Tag: Speculators

The Real Reason For Iran

We are entering into our 5 week of our lame conflict with Iran and to this day no one has given an accurate reason for our attacks….it was not nukes or some vague terrorism accusation, yada yada…..

Since the very beginning of this conflict our Little Donny has had multiple statements and each one has made the markets go up and down like some crazed yo-yo….and there you go just the reason that myself and many others have said was the reason for this war….market manipulation.

Just after noon on Friday, March 20th, US president Donald Trump declared victory to a group of reporters in his broadly unpopular war with Iran. Just two minutes later, however, he announced he was sending US marines anyway. The next minute, the president said there would be no boots on the ground after all. A few beats later, he admitted he didn’t want a ceasefire, then declared victory again, then requested a ceasefire.

The volley continued like this for nearly half an hour, the president’s stream of consciousness pouring from within, in a prime example of Trump’s contradictory messaging on Iran. In addition to exhausting reporters and scrambling the news cycle, episodes like this have fueled speculation that people close to the president are feeding off the chaos.

As a recent analysis by economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman argues, there’s evidence that insiders are profiting off the war in Iran. On Monday, for example, Trump reversed his weekend commitment to deliver painful retribution on the Iranian people if the country failed to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. At 7:05am on Monday morning, however, Trump chickened out, issuing a five-day pause on hostilities via a post on Truth Social.

The price of crude oil, which had flailed upward for weeks as shipments from the Persian Gulf slowed to a trickle, plummeted immediately, from around $112 a barrel before the announcement to a low of $97 by 11:00am.

However, about 15 minutes before Trump’s post, CNBC reported, there was a massive increase in the amount of S&P 500 e-Mini futures trading on the market, right before their price skyrocketed from around $6,500 to around $6,700. Someone also got incredibly lucky playing the oil market, with West Texas Intermediate May futures seeing a massive spike in trading activity at the exact same time — a sign that someone had shed theirs before the price experienced a major drop.

https://futurism.com/future-society/donald-trump-iran-manipulation

This manipulation is making speculators millions….and after all war is big business and Donny’s butt buddies are making out like bandits (which they are).

There is you answer, the real answer, to why this…..PROFITS!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Go To The Speculation

For decades I have bitched about the endless speculation by the media when our elections roll around…..their predictions have been really wrong in the past….the last couple of elections have proven just how wrong they can be…..I Have witnessed it first hand and so have most Americans yet they allow the MSM to dictate to them or better yet they allow the confusion to keep them from exercising their right to vote…..

The WaPo has decided to cover this tactic in a recent article…..

Where were you on the night of Nov. 8, 2016? If you’re like many political junkies, you were watching election night coverage and wondering not whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would win but might Clinton do so well that she’d win in places like Texas and Arizona.

When she lost, many on both sides of the aisle were shocked. After all, forecasters gave her odds of winning that ranged from 70 to 99 percent. These statistical win-forecasts are increasingly prominent and widely shared — thanks in part to the work of sites like FiveThirtyEight, the Huffington Post, the New York Times Upshot and the Princeton Election Consortium.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/03/22/how-election-forecasts-confuse-americans-and-may-lead-them-not-to-vote-at-all/

We are only a few short months from the mid-terms and the MSM has been bombarding the airways already…all in prep work for the vote….I agree that all this speculation is turning off people from voting……I mean think about it…..about 49% of the voting public actually votes anymore…that is a sad stat….DO NOT let the endless speculation turn you off from voting…..exercise your right and maybe then we can get a government that we can be proud of…we have seen what happens when we allow crap to be elected.  DO NOT allow it to happen again!

Please do not depend on the media and its speculation when you vote…you see what we got this last general election….weak minds produce candidates like Trump…..

It’s The Economy, Right?

I was watching CNBC the other day and the anchor got all bubbly because the market went up over 100 points and the GDP figures were in and it expanded by 2.5%, which is pretty good since the last two quarters sucked bad…..

The US’ total economic output shot up 2.5% from July through September, after two dismal quarters of rising just 0.4% and 1.3%, according to a new GDP report released today. Consumers amped up their spending on both durable goods and services, and business investments soared 16.3%—indicating that we may not be in for a second recession after all.

The numbers were also boosted by federal government spending, though drops in state government spending dampened that effect. And there’s some more moderately positive news: New jobless claims fell 2,000 this week, after dropping 7,000 last week. But that still leaves claims at 402,000—economists think claims must fall below 400,000 for job growth to outpace job losses.

