Will Mideast Riots Impact Global Macro Views?

Team -

Worried about how the riots in the middle east are going to impact int the global macro view of the markets? Marshall Auerback discusses this events and more on BNN here at http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip409237

Enjoy!!

Bank Bailouts Explained

What Most People Don't Realize About The Fed's Superpowers

What Most People Don't Realize About The Fed's Superpowers
Bob Prechter's Conquer The Crash reveals whether the Fed really can rescue the US economy
January 27, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Since its creation in 1913, the primary intended role of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank has been that of protector. In theory, the central bank was bestowed with the power to shape monetary policy in a way that would keep both booms and busts in check. The two main tools at its disposal -- interest rates and money creation -- would provide a "ceiling of normalcy" above expansions AND a "net of safety" below contractions.

To this day, the financial mainstream holds great faith in the Fed's ability to fulfill its save-the-day duties -- as these recent news items make plain:

• "Why Raising Fed Funds Rate Is Positive For Equities." (Seeking Alpha)
• "Fed's Moves Lift All Asset Classes." (Associated Press)
• "US Stocks Erasing Losses: The aggressive moves of the Fed have been an important driver for the stabilization of stock prices." (Bloomberg)

But of all the variables the Fed creators took into account, there's one glaring factor they neglected to consider: Namely, it cannot force consumers to spend, creditors to lend, or businesses to borrow. The events of 2007-2009 "credit crunch" and the subsequent "Great Recession" made that obvious. Remember how the government was upset at banks for sitting on the bailout funds instead of lending them out to consumers? And consumers weren't exactly lining up on the street to get a loan, either.

The Fed's inability to change social mood is the central theme in Chapter 13 of EWI President Bob Prechter's NY Times business bestseller book Conquer the Crash. There, Bob describes the Fed's strategy of lowering the federal funds rate to stimulate spending to be as effective as "pushing on a string." Writes Bob:

"The primary basis for today's belief in perpetual prosperity and inflation with an occasional recession is what I call the 'Potent Directors Fallacy.' It is nearly impossible to find a treatise on macroeconomics today that does not assert or assume that the Federal Reserve Board has learned to control both our money and our economy. Many believe that it also possesses the immense power to manipulate the stock market. The very idea that it can do these things is false."

And so begins one of the most groundbreaking studies into the very real INABILITY of the Fed to fell the great bears of economic declines, or to feed the great bulls of economic vigor.

The best part is, you can read Chapter 13 of Conquer the Crash in its entirety FREE via a Club EWI resource "You Can Survive And Prosper In A Deflationary Depression." The free report also includes SEVEN other chapters of Conquer the Crash that shed equal light on some of the most misleading notions of mainstream economic wisdom.

Don't stay in the dark. Read all 8 chapters today by joining the rapidly expanding free Club EWI community today. Here's what you'll learn:

• Chapter 10: Money, Credit and the Federal Reserve Banking System
• Chapter 13: Can the Fed Stop Deflation?
• Chapter 23: What To Do With Your Pension Plan
• Chapter 28: How to Identify a Safe Haven
• Chapter 29: Calling in Loans and Paying off Debt
• Chapter 30: What You Should Do If You Run a Business
• Chapter 32: Should You Rely on Government to Protect You?
• Chapter 33: A Short List of Imperative "Do's" and Crucial "Don'ts"

Keep reading this free report now -- all you need to do is create a free Club EWI profile.

Basic Wave Patterns: How a Zig Zag Differs from a Flat

Team -

Another great article form my friends at EWI!

Enjoy!!

Basic Wave Patterns: How a Zigzag Differs from a Flat

January 21, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

The big picture for Elliott wave analysis is five-wave patterns followed by three-wave patterns. Let's look at the three-wave corrections more closely to get a bead on how they differ from one another. This excerpt from EWI's Basic Tutorial describes in detail what you need to know about so-called zigzag and flat corrections to be able to recognize them on a price chart.

* * * * *

Excerpted from Lesson 3 of EWI's Basic Tutorial

A single zigzag in a bull market is a simple three-wave declining pattern labeled A-B-C. The subwave sequence is 5-3-5, and the top of wave B is noticeably lower than the start of wave A, as illustrated in Figures 1-22 and 1-23.

Figure 1-22 and Figure 1-23

In a bear market, a zigzag correction takes place in the opposite direction, as shown in Figures 1-24 and 1-25. For this reason, a zigzag in a bear market is often referred to as an inverted zigzag.

