Howard Davidowitz says Wall Street is A Ponzi Scheme with Lies and Fraud

Day one of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s two-day hearing on AIG derivatives contracts featured testimony from Joseph Cassano, the former head of AIG’s financial products unit. Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn was also on the Hill.Meanwhile, the Democrats are still trying to salvage the regulatory reform bill, with critical support from Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) reportedly still uncertain.According to Howard Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Associates, what connects the hearings and the Reg reform debate is the lack of focus on the real underlying cause of the financial crisis: Fraud.”It was a massive fraud… a gigantic Ponzi Scheme, a lie and a fraud,” Davidowitz says of Wall Street circa 2007. “The whole thing was a fraud and it gets back to the accountants valuing the assets incorrectly.”Because accountants and auditors allowed Wall Street firms to carry assets at “completely fraudulent” valuations, he says the industry looked hugely profitable and was able to use borrowed funds to make leveraged bets on all sorts of esoteric instruments. “Their bonuses were based on profits they never made and the leverage they never could have gotten if the numbers were right – no one would’ve given them the money in their right mind,” Davidowitz says.To date, the accounting and audit firms have escaped any serious repercussions from the credit crisis, a stark difference to the corporate “death sentence” that befell Arthur Anderson for its alleged role in the Enron scandal.To Davidowitz, that’s perhaps the greatest outrage of all: “Where were the accountants?,” he asks. “They did nothing, checked nothing, agreed to everything” and collected millions in fees while “shaking hands with the CEO.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Gigantic Ponzi Scheme, Lies and Fraud – Howard …, posted with vodpod

Inflation or deflation – or Both? Mish vs. Dr. Doom

Which is the greater threat, inflation or deflation?In Marc Faber and Michael “Mish” Shedlock, we found two market watchers ready (and able) to champion both sides of this great debate.Shedlock, an investment advisor with SitkaPacific Capital and author of the economics blog, MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis, made the case for deflation: Credit is contracting, despite Ben Bernanke’s best efforts to flood the financial system with liquidity.”The money supply is just sitting there as excess reserves on bank balance sheets,” Mish says. “Bernanke can print this money but unless it makes its way into the real economy we’re not going to see inflation.”In addition, he predicts “another leg down” in housing and commercial real estate, more consumer loan defaults, and notes state and local governments are (finally) cutting back on spending in the face of falling tax receipts and budget deficits. All these trends will contribute to the deflationary force of credit contraction, Mish declares.But Shedlock is missing one critical factor says Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report: “When the economy’s bad, governments pile up these fiscal deficits and they print money” to offset the deleveraging of the private sector, he says. “They’re going to print and print and print.”If the economy sours again and especially if deflationary forces take hold, we’ll have “even more stimulus packages and even more printing,” Faber says. “That will bankrupt western governments – not just in the U.S. but everywhere. “And by that, he means the dollar and other western currencies will collapse, leading to a bout of rising (if not hyper-) inflation around the globe, which will spur all manner of societal unrest and geopolitical strife. Now you know why they call him “Dr. Doom.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Inflation or deflation – or Both? Mi…", posted with vodpod

Robert Prechter sees “The Biggest Bubble in History”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Robert Prechter sees “The Biggest Bub…“, posted with vodpod

Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government

WASHINGTON — The United States government is financing its more than trillion-dollar-a-year borrowing with i.o.u.’s on terms that seem too good to be true.

But that happy situation, aided by ultralow interest rates, may not last much longer.

Treasury officials now face a trifecta of headaches: a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are sure to climb back to normal as soon as the Federal Reserve decides that the emergency has passed.

Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today’s low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages.

Jim Rogers Says, Gold Will Hit $2,000 and USA Will Lose Status As The World’s Reserve Currency

Good Time To Buy Gold

Famed investor Jim Rogers is “quite sure gold will go over $2000 per ounce during this bull market.”Rogers’ confidence gold will continue to rally stems from a view the U.S. dollar is on its way to losing status as the world’s reserve currency.”Is it going to happen? Yes,” Rogers says. “I don’t like saying it [and] I’m extremely worried about it but we have to deal with the facts. America is not getting better [and] the dollar is going to be replaced just like pound sterling [was].”Rogers didn’t offer a timetable, and it’s likely gold would exceed $2000 per ounce if the dollar were to lose its reserve status.Still, “I wouldn’t buy gold today,” Rogers says. “I think I’ll make more money in other commodities, which are cheaper,” as discussed in more detail here.Among many others, Rogers is “worried about the fact the U.S. government is printing huge amounts, spending gigantic amounts of money it doesn’t have,” the investor and author says. “People are very worried [and] skeptical about paper money [and] looking for places to protect themselves. The best way is to buy real assets. [That] has always protected one during currency turmoil, and it will again.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Jim Rogers Says, Gold Will Hit $2,000…“, posted with vodpod

