Bloomberg Fails at News Reporting

I am headed to the elevators as I have to leave the office for a quick meeting as the personal assistant of our CMO joins me for the ride down to the parking garage. She is one of the new employees at our firm and from what I have heard she is a nice fit. She greets me with a smile which I politely return. She asks me which floor I need and she quickly realizes we have the same destination.

As the elevator starts to descend she turns my way and asks me if she may point out something to me. I look at her and can tell she is very tense at the moment. I stop the elevator and tell her to go ahead. She breathes a sigh of relieve and takes her Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, which we all received as we struck a deal with Samsung rather than with Apple, and opens an article she bookmarked which was published over at Bloomberg.

The headline of the article read: Kansas’s Self-DestructButton: A Bill to Outlaw Sustainability. The headline struck me as very odd and she asks if she may read the article aloud to me. I insist on it and she presents the article to me. The center-piece of the article evolves around House Bill No. 2366. The article was written by Tom Randall who happens to be Bloomberg’s own Deputy Sustainability Editor and by his own accounts grew up in the Sunflower State.

House Bill No. 2366 would prohibit spending of state as well as municipal funds on sustainable energy projects. At first I was shocked that Kansas would even consider such a move and Bloomberg’s headline sure does contribute to reader’s thinking that Kansas does not want to develop sustainable energy projects.  It is sad that Bloomberg would allow a communist retard like the author of the article to contribute to his news empire. Bloomberg is better than this.

Mr. Randall insists that readers read the full text of HouseBill No. 2366. After reading the bill and having the article of Mr. Randall in mind it is clear that the entire article is written in a very misleading format. On top of that it is clear that the author is socialist and member of Dumbama’s party which continue to urinate on our constitution.

House Bill No. 2366 is designed to outlaw state or municipal funds for sustainable projects, but private companies are welcome to build as they please. In other words, Kansas seeks to let the private sector develop the field and remain out of it. Kansas seeks to be a more capitalistic and free state, unlike what the socialist try to do. This means that Kansas can reduce socialistic spending and get on a path to manage their budget which will eventually lead to a decrease in taxes and spill over into sustainable economic expansion. Of course Dumbama’s socialist would hate to see a state succeed using a capitalistic approach.

Dennis Hedke is the author of the bill and yes he has ties to the oil and gas industry, and Kansas is the eight largest oil producing state in the U.S. Go ahead and claim that is the reason why House Bill No. 2366 was created. Kansas oil fields are dropping rather fast in production and reserves are being depleted. This bill only bans the spending of taxpayers money on project which are best left to the private sector.

Go and bite it you socialistic pricks with your misleading news agenda. Kansas does not outlaw sustainable development, it outlaws socialism!

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Profi Forex Review

Today we will take a look at a fairly new forex broker named Profi Forex. The Last Bear did not know about this broker, but came across its name in several forex forums so we decided to check them out and see what they have to offer. We were a bit skeptical from the start as the name irritated us, but we decided to move past the name and review them anyway despite their first bad impression. Actually the name was the second bad impression; the first one was the forum posters who launched a desperate attempt to promote them had terrible English skills.

So, before we even went to their website Profi Forex received two strikes, which is a terrible position to start an evaluation process. Three strikes and you are out. So we trotted over to their home page and bam, strike three. This would be the end of our review as this broker struck out before we got started, but this would not be fair to our readers so here are the reasons why you should stay away from this broker:

1. The guys who run and operate Profi Forex did not care to spend enough time and money to design an acceptable website and give that this is their primary source of communication with potential clients they have failed. In case they did not have the required funds to pay for design, another red flag. You don’t want to trade with a broker who can’t afford an acceptable online presence through their website.


2. They claim their team has three years of trading experience. That is not even enough to understand the basics of forex trading. In other words they told you that they are inexperienced, stay away from them. Even worse they think three years in the forex market is enough experience to run a forex broker. Terrible idea!


3. They offer jobs to traders in order to manage client’s funds, but they do not offer PAMM accounts. They also do not have the required license which is a big red flag. They claim that after you prove our trading skills to them, which require no more than to make between $100 and $200 in your trading account, that they will assign you client’s funds between $2,000 and $10,000. This is absolute non-sense and on top of that illegal. Furthermore they claim you will earn roughly 30% or 35% in commissions. Ludicrous!


4. There are forex brokers who cater to professional traders as well as institutional clients and there are forex brokers who cater to retail clients. Profi Forex does neither and appears to cater to individuals who have never placed a trade in their live with a mindset that they will lose their deposits. They do not offer any educational services, well they do but what they have put up and call a forex course is the same as not having one.

