Saturday, February 4, 2012

Managing Wealth

It should get progressively harder to diversify money into safe locations.   "They" want to keep you running hard on that Hamster Wheel, and by keeping your money unsafe, stealing it, taxing it, and generally just making it hard to "kick back" they can succeed in that goal.

Wegelin Document on American Taxes and Assets

MF, what an appropriate name

Well we knew they (the financial industry) were and are crooks, but jumping to blatant street thugery as in the MF Global  while the so called regulators look on, is, well amazing.

It goes back to the basic issue. 

It is not just "electronic wealth" that is subject to complete loss.

Most anything of value is at risk.   The Economic Hit Man has turned it's sights on the Mother Lode, the wealth of America and in particular, retirement funds managed by the HBB and easy to manipulate through captured State regulators / managers are probably the most at risk in the near term.   

Protecting wealth through strategic Corporate setups should be a fairly effective barrier to theft of various sorts, at least another gate that needs to be broken down by the barbarians.  In other words, have wealth be held by Corporations that are controlled by you.    Sure, annoyingly complex and time consuming.   

Think of the MF depositors.    These are the good times, in this slow motion train wreck, those smart enough to see through the propaganda can position themselves.    But when things unravel, it is likely to be very quick.  

Collect whatever debts are owed to you.   Now is a great time.   QE3 is in progress, and people are feeling OK about the economy, and likely this lasts through the elections.  

Anyone with strategic ideas, feel free to chime in.

Here is a link to an MF Global Theft summary, by someone who got burned.


http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/mf-global-customer-funds-were-not-vaporized-stanley-haar-takes-wsj-task

Strategies:

Move wealth/money out of "electronic storehouses" of all sorts
Move money out of checking accounts (these are not FDIC insured)
Move money out of all but the best banks

Investments:

Invest in income producing businesses / real estate with low overhead to survive tough economic times.

Buy Precious metals on a quarterly basis, and store them properly.

Invest in the best Oil/Gas drilling companies as an inflation hedge, and to capture the 80% first year tax deduction, and generate 15% to 30% annual rates of return of which some of that income is protected from taxes due to depletion allowance.   Note that your principal no-longer exists, you have literally bought a hole in the ground.

Invest in electricity producing Photovoltaic, capturing 55% to 65% tax credits, and get a large Section 179 depreciation deduction, and in 2012 also get Bonus depreciation.   Own these generating assets and sell power to the host facility.     Select host facilities that will not go bankrupt, and which will also appreciate someone else taking the tax credits.   Churches are a perfect example, they cannot use the tax credits because they are non-profit, and they will always be able to pay their electric bills.

Invest in a "bug out" property which has its own water and water purification systems, own sewer, own electricity supply (PV with Outback Battery Backup), and at least one heating system that is independent of any governmental or utility operation.

Hold investments in Corporations that effectively shield them from lawsuits / bankruptcies.

Invest in properties in foreign countries, this may be an effective way to "ex-patriate" one's wealth.   Even if this doesn't apply under current laws, consider a possible future in which the political systems and country make-up is significantly different than it is now.     Even better if these properties are income producing, AND if you can also get a dual citizenship at this time.  

In the future we envision a reduction in "Pack Size", as things unravel the focus will be on smaller and smaller "Packs".    So instead of a "We are the World", or "I am an American" or I am a Republican, more and more emphasis will be on "I am on the clay pigeon shooting team", "My town needs to protect against the homeless moving in from Detroit", or "This is my family compound".   As things progress more suspicion, xenophobia, and protection will prevail and the ability to get a dual citizenship will become harder.

Get a live-a-board sailboat

Invest in relationships with people of specialized skills, perhaps even form a "barter club"

Invest time and money into knowledge and skills, especially basic skills.   Buy a few hardcopy books on "How to do things"

Friday, February 3, 2012

Longs are closed, Short ES at the B100

Last Friday I wrote

 Back to Business

If you are a Trader, you are a highly paid risk manager.     If you are not highly paid, maybe you need to look at the risk management, LOL.

The risk right now is to the upside.

______________________________________________________________
Opened my charts to a perfect hit on the B100 old channel line.
After the gap up on "Jobs Report", probably lots of people jumping on long.

HBB needs to b'slap them and take their money.     Good chance we tank down to at least 1325 just based on Fib, and to wipe out all who went long too late.

Intermediate term I am agnostic right now, no time to play this too complicated.

__________________________________________________________________


Thursday, February 2, 2012

International Swaps Can Blow Up Big Time

This commentary is pretty damning, let me give you the one sentence interpretation

These International Swaps, Leveraged Bets, CDO's, and all sorts of shenanigans can BLOWUP BIGTIME and there is no clearing house, no one holding house money to make the winning party whole.



Statement of Dissent to the CFTC-SEC Report on International Swap Regulation Pursuant to Section 719(c) of the Dodd-Frank Act (the “Report”)

Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia
January 31, 2012
The staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must be commended on their outreach with other international regulatory bodies to harmonize the new rules and regulations over the swaps markets. I am confident that this level of coordination and cooperation has never been achieved previously.
I respectfully dissent in the issuance of this Report. First, it fails to properly capture the entirety of the regulatory landscape. Second, it should acknowledge in greater detail the challenges in harmonizing our rules. This Report provides a general, but incomplete, picture of the international rulemaking process. While it is accurate to say that there is international coordination on general policy considerations, significant questions remain regarding the extraterritorial application of the specific rulemakings currently underway at the Commissions. Further, significant questions remain regarding the pace of rulemakings among the various regulatory bodies going forward.
As of the date of this Report, neither the CFTC nor the SEC has disclosed the extraterritorial application of our proposed or final rules. Under both the proposed and final rules it appears that U.S. rulemakings would apply to entities and activities in foreign jurisdictions. For example, the application of the proposed rule regarding the CFTC’s entity definitions would make U.S. financial and non-financial entities subject to mandatory clearing and capital requirements, even if they operate outside the U.S., while foreign competitors may not be so constrained. Until the Commissions specifically define the extraterritorial application of these rules we exacerbate the significant regulatory uncertainty for global market participants. We also delay progress towards mutual recognition or mutual accommodation, which are essential to avoiding duplicate or contradictory regulatory obligations for such market participants.
Finally, the CFTC has been made aware of a significant problem by our colleagues in both Europe and Asia of a statutory requirement to indemnify the swap data repositories and the Commission as mandated under Section 728(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act. Many jurisdictions are not able to comply with this requirement and have demanded that change be made or they will not cooperate with the U.S. swaps data collection efforts. The staff has correctly pointed out in this Report that a statutory change may be necessary to ensure that the U.S. is able to fully cooperate with international regulators to share critical information regarding global risk exposure and trade data.
In closing, I commend the staff for their hard work to deliver unprecedented international coordination on broad policy questions. However, our effort to harmonize our rules and to enable mutual recognition or accommodation remains incomplete in both words and actions.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Google, the Evil Empire


 Google is now just a Capitalist Pig, routing up the forest floor in search of any profit, even at the destruction of it's own ecosystem.

I will start migrating away from Google, in all things possible, including this blog which is published on Blogger, which is a Google device.

 Orwellian Madness I tell ya!

Slaves will never work as hard as free people,
However, enslaved people who think they are free may work as hard as truly free people, until they realize they are actually in a cage with "reality TV shows".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Google user,
We're getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that's a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.
We believe this stuff matters, so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies. These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.
One policy, one Google experience

Easy to work across Google

Tailored for you

Easy to share and collaborate
Easy to work across Google
Our new policy reflects a single product experience that does what you need, when you want it to. Whether you're reading an email that reminds you to schedule a family get-together or finding a favorite video that you want to share, we want to ensure you can move across Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube, or whatever your life calls for with ease.

Tailored for you
If you're signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries – or tailor your search results – based on the interests you've expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. We'll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you're searching for and get you those results faster.

Easy to share and collaborate
When you post or create a document online, you often want others to see and contribute. By remembering the contact information of the people you want to share with, we make it easy for you to share in any Google product or service with minimal clicks and errors.

Protecting your privacy hasn't changed
Our goal is to provide you with as much transparency and choice as possible, through products like Google Dashboard and Ads Preferences Manager, alongside other tools. Our privacy principles remain unchanged. And we'll never sell your personal information or share it without your permission (other than rare circumstances like valid legal requests).

Got questions?
We've got answers.
Visit our FAQ at http://www.google.com/policies/faq to read more about the changes. (We figured our users might have a question or twenty-two.)



Notice of Change
March 1, 2012 is when the new Privacy Policy and Terms will come into effect. If you choose to keep using Google once the change occurs, you will be doing so under the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Please do not reply to this email. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. Also, never enter your Google Account password after following a link in an email or chat to an untrusted site. Instead, go directly to the site, such as mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

Back to Business

If you are a Trader, you are a highly paid risk manager.     If you are not highly paid, maybe you need to look at the risk management, LOL.

The risk right now is to the upside.

ES bounced off of the B177 channel line, the long term lines that defined the last top and are nearly horizontal.    Inspect the chart and the arrows.    The Bernoulli 133 B133 seems to be stronger than the B177 based on prior kickdowns.



Sunday, January 29, 2012

Juicy Short or Juicy Lamb Chunk?


Entertaining

So Far, Nailed the Short

We called it short into the weekend, and so far so good

http://oahutrading.blogspot.com/2012/01/short-into-weekend.html#disqus_thread

TOS death watch.    TOS fails at the most inopportune moments.   Their futures failed on Sunday, on a 1% drop in ES futures.  Wow

But their chart "look" like they are accurate. 

You would be terribly misled if you didnt have other sources.

Death Spiral

Sunday Charts Flotilla of Ghost Ships

BDI has tanked badly and diverged from the US indices. 
Euro has diverged from US indices
TPTB are turning an aircraft carrier, and taking pot shots as they go.


People buying the high Beta Russell, a sign of final exuberance?  
Bollinger Bands Rock?   Another sign of exuberance.



Exuberance, you are living an unsustainable life in a effen DESERT!





Stockcharts, Chartnotes, what a joke for annotating, I cannot get this thing to show up any larger on my monitors.    Really sad this powerful tool is crippled by what can only be brute stupidity of programming.


 



Rush, Classic Old Music, Applicable Themes

Rush was always one of my favorite bands.   3 Canadians cranking out more music than humanly possible, and with interesting topic themes.    And these guys could replicate the song quality on stage like no one else.  

Some of their themes like the 1977 Album "Farewell to Kings" are very topical and applicable now.   This is back when I was reading the Hobbit, Orwell's 1984, and of course high school required readings.  

Check them out, and remember this is an advertising supported FREE blog.

Link to Rush Music Video's on Utube





Trump's 757, pretty cool actually!

Progression of "Investment"


Timeline: From StockTradersDaily
  1.  4th quarter recovery was broad; it brought the market back to balance.
  2. Late in 2011 large cap high dividends were en vogue.
  3. Early in 2012 they bought financials instead
  4. Soon after they bought large tech, CSCO, MSFT
  5. Soon after that they bought second tier tech names
And now they are buying high beta small caps.

This could very well signal that this is the end of this "cycle", all on it's own.