Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (98210)	1/23/2013 9:41:54 AM
From: Zincman	Respond to of 218014

Very interesting. Thanks for the the update. Read that Nat gas is the most difficult of all commods to trade. More losses in those trades than any other. re: Miners and energy. Have significant exposure to an large, low grade, high cost Au/Ag/Zn play in central Mexico. Chesapeake Gold. Their Pre -feas study is imminent and should reflect a positive change in economics due in part to access to newly proposed nat gas transmission line w/in Mexico. Prior to this development, the company proposed an on-site (regional) coal fired co-generation plant...This plant was to be expensive and dirty... possibly off loaded to a third party. Still yet to be seen, but access to lower cost energy could well tip this marginally positive proposed mine solidly into the black, holding constant for AU pricing over the long term. re: Manufacturing.. Agree in the ebb and flow of manufacturing jobs w/in some global regions. 3D is interesting but remains to be seen on scale... All signs point to a disruptive wave as long as IP/legal gets over the threatened dead-end blocks See no end to monetary inflation.. Velocity seems to be tame...?? Pushing a string in many parts.. no doubt. Cheers..

To: TobagoJack who wrote (98210)	1/23/2013 11:03:43 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 218014

era of independent central banks solely pursuing stable prices is coming to an end. In this new world of central banking, the Fed announced last month it would keep interest rates on hold until unemployment falls to “at least” 6.5 per cent. In addition, the incoming governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, suggested policy makers should look at targeting nominal gross domestic product rather than consumer prices alone. By considering the total size of the economy, central banks would have room to revive growth even if inflation was temporarily above target. Moreover, in Tokyo, the new government is putting pressure on the Bank of Japan to take “unlimited” easing to beat deflation. That may result in a new central bank chief throwing out the rule book and formally capping the yen when Governor Masaaki Shirakawa retires in April. Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Canada’s central bank has made upcoming changes in interest rates dependent – or conditional upon – specific economic developments being met first. From 2011, Switzerland’s central bank has explicitly capped the Swiss franc as its main target of monetary policy. And from last year the ECB has promised to eliminate any “convertibility risk” embedded in sovereign bond yields by buying the paper of eurozone governments that apply for aid from their EU partners. In contrast, “old central banks” are set to continue with inflation targeting as their main policy goal for now. This group includes the Reserve Banks of Australia and New Zealand, the Riksbank and Norges Bank. As a result, the world’s monetary authorities are splintering. This is likely to have three main implications for foreign exchange markets over the next few years. First, investors will have to follow a wide range of policy goals in future – rather than just inflation targets – when assessing whether central banks will change monetary policy. These may include US unemployment, eurozone sovereign bond spreads, UK nominal GDP growth and foreign exchange accumulations in Japan and Switzerland. Second, the early experience of the Swiss National Bank and the Fed suggests domestic exchange rates will weaken first when central banks shift beyond inflation targeting. This is because monetary policy is likely to be kept looser for longer. But over time, as growth revives, capital inflows and demand for domestic currencies will also return. Third, increased uncertainty regarding monetary policy making will lead to higher volatility in currency markets. As the world’s central banks change course, foreign exchange investors will need to do so too. In the near term, the yen is the major currency most at risk from shifts in monetary policy. In contrast, the dollar is set to be the most resilient during the course of 2013. As America’s economy recovers and its energy companies exploit its vast shale gas and oil reserves, the Fed is unlikely to undertake prolonged quantitative easing. That leaves the euro and the pound in the middle. These currencies are likely to be adversely affected later this year by policy moves in Frankfurt and London. If the ECB activates its “outright monetary transactions” facility to buy sovereign bonds in the secondary markets, its balance sheet will expand substantially. Similarly, the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee will have to start printing money again to buy gilts and other domestic assets if Britain’s government decides to widen the BoE’s remit beyond inflation targeting. Such risks keep the greenback our favourite currency in 2013. Mansoor Mohi-uddin is managing director of foreign exchange strategy at UBS Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (98210)

