Here're my tweets from this week:

• My shot clock as I was hitting balls into centerfield from home plate at Yankee Stadium http://bit.ly/2kI9cr What a rush!
• "I will sacrifice my body." @brianstelter: "Here's my first "Night Out With" column for NYTimes: Cody Willard http://bit.ly/WcDcf
• Shot Clock: I'm all over Jamie Dimon and the other crooks at JPM. And a real passage from the health care bill. http://bit.ly/qCKRu
• Hey peeps, start following @JennaFBN - the one and only Jenna Lee.
• I've declared war on all Democrats and Republicans since the bailouts started. Our country was betrayed. No excuses. Surely u agree?
• Not sure if I feel like a sellout, but I'm headed to Welfare Field, er Citifield to watch McCartney. McCartney's a sellout regardless -- and by selling out, I mean he did a duet with Michael Jackson and lot of other crap. That was a long way from "wanting a revolution" (and yes, I know he didn't write that one, but still. You know what I'm sayin'). Anyway, I'm off.
• Whatdya do when you need inspiration and stuck at your desk at work? Song of the day- http://bit.ly/TJ68Q I swear I'll never give in.
• I'm getting depressed listening to the Republicans and Democrats in power who enabled Bernanke pretend they have a problem with what he does.
• Ben's latest scheme to steal your money for his bankers: Pay the banks interest on the money we lend/give them. What in the hell is going on around here?! http://bit.ly/qc3QG I am here to call Ben out on his nonsense. Nothing in that article made any sense -- his convoluted rationalizations for helping the Republicans and Democrats in power redistribute trillions of dollars of wealth upward gets progressively more asinine as time goes on. And now he wants to pay the shareholders who were stupid enough to risk their own money on the future earnings potential of these crooked, fraudulent banks like Citigroup, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, interest on the taxpayer largesse that we gave them to gamble in the markets.
• I call BS again! - We gave Goldman et al taxpayer money to pay the taxpayer back with. Sick of the lies! http://bit.ly/IyoOM Help me fight!
• ALL Republicans and ALL Democrats are my ENEMY. If you are either R or D you are WITH THEM. And I am trying to DESTROY THEM. Join me.

See me speak up http://spokeup.com/pg/profile/cody
Facebook me at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=763890180
Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/codywillard

Just a quick post today...

Just under one year ago I wrote a blog post:

August 13, 2008 11:26AM

No Brainer Trade: Short Dubai in August 2008

By Cody Willard

I was surprised to see a seemingly bearish headline about Dubai in the WSJ’s property report today. After all, it was just a couple weeks ago that another mainstream media property, 60 Minutes, did it’s love-fest profile of all things Dubai, including loving their monarchy that violently represses its owns people’s property rights while exploiting and oppressing the immigrants coming to the country to work.

Alas, the WSJ wasn’t bearish on Dubai real estate at all — they warn that those idiots trying to control Dubai’s economy from the state are now “homing in on effort to cool red-hot property market”. Yeah, the paper goes on to speculate that “prices are expected to fall 10% by 2010″.

Dude, lemme tell ya something. When you’ve built an entire island and have convinced repressive billionaires from other regimes to buy up the properties EVEN THOUGH NOBODY HAS OR APPARENTLY EVER INTENDS TO ACTUALLY LIVE ON THE ISLAND…well, that’s an even bigger bubble than the US real estate market got itself into.

Dubai is a collapse waiting to happen. Real estate prices in Dubai will be down more than 50% by the end of 2010.

On Happy Hour yesterday, I repeated to Pam Leibman, the CEO of giant NYC real estate agency, Corcoran, that there’s never been a better time than now (well, six months ago) to sell NYC real estate. NYC’s real estate might be a great short opportunity right now…but it’s nothing compared to the sweet set up of Dubai’s pending bubble pop.

Indeed — shorting Dubai real estate in August 2008 when 60 minutes is fawning over the place is probably about as good an opportunity as shorting US real estate when Time Magazine was explaining to us “Why We Love Our Homes” right at the top in July 2005.

Fade the mainstream media. Fade the repressive central powers. They can’t stop the revolution (another of my trademarked terms, btw).

But we can profit off their centrally-created bubbles when the free market forces that always reign start to let the air out. I’ve been saying that betting on higher rates is the no brainer trader for the next couple years. Even no brainer-er is shorting Dubai when it’s blow off top is being heralded by the mainstream media and the world.

