means the bulk of that money is in “active” managed funds or fund of funds.
But then consider this: the chief of hedge funds at a very large asset manager told me last week (alas, I cannot identify either) that an internal study his firm recently performed found that the vast majority of mutual funds defined as actively managed see 95% of the assets they hold determined by an index.That means just 5% of actively managed funds really are driven by the active manager’s judgment.
This less-than-active management is for two reasons: one is to maintain the fund in a style box (i.e. large value stock, medium value stocks) and comply with the reality all mutual funds are required to have a benchmark index they compare their relative performance to. The other reason is to adhere to risk metrics to which most of the fund industry is beholden. This second point is partly due to Modern Portfolio Theory (a complex topic we won’t debate here) and to the human nature that active managers tend to build portfolios close to the indexes they benchmark against to avoid really awful downward relative performance years that ends up costing them their jobs.
snip
The Four Companies That Control the 147 Companies That Own Everything
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/10/26/the-four-companies-that-control-the-147-companies-that-own-everything/There may be 147 companies in the world that own everything, as colleague Bruce Upbin points out http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that-control-everything/ and they are dominated by investment companies as Eric Savitz rightly points out. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the-147-companies-that-run-the-world-theyre-you/ But it’s not you and I who really control those companies, even though much of our money is in them. Given the nature of how money is invested, there are four companies in the shadows that really control those companies that own everything. Before I reveal them, some light math:
According to the 2011 annual factbook http://www.ici.org/pdf/2011_factbook.pdf from the Investment Company Institute, there is $24.7 trillion in all the mutual funds in the world (a little less than half from the US http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=usb&tab=searchtabquotesdark ). Based on data from the ICI, $1.24 trillion of this is directly invested in index funds, plus another $992 billion in assets beyond that $24.7 trillion in Exchange Traded Funds, which aren’t mutual funds but are index funds. That means the bulk of that money is in “active” managed funds or fund of funds.
But then consider this: the chief of hedge funds at a very large asset manager told me last week (alas, I cannot identify either) that an internal study his firm recently performed found that the vast majority of mutual funds defined as actively managed see 95% of the assets they hold determined by an index.That means just 5% of actively managed funds really are driven by the active manager’s judgment.
This less-than-active management is for two reasons: one is to maintain the fund in a style box (i.e. large value stock, medium value stocks) and comply with the reality all mutual funds are required to have a benchmark index they compare their relative performance to. The other reason is to adhere to risk metrics to which most of the fund industry is beholden. This second point is partly due to Modern Portfolio Theory (a complex topic we won’t debate here) and to the human nature that active managers tend to build portfolios close to the indexes they benchmark against to avoid really awful downward relative performance years that ends up costing them their jobs.
snip
December 25, 2011
Go to http://onecandleinthedark.blogspot.com and http://www.cbsyousuck.com for thousands of pages of evidence and links to the original source research on the Internet Wayback Machine.
Help STOP SOPA Now!! I'll tell you How! This Video that Must Be SHARED
Go to http://onecandleinthedark.blogspot.com and http://www.cbsyousuck.com for thousands of pages of evidence and links to the original source research on the Internet Wayback Machine.
December 24, 2011
This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look back on 2011 from GIABO to Tango Down, the fight against bankster occupation has been setting the global agenda. From the banking scandal headlines, they look at Greek woes, suckling bankers and Blythe Masters' immaculately conceived Credit Default Swap. They also discuss the circle of Hell that former prosecutor, William K. Black suggests is just punishment for Septic Tank Scum banksters and the bizarre view that President Obama has from 40,000 feet.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
Keiser Report: Merry X-Max & Happy New GIABO! (E227)
This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look back on 2011 from GIABO to Tango Down, the fight against bankster occupation has been setting the global agenda. From the banking scandal headlines, they look at Greek woes, suckling bankers and Blythe Masters' immaculately conceived Credit Default Swap. They also discuss the circle of Hell that former prosecutor, William K. Black suggests is just punishment for Septic Tank Scum banksters and the bizarre view that President Obama has from 40,000 feet.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
December 24, 2011
Watch more @ http://www.youtube.com/CapitalAccount
http://twitter.com/laurenlyster
http://twitter.com/coveringdelta
US congress today approved an extension of the payroll tax cut for two months...putting off a tax increase for millions of workers. So, after much partisan politicking, they did it -- saving face for the moment, but could it hurt their stock price headed into the 2012 elections?
