The IRS scandal of targeting conservative groups is messy, and the Obama Administration is going to look like it was drug through a hog lot before it’s through. Lois Lerner, who was in charge of overseeing tax exempt groups, was put on administrative leave (with pay) after she pled the [...]]]> by Greg Hunter
USA Watchdog

The IRS scandal of targeting conservative groups is messy, and the Obama Administration is going to look like it was drug through a hog lot before it’s through. Lois Lerner, who was in charge of overseeing tax exempt groups, was put on administrative leave (with pay) after she pled the 5th. Funny thing though, before she pled, she made a statement that said she basically did nothing wrong. Then she answered a question and used her Constitutional right to not self-incriminate. Republican lawmakers say because she testified and made statements, she can’t have it both ways. Some say she waived her 5th Amendment right. This screams for a special prosecutor, and Democrats are not going to stand in the way. They are not going to cover for the White House. It is amazing to me how little the President claims to know about the IRS scandal, Benghazi and Department of Justice investigating journalists doing their jobs. I don’t know which is worse, a clueless President or a President knowing and doing nothing.

The President does know something about the drone program that some say is nothing more than a drone murder program. President Obama says he is going to “narrow” the parameters. That’s cold comfort to the already more than 3,000 people who have been killed by drones in the Middle East. Many were suspected terrorists, but many have been civilians hit by collateral damage. This includes more than 100 children! Could someone please tell me how we can go after al-Qaeda in places like Pakistan and Yemen and then turn around and arm al-Qaeda rebels in Libya and Syria? Could someone please tell me how this murder program is compatible with the due process clauses in the Constitution? Being “careful” or “narrowing” the scope does not take the place of charges, a public trial and being judged by a jury of your peers. This should be the standard, at least, for U.S. citizens. The government has finally admitted the U.S. has killed four Americans with drone strikes.

Continue Reading at USAWatchdog.com…

About the claim that central banks will never let asset bubbles pop ever again–their track record of permanently inflating asset bubbles leaves much to be desired.

The problem with trying to solve all our structural problems by injecting “free money” liquidity into financial Elites is that [...]]]> by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds

About the claim that central banks will never let asset bubbles pop ever again–their track record of permanently inflating asset bubbles leaves much to be desired.

The problem with trying to solve all our structural problems by injecting “free money” liquidity into financial Elites is that all the money sloshing around seeks a high-yield home, and in doing so it inflates bubbles that inevitably pop with devastating consequences.

As noted yesterday, the Grand Narrative of the U.S. economy is a global empire that has substituted financialization for sustainable economic expansion. In shorthand, those people with access to near-zero-cost central bank-issued credit can take advantage of the many asset bubbles financialization inflates.

Continue Reading at OfTwoMinds.com…

With so much turmoil taking place around the globe, today King World News interviewed one of the legends in the business, Jim Grant, Founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer. KWN will be releasing a series of written interviews today with Grant where he discusses gold extensively, the end of the current [...]]]> from King World News

With so much turmoil taking place around the globe, today King World News interviewed one of the legends in the business, Jim Grant, Founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer. KWN will be releasing a series of written interviews today with Grant where he discusses gold extensively, the end of the current monetary system, Fed and central bank policy, distortion in key markets, and the tremendous challenges the West faces going forward. Below is the first in a series of written interviews with one of the most highly acclaimed individuals on Wall Street.

Eric King: “The idea that the Fed can gracefully exit QE, and they’ve been selling this for quite some time, Jim, I wanted to get your thoughts on that?”

