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Kim Jong-Un Re-Elected As Everyone Rejoiced

kim jong un

Dear leader Kim Jong-Un was re-elected as the undesputed “Dear Leader” of the best nation in the world (take that America) in a gut wrenching close race against his “traitor” uncle Jang Song-Thaek. As North Korean people rejoiced and congratulatory notes from other world leaders flooded Kim Jong-Un’s AOL inbox, the “traitor” uncle was tied to a tree and executed by a mortar round. Or was it before the election? While details are little murky, it shouldn’t matter. Everyone simply rejoiced.  I just thought you should know this. 

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Kim Jong-Un Re-Elected As Everyone Rejoiced Google

 

AP Writes: Kim Jong-Un ‘re-elected’ as North Korean leader

Seoul (AFP) – Kim Jong-Un was Wednesday “re-elected” as North Korea’s leader, state media said, as parliament met in a session closely watched for power shifts in the secretive regime following the shock execution of his once-powerful uncle.

The new parliament is expected to endorse personnel changes that observers say are likely to affect a number of officials linked to his “traitor” uncle Jang Song-Thaek, once the North’s unofficial number two and Kim’s political mentor.

Kim was reaffirmed as First Chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission (NDC) by the new parliament, in a show of “absolute support and trust of all service personnel and people in him”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The rubber-stamp assembly — the first under the leadership of Kim who took over from his father in December 2011 — gathered after North Koreans last month cast ballots in pre-determined elections where all candidates were unopposed.

Upon his re-election, “all the deputies and participants in the session broke into stormy cheers of ‘hurrah!’, extending the highest glory and warmest congratulations to him,” KCNA said.

Kim also serves as first secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, but his re-election as head of the top military body confers upon him ultimate power in the heavily militarised state.

View gallery

Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (top L) addresses commanding officers of the combined units of the K …

On Tuesday, top party leaders met to decide on personnel changes at the head of the regime in the aftermath of the execution of Jang, who was purged last December after being accused of crimes including treason.

The session of the parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, is being closely watched for glimpses into power shifts within the reclusive regime.

Kim led Tuesday’s meeting of the ruling party’s high-level political bureau, which discussed “reinforcing” the party’s organisation in order to boost its “leadership role and function”, KCNA said, indicating personnel changes.

 

Power shuffle

View gallery

Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un addresses commanding officers of the combined units of the Korean Pe …

 

Wednesday’s opening parliamentary session comes after “elections” last month in which single candidates — approved by the political elite — stood uncontested. Kim notably managed a perfect turnout in his own constituency.

Analysts say the changes may affect the powerful NDC chaired by Kim, in which Jang served as vice chairman.

Several other elderly military leaders — such as defence minister Jang Jong-Nam and Ri Yong-Gil, chief of the military’s general staff — are seen as likely to take seats at the NDC, replacing Jang and his suspected associate, former police chief Ri Myong-Su.

North Korea’s leaders are also believed to have discussed plans for the future of the party’s key administration department, which was headed by Jang.

View gallery

Koreas trade fire

Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps throw smoke bombs as they move to land  …

Through the department, Jang controlled not only the Stalinist state’s police and justice system but also went beyond his remit, intervening in economic and military affairs, Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said.

The parliament meets only once or twice a year, mostly for day-long sessions to rubber-stamp budgets or other decisions made by the ruling Korean Workers Party.

The last session in April 2013 adopted a special order formalising North Korea’s position as a nuclear-armed state — a status that both South Korea and the United States have vowed not to recognise.

Wednesday’s session comes amid high tensions between the two Koreas following a series of threats by Pyongyang in protest to ongoing Seoul-Washington military drills.

The North since last month held a string of rocket and short-range missile tests followed by its first mid-range missile launch since 2009 held on March 26.

View gallery

North Korea marks second anniversary of Kim Jong Il's …

North Koreans offer flowers in front of statues of North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung and former  …

Two Koreas traded fire across the tense Yellow Sea border last week after the North dropped some 100 shells across the border during a live-fire drill, prompting Seoul to fire back.

Kim last week warned of a “very grave situation” in a meeting with his top army leaders.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye called Monday for tighter vigilance against the North after Pyongyang warned of a prospect of a “new form of nuclear test” on March 30.

Should You Be Getting Back Into Momentum Stocks?

