July 30, 2008
Weak Constitution, Strong Gold
It’s no coincidence that gold began its enormous climb (and the dollar began its terrible fall) shortly after Zhlubya issued this (obviously unconstitutional) Military Order. The invasion of Iraq and everything that followed: warrantless wiretapping, rendition flights (”torture taxis”), secret prisons, etc. ad nauseum … all of these illegal acts have weakened my motherland (and the dollar) and helped gold.
Be interesting to see how gold reacts when Obama is elected President in November.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Chairman..
Thank you for highlight ‘be interesting to see how gold reacts when Obama is elected’.. My god, I almost forgot about this election.. because after a few years involve in trading, most of my concentration is ‘price-technical indicator-signals’ then ‘price-technical indicator-signals’ again,again and again.. :)
July 30th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
zaidon: Yes, people buy and sell for reasons, but it’s best not to think too hard about it and just follow the chart.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
‘its best not to think too hard about it and just follow the chart’- a memorable advice. Thank you Chairman.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
If–if Obama is elected. It’s not a slam dunk by any means and even though we desperately need change, polls show Obama holding only a 6-8 point lead over McCain. It’s still a close race.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
dgd: I look at Tradesports and Obama is offered at 61.9 (to McCain’s 34.7) to win.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
one of the betting sites had kerry something like 65-35 over bush on the day of the election, around 4 or 5 pm. i was so disappointed with the final results, hoping that bush would be gone the first time. learned my lesson from that - even when there’s a big advantage, don’t get excited.
too bad mccain’s gone from some change to almost none in the last 8 years.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
i dont know what change obama spouting bc he back and forth on everything depending on the wind. i see no corrolation to gold and the iraq war either. funny how folk frame an opinion and then go find the facts to support it. not a good way to trade or do anything for that matter although that what many do. most just dumbly follow the crowd. incidentally if oboma gets in and does what he said he would do–protectionism and more govt spending–we will get big inflation. capitalism is the exploitation of man on man. socialism is just the reverse. be careful what u wish for bc socialism a pretty bad system and there a reason europe pulling right.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:20 am
Always interesting how everyone has already given Obama the oval office without a vice president nod. Most likely will be Hillary. No way would Romney get it. I think McCain would do a much better. It takes a true leader to go against the crowd by being against bringing the troops home and staying as a POW until his fellow soldiers were releases, but campaigning is not a strong asset of McCain. Obama’s public relations strategy of staying in the news by going over seas and then coming back and meeting with key, influential, figure from the financial and economic fields has been pivotal in maintaining momentum. I think most Americans will forget that Obama flips flops on the issues and of course have amnesia on his paten phrase, “I misspoke”.
The price of gas always comes down before a presidential election but then surges afterwards. Coincident? Oil prices are manipulated, but what else is new. There is always a great demand for gas in American, and it’s still cheap compared to the rest of the world.
Were all of the actions by the government illegal? Sure, Bush and company might have mislead the American people but it wasn’t illegal. An abuse of power, some might say. A government agency may have taken some actions against people, but it was off American land and jurisdiction. A lot of gray areas that fancy attorneys can argue on either say. All in the name of safety for the American people right? Is it right that the police in America can detain you for 48 hours for no reason at all? No, but it happens and laws are made by the upper class elite so they may benefit from them.
Great day to trade GRMN today. Should be interesting to see where it heads to. Seems like yesterday it was at $125. I live 5 minutes walking distance from Garmin headquarters and maybe I’ll just see if Gary Burrell or Min Kao is available for some a Q&A. As if they would talk to me. :)
July 31st, 2008 at 1:40 am
I also picked up a good Dummy spot on (GRMN) also. So far so it’s folding over quite well. Also found Dummy spots on (AVP) & (ACLI). They’re doing okay. With oil rising, I’m not sure my Longs will hold until the end of the day. We shall see.
=^.^=
July 31st, 2008 at 2:55 am
@Chairman: Saw your Tweet on Twitter about the odd emoticons used by your HK friends use. They’re probably a mix of Anime and Asian emoticons…below are a few links to examples:
► http://www.iit.edu/~jfas/articles/animeemoticons.html
► http://www.anikaos.com/japanese_emoticons.html (slow server, but good examples)
► http://club.pep.ne.jp/~hiroette/en/facemarks/index.html (complex Japanese emoticons)
Many times these are used without the parentheses “()”. I only know these because I’m an anime geek.
