China HSBC Flash PMI Declines, Economy Now In Contraction For 10 Of Past 11 Months
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2012 - 22:50
China
The Chinese Schrodinger conundrum, in which two different distinct PMI indicators continue to paint opposite pictures of the economy, as explained first here, continues. Moments ago, the HSBC Flash PMI posted a decline from 49.3 in April to 48.7. This is the 7th consecutive month in which the economy is in a contraction according to HSBC, and 10th of the last 11. Needless to say, this is only half of the story, and we expect that the official Chinese PMI index will post another increase well into expansionary territory as the random number generator known as China_Economy.xls spews fresh gibberish every time F9 is hit. In the meantime, the spin has already begun, worse is better, and futures are higher simply because the expectation is that another perfectly futile RRR hike (which does virtually nothing for real cash circulating in the economy) will follow suit. Of course, if the number had come in over 50, the spin would be that China's economy has entered into a virtuous loop as goalseeking the narrative to comply with the central planners' market intervention continues.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2012 - 22:50
China
The Chinese Schrodinger conundrum, in which two different distinct PMI indicators continue to paint opposite pictures of the economy, as explained first here, continues. Moments ago, the HSBC Flash PMI posted a decline from 49.3 in April to 48.7. This is the 7th consecutive month in which the economy is in a contraction according to HSBC, and 10th of the last 11. Needless to say, this is only half of the story, and we expect that the official Chinese PMI index will post another increase well into expansionary territory as the random number generator known as China_Economy.xls spews fresh gibberish every time F9 is hit. In the meantime, the spin has already begun, worse is better, and futures are higher simply because the expectation is that another perfectly futile RRR hike (which does virtually nothing for real cash circulating in the economy) will follow suit. Of course, if the number had come in over 50, the spin would be that China's economy has entered into a virtuous loop as goalseeking the narrative to comply with the central planners' market intervention continues.
Bank Of Russia Says Greece Has A Plan For Parallel Currency
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/24/2012 - 09:38
Greece
Someone apparerntly did not tell Russia to keep its mouth shut... That or, the sleeping bear is starting to awake and cause chaos and mischief:
GREECE HAS PLAN FOR PARALLEL CURRENCY, SHVETSOV SAYS
RUSSIA'S SHVETSOV SAYS `NECESSITY' FOR GREECE TO LEAVE EURO
SHVETSOV SAYS GREEK EXIT WOULD BE GOOD EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS
BANK OF RUSSIA’S SERGEY SHVETSOV SPEAKS IN INTERVIEW IN MILAN
Kak skazat Oops po Russki? Cue Greek denials they have any plans about anything. Ever.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/24/2012 - 09:38
Greece
Someone apparerntly did not tell Russia to keep its mouth shut... That or, the sleeping bear is starting to awake and cause chaos and mischief:
GREECE HAS PLAN FOR PARALLEL CURRENCY, SHVETSOV SAYS
RUSSIA'S SHVETSOV SAYS `NECESSITY' FOR GREECE TO LEAVE EURO
SHVETSOV SAYS GREEK EXIT WOULD BE GOOD EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS
BANK OF RUSSIA’S SERGEY SHVETSOV SPEAKS IN INTERVIEW IN MILAN
Kak skazat Oops po Russki? Cue Greek denials they have any plans about anything. Ever.
Off topic but this "flesh eating" bacteria stuff is a hoot
The bacteria itself doesn't "eat" or "chomp" your flesh ... All it is, is a rare bacterial infection that progresses very quickly and usually those infected have gotten cut badly and/or have underlying health conditions... The bacteria themselves produce toxins which ripple through your immune system causing "flesh eating"
Media today is a total joke with all these nonsense scare stories... So now after the young blond got it they go searching anywhere and everywhere to find other people recently infected ... Why anybody watches/reads this swill anymore is beyound me ...
The bacteria itself doesn't "eat" or "chomp" your flesh ... All it is, is a rare bacterial infection that progresses very quickly and usually those infected have gotten cut badly and/or have underlying health conditions... The bacteria themselves produce toxins which ripple through your immune system causing "flesh eating"
Media today is a total joke with all these nonsense scare stories... So now after the young blond got it they go searching anywhere and everywhere to find other people recently infected ... Why anybody watches/reads this swill anymore is beyound me ...
