Weekend Open Thread...

Morning Update/ Market Thread 7/15 - Wasted Time Edition…

Good Morning,

Yes, it’s a waste of time to report pre-open as the HFTs will simply use pre-market movement to shake non-HFT donators out of their position and turn profits. What profits? Try $3 trillion+ at both Citi and Bank of America – both outrageous “profits” made by churning in the markets but also by lowering loan reserves – as if they have any actual reserves at all, they don’t if they were to mark their “assets” to any semblance of reality. But these are the companies running America, they are your boss. But let’s pretend and note that the markets are slightly higher this morning despite a higher dollar, bonds are lower, oil is flat, gold is taking a breather just beneath $1,600, silver is higher, and food commodities are mixed. Don’t forget that today is Options Expiration, that means more fun and games.

In the Land of Make Believe, the CPI went negative on a month over month basis at -.2%, but is still (falsely) showing a +3.4% rate year over year. Reality is much, much greater than that. Here are some words from people who make a living playing within the central banker box:

Highlights
Consumer price inflation turned negative for the first time in twelve months on another decline in energy costs. The consumer price index in June dipped 0.2 percent, following a 0.2 percent increase the month before. The June number matched the median estimate for a 0.2 percent decrease. Excluding food and energy, the CPI rose 0.3 percent, equaling the May rate and topping the consensus forecast for a 0.2 percent increase.

Turning to major components, energy dropped 4.4 percent, following a 1.0 percent decline. Gasoline fell 6.8 percent after decreasing 2.0 percent in May. Food price inflation slowed with a 0.2 percent gain after a 0.4 percent surge the month before.

Within the core new vehicles increased 0.6 percent, used cars and trucks jumped 1.6 percent, and apparel increased 1.4 percent in June. And owners' equivalent rent is no longer as soft as in recent months, rising 0.2 percent.

Year-on-year, overall CPI inflation held steady at 3.4 percent (seasonally adjusted) in June. In contrast, the core rate firmed to 1.6 percent from 1.5 percent in May on a year-ago basis. On an unadjusted year-ago basis, the headline number was up 3.6 percent in June while the core was up 1.6 percent.

The headline is good news but the strong core will give Fed officials pause on taking on more quantitative easing. However, the motor vehicle prices gains are likely temporarily hot.

Gee, QE2 hadn’t even ended and this number turned negative. Just give the powers of deflation a little while and I think it will be roaring which will force their hand into QE3 once again so that they can keep their rob you Ponzi games alive.

The Empire State Manufacturing Report was negative for the second month in a row, Econodime is having a tough time spinning that one into gold:

Highlights
The best news that can be squeezed from the Empire state report is that the rate of contraction is easing. The headline index came in at minus 3.76 in July, a sub-zero reading indicating month-to-month contraction in business conditions but above minus 7.79 to indicate a slightly less severe rate of contraction compared to June. Shipments are a clear positive, showing monthly expansion at plus 2.22 vs June's minus 8.02. Employment, at plus 1.11, also expanded though at a slower rate than June's 10.20.

Other readings are more downbeat including a minus 5.45 for new orders, the second negative reading in a row, and a minus 12.22 reading for unfilled orders that suggests manufacturers in the region are aggressively working down their backlog. Inventories also contracted as did the workweek. Price data confirm overall slowing with both input and output pressures easing.

Today's report points to a second month of weakness for the Philly Fed report on Thursday as well as to trouble for the July ISM report. But these are anecdotal reports, based on small samples and using diffusion methodologies. Today's industrial production report, to be released at 9:15 a.m. ET this morning, will offer definitive data on June.

Speaking of Industrial Production, in May it was originally reported at +.1%, but that was revised down to -.1% just to keep the trend of overstatements alive. For June they just reported +.2%, so that probably means next month we’ll find out it is either zero or -.2%. Reality is something else entirely.

“Consumer” Sentiment comes out in a few minutes, we’ll discuss that inside of today’s Market Thread, not than any of the bankers give a rip about what the non-Ferrari peons think. The Sentiment and Confidence reports used to matter, but not in today's world of QE masking.

The evening news is filled with scare tactics on the debt ceiling. Really, I couldn’t care less, but I hate being manipulated and that’s what all of this is about. If it were up to me I’d throw Obama, most of Congress, and all of the central bankers in jail and start over. Short of that I’m losing interest and don’t even view their wild shenanigans as worth my time at this point. I’ll keep track and keep reporting for now, but the pain/ give-a-rip meter is definitely pegged.

