luni, 5 decembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Donald Trump's Self-Serving Circus Sideshow; Gingrich Fawns Over Trump; Mish Proposes an Alternative Debate

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Donald Trump has invited all the Republican presidential candidates to a debate. Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman promptly and properly turned down the offer.

In contrast, Newt Gingrich, hoping for a Trump endorsement, made a pilgrimage to Donald.

One must understand upfront this is not a gracious offer by Donald Trump to conduct a a fair debate. This is a self-serving promotion by Don Trump, for Don Trump, to put none other than Don Trump into the spotlight as kingmaker.

In Response to Trump's Offer Ron Paul's campaign chairman said "The selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the Presidency and flies in the face of that office's history and dignity.

Mr. Trump's participation as moderator will distract from questions and answers concerning important issues such as the national economy, crushing federal government debt, the role of the federal government, foreign policy, and the like. To be sure, Mr. Trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere".

Ron Paul Jabs Trump

The Huffington Post reports Ron Paul Jabs Donald Trump: 'I Didn't Know He Had The Ability To Anoint People'
"I don't understand the marching to his office. I didn't know he had the ability to lay on hands and anoint people," said Paul on CNN's "State of the Union."

The row between the two began when Paul announced he'd be boycotting the Dec. 27 GOP presidential debate because Trump was chosen to moderate it.

Paul's position in the race seems to be on the rise. A Des Moines Register poll found Paul pulling ahead of Mitt Romney in Iowa, securing the second place spot behind Newt Gingrich.

Matt Dowd, former campaign strategist for President George W. Bush, recently said he would not be at all surprised if Paul wins the Iowa caucuses.

Gingrich Fawns Over Trump

There is only one candidate that has sucked up to Trump's self-serving offer. That person is Newt Gingrich.

Please consider Republicans Critical of Trump Debate
Republican strategists on Monday bemoaned the prospect of a presidential debate hosted by Donald Trump even as Newt Gingrich, surging in recent polls, made a pilgrimage to see Mr. Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star.

Mr. Gingrich arrived Monday at Trump Tower in New York to a crush of media, the latest Republican presidential candidate to court Mr. Trump. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and other candidates have also made the trip.

"Donald Trump is a great showman," Mr. Gingrich told reporters after his closed-door meeting.

Mr. Gingrich has accepted an invitation by Mr. Trump to participate in a debate days before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. But leading Republican strategists and campaign officials on Monday condemned a Trump-moderated debate as a spectacle that would do more harm to the party than good.

Mr. Trump grabbed headlines this year by seizing on the "birther" issue, questioning where President Obama was born, and he continues to dangle the idea of an independent bid for the White House next year.

Karl Rove, the former political adviser to President George W. Bush, railed against the idea of a debate hosted by Mr. Trump. In an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Mr. Rove called on Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, to put a stop to the debate.

"What the heck are the Republican candidates doing showing up at a debate with a guy who says 'I may run for president next year as an independent,'" Mr. Rove said. "I think the Republican National chairman ought to step in and say we strongly discourage every candidate from appearing."
Mish Proposes an Alternative Debate

There is no need to stop the Trump circus. Let Gingrich go. If Romney wants to go too, let him. The two can debate to their heart's content with a Circus-Clown Pseudo-Republican "Great Showman" as the moderator.

Meanwhile, let's have another debate without distractions like Don Trump. More importantly, let's have a real debate without distractions like Newt Gingrich and any other Republican fools willing to fawn all over Don Trump as if Trump's "power to anoint" was worth a plug nickel.

Hello News Organizations...

Is there any news organization willing to sponsor an alternate debate, a real debate, preferably one that gives equal response time to candidates Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman?

After all, Paul and Huntsman are the only candidates with enough common sense to see what the proposal by Trump is really all about, and promptly decline the offer.

Also note that both Paul and Huntsman, unlike the other candidates have put forth serious economic proposals. Moreover, neither is likely to start another major war.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List


S&P Places 15 Eurozone Countries, Including Germany and France, on Credit Watch Negative

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:43 PM PST

In a move sure to antagonize EU officials the S&P put 15 Eurozone countries on "Credit Watch Negative".
The ratings agency placed the ratings of 15 euro zone countries, including top-rated nations Germany and France, on credit watch negative -- a move that signals a possible downgrade in no later than three months.

S&P said, however, it expects to conclude its review "as soon as possible" following this week's summit of EU leaders on Friday.

The action was "prompted by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the eurozone as a whole," the ratings agency said in a statement.
There are 17 Eurozone nations and Greece is already rated CC (near-default). Given that Cyprus was downgraded recently, this is an effective downgrade of every country in the Eurozone.

Expect France to bitch loudly tomorrow.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List


Decade-Long European Recession Coming Up; Reflections on the Un-Level Playing Field

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 12:43 PM PST

If French president Nicolas Sarkozy gets his wish to "Level the Playing Field" on sovereign bonds, a decade-long European recession is on its way.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear in a speech in Toulon last week that he wanted the private sector to be given a more-level playing field when it came to the threat of having to bear losses on their investments.