You heard me right. We'll talk about the political derivatives market a Chicago exchange is betting on. Would it be a continuation of a climate on wall street that encourages special treatment that our guest, fiancial journalist and inventor of the virtual specialist technology, Max Keiser, calls "the special olympics for financial fraud." And speaking of derivatives, those bets added fuel to the fire that engulfed the financial markets in 2008...most famously seen in the explosion and bailout of AGI (backdoor bailout of the big banks like goldman sachs, jp morgan, bank of america, etc.).
More recently, MF Global customer money used to trade on these exchanges went missing. So where do futures exchanges come from and where have they gone wrong? From Ancient Greece to MF Global we'll break it down. And, heading into 2012 -- will it be a happy new year for the US economy? Maybe not. Economists predict sluggish 2 percent growth, an economy held down by housing troubles, government budget cuts, and a lousy job market. That didn't stop hoards of people from lining up at malls and waiting all night for a chance to buy the 175 dollar "IT" Air Jordans. We'll show you what happened.
Capital Account: Max Keiser, America runs the "Special Olympics for Financial Fraud"
Watch more @ http://www.youtube.com/CapitalAccount
http://twitter.com/laurenlyster
http://twitter.com/coveringdelta
US congress today approved an extension of the payroll tax cut for two months...putting off a tax increase for millions of workers. So, after much partisan politicking, they did it -- saving face for the moment, but could it hurt their stock price headed into the 2012 elections?
You heard me right. We'll talk about the political derivatives market a Chicago exchange is betting on. Would it be a continuation of a climate on wall street that encourages special treatment that our guest, fiancial journalist and inventor of the virtual specialist technology, Max Keiser, calls "the special olympics for financial fraud." And speaking of derivatives, those bets added fuel to the fire that engulfed the financial markets in 2008...most famously seen in the explosion and bailout of AGI (backdoor bailout of the big banks like goldman sachs, jp morgan, bank of america, etc.).
More recently, MF Global customer money used to trade on these exchanges went missing. So where do futures exchanges come from and where have they gone wrong? From Ancient Greece to MF Global we'll break it down. And, heading into 2012 -- will it be a happy new year for the US economy? Maybe not. Economists predict sluggish 2 percent growth, an economy held down by housing troubles, government budget cuts, and a lousy job market. That didn't stop hoards of people from lining up at malls and waiting all night for a chance to buy the 175 dollar "IT" Air Jordans. We'll show you what happened.
December 24, 2011
This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, after revealing that the Lizard King is back, discuss the radical redistribution of gold and silver property in the US and the radical experiment in the UK to have capitalism without capital. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Professor Steve Keen about the UK's financial sector debt which is at least 4 times as large as US financial sector debt before the global financial crisis began.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
Keiser Report: Capitalism Without Capital? w/ Steve Keen (E226)
This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, after revealing that the Lizard King is back, discuss the radical redistribution of gold and silver property in the US and the radical experiment in the UK to have capitalism without capital. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Professor Steve Keen about the UK's financial sector debt which is at least 4 times as large as US financial sector debt before the global financial crisis began.
KR on FB: http://www.facebook.com/KeiserReport
December 23, 2011
Serious question: Doesn't Dem support of the payroll tax cut undermine the case for lifting the cap?
Any attempt to raise the cap on payroll taxes for all income will be framed by the Republicans as a massive tax increase.
Also, doesn't lowering the payroll taxes collected to fund Social Security and Medicare undermine these programmes? Any input would appreciated.