Conclusion

Profi Forex started with two strikes before we even took a look at their website and we had very low expectations. Profit forex managed to come in way below expectations and we stop shy of labeling it a bucket shop. We recommend that you stay as far away with your deposits as possible from this institution. It is hard to even call them a forex broker. Two claws down, The Last Bear has roared.

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Ukrainian Killer Dolphins went AWOL

I arrived at the office early this Tuesday as I am well rested and finished my work-out much faster than anticipated. My personal assistant brings me my breakfast as I am prepared for my work day and strikes some casual conversation about the Ukrainian killer dolphins who went AWOL (Absence Without Leave, a military term when a soldier is not accounted for, but had no permission to be absent).

I ask her where she got that piece of information from and she replies with a counter-question about my knowledge of killer dolphins. She said she was quite surprised that there is such a thing as a killer dolphin since they must be among the nicest mammals on the planet, especially to humans as there have been plenty of reports where dolphins saved the life of humans in distress.

It is true and I add that dolphins are highly intelligent mammals which is why the military has trained dolphins back in the 70’s to perform tasks for several naval forces around the globe, but namely for the former Soviet Union as well as the U.S. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry denied reports that the dolphins went AWOL and also denied that such a program existed. They did acknowledge that they had a total of five dolphins which were used for non-military purposed and even loaned them to work with disabled children.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Black Sea Fleet was divided into Russian as well as Ukrainian fleets and the Ukrainian Navy received the dolphin commando. The dolphins are trained to use special knifes as well as pistols in order to attack and kill enemy divers, sniff out dangerous mines in the seabed and even attach explosive devices to enemy naval vessels. Ukraine currently has five dolphin commandos, three of them who escaped almost three weeks ago during a training exercise.

It is believed that the three dolphins went AWOL in order to search for mates as even dolphins have certain needs which they need to cater to. Their sex drive needs to be satisfied and since the Navy did not provide with maters for them they decided to go and look for sex partners on their own. It is very likely that the three commandos will return to their naval unit at the end of mating season.

According to a high-quality source it is not unusual for a few of the commandos to leave their units for this purpose, but that they always return back to their unit. Reports about killer dolphins or dolphin commandos are nothing new, but most deny that the mammals are trained for combat. The U.S. admits they use dolphin commandos for intelligence as well reconnaissance purposes.

Another report suggest that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia did not have the necessary finances in order to maintain their dolphin commandos which is why they decided to turn it over to Ukraine while another unit was reportedly sold to Iran. This is rather troublesome that Iran has dolphin commandos in their naval arsenal. Russia under the leadership of President Putin has most likely re-started a dolphin commando and added it to its naval forces among a strong modernization as well as military upgrade program thanks to the countries new riches, while the U.S. may be forced to abandon their commandos.

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Mr. Obama Fumbles Boston Terrorist

I have called a meeting with my security personnel before lunch in order to discuss the overall security situation and potential threats against executive officer. The memories of last year’s attack on our office in Singapore are still relatively fresh. Six assassins were hired in order to take out three executive officers including myself. While all six have been processed, we still do not know about their contractor and who planned, financed and order the high-level attack.

Our security procedures have been overhauled and we think another attack is unlikely. I do have monthly meetings in order to get a better idea about the security risks as well as direct threats against us. I also assigned a task force lead by the chief of my personal security team in order to track down the unknown variables of the attack and determine who was behind it.

Last week’s Boston terror attacks do come up in our conversation, although a correlation between those attacks and the attack against us last year in Singapore is not present, as Boston felt safe as New York became a memory and on Patriot Day two brothers from Chechnya did carries out a cowardly attack during the Boston Marathon (Boston Marathon Terror Attacks).

On Tuesday there was an unrelated attack on the Senate via the use of Ricin in a letter send to a Republican Senator Wicker of Missouri. Wednesday was followed by an explosion at a Texas plant which left entire neighborhoods shattered and residents displaced as up to 35 lost their lives. On Thursday the Boston terrorists struck again, the older brother was killed during a firefight while one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. modern history started for the younger brother.

He was finally captured on Saturday, and of course the administration of the biggest scam in American history fumbled it as they proceeded to interrogations without reading him his rights. He may be from Chechnya, but he is an American citizen who does have constitutional rights. His socialists have voiced their anger towards Mr. Obama as he violated the rights of an American citizen which could backfire legislative procedures and the terrorists, which Dumbama failed to classify as such, may get a sentence which is far less than what a terrorist who is directly responsible for the death of at least five innocent humans should receive.

On the other hand Republicans are angered with Obama as he did not label the terrorist and enemy combatant with no rights. He has lost all his constitutional, civil and human rights when he decided to launch a terror attack. His Miranda rights were not read to him, and he remains in serious condition unable to communicate as a team of counter-terrorism agents stand by to question him.

