I wonder if when all the floor people and others who work the floor in the stock market start to get laid off, if we wont start seeing stories about what really is going on there. It would be interesting to actually get to hear just how screwed we are getting by people who love to gamble with other peoples money and get rich whether they win or lose.

Im totally shocked that HUFPO hasnt followed up on how the $100 a barrel oil this week was a scam by a floor trader. According the Reuters, and about 200 news media outlets, some guy bought the minimum oil trade or 1000 barrel lot at a $100 did, and turned around and sold it at a loss just for the fun of it.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN02588320080102

Im sure Hufpo will either totally ignore this, like they did Fox selling some its stations to one of the largest Bush, and Iraqi war supporters, Robert Bass, Or, they will suddenly discover this and post it sometime next week.

Hey Cankles...how's that stock market treating you?

The real killers of capitalism, it turns out, were not the communists or the unions, but the corporations which work to stifle competition, encourage reckless spending, erode the dollar value, and leave working people with not enough to pay for gas and food, let alone blue-ray or HDTV formatted DVD discs or dopey action video games. If you want to know why the market is so volatile, look to Wall Street. Calling TR.

Just a couple of years ago, Bubble Boy wanted to take our Social Security money and put it into the stock market.

Fine idea, yessirree. Let the market decide. Ownership society.

THE SUPPLY-SIDE SCAM

George Bush"s $3 trillion dollar tax giveaway to the rich over the past 7 years has been a disaster for average Americans. Supply-side (trickle-down) economics is a bogus theory promoted by those who benefit from it. In a mature capitalist system, supply side never rules, it"s always the demand side of the equation that governs growth and well-being. Think about the 1930s Depression, General Motors had plenty of supply, but demand evaporated.

Previous U.S. economic downturns have been cured with only $200-300 billion in tax cuts targeted to the middle class, because the consumer (the great middle class and 2/3rd of the economic engine) spends that tax cut and primes the economic pump. But George Bush has raised the debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay from $6 trillion to $9 trillion for current economic growth (i.e. we all get trickled on, as the rich spend some small fraction of their gains). Unfortunately, this growth is largely and uniquely without wage gains, and so has shrunk the middle class that makes America strong and great. Also, this growth has already over ($3 trillion flushed down the toilet and gone!), as the FED has had to cut interest rates because recession is looming. Massive debt has led to a weak dollar, which is now at record lows vs. other major currencies because of FED interest rate cuts. In turn, the record low dollar has produced record oil prices ($100/barrel); and any additional needed FED interest rate cuts could cause a free fall in the value of the dollar, and guarantee recession or worse, stagflation.

The middle class is slowly being tapped out, as home values (most of their net worth and the credit card of last resort) are falling in price, and a considerable number of homeowners are heading for foreclosure. With the rich-poor divide increasing, we"re headed toward previous shining examples of trickle-down economics: South America of the recent past and feudalism in the Middle Ages! SUPPY-SIDE ECONOMICS IS A NEW FEUDALISM.

History repeats, especially as no one is paying attention to any lessons that may be drawn from the past. President Hoover's administration said virtually the same words about the American economy in October, 1929. And the American economy in October, 1929 was in far better condition, fundamentally, than this holowed-out shell left by Wall-streeet and corporate greed and fraud.
Instead of broadcasting words indicating mendacity or self-delusion, better that the President should call all the elected leaders and power brokers and thoughtful critics together and hammer out a policy and procedure for turning our economy and country in a new direction.
The peril of swindled prosperity has resulted in an American crisis, rather than a party, sectional, racial or class problem. It must be addressed by all Americans with leaders that place courage, selflessness and sacrifice above their own temporary urgencies. Time is of the essence, President Bush.

Day 4 and the investment community is left suspended in mid-air, grinning unconvincingly like Wile E. Coyote thirteen yards beyond the edge of the mesa, with a sputtering grenade in each hand and an anvil tied to his ankles.

Hmmm....the treadmill is grinding and squeaking
rather loudly, today...WHO's pouring sand in the gears?!?!?!?!

So much for the pyschological 13,000 mark. The bulls said to hell with that.

Let's see,.... that puts the overall DOW down about 9% since the 'peak' at 14,000 (ish) last year,....

And factoring in the amount of decline of the dollar relative to other currencies since then,... and the real (not core) inflation,...

Hmm - How again is it that the economy is "strong and solid" Mr. President?

Just one more interest rate decrease, that's all we need.

We can always make it back when the market is done correcting.

Yeah, that's the ticket. One more quick "fix" and this economy will take right off again.

Freakin' economic charlatans at the Fed....

'Decline' is a nice way to put it.

People, don't worry! The decider is optimistic (says CBS News today) and added the economy is strong.

Bush's answer for high oil prices - more refineries, not more oil !