Europe Wrap Up Going Into the Greek Elections

 

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. We have coined this term to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government, which involve unprecedented money printing. This is the official blog of the New York Investing meetup.

As Greeks go to the polls in a pivotal election, trouble is escalating all over the EU.
Spain is rapidly becoming the new trouble spot, with Italy not far behind. Ireland's debt problems have resurfaced and tiny Cyprus needs a bailout. Markets are confident though that the same people who have failed to solve the problem so far with their various money-printing schemes will now be successful solving it with new spinning straw into gold approaches.

Interest rates in Spain and Italy continue to climb and in the case of Spain remain at destabilizing levels. The 10-year bond has gone over 7% in Spain and 6% in Italy. When rates stay above 6%, it creates the danger of a downward financial spiral because of the heavy debt burden of the countries involved. Things would be no different in the United States.

Spain has suffered a number of credit downgrades recently. This week, Egan-Jones downgraded Spain's sovereign debt to CCC+,  a rating lower than Uganda's. Moody's cut Spain to Baa3, one notch above junk. Fitch had previously cut its rating for Spain to two notches above investment grade. Moody's further warned that it could cut Spain's rating to junk within three months. The downgrades are a direct result of the ECB bank rescue plan. Technically, this is structured as a loan to the Spanish government, so it increased the country's indebtedness significantly. A lower credit rating of course means higher borrowing costs. So the EU's plan to rescue Spain's banking system has wound up damaging the ability of the Spanish government to fund itself. Genius, pure genius.

A recently released IMF report was fairly hopeful about Spain's prospects however. It cited Ireland as a bigger worry. The IMF is urging the EU to help Ireland refinance its bank debt and consider taking equity stakes in Irish banks. Otherwise, it thinks Ireland will need a second bailout. While the average person might consider option one to be a bailout as well, the IMF obviously has a very narrow operational view of the word bailout.

The Spanish bank bailout itself has become an issue in the Greek elections. The leader of Syriza has pointed out that it came with no harsh conditions, but Greece is suffering terribly because of the austerity imposed on it. If Syriza wins on Sunday, it should thank the EU leadership for handing it the election. What is actually going on in the voters' minds is hard to discern. Polls cannot be published in Greece within two weeks of an election. There have been independent polls leaked to the press outside the country that show either anti-bailout Syriza or pro-bailout New Democracy ahead. There seems to be a steady stream of propaganda as well indicating how much the Greek people love the euro.

The G20 meets on Monday in Mexico and one of the major items on the agenda will be how much additional money should be printed now. The markets rallied strongly much of the week on just such "hopes". Not that this has stopped the crisis from continually getting worse so far and there is no reason to believe that it will. Apparently, while money may die, fantasy never does.

Disclosure: None

Daryl Montgomery
Author: "Inflation Investing - A Guide for the 2010s"
Organizer, New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. There is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Precious Metals Watch

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

The Fed and G20 meetings from last week both had a consensus that government generated stimulus of the U.S. and global economies should continue. The U.S. and UK and are printing substantial amounts of new money in order to engage in this stimulus. This should have been bearish for the dollar and pound and bullish for the precious metals. While the pound did indeed slide, the dollar went up and precious metals went down. These counter intuitive market reactions, common since the beginning of the Credit Crisis, should end soon.

Spot gold fell as low as $987 in overnight trading. Spot silver was as low as $15.73. The U.S. trade-weighted dollar traded between 77.12 and 77.26 on Friday. It was trading at 76.87 around the opening today. After hitting a yearly low of 75.83 four days ago, the dollar bounced of its support at 76.00. It is trying to head toward 78.00, where it has strong resistance from its 50-day moving average. Stronger resistance is just above that at 78.33, the low from the dollar sell off in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The Fed reiterated in its post-meeting statement that it "expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time." The mainstream media is filled with commentary about how inflation isn't a problem. Comments like "many economists argue that inflation is only an issue when the economy is humming along" are common. Someone should have told Zimbabwe with its 94% unemployment rate (if that economy was humming, it was tone deaf) that it was impossible that it was having sextillion percent inflation. When discussing all the money printing the U.S. Fed is doing, media articles invariably state that it "isn't so clear whether this will create an inflation headache down the road for the Fed". No article has yet to cite one case in the entire economic history of the world where excess money creation didn't lead to major inflation. Somehow by magic it might not happen in the contemporary U.S. though. Indeed magic is the operative word because that it the only thing that will prevent inflation going forward.

