Wall Street Remains a Dead Zone; Habits of the Rich

It was another day of lackluster trading on US exchanges, with stocks spending most of the session in positive territory before sliding in the afternoon back to near opening levels.

This is the seventh straight session in which stocks have more or less meandered across and along the unchanged mark on ridiculously low volume, with no catalyst for change on the horizon.

Even economic data was dull or given the short shrift, as retail sales for July posted their best showing since February, a gain of 0.8%, though that was counterbalanced by a revision of June's figures from -0.5 to -0.7.

PPI showed some nascent signs of inflation, gaining 0.3% for July, with the core coming in at a somewhat surprising 0.4%, sparking fears that inflation has emerged from the core of food and energy, though the numbers lack any definitive pattern.

That was about it, as the masters of the universe were more likely pondering the upcoming presidential election or the bottom of a cocktail glass out at the Hamptons.

Since Wall Street seems preoccupied or disinterested in the capital markets for the time being, let's take a look at the habits of the rich, courtesy of author Tom Corley's recent work, Rich Habits, from whence came the following quiz:

1 Do you read at least one career-related educational book a month?
2 Do you engage in aerobic exercise of 20-40 minutes a day for at least 4 days a
week?
3 Do you eat 300 calories of less in junk food per day?
4 Do you set monthly, annual and long-term goals?
5 Do you spend 20-30 minutes each work day reading career-related magazines,
trade publications, newsletters etc.?
6 Do you limit T.V. and Social Media to one hour per day?
7 Do you regularly save 10% or more of your gross income?
8 Do you call everyone you know to wish them a happy birthday? This includes
family, friends and business contacts.
9 Do you create daily "To Do" lists and complete at least 70% or more of your
daily tasks?
10 Do you call or send thank you cards to everyone who has done something that
helped you in your career or life?

The author posits that if you perform six or more of the above on a regular basis, you have the kernel of success flowing through your veins.

Of course, the quiz is somewhat simplistic, though it maintains that an ordered life, with goals and aspirations, plus dollops of common sense, may eventually lead to a life of leisure and contentment.

Other virtues that may lead one to find happiness and success include perseverance, decisiveness, objectivity, passion, organization and a positive direction. Starting off a professional career with a fat salary and some quality guidance certainly helps, though those final accoutrements are not always afforded to the vast majority.

Dow 13,172.14, +2.71 (0.02%)
NASDAQ 3,016.98, -5.54 (0.18%)
S&P 500 1,403.93, -0.18 (0.01%)
NYSE Composite 8,019.53, +0.90 (0.01%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,569,593,500
NYSE Volume 2,918,056,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2453-3094
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 178-53
WTI crude oil: 93.43, +0.70
Gold: 1,602.40, -10.20
Silver: 27.76, UNCH

Dead Market Syndrome Continues; Consent by the Governed Should be Withdrawn

It's almost impossible to write any compelling commentary on the market as long as the PPT continues to meddle and volumes remain so horrifyingly low.

There is a serious problem developing if the world's most active market - the US stock exchanges - continue the daily pattern of losses in the morning followed by sharp reversal and firming up throughout the remainder of the session.

Combined trading volumes for the NYSE and NASDAQ today reached the nadir for the year and could possibly represent the lowest trading volume since the 2008 crash.

This is worse than a liquidity issue; it is a confidence issue. Individual investors have fled the marketplace, seeking safer havens in raw land, gold, silver and other hard assets.

Small, passive investors, such as those stuck in pension plans, IRAs or 401k plans, have no options other than to cash out and take the penalty, but the PPT has made that approach seem ludicrous by pumping up equities on a regular basis.

Were stocks free to trade without government intervention, the p/e multiples would be in the range of eight to ten, sending indices plummeting, reflecting the true weakness in the markets, but that's not going to happen until sometime close to the election, which is now a mere 13 weeks away.

