SP Futures Up Sharply on 'Hopes of Chinese Yuan Strengthening'

While the SP 500 stock futures are indeed up about 15 handles, you'll forgive me if it seems like the rationale for this rally at a key resistance point is as thin as its volumes, or the integrity of its governance, and as contrived as the great reformer himself.

It looks like a fade, but we'll have to wait for tomorrow. Sometimes the trading desks and hedge funds like to probe higher in thin trade to find out where the stops are, and their position size, to determine the cost of a breakout, or a breakdown. You know, like the flash crash which the US capital allocation system most recently enjoyed.

US STOCKS-S&P futures surge at open after China's yuan move
NEW YORK
Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:14pm EDT

NEW YORK June 20 (Reuters) - S&P 500 stock index futures rose sharply at the start of trade on Sunday as investors bet China's announcement over the weekend to make the yuan more flexible will lift sales at U.S. multinationals over the long-term.

The rise suggests indexes will open higher on Monday and follows a strong start of trade for the Australian dollar and euro as China's move signals more yuan appreciation and was taken as a vote of confidence in the global economic recovery's staying power.

The revaluation will effectively increase the purchasing power of Chinese buyers and "the best bet would be for commodity-based companies and consumer goods companies," said Tom Sowanick, chief investment officer at Omnivest Group in Princeton, New Jersey earlier on Sunday.

S&P 500 futures SPc1 jumped 13.80 points to 1123.90 and were well above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Happy Father's Day

4 years: My Dad can do anything!
7 years: My Dad knows a lot…a whole lot.
15 years: My father does not know quite everything.
18 years: Father is so old-fashioned.
21 years: Oh, that man - he thinks he knows but he doesn't.
25 years: He knows a bit about it, but not much.
30 years: I might find out what Dad thinks about it.
35 years: Before we decide, we will get Dad's idea first.
50 years: What would Dad have thought about that?
60 years: My Dad knew literally everything!
65 years: I wish I could talk it over with Dad.

Not everyone has had a good and loving father. It is easier for a man to have children than for children to have a real father. And even if you had a good one, a great shock awaits when you realize that one day, no matter how badly you wish to speak with him, you can't; it is not possible.

And yet you do, and you can.

"Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God, "Abba." (Αββα) And Abba means 'Father.'"

"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

US Ceding Parts of Arizona to Criminal Activity, As It Has Been Doing in the Financial Markets

This situation is an analogue to the US economy, where increasingly larger portions of the financial markets in the US are being ceded to white collar fraud and manipulation by the gangs of New York. The problem is not with law enforcement per se, but that the basic functions of government are being overwhelmed by inept and corrupt lawmakers and regulators, the powerful rule of special interests, and a general lack of concern and disdain for the needs of the ordinary citizens. These are the root cause of the failures of government in the US.

This is not a problem of Republicans versus the Democrats. It is the age old problem of the avarice of an oligarchy of the self-proclaimed elites against the rights of the private individual, and the common people.

"From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia...could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide."

Abraham Lincoln

"In a press conference ignored by the American national media, the sheriff described how his deputies were outmanned and outgunned by the cartel smugglers who increasingly operate using military tactics and weapons. The result, said Sheriff Babeu, was that a wide corridor of Arizona from the border North to the outskirts of Phoenix is effectively controlled by the cartels. "We do not have control of this area," the sheriff said.

At the same time as the sheriff's ignored press conference, the national media did cover assurances from the Obama Administration that crime was down at the border; that the border had never been safer. This ludicrous propaganda was based on selected crime stats from San Diego, Phoenix, Austin and San Antonio. The new reign of terror on the border in Arizona was airbrushed out of the picture.

Here's the real picture Obama does not want you to see. Warning signs were posted this past month by the federal government 80 miles North of the border on the South side of I-8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend urging U.S. citizens not to camp or hike in the "Active Drug and Human Smuggling Area" because "Visitors May Encounter Armed Criminals."

Read the rest of the story at Crossing a Dangerous Threshold by Michael Panzner.

It is not a question of financial stimulus or fiscal austerity, which are a meaningless debate intended to distract attention from the much more serious problem. The fundamental issue is the enforcement of the laws, the administration of justice, the upholding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the reform of the financial markets and the economy. All things, all policies, are turned to foul ends while the system is driven by a fundamental corruption.

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustained recovery.

Gold and Silver Option Expiration Dates Remaining in 2010

Not all expirations are equally influential on the markets. As in the case of stocks it depends on the popularity of the contract, and of course the size and distribution of puts and calls at the various strike prices.

Investors can ignore these 'wiggles.' I tend to keep them in mind for entry and exit purposes for non-futures positions, and potential hedging in my trading portfolio.