The idea that too much currency creation leads to price rises is not new. The 'quantity theory of money' originated with Copernicus, better known for his 'earth revolves around the sun' theory, in the early 1500s. It was further developed in the following centuries by at least half a dozen other economic thinkers long before Milton Friedman repackaged it as a new idea and won a noble prize for his 'original' thinking. Governments always claim that printing too much money isn't a problem and the lesson that it is needs to be learned over and over and over again. Buying gold and silver has always been the protection from excess government money creation. Smart investors only need to learn this lesson once.

NEXT: The Longer Term U.S. Interest Rate Picture

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21


This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

So Much for That Recovery

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

The G20 meeting ends today and precious metals should be under pressure and the dollar should continue to rally. Traders are worried that some rumblings about supporting the U.S. dollar may come out of the meeting, although the Japanese Finance minister recently said he was uninterested in intervening to drive the Yen down. While something could be said, the likelihood that anything would be done in the near-term is less than nil. Currency intervention is expensive and the printing presses of the major central banks are already booked full-time to support government economic stimulus programs.

The much ballyhooed impending U.S. economic recovery seems to be crumbling. While this only means more government stimulus and money printing, gold and silver are selling off instead of skyrocketing on the news (no that doesn't make any sense). The U.S. Durable Goods report came out this morning and it was down 2.4% in August. A drop of 48% in highly volatile aircraft orders was mostly responsible for the decline , as was the 98% increase in aircraft orders last month that lead to the rise in July. Autos were still up 0.4% last month with the impact of the Cash for Clunkers program waning. Core capital goods, which are the key to what is really going on in the economy, were down 0.4% in August. They dropped by 1.3% in July. So far, there doesn't seem to be any solid evidence of a sustainable recovery in manufacturing.

The bad durable goods numbers followed a 2.7% drop in existing home sales in August that was announced yesterday. That report indicated that 31% of U.S. house sales were 'distressed' (foreclosures for example) and that sales were concentrated in the low end of the market. Well that sounds like a description of a healthy housing market doesn't it? As if the banking system didn't have enough trouble from residential real estate, worse news today came from a report on large bank loans (these are loans over $20 million). Of these, 22.3% are 'troubled'. That is up from 13.4% last year. As a reminder, the U.S. banking system is supposed to have been 'stabilized' according to the Federal Reserve.

While things may look bad in the U.S., they seem to be worse in Japan. Japan is an export based economy and exports there fell 36% in August. Car shipments were down 50% and steel down 43%. GDP was positive last quarter and Japan supposedly exited its most recent recession (one of many in the last two decades)...well, maybe not. The stock of Japan's largest brokerage house, Nomura, plunged 16% last night on the news that it was issuing more stock. This is the second new stock issue in 6 months. Japan has been 'stabilizing' it financial sector for 19 years now. The U.S. looks like it is heading toward long-term 'stabilization' as well.

NEXT: Precious Metals Watch

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Market Sells Off as Dollar Rallies...As Usual

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

The U.S. dollar is rallying today for a change. Yesterday DXY, the ETF that represents it, fell as low as 75.83, below key support at 76.00. As of this moment DXY is 76.73. There is strong resistance at 78.00. The key breakdown level is 78.33, which was the multi year low made during the dollar sell off in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For the last two years the U.S. dollar has usually illogically rallied the day after the Fed meeting. There is also danger that some statement will come out of today's G20 meeting about the desire for a stronger dollar. If this happens, the talk is unlikely to be met with any action.