According to Oppenheimer research it’s a buying opportunity …..wait for it…..that’s right, of a lifetime. Certainly, FB, NFLX, GOOG, TSLA, etc….have sold of significantly over the last few weeks. But, does that make them a buy? No, not by a long shot. The question Breakout poses is idiotic in nature to begin with. These stocks sold of for two weeks and that should make them an immediate buy? I don’t think so. Not when we are staring at a prolonged bear market of  2014-2017, as per our mathematical and timing work. In fact, from the fundamental perspective (not technical) the stocks above will become a buy only when the life is crushed out of them to the tune of 50-70% from today’s prices. Until that happens, don’t cut yourself with a falling knife. 

fab 5 stocks

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Should You Be Getting Back Into Momentum Stocks?  Google

 

Breakout Writes: ‘Momo’ tech stocks risky business for traders seeking mojo

The Fab Five, as my colleague Phil Pearlman calls them,have been more like the ‘Filthy Five’ for investors. Netflix (NFLX), Facebook (FB), Tesla (TSLA), Priceline (PCLN) and Google (GOOG) have been shellacked in the past month, with some in fact entering bear markets (down over 20%).

While these momentum tech names recovered slightly yesterday, investors are rightfully concerned about jumping back in. Oppenheimer research on the other hand is seeing a buying opportunity, one that some market strategists would liken to catching a falling knife. Peter Kenny, longtime strategist and now CEO atClearpool Group, has words of caution for those looking to for some tech mojo.

“I’m not catching the falling knife,” he says, and it’s not because of a valuation concerned, but more because he’d “like to see some sort of a floor put in before putting money to work.”

A floor could be forming, however, at least when looking at the technicals. Oppenheimer’s Ari Wald points out that from a technical standpoint, tech is oversold and is currently in an uptrend versus the S&P 500, among other things.

Despite what Oppenheimer technicians are saying, Kenny believes the way to play these names is follow the momentum. “You play them on the herd, you let the herd dictate the direction of the stock.“ The momentum names are going to find a level, he says, and that level is going to “become relatively attractive in short order because they move so quickly.”

Stock Market Update. April, 8th 2014. InvestWithAlex.com

daily chart April 8 2014 shortA quiet day with the Dow Jones up 10 points (0.06%) and the Nasdaq up 33 points (0.81%)

A typical consolidation day in the market after heavy sell off over the last couple of days. The most oversold issues have bounced the most, hence the strong Nasdaq rebound. With earnings season just around the corner it will be interesting to see if the recent sell off develops into an actual bear market or another opportunity to “buy the dip”. Keep in mind, despite the recent sell off all of the major trends are still pointing up. In fact, it was just a few days ago that the Dow set an all time high. This highlights an important clue as to why most market pundits are not worried.

Should they be?

I believe so. Based on our mathematical and timing work the bear market of 2014-2017 is just around the corner.  When it starts it will very quickly retrace last years rally and plunge the US Economy into a severe recession. If you would be interested in learning exactly when this bear market will start (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here. 

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Stock Market Update. April 8th, 2014. InvestWithAlex.com Google

Only 16% Of Americans Know Where Ukraine Is

As the USA/NATO prepare for war over Ukraine (economic, cold and possibly actual war) most American’s believe Ukraine is in China or Africa or even Alaska (WTF?) According to The Washington Post only 16% of American’s could correctly identify Ukraine on the map. (see full report below) Come on guys…..that’s where all the hot girls come from. You know, the one’s that have the tendency to wear high heels instead of Uggs. Yes, that’s Ukraine. Maybe more people will learn where Ukraine is after Russia invades and the US stock market craters. BIG MAYBE.  

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Only 16% Of Americans Know Where Ukraine Is Google

The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want U.S. to intervene

  • BY KYLE DROPP, JOSHUA D. KERTZER AND THOMAS ZEITZOFF

Where’s Ukraine?  Each dot depicts the location where a US survey respondent situated Ukraine; the dots are colored based on how far removed they are from the actual country, with the most accurate responses in red and the least accurate ones in blue. (Data: Survey Sampling International; Figure: Thomas Zeitzoff/The Monkey Cage)

Joshua Tucker: The following is a guest post from political scientists Kyle Dropp (Dartmouth College) Joshua D. Kertzer (Harvard University) and  Thomas Zeitzoff  (Princeton University).