Well, here it is just 11 short months later...and the middle section of the Financial Times today says:

As the global financial crisis hit the Gulf’s most globalised economy, the services industry buckled amid a property crash, forcing the proud emirate to accept a $10bn bail-out loan from the central bank. Now the race is on to put Dubai on a more sustainable footing, managing repayments on the emirate’s $80bn debt pile and reviving business confidence.

The twin issues of debt and falling property prices will act as a drag on Dubai’s recovery. However, amid the turmoil, Dubai retains an advantage: no other city in the Middle East has the gumption or the infrastructure to act as a services hub for the rest of the oil-rich region, which is expected to rebound from this global recession faster than other areas.

It remains as yet unclear whether Dubai can scale back its ambition and make the necessary reforms to capture victory from the jaws of defeat.

Well, the FT might be unclear about whether or not Dubai's gonna be okay in the next year or two...eh huh. Dubai's still doomed even if a part of the pain has already been priced in.

Here's what'll be rattling around in my head this weekend -

* I'll have a piece up early next week all about how we're in the midst of a vicious DEFLATIONARY cycle with the things we OWN even as we're in a vicious INFLATIONARY cycle with the things we BUY. In other words, real estate, stocks, Treasuries and (soon) gold are all declining in price while food, clothes, energy, most staples, and most importantly, the cost of capital (ie, rates) are all increasing in price. More next week. (Or read my piece from earlier this week about why I'm expecting to see gold's price drop to below $500 an ounce).

* I'm also working on the upcoming RevolutioNewsletter all about strategies for those interested in simply getting a return OF their capital rather than a return ON their capital. Even ignoring all the value-destroying properties of the bailouts, with rates at zero percent, the Fed's ensuring that the banks can't even pay me a reasonable interest in my savings account. They won't let us simply SAVE our money. That sucks.

* A few more reasons I expect gold to drop, in addition to the collapse of M3 money supply despite the Fed's oiled pump

1. Demand for gold from anybody other than speculators/investors will be down along with the economy. Meanwhile all the suppliers and miners and central banks can sell gold extremely profitably at these now-long-sustained higher prices...supply is up and likely to continue to increase as the consensus is for much higher gold prices because everybody sees the Fed printing money while demand is collapsing.

2. As people around the world scramble to raise money to meet their obligations and debts -- they'll be forced to sell what gold they own. Yet more supply and not a favorable kind of incremental seller/buyer you want to see in a bull market.

3. Everybody I know is bullish and/or indifferent to Gold, and the overwhelming majority of feedback that I've gotten from my having suddenly turned from bullish to bearish on the metal is aggressively against and/or dismissive of my new stance. As usual, I'd rather be a contrarian.

4. Speaking of being a contrarian and looking for a top indicator in gold -- we featured an article about an entrepreneur in Europe who's selling gold-metal vending machines. Yeah, you can buy gold from a vending machine in 2009. I'm sure that's going to work out well for those consumers. Sold to you!

5. As my old buddy Vitaliy Katsenelson wrote this week: "In the past, gold had a monopoly on the inflation and fear trade. Not anymore. Now you have competition from Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), currency ETFs, short US treasury ETFs, etc." (If you want to know more, he make this case in his book.)

* I'm confused. The Fed says it needs to change its mission and needs more power. Here's what the Fed's website says its current mission is:

Mission

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. Over the years, its role in banking and the economy has expanded.

Today, the Federal Reserve's duties fall into four general areas:

• conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates
• supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers
• maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets
• providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments system

Since they've COMPLETELY FAILED at their mission, I say we investigate and prosecute the guys the guys at the FED for gross incompetence or conspiracy to defraud.

* The SEC, which is now run by Mary Shapiro who used to run FINRA, says they need more power for the SEC. SEC's website says their mission is:

The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

Since the SEC can't do their job of making sure people don't create $65 billion Ponzi schemes in front of the faces (Madoff, baby!), I say we fire everybody there and prosecute the bigwigs over there for gross incompetence and RICO violations.

* FINRA, where that aforementioned lady who's going to fix our economy if we'll just give her and her SEC agency more power, says their reason for being is:

Created in July 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the New York Stock Exchange, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services.

Since the lady running FINRA failed so miserably in her job, I personally would have a lot more confidence in our system if she were fired in disgrace immediately and investigated for, once again, gross incompetence.