Gold was strong first thing in the morning, but sank to below a $1000 as trading progressed. Silver was selling off even more and may have resolved its overbought condition. The key breakout level for gold is $1003.50. It has closed above this level eight days in a row. So far, it doesn't look like today will be the ninth.

A number of gold and silver stocks have gaps made approximately ten trading days ago. These gaps may have to be filled. Nova Gold (NG) filled this gap four days ago. It was trying to test it today. It is not unusual for a stock's price to fall somewhat below the bottom of a gap. This is frequently a very profitable buy point. Nova Gold has made a cup and looks like it is making a handle. Many gold and silver miners' charts have similar patterns.

About the only thing up in today's market is UNG. The Natural Gas report seemed bearish this morning. GAZ is down. Both UNG and GAZ should move together, but they don't. HZBBF, introduced in this blog 2 weeks ago now trades under another ticker symbol: HNUZF (special thanks to New York Investing member Joyce K. for first reporting the change). The new trading symbol can't be found on Big Charts yet. The symbol changed after a 5 to 1 reverse split. This split and the symbol change make no sense whatsoever. Both have made it much harder for the individual investor to trade natural gas. Perhaps that the idea.

NEXT: So Much for That Recovery

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21


This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Fed Decision Today; Dollar, Bonds and Gold

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

The FOMC concludes its two-day meeting today and will issue a statement around 2:00PM New York time. There is no chance the Fed will be tightening its zero interest rate easy money policy, although it may announce some vague longer term liquidity reduction that will take place at some indeterminate future date (like the IMF gold sale that was announced over and over again for more than two years before it actually happened). The Fed knows that without its super low interest rates the economy would go into a tailspin and the stock market would tank. Don't expect the Feds quantitative easing (aka money printing) policy, which is slated to be terminated at the end of October, to be stopped either. Interest rates would skyrocket overnight (treasury bond prices would plummet) and the U.S. wouldn't be able to fund its massive budget deficits. It is not likely there will be an announcement about this today however.

While easy money leads to stock rallies (and higher precious metals prices), it undermines a nations currency. The trade-weighted dollar hit a new yearly low in pre-market trading this morning. The ETF DXY had an ugly gap down yesterday. It was as low as 76.00 on Tuesday (a key support level) and fell to 75.89 in pre-market trading today. Ironically, this was the low one year and one day ago. Perhaps less ironically, I constantly see headlines cross my computer screen about the dollar rallying, but every time I look at the price it has gone down. Can the dollar hold its support in here? There are rumblings from the central banks in a number of countries about supporting the dollar in order to lower the value of their currencies. Look for some possible hints of this from the G20 meeting tomorrow, but don't expect action.

The approximately zero short-term interest rates in the U.S. has led to a carry trade. Traders sell U.S. dollars to buy high yielding currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollar. This is one reason that Australian and New Zealand dollars have been going up in value. Currencies from countries with upgraded credit also benefit. Brazil just had its sovereign debt rating raised to investment grade. Don't expect the credit rating agencies to ever lower the U.S. sovereign debt rating to junk status though. This should have already been done.

Gold has continued to perform admirably. It has closed above its breakout level of $1003.50 for eight days in a row as of yesterday. The close on Tuesday was $1015.50. Silver closed at $17.16. There can still be some overhang on the precious metals market until the G20 meeting is over. Gold still needs to trade intraday above $1033.90 to finish its breakout. Hopefully soon.

NEXT: Market Sells Off as Dollar Rallies ... As Usual

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

IMF Selling Gold to Dampen Rally

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

Like clockwork, the IMF gold sale has reared its ugly head again as has occurred during a number of previous gold rallies since 2007. This time the IMF is actually selling the gold. It only threatened to do so the previous six times or so. It says it is looking for a central bank buyer. For some time, rumors have claimed that the central bank buyer will be China and these resurfaced again last week before the IMF announcement. China is playing coy however and says it wants the gold at a discount to the current $1000 price. Other possible buyers include Russia, the Gulf Oil States, Japan and India, all of whom have relatively low gold holdings and too many U.S. dollars.