*****

Since Russian troops first entered the Crimean peninsula in early March, a series of media polling outlets have asked Americans how they want the U.S. to respond to the ongoing situation.  Although two-thirds of Americans have reported following the situation at least “somewhat closely,” most Americans actually know very little about events on the ground — or even where the ground is.

On March 28-31, 2014, we asked a national sample of 2,066 Americans (fielded via Survey Sampling International Inc. (SSI), what action they wanted the U.S. to take in Ukraine, but with a twist: In addition to measuring standard demographic characteristics and general foreign policy attitudes, we also asked our survey respondents to locate Ukraine on a map as part of a larger, ongoing project to study foreign policy knowledge. We wanted to see where Americans think Ukraine is and to learn if this knowledge (or lack thereof) is related to their foreign policy views. We found that only one out of six Americans can find Ukraine on a map, and that this lack of knowledge is related to preferences: The farther their guesses were from Ukraine’s actual location, the more they wanted the U.S.  to intervene with military force.

Ukraine: Where is it?

Survey respondents identified Ukraine by clicking on a high-resolution world map, shown above. We then created a distance metric by comparing the coordinates they provided with the actual location of Ukraine on the map. Other scholars, such as Markus Prior, have used pictures to measure visual knowledge, but unlike many of thetraditional open-ended items political scientists use to measure knowledge, distance enables us to measure accuracy continuously: People who believe Ukraine is in Eastern Europe clearly are more informed than those who believe it is in Brazil or in the Indian Ocean.

About one in six (16 percent) Americans correctly located Ukraine, clicking somewhere within its borders. Most thought that Ukraine was located somewhere in Europe or Asia, but the median respondent was about 1,800 miles off — roughly the distance from Chicago to Los Angeles — locating Ukraine somewhere in an area bordered by Portugal on the west, Sudan on the south, Kazakhstan on the east, and Finland on the north.

Who is more accurate?

Accuracy varies across demographic groups. In general, younger Americans tended to provide more accurate responses than their older counterparts: 27 percent of 18-24 year olds correctly identified Ukraine, compared with 14 percent of 65+ year-olds. Men tended to do better than women, with 20 percent of men correctly identifying Ukraine and 13 percent  of women. Interestingly, members of military households were no more likely to correctly locate Ukraine (16.1 percent  correct) than members of non-military households (16 percent  correct), but self-identified independents (29 percent  correct) outperformed both Democrats (14 percent  correct) and Republicans (15 percent  correct).  Unsurprisingly, college graduates (21 percent  correct) were more likely to know where Ukraine was than non-college graduates (13 percent  correct), but even 77 percent  of college graduates failed to correctly place Ukraine on a map; the proportion of college grads who could correctly identify Ukraine is only slightly higher than the proportion of Americans who told Pew that President Obama was Muslim in August 2010.

Does accuracy matter?

Does it really matter whether Americans can put Ukraine on a map? Previousresearch would suggest yes: Information, or the absence thereof, can influence Americans’ attitudes about the kind of policies they want their government to carry out and the ability of elites to shape that agenda. Accordingly, we also asked our respondents a variety of questions about what they thought about the current situation on the ground, and what they wanted the United States to do. Similarly to other recent polls, we found that although Americans are undecided on what to do with Ukraine, they are more likely to oppose action in Ukraine the costlier it is — 45 percent of Americans supported boycotting the G8 summit, for example, while only 13 percent of Americans supported using force.

However, the further our respondents thought that Ukraine was from its actual location, the more they wanted the U.S. to intervene militarily. Even controlling for a series of demographic characteristics and participants’ general foreign policy attitudes, we found that the less accurate our participants were, the more they wanted the U.S. to use force, the greater the threat they saw Russia as posing to U.S. interests, and the more they thought that using force would advance U.S. national security interests; all of these effects are statistically significant at a 95 percent  confidence level. Our results are clear, but also somewhat disconcerting: The less people know about where Ukraine is located on a map, the more they want the U.S. to intervene militarily.

Jobs Opening Surge, Markets About To Collapse?

We all know jobs are a lagging indicator, nevertheless, Bloomberg does it’s best to do a fluff piece for the subject matter at hand. According to Bloomberg the number of positions waiting to be filled in the U.S. climbed by 299,000 to 4.17 million in February, the most since January 2008, from a revised 3.87 million the month before, the Labor Department reported today in Washington.

