regime uncertainty

A Tale of Two Giants: The Elephant and the Dragon

"China and India are developing countries with vast growth potential. However, amid a liquidity boom, they over-marketed their potential, and nurtured and enjoyed a bubble ride. Their governments felt lucky and hoped that they could grow out of all their problems. Of course, bubbles cover up problems for a time and make them bigger after. As the global liquidity boom unwinds, investors need a better story to stay in emerging markets. Too much money around was good enough before. Now China and India need to convince investors that they can revive growth without a global liquidity boom." Continue reading →

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Once again the Winklevoss twins get beaten to launching their big idea

"Mark Zuckerberg beat the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to the punch in launching Facebook. Now someone else seems to be stealing a march on their plan to launch an investment scheme for bitcoin. The Winklevii’s scheme, unlike SecondMarket’s, is for a public ETF traded on a major exchange open to retail investors. But the SEC may not approve it any time soon because it has yet to work out oodles of legal questions about the cryptocurrency. At a conference last week, the brothers were vague, telling attendees that regulators could set parameters on bitcoin 'over the next 6 to 12 months.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOnce again the Winklevoss twins get beaten to launching their big idea

Fund to Let Investors Bet on Price of Bitcoins

"The upstart stock exchange SecondMarket has made a name for itself allowing investors to buy shares of hot private companies like Twitter. Now that those companies are going public, SecondMarket is turning its attention to the next new thing — bitcoin. On Thursday, SecondMarket is expected to begin raising money for an investment fund — the first of its kind in the United States — that will hold only bitcoins, giving wealthy investors exposure to the trendy but controversial virtual currency. The fund, the Bitcoin Investment Trust, aims to provide a reliable and easy way to bet on the future price of bitcoin, a currency generally traded on unregulated, online exchanges based overseas." Continue reading →

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Media Seeks Answers To General Solicitation

"The SEC, on the same day it issued the final rules on general solicitation that become effective September 23, issued proposed rules that would substantially complicate the general solicitation process. We don’t know when and if the proposed rules will go into effect, but if they are adopted in the form in which they were proposed, they will substantially change the landscape in an unfavorable way for companies that want to generally solicit. In other words, the proposed rules are a take away, a retrenching of the statutory work that Congress did in the JOBS Act." Continue reading →

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The IRS Rewrites Obamacare

"Obama and his IRS are bypassing Congress and rewriting Obamacare on their own. The IRS is imposing health insurance mandates on employers and individuals even in states where by law they're exempt (http://shar.es/iI2HW). Obama also broke the law by extending the deadline for the employer mandate by a year. He bypassed Congress in making these arbitrary changes. He's picking and choosing which provisions to enforce, and when. Neither Obamacare nor the Constitution give him that discretion. His actions are illegal. And he's setting a precedent that will allow future presidents to ignore or rewrite legislation. But his lawlessness exposes a truth..." Continue reading →

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What Will ObamaCare Cost You, Beginning on January 1? Do You Know?

"They call this insurance. It’s not insurance. It’s free care for the already ill. Someone must pay. Guess who? You! How much will your premiums be raised? Have you been told yet? If not, do you know how to find out? Have you made the household budget revisions that will be required on January 1? Or are you just waiting to see what happens? This gigantic change in American health care is due to go into effect on January 1. Everyone is supposed to enroll on October 1. Are they ready to comply? Do they know how to comply? The IRS will administer this. What if most people fail to comply? What will the IRS do then? With what percentage of its employees?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Will ObamaCare Cost You, Beginning on January 1? Do You Know?

Obamacare ‘SHOP’ Web Based Sign Up Won’t Be Ready Until 2014

"A senior lobbyist at a medical association informs EconomicPolicyJournal.com that 'the SHOP exchange for small businesses to purchase insurance for their employees will require employers to sign up using paper forms. The ability to sign up using an electronic or web-based form will not likely be ready until January 2014 at best. The industry was informed of this limitation one week ago.' EPJ's source also says that WaPo has it right when quoting Joel Ario, the former Director of Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, 'nobody is going to say we’re not starting on October 1, but in some situations, you may see a redefinition of what ‘start’ means.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare ‘SHOP’ Web Based Sign Up Won’t Be Ready Until 2014

And the money trail leads to…

"A case in point is the Dodd-Frank Act. Wall Street was officially horrified by this law, which officially sought to end some of the practices that led to the financial collapse and big bailouts of leading U.S. investment firms in 2008-2009. But buried in the bowels of this 2,319-page law was a provision targeted squarely at 'foreign investment managers.' Simply put, the new rule forced every foreign bank, brokerage, or financial advisor with 15 more U.S. clients to register with the Securities & Exchange Commission. One Swiss-based investment manager who went through the process told me he spent more than $100,000 in legal fees to do it – not to mention hundreds of hours." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnd the money trail leads to…

Bitcoin Securities Exchange Shutters, Cites Regulatory Environment

"BTC Trading Corp (BTC-TC) announced that it will close all trading by October 7, two weeks from today. BTC-TC is one of the largest bitcoin securities exchanges, responsible for 101,000 BTC ($12M) in deposited securities and 2,900 BTC ($350K) in daily volume. The company’s notice cited 'recent changes in the virtual currency regulatory environment' as the reason for shuttering operations. Also closing is LTC-Global, a litecoin-denominated securities exchange also run by Ethan Burnside, the same operator as BTC-TC. All trading was temporarily halted and order books were cleared after the announcement was made at 5am EST." Continue reading →

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Kevin Trudeau jailed for not paying $38 million to feds over natural remedies

"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been after 50-year-old Trudeau, originally from Massachusetts, for several years after he made millions flogging what he claims are natural cures for serious and potentially fatal illnesses. The ruling at the end of last month was the latest round in more than a decade of legal battles that began with a suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. Trudeau was slapped with a $38 million fine in 2011 after allegedly scamming customers for decades. FTC put the value at $37.6million as to how much consumers were defrauded by 'deceptive infomercials' that Trudeau filmed in order to plug his book - The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKevin Trudeau jailed for not paying $38 million to feds over natural remedies