Morning Update/ Market Thread 7/14 – Burn, Baby, Burn Edition…

Good Morning,

Equity futures are higher this morning even after the U.S. was put on credit watch by Moody’s. The dollar is flat, bonds are lower, oil is higher and getting close to $100 again, gold is testing an unbelievable $1,600 an ounce, silver is shining as a hedge to the lunacy, while the price of food commodities gets further out of reach for the world’s poor.

Yesterday criminal Bernanke flapped his lips about more QE and the commodity markets went wild. Then the insiders got wind of the credit watch and sold equities into it. That action shows two things – first is that more QE is going to royally squick the people of the world with higher prices, and secondly the insider action again shows how corrupt these unfree markets really are… again.

To me the thought of another big QE program is far more scary than another round of deflation, but I know it’s coming at some point and it’s going to be very ugly when it does. Just look at oil… when the first round of QE began oil was at $33 a barrel. When the second round of QE began oil was at $70 a barrel. Now we’re at $100 a barrel, which is already economy choking, and if QE3 has an equal effect you’ll be staring at $140 a barrel and $5 a gallon for gas. That’s just one negative aspect of more printing, but again you know it’s coming at some point, just look at all the pressure to “get a deal” and raise the debt ceiling.

Since the money changers aren’t getting their way, they roll out their puppet President to threaten retirees by withholding their retirement money – oh yeah, nobody sees that threat for what it is. When that fails to work, the money changers get their puppet rating agencies to issue downgrade warnings in another attempt to scare the people in allowing them to make all their numbers bigger and bigger. Of course all the media mantra and scare tactics are completely backwards – it is the act of raising the debt ceiling that should scare the hell out of everyone, and it is that act that should instantly produce credit rating downgrades, not the other way around. So, we are recklessly heading into the great monetary inferno, burn, baby, burn. You know what they say about the road to hell, boy was it hot yesterday.

This morning JPMorgan “beat” estimates again with second quarter income soaring to ONLY $5.43 Billion!! In one quarter! How did they do that? By robbing you in the unfree markets (which they have absolutely no business being in at all), by reducing loan loss provisions AGAIN, and by marking their worthless portfolio of stinking insolvent debt to their own fantasy model. You know, it’s funny, but you would think that a “beat” and that kind of money production would send their stock higher, but in fact it is lower. Maybe I’m not the only one who smells the rot. By the way, false earnings like this completely distort the entire corporate earnings picture giving idiot analysts a sense of well-being to justify their shilling at outrageous valuations (when stripped of accounting fraud).

The PPI settled down in June, primarily due to the falling price of oil at that time. Month over month it went negative .4%, but less food and energy it was still positive .3%. Of course a lower reading here is viewed as a green light for more money printing and thus bad is good, burn, baby, burn:

Highlights
In June, lower energy costs gave the economy a break. Producer price inflation in June turned negative with prices dropping 0.4 percent, following a relatively soft rise of 0.2 percent in May. The latest number came in lower than analysts' forecast for a 0.3 percent decline. By major components, energy fell a sizeable 2.8 percent after rising 1.5 percent in May. Gasoline dropped 4.7 percent after rising 2.7 percent the prior month. Food costs rebounded 0.6, following a 1.4 percent dip the prior month. At the core level, PPI inflation bumped up to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent in May and topping the median forecast of 0.2 percent. On a not seasonally adjusted basis for June, the year-ago the headline PPI was up 7.0 percent while the core was up 2.4 percent.

Even with their own trumped up inflation statistics, 7% inflation is raging hot, but of course does not garner the impossible math attention it deserves.

June Retail Sales managed to eek out a .1% positive number. Remember, this statistic way overstates sales as it suffers from survivor bias and is not correctly corrected into a real inflation adjusted number, thus a .1% positive number means that actual sales of real products is down significantly. Don’t expect to hear that from someone whose living depends on fluffing you up:

Highlights
Retail sales edged up in June despite a price related drop in gasoline sales. Overall retail sales in June edged up 0.1 percent, following a 0.1 percent dip in May (originally down 0.2 percent). The increase in June was marginally better than the median forecast for no change. A rebound in auto sales helped lift overall sales. Motor vehicle sales made a partial 0.8 percent rebound after dropping 1.8 percent in May. Both months' sales were constrained by shortages of models dependent upon parts from Japan.