The IMF is selling one-eight of its claimed gold holdings (the IMF is not audited, nor will it answer questions about whether its gold is held in individual contributing countries and being double counted as part of their gold reserves) or 403 metric tons. While this sounds like a lot, its is less than $13 billion at current prices. China alone has approximately 2000 billion dollars in reserves held in foreign currencies, almost half of which are in U.S. dollars. China's current gold holdings are 1054 metric tons, up from 400 metric tons in 2003. So it has less than $33 billion in gold versus almost 1000 billion in U.S. dollars. It is thought that the gold sale is being used as a way to let China get rid of some its U.S. dollars without dumping them on the open market.

There is also a two-day Fed meeting this week on Tuesday and Wednesday and a G20 meeting this Thursday. Since the Credit Crisis began two years ago, the U.S. dollar has rallied from just before the Fed meeting to just after (gold falls in response). This has happened no matter how much the Fed has announced it is debasing the currency. No one in their right mind would buy dollars under such circumstances, which leads to the obvious conclusion that global monetary authorities are acting in concert at these times to hold the dollar up. Expect this again this week. As mentioned in this blog on Friday, the dollar is too extended from its 50-day moving average and will try to rally back to that point.

Gold has traded as low as $996 this morning and the trade-weight dollar is at 76.97 at the moment (still below its 78.33 break down level). Expect general weakness in gold and the other precious metals and strength in the dollar until Thursday. A reversal for both after that is highly likely. Keep an eye out for buying opportunities, particularly in the mining stocks.

NEXT: Manipulation Fails, Gold Rallies Back

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Gold Breaks $1000!

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

As of this morning, gold has been above $1000 an ounce three times. The first time was in March 2008 when it reached $1033 and the second was February 20th of this year when gold reached $1006. Slightly after 4 AM New York time, gold traded at $1007. Gold also traded close to the $1000 mark in July 2008 and early this June. Unlike previous attempts to break the $1000 an ounce level, this one is taking place at the beginning of gold's bullish seasonal period that runs from August to February.

Gold has had a spectacular rise that began only last Tuesday. Most of the technical indicators on both the daily and weekly charts are not even remotely overbought. The technical patterns look more like a pre-rally. They have not even reached the usual rally formations yet. Until they do, choppy trading around the strong resistance level of $1000 is quite likely. A break higher now is possible, but is not likely to last too long initially. A rally will take hold after awhile however. Gold now has a long 18-month base and that can act as a springboard for a long and powerful breakout that can last for several months.

Silver was as high as 16.80 this morning and is trading at a yearly high. It is trading in a band of resistance between 16 and 19. It may get stuck in this area for awhile as well. Once it clears the 19 area it is likely to go to new highs breaking through the 21 level reached in March 2008. Silver always follows gold.

As would be expected the U.S. dollar is not doing well this morning. DXY, the ETF for the trade-weighted dollar, traded as low as 77.14 pre-market. This is a new low for the sell off that began in March and well below the breakdown level of 78.33. This is the third time this level has been breached. The dollar is weak and the precious metals are strong because the G20 made a pledge this weekend to keep their unprecedented stimulus efforts going. Stocks are rallying as well, not reflecting any potential growth in the global economy as the mainstream media is reporting, but because more liquidity rallies stocks. If it is interpreted as inflationary, it also causes gold and silver to rally and the U.S. dollar to tank. The market's message today is quite clear.

NEXT: Inflation Versus Recession

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21


This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

The Bull Heard Around the World

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

Almost every market throughout the world rallied on April 1st. In the morning (New York time) things didn't look promising. While most Asian markets had closed up nicely, all European bourses were down well into their trading day. Stocks in New York then gapped down sharply. Within a relatively short time, both New York and Europe reversed and then closed with good numbers. Today has been even more bullish. In Asia, the Hang Seng rose over 1000 points, closing up over 7%. The Nikkei went up over 4%. The Dax in Germany closed up more than 6%.