December 23, 2011
As 2011 draws to a close, it is fair to say that this year has been one of the most disastrous for the European Union in its history. The eurozone crisis http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/debt-crisis has spread from the periphery to the core and all political and financial rescue packages were too little, too late. Towards the end of the year it felt like EU leaders took longer to agree the latest measures to restore confidence than it took for markets to lose it again.
It was also unfortunate that the little action taken was mostly misguided. This includes austerity policies implemented simultaneously across Europe and the creation of so-called debt brakes, which is basically the constitutionalisation of a failed stability framework. http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/09/the-eurocrisis-and-the-stability-and-growth-pact/ The last summit of the year also brought about the biggest political rift in the union’s history,with the UK blocking a treaty change leaving the EU deeply divided http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/18/eurozone-crisis-french-animosity-british and caught up in a silly war of words.
In Germany there is an annual vote for the Unwort des Jahres (“most infamous phrase of the year”). From a European perspective, my absolute favourite this year is “national interest”. Like it or not, EU politics has become more British in recent years. The UK has always seen the union as an institution in which you try to secure your “national interest” rather than a place where you make political compromises with partner countries. The inability to move beyond the perceived short-term “national interest”, at the expense of what is better in the mid to long term, has been a key reason for the EU’s powerlessness to respond adequately to the challenges it faces. We are moving towards political deadlock in a severe and worsening crisis and the forecast for next year doesn’t look good either.
It now seems unavoidable that the world economy enters another recession, which is likely to reach depression levels in some countries. Last week Christine Lagarde of the IMF issued a warning http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/15/imf-world-risks-1930s-style-slump not just against the looming downturn but against 1930s-style policy responses of protectionism and isolation in the name of the “national interest” (here it is again). She rightly exposed the pursuit of misguided, domestically driven policies as self-defeating in the mid to long term. Protectionist policy measures will trigger defensive responses, which will worsen the aggregate situation further so a depression becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The world has been in this situation before – and it did not end well.
Against this gloomy backdrop, what will 2012 have in store for Europe? A few years ago the Kaiser Chiefs famously sang I Predict A Riot.
If we continue on current trends, I predict more than one riot for 2012. One of this year’s novelties, stemming from junctures such as the Arab spring, the ascendancy of the Occupy movement and the massive protests against economic policies in Spain and Greece, was the rise of new social movements and the widespread use of communication technologies to co-ordinate civil unrest. Once the genie is out of the bottle it is almost impossible to put it back in. So unless the protest causes are addressed effectively, which seems unlikely, civil unrest is set to continue and grow next year.
snip
Europe, prepare for a riotous 2012 - Henning Meyer in the Social Europe Journal
http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/12/europe-prepare-for-a-riotous-2012/As 2011 draws to a close, it is fair to say that this year has been one of the most disastrous for the European Union in its history. The eurozone crisis http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/debt-crisis has spread from the periphery to the core and all political and financial rescue packages were too little, too late. Towards the end of the year it felt like EU leaders took longer to agree the latest measures to restore confidence than it took for markets to lose it again.
It was also unfortunate that the little action taken was mostly misguided. This includes austerity policies implemented simultaneously across Europe and the creation of so-called debt brakes, which is basically the constitutionalisation of a failed stability framework. http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/09/the-eurocrisis-and-the-stability-and-growth-pact/ The last summit of the year also brought about the biggest political rift in the union’s history,with the UK blocking a treaty change leaving the EU deeply divided http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/18/eurozone-crisis-french-animosity-british and caught up in a silly war of words.
In Germany there is an annual vote for the Unwort des Jahres (“most infamous phrase of the year”). From a European perspective, my absolute favourite this year is “national interest”. Like it or not, EU politics has become more British in recent years. The UK has always seen the union as an institution in which you try to secure your “national interest” rather than a place where you make political compromises with partner countries. The inability to move beyond the perceived short-term “national interest”, at the expense of what is better in the mid to long term, has been a key reason for the EU’s powerlessness to respond adequately to the challenges it faces. We are moving towards political deadlock in a severe and worsening crisis and the forecast for next year doesn’t look good either.
