Posts by "qiman"

Extraordinary performance, one of the all-time blowouts at this stage, aided by a pathetic Argentinian defense. I preferred watching it on the Mexican station for added drama and passion! Congrats to the Germans on this forum, you have an exciting and very skilled team, with an infusion of youth. My favorite goal was Podolski to Klose, great unselfish teamwork.

Anxiety is mounting in financial markets that a prolonged bout of political uncertainty in Belgium following national elections next Sunday could prevent decisive action to tackle the nation's debt mountain that threatens to turn it into "the Greece of the north".

Interest rates on 10-year Belgian government bonds jumped from 3.15 to 3.50 per cent last week and investors are demanding a mounting premium to hold the debt over corresponding German paper.

Belgium's debt is currently at 99 per cent of its gross domestic product, the highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy, and is forecast to exceed GDP by the end of the year
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a37cfa18-71ca-11df-8eec-00144feabdc0.html

Regarding the comment that this technique is "sooo old":

"From the information released by UTA, we don't know precisely what innovation the scientists stumbled upon. The Austin TV reporter quoted Prof. Dennis as saying: "I had the idea for this while I was walking to my car. I ran back to the lab and I started drawing it out in my notebook."

As the scientists describe it, though, the technology uses "micro-fluidic reactors" that convert coal to synthetic crude at a fraction of the cost incurred with traditional conversion methods - and in a fraction of the time."

BTW, one of my best friends since childhood is a highly experienced petroleum engineer for the EPA in the Houston area--he disagrees with those who are immediately writing this off. And history is full of eureka moments that radically improve technology. Time will tell, as with all purported technological breakthroughs . . .

@said: Pretty big topic, but from my perspective we are in the middle of a massive shift in the balance of power, where both the Euro and Dollar in the next few years will likely face major difficulties, or even sooner. The US has just about bankrupted itself with endless wars and charity to the banksters, and the EU was built on a shaky foundation. Both have major structural problems in too many area to mention. The dollar is the least ugly of major currencies--for now! You mentioned 5 years. I personally am holding some physical gold and silver in light of the massive QE around the globe, which will eventually create inflation, but only when the velocity of money increases. Could be deflation first. Five years is a long time in this market, but I like the PMs at the end of that period as an investment and an insurance policy against the printing presses.

As far as nations, I believe Brazil is gaining much momentum as a power while the developed economies stumble and fumble, India as well. Russia has done little to change its long term prospects. China and the US are just about certain to clash in a major way.

We are about to enter more volatile and dangerous times. As traders we should be able to make a alot of money from these energies--taking advantage of the chaos instead of being its victim. But only if we can flow with the trends and set our biases aside quickly!

I agree 100 % regarding being nimble--the markets can do anything at anytime! I only trade Futures, and I've seen that at times some of the worst traders are lawyers, who by training may want to keep arguing with the market. Flexibility in light of changing energetic patterns, that is what will keep you alive. Some of my best trades have been quick reversals upon seeing my view of probable price movement was in error.