All of this should be abandoned and a military commission should take over from here as a terrorist is an enemy combatant, regardless if he is home-grown or not. He may have information which could prevent another attack or at least reveal a terrorist cell within the U.S. He does not deserve the human treatment civil rights group call for as he denied his victims the same. Of course the administration of the incompetent future historic fraud Obama fumbled the case and showed the world a very weak America which may encourage other homegrown terror networks to step up their agendas and increase attacks against innocent human beings.

The U.S. has grown dangerously weak and all enemies to the country are well aware of that. We expect a severed destabilization of national security as more and more terror networks will attempt to strike the country, especially as Dumbama communicates a sign of extreme weakens to the rest of the world. It is sad for every American citizen that this idiotic caricature was allowed to rape the U.S. constitution for two terms.

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FxOpen Review

Today we will take a look at a forex broker which named itself FxOpen. There is not too much hype online about them so we decided to evaluate this forex broker a bit closer and see if we can find features we really like about them and can’t find anywhere else. So far, we still have PaxForex as our primary choice for new traders so let’s see if FxOpen can steal the show or nestle below them.

When you first visit the corporate website of FxOpen you will see that for 2011 they were awarded, or at least they claim that they were, ‘Best Awarded Trading Terminal’. This is very strange and already raised our eyebrows. The reason behind it is that they offer their clients the MetaTrader 4 platform which is the most widely used trading platform for forex traders.

Every single forex broker offers this platform which means there is nothing unique about it at first sight. Before we judged them on it, we took a second as well as third look and they do offer one unique add-on for their MT4 platform:

• ECN Currency Trading One Click Trading Level 2 Add-On

This allows clients who open an ECN account to enjoy ECN trading from their MT4 platform through this add-on. This add-on is rather nice for their ECN clients, but overall we would have preferred that they offer a unique platform for ECN clients who need to have a $1,000 minimum deposit in order to be allowed to trade from an ECN account. We do have to admit that offering ECN trading through the MT4 platform is unique and we like unique forex brokers. The also allow ECN traders to trade as little as 0.01 lots which is also a nice feature and definitely boosted their rankings in our book.

FxOpen does offer PAMM accounts which is a nice feature especially for those new forex traders who rather have another person manage their trading accounts. Spreads they offer in their accounts are acceptable and they offer 28 currency pairs as well as gold and silver in their Standard Account. Another positive is that they are regulated in New Zealand which offers an additional layer of security to forex traders.

They offer an analytical service which we have to dismiss as non-sense as the analysis provided is not beneficial to any trader. They offer you some basic analysis and it appears that it is written by an individual which is either not a direct member of FxOpen or they have a lousy policy on it as he gives his personal opinion which appears not to be supported by the broker. A big negative for FxOpen; either offer an analysis you support or don’t bother at all.

FxOpen did a lousy job with their website design, which of course is nothing major but appearance is important when you try to establish yourself as a top tier forex broker. They should invest the capital and give their online presence a complete overhaul.

They claim they offer the same terms and conditions to retail traders as they offer to institutional clients. I am not sure that too many institutional clients even have an account with FxOpen so they try to talk themselves bigger than they are, which is another negative for them. It is obvious this company caters to retail clients which is perfectly fine, just don’t act like you are bigger or different then you are.

Conclusion

FxOpen is a decent choice as a forex broker and would have ranked much better if they did not try to claim they are a different broker that what they are. Their ECN add-on is great and innovative, but their analytical service drags them through dirt. Currency pairs offered as well as spreads are good, their design knocks them down again. In general we give them one claw up and one claw down, The Last Bear has roared!

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Falkland Islands Voted Pro-Britain

I am sitting in my home office and enjoy a beautiful night overlooking the Mediterranean. I laying in my cabana on my huge terrace under some palm trees and relax with a nice cup of coffee. It is nice to listen to the sound of silence and clear my head. I finish my coffee and close my eyes. I try to block out every thought, but usually fail at that. It was suggested to me that I should try to mediate or do more yoga as it will work wonders for my mind, body and soul.

I do miss the times when I did my daily yoga exercises. I always have something work related on the mind and sometimes it’s a nice surprise when I close my eyes and see which work related thought will rush through my mind. I get comfortable, close my eyes and the first thing that comes to mind is a minor side project that has to do with oil & gas exploration in the Falkland Islands.

The Falkland Islands are relatively small and not many pay attention to what is going on in this tiny British Oversees Territory. The first thing most people may think about when they hear Falkland Islands is the military conflict between Argentina, which refers to the islands as Las Malvinas, and the UK in 1982. Argentina invaded the archipelago and an undeclared two-month Falkland War started between the two countries which left roughly 907 dead.