They starting to play the bad news is good news ... Good news is good news card regarding china 
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China Seen Launching 'Aggressive Stimulus' as Growth Slows Further
CNBC
Continued weakness in China's economic data, as well as growing risks of a Greek exit from the euro zone, will drive Beijing to launch aggressive stimulus measures in order to prevent a further deterioration. More*»China Seen Launching 'Aggressive Stimulus' as Growth Slows Further
------------
China Seen Launching 'Aggressive Stimulus' as Growth Slows Further
CNBC
Continued weakness in China's economic data, as well as growing risks of a Greek exit from the euro zone, will drive Beijing to launch aggressive stimulus measures in order to prevent a further deterioration. More*»China Seen Launching 'Aggressive Stimulus' as Growth Slows Further
The Big Print is Coming
Posted on May 24, 2012
We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one private, which we are afraid to express; and another one – the one we use – which we force ourselves to wear to please Mrs. Grundy, until habit makes us comfortable in it, and the custom of defending it presently makes us love it, adore it, and forget how pitifully we came by it. Look at it in politics.
- Mark Twain
Humanity’s most valuable assets have been the non-conformists. Were it not for the non-conformists, he who refuses to be satisfied to go along with the continuance of things as they are, and insists upon attempting to find new ways of bettering things, the world would have known little progress, indeed.
- Josiah William Gitt
The media I’ve had a lot to do with is lazy. We fed them and they ate it every day.
- Michael Deaver (Former top aide to President Reagan)
Has The Fed Waited Too Long?
Those that know me understand clear as crystal that I don’t approve of massive money printing. I think it is theft, plain and simple, and represents an egregiously deceptive manner of transferring wealth from the poor to the wealthy and from the productive to parasitic financial oligarchs. That being said, the world we live in is being led by a bunch of crooked banksters and the Central Planners that do their bidding. At the top of the Central Planning global ponzi pyramid, is our very own Federal Reserve, headed by master Keynesian magician, the Wizard of Eccles, Ben Bernanke. For the vast majority of 2012, the Federal Reserve has been playing a very, very dangerous game. This game has been to pretend that they will not be printing any more money in an attempt to get commodity prices down as low as possible before they proceed with the inevitable. While they have done this on a smaller scale many times in the past, this particular game of chicken has in my opinion gone dangerously wrong. You see, ever since the 2008 debacle the Fed has been quite aggressive and more or less “ahead of the curve” when it has come to feeding new liquidity into the system…until now.
All of the prior programs were ready to go at the first hint of economic weakness. Even if they weren’t launched right away, the intention to print was made clear and this stabilized the system in the short-term. Not this time. This time the Fed realized that their models weren’t working. Employment continued to be weak as inflation picked up. Everyone was starting to complain about gasoline and the public was increasingly making the connection between Central Banking/fiat money and the rise in their cost of living. Occupy Wall Street emerged on the scene. All of these things put Bernanke and all his other vampire brethren on the defensive, and indeed in a box. They increasingly had to rely on less effective, more opaque means of providing liquidity. The Fed swaps to Europe was one example. The European LTRO was another. All of this has been done and all of it has now proven to be a failure. The periphery of Europe is in mired in an all out Depression and many of the BRIC countries are much closer to being in a collapse than many want to admit. That said, there is still this consensus that the U.S. is experiencing decent growth that will continue and perhaps accelerate into 2H12. Not only do I not agree with this, I think there is a good chance the U.S. is now experiencing negative growth. I think May represents the first month of real domestic weakness.
Stocks are Collapsing on Bad News
What I have noticed this quarter more than in any other in recent memory is that names are vaporizing on even the hint of bad news. Let me show you some frightening examples.
Fossil
Dell
Cisco Systems
JC Penney
If the market was confident that this was just a blip I do not think these stocks would have responded this way and then barely rebounded. Similarly, there are many names that have put up strong results, only to have sold off on the news. HD, COH and RL come to mind. To me this is evidence of the market sniffing out economic weakness ahead, and more importantly a Fed that is behind the curve for the first time since 2008.
The BIG Print is Coming
Momentum is a strange thing in general, and social experiments as large and complex as massive economic systems are not immune to its mysterious ways. Once momentum gets going it is extremely difficult if not impossible to reverse in the near-term. This is why I have been pounding the table on China not doing anything as things unravel over there. In waiting so long to try to respond to their major slowdown, they have now seriously risked a hard landing, unless they have a plan (this is not clear as of yet) as I outlined in last week’s piece China Better Have a Plan.
Here in the U.S., I think that The Bernank’s plan was to pretend they didn’t need to print more money, get commodity prices down and then hope that the economy would respond favorably to that development. This wouldn’t have negated the need for more printing; however, it would have bought time and allowed for a potentially lesser degree of action. Instead, what has happened is that the global ponzi is completely and totally incapable of holding itself together without consistent and increasingly large infusions of Central Bank money. The debt burden is too large, the mal-investments too pervasive, the corruption too systemic. The whole house of cards that is the global economy will vanish into dust rather quickly without more and more printing. So what do you think they are going to do?