Excluding autos, sales were flat, following a 0.2 percent gain in May. Analysts expected a 0.1 percent uptick. Here, components were mixed but softened largely by weak gasoline sales. Gasoline dropped 1.3 percent, following a 0.5 percent increase. Sales excluding autos and gasoline in June posted a modest 0.2 percent rise, matching the gain in May.

Outside of autos and gasoline, sales were mixed. The biggest gains were seen in building materials & garden equipment (up 1.3 percent); clothing & accessories (up 0.7 percent); and general merchandise stores (up 0.4 percent). Also gaining were food & beverage, nonstore retailers, and miscellaneous store retailers.

The largest decliners were furniture & home furnishing (down 0.8 percent); sporting goods, hobby & book stores (down 0.7 percent); and food services & drinking places (down 0.4 percent). Also falling were electronics & appliances and health & personal care.

Retail sales on a year-ago basis in June posted at 8.1 percent, compared to 7.8 percent in May. Excluding motor vehicles, sales were up 7.9 percent on a year-on-year basis, compared to 8.0 percent in May.

Essentially, overall retail sales in June were soft, mixed and about as expected. However, today's drop in initial jobless claims may be encouraging for future sales along with supply constraints in the auto sector being resolved.

Year over year increases in Retail Sales do not reflect actual increased sales, instead it is simply a partial inflation indication.

The weekly Jobless Claims came in lower than last week and on expectations of 405,000 which is still way above an overall job losing proposition. Note this is an estimate based upon a short week and that the prior week was revised higher by three times the usual amount. Also, Econohay would like you to believe that the 11,500 layoffs due to Minnesota stopping business is no big deal, but in fact it is a big deal, it is another symptom of a debt saturated society and it has massive ripple effects that are just now starting to be seen - like Miller beer had to stop distributions in the state as they could not renew their business license – I know it’s just beer, but how many people will be laid off because of that? Debt is an ugly thing, perhaps it will take a lack of brain numbing rot to bring the people to their senses? I know, I know, American Idol is still on:

Highlights
The headline decline in jobless claims is good news though there's special factors at play that cloud the July 9 week. Initial claims fell 22,000 to an as-expected level of 405,000 but the period is a shortened one that includes the July 4 holiday (prior week revised upward to 427,000). Another factor is uncertainty over the week-to-week timing of shutdowns, including auto retooling, in the manufacturing sector, a seasonal factor that lowers claims after adjustment and always makes for uncertain readings at this time of year. One factor that is clearly inflating claims is the government shutdown in Minnesota which added 11,500, before adjustment, to the week's total. A look at the four-week average, especially important for uncertain periods, is favorable, down 3,750 to 423,250.

Continuing claims for the July 2 week rose 15,000 to 3.727 million with the four-week average up slightly to 3.719 million. Continuing claims have been steady at recovery lows for the last six weeks or so. The unemployment rate for insured workers is unchanged for the fourth straight week at 3.0 percent.

Initial claims did come down in the latest week but whether this is the beginning of a trend is too soon to say. Until claims fall below 400,000, optimism on the jobs market will continue to be limited.

400k is not the key number, 350k and below is where jobs are being created and it’s been years since we’ve had a print that low.

Note that the VIX failed to stay beneath the 50 and 200dma’s:



Burn, baby, burn.

Morning Update/ Market Thread 7/13 – World Wide Spread of the Debt Plague Edition…

Good Morning,

Equity prices are higher this morning, the dollar is lower, bonds are lower, oil is higher ($97), gold is setting a new all-time high ($1,580), silver is soaring, and food commodities are literally choking the life out of people living on the margins.

Yesterday the “Fed” hinted at QE3 in their meeting minutes and that has reignited the fluff trade. Meanwhile CNN is talking that we need to bring in “big thinkers” to fix our economy… you know, people like Bill Clinton, Alan Greenspan, and other banking big wigs. You know, because these “big thinkers” can solve these impossible math problems and they certainly had no part in creating them! Maybe the big banks can all donate a few million to put them up in a lavish hotel while they ponder it for awhile.

