Author: Colin Twiggs

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Iranians Planning to Create Environmental Catastrophe in Hormuz Strait – SPIEGEL ONLINE

By Erich Follath

Iran could be planning to create a vast oil spill in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a top secret report obtained by Western intelligence officials. The aim of the operation is to both temporarily block the vital shipping channel and to force a suspension of Western sanctions.

…..Western intelligence experts speculate that Jafari’s planned operation is an expression of growing frustration. ……..Iran derives more than 50 percent of its government revenue from oil exports, which declined from about 2.4 million barrels a day in July 2011 to about 1 million barrels in July 2012…….Iran can hardly sell its oil because of the embargo. Even countries that don’t feel bound to uphold the sanctions are shying away from deals, because no one wants to insure the oil shipments……

via Iranians Planning to Create Environmental Catastrophe in Hormuz Strait – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

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China iron-ore spot prices surge 30% in just weeks – MarketWatch

By MarketWatch

BEIJING–Iron ore spot prices for China delivery have surged nearly 30% since early September with mills replenishing stocks amid a tentative rebound in the steel sector, suggesting that a recent price decline may have bottomed out.

…..Prices for 63.5% iron ore fines delivered to Qingdao rose 29% from a multiyear low Sept. 7 to around $117 a metric ton Monday, data from The Steel Index showed……

via China iron-ore spot prices surge 30% in just weeks – MarketWatch.

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US: Not yet out of the woods

The S&P 500 found support at 1430, closing the day with a decent blue candle. Avoidance of a double top and recovery above the lower trend channel indicate another test of 1475, but 21-day Twiggs Money Flow below zero still warns of medium-term selling pressure — a peak below zero would strengthen the signal. Breakout above 1475, however, would signal a primary advance, while reversal below 1430 would warn of a correction.

S&P 500 Index

* Target calculation: 1420 + ( 1420 – 1280 ) = 1560

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (weekly chart) is similarly testing support at 13300. Bearish divergence on 63-day Twiggs Momentum indicates a weakening up-trend, and reversal below zero would warn of a primary down-trend. Recovery above 13650 would confirm the advance, while reversal below 13000 and the primary trendline would signal trend weakness.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

* Target calculation: 13000 + ( 13000 – 12000 ) = 14000

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5 Steps Obama or Romney Must Take to Fix Wall Street

By SUZANNE MCGEE

In [Sheila Bair’s] view ….. we haven’t yet come to grips with many of the problems that produced the crisis.

Too many regulators fall victim to one of several fatal flaws, Bair suggested in a speech to the National Association for Business Economics yesterday. Some of them over or under-regulate (usually at the wrong point in the cycle); they devise impossibly complex rules; they are “closet free-marketeers” proposing convoluted rules to prove it’s impossible to regulate financial institutions, or they are “captive” regulators who, without any corruption or malfeasance involved, have simply subordinated their judgment to those of the organizations they are charged with overseeing.

The former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation suggests five steps that presidential candidates should take to fix Wall Street………

via 5 Steps Obama or Romney Must Take to Fix Wall Street.

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The high frequency trading threat

Extract from a paper by Tom McDonald at the Australian Risk Policy Institute (ARPI), as quoted by Sell On News at Macrobusiness.com.au:

The principal purpose of capital markets is to facilitate the efficient allocation of capital across industries, and by extension, society, and via efficient means of allocation, create financing options to facilitate consumption and future additional wealth creation. Capital markets are unique but constitute the lifeblood of capitalism and thereby promote national growth, opportunity, peace, order, good government and individual welfare.

That said, the risks inherent in capital markets are like no other. Ultimately, when these risks manifest, they can destroy national economies (Iceland), even the world economy, wreak famine and the total collapse of ordered society. Accordingly, any development that carries uncertainty or intrinsic risk must be scrutinised, understood and dealt with to protect the whole.

Put in the bluntest way, HFT is parasitic in relation to capital markets. It adds little or no value and it creates friction, as opposed to greater liquidity. It can also dislocate or render markets unusable. Most importantly, it operates within an environment alien to the underlying structure that underpins markets. In fact, it operates generically across different market platforms so that in a worst case scenario, automated decisions may dislocate multiple markets at the same time.

via How politicians failed us | | MacroBusiness.

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Forex: Euro recovers, Aussie & Sterling weaken

The Euro is headed for another re-test of resistance at $1.32 and its descending trendline. Breakout would signal a primary up-trend. Recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero strengthens the signal. Reversal below $1.26 is unlikely but would warn of another test of primary support at $1.20.