Figure 1-24 and Figure 1-25

Occasionally zigzags will occur twice, or at most, three times in succession, particularly when the first zigzag falls short of a normal target. In these cases, each zigzag is separated by an intervening "three," producing what is called a double zigzag (see Figure 1-26) or triple zigzag. These formations are analogous to the extension of an impulse wave but are less common.

Figure 1-26

The correction in the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index from January 1977 to March 1978 (see Figure 1-27) can be labeled as a double zigzag.…Within impulses, second waves frequently sport zigzags, while fourth waves rarely do.

Figure 1-27

* * * * *

Excerpted from Lesson 4 of EWI's Basic Tutorial

A flat correction differs from a zigzag in that the subwave sequence is 3-3-5, as shown in Figures 1-29 and 1-30. Since the first actionary wave, wave A, lacks sufficient downward force to unfold into a full five waves as it does in a zigzag, the B wave reaction, not surprisingly, seems to inherit this lack of countertrend pressure and terminates near the start of wave A. Wave C, in turn, generally terminates just slightly beyond the end of wave A rather than significantly beyond as in zigzags.

Figure 1-29 and Figure 1-30

In a bear market, the pattern is the same but inverted, as shown in Figures 1-31 and 1-32.

Figure 1-31 and Figure 1-32

Flat corrections usually retrace less of preceding impulse waves than do zigzags. They participate in periods involving a strong larger trend and thus virtually always precede or follow extensions. The more powerful the underlying trend, the briefer the flat tends to be. Within impulses, fourth waves frequently sport flats, while second waves do so less commonly.

What might be called "double flats" do occur. However, Elliott categorized such formations as "double threes," a term we discuss in Lesson 9.

The word "flat" is used as a catchall name for any A-B-C correction that subdivides into a 3-3-5. In Elliott literature, however, three types of 3-3-5 corrections have been identified by differences in their overall shape. In a regular flat correction, wave B terminates about at the level of the beginning of wave A, and wave C terminates a slight bit past the end of wave A, as we have shown in Figures 1-29 through 1-32. Far more common, however, is the variety called an expanded flat, which contains a price extreme beyond that of the preceding impulse wave. Elliott called this variation an "irregular" flat, although the word is inappropriate as they are actually far more common than "regular" flats.

Ready to learn more about how to use the Wave Principle? EWI's Basic Tutorial is written to give you all that you need to know to get started on your own wave analysis. To get access to this useful Basic Tutorial, sign up to become a Club EWI member here.

Here's what you'll learn:

• What the basic Elliott wave progression looks like
• Difference between impulsive and corrective waves
• How to estimate the length of waves
• How Fibonacci numbers fit into wave analysis
• Practical application tips for the method
• More

Keep reading this free tutorial today.

How a Simple Line Can Improve Your Trading Success

How a Simple Line Can Improve Your Trading Success
Elliott Wave International's Jeffrey Kennedy explains many ways to use this basic tool
January 19, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

The following trading lesson has been adapted from Jeffrey Kennedy's eBook, Trading the Line – 5 Ways You Can Use Trendlines to Improve Your Trading Decisions. Now through February 7, you can download the 14-page eBook free. Learn more here.

"How to draw a trendline" is one of the first things people learn when they study technical analysis. Typically, they quickly move on to more advanced topics and too often discard this simplest of all technical tools.

Yet you’d be amazed at the value a simple line can offer when you analyze a market. As Jeffrey Kennedy, Elliott Wave International’s Chief Commodity Analyst, puts it:

“A trendline represents the psychology of the market, specifically, the psychology between the bulls and the bears. If the trendline slopes upward, the bulls are in control. If the trendline slopes downward, the bears are in control. Moreover, the actual angle or slope of a trendline can determine whether or not the market is extremely optimistic or extremely pessimistic.”

In other words, a trendline can help you identify the market's trend. Consider this example in the price chart of Google.



That one trendline -- drawn between the lows in 2004 and the lows in 2005 -- provided support for a number of retracements over the next two years.

That’s pretty basic. But there are many more ways to draw trendlines. When a market is in a correction, you can draw a trendline and then draw a parallel line: in turn, these two parallel lines can create a channel that often "contains" the corrective price action. When price breaks out of this channel, there’s a good chance the correction is over and the main trend has resumed. Here’s an example in a chart of Soybeans. Notice how the upper trendline provided support for the subsequent move.