First, can someone tell me where these 4.17 million supposed jobs are....the moon? Even if true, did you catch the second number? “The most since January 2008”. This is what you should be looking at. While spun as positive news, this is anything but that. Most businesses, governments and individual investors operate on the same lagging principal. They look at today’s environment and perpetuate it into the future. Exactly at the wrong time. As our mathematical and timing work suggests, the US Economy will fall into a severe recession by the end of 2014 (officially). When that happens, expect the jobs market to be flooded with pink slips instead number of open positions. 

job openings surge

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Jobs Opening Surge, Markets About To Collapse?  Google

Bloomberg Writes: Job Openings in U.S. Climbed in February to a Six-Year High

Job openings in the U.S. rose more than forecast in February to a six-year high as employers moved to boost hiring in response to rising consumer demand.

The number of positions waiting to be filled in the U.S. climbed by 299,000 to 4.17 million in February, the most since January 2008, from a revised 3.87 million the month before, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The rate of hiring and the number of Americans quitting their jobs were little changed.

The figures, which are among nine labor-market barometers closely watched by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, reinforce other data showing steady improvement. Accelerated hiring would help provide bigger wage gains needed to boost consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy.

“Everything is pointing to an improving labor market, which the Fed obviously wants to see,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “But they want to see much more improvement in the labor markets before they consider the economy is healthy again.”

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 4.02 million openings in February after a previously reported 3.97 million a month earlier.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, adds context to monthly payrolls data by measuring dynamics such as resignations, help-wanted ads and the pace of hiring. Although it lags other jobs data by a month, the figures are tracked by Yellen as a measure of labor-market tightness and worker confidence.

March Employment

Companies added 192,000 workers in March after 188,000 jobs the month before, Labor Department figures showed last week. The gain brought the number of private jobs, which exclude government agencies, to 116.1 million, surpassing the previous peak set in January 2008 before the start of the last recession. Unemployment held at 6.7 percent even as almost half a million people entered the workforce.

Just two of the nine indicators on Yellen’s employment dashboard — payroll growth and layoffs — have returned to pre-recession levels, indicating Fed policy makers will probably keep reducing the pace of stimulus while keeping interest rates low.

Yellen highlighted those contradictions in a March 31 speech, saying that the recovery “still feels like a recession to many Americans.”

Some 2.38 million people quit their jobs in February, little changed from 2.37 million a month earlier, today’s report showed. The quits rate, which was 2 percent when the recession started at the end of 2007, held at 1.7 percent in February.

Hiring Rate

The hiring rate — the number of people who got new jobs divided by the number who worked or were paid — held at 3.3 percent in February. The rate compares with an average of 3.8 percent during the previous expansion. Hires rose to 4.59 million from 4.52 million, today’s report showed.

Employers in the retail and leisure and hospitality industries took on more workers in February. Construction and health care were among industries cutting back on new hires.

Job openings continued to mount at retailers in February, while professional and business service companies and restaurants also put out more help-wanted signs.

Tammy King, 50, is planning to take her talents into a new field. She is attending courses in advanced manufacturing near her home in Alexandria, Kentucky, after losing her position as a real-estate title examiner. The training program, funded by an employer collaborative called Partners for a Competitive Workforce, teaches skills that are in demand at nearby factories.

Jobs ‘There’

“In the manufacturing world, the jobs are there,” King said. “Once I can get my education done I don’t think I’ll have trouble finding one.”

In the meantime, her unemployment benefits have run out and she can’t find part-time work to pay the bills.

“There’s nothing,” King said. “You apply. You don’t hear back. You call. Nobody’s hiring.”

Today’s report showed about 2.5 people are vying for every opening, up from about 1.8 when the last recession began in December 2007.

Dismissals, which exclude retirements and people who quit voluntarily, fell to a three-month low of 1.62 million from 1.7 million in January.

In the 12 months that ended in February, employers added a net 2.1 million jobs, representing 54.3 million hires and 52.2 million separations.

Lowe’s Cos.

Lowe’s Cos. is among those planning to add to headcount and seeking to improve worker productivity. The home-improvement retailer announced Feb. 19 that it will add about 25,000 seasonal employees this year for the industry’s busiest season.

Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s increased hours for its customer-service employees last year and is training and redeploying workers to improve sales, Chief Customer Officer Michael Jones said at a March 19 conference. Growth will be driven by improved productivity rather than store openings, he said.

