The Dalai Lama admits, "I love George Bush."
Beeqube and ROP reported:
The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed.
"It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here.
He also termed terrorism as the worst kind of violence which is not carried by a few mad people but by those who are very brilliant and educated.
"They (terrorists) are very brilliant and educated...but a strong ill feeling is bred in them. Their minds are closed," the Dalai Lama said.
He said that the only way to tackle terrorism is through prevention. The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile left the audience stunned when he said "I love President George W Bush." He went on to add how he and the US President instantly struck a chord in their first meeting unlike politicians who take a while to develop close ties.
Mourning the end of Bush era?
The Katrina Hurricane reflects President Bush’s term completely. He was the janitor who was left to clean up messes yet gets the blame for those messes. How in the world was anybody supposed to stop a hurricane that caused more damage than 10 nuclear bombs. In addition to the force of the storm the levies that were supposed to keep the water out of below sea level New Orleans were never fortified. The money that was sent to fix the levies had been stolen by corrupt local politicians and the money ended up in their freezers. Then GW gets the complete blame for not fixing the disaster in 24 hrs. Katrina was done masterfully considering the size and scope, but was twisted into a Bush disaster. They should have renamed it to Hurricane Bush.
Just like Katrina, every problem that GW is hated for can be directly traced to Dem neglect and corruption yet Bush gets the blame and hatred. The attacks on 911 were directly caused by the gutting and destruction of our intelligence community by Gorelick and the clinton regime yet President Bush was falsely blamed. That same CIA was handcuffed by clinton and the ones who gave supposedly false information on WMD and Bush gets blamed. He finishes the job that clinton should have done in Iraq and is vilified for freeing 25 million people from a brutal madman.
He made an attempt at solving gaping problems like energy, SSI and immigration only to be pilloried at every turn. Never mind that these issues are emotional traps, he had the courage to take them on and was stoned for those attempts. None of them have simple solutions yet he began the dialogue only to find out that these problems will never be solved since who wants the attacks that go with them.
His final trap was the financial meltdown. By all appearances it looks like he was performing a miracle keeping this economy moving forward for his first 8 yrs. He couldn’t keep that going once Lola Pelosi and Dirtbag Reid took over the District of Corruption. Their Party undermined the Banking industry and turned Fannie/Freddie into slush funds for Dem financing. That eventually toppelled those gummit corps just like the NO levies flooding the entire economy and Bush got the blame.
President Bush was always the Lifeguard who if he failed to revive the victim was tried for murder. He was the scapegoat for anything that went wrong as was the penchant of PravdABDNC. He risked everything over and over since he put his Country far above himself. Millions may hate him since he took on huge problems that didn’t have catchphrase answers. These were deeply complicated issues that were interwoven in corruption and deceit as well as DNC sacred cows. These issues had multiple layers and no matter how obvious the answer was going to be unpopular. Add to that a hostile opposition media that was going to fan any flames and he became an unpopular President.
The good news for us is that he doesn’t really care about popularity. He understands that popularity and leadership are polar opposites. He knows that to be popular you have to do nothing and spend all your time campaigning to make yourself look good. You may be popular but the problems are still there and likely getting much worse. Popular Presidents kick the cans down the street to the next President George W Bush. He understands that his 25% popularity represents real attempts at solving and in many cases actually solving those problems.
Katrina is the perfect symbol of W’s Presidency. It was a storm too big to solve by the gummit, yet he did all he could and took all the blame. Will he become more popular in the future? Who cares since President George W Bush doesn’t. His legacy is written in the lives of 50 million Iraqis and Afghani as well as no attacks since 911. That is worth 25% approval ratings to him.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
VIX Declines Below 40 as ‘Sheer Panic’ on Wall Street Recedes
By Jeff Kearns
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The benchmark index for U.S. stock options dropped below 40 for the first time since Oct. 2 as stocks climbed a second day and traders bet that this year’s record equity market swings will ease.
The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, dropped 3.9 percent to 40 and fell as low as 37.96. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which added 1.4 percent to reduce this year’s loss worst loss since the Great Depression to 38 percent.
“Going above that number was a really big indicator of sheer panic,” Dominic Salvino, a specialist at Group One Trading, the primary market maker for VIX options, said regarding the VIX exceeding 40 in an interview from the CBOE floor. “The market’s starting to stabilize a little bit.”
The gauge, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” because it almost always rises when stocks drop, measures expectations for volatility over the next 30 days. It fell 51 percent after closing at 80.86, the highest in its 18-year history, on Nov. 20 as the S&P 500 fell to an 11-year low. The VIX averaged 16.13 in the five years before 2008.