The Falkland war started on April 2^nd 1982 when Argentine forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands as well as South Georgia. The British government dispatched naval forces in order to engage the Argentine Navy as well as Air Force and liberate Falkland Island. 74 days later Argentina surrendered on June 14^th 1982 and Britain re-established control of the island. 649 Argentinian soldiers died while 255 British soldiers lost their lives and three islanders were killed as well.

Here is an overview of losses as well as casualties

Since then there has been a calm hatred between Argentina, which continues to claim the island as its own, as well as the UK. In 2010 political relations soured rather fast and are now at a peak not seen since the Falkland War. The reason behind the renewed conflict was the discovery of roughly 60 Billion barrels of oil in Falkland territorial waters.

The estimated worth of the oil fields to the Falklands would be an estimated $167 Billion in royalties as well as taxes which it would receive through 26% of profits as well as 9% on every barrel sold. Given the fact that the Falklands have a population of less than 3,000, which are all British citizens under British law, this will be a tremendous boost for the Falkland economy.

On March 10^th as well as 11^th the islanders voted in favor to remain a British Oversees Territory. Argentina, which neither has the political not the military power to enter another war with Britain, has claimed the vote as illegal and vowed to disrupt the oil industry as much as possible. Argentine’s Latin American allies have voiced support for Argentina and swore their allegiance as well as support to the country.

Argentina and its allies, all of which claim that the Falklands belong to Argentina, do not allow ships under the Falkland flag to dock in its ports. They also ban every ship which assists the oil production in the Falklands to use their ports, tankers included. It may also sanction foreign companies operating in Argentina who support the Falkland oil exploration. They will only alienate Western allies and do nothing to disrupt the oil exploration. The UK supports oil exploration which will support the Falkland economy which said it will use part of the revenues to cover its defense costs as 1,500 British troops are garrisoned on Falkland and paid for by British taxpayers.

Five oil exploration companies have agreed to explore the oil reserves in the Falkland basin which shows that companies trust the British government much more than the empty Argentine threats. We are on board with the oil exploration and have a working interest in the project. I slowly fall asleep and get some much needed rest.

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Boston Marathon Terror Attacks

I was having a late night reservation for two at Le Louis XV– Alain Ducasse as I heard the shocking news about the Boston Marathon terror attack. My phone rang immediately after the first bomb exploded near the finishing line. The assistant of our CMO called all senior executives to let them know about an ongoing terror attack in Boston during Patriot Day. I was shocked to hear the news, the first terror attack on U.S. soil since the September 11^th terror attack which brought down the World Trade Center in my hometown.

My girlfriend has not arrived at the restaurant yet and I got on the phone with our contacts in Boston in order to find out more information. The Boston Marathon draws plenty of runners from all over the world and is one of the highlights of Boston.

Sources claim the terror attack was sophisticated, but no terror organization has yet claimed responsibility. One bomb went off near the finishing line on the row with all the international flags which lead to the finishing line. Shortly after the first bomb exploded, the second bomb went off and cause havoc. A third bomb exploded in what was claimed to be an unrelated attack while other sources claim there were two more bombs which did not go off and have been defused.

Three innocent people lost their lives, while 154 others have been hospitalized. 17 of those were reported to be in critical condition with an additional 41 in serious condition. It was also reported that at least ten individuals have lost extremities. The scene in Boston is horrible and brings back very dark memories. Earlier claims that the bombs contained ball-bearings have been dismissed. The bombs were most likely placed in trash cans which acted as shrapnel during the blasts.

The location of the blasts may indicate that maximum damage was not the main objective of the attack. No arrests have been made in association with the terror attack, but reports leaked that one person of interest was guarded at one hospital while another source leaked information that the population should be on the lookout for a black male with a foreign accent. He was clothed in a black sweatshirt and carried a black backpack as he tried to access a restricted area roughly five minutes before the first bomb exploded.

Authorities have asked everyone to send photos taken to them and that no detail was too small. The use of social media in this case has never played as an important role as it does and will do in the Boston Marathon terror attack case. The Boston Marathon is the oldest one in the world and dates all the way back to 1897. It does not only mark the arrival of spring in Boston, but also commemorates the day of the opening battle during the Revolutionary War.

Given the attack some wonder if the Boston Marathon will ever be the same again and as my girlfriend arrives at the restaurant I am on the phone with our CMO and discuss the matter further. There has not been any chatter or hints that an attack was imminent. I end the conversation with telling our CMO that everyone needs to makes sure the Boston Marathon will remain the same as it always has and not allow the terrorists to win. I hope there will be a record turnout next year in Boston and all all remaining big marathons this year from New York to London in order to show those cowards that they will never change our way of living with their terror attacks. May freedom live on forever!