The candidates are posturing and the rhetoric will get louder and more divisive as the conventions approach, though it's all for show, meaning nothing, as compaign promises are routinely broken. Whichever candidates are chosen (or appropriated by the black boxes that purportedly count every vote), little will change for the good of the people. It's amusing that the media and presidential candidates want the general public to believe this is the most important election of their lives, just as it was in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

All right, this election is important. It's important to understand that the elections are absolutely meaningless because the civil rights of American citizens have been slowly but surely stripped away, the constitution shredded, and the two-party system guarantees mediocre politicians and worse outcomes. Not voting, i.e., withdrawing consent, is the only way Americans are ever going to regain the freedoms lost over the past 12 years, but, as is usual in America, the people have been asleep for so long, they merely follow along, in a zombie trance, trusting in a system built on lies, fraud and special interests.

A day of reckoning is soon to come. Best be prepared.

Dow 13,169.43, -38.52 (0.29%)
NASDAQ 3,022.52, +1.66 (0.05%)
S&P 500 1,404.11, -1.76 (0.13%)
NYSE Composite 8,012.29, -32.47 (0.40%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,321,221,625
NYSE Volume 2,340,765,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2214-3277
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 116-55
WTI crude oil: 92.73, -0.14
Gold: 1,612.60, -10.20
Silver: 27.77, -0.30

Our Dysfunctional Economy Won't Be Repaired Until Bankers Go to Jail

The popular phrase, "it's better to light a candle than curse the darkness," was once spoken in public by Peter Benenson, the English lawyer and founder of Amnesty International, at a Human Rights Day ceremony on 10th December 1961. There are disputes over the origin of this nugget of wisdom, some attributing it as an "ancient Chinese proverb."

Whatever the case, Mr. Benenson, and the American Christopher Society, which adopted the phrase as its motto, certainly had meritorious intentions in keeping to the spirit of the words.

When it comes to our current economic climate and the out-of-control, corrupt worldwide banking and political liaison, the cabal of bankers and politicians are the darkness, and, as much as one tries to be at all times civil, they need to be cursed.

Market manipulations aside, this week could well have been the utter, disgusting end of years of rigging, price, fixing, fraud and associated crimes, none of which having been prosecuted.

It's been mentioned in this space before that the end of manipulation is eventual failure or stagnation and this week was a prime example. Sure, it's summer and the height of vacation season, but the entire range of trade over the past five days on the Dow Jones Industrials was 115 points. On the NASDAQ, 45 points, while the S&P 500 vacillated between a low of 1391 and a high of 1406, which, incidentally, was close to where it closed on Friday. The S&P finished higher every day this week, though the biggest gain was a whopping seven points.

By the way, all of todays gains were made in the final 40 minutes of trading and the day's volume was embarrassing. Free and fair markets - that's what we used to have in the United States. What we have now is a dangerous, insider-controlled contrivance.

Were there a way to "light a candle" amidst the fraud that has enveloped our financial, political and media systems, it would probably be blown out in an instant. We the people are seemingly bred to watch, listen, obey and not ask questions. The banking elite, however, can do no wrong, as evidenced by a number of stories which emerged from the flotsam of the week that wasn't.

On Tuesday, the CFTC shut down a four-year-long investigation into silver market manipulation, focusing on JP Morgan and HSBC, saying there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges.

Thursday, the US Department of Justice decided not to pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs or any of its employees on mortgage securities fraud, concluding "that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time.” The investigation, which took over a year, was prompted by Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein testifying to a congressional panel that the firm actually took the opposite sides of trades that they sold to their clients. But, that's not sufficient for the bought-and-paid-for invisible man, Eric Holder, to bring a case forward. (Here's an idea: to help balance the budget, why not just shut down the DoJ? They apparently aren't interested in prosecuting anybody connected with the financial industry for anything. Big savings there.)

Thursday night, CBS ran, as the second story on their nightly national "news" broadcast, that the housing market was finally recovering (this probably was the sixth or seventh time over the past two years the shills at CBS had run such a story). Why then does Gary Shilling suggest that existing home prices could fall another 20%?