All the pundits are jerking off at the news….but there is still no jobs!  There are still millions of Americans that are unemployed!  Then for whom is all this good news?  Apparently, investors and by investors I mean hedge funds and by hedge funds I mean the same thieves that help tank the economy in the first place……those figures will be seasonal adjusted……which means in the final analysis….it will NOT be as good as they want it to be….

Let’s review……..0.1% of the population controls 34% of the country’s wealth, and owned as much much money as the bottom 42%.  Corporate profits are up by 62%, and the earnings of the top percentage almost doubled, while the average raise for workers only rose about 9%.  The Prez and the Congress gave massive tax cuts and even the Supreme Court got involved in politics………(pause here to re-read)……Wait!  That was the crash of 1929, not 2008!  And just like 1929 the economic crisis spread worldwide…..

My point here that all this has happened before and for the same reasons, well almost the same reasons, The Prez was Coolidge in1926….and the Supreme Court got involved in the process by ruling the minimum wage law was unconstitutional (they were controlled by business kinda like today and the ruling in the “People United” thing)…..why allow the same things to occur over and over and do nothing to change the vicious cycle?

And just like the crisis in 1929….Tax cuts and deficit debate will do NOTHING to repair the failing economy…..Bold new ideas must be found and I do not see that possible with a Congress owned by special interests….and yes…that could mean a bit of socialism….

I suggest if you truly want change then find another path….they are there…you just have to want it!

Pain At The Pump

A lot of lip flapping going on and We all suffer from pain at the pump….we bitch and we moan and we drive down the driveway to pick up the morning paper……we are a country of addicts…..gas addicts!

one of my pages describes this…..lobotero.wordpress.com/will-the-addic… …..I wrote this about 4 years ago and it is all repeating itself as it has time after time…..

And then when things are offered up the attack machine goes into full swing….like to end all subsidies to oil companies…..

Obama has proposed eliminating subsidies to oil and gas companies, which the administration pegs at $4 billion. Republicans have argued that they are necessary to keep the energy industry competitive and encourage domestic oil exploration.

A Boehner spokesman quickly shot down the possibility that the speaker was moving closer to the president’s proposal.

“The speaker wants to increase the supply of American energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and he is only interested in reforms that actually lower energy costs and create American jobs,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. “Unfortunately, what the president has suggested so far would simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump.”

Oil prices are controlled by speculation and there is an answer to that problem also…..

The Wall Street reform law enacted last year required the commission to impose so-called position limits, which would restrict the amount of oil that speculators could trade in the energy futures market. The law called for the tough new regulations to take effect by Jan. 22. The commission balked. Now, three months later, the price of gasoline has gone up 80-cents a gallon because of the commission’s hands-off approach to the markets it is supposed to regulate.

Only two of the five sitting commissioners support strong limits that the new Wall Street law envisioned. It takes three commissioners to adopt a new rule. The president, Sanders said, should insist that the law be enforced and demand the immediate resignation of commissioners who refuse to do their job.

You may not appreciate the financial reform bill that was signed into law last year, but there is a way to control the price of gas and to blame Obama ‘s war on subsidies as the reason for raising gas prices is just plain WRONG!

Even Goldman-Sachs has reported that the rise in gas prices is caused by speculators…..and to allow it to continue will bring any economic recovery to a grinding halt…..so to oppose any effort to get these speculators to cool down is NOT in the best interests of the country….

But a economist with  Platts and energy information group has said and he should know….

The tax breaks on oil are part of the endless discussion about how to tax an economic activity. Do you tax it at 0%? Do you tax it 100%? Or do you tax it in between? You want to tax it at the rate that provides the most money for the government while not inhibiting economic activity.

But that is not a subsidy. My demand for oil isn’t going to change one iota because of the changes that are under consideration, and therefore it won’t change the price of gasoline.

Oil companies will argue that the changes in the tax rate could change supply.  Now you could build some theoretical model that says, if the tax rate is changed, it MIGHT inhibit production, and therefore down the road, supplies would be less than they would be otherwise. Therefore, the price could be higher and my demand might be less. This is not as crazy as it sounds. If the rate on these forms of exploration went to 100%, obviously, no company would produce that oil, the overall market would tighten, and the price could go up. But that’s not in question; the administration is not proposing a 100% tax rate.

There you are…..we have an answer….now just DO IT!  You want to cut spending….then start here and prove that you Repubs are not anti middle class….just a thought!

Stop Whining!

OMG!  Gas has gone up to $3.54 a gallon the world as we know it is ending!

All the crises in the Middle East is driving speculation on the oil and supply of oil and as they speculate we are paying more and more for the black life’s blood of the US…how can we continue with such a drag on the economy?

First of all….shut up!  Stop the damn whining!

