US Stock Markets Are Absurdly Manipulated

Here's a message to the people manipulating the markets:

We know what you're doing because you're so bad at it. Like today. Stocks were down all day, except for the last 20 minutes, you and your fat-cat cohorts boosted everything just to show a positive print. Very lame!

Really, folks, the markets are so out of touch, they're not to be touched. I had planned to write a bit about the blowback from the financial community over Bernanke's relentless pumping, a la QE2, but I'm so thoroughly disgusted, I just can't bring myself to write it. Suffice it to say that most of the rest of the world thinks his tinkering is bad monetary policy, and you can count me as one of that group.

Dow 11,444.08, +9.24 (0.08%)
NASDAQ 2,578.98, +1.64 (0.06%)
S&P 500 1,225.85, +4.79 (0.39%)
NYSE Composite 7,800.66, +18.23 (0.23%)

Advancing issues topped decliners, 3679-2767. There were 1069 new highs and 96 new lows. Volume was strong for the second straight day.

NASDAQ Volume 1,984,391,875.00
NYSE Volume 6,297,631,000

The abhorrent non-farm payroll figures - a complete fabrication - came in at +151,000, though most of the increase was surely artificial, boosted by the birth-death model and seasonal adjustments. It's all part of the feel-good story the politicians and bankers keep trying to spin, while real unemployment stands at about 20%. Go to a big city or any medium sized city in the South and you can see first hand what's really going on in America.

The poor are being kicked completely to the curb, the middle class soon to join them. Mainstream media has become nothing more than a mouthpiece for corporate America. It's really quite sad.

Since September 1, the Dow Jones Industrials are up nearly 1400 points, a 14% increase, as though we were in the midst of a massive recovery.

Crude oil tacked on another 36 cents on Friday, to $86.85. Expect $4.00 gas by Spring. Gold finished another $1.10 higher, another all-time high, at $1394.00. Silver continued its meteoric ascent, adding 38 cents, to $26.75.

The Fed has depreciated the value of the dollar some 95% since its inception in 1913. They are in the process of squeezing the final 5% out of it. Be ready for some serious holiday inflation, but enjoy the weekend!