“When you look at our fourth-quarter performance, you can see how, notwithstanding the fact that we’ve added labor to drive close rate, we’re able to flex that labor to protect our operating performance,” Jones said.

This Is Not The Start Of A Bear Market. Why Not?

In yet another sign of stupidity from traditional financial media, The Daily Ticker is trying to figure out why recent market action is “Not the start of a bear market”. Chief equity strategists from Citigroup delivers the well scripted answer (read below if you are really interested).  Traditional financial media and most market pundits would lead you to believe that it is impossible to predict or time the financial markets. BS. We do it here everyday and we do it successfully.

While I am not at liberty to say if a bear market has already started (info available only to our premium subscribers), it is fairly easy to predict financial markets in both price and time once you have a complete mathematical breakdown and internal composition of the stock market. In fact, if you would be interested in learning when the bear market will start (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here. 

bear market investwithalex

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This Is Not The Start Of A Bear Market. Why Not?  Google

Daily Ticker: This is not the start of a bear market: Citigroup’s Levkovich

High profile U.S. tech stocks have led a selloff that has seen global markets plagued by a loss of momentum over the last three days. Monday, the Nasdaq composite fell close to 1.2% marking its biggest three-day drop since November 2011 — it’s down 5.9% for the last 30 days. And the Dow and S&P 500 posted their worst three-day losing streaks since Jan. 27, 2014.

So are we seeing what could be a 5% to 10% correction for the market, or could this be the beginning of a bear market?

“To a great degree what we’ve seen is high-growth momentum stocks reversing direction,” Tobias Levkovich, chief equity strategist at Citigroup, tells us in the above video. He thinks people have misinterpreted the selling, saying investors are moving from small to large-cap stocks, from growth to value and toward quality. Levkovich says what we are seeing is “discreet parts of the market” like biotech, social media and cloud computing “start to lose what had been a small little bubble forming.”

He doesn’t think we’re going to see this horrible correction — he thinks this will remain more “discreet,” but says 5% to 10% would be normal, healthy and cleansing — and he’s expecting that in the first half of this year. He says he doesn’t expect a bear market, though.

Citi is still looking for the S&P 500 to end the year at 1975, posting 7% overall growth commensurate with earnings growth.

Why Russia Is About To Start Killing American Mercenaries In Ukraine

The situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. Fast.  As I indicated yesterday, Russia is executing a brilliant strategy in order to lay the groundwork for an eventual East Ukraine invasion. In fact, looking at things from an analytical perspective, I highly doubt it would be more than 10 days before Russia is “forced” to go in. In one of my later posts today I will outline exactly why Russia will go in and how it will impact the stock market.  Yet, one item caught my eye. 

“We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

Greystone is more or less an extension of the US Government or the Pentagon….when need be. Yet, if I was in charge of the company, I would get my people out of Ukraine NOW. When (not if) Russia goes in it will go after such mercenaries with all that they have got to teach America a lesson and to make sure further meddling by the West in Ukraine is highly discouraged.  This will make Benghazi look like a picnic.    

american mercenaries

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Why Russia Is About To Start Killing American Mercenaries Google

RT Writes: Moscow warns Kiev against using military, mercenaries in southeastern Ukraine

The Russian Foreign Ministry has voiced concerns over the buildup of Ukrainian forces and US mercenaries in the southeastern part of the country, calling on Kiev to immediately cease military preparations which could lead to a civil war.

As parts of Ukraine push for greater autonomy – with Donetskand Kharkov declaring independence on Monday – the self-imposed government in Kiev is reportedly dispatching additional forces in turbulent regions to avoid potential disobedience by local law enforcements.

“We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Organizers and participants of such incitement are assuming a huge responsibility for threatening upon the rights, freedoms and lives of Ukrainian citizens as well as the stability of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, confirmed that additional police special forces units have arrived in southern and eastern parts of Ukraine from other regions.

“These special forces are ready to solve operational problems without the regard to local peculiarities,”Ukraine’s Interior Ministry quoted Avakov as saying. “I urge all the hotheads now to defer from criticism and panic, and help the police keep the situation under control.”

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, special forces backed by militants from the Right Sector are being tasked with suppressing protests in the southeastern regions of Ukraine, which for weeks have been calling for a referendums on the regions’ statuses within Ukraine. Moscow called on the government in Kiev to refrain from actions that could spark a civil war in Ukraine.