For more free trading lessons on trendlines, download Jeffrey Kennedy's free 14-page eBook, Trading the Line – 5 Ways You Can Use Trendlines to Improve Your Trading Decisions. It explains the power of simple trendlines, how to draw them, and how to determine when the trend has actually changed. Download your free eBook.

Understanding the Federal Reserve Bank

Understanding the Federal Reserve Bank
To understand what's a greater threat to the U.S. economy -- inflation or deflation -- it helps to understand what role the U.S. Federal Reserve plays
January 13, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Despite so much focus on the policies of the Fed, its operations remain somewhat of a mystery to most investors -- in no smaller measure, due to their complexity.
So, we put together a free resource for our Club EWI members: a 35-page report that explains the Fed, its goals and, very importantly, its limitations in layman's terms.

Enjoy this excerpt -- and for details on how to read the 35-page free report in full now, look below.

---

Jaguar Inflation
Excerpted from Robert Prechter's February 2004 Elliott Wave Theorist

I am tired of hearing people insist that the Fed can expand credit all it wants. Sometimes an analogy clarifies a subject, so let’s try one.

It may sound crazy, but suppose the government were to decide that the health of the nation depends upon producing Jaguar automobiles and providing them to as many people as possible. To facilitate that goal, it begins operating Jaguar plants all over the country, subsidizing production with tax money. To everyone’s delight, it offers these luxury cars for sale at 50 percent off the old price. People flock to the showrooms and buy. Later, sales slow down, so the government cuts the price in half again. More people rush in and buy. Sales again slow, so it lowers the price to $900 each. People return to the stores to buy two or three, or half a dozen. Why not? Look how cheap they are! Buyers give Jaguars to their kids and park an extra one on the lawn. Finally, the country is awash in Jaguars. Alas, sales slow again, and the government panics. It must move more Jaguars, or, according to its theory -- ironically now made fact -- the economy will recede. People are working three days a week just to pay their taxes so the government can keep producing more Jaguars. If Jaguars stop moving, the economy will stop. So the government begins giving Jaguars away. A few more cars move out of the showrooms, but then it ends. Nobody wants any more Jaguars. They don’t care if they’re free. They can’t find a use for them. Production of Jaguars ceases. It takes years to work through the overhanging supply of Jaguars. Tax collections collapse, the factories close, and unemployment soars. The economy is wrecked. People can’t afford to buy gasoline, so many of the Jaguars rust away to worthlessness. The number of Jaguars -- at best -- returns to the level it was before the program began.

The same thing can happen with credit.

It may sound crazy, but suppose the government were to decide that the health of the nation depends upon producing credit and providing it to as many people as possible. To facilitate that goal, it begins operating credit-production plants all over the country, called Federal Reserve Banks. To everyone’s delight, these banks offer the credit for sale at below market rates. People flock to the banks and buy. Later, sales slow down, so the banks cut the price again. More people rush in and buy. Sales again slow, so they lower the price to one percent. People return to the banks to buy even more credit. Why not? Look how cheap it is! Borrowers use credit to buy houses, boats and an extra Jaguar to park out on the lawn. Finally, the country is awash in credit. Alas, sales slow again, and the banks panic. They must move more credit, or, according to its theory -- ironically now made fact -- the economy will recede. People are working three days a week just to pay the interest on their debt to the banks so the banks can keep offering more credit. If credit stops moving, the economy will stop. So the banks begin giving credit away, at zero percent interest. A few more loans move through the tellers’ windows, but then it ends. Nobody wants any more credit. They don’t care if it’s free. They can’t find a use for it. Production of credit ceases. It takes years to work through the overhanging supply of credit. Interest payments collapse, banks close, and unemployment soars. The economy is wrecked. People can’t afford to pay interest on their debts, so many bonds deteriorate to worthlessness. The value of credit -- at best -- returns to the level it was before the program began.

See how it works?

Is the analogy perfect? No. The idea of pushing credit on people is far more dangerous than the idea of pushing Jaguars on them. ... I hate to challenge mainstream 20th century macroeconomic theory, but the idea that a growing economy needs easy credit is a false theory. Credit should be supplied by the free market, in which case it will almost always be offered intelligently, primarily to producers, not consumers. Would lower levels of credit availability mean that fewer people would own a house or a car? Quite the opposite. Only the timeline would be different. Initially it would take a few years longer for the same number of people to own houses and cars -- actually own them, not rent them from banks. Because banks would not be appropriating so much of everyone’s labor and wealth, the economy would grow much faster. Eventually, the extent of home and car ownership -- actual ownership -- would eclipse that in an easy-credit society. Moreover, people would keep their homes and cars because banks would not be foreclosing on them. As a bonus, there would be no devastating across-the-board collapse of the banking system, which, as history has repeatedly demonstrated, is inevitable under a central bank’s fiat-credit monopoly.

