U.S. stocks capped off a solid week on either side of the break even line Friday, as investors hesitated to make big bets ahead of a key vote on a second bailout for Greece.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points, or 0.4%, closing at the highest level since May 2008. The S&P 500 edged up 3 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq lost 8 points, or 0.3%.
Courtesy of PumpsandDumps In spite of of BestTopPennyStocks.com’s assertions that they “found a new company that has us very excited right now”, that warranted “a new alert”, there is nothing new about Varca Ventures (VRCV) or their participation in Pump & Dump schemes. In fact, it was BTPS who headed up a group of 6 touts in last December’s attempt to allow insiders to cash in at the expense of gullible investors.
“VRCV just made a GIGANTIC announcement. We’ve been watching this company for a while now and were planning on bringing it our members very soon… but this news has forced our hand… it’s that big! So start your research right away”
Anybody else notice that AwesomePennyStocks.com and all of those other touts participating in the first major stock scam of the year, North Springs Resources, stopped their daily barrage of 100s of emails today? Somebody predicted this was going to happen this week, now who was that? Oh yeah, it was us! Without all of that email creating the hot air that’s holding this garbage up, expect this thing to tank and tank hard in short order.
One issue being pumped really hard lately is Hybrid Fuels, Inc and why not? After all it has $550 in the bank, $6,000 in revenues for the last reported quarter and yet the company is only worth $15 million. Now if you’re banking on Azul Instant, Nouveau Life Pharmaceuticals’ natural male enhancement product that is the rage of the reverse takeover of HRID and the scheme behind the current Pump & Dump, then we understand, but could anybody tell us where you can buy this wonder drug? Or how about sales to date, because it’s going to take the hardening of a lot of male members to make this thing worth any close to $15 million.
It is amazing to us that people are still falling for the Lone Star Gold (LSTG) scam. This Pump & Dump just turned 6 months old and has generated 10s of millions of dollars in investor losses in that time, while creating that amount of gains for insiders.The stock is trading at a third of the highs achieved early in the campaign and yet suckers continue to lap this crap up as the pumping emails continue. Allvaro Vollmers, the brains behind this Ponzi scheme has his next con job, American Liberty Petroleum (OREO) all lined up and ready to go, but has delayed its start because even he can’t believe that he still has buyers for his intrinsically worthless paper.
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Thanks to an explosion of Keynesian deficit spending around the world, an explosion that has predictably correlated with weak economic output, major ink is being spilled about the economic crack-up unfolding before our eyes. To state the obvious, wasteful, capital destroying governments can only spend what they first extract from the private sector.
In the above sense government spending is always and everywhere an economic retardant. That’s the case because governments by definition are not disciplined by profit, thus explaining spending that merely consumes capital.
A new year, an old investor dilemma: Is it better to run with last year’s biggest winner even though it has gotten pricier, or to shift money into the losers even though they might have further to fall?
This time around, the winner is the U.S. In 2011, stocks broadly stunk and bonds shined, but U.S. issues of both outdid those of most foreign rivals.
There’s reason to believe the U.S. will compare well in 2012, too. “We think it’s in a major uptrend versus other regions,” says Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer of U.S. Trust.
Courtesy of Pumps & Dumps: Having found their massive Pump & Dump on Amwest Imaging (AMWI) unexpectedly derailed earlier this month, the criminals behind AwesomePennyStocks.com and its sister promoters have taken on North Springs Resources (NSRS) as their latest scam. And what a scam.
The company has a total asset value of $60,589 according to their last financials filed for October 31, 2011, including $16 in cash and mineral properties they value at $59,990. That means that they feel that their mineral properties have no intrinsic mineral value whatsoever. And yet, the stock current has a market cap of $300 million. Seriously what is wrong with the public, the SEC and all of these criminally intended predators these days?
The stock market ended a tumultuous year right where it started.
In the final tally, despite big climbs and falls, unexpected blows and surprising triumphs, all the hullabaloo proved for naught. On Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed at 1,257.60. That’s exactly 0.04 point below where it started the year.
Housing, Stocks, Gold & Oil: Hot or Not in 2012? – Nin-Hai Tseng, Fortune
A Bullish Dollar & Other Surprises For 2012 – Matthew Lynn, MarketWatch
Dogs of the Dow Big Winners In 2011 – Steven Russolillo, MarketBeat
Grim Lessons from the 30 Years War – Wolfgang Munchau, Financial Times
3 Stocks Likely to Crash Harder Than Sears – Jeff Reeves, MarketWatch
The Banda Islands Teach Us about Capitalism – Michael Schuman, TIME
After a disastrous holiday shopping season, the parent company of Sears and Kmart will close at least 100 stores to raise cash — a move that sparked speculation about whether the 125-year-old retailer can avoid a death spiral fed by declining sales and deteriorating stores.
Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel Friday as worries over global security issues outweighed weak economic data in the U.S.
Benchmark crude ended the day at $99.68 per barrel in New York, up 15 cents. It rose as high as $100.23 during the session. Brent crude finished 7 cents higher at $107.96 a barrel in London.
Tensions between Iran and western nations, along with unrest in Syria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Iraq have raised worries that oil supplies could be disrupted if the unrest spreads or grows more serious.