“We urge [Kiev] to immediately stop all military preparations which could lead to a civil war,” the statement reads.

On Monday, a source in the Interior Ministry of Ukraine told Ria Novosti that three special forces units have been redeployed to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to suppress anti-government protests. The source claims that they consist of Interior Forces units, the newly-formed National Guard, Right Sector radicals, and Blackwater (Greystone) mercenaries and Falcon units. LifeNews also reported seeing armed Titan special forces units in Donetsk.

The reports of Greystone Limited (an affiliate of Academi/Blackwater) operating in Ukraine remain unconfirmed.

In a separate press release on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it is “closely watching what happens in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, in particular in the Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions.”

Moscow noted that without “real constitutional reform in Ukraine,” the “federalization” of the country, and the implementation of Russian as a second official language, long-term stabilization of the crisis is unlikely.

The ministry said that is time to stop “putting the blame on Russia, accusing [Moscow] of all the troubles in today’s Ukraine.”

Instead, Moscow urged Kiev to answer the legitimate questions that people in Ukraine have for the self-imposed government.

“Ukrainian people want to get a clear answer from Kiev to all their questions. It’s time to listen to these legal claims,” the Foreign Ministry said, accusing the Ukrainian government of acting “irresponsibly.”

At the same time, the ministry confirmed the Kremlin’s commitment to kickstart a national Ukrainian dialogue to stop the crisis. Russia is trying to propose the federalization of Ukraine, where regions would have broader powers of autonomy – including the right to promote regional language minority rights.

 

Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade set at the Donetsk regional council office building on the eastern city of Donetsk on April 7, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade set at the Donetsk regional council office building on the eastern city of Donetsk on April 7, 2014. (AFP Photo)

 

Meanwhile, the US hinted that Moscow could be behind the unrest in eastern Ukraine. In a daily briefing, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki stated that during the phone conversation between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, the US chief diplomat “noted the Ukrainian Government’s assertion that this appeared to be a carefully orchestrated campaign with Russian support.”

“He called on Russia to publicly disavow the activities of separatists, saboteurs, and provocateurs, calling for de-escalation and dialogue, and called on all parties to refrain from agitation in Ukraine. He made clear that any further Russian efforts to destabilize Ukraine will incur further costs for Russia, and the ministers all discussed convening direct talks within the next 10 days between Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and the EU to try to de-escalate the tensions.”

The White House has also urged Russia to refrain from interfering in Ukraine. “We call on President Putin and his government to cease efforts to destabilize Ukraine,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

On Monday, a group of anti-coup activists seized government buildings in Ukraine’s eastern cities of Donetsk and Kharkov, proclaiming the regions’ independence from Ukraine. Clashes between pro-independence demonstrators and security forces were also witnessed in Lugansk and Odessa.

Stock Market Update. April 7th, 2014. InvestWithAlex.com

daily chart April 7th 2014

Another down day with the Down Jones down 167 points (-1.02%) and the Nasdaq down 48 points (-1.16%) 

The stock market continues to perform as per our exact internal forecast (Click Here). While most market pundits see this as a simple correction and/or buying opportunity, the reality is a lot more complicated. In fact, I have argued long and hard (for at least a few months) that most market participants are positioned in exactly the wrong way. Long equity/short treasury. On the contrary, it should be the other way around and that is exactly what you are starting to see in the market. Based our mathematical and timing work, US Financial markets will go through a severe bear market between 2014-2017. When that happens expect equity prices and yields to collapse even further.

The bear market is just around the corner. If you would be interested in learning exactly when it starts (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here.   

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Stock Market Update. April 7th, 2014. InvestWithAlex.com

 

US Begins Supplying Anti-Tank Weapons To Al Qaeda

F$&#, I hate seeing my tax money being used to kill other people. Especially when its going to the same people who were directly responsible for 9/11. I guarantee you, when they are not fighting Assad in Syria, these so called “freedom fighters” (aka Al Qaeda) are burning American flags. It seems as if the idiots in Washington will never learn. 

“On Monday, Israel’s Debkafile website reported that two moderate Syrian rebel militias — the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Revolutionary Front — have been supplied with advanced US weapons, including armor-piercing, optically-guided BGM-71 TOW missiles, thanks to the Pentagon.”

