The Resourceful Bear Blog

With President Obama coming into office it's a good time to stop blogging; there will be no change for the better, only more neocon principles of global governance being applied; for there be neocons on the left and on the right; and they both rule through principles of Leo Strauss.

The Lord is sifting people through the sifter of the ever increasing ride of the horsemen of the apocalypse: like flour those of the world fall through,and the Christians rise to the top to be taken out by the Lord either through death or deliverance to a soon coming sanstuary of safety.

Those of the Lord are His through the election of grace and suffering. They are identified by a righteous lifestyle and good deeds. One can only be righteous and live righteously by having identity, and experience in the Righteous One, that is Jesus.

Those of the world are identified by the things they say and do.

For most Christians, when they are truly suffered out, then they depart from this world for glory.

There is little differnce between how things were in the garden and now. Adam and Eve were given a choice of having identity and experience in Life, or having a knowledge of good and evil. They were compelled to choose the latter. Only those compelled by the Faith of Jesus Christ, chose Life today.

Global Research provides the Richard Kerbaj TheTimes article Lectures See Tony Blair Earnings Jump Over £12m which reports: Tony Blair’s earnings since leaving Downing Street are calculated to have topped £12 million, more than six times his previous lifetime income.

The former Prime Minister, who tours the world speaking to audiences including investment banks, private equity firms and chambers of commerce, is now said to be the highest-paid speaker in the world. Since launching himself on the speaking circuit last October, Mr Blair is understood to have earned more from speeches than Bill Clinton, the former US President, did in his first year after leaving the White House.

As the stock market has plummeted and the housing market has slumped, the man who as Prime Minister championed the “light-touch” system of financial regulation blamed by some for the current crisis is enjoying an unprecedented boom of his own.

Mr Blair receives £84,000 of taxpayers’ money to run a private office and is entitled to an annual pension of £63,468, but this pales to insignificance beside his private earnings. He has made £4.6 million from his memoirs, an estimated £2 million from JPMorgan Chase — including bonus — and £500,000 from Zurich Financial Services. On top of that he has exceeded the $9.2 million (£5.8 million) that Mr Clinton earned, according to his wife Hillary’s financial disclosures, from speeches in his first year outside the White House.

“I can tell you that Tony Blair has already made more money than that,” a speaking industry source said. “He is now probably the highest-paid public speaker in the world.”

At the United Nations there is fear that his focus on commercial interests is jeopardising his unpaid role as Middle East envoy.

One senior official said: “There’s a view in the UN that he’s not making any progress and that from all the status that he brings to the position, he doesn’t seem to be achieving anything . . . He’s meant to work on the distribution of aid to Palestinians and not brokering peace in the Middle East, though he’d like to do that.”

Such is the demand for Mr Blair, who works exclusively through the blue-chip Washington Speakers Bureau, that he has a two-year waiting list for bookings, with clients prepared to pay $250,000 (£157,000) for a typical speech of roughly 90 minutes.

“He is one of the biggest stars in the world. Who else is there?” said Max Markson, the public relations organiser who has taken Mr Clinton, Cherie Blair and Nelson Mandela to Australia.

Since Mr Blair can pick and choose audiences, some will be surprised by his selection so far.

The Times can disclose that he has become a particular favourite with the Washington-based Carlyle Group. Next month he will address a conference of its European investors in Paris about “geopolitics”. He addressed a similar conference for Carlyle in Dubai in February.

Carlyle Group is a leading private equity investor in the military. Its board has been graced by both Presidents Bush and its former European chairman was Sir John Major.

Carlyle and the Blair Government have a controversial history. The National Audit Office said taxpayers lost millions from the privatisation of spy technology because of Labour’s decision to appoint Carlyle Group as a preferred bidder too quickly.

Mr Blair also chose to address a dinner hosted by the Kuwait Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund. The Kuwaitis say Mr Blair spoke without payment. As a government body, it is forbidden from paying its guests.

Critics of the funds fear that they will buy strategic parts of economies, then use the leverage to influence policy. Much of the money is from Arab nations who might be tempted to discourage business with Israel.

But Mr Blair’s office said: “We should encourage their investment, especially at a time when institutions are facing a real problem getting cash.”