Second, just how short is your memories?  All this played out3 years ago when oil price hit in the neighborhood of $150 a barrel…..and all of you were just as wimpy as now….but NO one called for the use of the Strategic Reserves at that time…..but now your panic is calling for such a lame idea….Lame?  Yes, lame!  Three years ago after the speculators had a good week or so, the market stabilzed and all went back to pretty much normal….

Listen, if a camel farts in the Middle East it will effect the price of oil…this is something that pampered little shits will just have to accept…..and if you people would forgo the status symbols such as the vehicles that get 2 gallons to the mile, then you would Not be as freaky as you are now……use your mind and shut bellowing like a wounded buffalo every time the price of gas goes up….If you must have these beasts call luxury then by God just buck up and take responsibility for your action…..for your egocentric behavior…..

A simple economics lesson for you slow witted……oil prices go up and they go down….it is called a cycle…..and NO amount of whining or bitching is gonna change that…..so to consider the use of SPR just so you do not have to pay a few bucks more is just way to petty and it will NOT stop this from happening……

Get over yourselves!  Stop whining!

Speculators Beware!

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

European Desk

The economic crisis has hit the EU rather hard, especially Greece and then there is Portugal, Ireland and Spain, all of which could be the next big problem for the EU.  Some of the countries are trying desperately to find ways to prevent a total meltdown of their economy…….one such move is by Germany’s government….

Germany pledged to impose a partial ban on so-called naked short-selling early Wednesday to ward off steep market drops.
Before a parliamentary discussion regarding the 750-billion euro rescue package German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for tougher regulations against speculators to restrict some financial trades saying that the future of the euro was at stake.

Naked short-selling involves traders selling shares or investments which they do not hold in hopes of buying them cheaper later.
Germany announced its intentions to prohibit naked short-selling of eurozone government debt and shares of major financial companies hoping other nations would follow suit.

This is a rather tame attempt to cut the legs off of predatory practices…speculators have given the world almost every depression and recession and to try and control devious and possibly illegal financial practices is one way to stop the train in its tracks.

However, there must be something to the attempt for the DOW slid 376 points on the news of the attempt by Germany…..looks like the speculators were trying to get out before they were caught with their pants down.

Keep in mind that speculation caused the economic bubble in Japan to burst……speculation caused the American economic bubble to explode and now China is looking at the problem of speculation….will their economy be the next busted bubble?

Speculators To Make Out In Stim Plan

First of all let us take a good look at what land speculation can do.

During each period of industrial activity, land values rose steadily, culminating in speculation that drove them up in great jumps. This was invariably followed by a partial cessation of production, reducing effective demand as a correlative. A commercial crash generally accompanied this. A period of comparative stagnation followed, during which equilibrium was slowly reestablished. Then the same cycle began again.

By now most everyone should realize that the president got his stimulus plan passed by Congress and it awaits his signature later this week.  There has been a lot of back and forth on what this plan will do or not do…time will tell who is right.  But something that has been overlooked in this plan.

I read a piece written by Deam Baker of the Center For Economic & Policy Research.

The reporters covering the stimulus have been so busy editorializing against it that they haven’t had time to pay attention to what Congress is doing. Tonight Congress approved the Isakson amendment which gives $15,000 (or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is lower) to every person who buys a home in 2009.

Somehow, Isakson has this thing costing just $19 billion. Let’s break the Washington rules and try a little arithmetic. Even with weakness in the housing market, it is still virtually certain that we will sell close to 5 million homes in 2009. The overwhelming majority would qualify for the full credit. So, we get 5 million times $15,000. That sounds a
lot like $75 billion.

And this is before we get to any gaming. It’s hard to see why tens of millions of people wouldn’t figure out a way to buy a house from a friend or relative and get their $15k. If we can get one-third of the country’s homes to change hands (lots of jobs for realtors) that would be good for $375 billion.

It would have been helpful if reporters had talked to an analyst who could have explained these points for readers.

Now we have this plan that will do more for land speculators than for the average person…so where do the loyalties lie…who on Main Street will this amendment help?…..you tell me.

There Is Another Cause Of The Economic Crisis

All is quiet on the economic front, at least until 2 Jan 09…..Kuwait craps on Dow, GM/Chrysler get their minimum amount of cash, Wall Street biggies are rolling in dough and foreclosures continue to rise.  By now everyone is tired of bad news, especially economic bad news and stick their heads into the wide screen TV and prey all will get better.  The spoiled, pampered nation ignores the obvious hoping it will go away.  No one wants to admit that the situation will get worse.

Few will admit to the causes of the problems and the biggest has been ignored for long enough.  Credit is the culprit, at least that is what they want us to believe.  Personally, I see another way.