1/23/2013 11:52:50 PM

From: Cogito Ergo Sum

Respond to of 218014

ho ho ho

From: russet	1/23/2013 11:35:08 PM
	of 4015

SEC Bars Egan-Jones From Rating The US And Other Governments For 18 Months Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/22/2013 12:04 -0500 zerohedge.com It is refreshing to see that the SEC has taken a much needed break from its daily escapades into midgetporn.xxx and is focusing on what is truly important, such as barring outspoken rating agency Egan-Jones from rating the US and other governments. From the SEC: "EJR and Egan made a settlement offer that the Commission determined to accept. Under the settlement, EJR and Egan agreed to be barred for at least 18 months from rating asset-backed and government securities issuers as an NRSRO. EJR and Egan also agreed to correct the deficiencies found by SEC examiners in 2012, and submit a report – signed by Egan under penalty of perjury — detailing steps the firm has taken." Hopefully the world is no longer insolvent in July of 2014 when this ban runs out. From the SEC: Egan-Jones and Founder Sean Egan Agree to 18-Month Bars from Rating Asset-Backed and Government Securities Issuers as NRSRO The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Egan-Jones Ratings Company (EJR) and its president Sean Egan have agreed to settle charges that they made willful and material misstatements and omissions when registering with the SEC to become a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) for asset-backed securities and government securities. EJR and Egan consented to an SEC order that found EJR falsely stated in its registration application that the firm had been rating issuers of asset-backed and government securities since 1995 — when in truth the firm had not issued such ratings prior to filing its application. The SEC’s order also found that EJR violated conflict-of-interest provisions, and that Egan caused EJR's violations. EJR and Egan made a settlement offer that the Commission determined to accept. Under the settlement, EJR and Egan agreed to be barred for at least 18 months from rating asset-backed and government securities issuers as an NRSRO. EJR and Egan also agreed to correct the deficiencies found by SEC examiners in 2012, and submit a report – signed by Egan under penalty of perjury — detailing steps the firm has taken. “Accuracy and transparency in the registration process are essential to the Commission’s oversight of credit rating agencies,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “EJR and Egan’s misrepresentation of the firm’s actual experience rating issuers of asset-backed and government securities is a serious violation that undercuts the integrity of the SEC’s NRSRO registration process.” Antonia Chion, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, added, “Provisions requiring NRSROs to retain certain records and address conflicts of interest are central to the SEC’s oversight of credit rating agencies. EJR’s violations of these provisions were significant and recurring.” Egan and his firm were charged last year for falsely stating on EJR’s July 2008 application to the SEC that it had 150 outstanding asset-backed securities (ABS) issuer ratings and 50 outstanding government issuer ratings, and had been issuing credit ratings in these categories on a continuous basis since 1995. Egan signed and certified the application as accurate. According to the SEC’s order, EJR had not issued any ABS or government issuer ratings that were made available through the Internet or any other readily accessible means. Therefore, EJR did not meet the requirements for registration as a NRSRO in these classes. The Commission found that EJR continued to make material misrepresentations about its experience in subsequent annual certifications. EJR also made other misstatements in submissions to the SEC, and violated recordkeeping and conflict-of-interest provisions governing NRSROs — which are intended to safeguard the integrity of credit ratings. EJR and Egan agreed to certain undertakings in the SEC’s order, including that they must conduct a comprehensive self-review and implement policies, procedures, practices, and internal controls that correct issues identified in the SEC’s order and in the 2012 examination of EJR conducted by the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings. EJR and Egan consented to the entry of the order without admitting or denying the findings. The order requires them to cease and desist from committing or causing future violations. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Stacy Bogert, Pamela Nolan, Alec Koch, and Yuri Zelinsky. The SEC’s litigation was led by James Kidney with assistance from Alfred Day and Ms. Nolan. The related examinations of EJR were conducted by staff from the SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and Division of Trading and Markets. Examiners included Michele Wilham, Jon Hertzke, Mark Donohue, Kristin Costello, Scott Davey, Alan Dunetz, Nicole Billick, David Nicolardi, Natasha Kaden, and Abe Losice. And to think of all the actions the SEC took against S&P, Moodys and Fitch for rating AAA-rated suprime junk weeks before the market imploded. Oh wait, the SEC did nothing there, because, you see, they filed their NRSRO applications without any glitches. So be careful S&P: you are on thin ice here with your 2011 downgrade of the US, and likely next in the SEC's sights: better go through all those registration applications and make sure every comma is in place. Now we look forward to news that Moodys and Fitch are about to get the Congressional medal of honor.

Somehow that made me think of this