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Oanda Review

Today we will take a look at Oanda, a much talked about forex broker over at one of the most active forex forums for new trades; BabyPips. You will see this broker mentioned by just about every active member and Oanda does have their ads plastered across the board which makes you think twice about a few more active members who tend to push new and undecided traders the Oanda way.

While we do not want to say anything negative about the huge Oanda followers and how they casually mention them as the best broker every second chance they get, we decided to give them a closer look in a slightly different way as we have reviewed forex brokers before.

Since The Last Bear is a very optimistic outlet, we will start with what really like about this forex broker. They have been founded back in 1995 and started to offer forex trading to clients in 2001 which means they have stood the test of time. Oanda offers over 90 currency pairs as well as precious metals which is another positive for the company.

One of the biggest positives is that there have been no listed lawsuits as well as violations against Oanda, unlike FCXM. It does appear that Oanda does try to be very transparent and treat their forex traders fair and we respect that here at The Last Bear.

They also have their own trading platform which is an additional bonus. Their website is designed professionally, but the information provided did not satisfy us. There have been plenty of unanswered questions and Oanda tries to push you towards an account opening to find out more. We spend some time trying to find the answer or a FAQ section without success and did not bother to waste more time. A broker of this magnitude should be better presented. Live support may have helped, but we did not go down that road.

The number one reason we do not like this forex broker; no the reason we hate Oanda:

They are regulated in the U.S.! They subscribe to economic socialism and the Nazi regime of the CFTC.

While so many forex traders insist on a regulated broker, it is not always the best solution and in the case of Oanda it actually harms then thanks to the regulatory stupidity, and utter ignorance of the U.S. regulatory system. While plenty will throw out to newbies that the U.S. is the best and safest country to do business with, they seem to be stuck in the 70’s.

When you hear CFTC, pack your bags and move away!

The Last Bear understands that many voices will say that the CFTC rules and regulations do not impact novice traders, and are only designed to take the competitive advantage away from U.S. based professional traders and make sure they become the laughing stock of the global professional arena, The Last Bear advises to pick a forex broker which will never limit your ability to operate.

It is very important to build a long lasting relationship with your broker, assuming you are serious about forex trading, so why would you pick a forex broker who is bound by utmost retardation which will hinder you to operate freely? 

You would not and you should not. Having said that most traders will fail at forex trading and they may disregard Oanda’s handicap. The Last Bear recommends all serious forex traders to stay far away from the CFTC.

One thing about regulation most traders ignore is that your money is not safe or safer than with an unregulated broker. Regulation will hinder your activities, but not necessarily protect you. MF Global as well as PFG Best are prime examples of how the U.S. regulatory system did not protect clients so please do not be as idiotic as to assume that just because your forex broker is regulated you are safe.

Conclusion

Oanda does offer several attractive features and we would almost recommend them, but they have messed up completely as they are under the reign of the CFTC and our recommendation is for every serious trader who has at least two function brain cells left which attempt to communicate with each other in order to create an intelligent thought to stay as far away from Oanda as possible. Two claws down, The Last Bear has roared.

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Prudential’s Thiam versus FSA

It is a cloudy day today and it reflects on the mood of everyone. We have had a terrible 48 hours with some of the worst losses for the year. The weather just ads to the sour mood and I am dragging myself from the conference room to my office in order to give our latest forex trades a closer look. The NZDUSD currency pair really bent us over today and stuck it to us.

We lost two-fifths of our most active trading account due to a big trade against the Kiwi, and now we need to start the long and slow process to recovery. My personal assistant enters my office and she can tell by the look on my face that it has been a rough day. She sits down on the big, comfortable couch next to me and hands me one of my favorite candy bars. I take it with a short ‘thanks’ directed at her which she reciprocates with a smile and nod.

I unwrap it and take a bit as she leans back on the couch. Thiam really did it is the statement she initiates our conversation with as I lean back on the couch as well. I know it may have been inappropriate, but I give her a kiss on the forehead. Thiam sure did. We refer to Prudential plc’s Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam. He acted in the best interest of the company and all its shareholders as mandated by UK law and was punished for it by the FSA which gave him a public censure. This makes Thiam the only acting CEO of a FTSE 100 company to receive such a warning which stops shy of a fine or ban.

Back in February of 2010, February 12^th to be exact, Thiam offered £14.5 Billion for AIA Group Limited, which would have been Prudential’s largest acquisition and funded by the largest share sale in UK history, and met with the Financial Service Authority or FSA, the UK regulator, the same day without mentioning the planned transaction to the socialist pricks. The FSA learned about it in the press, just like everyone else does. I applaud him for that.