The fluff on trade was supposedly set off by China reporting year over year “growth” at 9.5% which is above the 9.3% “growth” estimate. First of all, I’m just going to say that whenever you see a percentage growth number that large you should instantly turn on your skeptic mode. Growth numbers that large are absolutely not sustainable in the real world, and certainly not for the duration that the Chinese have been making this claim. So, that brings up the non-real world that unfortunately is the world’s fluff monetary system. You can create money and debt to make numbers larger, but that is apparent growth, it is money growth, not REAL growth.

This is laid bare by today’s Import and Export Prices report where we find the closest American report on real inflation. This is where we see that Export Prices have zoomed 9.9% in the past year, and that Import Prices have rocketed 13.6% in the past year! “Holly inflation, Batman!”

“Boy Wonder, if only you knew what the real Evil Doers where up to!”

“Holly cannoli, it’s a world-wide black plague of historic debt saturated proportions! What’s an average guy investor like me supposed to do?”

“There, there, Boy Wonder, just hang on to your wallet and find REAL things to invest in… the fluff always collapses in the end, and the Evil Doers always wind up behind bars… or maybe not, but it’s up to us to try!”

And so it goes, another day another trumped up statistic of monumental debt proportions. But hey, on a month over month basis the price of oil fell and created a momentary lower inflation blip, thus a green light for QE3, right? Whatever, here’s Econonoclue:

Highlights
A monthly downswing in oil prices led a sweep of declines in June import prices which fell 0.5 percent overall and, importantly, also fell excluding petroleum products, down 0.2 percent. Declines are broad through nearly all input components with output components, including capital goods and consumer goods, showing moderating pressure from already incremental rates. Yet the monthly decline didn't hold down the year-on-year increase which at 13.6 percent is the largest since August 2008, which was the month of course just before the financial meltdown.

The export side shows a mild 0.1 percent increase though here too the year-on-year rate is extremely elevated, at 9.9 percent with the non-agricultural rate at a record 7.8 percent. The monthly rate, as it is on the import side, was held down by the drop in oil prices which offset a sharp 0.7 percent rise in agricultural products.

Today's report is a reminder that lower oil prices, and with them easing pressure on the consumer tied to gas prices, is a big plus for coming economic data on June. Because of oil, both producer prices on Thursday and consumer prices on Friday are expected to show headline declines.

Let’s go back to that 13.6% import inflation and compare that to China’s supposed 9.5% “growth.” Is it really positive growth at all with those numbers? Hardly, it’s nothing but monetary fluff – all of it.

The hyper hypocritical Mortgage Banker’s Association today reported that their whack-job Purchase Index sank another 2.6% in the past week, while their Refinancing Index fell a supposed 6.2%. That number is tame by their standards, but again, I find it impossible to believe economic statistics that swing that much in a single week. Nothing they report is believable, it’s pure bull. Here’s Econoday helping to spread the fertilizer:

Highlights
July is off to a weak start for the housing sector, at least based on data from the Mortgage Bankers Association that shows a 2.6 percent decline in purchase applications for the July 8 week. Refinancing applications also declined, down 6.2 percent. The declines came despite a sizable drop in rates during the week with 30-year mortgages down 14 basis points to an average 4.55 percent. Next data on the housing sector will come Monday with the housing market index.

What, no bottom call to go along with that? Please sir, may I have another?

So, we have gold climbing to a new all-time record – that tells you all you need to know really. And people thought $500 an ounce was unbelievable, we’re now more than three times that level. Europe is a debt saturated wreck, the Yen continues to climb in a surreal corium like slow-motion melt up of bizzaro proportions, it’s like watching their version of monetary China Syndrome. Yet stocks are high, high, high, while big corporations create artificial “profits” (formerly known as fraud), small businesses suffer, and individuals either can’t find a job or are working for a pittance with frozen and downsized wages against raging inflation in everything that one NEEDS. Yep, those “big thinkers” are needed badly.

Other than precious metals I’ve seen little that inspires confidence as a place to put my money to work. I refuse to participate in these markets as I know the rot that lies underneath. They aren’t even real, they are simply a manipulated HFT game for the money changers. But what I’ve come to realize is that despite all of this messed up reality there are still opportunities for those who think outside of the central banker box. And it’s obvious that resolution to the debt saturation plague is going to be a decades long journey. So, I’m choosing to live my life in a positive manner and am developing a business that will work in almost any monetary environment, not dependant upon the credit issued by a group of screwed up narcissistic bankers. There are opportunities out there, just make damn certain you’re putting your money to work in something real… something that does not support their debt is money scheme.