Continue Reading at KingWorldNews.com…

trying to cover way too much news in way too little time … this week, there was just entirely too many news items for poor old scarecrow to latch onto just one that really, really, really pissed him off …

more from Gary “SmartScarecrow” Hendershot at http://smartscarecrow.com and http://yourtube.com/user/smartscarecrow

by By Doug Hornig, Senior Editor Casey Research

A little over a year ago in this space, we called your attention to a developing situation in the pharmaceutical industry, as shown by the chart below that dramatically [...]]]> The business models of the pharmaceutical industry are undergoing significant shifts that tech investors should monitor closely.

by By Doug Hornig, Senior Editor
Casey Research

A little over a year ago in this space, we called your attention to a developing situation in the pharmaceutical industry, as shown by the chart below that dramatically illustrates the arrival of the so-called “patent cliff”.

Today, the results are in from 2012. The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has released its annual survey of the US drug market. It found that the market shrank last year for the first time ever.

Continue Reading at CaseyResearch.com…

by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Telegraph.co.uk

Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds (JGBs) have doubled in a month and spiked dramatically to 1pc on Thursday, triggering a 7.3pc crash [...]]]> Global markets face a witches’ brew of new risks as Japan’s monetary adventure wobbles, China slows further and the US Fed prepares to shut the spigot of dollar liquidity.

by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Telegraph.co.uk

Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds (JGBs) have doubled in a month and spiked dramatically to 1pc on Thursday, triggering a 7.3pc crash in the Nikkei stock index. It was the biggest one-day fall since the tsunami two years ago, comparable with wild moves seen at the height of the Asian crisis in 1998.

[...] The contagion effect set off a retreat from stocks across the world, though Wall Street later pared losses. The iTraxx Crossover or “fear gauge” for corporate bonds jumped 25 points to 392.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) intervened with $20bn (£13bn) to drive down yields again but the failure to ensure an orderly debt market has started to rattle investors. Banks, pension funds and insurers appear to be dumping JGBs for fear of being caught on the wrong side of a bond rout.

Continue Reading at Telegraph.co.uk…

As is well-known by everyone, the Fed monetizes the US deficit on a daily basis, thanks to the 45 minutes of POMO love each day when it buys Treasuries from Dealers. Of course, the Fed monetizes bonds from across the entire curve (mostly the longer end), which is why it is somewhat [...]]]> from Zero Hedge

As is well-known by everyone, the Fed monetizes the US deficit on a daily basis, thanks to the 45 minutes of POMO love each day when it buys Treasuries from Dealers. Of course, the Fed monetizes bonds from across the entire curve (mostly the longer end), which is why it is somewhat complicated to express the amount of risk transfer the Fed takes on every time the S&P posts an uptick as a result of yet another bond purchase by the hedge fund with the largest fixed income portfolio in the history of the world. However, one simple way of expressing just this risk is through the use of ten year equivalents: Ten-year equivalents are the amount of 10-year notes that must be held by the Fed in order to remove the same amount of interest rate risk from the market as its current holdings. What this methodology allows is to represent the Fed’s holdings of all marketable securities on a linear continuum, and represent the remainder, or those bonds held by the private sector, on the side.

Continue Reading at ZeroHedge.com…

Here’s some news that caught my eye earlier today when I was on the road: The Markit Flash France PMI® shows French private sector output continues to fall at marked rate in May.

Key points:

The following is a partial transcript of Dr. Marc Faber’s interview airing for subscribers on Friday:

Jim Puplava: Joining me on the program today is Dr. Marc Faber who heads up the Gloom, Boom, and Doom report. And, Marc, recently we’ve seen a precipitous fall in gold unlike anything seen [...]]]> by FS Staff
Financial Sense

The following is a partial transcript of Dr. Marc Faber’s interview airing for subscribers on Friday:

Jim Puplava: Joining me on the program today is Dr. Marc Faber who heads up the Gloom, Boom, and Doom report. And, Marc, recently we’ve seen a precipitous fall in gold unlike anything seen in a few years. I’d like to get your take: What’s behind this fall in gold? Because it took the markets by surprise—there’s a lot of theories out there, including this week in Barron’s by Randall Forsythe saying that, this time, gold bugs may have a point. What are your thoughts?

Dr. Marc Faber: Well, there are many theories why the price went down.