* Finally, here's what the Treasury says their mission is:

Mission

Serve the American people and strengthen national security by managing the U.S. Government's finances effectively, promoting economic growth and stability, and ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of the U.S. and international financial systems.

You feel like the Treasury department has done a satisfactory job of "ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of the US and international financial systems?

Here's what Tim Geithner, our current Treasury secretary who used to be the head of the New York Fed while these banks were destroying our economy through lies and fraud right in front of him, says about that:

Our financial system failed to perform as it should have – by distributing and reducing risk. Instead, the system magnified risk.

* And with that, I'll thank you for reading and bid you a good weekend.

Citigroup has taken in tens of billions of dollars in direct welfare infusions in order to make payroll and keep the lights turned on. Vikram Pandit, the CEO who's also the guy who started a hedge fund using money fronted from giant investment banks like Citigroup and sold the start up hedge fund to Citigroup so that it could risk and lose its depositors money in the stock market, had to come back and beg for more just-for-Citi money from taxpayer largesse since Citigroup did indeed risk and lose every cent their depositors, lenders and shareholders had given them.

And now Citigroup wants to take the money they've begged to have confiscated from the private market and funnel it to the most IMF-politically-connected people who "run" companies in developing nations around the world. We don't have enough welfare money in this country to feed hungry kids in the projects a few blocks away from Citigroup's headquarters...but apparently, we have enough welfare money in this country for corrupt bureaucracies and politicians in other countries to plunder as the pretended that redistributed money is "Intended to stimulate the growth of trade in the emerging markets over a three-year timeframe, this funding is expected to support estimated trade flows of up to $7.5 billion (through the origination of $1.25 billion six times over during the three-year period)"

The money at Citigroup is supposed to be depositors' savings lent out to companies and individuals whom Citigroup thinks will pay them back. The government's supposed to make sure everybody involved in that doesn't lie, cheat or steal. That's how money flows where it's most needed and markets are created and prosperity built.

Instead, the US government has confiscated taxpayer money and given it to fraudulent management at Citigroup and Citigroup's now taking that confiscated taxpayer money and telling us that it will only lend that money out to those can properly work the World Bank system.

Virtuous cycles create growth and prosperity and can only be created, by definition, on virtuous terms and with profit to fuel them. There's nothing virtuous about Citigroup's newfound politically-motivated and politically-CONTROLLED policies and actions.

And the billions of people in the emerging countries who aren't politically-connected enough to get their hands on all that confiscated money coming into their countries won't benefit from the endlessly vicious cycle of politically-driven markets either.

Even if these policies at Citigroup were to generate earnings for the company, the company has NO RIGHT to the profiteering they are doing with all this taxpayer largesse they have begged for.

Don't we want Citigroup to deal with its insolvency and sold off in pieces to private co's asap once and for all?

And what's good for Citigroup is NO LONGER what's good for the United States "public good" and we have to change that.

If you've watched the show, you know the drill.  If you haven't -- visit http://cody.blogs.foxbusiness.com/ and watch any of the Big 3 videos down the right side and check it out.

At any rate, my first two bullet points tonight will be taken from questions from you guys.  In 40 words or less -- ask me anything. (Let's keep the questions to mostly about the economy, politics, business, stocks, investing, please!)

 

Can someone tell me what the government’s definition of “Financial Institution” is?

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms
Goal Is to Limit Risk to Broader Economy

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

==

and also:

U.S. Plan Seeking Expanded Power in Seizing Firms

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and the Federal Reserve, still smarting from the political furor over the bailout of American International Group, began a full-court press on Tuesday to expand the federal government’s power to seize control of troubled financial institutions deemed too big to fail.
==
Meanwhile, back in TARP, which I’m pretty sure passed, did it not?:

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS
Section 1. Short Title.

NECESSARY ACTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation, the following:
Designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Federal Government, and such institutions shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Federal Government as may be required.

==

Guys, either Obama, Geithner and the rest of the Republican/Democrat regimge don't even know the laws they've been lobbying for and passing...or they're after something more than they're telling. Because without a doubt, they already have the power they're asking for now. And for the record, I warned against it back when Bush and Obama and McCain were all lobbying for the power back then too.

