U.S. Government Is Unaffordable and Unsustainable, Says David Walker

By David Walker

Former Comptroller General of the United States David Walker talks about the trouble with Obamacare and the sky high national debt. 

Just for starters he covers  how much to spend on national defense and outlines his top 3 reforms to fix the U.S. government.

Want more insightful talk on your money and investments? Subscribe now to Sound Money in your email, in iTunes, or via RSS. Email iTunes RSS

Here are a few highlights:

“America can definitely be made great again. It’s not too late, but what we need is a wakeup call, a call to action and a specific course correction to try to be able to make sure that we don’t repeat history.”

“President Obama promised … that he was going to be a uniter rather than a divider, and unfortunately, he hasn’t done that. Our financial condition today is much worse than when President Obama took office.

Frankly, from George Washington, who was our first president, to William Jefferson Clinton, who was our 42^nd president, we only accumulated $5.5 trillion in debt—and now we’re up to $17.5 trillion.”

“The government is going to always do more for the poor, for the disabled, and for the military, but … promises way too much and it subsidizes way too many people, and the result of that is that it creates a system that is unaffordable and unsustainable.”

“What a lot of people don’t realize is built into the Affordable Care Act, is a bailout provision for insurance companies. So that taxpayers are probably going to be on the hook for, you know, some large payments due to meet those guarantees.”

The article US Government Is Unaffordable and Unsustainable, Says David Walker was originally published at Casey Research

Sign up for one of our Free Trading Webinars....Just Click Here!

Adam's Video Update: Gold and Crude Oil Prices Head South

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, President of INO.com and Co-creator of MarketClub, with your mid day market update for Friday, the 12th of April.

Gold
Gold (XAUUSDO) continues to come under pressure and is going to close out the week on a negative note. It would appear as though nobody wants to hold gold anymore. The gold market is close to a key area of support around the $1,500 area. A close below that area today does not auger too well for this market. Rumors that Cyprus is selling gold to improve its bank balances is also adding downside pressure on an already depressed market. We will be checking in on gold today and analyzing just how far this market can go from here.

Watch Today's Video Update Here

Crude Oil
The crude oil market (CL.M13.E) flashed another negative Trade Triangle this morning is quickly entering a critical juncture were it needs to find support. At the moment, we are in choppy trading markets that are indicative of potential trend changes in the future. We will be jumping into the oil patch today and analyzing just what's going on with this market using our Trade Triangle technology.

The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ
The key thing in trading is not to fight the major trend, the odds favor letting the trend develop and then move with the trend. At the beginning of 2013, many analysts were thinking the fundamentals and debt load was too great for stocks to move higher. Since that time, we have seen double digit moves in the major indices.

Using our Trade Triangle technology, we were able to capture 95% of the move up and remain positive on the market. Providing that the Fed keeps pumping money into the system to the tune of $85 billion a month, will the market continue to move higher? On the other hand, markets have a tendency to over shoot both on the upside and downside. Technical analysis can help in deciphering when the market is changing course.

Bailout Nation
Once again, Cyprus is in the headlines over confusion with the state of the financial bailout and it has led to some sharp moves in European markets this Friday. The negative market action wiped out most of the positive reaction and the better-than-expected Euro-zone industrial production figures. The story on Cyprus has not yet been written and I still believe that Cyprus is the tip of the iceberg for Europe.

Watch Today's Video Update Here

Potential Chaos Ahead
North Korea - ticking down towards ...
Japan - Kuroda is the king risk
Europe - Portugal and Ireland - economic risk
The Fed - Hints QE is coming to an end
May 19th – Debt ceiling suspension expire

Have a great trading day,

Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-Creator, MarketClub

Check out our "Trade Triangle Technology" and give it a test drive!

Crude oil appears to set a near term bottom

Crude oil for August delivery closed sharply higher on Friday gaining $7.27 to settle at $84.96 a barrel, above the 20 day moving average crossing at 82.52 confirming that a short term low has been posted. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Sunday's night session begins.

Stochastics and the RSI are oversold but are turning bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If August renews this spring's decline, the 75% retracement level of the 2011-2012 rally crossing at 73.28 is the next downside target.

First resistance is the reaction high crossing at 87.32. Second resistance is the reaction high crossing at 92.52. First support is Thursday's low crossing at 77.28. Second support is the 75% retracement level of the 2011-2012 rally crossing at 73.28.

