Markets

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:2001:]]By JW Jones

"We crawl on our knees for you,
Under a sky no longer blue
We sweat all day long for you,
But we sow the seeds to see us through
'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true,
Look now at what they've done to you."
-- Rise Against: Re-Education (Through Labor)

Before getting into the broader markets, I thought it was pertinent to share with readers that recently I have noticed a trend in alternative music, also known as modern rock. As a fan of music in general, I have noticed that more modern and mainstream music is starting to underscore the deterioration in social mood. Mainstream songs are having a resoundingly similar lyrical undertone which outlines the "us against them", "rich versus poor", and the political class versus everyone else.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:1993:]]By Daniel Amerman

On the surface, the recent and well-publicized protests in the state of Wisconsin have been a no-holds barred struggle between public worker unions and a conservative governor, in a battle that has galvanized both the left and the right across the nation. There is truth to that viewpoint, but as is often the case, the much hyped political struggle between partisans of both sides is also a distraction that serves to mask a much more powerful and even more significant threat to the entire population, both left and right.

What we are seeing in Wisconsin and in other state budgets across the nation is not really about the states so much as it is a federal unraveling, as the government toys with allowing artificial employment levels to decline. As described in detail in previous articles, the US economy is in far worse shape then presented by the government and mainstream media. The private US economy has been in depression since late 2008, and as discussed herein, this is made indisputable by the "truth test" of actual state tax revenues that are not easily subject to federal statistical manipulation.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:1983:]]By Frank Holmes

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan. The videos, images and stories of the devastation caused by last week's earthquake and tsunami have touched our hearts and rattled investor psyches around the world.

The threat of disaster from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant unleashed a ferocious sell-off of Japanese equities, but the damage to other major markets has been limited. Already experiencing a slight pullback prior to the events on March 11, U.S. equities and emerging markets have held up quite well. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has only pulled back 2 percent since the earthquake and the S&P 500 Index only 3 percent.

By readtheticker

Some time ago I caught Reggie Middleton of BoomBustBlog.com on TV saying he was very bullish on Google (GOOG). The prime reason behind this was Google dominant positioning within the mobile advertising market via it acquisition of Admob (Androids mobile OS). Ok we believe him, but we required GOOG to sell off to let us in at a decent price. We have a sell off, but should we buy.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:1967:]]By Ashraf Laidi

The primary reason for the currency's stabilization earlier this year and the subsequent 10% rally from early Jan was the ECB's hawkish rhetoric in the face of rising inflation. 2.4% annual inflation was a sufficiently good reason for the ECB to make a hawkish twist, especially as it underwent the awkward task of having to buy Irish and Portuguese bonds, while preaching monetary discipline and price stability. Bernanke's constant reiterations to maintain QE2 into June did not help the US dollar and neither did the low-volume surge in global equities to fresh 2 ½ year highs.