Market Update - Where's the Financial Collapse?

The Doomsday Prophets for Profit acted like October was the month it would all fall apart.

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How Low Can Gold Prices Go?

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- In today's "Bart Chart," Bloomberg's Mark Barton takes a look at gold as it pertains to the dollar, rising equities and tame inflation. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)

video found here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/how-low-can-gold-go-POe1825rQBWsv4X6Est9IA.html

SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)
112.27 -2.92 (-2.53%)
Real-time:   12:46PM EDT
NYSEARCA real-time data - Disclaimer
Currency in USD
https://www.google.com/finance?q=GLD&ei=2rxTVPjdJ9LwsQeFzIDoAg

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Average U.S. Gasoline Drops Below $3 for First Time Since 2010
By Lynn Doan and Dan Murtaugh October 31, 2014

For the first time in almost four years, U.S. drivers are paying less than $3 a gallon at the pump.

Retail gasoline prices will average less than $3 a gallon today, Heathrow, Florida-based motoring group AAA said in a statement. That’s down from this year’s peak of $3.696 in April, and the first time the average has dipped below $3 since December 2010.

Sliding prices are seen saving the typical consumer $500 a year and are coming just in time to boost spending during the holiday shopping season, according to analysts including IHS Inc. (IHS:US) The bonus at the pumps represents the biggest benefit to consumers to date from a record boom in domestic oil production that has contributed to a global crude glut and helped bring down international prices.

more here:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-31/average-u-dot-s-dot-gasoline-drops-below-3-for-first-time-since-2010

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Dow Jones rallies again with the help of Visa, strong GDP
by  Tom Huddleston, Jr.  @tjhuddle  OCTOBER 30, 2014, 4:44 PM EDT

Stock market index is shy of its record high by just 1%, reversing more than a month of upheavals.

A strong showing by credit card companies and positive economic news helped to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average to within almost 150 points of its all-time high on Thursday.

The Dow Jones jumped 221 points, or 1.3%, to close at 17,196. The index rode a strong earnings report from Visa  V 1.74% , whose shares gained 10.2% and accounted for about 22 points of the Dow’s rally. Another credit card company, Mastercard  MA 1.02% , also had a strong day on the market, rising 9.4% after releasing its own strong quarterly earnings.

Investors were also buoyed by positive news from the Commerce Department, which reported Thursday that gross domestic product grew at a better-than-expected 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter.

The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 both rose slightly on Thursday – 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.

The Dow Jones has had a volatile past month since it hit more than 17,350 points, an all-time intraday high, on September 19, which came a little more than two months after the blue-chip index crossed the 17,000-point mark for the first time. However, earlier this month, a series of market-wide sell-offs, including a one-day loss of 335 points for the Dow Jones, erased much of the market’s gains for the year.

more here:
http://fortune.com/2014/10/30/stock-market-thursday-visa-mastercard/

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Jobless claims inch higher, but remain low overall
10/30/14 08:36 AM—UPDATED 10/30/14 05:20 PM
By Steve Benen



It’s disappointing when initial unemployment claims climb two weeks in a row, but given the overall direction of late, it’s hard to feel too discouraged by the new data.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose slightly in late October, but the level of jobless claims continued to point to an improving labor market in which companies are holding onto the workers they already have while slowly beefing up their staffs. Initial jobless claims climbed by 3,000 to 287,000 in the week ended Oct. 25, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 281,000.

Claims have been under the key 300,000 benchmark for seven straight weeks for the first time since the recession ended. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, dipped by 250 to 281,000. The four-week average reduces seasonal volatility in the weekly report and is seen as a more accurate barometer of labor-market trends.

more here:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/jobless-claims-inch-higher-remain-low-overall


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Am I saying things in America are as good as the 1950's?
No.

I'm saying it could be way worse.
Setting dates and making stupid predictions will always fail.

I'd LOL so hard if the market took a serious crap right after I posted this.

LOL

One more thing:

Golden Rule | Why Beijing Is Buying
SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
By Alan Greenspan


A sales representative poses behind a 24K gold dragon, December 6, 2011. (Bobby Yip / Courtesy Reuters)

If China were to convert a relatively modest part of its $4 trillion foreign exchange reserves into gold, the country’s currency could take on unexpected strength in today’s international financial system. It would be a gamble, of course, for China to use part of its reserves to buy enough gold bullion to displace the United States from its position as the world’s largest holder of monetary gold. (As of spring 2014, U.S. holdings amounted to $328 billion.) But the penalty for being wrong, in terms of lost interest and the cost of storage, would be modest. For the rest of the world, gold prices would certainly rise, but only during the period of accumulation. They would likely fall back once China reached its goal.