The European rally was helped by the ECB cutting interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25%. They are also considering buying up toxic assets which the Fed in the U.S. has been doing for sometime now. At the G20 meeting in London, France and Germany pursued stronger financial regulation aimed at tax havens, hedge funds and rating agencies. European leaders said they had no need for stimulus plans because their more generous welfare systems kick in automatically with benefits for more people as the economy deteriorates. Obama kept emphasizing that 'we are all in this together'.

Meanwhile in the U.S., the financial accounting standards board FASB gave companies more leeway when valuing assets and reporting losses, providing a potential boost to battered banks' balance sheets. The mark to market system, will now be replaced with a mark to fantasy system. FASB made its move because of pressure from Capitol Hill. Our elected representatives are demanding rules that help companies mislead investors. In case you had any doubt whose side they are on, it should be pretty obvious with this action. If this was actually something that worked, Enron would managed to have avoided imploding and still be in business because it lied about its financial numbers. The banks may be able to carry on however since they have an apparently unlimited supply of freshly minted federal money available for continually bailing them out. Of course, like every other free lunch program the Feds have come up with, the costs for this one will be heavy indeed.

Money has flowed into stocks globally in the last two days and this indicates the big money is supporting the current rally - at least for awhile. The media has been filled with reports in the last week about how the rally was going to end any moment and investors had better get out. When it comes to deciding whether or not to listen to some know nothing windbag media pundit or the market, always chose the market. There is still a lot of danger in the financial system however with a lot more blow ups awaiting us. Enjoy the party while it lasts, but don't stay too long. The U.S. Employment Report tomorrow may trim the sails of this rally temporarily.

NEXT: U.S. Unemployment Rises to 15.6%

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Surgery Done by a Bull in the China Shop

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

Today is the beginning of the spring quarter and the new fiscal year in Japan. Last night, most of Asia rallied and the Nikkei was up smartly (the Nikkei never hit a new low in the market sell off this spring by the way). A bailout plan in Taiwan for semiconductor manufacturers was bullish for tech stocks throughout the region. A Chinese manufacturing report was dismal, although off the low established last November (when the prices of many commodities also bottomed). European bourses are down this morning and the U.S. market indices gapped down after gapping up yesterday. The market is worried about the G20 Meeting tomorrow and the Jobs Report on Friday. The U.S. government possibly forcing GM into bankruptcy has also reared its ugly head again as well.

The government's current handling of GM is incredibly destructive economically. News has been leaked that Obama thinks a 'surgical bankruptcy' is the best option. If so, that surgery is being conducted by a bull in a China shop. A recapitulation of what is going on:

1. The U.S. Economy has been losing its manufacturing base for the last 30 years and has moved increasingly to a FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) economy and this has led to the current implosion of our financial system.
2. Instead of trying to revive manufacturing, the government is trying to drive a top manufacturer into bankruptcy - and somehow this is going to improve things.
3. Sales for automakers are down as much as 50% year over year because of the economy. The U.S. government then tells reluctant car purchasers that we are trying to drive GM out of business and make them worry that if they buy a GM car they will ever be able to get it fixed (this may not be realistic, but it is something that will give the consumer pause and hurt GM sales even more).
4. No one knows how many credit default swaps there are on GM bonds, but the number is probably substantial. A bankruptcy would put them in the money and require that they be paid off. Most of them would have been sold by insurance companies and brokers that are already getting government bailouts and this will require more bailout money (probably many times what it would cost to bailout GM) to make up for the losses.
5. The U.S government just spent $5 billion bailing out auto part suppliers and is undermining that bailout if it forces GM into bankruptcy.
6. There are a large number of current and former employees of the auto industry, its suppliers, its shippers, etc that will be negatively affected by this action.
7. The GM announcement stopped a nascent stock market recovery in its tracks, wiping out billions more from retirement portfolios. The Dow was up over 20% (technically a new bull market) and the government apparently couldn't wait to drive it right back into bear market territory. Treasury Secretary Geithner already caused a major market sell off previously with his handling of Citigroup. If the Obama administration's goal is to keep stock prices down, they are achieving outstanding success.