Morning Update/ Market Thread 7/12 – All in Edition…

Good Morning,

Equity futures are down just slightly after being down deeper overnight. The dollar is higher after breaking out of the triangle I’ve been showing, the yen is becoming an issue again, bonds are higher, oil is lower, gold & silver are down a little, and food commodities are also lower.

The Small Business Index fell once again, this time just slipping a tenth to 90.8 from the prior 90.9. The people who publish this report are sounding militantly upset over the lack of economic progress, I think rightly so. Of course they will talk politics within the box created and manipulated for them, unfortunately they don’t call the impossible math what it is and they fail to see that their only salvation is to think and operate outside of the central banker box.

This mantra is going to be repeated by me – small businesses have taken the shaft while large corporations have received nothing but trillions in aid and in the form of favorable rule making. I am personally shifting my investment strategy to avoid all things large corporate and am starting a new business that receives funding not from large banks, but from investors like us – while returning a good, but conservative and fully collateralized return. In this way, we cut out the bankers, create jobs right here in the U.S. and are secure knowing that we aren’t participating/ contributing to their wild casino that formerly were free markets. I’ll be talking more about this later. In the mean time here’s Econoday staying well within the box as usual:

Highlights
The political drumbeat continues from the National Federation of Independent Business whose text for June declares: "Small-business owners are registering a vote of 'no confidence' in the federal government." It uses the word "grave" to describe small-business concern over the federal budget and asks: "Who can blame the prevalence of pessimism when administration officials are telling Congress that small businesses need to pay more in taxes to support government spending programs?"

Now their numbers. Their index slipped one tenth in June to 90.8 in what the text describes as recession territory. The weakest readings concern the outlook for the economy and the outlook for sales. Interestingly, strength appears in employment plans. Also there's evidence of pricing power with a net 10 percent of the sample raising their selling prices over the last three months. It also notes that access to credit is only a limited problem.

The group who writes the Small Business Optimism Index report are pretty pointed, one of the few groups who understands that the country never really “recovered.” Here’s their entire report, as usual it’s a pretty good read:

Small Business Optimism Index July 2011

The International Trade numbers came in with a much larger deficit than expected at -$50.2 billion, much greater than April’s -$43.7 billion. A lot of this deficit is a result of importing more expensive energy, but it should be clear to everyone that while we’re printing money here, much of it is leaving the country. In this way we are exporting inflation, in fact causing the price of energy to rise, and this sets in motion a negative feedback loop that makes it impossible to escape the impossible math. This is just another reason why in the end the money printing “stimulus” crowd will be proven wrong, just as they always have when viewed through the lens of history. So why do they do it? Why does a thief rob a bank? Here’s Econobox supporting the thieves’ perspective:

Highlights
The trade deficit unexpectedly worsened in May and sharply. Higher oil prices that month played a key role in the increased red ink. The May trade gap ballooned to $50.2 billion from a revised $43.6 billion in April (originally $46.7 billion). The May deficit was much larger than analysts' estimate for $42.7 billion. Exports slipped 0.5 percent after improving 1.4 percent in April. Imports jumped 2.6 percent after edging down 0.3 percent the month before.

The widening in the trade deficit was led by the petroleum gap which expanded to $30.4 billion from $26.1 billion in April. For May, the price of imported oil jumped $5.52 per barrel to $108.70-the highest level since August 2008. Also, the physical quantity of oil imports jumped 9.1 percent to 275.3 million barrels for the month after plunging 14.5 percent in April. The prior month's imports were atypically soft. The nonpetroleum goods shortfall worsened to $33.3 billion from $31.1 billion the prior month. The services surplus advanced to $14.7 billion from $14.5 billion in April.

Looking at end use categories for goods, exports fell 1.1 percent while imports jumped 2.9 percent in the latest month. The dip in exports was led by a $1.8 billion decrease in industrial supplies, with a decline also seen in consumer goods (down $0.4 billion). Foods, feeds & beverages were down fractionally. On the plus side were capital goods excluding autos (up $0.4 billion) and automotive (up $0.6 billion).

The surge in imports by end use categories was led by a $4.3 billion jump in industrial supplies (mostly crude oil) with gains also seen in capital goods excluding autos (up $1.2 billion), and automotive (up $0.6 billion). The foods, feeds & beverages component was up marginally.