This is off topic, but I couldn’t get to my Twitter account to let you know there. Cheers.
=^.^= (cat)
July 31st, 2008 at 8:42 am
A year ago you and your wife were sure Obama wasn’t going to get elected, whats changed now? No more Hillary? :)
July 31st, 2008 at 9:08 am
@Nik: My wife has always doubted that an articulate young guy with dark skin can be elected President in the N’united States … I’m more optimistic.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Obama has no chance - you vote for a guy because he is articulate?
- Socialism is 100% joke, you know 100% nothing about the US - the american people will never buy depending on the government - the american people want drilling for oil in this country to get away from dependence on middle east, love the troops despite any war, and less taxes. All the opposite of fraud bama. If Colin Powell, a BLACK man, ran he would win by a land slide. Not a guy that spent 20 years in a racist church, and doesnt love his country.
The man has NO vision except raise taxes on the rich ,who pay the majority of the taxes and blame america for all. He acts like we are a 3rd world country… US is a great country that is not perfect. Being a liberal means blaming everyone for your problems and they DO nothing for the “poor” (poor in america is having only 1 TV)
PS_ your facts on IRAQ 100% wrong, same with your “torture” facts - do your homework and stop listening to the media. How pathetic is Obama with all the media behind him, the momentum, Bush low approval rating that his is barely ahead of McCain. No Chance when the heat is turned up in the fall and he has to explain himself.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:23 am
I’m doubtful about “dark skin” President too. Articulate? I think he is a BIG TALKER. Give him the job, he may not be able to accomplish much. Hillary, on the other hand, can actually do things. — My opinion, though I like neither of them, and I’dont like Mccain.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:34 am
Obama two thumbs down. I will take a former US Naval Aviator over a creation of the Chicago Political Machine/Harvard Law anyday. Your mileage may differ.
Great blog though.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
@Dara: I’m just curious, are you an avid listener of Rush Limbaugh’s radio program?
@Joy: Hillary who? :)
@Jay: Isn’t Johnny the admiral’s kid who graduated at the bottom of his class and wrecked multiple aircraft at a later date?
July 31st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Unconstitutional my ass. Read section 2 you f—face. Non citizens don’t get constitutional rights. Period. No representation without taxation. The Geneva convention applies to uniformed personnel of standing armies. Not international gangs of thugs. F—ing traitor dimwits like you will destroy America. Go back to the Daily Kos or Huffington Post or wherever you slack jawed mongoloids tell yourself how smart you are.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Fox news on commercial break, Robert?
July 31st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Chairman,
You bring this on yourself with this obviously true but inflammatory post. Most of these posters (losers) belong in a super market not the stock market. But I wouldn’t be up 73% this year without them. Btw, I think Dara is a Michael Savage listener.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:16 pm
@Robert: Tell me how you really feel. :-) I remind you that the Supreme Court upheld District Court Justice James Robertson’s ruling that military commissions are unconstitutional.
@Anthony: Yes, I knew this post would inflame a few readers… it never pays to write about politics or religion, and is best to stick to your knitting: greed. :)
July 31st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Chairman, you keep right on posting stuff like this, that’s the best thing Americans can do right now to show the world that not everybody from your country is an unintelligent dimwit who supports Bush and his toxic, counterproductive policies based on nothing but lies and deceit.
Bush has harmed the USA, its standing and its interests more than anything in the past 50 years, and Obama, a guy who has global acceptance values up in the high 70’s, is the best thing that could happen to you in order to bring the USA out of isolation as an international rogue state, and back into the fold of your democratic friends here in the EU and the rest of the democratic world.
People are not anti-US, people are anti counterproductive wars of aggression, destruction of democracy, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, torture, in short, against everything Bush and his NeoCons stand for.
Thats all it is, its anti Bush.
Just witness the amamzing reception Obama had abroad the last weeks, 200 000 came to cheer him in berlin alone, the reason being that he represents the USA the world once knew, and that disappeared in a nightmare during the last 8 years.