He said Greece, where there have been drawn-out negotiations between the government and the private sector over how much of a hit banks and insurance companies should take under a debt restructuring, should be a unique case.

"It must be clear that what has been done for Greece, in a very particular context, will not happen again, that no other state in the euro zone will be put into default," he said.

"It must be absolutely clear that in future no saver will lose a cent on the reimbursement of a loan to a euro zone country."
Reflections on the Un-Level Playing Field

What could possibly be more un-level than guaranteeing banks and bondholders will never take losses? When there are more losses, and there will be, the only way to guarantee banks do not take them, is to have someone else take them, namely taxpayers.

While pondering that, take look at the action in Portuguese bonds.

Portugal 10-Year Government Bonds



Portugal 2-Year Government Bonds



Do either of those charts suggest there will be no more losses? If there are, who will pay them?

If Sarkozy gets his wish, taxpayers, not bondholders will pay the price.The same holds true for Ireland, Spain, Belgium, and Italy.

The only true way to level the playing field is to make banks and bondholders who take foolish risks to pay the price for their foolish actions.

Monti's "Save Italy" Package Sure to Cause "Super Recession"

Yesterday I wrote Monti's "Save Italy" Package Sure to Cause "Super Recession"
Super Mario has a five-point plan to "Save Italy".

  1. Raise more than 10 billion euros from a new property tax
  2. Impose a new tax on luxury items like yachts
  3. Raise value added tax
  4. Crack down on tax evasion
  5. Increase the pension age

The above package was dubbed the "Save Italy" package by Prime Minister Mario Monti. Supposedly it will boost growth.

While I agree pension reform is much needed, there is not a single thing in the package to boost growth. Italy is in recession. Raising taxes in a recession is the last thing you want to do, yet four of Monti's five ideas raise taxes.

This proposal may temporarily placate the bond market, but Italy is headed for one "super recession" if Mario's mix of idiotic tax hikes passes. Instead, Italy needs to cut wasteful government spending and lower taxes.
For there to be no more losses, we will need still more austerity measures in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Germany.

Spanish unemployment is 22.6%, a 15-year high. Greek unemployment is a record 18.4%. What will more austerity measures do and what will cramming losses on taxpayers do to those rates?

The EU needs to reflect on the consequences of Sarkozy's ludicrous proposal to "un-level" the risks on piss poor lending decisions.

Two Consequences In Order

  1. Europe will slide into a multi-year recession
  2. Voters in Greece, Spain, Portugal (likely all) will have had enough

Then .... Eventually, Will Come a Time When ....

Eventually, there will come a time when a populist office-seeker will stand before the voters, hold up a copy of the EU treaty and (correctly) declare all the "bail out" debt foisted on their country to be null and void. That person will be elected.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List


Daily Show on "Free Money"

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 10:31 AM PST

Jon Stewart on the Daily Show went after the Bernanke Fed last week following the disclosure by Bloomberg of $7.7 trillion lent to US banks on which they made billions of dollars in profit, at no risk.



Link is video does not play: Secret TARP program explained

For more facts on which banks were involved and to what extent, please see Banks Make $13 Billion on $7.7 Trillion in Secret Fed Loans; SEC Stands by Does Nothing.

The most puzzling aspect about the Bloomberg revelation is why there is not more public ire against Congress, the Fed, and banks over this.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List


Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2011

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:59 PM PST

Buzzfeed compiled a collection of images from the year's news stories that will remind you how many really big events happened in 2011, from natural disasters to citizen protests to legislation to war.


Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son's name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial.
(Getty Images / Justin Lane)


A whirpool forms off the Japanese coast after the tsunami on March 11.
(Reuters / Kyodo )


his sightseeing boat, Hama Yuri, was pulled 1300 feet from the coast and somehow balanced itself on a two story house during the tsunami in Japan.


Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1.
(Reuters / HANDOUT)


Two lights from the former site of the World Trade Centers shine for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
(Reuters / GARY HERSHORN)


Phyllis Siegel, 76, left, and Connie Kopelov, 84, both of New York, embrace after becoming the first same-sex couple to get married at the Manhattan City Clerk's office.
(Getty Images / STAN HONDA)


A protester gets sprayed in the face with pepper spray at an Occupy Portland protest. (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)


A before and after shot of Joplin, Missouri after a massive tornado on May 22.


Friends and loved ones gather at the Oslo cathedral to mourn 93 victims killed in twin terror attacks from a bombing in downtown Oslo and a mass shooting on Utoya island on July 24.
(Getty Images / Paula Bronstein)


A monstrous dust storm (Haboob) roared through Phoenix, Arizona in July.


A policeman detains an opposition activist in Baku on March 12. Azerbaijan police detained more than 30 activists of the opposition Musavat Party when its members took to the street of Baku to protest against the ruling elite following a similar rally a day before. (Reuters)


Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt.


