I decided to split off my postings of economic links from Jim's Thoughts, so that I can get that topic back to what it was intended to be, a place for me to post trading ideas and thoughts I had that I felt could be of interest to the readers.

This topic is where I will post links to various economic articles, for those that find them interesting. If you want to read (or post) articles about the unfolding debaucle, this is the place to look. If you are a short-term daytrader or swing trader and have zero interest in the economy, you can now just read Jim's Thoughts and not have to wade through this type of dicussion.

At best I think this material only has a direct effect on longer-term plays, the bigger swings that make up the major legs of the bull and bear markets. I follow this stuff for that reason, and because I want to have a handle on things, if that is even possible in this era of lies and deception, so that I can make decisions on life issues.

For example, as I posted in the commentary on the website and discussed with many people well in advance, this was something that wasn't hard to see coming. I saw many people who told me as late as Oct 2007 that 'this thing is about to 'break out' to the upside, and that Dow 20,000, and then much higher, was 'just around the corner' '. The type of articles I am posting discuss the type of information that helped me form the viewpoints I had back then.

If this is far from over, as I suspect, we are in a similar postion now as back then. With the rally that is unfolding right now the talk is the bull is back, the bottom is in, and we are set. I'm not so sure. So, I try to weigh up all the factors and not get too sucked in by the hype. To that end, I will post things here I find interesting.

I mostly just follow everything on ZeroHedge and Maudlin's two blogs, and that covers most of what I want to know.

interesting article, nothing new:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/world/europe/23austria.html?_r=1&hp

Well, it's like I've been saying all along about the EU. Just like everyone's a genius during a bull market, the EU came together during the biggest credit expansion, and 'boom times' because of that expansion, ever witnessed on the planet. Sure, it worked great and everyone was 'friends'. The real test is how it performs in a crisis. Do they stand together and defend the weaker members? Do they do the 'right' things? As I said, they haven't been, and they probably won't. And this doesn't even get into the concept that I have posited that as a whole they are totally delusional and in denial about what kind of shape they are actually in. This, as they 'officially' declare two of the biggest members 'out of recession'. Oh, brother...

As a European citizen I always was in favor of the EU and still am. It's like democracy. Show me a better system and I will take it. The idea of all those countries, so diverse in their mentality and history, to unite as a political force is delusional though. That will never happen. Inviting former eastern bloc countries to join the EU was a tremendous step in the right direction. They just don't know how to handle it (yet).

Alright, I guess I'm going to keep this section open, and just try not to focus on it very much, as far as it having any significance whatsoever for the short-term trading we usually discuss. I just need a place to post curious economic thoughts and reads I come across, and there are at least a handful in here who read this stuff. Like I said, almost all of it is covered at ZeroHedge, and Mauldin covers just about all the rest.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/social-security-crunch-coming-fast.aspx

So, there really are people who think our country is going to 'pull through' in some form similar to what it is now???

I don't care what anyone says, or how they manipulate this market up, this thing is far from over, in my opinion. I think at best we are in the third inning.

http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/thoughts_from_the_frontline/archive/2009/08/29/an-uncomfortable-choice.aspx

As I also said, no matter how I crunch the numbers, no matter what scenario I try to come up with, there is little chance the country will survive in any form recognizable today. Again, in my opinion. I still think the most likely case scenario is that we will see S&P 400, or lower. It's just that it may take more time that one would think it should. The secular bear trend goes to around 2017 by the cycles, give or take. We have eight more years for this to fully play out. It could be ugly. Imagine, too, if the 'worst' starts to hit around 2012, by many measures a good time for it to finish this nonsense, start to resume to the downside, and hit a deep new bottom. Imagine all the 2012 end of the world'ers, and how that would add to the hysteria. I can see some bad things coming... Let's hope not.

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/SeanMaloneRiseFallDollarLarge.jpg

Click on the image and enlarge it to read the small print better.

i am spending much of my time away from the markets. unless i see a large swing offered, i am done for the year..(though it is always hard to resist december, where the number traders rule)i am deeply offended by the maudlin article... in my other life i work with many young people living on the edge of poverty.. instead of highlighting the most important sentence THERE ARE NO GOOD CHOICES... he chooses a scapegoat...teenagers...

Well, he wasn't implying that teenagers are in any way responsible, he was saying our leaders have acted with the maturity of teenagers in their regulation of the bubbles and the stealing, that's all. I'm sure all will agree teenagers aren't very mature as a group (of course there are individual exceptions). Having taught for awhile at the high school level, I can say out of perhaps a thousand students I was around, maybe three were 'mature' to any extent. So, I don't think he meant any of the type of offense you felt.

Just for more food for thought, for those that have large dollar holdings and are concerned about it:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/dpj-set-win-japan-election-may-issue-seppuku-bonds

I forgot, I do have another hero to go with Ron Paul and David Stockman, and that's Nigel Farage. Here's his latest:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-17/farage-unleashed-you-are-common-criminals