Stock market sales

[bacpacker]

I've been following some information on the net about recent sell off activities of some notable folks. Here are some examples.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-sachs-dump-stocks-fiscal-141901421.html;_ylt=AnbpApPvAff_OBYzp2e_almiuYdG;_ ylu=X3oDMTQ4Nm45bzJvBG1pdANDTkJDIFRvcCBTdG9yaWVzBH BrZwM1ZTI0MGIxYi0yZjc4LTMxMDAtYjAzYy05NWUwYWY3MGMw YTAEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBH ZlcgMwMzU0YTUxMS1lYjljLTExZTEtOTRmZi00NjVkZGM5ZjQz Mzc-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

"You can sense almost an air of desperation from David Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist, in his latest note to clients as he pleads with them to take money out of stocks before they fall off the fiscal cliff.

In the note, Kostin vehemently defends his year-end S&P 500 (^GSPC) target of 1250 despite the benchmark's recent rise to above 1400. The strategist still sees a 12 percent drop ahead, believing that Congress will fail to address the fiscal cliff before the election, and maybe even before the end of the year.

"Political realities and last year's precedent suggest the potential that Congress fails to reach agreement in addressing the fiscal cliff is greater than what most investors seem to believe based on our client conversations," said Kostin.

The so-called fiscal cliff is the expiration of payroll, capital gains and dividend tax cuts at the end of this year. It also refers to the mandatory sequestration of spending that resulted from the vicious debt ceiling fight last summer."

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/buffett-exit-muni-bonds-signals-trouble-ahead-local-165817581.html;_ylt=Aiz0AoeRkxRdSKHXws8N5EiiuYdG;_ ylu=X3oDMTQzbWJ2M2w2BG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIEp1bWJvdH JvbiBMaXRlBHBrZwNmZGMyZWUwZC05MzRiLTMwYzItOTEzYi1j M2Y2OGY2MzEwYTgEcG9zAzEEc2VjA2p1bWJvdHJvbgR2ZXIDZj c2MjU0OTAtZWJiNS0xMWUxLWJlZmUtYmNiZmEzYmRjMDgz;_yl g=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3Rh aWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

"Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ended its five-year bullish bet on the municipal bond market, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Omaha, Neb., company noted in a recent quarterly filing that it had canceled credit-default swaps insuring its $8.25 billion muni-bond market wager. The Journal said it was unclear whether Buffett's decision resulted in a profit or a loss and the 81-year-old Buffett declined to comment about the early termination of the contracts.

Does Warren Buffett's exit from the municipal bond market portend more financial hardships for struggling U.S. states and cities?

The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task and Henry Blodget say Buffett's move may very well signal his fear that more cash-strapped cities, states and municipalities will default on their debt. Local authorities have been making severe budget cuts (affecting both personnel and services) over the past two years to stave off bankruptcy but many are still short on funds.

Investors have generally remained positive on the $3.7 trillion municipal market, pouring $964 million into municipal-bond mutual funds last week — 18 straight weeks of inflows. Investor appetite may be stronger for municipal debt than U.S. government bonds, but the tide could be changing after the Berkshire Hathaway disclosure."

http://www.worststockmarketcrashes.com/stock-market-crashes/soros-and-buffet-sell-stocks-as-the-federal-reserve-is-preparing-contingency-plans-for-a-complete-financial-collapse/

"Soros and Buffet Sell Stocks as the Federal Reserve is Preparing Contingency Plans for a Complete Financial Collapse

Soros and Buffet Sell Stocks as the Federal Reserve is Preparing Contingency Plans for a Complete Financial CollapseQuestion: The Dow has crossed over 13000 and is touching its highest levels since April of 2008 — so why are Soros and Buffett unloading stocks? Answer: The Federal Reserve has already coordinated with major U.S. banks (announced last week) to prepare contingency plans for a complete financial collapse.

While the stock markets are reaching new four year highs, the underlying foundation of these stocks are not very strong, and the low volume in the markets signals that very few retail investors are actually participating in the summer rally. Thus the low volume, positive trading that is taking place in July and August leaves the markets wide open for a massive correction, or at the very least, new selling pressures when seasonal volume picks up later in the month and into September.