His employers in the finance industry are happy. The investment bank JPMorgan Chase said he “has played an extremely valuable role here” while a source at Zurich Financial Services said: “He provides us with pretty useful insights.”

But there is frustration about his performance as Middle East representative for the Quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

A Western diplomat in Jerusalem said that Mr Blair had failed to achieve a key UN aim to promote free movement in Gaza: “I wonder if his overstretchedness has produced a tactical blunder.”

A UN official in Jerusalem said: “There is a general sense that he is not around.”

Mr Blair’s office said: “Tony Blair’s current role in the Middle East takes up the largest proportion of his time.

“No official of the UN or any other Quartet member has ever raised any such concerns with us. When Mr Blair took up the post he said he would be spending at least a week a month in the region, and that is exactly what he is doing.”

World Socialist website author John Roberts reports that Thailand’s political crisis intensifies amid economic slowdown.

Related
Chart of the Thailand ETF THD.

The Saudi's have been long the US Dollar, $USD, since the yen carry traders sold oil, USO, commodities, RJI, and gold, GLD, to take profits and go long the financial sector and banks on July, 14, 2008. But today they sold, and others went short the US Dollar, as the McCain-Palin ticket failed and the Obama-Biden team won the US election. The US Dollar closed at $84.59 ... $USD

I take the Jack Chan chart of UUP from his JC's Buy and Sell Signals chart site on Stockcharts.com to mean the US Dollar is to be sold ... UUP

Jesse's chart report US Presidential Election Results communicates to me that the only states that went for McCain were his home state and the rural agricultural states.

The Yahoo Finance chart of USD/JPY compared to EUR/JPY, UUP, TLT and GLD communicates the rise of the US Dollar, the so called "flight to safety" in the US Dollar, the sell of the USD/JPY since 9-11-2008 when lending collapsed, and the unwinding of the yen carry trade, which has lived up to its name of the armageddon trade, because of its deflationary destruction of wealth globally ... USDJPY, EURJPY, UUP, TLT and GLD

The five day chart of the gold etf, GLD, compared to the dollar bullish ETF, UUP, reflects the strong reaction that gold had to the fall of the US Dollar ... Five day GLD UUP

The 3 month chart of the gold etf, GLD, compared to UUP, shows how gold has been decimated by a rising US Dollar, and it reflects the rise of gold beginning on 9-11-2008, only to fall as the Federal Reserve facilities provided liquidity and stability ... 3 month GLD UUP

Gold, $GOLD, rose to $757 today; will it continue to rise now that the USD/JPY is likely to fall lower; or will gold fall continually lower with an ongoing fall in the EUR/JPY?

Most likely, gold simply pushed its way up to resistance to be taken lower by a falling commodity currencies such as the Euro, FXE, the Australian, Dollar, FXA, and the Canadian Dollar, FXC; and gold is likely to fall lower with oil, USO.

The chart of the gold ETF, GLD, courtesy of Jack Chan from JC's Buy and Sell Signals, communicates quite well the deflationary pressures in gold ... GLD

The Privateer's $US 2 x 3 Gold Chart shows the deflationary hurricane in gold as well ... Privateer $US 2 x 3 gold chart

Having said that, I continue to favor an investment in physical gold as I do not trust the "insurance" provisions of central bankers with regard to savings accounts, money market accounts and brokerage accounts; and I do remind that numerous coin store, dealers and jewelrs have no physical supply of gold on hand -- that's bullish gold ... $GOLD

I believe that the US Dollar, will now fall lower into The Abyss, will all fiat wealth; that is with all currencies, DBV, debt, AGG, foreign stocks, EFA, and US stocks, VTI, and that gold will arise as the means of preserving wealth as well as become the defacto international currency; this being communicated in the chart of UUP, DBV, AGG, EFA, VTI and GLD ... UUP, DBV, AGG, EFA, VTI and GLD

While the US has recently lowered it's central bank interest rate to 1%, the bond market place has been calling interest rates higher since a credit gridlock developed 9-11-2008, as is seen in the interest rate on the 10 year US government note going higher to today's 37.65 ... $TNX