An aerial shot of the damage immediately following the Japanese tsunami.
(Reuters / KYODO)


A girl in isolation for radiation screening looks at her dog through a window in Nihonmatsu, Japan on March 14.
(Reuters / Yuriko Nakao)


A man sits in front of a destroyed apartment building following the Joplin, Missouri tornado. (Reuters)


A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an "Occupy UCD" demonstration in Davis, California. (Jasna Hodzic)


A mother comforts her son in Concord, Alabama, near his house which was completely destroyed by a tornado in April.
(AP / Jeff Roberts)


Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate. (Reuters)


Firefighters of Ladder Company 4 — which lost seven men on 9/11 — perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead on May 2.


Slain Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson's dog "Hawkeye" lies next to his casket during funeral services in Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 6 when their helicopter was shot down during a mission to help fellow troops who had come under fire.


A boy looks at a figure of Steve Jobs next to flowers laid in his tribute at an Apple store in Hong Kong, China.
(AP / Kin Cheung)


Cars are abandoned on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive during the "Snowpocalypse" in February.


Facebook played an extremely important role in the uprisings throughout the Middle East.


84-year-old Dorli Rainey was pepper sprayed during a peaceful march in Seattle, Washington. She would have been thrown to the ground and trampled, but luckily a fellow protester and Iraq vet was there to save her. (Joshua Trujillo / seattlepi.com)


Australian Scott Jones kisses his Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas after she was knocked to the ground by a police officer's riot shield in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canadians rioted after the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins.
(Getty Images / Rich Lam)


Hurricane Irene approaches the east coast.


Billy Stinson comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood on August 28 in Nags Head, N.C. The cottage, built in 1903 and destroyed by Hurricane Irene, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Albemarle Sound in Nags Head.
(Getty Images / Scott Olson)


Flowers and tributes are seen outside the home of Amy Winehouse in London on July 24.
(Reuters / STEFAN WERMUTH)


Office workers gather on the sidewalk in downtown Washington, D.C., moments after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake shook the nation's capital. The earthquake was centered northwest of Richmond, Va., but could be felt from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
(AP / J. Scott Applewhite)


Mihag Gedi Farah, a seven-month-old child, is held by his mother in a field hospital of the International Rescue Committee in the town of Dadaab, Kenya. The baby has since made a full recovery.
(AP / Schalk Van Zuydam)


A woman jumps from a burning building during the London riots in August. (Amy Weston / WENN.com)


Office workers look for a way out of a high rise building in central Christchurch, New Zeland on February 22. A strong earthquake killed at least 180 people.
(Reuters / Simon Baker)


A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan after the massive earthquake and tsunami.
(Reuters / ASAHI SHIMBUN)


A demonstrator shows his bottom to riot police during a protest by European workers and trade union representatives to demand better job protection in the European Union countries in Brussels on March 24.
(Reuters / Thierry Roge)


A woman rebel fighter supporter fires an AK-47 rifle as she reacts to the news of the withdrawal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces from Benghazi on March 19.
(Reuters / GORAN TOMASEVIC)


Police spray Ugandan opposition party leaders with colored water during demonstrations in the capital Kampala on May 10.
(Reuters / James Akena)


A student is punched in the face by a police officer in Chile. Students in Chile are demanding a new framework for education.
(Reuters / VICTOR RUIZ CABALLERO)


An aid worker using an iPad captures an image of a dead cow's decomposing carcass in Wajir near the Kenya-Somalia border on July 23.
(Reuters / STRINGER)


A Libyan rebel is pictured with Gadhafi's golden gun.
(Getty Images / Philippe Desmazes)


Harold Camping speaks about the end of the world. The world was supposed to end on May 22 of this year.
(AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez)


A phone hangs off the hook on Wall Street.
(Reuters / LUCAS JACKSON)


US gay service members march in a gay pride parade for the first time ever.
(Getty Images / Sandy Huffaker)


A woman hangs onto a street sign in chest deep water along the flooded streets in Rangsit on the outskirts of Bangkok on October 24.
(Getty Images / Paula Bronstein)


A distressed bride attempts suicide in China after her fiance abruptly called off their marriage. Still in her wedding gown, she tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window of a seventh floor building. Right as she jumped, a man managed to catch and save her.
(Reuters / CHINA DAILY)


A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan.
(Reuters / Umit Bektas)


Understanding Viral Content Marketing [Infographic]

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 12:36 PM PST



So if "going viral" is your goal, how can you optimize a campaign to transform into a Web meme goldmine? Smart money would select an environment where lots of group sharing is going on. Places such as Facebook and Twitter are no-brainers, but the value of Reddit as a veritable meme factory is on the rise. Combining the right design and tone with the proper platform is one of the trickiest parts of creating a successful viral campaign, but when it's all aligned, success is more likely.

What's your favorite viral campaign? Let us know in the comments.


Source: ProBlogger