Get my investment newsletter at http://RevolutioNewsletter.com
See me speak up http://spokeup.com/pg/profile/cody
Facebook me at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=763890180
Facebook Happy Hour at http://www.twitter.com/codywillard

I mean...the Republicans can't be serious about pretending they care about deficits and dollar responsiblity now, can they?

1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee says the Obama administration is on the right course to save the nation's financial system.

But Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire also says President Barack Obama's massive budget proposal will bankrupt the country.

Gregg says he has no regrets in withdrawing his nomination to become commerce secretary. He pulled out after deciding he could not fully back the administration's economic policies.

The senator said Obama's spending plan in the midst of a prolonged recession would leave the next generation with a country too expensive to live in.

Gregg appeared Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Oh, yes, the Republican/Democrat Regime is serious.  Even when just three months ago the same people were saying:

 

GREGG: ADDITIONAL TARP FUNDS ARE CRITICAL FOR OUR ECONOMY DURING THESE CHALLENGING TIMES

January 16, 2009

Washington—United States Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) today voted against a measure that would have deterred the release of additional funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to help bolster the nation’s shaken economy.  S.J. Res 5, a resolution of disapproval, failed by a vote of (42-52).  Defeat of this measure ensures that the remaining TARP funds will be accessible, should it be deemed necessary to help stabilize the U.S. financial markets, increase the flow of credit, and address the growing foreclosure crisis.

Sen. Gregg stated, “During these challenging times, I understand the public’s concern about the TARP program.  That said, the first release of TARP funds has been a critical step toward helping to stabilize our financial markets and preventing a catastrophic collapse of our economy.  Even with that significant federal intervention, the nation’s economy still remains in significant danger, and the financial system is going to continue to face rough times ahead.  It is therefore essential that the incoming administration has the flexibility and the resources necessary for addressing severe crises that could devastate our financial system. 

“Also, the Obama administration has pledged to Congress and to the American people to be more transparent and accountable with how it invests TARP funds and has laid out some guidelines for what it intends to do with these resources, including additional focus on foreclosure mitigation. While this is a positive step, Congress must remain vigilant to ensure that TARP funds are invested wisely and remain focused on the important goal of stabilizing our financial markets.

“Lastly, we cannot forget that this is not just a Wall Street issue.  A healthy financial system is critical for protecting retirement savings, jobs, home prices, and Main Street businesses.  TARP therefore is critical for getting the nation’s economy moving again for all Americans.  This vote is an important step, and I will continue working with my Senate colleagues on other policies that will help us weather these trying economic times.”

-

It's up to free-thinkers everywhere to stop either of those fascist parties who are clearly owned by the banking and corporate syndicate in this country from claiming freedom and contract law as their platform.

The Republican/Democrat Regime have truly gone too far in the last year...and their games are over.

We're gonna talk to Senator Judd Gregg about his comments this weekend, about Geithner, about the bailouts in principle and more later today on Happy Hour. 

PS.  Make sure you watch America's Nightly Scoreboard with my mentor David Asman the next two weeks. I'm on almost every night and tonight I'll have be doing my best John Madden at the teleprompter explaining how the banks are actually getting another $1 trillion in welfare from Geithner's latest proposal.  Yeah, I'm serious.

Is Treasury Secretary Geithner going to be fired this year?  And if so, will he just be a convenient scapegoat for the Republican/Democrat Regime and their failed policies?

I want "Lil' Timmy Geithner", as I call him, fired in disgrace.  But I'm POSITIVE the regime has a deep catalogue of other pawns/idiots/fools/tools/whatever to replace him anyway.

They still don't realize they've gone much too far with all this bailout anarchy this time.

Your thoughts?

 

Paul Stanley of KISS told YOU to listen up to my Illuminati Alert on Fox Business Network's Happy Hour tonight. http://tinyurl.com/dgfd2y

KISS Army unite!

You wanted the best, you got the best...

The "Illuminati" isn't some sort of secret organization running around in pyramid-emblazoned robes -- but it does exist and what I mean by that is that there are people running big business and government who are all in cohoots together (often without even meaning to be, I hope) to use the government and its laws and policies and monopoly on the use of legal violence to redistribute wealth from the citizenry and to create unlevel playing fields and barriers to entry (read: barriers to commerce) for themselves and their shareholders, lenders, cronies and other friends.