The chart of the yield curve interest rates steepened dramatically today, $TNX:$UST2Y popped, this is highly inflationary. Richard the Resourceful Bear says: "Rising interest rates, and a steeping yield curve, are a bond killer and a gold thriller." ... $TNX:$UST2Y

The chart of the US government bond ETF, TLT, courtesy of Jack Chan from JC's Buy and Sell Signals shows consolidation; and I believe it shows that a run on US government bonds is underway ... TLT

I recommend that one buy gold and put it far, far away from the current financial system, safe and sound in a guarded vault, like BullionVault and GoldMoney, with an account personally at streetTracks Gold Trust, and in physical possession of gold coins.

Stocks rose today and some really popped higher manifesting as great short selling candidates; these include, Terra Nitrogen, TNH ... TNH

The world is a better place but economic horrors await
Opportunistic trader Tim Knight relates "Barack Obama was declared the winner of the Presidential election. Amazing.

When I was about eleven years old, I asked a black kid in my class to come over to my house. He wanted to, but he asked, "Are you sure your mom won't mind?" I honestly didn't know what he was talking about. "Why?", I asked. He answered, "Because I'm black."

The United States is a better place today. The coming years are going to be horrible, and Obama will probably get some of the blame (undeservedly). But this is going to give people some hope, at least for now."

The BoJ cut its rate to 0.3% and will provide stimulus; its actions provide only an abeyance and not an abatement of future global economic collapse
Edward Hugh writes in Seeking Alpha that the Bank of Japan cut its benchmark interest rate today to 0.3 percent and also decided to begin paying interest on reserves commercial lenders hold at the bank to provide liquidity to the financial system and trimmed the Lombard rate - the cost it charges for loans made directly to member banks - to 0.5 percent from 0.75 percent.

Prime Minister Taro Aso decided yestreday to postpone the national election that polls suggest could have seen him and his ruling LDP party being pushed out of power. He also announced an "economic revival" package, worth an estimated $275 billion, of which $50 billion would come from new spending (and the quantity of new money needed would undoubtedly have been higher if the BoJ had not "conveniently" cut interest rates today. The details we have so far on the package suggest it is set to give large tax breaks to home mortgage holders, extend tax cuts for capital gains, lower highway tolls and give loans to small businesses.

Bank of Japan 0.5% yen carry trade financed traders started to go short the emerging markets, EEM, and the Japanese shares, EWJ, on May 19th, 2008, when the Bank of Japan met to discuss policy. Peak currencies occurred in late July 2008, when the BoJ 0.5% financed yen carry traders aggressively sold the EUR/JPY short; this stimulated a rise in the Yen, FXY, and a fall in the price of Japanese shares. A lending crises arose on September 11, 2008, that is 9-11-2008, when the bank found they could not issue stock to raise capital, this resulted in a breakdown of lending, that is a stoppage in lending, as is seen in the fall of HYG.

The ongoing Yahoo Finance Chart of EURJPY compared to EWJ, EEM and HYG ... EURJPY compared to EWJ, EEM and HYG

The up in everthing today pulled the EUR/JPY higher today as is seen in the Stockcharts.com daily chart of FXE:FXY ... FXE:FXY

The Bank of Japan's actions can only postpone and not stave off a soon coming world wide financial breakdown.

The Federal Reserve hired former Bear Stearns chief risk officer
Reuters reports that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has hired the former chief risk officer of Bear Stearns Cos, Michael Alix, to advise on bank supervision, according to a release in the Fed's Web site.

I have to wonder who the next US Treasury Chief will be. Could it possibly be Timothy Geither who has called for unified regulation of banking globally -- that is a call for a global monetary authority?

Major trading symbols used in this report
UUP, GLD, TLT, AGG, EWJ, EEM, HYG, EFA, VTI, DBV, TNH

Visalia Delta Times reports that Tulare County's unemployment rate held steady this month at 10.6 percent after two consecutive months of increases; but unemployment jumped to 6.5% in Visalia California 93277, and 9.7% in Porterville California 93257, as Mervyn's closed up in each of these cities.

Burea of Labor Statistics data for Visalia -Porterville, California shows unemployment is at 10.6%