Continue Reading at FinancialSense.com…

Bruce Bartlett recently lamented in The New York Times that given the current state of economic affairs we need more Keynesian medicine to fix the US economy. According to Bartlett, the core insight of Keynesian economics is that there are very special economic circumstances in which the general rules of economics [...]]]> by Frank Shostak
Mises.org

Bruce Bartlett recently lamented in The New York Times that given the current state of economic affairs we need more Keynesian medicine to fix the US economy. According to Bartlett, the core insight of Keynesian economics is that there are very special economic circumstances in which the general rules of economics don’t apply and are in fact counterproductive. This happens when interest rates and inflation rates are so low that monetary policy becomes impotent; an increase in the money supply has no boosting effect because it does not lead to additional spending by consumers or businesses. Keynes called this situation a “liquidity trap.” Keynes wrote,

Continue Reading at Mises.org…

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Find Ann Barnhardt online: http://Barnhardt.biz

Disclaimer: The financial and political opinions expressed in this interview are those of the guest and not [...]]]> from FinanceAndLiberty

SUBSCRIBE (It’s FREE!) for more!: http://bit.ly/FinanceAndLiberty
Website: http://FinanceAndLiberty.com
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinanceAndLi…
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Finance_Liberty
Title and video graphics by Josiah Johnson Studios: http://JosiahJohnsonStudios.com
Our sponsor: http://www.SoundMoneyCampaign.com

Find Ann Barnhardt online: http://Barnhardt.biz

Disclaimer: The financial and political opinions expressed in this interview are those of the guest and not necessarily of “Finance and Liberty” or its staff. Opinions expressed in this video do not constitute personalized investment advice and should not be relied on for making investment decisions.

James Turk & Chris Waltzek on GoldSeek Radio – May 23, 2013.

Click Here to Listen to the Audio

Continue Reading at Radio.GoldSeek.com…

Last week when I arrived to Bangladesh, the immigration officials there were positively ecstatic to see a foreign tourist entering the country.

I’ve also been to places in Africa and the South Pacific where you’re greeted upon arrival by dancing tribespeople singing songs of welcome.

It’s not [...]]]> by Simon Black
Sovereign Man

Last week when I arrived to Bangladesh, the immigration officials there were positively ecstatic to see a foreign tourist entering the country.

I’ve also been to places in Africa and the South Pacific where you’re greeted upon arrival by dancing tribespeople singing songs of welcome.

It’s not quite the same in the Land of the Free. In fact, before they even let people in the country, they program us to be afraid and intimidated.

For one thing, all the immigration officers are armed. There’s absolutely no reason for a government agent to carry a loaded pistol when all he does is stamp a passport. This is EXTREMELY uncommon in the rest of the world. Only in the Land of the Free.

Continue Reading at SovereignMan.com…

Yesterday’s rally recouped a 200-point overnight selloff in the Dow, but because it was unpersuasive from a technical standpoint, we expect the week to end on a whimper at best. At worst, the selling could carry into next week, and if it persist so that shares fall on a Tuesday – [...]]]> by Rick Ackerman
RickAckerman.com

Yesterday’s rally recouped a 200-point overnight selloff in the Dow, but because it was unpersuasive from a technical standpoint, we expect the week to end on a whimper at best. At worst, the selling could carry into next week, and if it persist so that shares fall on a Tuesday – something that has not occurred in more than four months – then we would view that as further evidence that Wednesday’s high was an important one. Regarding “weak technicals,” notice in the chart below how buyers of DJIA index futures failed to surpass even a single important peak on the hourly chart after devoting an entire night and day to the task. From our perspective this is telling, since, according to our Hidden Pivot Method of analysis, rallies destined for greatness, or even just goodness, must exceed a new peak on the hourly chart with each new thrust. Not this time, though, and that’s why we would classify yesterday’s rebound – all 200 points of it – as a bust.

Continue Reading at RickAckerman.com…