Prudential was fine £30 Million and did not even receive the standard 20% discount for cooperating and paying the fine without contesting it. The FSA continues to be furiously angered. Unfortunately they believe that they need to be informed over confidential talks. Prudential, the UK’s largest insurer, did not mention the planned acquisition due to leak risks as well as the sensitive nature of the potential transaction.

Prudential eventually failed to acquire AIA and together with the FSA fine spend £407 Million on the entire ordeal. Since the deal collapsed AIA has risen almost 50% while Prudential surged in excess of 90% which means both parties ended up better thanks to the collapse deal. Thiam tried to fight FSA accusations as they were damaging to his reputation. He failed just as he failed to acquire AIA.

The FSA may have received their fine and tried to tarnish Thiam’s reputation without much success, but the ultimate winner was Prudential under the leadership of their CEO. It is time the rules will be adapted in order to ensure that London will remain the financial capital of the world. The FSA needs to be stripped of its powers and regulation needs to be overhauled in order to be more effective and much, much less.

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Is Putin’s Russia the biggest winner of the U.S. induced financial crisis?

I have called a breakfast meeting with our senior executives in order to discuss Russia’s surge in investment banking and how our interests are aligned. It is no secret that the financial crisis which was induced by stupidity out of the most regulated part of the U.S. financial system, the mortgage market, caused the global system to weaken drastically as communist regulators tried to choke of financial evolution as well as competitiveness.

My personal assistant enters my office with a dossier which I need for the meeting and the two of us are headed towards the conference room. As we make it past security she tells me that she is convinced that the rest of the senior executives will agree with my proposal to exponentially increase our business with Russian investment banks and attempt to win some business with elite Russian oligarchs. I glance over at her with a smile of confidence and a minor nod of agreement.

I am the first executive in the conference room and my personal assistant heads over to get me my fresh squeezed orange juice with a squirt of lemon juice mixed in it. The conference room soon fills up with the rest of the executives whose presence I requested in order to discuss our Russian strategy. The U.S. financial system continues to remain on live support as Ben Bernanke, also known as the Septic Tank, and his Twelve Plumbers at the Fed continue to abuse their dead patient. This has caused prolonged struggle not only for the U.S., but has had negative impacts on the global financial system. Anything Bernanke does not manage to kill, Dumbama will finish of as he pisses on the U.S. constitution and is the biggest scam in American history.

Europe has struggled with their own debt contagion as the situation, especially in the Eurozone, deteriorates at an alarming pace due to the German Neo-Nazi invasion of Eurozone periphery countries under the lead of Angela Merkel who decided to take a page or fourteen out of Hitler’s Blitzkrieg strategy. The developed world has, with very few expectations, all made the same mistake to jump on the sinking ship, the crumbling empire, the dead economy now known as the United States of America.

Among all those pathetic excuses for policy makers and politicians and those who claim to be, we have Russian President Putin as the victor. Bailouts were everywhere, but most bailouts were funded by debt. President Putin took a slightly different approach, one that actually materialized and worked. Putin pledged $200 Billion in loans as well as tax relief to a selected number of Russian oligarchs in 2008 through state-owned banks.

In 2005 the market share of Russian investment banks stood at a laughable 7%. In 2012, thanks to President Putin’s approach to solve the ripple effects of American idiocy, their market share has surged to 38%. At the forefront of the surge stand OAO Sberbank as well as VTB Group. After Lehman Brothers as well as Bear Sterns collapsed in the U.S. most investment banks cut their investments, shut their doors and turned their backs on all in need. Russian investment banks did the opposite and maintained strong relationships with existing clients while seeking new ones at the same time. The end result is visible in the 500% surge in market share which continues to grow.

The share of European banks dropped from a record 61% to 32%, while U.S. investment banks saw their market share shrink from 27% to 20% and the rest of the world accounted for 10%. Each company which received financing or assistance during the height of the financial crisis had to include Sberbank as well as VTB in their deals. President Putin understood how to assist in times of need in order to come out of the financial crisis much stronger, while the U.S. went down the opposite way. Additionally Sberbank as well VTB increased their global M&A market share form 0% to 13%. Anyone who argues with success is beyond ridiculously pathetic.

The surge of Russian investment bank has caused plenty of weaker competitors to leave the country. Foreign competitiveness of global banks has been crushed thanks to a communist approach across most Western banking centers as only London walks a fine line right now, but is rushing towards the abyss. Ben Bernanke is among those who bare great responsibility for the collapse of Western investment banking. An unknown source told him that he is qualified to lead and unfortunately he was given the position to destroy the entire American empire.

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FXCM Review

Today we will take a look at a broker which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NYSE. It is a very rare move for a forex broker to go through an initial public offering or IPO. FXCM decided to go the unusual route and went public. FXCM is the only broker we are currently aware of which has an active as well as successful listing, while we have heard rumors that PaxForex may play around with the idea and list on the NYSE as well (PaxForexplans to list on NYSE?).