Whaat he stands for is what we want back, and with him the USA will be back as a real partner in the international fold again.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
PS, good read from 2004:
“The blind leading the blind
Even if they don’t like to say it out loud, lots of Democrats think that George Bush’s supporters are a horde of ignoramuses. Now comes evidence that they’re right! A remarkable new report, titled “The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters,” from PIPA, the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, suggests that rank and file Republicans are more benighted than even the most supercilious coastal elitist would imagine.
Analyzing data from a series of nationwide polls, the report finds that a majority of Bush supporters believe things about the world that are objectively untrue, while the majority of Kerry supporters dwell in the reality-based community. For example, Bush backers largely think that the president and his policies are popular internationally. Seventy-five percent believe that Iraq was providing “substantial” aid to al-Qaida, and 63 percent say clear evidence of this has been found. That, of course, would be news even to Donald Rumsfeld, who earlier this month told the Council on Foreign Relations, “To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two.”
Though its language is dispassionate, the report lays responsibility for this epidemic of ignorance at the White House’s door. “So why are Bush supporters clinging so tightly to these beliefs in the face of repeated disconfirmations?” it asks. “Apparently one key reason is that they continue to hear the Bush administration confirming these beliefs.”
Indeed, it says, “an overwhelming 82% [of Bush supporters] perceive the Bush administration as saying that Iraq had WMD (63%) or a major WMD program (19%). Only 16% of Bush supporters perceive the administration as saying that Iraq had some limited activities, but not an active program (15%) or had nothing (1%). The pattern on al Qaeda is similar. Seventy-five percent of Bush supporters think the Bush administration is currently saying Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda (56%) or even that it was directly involved in 9/11 (19%). Further, 55% of Bush supporters say it is their impression the Bush administration is currently saying the US has found clear evidence Saddam Hussein was working closely with al Qaeda (not saying clear evidence found: 37%).”
These people aren’t going to be swayed by the argument that Bush has alienated America’s allies and left the country isolated in the world, because they don’t believe this to be the case. “Despite a steady flow of official statements, public demonstrations, and public opinion polls showing that the US war against Iraq is quite unpopular, only 31% of Bush supporters recognize that the majority of people in the world oppose the US having gone to war with Iraq,” the study says. Bush supporters also think that world public opinion favors Bush’s reelection. In a poll taken from Sept. 3-7, the study says, “57% of Bush supporters assumed that the majority of people in the world would prefer to see Bush reelected, 33% assumed that views are evenly divided and only 9% assumed that Kerry would be preferred.”
In fact, a PIPA study released in early September found that a majority or plurality of people from 32 countries preferred Kerry to Bush. PIPA surveyed 34,330 people, ages 15 and above, from regions all over the world. A Pew poll released this spring similarly found that “large majorities in every country, except for the U.S., hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush.”"
Continued:
http://archive.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/10/21/bush_reality/
July 31st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
just a sidebar…i know several people who have voted republican before 2006 for the past 10-20 years, but are voting for obama - on ONE condition, which each of them mentioned to me separately with no provocation:
hillary is NOT his vp candidate.
i (who cite my political beliefs as a mish-mosh of libertarian and green) had no strong feelings on hillary before her presidential ‘anointment’. when that didn’t happen, her actions made me despise her, so much so that i will now vote against her no matter who runs, unless it’s a david duke clone.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
repubs are so angry they are shooting democrats in churches. thx savage, hannity et al. you bunch of freaks. and you brainwashed, faux news sponges.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:26 am
again not freaking fact on the “wrongs” of America - (Bush lied (then so did Clinton, the senate and on), Saddam never had it coming after 10 years of breaking all promises, yea Bush is taking our freedoms(give me a break), the rich are screwing everyone (the top 2% pay 40% of all taxes, the top 10% pay 90%)
if America is so bad why are 12 million illegal aliens trying to get into this country and not any European country, China, Russia, ect..