Stocks gained after fewer Americans filed for jobless benefits and the Treasury said it will expand aid to the car industry. The S&P 500 has rebounded 20 percent since its low last month.
VIX Futures
The second-most-active options on the VIX were January 40 puts, which added 53 percent to $2.60 and accounted for almost a sixth of the 17,550 puts traded today. January VIX futures lost 5.1 percent to 41.94. March futures slid 4 percent to 40.41.
“Volatility in the high-to-mid-30s and the 40s is what we’re going to be left with,” Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at OptionsHouse LLC, the Chicago-based online brokerage unit of PEAK6 Investments LP, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “That implies a 2-percent-a-day move in the S&P, and I think people would look at that now and say ‘Wow, the markets are calm.’”
The CBOE’s NDX Volatility Index, based on prices paid for options on the Nasdaq-100 Index, fell 2.1 percent to 40.79, the lowest level since Sept. 26. The Nasdaq-100, which get 59 percent of its market value from technology companies, rose 0.9 percent.
Investors use options to guard against fluctuations in the price of securities they own, speculate on share-price moves or bet that volatility, or stock swings, will increase or decrease.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 31, 2008 16:53 EST
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The benchmark index for U.S. stock options dropped below 40 for the first time since Oct. 2 as stocks climbed a second day and traders bet that this year’s record equity market swings will ease.
The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, dropped 3.9 percent to 40 and fell as low as 37.96. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which added 1.4 percent to reduce this year’s loss worst loss since the Great Depression to 38 percent.
“Going above that number was a really big indicator of sheer panic,” Dominic Salvino, a specialist at Group One Trading, the primary market maker for VIX options, said regarding the VIX exceeding 40 in an interview from the CBOE floor. “The market’s starting to stabilize a little bit.”
The gauge, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” because it almost always rises when stocks drop, measures expectations for volatility over the next 30 days. It fell 51 percent after closing at 80.86, the highest in its 18-year history, on Nov. 20 as the S&P 500 fell to an 11-year low. The VIX averaged 16.13 in the five years before 2008.
Stocks gained after fewer Americans filed for jobless benefits and the Treasury said it will expand aid to the car industry. The S&P 500 has rebounded 20 percent since its low last month.
VIX Futures
The second-most-active options on the VIX were January 40 puts, which added 53 percent to $2.60 and accounted for almost a sixth of the 17,550 puts traded today. January VIX futures lost 5.1 percent to 41.94. March futures slid 4 percent to 40.41.
“Volatility in the high-to-mid-30s and the 40s is what we’re going to be left with,” Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at OptionsHouse LLC, the Chicago-based online brokerage unit of PEAK6 Investments LP, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “That implies a 2-percent-a-day move in the S&P, and I think people would look at that now and say ‘Wow, the markets are calm.’”
The CBOE’s NDX Volatility Index, based on prices paid for options on the Nasdaq-100 Index, fell 2.1 percent to 40.79, the lowest level since Sept. 26. The Nasdaq-100, which get 59 percent of its market value from technology companies, rose 0.9 percent.
Investors use options to guard against fluctuations in the price of securities they own, speculate on share-price moves or bet that volatility, or stock swings, will increase or decrease.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 31, 2008 16:53 EST
Emerging-Market Stocks Sink in 2008, May Rebound on BRICs Rally
By Fabio Alves
Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks fell the most ever last year and investors are looking for Brazil, Russia, India and China to lead a reversal in 2009.
The global economic slowdown and slump in commodity prices sent the MSCI Emerging Markets Index tumbling 54 percent in 2008, compared with a 38 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a 42 percent loss in the MSCI World Index. Developing- nation stocks are trading near their cheapest levels in a decade.
Mark Mobius at Templeton Asset Management Ltd. and Uri Landesman at ING Groep NV are snapping up stocks of the so-called BRICs on speculation global infrastructure spending and interest- rate cuts will help the economies avoid the recessions hurting developed nations.
“Global rate cuts and stimulus plans are going to drive consumption, which most likely will be spent in infrastructure, thus boosting stocks of materials and energy producers of countries like Brazil and Russia,” said Landesman, who oversees $2.5 billion at ING’s asset management unit in New York.
The 746 companies in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index now trade at 8.5 times earnings, up from 6.1 times on Dec. 4, the cheapest in a decade.