Jaguars, anyone?

---

Read the rest of this eye-opening report online now, free! All you need is a free Club EWI password. Other chapters in this free report include:

• Money, Credit and the Federal Reserve Banking System
• What Makes Deflation Likely Today?
• Can’t Buy Enough...of That Junky Stuff, or, Why the Fed Will Not Stop Deflation
• The Fed’s “Uncle” Pint Is In View
• The Coming Deflationary Pressure on the Government
• More

Keep reading this free report now -- all you need is a free Club EWI password.

The Bears Talk China's Manipulated Currency

Interesting lesson on China's manipulated currency!

Empires on the Edge of Chaos

Below is a link to a video clip featuring Niall Ferguson. In the video he discusses “Empires on the Edge of Chaos,” referring to the course of action the "we," the USA has taken. Be warned, the video is quite lengthy. I skipped to section 6 “Interest Payments as a Share of US Revenue.”

http://fora.tv/2010/07/28/Niall_Ferguson_Empires_on_the_Edge_of_Chaos#fullprogram

I think you will find this clip very, very interesting!

Happy Trading!!

Is Your Bank on the "100 Safest" List? Maybe You Should Find Out

Is Your Bank on the "100 Safest" List? Maybe You Should Find Out
Close to Collapse: Bailed-Out Banks Facing Bankruptcy
January 4, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

We want to trust in the financial stability of our bank. After all, most of us have money in these institutions.

In spite of our wishful thinking, the tide of bank failures has not stopped. And these failures are occurring well after the heart of the financial crisis -- and even after some of these banks received bailouts.

"Nearly 100 U.S. banks that got bailout funds from the federal government show signs they are in jeopardy of failing.

The total, based on an analysis of third-quarter financial results by The Wall Street Journal, is up from 86 in the second quarter, reflecting eroding capital levels, a pileup of bad loans and warnings from regulators.

The 98 banks in shaky condition got more than $4.2 billion in infusions from the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program."

Wall Street Journal (12/26)

Seven of the 98 small banks mentioned have already failed.

In the U.S. so far this year, 157 banks have failed -- that's the highest number since 1992.

More failures are likely because many banks are burdened by questionable "assets" and bad real estate loans.

"...your money is only as safe as the bank's loans. In boom times, banks become imprudent and lend to almost anyone. In busts, they can't get much of that money back due to widespread defaults.

If the bank's portfolio collapses in value, say, like those of the Savings & Loan institutions in the U.S. in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the bank is broke, and its depositors' savings are gone."

Conquer the Crash, 2nd edition, pp. 175-176

Yes, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures depositors, but the question is: Does the FDIC have the wherewithal to "make whole" all depositors if scores of banks go under at the same time? Here at Elliott Wave International, we do not recommend that you count on the FDIC. Here's why:

"...did you know that most of the FDIC's money comes from other banks? This funding scheme makes prudent banks pay to save the imprudent ones, imparting weak banks' frailty to the strong ones.

When the FDIC rescues weak banks by charging healthier ones high 'premiums,' overall bank deposits are depleted, causing the net loan-to-deposit ratio to rise.

The result, in turn, means that in times of bank stress, it will take a progressively smaller percentage of depositors to cause unmanageable bank runs."

Conquer the Crash, 2nd edition, p. 177

Are some banks safer than others? We think so.

"Hope is not a strategy." If you plan to have money on deposit at a bank, we suggest reading our FREE report, "Discover the Top 100 Safest U.S. Banks." This 10-page bank safety report is available to you after you become a Club EWI member.

Inside the revealing free report, you'll discover:

• The 100 Safest U.S. Banks (2 for each state)
• Where your money goes after you make a deposit
• How your fractional-reserve bank works
• What risks you might be taking by relying on the FDIC's guarantee

Please protect your money. Download the free 10-page "Safe Banks" report now.
Learn more about the "Safe Banks" report, and download it for free here.

Prechter on CNBC - "Not a bear among them"

December 30, 2010

Prechter on CNBC - "Not
a bear among them"

Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International and Don Luskin of Trend Macro
share their opposing market views with CNBC host Larry Kudlow. (Note:
Prechter's interview starts about four minutes into the interview).

Get
Up to Speed on Robert Prechter's Latest Perspective — Download this
Special FREE Report Now.