Euro/USD

* Target calculation: 1.275 + ( 1.275 – 1.20 ) = 1.35

Pound Sterling is testing support at €1.23 against the Euro. Breach of support — and the rising trendline — would warn the primary up-trend is ending. Retreat of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero would strengthen the signal.

Pound Sterling/Euro

Canada’s Loonie is testing support against the greenback at $1.02/$1.01.  Respect of support — with recovery above $1.027 — would confirm the primary up-trend. A 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero would strengthen the signal. Target for the advance is the 2011 high of $1.06.

Canadian Loonie/Aussie Dollar

* Target calculation: 1.04 +( 1.04 – 1.01 ) = 1.07

The Aussie Dollar found support at $1.02/$1.015 on the daily chart. Follow-through above $1.03 would suggest another test of $1.06. Failure of support is unlikely but would signal a primary down-trend. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum troughs above zero indicate continuation of the primary up-trend. Expect strong resistance at $1.06: the Aussie may be range-bound for some time.

Aussie Dollar/USD

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The difference between California and Texas

Amusing parable told by Dallas Fed President Richard W Fisher at the Cato Institute:

“The governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the governor’s dog, then bites the governor. The governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie Bambi and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.

“He calls animal control. Animal control captures the coyote and bills the state $200 for testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the state $200 for testing it for diseases. The governor goes to the hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and getting his bite wound bandaged.

“The running trail gets shut down for six months while the California Fish and Game Department conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals. The governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a ‘coyote awareness program’ for residents of the area. The Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.

“The governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The state spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training, re: the nature of coyotes. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protests the coyote’s relocation and files a $5 million suit against the state.

“The governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and tries to attack him and his dog. The governor shoots the coyote with his state-issued pistol and keeps jogging.

“The governor spent 50 cents on a .380-caliber, hollow-point cartridge. Buzzards ate the dead coyote.

“And that, my friends, is why California is broke and Texas is not.”

Australians will identify with his description of a “nanny-state”.

via The United States Is Not Europe and Texas Ain't France: America as the Thoroughbred Economy – Dallas Fed.

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The United States Is Not Europe and Texas Ain't France

Extract from remarks by Richard W. Fisher, President of the Dallas Fed, before the Cato Institute:

….Under both Republican and Democratic leadership, we did what was economically sensible. The result was a long-lived expansion. But it ended in tears. Success led to complacency; complacency led to a tolerance and even encouragement of excess. We spent more than we could afford; our government—Republicans and Democrats alike—continued, at an accelerated pace, down the path of promising more in social programs and other spending programs than we could sustain. And on the regulatory front, we turned a collective blind eye to economic malpractice, resulting in the spectacular failure of Enron and culminating with the collapse of megabanks for which even a cursory glance at their balance sheets would have revealed, in the words of one of my colleagues, “nothing on the right was right and nothing on the left was left.”…….

via The United States Is Not Europe and Texas Ain’t France: America as the Thoroughbred Economy – Dallas Fed.

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Gold and commodities wait on the dollar

The Dollar Index rally recovered and is headed for a test of resistance at 81.00/81.50. Respect of resistance would confirm the primary down-trend. Reversal of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero also signals a primary down-trend; a peak below zero would strengthen the signal.

US Dollar Index

* Target calculation: 81 – ( 84 – 81 ) = 78

Gold and commodities await clear direction from the dollar which, in turn, is dependent on the inflation outlook. Spot Gold encountered strong resistance at $1800 per ounce*. A 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero would signal a primary up-trend, while breakout above $1800 would confirm. Reversal below $1740 is unlikely but would warn of another correction.

Spot Gold

* Target calculation: 1650 + ( 1650 – 1500 ) = 1800

The RJ-CRB Commodities Index has been de-listed so I am now using the DJ-UBS Commodity Index, which retraced to test support at 145/146. Respect would indicate another test of resistance at 150/152 — as suggested by recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero — while failure would warn of another test of primary support at 125.

DJ-UBS Commodity Index

Brent Crude rallied off support at $108 per barrel and is headed for another test of $117. Breakout would advance to the 2012 high of $125/$126. The small 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero suggests a primary up-trend.

ICE Brent Crude Afternoon Markers

* Target calculation: 117 + ( 117 – 108 ) = 126

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US: Double top threatened

The S&P 500 respected resistance at 1475 and is testing support at 1430. The Dow displays a similar formation with support at 13300. Breakout below 1430 would complete a double top, warning of a correction.  Reversal of 21-day Twiggs Money Flow below zero indicates rising selling pressure. Respect of support is unlikely but would suggest an advance to the upper trend channel.

S&P 500 Index

* Target calculation: 1420 + ( 1420 – 1280 ) = 1560

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