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AlphaTrends Norton's comment: Perhaps this is a similar thrill to day trading?

My Yahoo! : "Lion embraces friends Even after he returns to the wild, a city-raised lion remembers where he came from. » See their big reunion" Norton's comment: Sorry, this isnt finance but it is a postive message that applies to life in the NOW so I couldn't help but include it here. Best, Norton

by Energy tomorrow.org. "Policymakers are talking a lot about energy and energy policy. What follows are some of the most frequently heard claims and proposals emanating from the campaign trail, along with realities that need to be considered when evaluating these claims... REALITY : There are many factors affecting the price of gasoline. More than 80 cents of every dollar spent at the pump goes to the price of crude and taxes. The price of crude oil is set on global markets, not by oil companies, and it accounts for more than 70 cents of every dollar of gasoline price. And the government takes nearly twice as much in taxes (13 cents) as the industry makes in profit (fewer than 8 cents). While gasoline prices have increased dramatically this year, the price of crude oil has increased by $1.21 per gallon in 2008, compared with the price of gasoline, which is up 80 cents per gallon. Demand is strong in both mature economies and the developing world, especially in China, India and th...

We have noted that Treasuries (and the dollar) are the remaining bubbles, although some doubts are starting to surface on the Treasury front. Paul Amery at Prudent Bear gives a good recap : The tectonic plates underlying the whole superstructure of debt have started to shift. On the surface nothing remarkable is happening – the 30 year US Treasury bond yield recently hit an all-time low of 3.88%, as investors sought a safe haven during equity market turbulence. Yet while nominal bond yields have declined, the credit risk component of US Treasuries has been on an increasing trend since last year. According to data provided by CMA DataVision, the credit specialists, the 10-year credit default swap spread – a form of insurance contract against issuer default – has risen steadily - from 1.6 basis points (0.016%) in July 2007, to 16 basis points in March 2008, to 30 basis points in September, to over 40 basis points on October 27 – see the chart below for the spread history so far this year...

In this interview with The Gold Report, Sprott Resource Corp. President and CEO Kevin Bambrough—who is also Market Strategist for Sprott Asset Management Inc KB: I think the U.S. dollar becomes almost like the hot potato no one wants to hold. As soon as a country gets dollars, if they don't want to build up the reserves, they move them off. I think we'll start to see that trend. I'm very, very bearish on the U.S. dollar and most Western currencies over the next decade or two. The biggest bubble, which doesn't get spoken of enough, is the fiat currency bubble—the fact that paper currencies, especially the U.S. dollar, are given so much buying power when they're just being run off a printing press. That's ultimately the biggest bubble of all. There will be a day of reckoning for it for sure. TGR: Do you put the Canadian dollar in that very bearish camp as well? KB: I think the Canadian dollar is going to be much better off than the U.S. dollar just because it is v...

by Richard W. Rahn Washington Times Wednesday, November 26, 2008 Gerald O'Driscoll, a former senior Fed official and very able economist, recently said it best: "The central bank is like an arsonist watching a fire he set, expressing amazement at how such an event could have happened. Under a fiat monetary system, which the Fed and almost all other central banks now use, the end of the inflation only comes when the central bank finally decides to end it by restricting money and credit... Gerald O'Driscoll, a former senior Fed official and very able economist, recently said it best: "The central bank is like an arsonist watching a fire he set, expressing amazement at how such an event could have happened. The Fed created a moral hazard by first, implicitly, then explicitly promising to bail investors out of risky commitments. [Former Fed Chairman Alan] Greenspan promised to 'mitigate the fallout' from asset deflation. How does a central bank do that? By reflati...

Sony Pictures Classics Presents : Who Killed the Electric Car? Before GM gets a bailout, they must see this movie during the Congressional hearings and then see their credibility and complicity with Big Oil who do NOT want an electric or hybrid car! The Only things Congress should be concerned about are: 1) Raising the Standard of Living for All Legal Citizens. 2) Decreasing the Cost of Living by: a) Regulating all forms of energy (Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Heating fuel, Electricity) Tax rebates from fuel expenses based on receipts Require mandatory nationalization, if oil industries refuse to set a fair and reasonable profit in correlation with set profit margins of all other fuel producing countries and be required to build enough refineries to prevent the current false shortages these companies have created in order to have a license to do business in the United States. b) Regulate prices of necessities, housing, utilities, food and water, communications, and clothing. This would be th...