The outcome?  Foremost, the conflict will intensify, leading to more bloodshed on all sides as Syria turns into an all out proxy war between the US and Russia. More importantly, some time down the road you end up with another pissed off Mujahideen who wants to destroy America. If you don’t recall, the US supplied Osama Bin Laden with stinger missiles to shoot down Soviet helicopters in the 1980s. How well did that turn out? 

Great job Obama…..this will surely bring piece and prosperity to the Syrian people. 

anti-tank

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US Begins Supplying Anti-Tank Weapons To Al Qaeda Google

 

RT Writes: US has reportedly started supplying Syrian rebels with anti-tank weapons

Rebels embattled against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have reportedly come into possession of high-powered anti-tank weaponry, the likes of which may have been supplied by the United States.

Images of rebels equipped with heavy arms have begun to circulate in recent days, and at least one news site has claimed that the source responsible is the US government.

On Monday, Israel’s Debkafile website reported that two moderate Syrian rebel militias — the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Revolutionary Front — have been supplied with advanced US weapons, including armor-piercing, optically-guided BGM-71 TOW missiles, thanks to the Pentagon.

According to Debkafile’s report, US Gen. Martin Dempsey — the chairman of the Joint Chiefs — asked officials in Israel last week to help get Saudi Arabian fighter jets stationed at the kingdom’s Faisal Air Base at Tabuk near Jordan positioned in a manner that would provide air cover as American forces moved the weapons into southern Syria. Debkafile attributed the claims to unnamed military sources.

Late last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah “appeared to narrow their disagreement on assisting Syrian rebels” amidst a meeting between the two. According to the Journal’s report, Obama administration officials said the meeting ended with the White House agreeing to increase its level of assistance to Syrian rebels.

Senior US officials said their goal is to provide assistance to moderate Syrian rebels not just as a ‘counterweight’ to the Assad regime, but also to extremist elements of the opposition,” Carol Lee and Ellen Knickmeyer wrote for the paper.

At the same time, however, the Journal reporters said that the White House made it clear to the Saudis — who reportedly asked for America’s assistance — that Washington was not comfortable supplying certain weapons, including hand-held anti-aircraft missile launchers known as manpads, due to the “proliferation risk” involved with introducing those types of arms into the heart of Syria. The South China Morning Post also cited US officials as saying the Obama administration was considering supplying weapons and has recently “been able to develop deeper relations with the opposition.”

 

Screenshot from YouTube user asim zedan

Screenshot from YouTube user asim zedan

 

Then over the weekend, a blog that specializes in covering the Syrian conflict published screenshots from just-uploaded YouTube videos alleged to show rebels using the US-made tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missiles.

Until more photos or videos of the missile and possible other locations pop up, it’s hard to tell who might have been the supplier. But most likely, the TOWs were indeed foreign-supplied to the rebels,” one blogger wrote. “Since the TOW missiles are made in the US such a transfer likely needs permission from the Obama administration.”

Iran’s Fars News agency also reported on Monday that their sources said the US has supplied the anti-tank missiles to the militants fighting against Assad.

According to Debkafile, the report — if true — marks “the first advanced US weapon to be deployed in more than three years of civil war.”

Our military sources report that Syrian tank armor is not thick enough to withstand the BGM-71 TOW rockets. To save his tanks, Assad has shifted the brunt of his anti-rebel operation to heavy air force bombardments, which claim a heavy toll among civilians,” Debkafile continued. “Washington is therefore confronted with its next decision about whether to give the rebels sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons as well.”

On Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, “We are going to continue to press in every way we can to assist the Syrian people.”

We are constantly doing is reviewing and assessing what else we can do,” Carney said. “These kinds of discussions, when bad things continued o happen in a place like Syria, always can be reduced to the question of: is the US going to use its military forces to try and do something?”

Carney said the administration will assess all options before making a decision based on what the White House believes is the right course of action to take in support of the Syrian people and in support of the United States’ own national security interests.

Baltic Dry Index Is Breaking Down. What It Predicts For The Markets Might Be Disturbing To Some

Baltic Dry Index, a measure of sea freight prices, is not doing very well. Signaling a worldwide economic slowdown. Down 25% in just two weeks, the index is just 150 points away from a technical breakdown. This works well with our overall stock market premise. Despite governmental claims of accelerating worldwide economic growth, at least the BDI is not buying it.

baltic dry index is breaking down

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Baltic Dry Index Is Breaking Down. What It Predicts For The Markets Might Be Disturbing To Some Google