It now seems unavoidable that the world economy enters another recession, which is likely to reach depression levels in some countries. Last week Christine Lagarde of the IMF issued a warning http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/15/imf-world-risks-1930s-style-slump not just against the looming downturn but against 1930s-style policy responses of protectionism and isolation in the name of the “national interest” (here it is again). She rightly exposed the pursuit of misguided, domestically driven policies as self-defeating in the mid to long term. Protectionist policy measures will trigger defensive responses, which will worsen the aggregate situation further so a depression becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The world has been in this situation before – and it did not end well.
Against this gloomy backdrop, what will 2012 have in store for Europe? A few years ago the Kaiser Chiefs famously sang I Predict A Riot.
If we continue on current trends, I predict more than one riot for 2012. One of this year’s novelties, stemming from junctures such as the Arab spring, the ascendancy of the Occupy movement and the massive protests against economic policies in Spain and Greece, was the rise of new social movements and the widespread use of communication technologies to co-ordinate civil unrest. Once the genie is out of the bottle it is almost impossible to put it back in. So unless the protest causes are addressed effectively, which seems unlikely, civil unrest is set to continue and grow next year.
snip
December 22, 2011
part 2
part 3
"President Obama Just Stated That He Can Have Any American Citizen Killed" Jonathon Turley on CPSAN
Cellophane citizens
part 2
part 3
December 22, 2011
Nestled amid plains so flat the locals joke you can watch your dog run away for miles, Fargo treasures its placid lifestyle, seldom pierced by the mayhem and violence common in other urban communities. North Dakota’s http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/12/12/police-use-predator-drones.html largest city has averaged fewer than two homicides a year since 2005, and there’s not been a single international terrorism prosecution in the last decade.
But that hasn’t stopped authorities in Fargo and its surrounding county from going on an $8 million buying spree to arm police officers with the sort of gear once reserved only for soldiers fighting foreign wars.
Every city squad car is equipped today with a military-style assault rifle, and officers can don Kevlar helmets able to withstand incoming fire from battlefield-grade ammunition. And for that epic confrontation—if it ever occurs—officers can now summon a new $256,643 armored truck, complete with a rotating turret. For now, though, the menacing truck is used mostly for training and appearances at the annual city picnic, where it’s been parked near the children’s bounce house.
“Most people are so fascinated by it, because nothing happens here,” says Carol Archbold, a Fargo resident and criminal justice professor at North Dakota State University. “There’s no terrorism here.” Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found. http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/
snip
Atlanta Police S.W.A.T. members searched a building for a shooting suspect in July of 2010., John Bazemore
-------------------------
much more at top link
further background (lots of articles)
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x603342#603431
Willowbrook, Illinois
Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/20/local-cops-ready-for-war-with-homeland-security-funded-military-weapons.htmlNestled amid plains so flat the locals joke you can watch your dog run away for miles, Fargo treasures its placid lifestyle, seldom pierced by the mayhem and violence common in other urban communities. North Dakota’s http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/12/12/police-use-predator-drones.html largest city has averaged fewer than two homicides a year since 2005, and there’s not been a single international terrorism prosecution in the last decade.
But that hasn’t stopped authorities in Fargo and its surrounding county from going on an $8 million buying spree to arm police officers with the sort of gear once reserved only for soldiers fighting foreign wars.
Every city squad car is equipped today with a military-style assault rifle, and officers can don Kevlar helmets able to withstand incoming fire from battlefield-grade ammunition. And for that epic confrontation—if it ever occurs—officers can now summon a new $256,643 armored truck, complete with a rotating turret. For now, though, the menacing truck is used mostly for training and appearances at the annual city picnic, where it’s been parked near the children’s bounce house.
“Most people are so fascinated by it, because nothing happens here,” says Carol Archbold, a Fargo resident and criminal justice professor at North Dakota State University. “There’s no terrorism here.” Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found. http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/
snip
Atlanta Police S.W.A.T. members searched a building for a shooting suspect in July of 2010., John Bazemore
-------------------------
much more at top link
further background (lots of articles)
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x603342#603431
Willowbrook, Illinois
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