THERE IS ANOTHER CAUSE, not yet mentioned, that must be considered before we can fully explain the impact of progress on the distribution of wealth. It is the confident expectation that land values will increase in the future. The steady increase of rent in all growing countries leads to speculation — holding onto land for a higher price than it would otherwise bring at that time.

The result of land being withheld is that the margin of the city is pushed away so much farther from the center. The actual margin of building is at the limits of the city. This corresponds to the margin of production in agriculture. But we will not find land available at its value for agricultural purposes, as we would if rent were determined simply by present requirements. Instead, we find — for a long distance beyond the city — that land bears a speculative value. This is based upon the belief that it will be required for urban purposes in the future. To reach the point at which land can be purchased at a price not based upon urban rent, we must go very far beyond the actual margin of urban use.

We may conceive of speculation as extending the margin of production. Or, we can look at it as carrying the rent line past the margin of production. However we view it, the influence of speculation on increasing rent is an important fact. It cannot be ignored in any complete theory of the distribution of wealth in progressive countries. Speculation is the force, arising from material progress, that constantly tends to increase rent in a greater ratio than progress increases production. As material progress goes on and productive power increases, speculation thus constantly tends to reduce wages — not merely relatively, but absolutely.

Speculation–It leads to land being withheld from use, as higher prices are expected. Thus, the margin of production is forced out farther than required by the necessities of production. As landowners confidently expect rents to increase further, they demand more rent than the land would provide under current conditions.

The price of land has been a major contributor to just about all our recessions and such.  When one acquires land to hold for higher prices–then that is speculation.  There is a way to control speculation, but the question is, does anyone really want to stop the cycle of boom or bust?  Thanks to American economist Henry George that answer is Land Value Taxation.

May I Have Another Piece, Please?

Recently I wrote that everyone in financial stress would be looking for a piece of the bailout pie.  Damn looks like I was right yet again!

Some of the nation’s biggest property developers are asking the government for assistance as a record amount of commercial real-estate debt comes due, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. The industry is reportedly asking to be included in a new $200 billion loan program initially created by the government to assist the market for student loans, car loans and credit-card debt. The industry is warning that thousands of office complexes, hotels, shopping centers and other commercial buildings are headed for defaults, foreclosures and bankruptcies, owing to some $530 million of commercial mortgages that will be coming due for refinancing in the next three years. They say that this poses another major threat to the global financial system, already severely weakened. In a recent letter to Henry Paulson, signed by a dozen real-estate trade groups, the scenario was described as grim. “Right now, we believe there is insufficient systemic capacity to refinance expiring, performing commercial real-estate loans. For many borrowers, [credit] simply is not available.”

But did not Pres Bush say that we were not going to bailout speculators?  The what would you call a real estate developer?  Land speculation can be traced back to most of the bad economic times in the US and now they want the taxpayer to help them out.

I say tell them to piss off!

What Causes Poverty?

We can point at several causes to the question asked of what causes poverty?  Loss of a job, social injustices, education and the list can go on and on.  But can one factor be named as the cause of poverty?

Back in the late 1800’s an economist named Henry George stated that involuntary poverty and unemployment is the direct result of land speculation.  Speculators hold land out of use waiting for higher prices.  This means that land would not be readily available to labor and capital.  Thus, unemployment is the result because the land is not being used for production.

This withholding of the land leads to depressions and recessions in the business cycle.  Land speculation leads to higher prices in boom times that makes it too expensive for business to use.  And in turn labor suffers, production suffers.  In deflated times land values drop to a point where it stimulates investment and business.  Labor and production improves.  Unfortunately, this “good” times does not last.  For with the lower prices in land speculation returns and the cycle begins again of boom and bust.

According to this example the speculation in land prices leads to and is a direct cause of poverty.

I will understand it if Wall Street economists do not agree with this model.  But they are hiding their heads; they are wrong or they are just stupid.  Many seem afraid of this simple answer, they want to turn the science of economics into something it is not.  Many noted economists have won a many ward by inventing graphs and stats….but in reality it is not that complex….it boils down to speculation.

I know can it be as simple as that…and the answer is yes.  Look at the current economic situation–it began in the housing sector then moved on to the others.  The housing sector is most effected by speculation and that is what lead to this point in our economic history.  The prices kept climbing and financial wizards kept finding ways to put people onto land and it reached a point that it broke.  Speculation lead to this point and now it is on the down turn and eventually production will return when the price of land reaches a point that stimulates the business cycle.

By reading this one should get the understanding of what is happening in the world of economics.  I hope it helps.