Case in point -- how about all these buddies, cronies and otherwise less-than-arms-lengths dealings amongst the guys who apparently were running out and out frauds and/or ponzi schemes and the non-elected bureaucrats who were supposed to be regulating them.   And more to the point, as I'll highlight later -- remember that these same folks are BEING PROMOTED right now under the latest Republican/Democrat Socialist Regime in power.

First up, we broke this story on Happy Hour last week when we had Congressman Dennis Kucinich on talking about his probe to find out why FINRA "stood down" on their investigation of Stanford a few years ago --

Finra’s Stanford Probe Raises Questions on Oversight

By Jesse Westbrook and Ian Katz

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. brokerage regulators fined R. Allen Stanford’s firm more than a year ago for misleading investors while selling certificates of deposit, raising new questions about watchdogs already under scrutiny for missing Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Stanford Group Co. was fined $10,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in November 2007 for distributing marketing material that “failed to present fair and balanced treatment” of the risks associated with CDs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday filed a civil lawsuit calling the sales by the Houston-based firm a “massive, ongoing fraud.”

“From what we know, the problem that led to the fine was a red flag,” said Robert Hillman, a securities law professor at the University of California, Davis. “If you have a red flag of this nature, then you have to do something more than simply levy a fine and close the file.”

The SEC accused Stanford of touting “improbable, if not impossible” returns for more than a decade on CDs issued by an affiliated bank in Antigua. The case follows congressional scrutiny of the SEC and Finra, which is funded by the brokerage industry, for missing Madoff’s alleged scheme.

Finra spokeswoman Nancy Condon had no comment...

--

I mean, can you imagine how outrageous it is that FINRA, the regulatory body whose only job is supposedly making sure companies like Stanford aren't lying and cheating and stealing from their customers, seems to have basically figured out that Stanford was one big fraud, but decided they'd stand down and even close the file?  Say wha?  How could that happen?

Oh, that's right, there were a few little conflicts of interest between FINRA and Stanford, including --

Stanford workers had ties to regulator FINRA | Reuters

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Two employees of Allen Stanford's financial business, which U.S. regulators have accused of massive fraud, held advisory roles at a watchdog group overseeing U.S. broker-dealers aimed at preventing abuses.

Lena Stinson, director of global compliance at Stanford Financial Group, served on the membership committee of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, which describes itself as the largest independent regulator of U.S. securities firms.

Frederick Fram, the chief operating officer of Stanford Group Holdings, served on the FINRA continuing education content committee, "where he participates in creating material for the Regulatory Element continuing education program," according to a biography on Stanford's website.

The Stanford executives resigned from their posts last week at FINRA's request, Brendan Intindola, a FINRA spokesman, said.

--

Yeah, that's right, Stanford had not one but two moles inside the FINRA.

And do you remember who was mentioned up above as running FINRA when it decided not to punish and/or shut down Stanford for its crimes other than a fine of about $10,000?  Mary Schapiro, that's who.  Sounds like someone who should be fired in disgrace, no?

As a bonus kicker, of course, she ran the NASDAQ where that bigger, more infamous Bernie Madoff character became chairman.

Given that her job as she once put it in her own words when she used your tax dollars to send out a press release touting her faith in another dude she used to regulate but now worked with as a non-elected bureaucrat pretending to regulate the industry that's now getting trillions in welfare because all the executives in the industry destroyed their own shareholders' companies with bad loans that never should have been made if the FINRA and other regulators had been doing their supposed job --

Statement of FINRA CEO Mary L. Schapiro Regarding Treasury ...

"Investors shouldn't be left exposed and confused. Retail
investors should get the same basic regulatory safeguards and
protections no matter which investment product they choose.

--

Were you exposed under her watch at FINRA?  Were you exposed under her watch at NASDAQ?  Can you possibly imagine being any more exposed than having the guys who were running multi-billion dollar scams serving with her as regulator of the very guys who were running the multi-billion dollar scams?

Sounds like sombody who should be fired in disgrace if not investigated for RICO violations, no?

What did the Republican/Democrat Socialist Regime in power do to her?

Why Mary Schapiro is the right person for the SEC job - MarketWatch

-
The bull market won't return until people like Mary Schapiro and the people who work for her and the people who pay her millions of dollars of tax payer money every year are fired in disgrace. 

They say they want to restore confidence?  Just give us a government/SEC/FINRA that simply enforces the contracts and actually punishes those who lie, cheat and steal as well as those who protect those who lie, cheat and steal.

Simple enough.  And Mary Schapiro ain't doing it.