Let’s take a closer look at FXCM and see what all the hype is about:

1. FXCM is a well-establish and mature broker, trusted by plenty of forex traders. The company was founded in 1999 and has close to 15 years of operating history which in today’s online broker world means they stood the test of time.
2. FXCM is listed on the NYSE and may offer the best amount of transparency in comparison to other online brokerages. New forex trader’s should be aware that the extra regulation FXCM needs to subscribe to in order to maintain its listing comes from the SEC and this does not necessarily translate into additional security for traders. Just be careful when it comes to this.
3. FXCM is regulated. This is worse than plenty may think since so many scream and yell and live by regulation. The bad news is that this broker is regulated in the U.S. and the changes to regulation which ranges from leverage to hedging may be the one thing that many traders love, but could cause a rather huge outflow of clients who seek to move offshore where they are not forced to accept idiotic regulatory rules.
4. FXCM offers their own trading platform which is a nice change away from the standard MT4 platform, they do offer the MT4 as well, which is also available as a web application.
5. FXCM offers a great amount of currency pairs to traders which allows currency traders to create different strategies with a wide range of assets.
6. FXCM is an ECN broker and has no dealing desk which is the best solution for professional traders as well as serious retail traders.
7. FXCM offers programming services which allows traders to have their strategy coded and gives them their own expert adviser  This may be the best service FXCM has to offer, besides their ECN service, and is a true standout in the broker industry.

Now let’s take a look at the negative aspects of FXCM

• They are regulated in the U.S. which is a big reason to avoid this broker. Regulation does not guarantee your safety as traders found out the hard way in recent history with MF Global as well as PFG Best to name two high profile cases. Flashback: The financial crisis started in the most regulated part of the U.S. financial system while the only unregulated part was the one and only outlet which functioned like it was supposed to.
• They had a class action lawsuit against them for fraud as well as racketeering due to unfair trading practices.
• FXCM settled a $2 Million fine with the NFA for slippage malpractice and a $6 Million fine from the CFTC as it did not pass on positive slippage to forex traders and basically robbed them of profits.
• FXCM pushes their worthless demo accounts too much which is rather sad for a seasoned forex broker.
• FXCM does publish daily trading signals, but sadly they are delivered through their affiliate DailyFX which is a major setback.

Conclusion

FXCM is a season forex broker which is listed on the NYSE which is a great move on behalf of them. They are an ECN broker and their best feature is the programming service. They also offer their own trading platform.

They have a known history of treating forex traders unfair, despite being regulated. This is a red flag and shows that despite regulation they have found ways to manipulate their forex traders which is enough reason for The Last Bear to recommend traders to stay away from this forex broker. On top of that they are abused by the U.S. regulatory system which puts idiotic limits on everything from leverage to hedging. Two thumbs down, The Last Bear has roared!

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North Korea authorizes light nuclear strike on U.S.

I am rushing through security as news break that North Korea authorized a light nuclear strike on the U.S. Equity markets in South Korea plunged on the reports and it prompted the Pentagon to deploy anti-missile defense systems to Guam. This is the strongest indication that the U.S. takes current North Korean threats extremely serious and U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel stated North Korea posed a ‘real and clear danger’.

The developments will give business a tremendous boost, but we need to make some adjustments in order to take full advantage of the crisis. South Korea, unfortunately allied with the U.S., has the most to fear as it continues its annual joint military drills with the U.S. and houses 28,500 American troops in South Korea. Threats from North Korea are nothing new, but the regime of Kim Jong Un seems to be more aggressive than his fathers.

Kim Jong Un, only 30 years young, is trying to prove his strength and the biggest threat is that he may interpret actions taken by South Korea or the U.S. as extremely hostile and will retaliate with vengeance. The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System or THAAD to Guam may be enough provocation for North Korea to engage. The U.S. and North Korea never signed a peace treaty and are technically still at war.

North Korea cancelled the armistice it signed with South Korea and opened the door for military conflict with its southern neighbor as it may attempt to reunite Korea under its leadership. Hopes for a peaceful diplomatic solution were crushed after North Korea gave South Korea until April 10^th to clear the Kaesong Industrial Park which is jointly operated by both countries. Experts including our own CMO as well as me have all reported that the closure of Kaesong may mark the start of a military campaign.

The nuclear threat was basically ignored until today when the North authorized a light nuclear strike which means that North Korean scientists may have developed means to make a much smaller nuclear warhead and add it to its conventional warheads in order to create a hybrid nuclear warhead. Either way it is clear that North Korean threats are very serious and today’s authorization for war by North Korea is not to be ignored.

