Why Would Anyone Tell You Their Secrets To Financial Success On A Blog?

For the same reason a guy on the radio who says he even wrote a book about how his trading secrets made him $1.9 million in just a few short years wants you to sign up for his advice now.

Good stuff from Noah Smith, here:

If the writers of Zero Hedge really knew some information that could allow them to beat the market, why in God's name would they tell it to you? If they had half a brain, they'd just keep the info to themselves, trade on it, and make a profit! Maybe then, after they had made their profit, they'd release the news to the public (and collect ad revenue), but by then the news would be worthless. Financial news sites, you should realize, are not in the business of giving you insider tips out of the goodness of their hearts.

Disappearing Real Estate Wealth Visualized

From the latest z.1 release from the Federal Reserve, real estate has declined from $25 trillion in 2006 to $18.6 trillion in early 2012.

The June 7, 2012, release is here.

The $6.4 trillion amount is almost the same $6 trillion amount noted by Mish via Zero Hedge here as evidence of ongoing deflation, defined as credit marked to market. It is the amount of decline in credit-money circulation.

When housing declines in value as it has, the credit used to secure it disappears with it.

The housing nadir was actually in Q4 2011 at $18.2 trillion, a $6.8 trillion dollar decline overall, or 27 percent from peak. Things have improved a little since then, by $400 billion, which is part of the reason for all the happy talk about real estate.

I remain unconvinced about a housing rebound since valuations remain at the upper limit of historical experience before the bubble. Stabilization of housing values near current levels and then going forward a number of years isn't unreasonable, but there are no guarantees given the absence of a driver for jobs.

Once and present homeowners rubes continue to bear the brunt of the deflation caused by the government/industry skimming operation designed to fleece Americans of their dreams. 

Not just fascism. Rapacious fascism.

Does The Fed Have The Guts To Let The Market Prove Itself, Now That Operation Twist Is Ending??

I doubt it. Capitalism died here long ago. But we'll see.

Meanwhile Zero Hedge had this chart in May showing the coincidence of stock market rises with the onset of the various tranches of quantitative easing efforts by the US Federal Reserve.

Story here.

David Stockman Agrees With John Bogle: Everything is Overvalued

In an interview reproduced here, I find myself pleasantly surprised because David Stockman says many agreeable things, especially this:

TGR: Will the mayhem stretch into the private sector?

DS: It will be everywhere. Once the bond market starts unraveling, all the other risk assets will start selling off like mad, too.

TGR: Does every sector collapse?

DS: If the bond market goes into a dislocation, it will spread like a contagion to all of the other asset markets. There will be a massive selloff.

I think everything in the world is overvalued—stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies. Too much money printing and debt expansion drove the prices of all asset classes to artificial, non-economic levels. The danger to the world is not classic inflation or deflation of goods and services; it's a drastic downward re-pricing of inflated financial assets.

In Case You Missed It, Noted Libertarian RC Whalen Endorsed Newt Gingrich

RC Whalen's expertise with all things banking frequently is on display at ZeroHedge, where his endorsement of Newt Gingrich appeared, no doubt to the chagrin of its many liberal readers.

Here is the concluding paragraph:

"To me Newt is the only credible conservative in the presidential race for 2012, but one who brings a mixture of core American values, real world experience and a pragmatic, compassionate approach to a range of issues.  Gingrich wants to facilitate real change in America, while Romney only wants to run the welfare state better.  And Newt Gingrich is not afraid to call Barack Obama a socialist in a national presidential debate.  That is why I support Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination for the presidency."

'Compassionate' Elites Plunder The Middle Class To Help The Poor

They don't call them levelers for nothing.

Seen here, in which a single parent of three making $3,625 can end up with more disposable income than a similar person making $30,000, or one making $14,500 ends up with more than one making $60,000:

Moody's Downgrades 7 Portuguese Banks Which Just Passed EU 'Stress' Tests

The laughs never stop.

Story here.

About That Failure of ShoreBank, Chicago, Illinois

Here's what Mish has to say about it after excerpting reports from Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Zero Hedge:

This is what matters: It is crystal clear there were irregularities in attempting to keep this turkey of a bank alive, irregularities in who was allowed to bid, irregularities in selling the assets to failed management, and a suspicious single bid by a consortium of large US financial institutions, including Bank of AmericaCorp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.

The FDIC's handling of Shore Bank smells as bad as a pile of dead alewives on a Chicago beach in mid-July.

Read the rest, here.