The broader issue -- a return to the gold standard in any form -- is nowhere on anybody’s horizon. It has few supporters in today’s virtually universal embrace of fiat currencies and floating exchange rates. Yet gold has special properties that no other currency, with the possible exception of silver, can claim. For more than two millennia, gold has had virtually unquestioned acceptance as payment. It has never required the credit guarantee of a third party. No questions are raised when gold or direct claims to gold are offered in payment of an obligation; it was the only form of payment, for example, that exporters to Germany would accept as World War II was drawing to a close. Today, the acceptance of fiat money -- currency not backed by an asset of intrinsic value -- rests on the credit guarantee of sovereign nations endowed with effective taxing power, a guarantee that in crisis conditions has not always matched the universal acceptability of gold.

If the dollar or any other fiat currency were universally acceptable at all times, central banks would see no need to hold any gold. The fact that they do indicates that such currencies are not a universal substitute. Of the 30 advanced countries that report to the International Monetary Fund, only four hold no gold as part of their reserve balances. Indeed, at market prices, the gold held by the central banks of developed economies was worth $762 billion as of December 31, 2013, comprising 10.3 percent of their overall reserve balances. (The IMF held an additional $117 billion.) If, in the words of the British economist John Maynard Keynes, gold were a “barbarous relic,” central banks around the world would not have so much of an asset whose rate of return, including storage costs, is negative.

more here:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142114/alan-greenspan/golden-rule

Don't forget about what's coming...
Cashless Soceity

Megacities Update - 10.30.2014

If you've seen my previous posts concerning the need for Megacities in the Globalist Agenda, you'll understand the context.

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Millennials Continue Urbanization Of America, Leaving Small Towns
October 21, 2014 6:38 AM ET

The Washington, D.C., suburb of Arlington, Va., was dubbed a top destination for millennials this year.
"Most of the young people that go to college go away, and then they don't come back," says Lee Bianchi, a retired engineer who lived in Clinton, Iowa (pop. 26,647), from 1961 to 2008.

That's long been the storyline in small-town America, which for decades has bled citizens — especially young ones — to the glamorous big cities. One might have thought technology would stanch the flow, at least among millennials: With Wi-Fi and telecommuting, young people theoretically could dodge overpriced real estate and ugly commutes and opt instead for a spacious house with a big yard and a broadband connection.

But it turns out the millennial generation is only accelerating the demographic shift. In fact, this may be the most "bright lights, big city" generation in history. While the number of millennials is ticking slightly upward in small towns and rural areas, it's nothing compared with the growth of their numbers in suburbs and cities.

"At this point, the prognosis does not look good for much of small-town America," writes William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.

The kids aren't just flocking to the city proper, either, but to the metropolis writ large, including the fancier suburbs. The top destination for millennials is the Washington, D.C., suburb of Arlington, Va., where their ranks grew by a staggering 82 percent between 2007 and 2013. Arlington's median home sale price is $557,250, and of the 290 Arlington apartments listed on Zillow, only 10 would let you live alone for less than $1,200 a month.

An enterprising millennial with a flexible employer might hop across the Chesapeake Bay to the historic district of Cambridge, Md., (pop. 12,690) with a porch overlooking the Choptank River. With a thriving downtown and arts district, Cambridge was No. 10 on Livability's list of Best Small Towns in 2013. Homes go for $164,154, and a monthly $1,200 rental will get you a detached house or a 1,600-square-foot townhouse.

But affordable real estate and waterfront views don't have millennials biting. They continue "a multigenerational pattern of young adults preferring more expensive urban areas over lower-cost rural ones because the lifestyles and opportunities in such places make the extra burden of cost worth it," says Robert Lang, professor of urban growth and population dynamics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Which is to say: Getting to a big city — or at least near one — still has the smell of success.

"We don't all hail from small Midwestern towns, but most came from places where they felt limited — small-town Maine, suburban west Texas, California's Central Valley and the Inland Empire," wrote twentysomething Brittany Shoot of her friends and neighbors in the San Francisco Bay Area. "It's easy to find people who will sneeringly complain about how trapped they felt as teenagers."
Small towns will have to hustle to recruit and retain millennials, experts say. The American Planning Association urges local planners to mimic the appeal of city centers by creating "density." That means keeping the walkable neighborhoods and traditional town centers that millennials say is key to making a community a desirable place to live.