The MSCI BRIC Index lost 58 percent last year after demand for oil, steel, iron-ore, soybeans and other raw materials waned. BRIC is an acronym coined by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2001 to encompass the four emerging markets it predicted would join the U.S. and Japan as the world’s biggest economies by 2050.
‘Wonderful Time’
“We’re having a wonderful time buying tremendous bargains,” Mobius, who oversees about $26 billion as executive chairman of Templeton, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Dec. 24. “As value investors, this is the best time to be investing.”
The worst U.S. housing slump since the Great Depression and credit losses of more than $1 trillion at financial firms worldwide pushed the global economy into a recession, prompting developed countries to cut interest rates and boost spending.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said he will increase spending on roads, bridges and public buildings to create 3 million jobs. The European Union disclosed a 200 billion-euro ($278 billion) stimulus proposal for the 27-nation economy. Japan will spend 10 trillion yen ($111 billion) on its economy while China announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) investment plan after its economy grew in the third quarter at the slowest pace in five years.
“I’m optimistic; I think we’ve taken our medicine,” said Arthur Byrnes, chairman of Deltec Asset Management Corp. in New York, which manages $750 million. “My view is we’ve seen the bottom and things are very cheap.”
Buy China, Brazil
Merrill Lynch & Co. said this month that even as global fund managers started reducing their allocations for emerging-market stocks for 2009, they are increasing those for equities in China and Brazil.
China’s CSI 300 Index, the biggest gainer in 2007 among 89 global stock markets tracked by Bloomberg, slid 66 percent last year, the first annual decline since it was created in April 2005. The index, a benchmark gauge of companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen, soared 162 percent in 2007.
Merrill’s global emerging-markets equity strategist Michael Hartnett said most fund managers were planning to buy shares in China and Brazil and sell those in Mexico and South Korea.
China’s CSI 300 index now trades at 12.6 times earnings, down from a peak of 53.2 times in October 2007. The 66 companies in Brazil’s Bovespa index trade at 8.8 times profit after reaching a high of 17.4 times on May 23.
China’s Economy
The World Bank forecasts China’s economy will expand by 7.5 percent in 2009, while the government is targeting 8 percent growth.
“Economic growth in China will be stronger in the second half of 2009 than people are currently discounting, so the outlook for emerging markets in 2009 is very positive,” Landesman said.
Brazil’s stock market is Landesman’s favorite among the BRICs, followed by Russia and China.
The Bovespa index, which lost almost half its value after reaching a record 73,516.81 on May 20, will rebound this year as the Brazilian central bank cuts borrowing costs to boost consumer demand, according to strategists. Banco Santander SA forecasts the Bovespa to rise 30 percent this year to 49,000.
Energy producer Petroleos Brasileiro SA and miner Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the two largest stocks in the Bovespa, fell 48 percent and 53 percent last year, respectively. Oil and raw material stocks account for 52 percent of the MSCI Brazil Index.
Russia
Russia’s ruble-denominated Micex Index was the worst performing market among the BRICs, losing 67 percent in 2008, as oil prices plunged to below $50 a barrel after reaching a record of $147.27 a barrel on July 11. Oil company OAO Gazprom, Russia’s biggest publicly traded company, plummeted 69 percent.
“We are maintaining an overweight on Russia because of valuations,” State Street Global Advisors Inc. global investment strategist George Hoguet said on Dec. 12. “The economy is facing strains due to oil but valuations are very, very cheap.”
India’s Sensitive index of 30 stocks had its biggest decline since 1980, when the measure began trading, dropping 52 percent in 2008 after climbing 47 percent the year before. ICICI Bank Ltd., the second-largest lender, fell 63 percent as the rupee slumped 19 percent against the dollar.
“If you look at places like China, India, even Russia, which now seems to be having problems, but they all are sitting on huge foreign reserves,” Mobius said. “They have booming economies, and there’s no reason why, going forward, they should not be the first ones to get the attention of investors.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Alves in New York at falves3@bloomberg.net;
Last Updated: December 31, 2008 18:20 EST
Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks fell the most ever last year and investors are looking for Brazil, Russia, India and China to lead a reversal in 2009.
The global economic slowdown and slump in commodity prices sent the MSCI Emerging Markets Index tumbling 54 percent in 2008, compared with a 38 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a 42 percent loss in the MSCI World Index. Developing- nation stocks are trading near their cheapest levels in a decade.
Mark Mobius at Templeton Asset Management Ltd. and Uri Landesman at ING Groep NV are snapping up stocks of the so-called BRICs on speculation global infrastructure spending and interest- rate cuts will help the economies avoid the recessions hurting developed nations.
