Saturday, September 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Gold and Silver - new record today?
Strong action indicates we may see a couple of new records today, even thought both are a bit overbought...
Excellent read: Gold Entering a Virtuous Circle
GOLD
SILVER
Excellent read: Gold Entering a Virtuous Circle
GOLD
SILVER
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Shakeup: Dagong Global (China) Sovereign Credit Ratings
The big three credit-rating agencies that totally missed the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market (Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch) still give the United States a AAA credit rating. But there's a newcomer in the credit-rating game - Dagong Global Credit Rating - which has a very different view of the strength of U.S. finances.
Beijing-headquartered Dagong, the dominant credit agency in China, is pushing into international markets. This summer, it rated the sovereign debt of 50 nations making up 90 percent of the world's economy. While Americans still tend to regard U.S. Treasuries as the "safest investment in the world," Dagong gave our debt a mere AA - lower than that of 12 other countries (including China, which it awarded an AA+). To add insult to injury, the firm declared the U.S. outlook to be "negative."
China's unique ratings focus
The established foreign agencies tilt their ratings to reflect "their beliefs and ideology" and the "interests of the borrowing countries" in the West. They place too much emphasis on the nature of a country's political system, the status of its currency as internationally reserved currency, and per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Moody's, S&P and Fitch were widely criticized by the international community for giving overly positive grades to mortgage-related investments and their failure to disclose risks, which led to the US subprime mortgage crisis and later triggered the 2008 worldwide financial crisis.
Dagong, in contrast, focuses on a country's fiscal strength, foreign currency reserves and ability to create wealth.
Link
Click image for larger view
Beijing-headquartered Dagong, the dominant credit agency in China, is pushing into international markets. This summer, it rated the sovereign debt of 50 nations making up 90 percent of the world's economy. While Americans still tend to regard U.S. Treasuries as the "safest investment in the world," Dagong gave our debt a mere AA - lower than that of 12 other countries (including China, which it awarded an AA+). To add insult to injury, the firm declared the U.S. outlook to be "negative."
China's unique ratings focus
The established foreign agencies tilt their ratings to reflect "their beliefs and ideology" and the "interests of the borrowing countries" in the West. They place too much emphasis on the nature of a country's political system, the status of its currency as internationally reserved currency, and per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Moody's, S&P and Fitch were widely criticized by the international community for giving overly positive grades to mortgage-related investments and their failure to disclose risks, which led to the US subprime mortgage crisis and later triggered the 2008 worldwide financial crisis.
Dagong, in contrast, focuses on a country's fiscal strength, foreign currency reserves and ability to create wealth.
Link
Click image for larger view
Monday, September 06, 2010
Must Watch - Century Of The Self
This superb series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control crowds in an age of democracy.
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The video documentary below describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".
The Century of the Self asks deep questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.
The business and political world both use public relations to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. This documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians and businesses appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. A Wall Street banker is even quoted as saying "We must shift America from a needs - to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs.
AN ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH!!!
Related: Debt Slave (You aren't who you think you are)
The Century Of The Self - 2 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 3 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 4 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 5 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 6 of 6
More on this Series: Top Documentary Films
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The video documentary below describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".
The Century of the Self asks deep questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.
The business and political world both use public relations to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. This documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians and businesses appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. A Wall Street banker is even quoted as saying "We must shift America from a needs - to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs.
AN ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH!!!
Related: Debt Slave (You aren't who you think you are)
The Century Of The Self - 2 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 3 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 4 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 5 of 6
The Century Of The Self - 6 of 6
More on this Series: Top Documentary Films
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Obama Admin Submits US Human Rights Violations Report To U.N. For The First Time!
Related: Obama Hauls Arizona Before the UN Human Rights Council
Snippet: This national report is but the first step of the international government’s review process. On November 5, the United States will be examined by a troika of UN bureaucrats from France, Japan, and Cameroon (an oppressive nation which is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference). This trio will consider three items: Obama’s self-flagellating report, reports written about America by UN tribunals or international governing bodies, and testimony from NGOs with a pronounced anti-American bias. It will also consider “voluntary pledges and commitments made by the State,” such as suspending an Arizona state law.
Then the French, Japanese, and Cameroon diplomats will draw up a plan of action for the United States to implement.
Snippet: This national report is but the first step of the international government’s review process. On November 5, the United States will be examined by a troika of UN bureaucrats from France, Japan, and Cameroon (an oppressive nation which is a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference). This trio will consider three items: Obama’s self-flagellating report, reports written about America by UN tribunals or international governing bodies, and testimony from NGOs with a pronounced anti-American bias. It will also consider “voluntary pledges and commitments made by the State,” such as suspending an Arizona state law.
Then the French, Japanese, and Cameroon diplomats will draw up a plan of action for the United States to implement.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Drowning in Debt: US students helpless to pay off education
A ticking time bomb of American debt. Over $830 billion are owed by college students in the US with $3 thousand more added on every second. The most traditional financial baggage for Americans was credit card debt. For the first time however, debt belonging to college students has over taken that number one spot. Students graduating in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are facing the worst job markets in a generation at least (just how bad is the job market? See chart below video). And so you have people with more debt than we have ever seen before, who are having a harder time finding any job, let alone a job that pays them enough to somehow pay off all this debt."
Chart Courtesy Calculated Risk
Chart Courtesy Calculated Risk
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