- and name one other country where the minority group, no matter how unqualified, have 50/50 chance of being president (ever see a non asain run an asian country, how about Europe lots of dark skin men leading their county as well..lol) Obama is losing because of Obama(your not going to get elected playing the race card like he did again yesterday when critized over energy plan and being associated with a racist church, rappers, ect)
Would like to give credit to the chairman for posting the opposite view and taking the heat, many bloggers would delete them, shows class no matter what your brain washed beleifs are :)
August 1st, 2008 at 1:53 am
It’s amusing to hear crap like “warrantless wiretapping, rendition flights (”torture taxis”), secret prisons, etc. ad nauseum”. It belies a sense of any thought although I suspect it a natural reaction after we get farther away from 9-11. If one remembers, before 9-11 we had the 20th hijacker in custody in minnesota–guy learning to fly but didnt care to know how to land. The fbi lady in Minesota was calling washington every day bc he had a computer and the FBI wanted to open the computer to see what was in it. The folk in washington said dont bother, we cant get a FISA warrant. It truned out there was nothing in the computer that woudl have warned about 9-11 but it would have been important to be able to openj that computer in another situation. After 9-11 Bush said I dont want lawyers running the show. If it a close call and involves protecting the US do it and i’ll worry about the consequences later. The US has not suffered an attack since 9-11-01 despite the vast majortiy of folk thinking it would before now. Again as we move away from 9-11 and the threat appears less pronounced it is natural to question government. Like anything power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Since 9-11 congress has been arguing over how far government can go and how the laws should be changed. Rs have won those battles with D votes in support although bama initially opposed them. Our laws on crime are antiquated and need to be designed less for investigations after the commision of the crime which is how they are now and more with preventing crime. This is the real policy debate. No one should want to give the govt too much power but it needs enough to keep us safe. To bash bush for doing what he did when he did it is simple partisanship. I dont know how this guy here trade very well bc he blindly follows partison polls. No independnce of thought whatsoever when it comes to politics anyway.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:09 am
hey adam why do you give bush a pass for 9-11? he was warned after all. i bet clinton would have taken that briefing seriously…
will you be so glib about wiretapping once obama is in office?
August 1st, 2008 at 2:26 am
chairman lol..perhaps. but you fail to mention Hussein’s negatives (uh..let me guess he doesn’t have any ?!). would rather have an underachieving patriot than an megalomaniac communist country hater.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:53 am
“I remember a senator once asked me. When we talk about “CIA” why we never use the word “the” in front of it. And I asked him, do you put the word “the” in front of “God”?”
~The Good Shepherd
August 1st, 2008 at 7:41 am
@KC Trader: It’s generally held to be 24 hours, not 48 hours, that police can hold you without reason.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Chairman–I guess you touched a nerve with this post :)
Not to inflame this further but for my part I would like to see America move beyond fear. 9/11 was a horrible event and Bush, for all his flaws, deserves credit because there hasn’t been a second attack. But the cost has been enormous. McCain’s courage and patriotism are beyond reproach, but his campaign is focused on Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror. We need to remain vigilant in the face of an on-going threat but we also need to move past this single minded focus on terror. This is my hope for Obama. I don’t agree with some of his positions and I fully expect to be disappointed by many of his actions if he is elected. But if we do elect him, perhaps we’ll be saying to ourselves (and to the world) that we’re ready to become again more like the country we were before 9/11.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
The post 9-11 USA has displayed to the world not a sense of strength and courage, the image the US has portayed has been on eof cowardice, paranoia and weakness.
9-11 was bad, and you had the sympathy of the world, but all it was was a terror attack, nothing more.
Strong countries desal with crime as what it is, just a crime, and move on.
The US has re-inveted itself as an international roguie state, starting wars of aggression against countries like Iraq that had absolutely nothing to do with 9-11, destroying its democracy at home, reintroducing torture like any good old rogue nation, and all of that because of one terror attack.
Give me a break, the Nazis and the Soviet Union could be overcome without turning yourself into a rogue nation, yet one songle terror attack that only you turned into a laughable “war against terror”, managed to achieve just that ?
THAT is where you lost the sympathy of the world that you had post 9-11.
Obama who was against Iraq from the outset is the only chanceyou have of rectifying and restoring your relations with the rest of the world, McCain is just business as usual in the NeoCon vein.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:57 am
The court also ruled that slaves had no rights as human beings didn’t they numbnuts? The supreme court…the last refuge of fascists. They aren’t the last word on anything…the voter is.