Peter Schiff – U.S. Rally Is Doomed Gold Will Hit 5000

Unlike the “legitimate bull markets” of many foreign markets, Peter Schiff believes the U.S. is merely experiencing a “rally in a bear market,” and is lagging the rest of the world “for a reason.”The worst is not over, according to Euro Pacific Capital’s Schiff, who predicts the Dow will fall another 90% from current levels when measured against gold.A longtime dollar bear and gold bull, he foresees gold hitting $5000 per ounce “in the next couple of years,” and predicts the Dow and gold will trade on a one-to-one ratio vs. the current level of around 9.7-to-1.Schiff believes gold is currently “climbing a wall of worry” but will eventually become as hot as tech stocks in 1999 and start moving up $100 per day.Schiff’s forecast is based on his view the U.S. dollar is going to collapse under the weight of our massive deficit and reckless policies of the Obama administration, which he compares to the massive spending programs of the 1960s, which paved the way for gold’s ascent in the 1970s. “Obama is making the same mistakes as Bush, but he’s doing them on a grander scale,” says Schiff, who is running for U.S. Senate in Connecticut as a Republican.In addition to gold, Schiff remains bullish on Asia, most notably China. His firm recently launched the Euro Pacific Halter China fund, and Schiff believes “there’s a lot of value” in China and thinks the renminbi could “double or triple” when it’s depegged from the dollar.That will make Chinese assets more valuable when measured in dollars, he says.Schiff presciently called the bursting of the debt bubble and subsequent rout in financial assets, and his current forecasts may very well come to fruition. But Schiff’s confidence that the rest of the world (notably Asia) will prosper as the dollar loses its reserve status and America’s economy collapses seems dubious, at best.Then again, Schiff is nothing if not (supremely) confident.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Peter Schiff – U.S. Rally Is Doomed G…", posted with vodpod

Marc Faber Is “Highly Confident” the Future Will Be Very Bleak: See Video on Tech Ticker – Yahoo! Finance

“The future will be a total disaster, with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it today, wars, massive government debt defaults and the impoverishment of large segments of Western society,” Marc Faber writes in the September issue of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report.A statement like that pretty much speaks for itself, but it’s a bit more complicated than appears on first blush.Faber has been bullish — especially on commodities and emerging market stocks — for some time now and believes the current global recovery trade will last another two-to-three years, as discussed in more detail in a forthcoming clip. But he has major long-term concerns about the dollar’s long-term viability given rising U.S. deficits, massive unfunded mandates and the fact “we have a money-printer at the Fed.”This combination will eventually lead to runaway inflation, wholesale debasement of the dollar, and a major lowering of living standards for most Americans and many Europeans as well, says Faber, who is “highly confident” in this grim prediction.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Marc Faber Is “Highly Confident” the …", posted with vodpod

Buy Stocks Because U.S. Dollars Will Be “Worthless” Says Marc Faber

Marc Faber, editor of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report is, by his own account, “ultra-bearish” on the long-term fundamentals of the U.S. market. (Discussed in detail in this clip.)However, in the near term, Faber sees plenty of money-making opportunities in stocks. Sure, prices aren’t as cheap as they were in March, yet he’s confident, “in this environment cash will become worthless.” As a result, he says investors are, “better off being in equities,” for the next two to three years.Faber is most bullish on mining and energy companies. He recommends: * Newmont Mining and FreeportMcMoran as relative inexpensive. He also mentions Nova Gold, as another, more speculative buy. * In a contrarian call, on natural gas, he says Chesapeake Energy will be a winner when prices eventually rebound. * Oil giant ExxonMobil is another stock he thinks offer good value.Outside of that, Faber says buying large-cap pharmaceuticals like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson offer good defensive options.Finally, he suggests U.S. airlines are poised for a rebound. If that happens, international airlines will follow and Thai Airways stock could double.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Buy Stocks Because U.S. Dollars Will …", posted with vodpod

Marc Faber – Emerging Market Economies Will Challenge and Surpass the West

Marc Faber has an informal rule never to spend more than 10 days in a country before rushing to the next one. In addition to lots of frequent-flyer miles, this gives him the chance to see firsthand how lots of the world is doing.So how’s it doing?Better than the U.S., says Faber, the editor of the The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report.In the U.S. we have a “structural unemployment” problem. We have a debt problem. We have an economy-propped-up-by-frantic-government-spending problem. And, by in large, while the rich get richer, the middle class does not benefit, especially during the boom days earlier this decade.The rest of the world has problems, too, of course, Faber says, but they’re not as bad as ours. He’s observed businesses in emerging markets in Asia are less vulnerable to market fluctuations because they tend to be cash rich, and therefore less reliant on debt and leverage. He also says there’s a hunger and competition, in countries like China and India, that’s missing in the U.S.So go ahead and enjoy the “v-shaped” recovery while it lasts, says Faber, who has already fled to Hong Kong.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Marc Faber – Emerging Market Economie…", posted with vodpod

Marc Faber – America Already Has Way Too Much Debt

Ken Fisher’s argument that America is “under indebted” and that more debt will be a global phenomenon in the next 10-20 years raised a lot of eyebrows last week – and quite a few catcalls in our comments section.Fisher may be technically right — that there’s appetite for more U.S. debt, but Marc Faber, editor of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, scoffs at the idea that it would be healthy or smart.More debt “comes at the expense of a falling dollar…and much higher inflation rates in the future,” says Faber, who notes the U.S. has total debt-to-GDP ratio of 375%, “excluding contingent liabilities from Medicare and Medicaid.”Perhaps more important than absolute debt levels, Faber says much of America’s debt has gone to pay for unproductive things like golf courses and big houses and investments with Bernie Madoff.Meanwhile, emerging market economies, in Asia particularly, have much lower debt levels and have used leverage to pay for modernization of factories and educated workers when they’ve used debt, Faber says.”The Western world is overleveraged,” he says. “We’ve mortgaged the future and our children will have to pay for that somehow.”It is for these and related reasons that Faber is “ultra-bearish” on the dollar and much more optimistic about emerging market economies, as discussed in these earlier segments:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Marc Faber – America Already Has Way …", posted with vodpod