On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the May figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong $2.1 ($2.6 for April), and Australia $1.2 ($1.1). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China $25.0 ($21.6), OPEC $11.3 ($9.6), European Union $8.8 ($7.5), Mexico $6.3 ($5.5), Germany $3.8 ($3.8), Venezuela $3.1 ($2.8), Canada $2.7 ($2.4), and Japan $2.6 ($3.6).

The trade deficit is draining funds from the U.S. economy faster than earlier believed. This will lead most economists to lower their forecast for second quarter GDP. However, oil prices have come down significantly since May and we likely will see improvement in at least the petroleum gap next month. Looking for the silver lining, the boost is capital equipment imports may be a subtraction in GDP accounting, but it suggests some optimism on the part of businesses. The dip in consumer goods imports is disappointing but not so much after a $2.1 billion jump in April. The decline in goods exports also is disappointing but follows a jump in April and combined with a still low (though not as low as some weeks ago) dollar, exports likely are still on an uptrend.

There’s always a silver lining in Wonderland.

Well outside of Wonderland, our president and Congress are playing games with the debt ceiling. Yesterday Obama went all in when stating that any deal had to be large and that he would not sign off on something that simply kicks the can. Yeah, right. The math is so impossible that they aren’t even in the ballpark of slowing down the can. Everything feeds the central banks, and until we get out of their box the impossible math is going to rule supreme. Of course within the box a large dose of austerity will instantly cause the economy to suffer. Doing nothing will also cause the economy to suffer. Continuing on the path we’re currently on – printing/ stimulus – will make the economy suffer even more in the end. Impossible math just is, you cannot trick it nor fool it.

Morning Update/ Market Thread 7/11 – Swan Diving Edition…

Good Morning,

7/11/11 for you numerology watchers… not sure the meaning, but for some reason I’m thinking how good a fully sugared Slurpee would be right about now.

Equity futures are sharply lower again this morning, already making lows beneath Friday’s low. The dollar is higher, bonds are higher, oil is down sharply, gold is within $20 of another all-time high, silver is higher, and most food commodities are lower.

Note the latest trend that has most commodities falling on the down strokes except for the precious metals. Then on the upstrokes precious metals do well too. That’s because debt saturation is a monetary phenomena – the central scammers, wait, I mean central bankers, have developed a money is debt scheme that lines their coffers and burdens the rest of society.

That burden is now striking hard in Italy which is jumping into the debt saturation/ impossible math spotlight. No surprise there, it’s just the latest excuse for problems.

And it’s the same old stuff here at home using the debt ceiling as a political tool at the center of a wrestling match. In this match they are arguing over two aspects of a TRIANGLE, and no one will talk about the third. The triangle has three sides, not two, with higher taxes on one side, lower spending on another, but on the third is the one no one will touch and that is clearing out the debt! How do you clear out the debt? You let the banks DEFAULT. Had we done that already, we’d be well underway to a real recovery by now, but the issue framers won’t even talk about doing it properly. Freedom’s Vision would be one way to do it properly.

Meanwhile we get manipulated with false mantra, false debate, never ending fraud, false statistics, and outright lies.

The dollar broke the daily chart’s descending wedge in the upward direction and came right to the top of the much smaller triangle that I’ve been pointing out lately. A break above that triangle line – any higher than here – will probably set in motion a dollar rally which will take down equities. Again, worth watching here to see how it behaves (how we are manipulated):



No economic data today, the rest of this week is all about trumped up price data; the PPI, CPI, and trade data. Industrial Production, Empire Manufacturing, and “Consumer” Sentiment are thrown in as a kicker.

The horror that is Fukushima is not contained – not even slightly. And the special interest in charge, TEPCO, has no interest but to delay, delay, delay in hopes that somehow it will either just go away, or they can escape before someone holds them accountable. So, they make up stuff, the latest being that they have a plan, and it will take them a DECADE to invent some magical device that will allow them to pick up melted corium and do something with it! What a joke of sad and tragic proportions – real people, and our real planet are in serious trouble in the mean time. If you wish to stay informed, the following is a long Arnie Gunderson video that is worth the time:

Why Fukushima Can Happen Here: What the NRC and Nuclear Industry Dont Want You to Know