Smart-growth advocate James A. Bacon sees opportunities to fight off "brain drain" and attract urban "escapees" who start small businesses, but he worries that towns aren't taking advantage. "Unfortunately, to date, local economic developers have stuck with the industrial-recruitment strategy that bears less and less fruit," Bacon writes.

But without economic opportunity — that is, good jobs — the most charming downtown in the world can't attract permanent residents. Small towns may have to reinvent themselves, according to experts like Frey of the Brookings Institution.

But all is not lost. The numbers that point toward the decline of small towns also show a positive narrative for millennials, and perhaps a sunnier economic outlook than you'd expect. Notwithstanding student-loan debt and the stereotype of living in their parents' basements, a RealtyTrac analysis released in September showed that this generation is moving where the rents and mortgages are high. Arlington is just the tip of it.

From 2007 to 2013, the 10 counties that gained the most millennial residents had a median home price of $406,800. And the average population of those counties was 587,522 — a far cry from small-town living. Baby boomers filled out the other side of the equation by downsizing to counties with average populations of 261,232 and a median home price of $144,875.

So the best answer as to why millennials are moving away from smaller towns may be simple: because they can. And small towns will have to rev up their sales pitch to convince young adults that they can live not just cheaply but also well in the places that older generations called home.

here:
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/21/357723069/millennials-continue-urbanization-of-america-leaving-small-towns

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The New Global Centers for Talent
London, New York, and Paris top the list of the world’s leading talent hubs—but not for the reasons you might think.
Richard Florida | Oct 16, 2014


London, the world's most popular work destination, according to a new survey. (Reuters/Paul Hackett)

Over the past couple of decades, talent has supplanted endowments of natural resources and the technological and industrial prowess of large corporations as the source of economic advantage for nations and cities. Jane Jacobs initially identified the economic power of talent clustering in cities, and a raft of economic studies has since confirmed that concentrations of human capital drive national and regional economic growth and development. But most studies have only identified and examined the role of talent clusters within nation states.

A new study released last week by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the recruiting firm The Network identifies the leading cities for global talent around the world. The study is based on survey responses from more than 203,000 people across 189 countries based on online and email queries. Specifically, the study asked respondents to indicate up to five cities in which they would “consider living abroad.” 

The graphic below, from the study, lists the top 30 talent hubs around the world based on these survey responses.

more here:
http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/10/the-new-global-centers-for-talent/381487/

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Interactive Infographic Tracks the Growth of the World’s Megacities
11 Oct 2014 | by Evan Rawn


Tokyo remains the world’s largest city, but is beginning to see competition from the world’s other megacities. Image © Flickr CC User Les Taylor

With more than 7 billion people now alive, the greatest population growth over the last century has occurred in urban areas. Now, a new series of interactive maps entitled “The Age of Megacities” and developed by software company ESRI allows us to visualize these dramatic effects and see just how this growth has shaped the geography of 10 of the world’s 28 megacities. Defined as areas with continuous urban development of over 10 million people, the number of megacities in the world is expected to increase, and while Tokyo still tops the list as the world’s largest megacity, other cities throughout Asia are quickly catching up. Find out more after the break.


Lagos, Nigeria 1900. Image via http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/growth-of-cities/

Perhaps not surprisingly, much of the most significant urban growth will take place in developing countries. Lagos, Nigeria is included in the series of interactive maps. Despite being the largest city in Africa, “two out of three residents live in slums, lacking viable access to clean water, waste, disposal, electricity and roads.” According to UN Estimates, Lagos will grow to become the world’s third most populous city by 2015.


Lagos, Nigeria Today. Image via http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/growth-of-cities/

It is striking to see how many of these megacities witnessed their greatest expansion in the last fifty years. Though many of these cities began as small clustered areas, quite often they fell victim to urban sprawl and expanded outwards rather than increasing in density.

found here:
http://www.archdaily.com/556088/interactive-infographic-tracks-the-growth-of-the-world-s-megacities/

Explore the full interactive map and learn more about the urban development of 10 of the worlds largest megacities here:
http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/growth-of-cities/

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How branding can help humanise our megacities
by Peter Knapp, 20.10.2014


How branding can help humanise our megacities

As cities grow faster, bigger, wider, taller we are all being dwarfed. In 2011, there were 23 urban agglomerations that qualified as megacities, with populations exceeding 10m inhabitants. By 2025, there will likely be 37, writes Peter Knapp, global creative officer at Landor Associates.