The rich historically have more information available to them than the average investor does, and it has been prudent over time to follow closely what the major traders do. Thus it is extremely concerning to the American people, and for the future of the U.S. financial system, when global investors and political insiders divests from consumer and financial stocks, especially at a time when many of them they are trading at four year highs, to instead what appears to be a prelude for a new stock market crash in equities.

Soros, who manages funds through various accounts in the US and the Cayman Islands, has reportedly unloaded over one million shares of stock in financial companies and banks that include Citigroup (Ticker Symbol: C) (420,000 shares), JP Morgan (Ticker Symbol: JPM) (701,400 shares) and Goldman Sachs (Ticker Symbol: GS) (120,000 shares). The total value of the stock sales amounts to nearly $50 million."

Alone this is pretty large moves. Together they amount up and may well be a trigger point for upcoming market moves. There are also several sites that show Soros and John Paulson are selling off large gold holdings, most likely more efforts to drive down the price.

I'm not sure how closely any of you follow markets. I would be very interested in your thoughts on trends and on individual moves and how they may affect markets, which will in turn affect our prepping efforts as a whole.

[bacpacker]

I also found this yesterday.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/startling-evidence-that-central-banks-and-wall-street-insiders-are-rapidly-preparing-for-something-big

"
Startling Evidence That Central Banks And Wall Street Insiders Are Rapidly Preparing For Something BIG

If you want to figure out what is going to happen next in the financial markets, carefully watch what the insiders are doing. Those that are "connected" have access to far better sources of information than the rest of us have, and if they hear that something big is coming up they will often make very significant moves with their money in anticipation of what is about to happen. Right now, Wall Street insiders and central banks all around the globe are making some very unusual moves. In fact, they appear to be rapidly preparing for something really big. So exactly what are they up to? In a previous article entitled "Are The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse?", I speculated that they may be preparing for a financial meltdown of some sort. As I noted in that article, more than 600 banking executives have resigned from their positions over the past 12 months, and I have been personally told that a substantial number of Wall Street bankers have been shopping for "prepper properties" this summer. But now even more evidence has emerged that quiet preparations are being made for an imminent financial collapse. That doesn't guarantee that something will happen or won't happen. Like any good detective, we are gathering clues and trying to figure out what the evidence is telling us.

Why Is George Soros Selling So Much Stock And Buying So Much Gold?

I am certainly not a fan of George Soros. He has funneled millions upon millions of dollars into organizations that are trying to take America in the exact wrong direction.

However, I do recognize that he is extremely well connected in the financial world. Soros is almost always ahead of the curve on financial matters, and if something big is going to go down George Soros is probably going to know about it ahead of time."

This is a pretty interesting article. All told it starts lining up with the other stories.

[msomnipotent]

I wouldn't say I am highly educated in these matters, but I think I see just what investors were seeing shortly before Black Tuesday. It has me worried, to put it lightly. Even though most people lost their shirts during and after the crash, some people made millions. I'm sure Soros will be one to make millions this time, too. I'm also sure that he is selling his gold for a huge profit. One of the articles states he is selling huge amounts, the other states he is buying huge amounts. Selling enough (at a profit) to create a dip in price and then buying low? Could be. Wish I had that kind of power.

[The Stig]

This information certainly makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

:/

[NWPilgrim]

This is the same debacle (credit bubble) that surfaced at least as early as the DotCom bust in 2000. The banks and politicos just keep kicking the can down the road and making the mess ever bigger: housing bubble, credit default swaps, now sovereign debt bubble.

It gets ever more difficult and precarious to keep the house of cards from tumbling. Now Congress can restore the tax cuts at end of year and cripple the rosy budget projections based on higher taxes and thus make the debt problem more obvious and send markets tumbling into recession. Or they can let the cuts expire and choke off even more capital from the private sector market and in a more obscure manner send us spiraling into recession.

Or the Feral Reserve can hyper pump more credit and dollars and maybe stave off recession a few more months, but just add an incredible greater amount to our debt woes.

On top of all this the fed govt has repeatedly demonstrated it will not enforce investor rights of funds security, bondholder rights, etc. and in fact the fed govt has proven it is the most corrupt player in the markets (GM bailout, AIG). It is insane to be invested in stocks or bonds now. Tangibles are the only sane investment be they land, metals, supplies, tools, or anything useful and durable.