European leaders attending a two day summit agreed early Friday on a plan to use bailout funds to directly aid banks in Spain and Italy. The move in crude oil futures came as investors cheered the plan to help the euro zone's struggling banks.

The move, along with plans to bring Europe closer together, led to a surge in the euro, equities and commodities markets. The euro recently traded at $1.2684, up 1.9% from $1.2444 on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently traded 1.5% higher at 12,789.

Get our Free Trading Videos, Lessons and eBook today!

Monday Precious Metals and Equity Prices are Marked UP!

The past couple months have been a roller coaster ride for investors and traders. Overseas headline news has made investing and trading more difficult than normal because of prices gaping up or down at the opening bell several times per week. The next two weeks are going to be even crazier because of the Greek election and Spanish bank bailout.

This past weekend it looks as though the Spanish banks are getting bailed out which will be similar to the 2008 – 09 bailout we saw in the United States. This news has marked up stocks and commodity prices during overnight trading Sunday. The major indexes are up 1-2% across the board.

Looking at the technical and sentiment this is what I feel will take place and how it can be attacked…

Major stock indexes and commodities will be trading at resistance at the open on Monday.

And the dollar which was hit hard in overnight trading Sunday is now trading at support. A bounce in the dollar and sellers stepping in at resistance could pull the market down for session or two.

The big questions is what do traders do with this jump stocks and commodities?

The first 15 minutes of Monday’s session short sellers will be panicking out of their positions and getting stopped out. Once the dust starts to settle resistance and an oversold dollar may do their part and force the market lower later in the day.

Now if we add sentiment into this picture thinking of the masses covering their short positions in a big way we know from past events that when the masses all trade the same direction the market quickly reverses goes the opposite direction in the short term for 1-3 days.

So what does one do if they are short the market this week as I am in this boat?

Personally, I would wait 15-30 minutes to let things unfold and see what the price, volume and sentiment is doing. Keep in mind morning trends tend to stall out and roll over at 10am ET, or 11:30am ET. Knowing that; I will be watching price and volume to see if there is a bearish intraday pattern unfolding that looks as though it will unfold within those time frames. If so, I will hold my position and look for a reversal back down where I can exit at a lower price hopefully. But for all we know this news may just put the top market and we get much lower prices yet. Anyways, that is my plan as of Sunday night.

Stocks, Gold & Dollar Rising Together?

The recent few months I have been talking about how we could stocks, commodities and the dollar rise together. While is sounds crazy we just may start seeing that happen sooner than later. The Euro group appears to be willing to bailout the Spanish banks and that should cause the Euro lose more value and send the US dollar soaring.

Having more Euro liquidity is bullish for stocks and commodities along with the dollar. For all we know this just may be the financial storm for American’s next eggs (investments owned in Dollars) to rebound strongly over the next 12 months.

Follow Chris Vermeulen at the Traders Video Playbook com

Phil Flynn: Greased Lightening!

Greece throws the world in turmoil as France and Germany says that the Greece referdum is a vote on whether Greece wants to stay in the Euro Zone. In the mean time, Big Bad Ben Bernanke says that QE 3d is a real possibility as he lowers the growth and jobs forecast for the US economy. The Energy Information agency added a few surprises with a big build in crude oil and a disturbing drop in distillates that could send chills across your spine if you heat your home with heating oil. Yet the markets seemr to hope that the nova convening G20 can bring order back to the market place in a world where we don't know where the next crisis might come from.

Now austerity is one issue but having a sugar daddy to pay your bills is another. Greek PM Papandreou threw caution to the wind for what purpose no one is quite sure. If it was to save his political backside well perhaps he is one. European leaders on the other hand reframed the debate by telling the people of Greece that the referendum vote about the Greek bailout package may be a vote on whether they want to be in or out of the EU.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pulled the plug on the euro zone rescue aid driving Greek bonds to 100% and perhaps putting the country on the verge on bankruptcy. Sarkozy says that there will be, "no French taxpayer money, no German taxpayer money" until the question is answered. In the meantime global markets tank but are finding hope that somehow the G20 will restore sanity or a split in Papandreou inner circle might find hope that Greece will accept its partners handout.....Read Phil's entire article.