North Korea has started to move its missile batteries towards the coast as the North Korean military prepares for war and told South Koreans living in Baengnyeong, a border island, to prepare for the worst. South Korea, backed by the rapidly faltering U.S., hopes that the U.S. will assist them in a full-out war with the North. A believe which may be crucial to their defeat.

The U.S. may flex its non-existing muscle through speech and hopes that it will be enough to scare off North Korea, but everyone knows that the U.S. does not have the capability or desire to engage into a war with North Korea which may be assisted by China as well as Russia in such case and nobody wants to start World War III. North Korea is aware that the U.S. will not engage into a war and enjoys the comfort of knowing it can deal with South Korea comfortably.

In addition the North is aware of the fact that the U.S. anti-missile defense system is useless and has not intercepted a target since 2008. The next few weeks will be crucial for all of us. David Cameron said that it is important to defend against the North Korean nuclear threat and we have to shift around assets and make sure we will capitalize on the events while we ensure the situation will not escalate further.

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PaxForex Trading Recommendations April 2013

Starting on March 1^st 2013 we will publish a link to every single PaxForex Trading Recommendation here for all our readers to follow. Don’t forget to head over to PaxForex and open your live account today in order to join us on our 250 Pip-per-Week Journey through the forex market.

April 1st

GBPCAD Short Reversal

April 2nd

GBPCAD Prepared for Bounce

April 3rd

EURUSD Bullish Price Channel

April 8th

NZDUSD Spinning Top at Resistance

April 9th

USDJPY Bump-and-Run Reversal

April 10th

USDCHF Falling Wedge Formation

April 11th

GBPJPY Overextended Rally

April 15th

EURAUD Rising Wedge

April 16th

GBPCHF Falling Wedge

April 17th

EURUSD Forms Top

April 18th

AUDNZD Double Bottom

April 22nd

AUDUSD Ripe for Bounce

April 23rd

USDCHF Counter-Trend Correction

April 24th

EURCHF Reversal Pattern

April 25th

GBPCHF Rising Wedge

Total Profits in April: 1,397 pips

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Russia slams brakes on U.S. Missile Defense System

I am driving down the Boulevard du Larvotto and the sun is about to rise. This is one of my favorite sceneries and it allows me to relax and prepare for a long work day. It is a quiet morning and I gaze out into the Mediterranean Sea. Those moments make it seem like this is a perfect world, at least for a few short moments. A perfect world! At least this gives a few individuals energy to work towards making this planet a place.

As my car disappears into the Larvotto Tunnel my personal assistant calls me. She makes it a habit to be in the office before me and have my morning coffee waiting for me together with breakfast. She informs me that our Russian government contacts confirmed that the Kremlin slammed the breaks on the U.S. plans to install the fourth phase of their European missile defense.

The Pentagon continue to reiterate that the system is necessary in order to thwart potential attacks from Iran as well as North Korea while the rest of the world, at least the intelligent part of the world, understands that it is not necessary for the U.S. to plant a system in former satellites of the Soviet Union.

Alexei Pushkin, the chairman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that American arguments were false and that such a system would only make sense if Russia is inside of the missile defense system and not outside. It is clear that the U.S. intends to destabilize the Eastern European situation with it’s almost aggressive agenda and their European push makes no sense and should be crushed not only by Russia, but by the EU as well and especially Romania and Poland where the U.S. plans to install their land-based mid-course missile defense system. Mr. Obama already cancelled plans to install a long-range missile defense system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly opposes the American invasion of its backyard. The U.S. planned system makes no sense at all and is equivalent to Russia installing a missile defense system in Cuba. I am glad that Russia makes sure the system will not be installed. Recent reports have shown that the U.S. system is worthless as it has not intercepted a single test rocket in training exercises since 2008.

Russia did make a counter proposal to install a joint system, where the U.S. will provide its (useless) missiles and Russia operates the radar system which it already has in place. The U.S. declined that offer and the overall best solution would be for a joint EU-Russia missile defense system which would cover Russia as well as every European country. The U.S. is neither needed nor welcome to snoop around Europe and the Pentagon together with an aging fleet of Generals and politicians need to accept that.

China, without mentioning the U.S. specifically, also objected the deployment of foreign missile defense systems in response to a ballistic strike from North Korea and will handle its own backyard without interference. Hong Lei, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that he hopes parties will focus on regional security issues and work together. He also stated that current moves will increase antagonism and be counter-productive.

The U.S. will expand its existing missile defense in Alaska for an estimated cost of $1 Billion. It is rather unclear why they continue to deploy a system which was not able to shot down test targets, but there obviously need to be a waste of tax payer’s money on projects that do not work. This is only the latest set-back for the U.S. defense industry.

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