Flood of Foreclosures Could Cause Home Prices to Drop 20%: Gary Shilling

So, make up your own mind. Is the banking system, government oversight and the media working for you and your fellow citizens? Or are there two levels of justice in the USA (and probably everywhere else): one for rich bankers and one for the rest of us? Can we really trust our leaders to do the right things for the people? Or are we caught up in a fascist corporotocracy that feeds upon individuals for the benefit of the rich and powerful?

Go ahead and curse the darkness, because it needs to be cursed. Then light a candle. Take care of your family and friends and do something for yourself, like buying some raw land, growing some of your own vegetables, or investing in physical gold or silver.

To close out the week, or, if you're in need of additional reinforced rancor over the weekend, check out the latest Keiser Report, with Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, below:


Dow 13,207.95, +42.76 (0.32%)
NASDAQ 3,020.86, +2.22 (0.07%)
S&P 500 1,405.86, +3.06 (0.22%)
NYSE Composite 8,042.59, +17.58 (0.22%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,568,909,750
NYSE Volume 2,586,105,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2753-2759
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 153-43
WTI crude oil: 92.87, -0.49
Gold: 1,622.80, +2.60
Silver: 28.06, -0.04

The Result of Manipulated Markets

Call it what you like: rigged, played, insider trading, manipulated, contrived; when markets are not allowed to be free from intervention by governments or massive money managers, you get what amounts to basically nothing, stagnation, atrophy.

Read it and wonder. No explanation is sufficient nor necessary.

Dow 13,165.19, -10.45 (0.08%)
NASDAQ 3,018.64, +7.39 (0.25%)
S&P 500 1,402.80, +0.58 (0.04%)
NYSE Composite 8,025.00, +6.77 (0.08%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,677,765,625
NYSE Volume 3,089,631. 750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3077-2454
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 204-41
WTI crude oil: 93.36, +0.01
Gold: 1,620.20, +4.20
Silver: 28.10, -0.02

Why Bother? Stocks Are Volatile and May Be Overpriced

With nearly two trillion dollars having been shifted out of stock funds into bond funds and elsewhere over the past four years, wealth managers and their clients might look at today's results and question whether stocks are worth even bothering with at all.

Besides volatility and inherently high risk that stocks present, there are also event risks, especially within the framework of recent politics, the European debt crisis and the so-called fiscal cliff which continues to approach without resolution from either the president or the current do-nothing congress.

What's amazing about the current state of US markets is how wonderfully they engage in self-levitation, despite crumbling profitability and dubious upgrades. Now 41 months into the cyclical bull market, the risk/reward scenario for anyone thinking about taking the plunge into stocks offers a mixed bag, at best, and questionable fundamentals at worst.

Take, for example, the two stocks of the day. McDonald's (MCD) had some horrendous numbers for the month of July, missing their targets, with a special nod to Europe, where sales and revenue were far below the mark. The stock was damaged by the news, though not badly, losing 1.48, to 87.53, on the day, though the multiple of 14 has some analysts worried about a global slowdown which would affect even such a stellar performer.

Priceline (PCLN), a momentum stock par excellence was a bit of a different story, losing 117.48 points (17.28%), to 562.32 today, after citing Europe as the main cause for revising its third quarter estimates lower.

Similar stories have rolled through the investment landscape with regularity over the past six months. The business climate has grown more challenging than ever with so much uncertainty about the future, both in the US and in Europe. It's difficult for companies to meet expectations for revenue and profit in such an unstable environment.

Many have already thrown in the towel on stocks and, at these levels, many more may see cashing out before the fall as a viable plan. The macro picture is still cloudy and murky, fraught with dangers, some of which are largely unseen. The bull market may be nearing the end of its course, making stocks less attractive for long-term investors.

Dow 13,175.64, +7.04 (0.05%)
Nasdaq 3,011.25, -4.61 (0.15%)
S&P 500 1,402.22, +0.87 (0.06%)
NYSE Composite 8,018.24, +0.53 (0.01%)
NYSE Volume 3,227,711,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,881,049,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2535-2886
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 208-51
WTI crude oil: 93.35, -0.32
Gold: 1,616.00, +3.20
Silver: 28.08, -0.01