While I am not a fan of bailouts, I am even more opposed to incompetent business practices combined with unlimited government stupidity. As we have said in this blog before you can bailout no one or you can bail out everyone, but doing some bailouts and not others produces the worst results. What the Obama administration is doing with GM makes no sense on any level - and it does not bode well for the handling of economic matters going forward.

NEXT: The Bull Heard Around the World

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.

Government Thinks It Knows Best, Market Disagrees

The 'Helicopter Economics Investing Guide' is meant to help educate people on how to make profitable investing choices in the current economic environment. In addition to the term helicopter economics, we have also coined the term, helicopternomics, to describe the current monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government and to update the old-fashioned term wheelbarrow economics.

Our Video Related to this Blog:

If the Obama administration is trying to crash the U.S. stock market they are doing an excellent job. If not, they should all take a class in PR 101. The U.S. government announced that it is displeased with the progress the automakers have made with their restructuring plans (like somehow the government knows how to run an auto company), got the CEO of GM to resign, and is threatening to withhold bailout money from them and force them into bankruptcy. This would be devastating to the economies of the politically important swing states of Michigan and Ohio and for this reason it is not likely to happen. Nevertheless, all investors are paying this morning for this political cat and mouse game, with both the Dow and Nasdaq selling off around 4% as I write this. A crash level drop of 5% is a real possibility at the moment.

When the automakers received their first bailout in the fall, this blog stated it was only a stopgap measure to tide them over until after the election and a new bailout would be needed then. This has indeed happened right on schedule. While we constantly say, there is no such thing as a single bailout for an insolvent financial institution, the same is obviously true in many other industries as well. There is also no question that the automakers have been some of the worse run companies in the U.S. for decades, at least until the banks and brokers took the lead in this respect in the 2000s. Bailouts almost always have long term negative consequences, but this has not stopped the U.S. from establishing a de facto 'too big to fail policy' and it now seems to be moving toward state directed corporate socialism. Government management is an oxymoron if ever there was one. This is out of the frying pan into the fire economics.

Also weighing on the market is the upcoming G20 summit. Other countries, being led by Germany, are not interested in printing an endless stream of new money for economic stimulus plans and the BRIC countries want an alternative reserve currency. A coordinated policy for global stimulus is not likely to result from the meeting later this week as was hoped for by the Obama administration. This leaves the U.S. and Britain, the big money printers, holding the bag. Consequently, both are likely to have to print more money in the future. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries want to establish a new reserve currency, at first consisting of a blend of dollars, euros, yen and pounds. No immediate policy shift will officially take place at the summit, but this likely represents a sea change in international currency policy. Both pieces of news are devastating for the U.S. dollar, which somehow ignored reality this morning and rallied strongly.

While it would be nice to do so, investors can't ignore politics. Deep down, there is really very little difference in a number of respects from the current administration and the last administration. Spending huge amounts of taxpayer money on bailouts was and is part of the agenda. If the spending can't fully be funded with taxpayer money (and this was a reality from the beginning), any amount of money necessary will be printed to cover the costs. The dollar will eventually lose a lot of its value because of this and there will be a lot of inflation. The Bush administration though was at least aware of the sensitivities of the stock market, while the Obama administration seems oblivious at best. The drop this morning, taking place during a nascent rally, is not the first time the current administration has stuck its foot in it and it probably won't be the last.

NEXT: Next Few Trading Days Are Important

Daryl Montgomery
Organizer,New York Investing meetup
http://investing.meetup.com/21

This posting is editorial opinion. Like all other postings for this blog, there is no intention to endorse the purchase or sale of any security.