Along with the rise of megacities is the rise of equally mega developments. From East London to Guangzhou in China, huge faceless canyons of concrete and glass are springing up every year that dwarf what we are used to: a sense of human scale. City growth is of course a prerequisite of urban development, something that’s been going on for thousands of years. We can't stop it but how do we adapt to it?

The answer is to break these architectural jungles down into something that we can relate to. There is growing demand for a more profound sense of territorialism to our urban environments, a new age of tribalism if you like, and in order to meet that challenge we must create stronger and more distinctive regions, territories, places, districts, boroughs and landmarks.

The rate of city growth today means leaving it to organic progression, where it is driven largely by local citizens, is no longer realistic. A more robust, civic approach is required, with place branding principles at the heart.

more here:
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1316891/branding-help-humanise-megacities

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At Home in a Crowd
There are 28 urban areas worldwide with at least 10 million people. By 2030, 12 more are expected to enter the ranks of the planet's megacities.
Published Sep. 9, 2014

check out the map here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2014-09-09/global-megacities-by-2030.html

Movie Trailer - "Ex Machina" (from the screenplay write of 28 Days Later, Dredd, and Sunshine)

Another film showing us The Future:




Context:

Transhumanism Update - Posthuman Doctrine - 04.27.2014

 

The Pope and Elon Musk

Pope Francis: Evolution and Big Bang Theory Are Real

Big Bang theory and evolution in nature "do not contradict" the idea of creation, Pope Francis has told an audience at the Vatican, saying God was not “a magician with a magic wand.” The Pope’s remarks on Monday to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences appeared to be a theological break from his predecessor Benedict XVI, a strong exponent of creationism.

“The beginning of the world is not the work of chaos that owes its origin to something else, but it derives directly from a supreme principle that creates out of love,” Pope Francis said. “The Big Bang, that today is considered to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the creative intervention of God; on the contrary, it requires it. Evolution in nature is not in contrast with the notion of [divine] creation because evolution requires the creation of the beings that evolve.”

The Pontiff said God created beings “and let them develop in accordance with the internal laws that he has given to each one.” He said: “When we read in Genesis the account of creation [we are] in danger of imagining that God was a magician, complete with a magic wand that can do all things. But he is not.”

found here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-francis-evolution-big-bang-theory-are-real-n235696




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Elon Musk: ‘With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.’
By Matt McFarland October 24

 Tesla chief executive Elon Musk warned that artificial intelligence could be our biggest existential threat and believes there should be some regulatory oversight at the national and international level, while speaking at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics department’s Centennial Symposium Friday. (MIT Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has warned about artificial intelligence before, tweeting that it could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons. Speaking Friday at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics department’s Centennial Symposium, Musk called it our biggest existential threat:

    I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I were to guess like what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that. So we need to be very careful with the artificial intelligence. Increasingly scientists think there should be some regulatory oversight maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish. With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like yeah he’s sure he can control the demon. Didn’t work out.

Musk was so caught up on artificial intelligence that he missed the audience’s next question. “Sorry can you repeat the question, I was just sort of thinking about the AI thing for a second,” he said.

Musk spoke expansively for over an hour, at one point even asking a MIT student what his favorite sci-fi books were. He left to a standing ovation.

here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/10/24/elon-musk-with-artificial-intelligence-we-are-summoning-the-demon/

full interview here:
http://webcast.amps.ms.mit.edu/fall2014/AeroAstro/index-Fri-PM.html

When Google Met WikiLeaks - Cyberpunk Dystopia

Julian Assange Talks to Vogue.com About His New Book, When Google Met WikiLeaks
OCTOBER 24, 2014 10:53 AM
by DW GIBSON



You make a few references to Orwell, and sometimes the way you write about the Internet makes me feel like we’re walking right into a Philip K. Dick book.

"Yeah, that’s right. The cyberpunk dystopia is here. Well, we’ve walked into a lot of things. In the introduction, I cite what I find to be Orwell’s most prescient and interesting essay from 1945, “The Atomic Bomb and You,” where he lays out and predicts the various strategic realities that stem from the invention of the atomic bomb, which held true for the next 50 years. Orwell laid it out very publicly what was likely to happen and it didn’t stop it from happening. But on the other hand, we didn’t end up with World War III either. And not ending up with World War III isn’t something that just happened. A lot of people fought quite hard to educate everyone about what the dynamics were that were occurring what everyone was entering into and to try and lay down some safeguards to prevent the world from ending up in Armageddon."

read here:
http://www.vogue.com/3300203/julian-assange-interview-when-google-met-wikileaks/