“Global rate cuts and stimulus plans are going to drive consumption, which most likely will be spent in infrastructure, thus boosting stocks of materials and energy producers of countries like Brazil and Russia,” said Landesman, who oversees $2.5 billion at ING’s asset management unit in New York.
The 746 companies in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index now trade at 8.5 times earnings, up from 6.1 times on Dec. 4, the cheapest in a decade.
The MSCI BRIC Index lost 58 percent last year after demand for oil, steel, iron-ore, soybeans and other raw materials waned. BRIC is an acronym coined by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2001 to encompass the four emerging markets it predicted would join the U.S. and Japan as the world’s biggest economies by 2050.
‘Wonderful Time’
“We’re having a wonderful time buying tremendous bargains,” Mobius, who oversees about $26 billion as executive chairman of Templeton, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Dec. 24. “As value investors, this is the best time to be investing.”
The worst U.S. housing slump since the Great Depression and credit losses of more than $1 trillion at financial firms worldwide pushed the global economy into a recession, prompting developed countries to cut interest rates and boost spending.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said he will increase spending on roads, bridges and public buildings to create 3 million jobs. The European Union disclosed a 200 billion-euro ($278 billion) stimulus proposal for the 27-nation economy. Japan will spend 10 trillion yen ($111 billion) on its economy while China announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) investment plan after its economy grew in the third quarter at the slowest pace in five years.
“I’m optimistic; I think we’ve taken our medicine,” said Arthur Byrnes, chairman of Deltec Asset Management Corp. in New York, which manages $750 million. “My view is we’ve seen the bottom and things are very cheap.”
Buy China, Brazil
Merrill Lynch & Co. said this month that even as global fund managers started reducing their allocations for emerging-market stocks for 2009, they are increasing those for equities in China and Brazil.
China’s CSI 300 Index, the biggest gainer in 2007 among 89 global stock markets tracked by Bloomberg, slid 66 percent last year, the first annual decline since it was created in April 2005. The index, a benchmark gauge of companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen, soared 162 percent in 2007.
Merrill’s global emerging-markets equity strategist Michael Hartnett said most fund managers were planning to buy shares in China and Brazil and sell those in Mexico and South Korea.
China’s CSI 300 index now trades at 12.6 times earnings, down from a peak of 53.2 times in October 2007. The 66 companies in Brazil’s Bovespa index trade at 8.8 times profit after reaching a high of 17.4 times on May 23.
China’s Economy
The World Bank forecasts China’s economy will expand by 7.5 percent in 2009, while the government is targeting 8 percent growth.
“Economic growth in China will be stronger in the second half of 2009 than people are currently discounting, so the outlook for emerging markets in 2009 is very positive,” Landesman said.
Brazil’s stock market is Landesman’s favorite among the BRICs, followed by Russia and China.
The Bovespa index, which lost almost half its value after reaching a record 73,516.81 on May 20, will rebound this year as the Brazilian central bank cuts borrowing costs to boost consumer demand, according to strategists. Banco Santander SA forecasts the Bovespa to rise 30 percent this year to 49,000.
Energy producer Petroleos Brasileiro SA and miner Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the two largest stocks in the Bovespa, fell 48 percent and 53 percent last year, respectively. Oil and raw material stocks account for 52 percent of the MSCI Brazil Index.
Russia
Russia’s ruble-denominated Micex Index was the worst performing market among the BRICs, losing 67 percent in 2008, as oil prices plunged to below $50 a barrel after reaching a record of $147.27 a barrel on July 11. Oil company OAO Gazprom, Russia’s biggest publicly traded company, plummeted 69 percent.
“We are maintaining an overweight on Russia because of valuations,” State Street Global Advisors Inc. global investment strategist George Hoguet said on Dec. 12. “The economy is facing strains due to oil but valuations are very, very cheap.”
India’s Sensitive index of 30 stocks had its biggest decline since 1980, when the measure began trading, dropping 52 percent in 2008 after climbing 47 percent the year before. ICICI Bank Ltd., the second-largest lender, fell 63 percent as the rupee slumped 19 percent against the dollar.
“If you look at places like China, India, even Russia, which now seems to be having problems, but they all are sitting on huge foreign reserves,” Mobius said. “They have booming economies, and there’s no reason why, going forward, they should not be the first ones to get the attention of investors.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Alves in New York at falves3@bloomberg.net;
Last Updated: December 31, 2008 18:20 EST
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