If I am correct, and the U.S. economy itself is now in the early stages of what will probably turn into a serious economic slowdown, then it will not be easily stopped with incremental Central Bank policies. The fact that they have waited this long and the fact that the global economy is in the midst of a serious slowdown tells me one thing. They are way behind the curve and by the time they realize this it will be too late to stem the momentum. That said, I do expect them to respond and the fact that things will have gotten much worse than they expected will mean a major response. I’m not talking operation twist part deux. I mean a serious print. Potentially the BIG ONE.
In this sort of scenario, the inflation hedges will sniff it out first. So I would expect the precious metals to bottom well before everything else does. In fact, we could be looking at a situation where the metals and their shares rebound sharply while the U.S. equity markets continue to decline. This could last many months. I want to point out that the GDX bottomed in October 2008 and was up 100% before the S&P 500 bottomed in March 2009. So over a five month period the GDX doubled while the SPX declined 25%. Don’t think that can happen again?
Peace and wisdom,
Mike Krieger
Posted on May 24, 2012
We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one private, which we are afraid to express; and another one – the one we use – which we force ourselves to wear to please Mrs. Grundy, until habit makes us comfortable in it, and the custom of defending it presently makes us love it, adore it, and forget how pitifully we came by it. Look at it in politics.
- Mark Twain
Humanity’s most valuable assets have been the non-conformists. Were it not for the non-conformists, he who refuses to be satisfied to go along with the continuance of things as they are, and insists upon attempting to find new ways of bettering things, the world would have known little progress, indeed.
- Josiah William Gitt
The media I’ve had a lot to do with is lazy. We fed them and they ate it every day.
- Michael Deaver (Former top aide to President Reagan)
Has The Fed Waited Too Long?
Those that know me understand clear as crystal that I don’t approve of massive money printing. I think it is theft, plain and simple, and represents an egregiously deceptive manner of transferring wealth from the poor to the wealthy and from the productive to parasitic financial oligarchs. That being said, the world we live in is being led by a bunch of crooked banksters and the Central Planners that do their bidding. At the top of the Central Planning global ponzi pyramid, is our very own Federal Reserve, headed by master Keynesian magician, the Wizard of Eccles, Ben Bernanke. For the vast majority of 2012, the Federal Reserve has been playing a very, very dangerous game. This game has been to pretend that they will not be printing any more money in an attempt to get commodity prices down as low as possible before they proceed with the inevitable. While they have done this on a smaller scale many times in the past, this particular game of chicken has in my opinion gone dangerously wrong. You see, ever since the 2008 debacle the Fed has been quite aggressive and more or less “ahead of the curve” when it has come to feeding new liquidity into the system…until now.
All of the prior programs were ready to go at the first hint of economic weakness. Even if they weren’t launched right away, the intention to print was made clear and this stabilized the system in the short-term. Not this time. This time the Fed realized that their models weren’t working. Employment continued to be weak as inflation picked up. Everyone was starting to complain about gasoline and the public was increasingly making the connection between Central Banking/fiat money and the rise in their cost of living. Occupy Wall Street emerged on the scene. All of these things put Bernanke and all his other vampire brethren on the defensive, and indeed in a box. They increasingly had to rely on less effective, more opaque means of providing liquidity. The Fed swaps to Europe was one example. The European LTRO was another. All of this has been done and all of it has now proven to be a failure. The periphery of Europe is in mired in an all out Depression and many of the BRIC countries are much closer to being in a collapse than many want to admit. That said, there is still this consensus that the U.S. is experiencing decent growth that will continue and perhaps accelerate into 2H12. Not only do I not agree with this, I think there is a good chance the U.S. is now experiencing negative growth. I think May represents the first month of real domestic weakness.
Stocks are Collapsing on Bad News
What I have noticed this quarter more than in any other in recent memory is that names are vaporizing on even the hint of bad news. Let me show you some frightening examples.
Fossil
Dell
Cisco Systems
JC Penney
If the market was confident that this was just a blip I do not think these stocks would have responded this way and then barely rebounded. Similarly, there are many names that have put up strong results, only to have sold off on the news. HD, COH and RL come to mind. To me this is evidence of the market sniffing out economic weakness ahead, and more importantly a Fed that is behind the curve for the first time since 2008.
The BIG Print is Coming
Momentum is a strange thing in general, and social experiments as large and complex as massive economic systems are not immune to its mysterious ways. Once momentum gets going it is extremely difficult if not impossible to reverse in the near-term. This is why I have been pounding the table on China not doing anything as things unravel over there. In waiting so long to try to respond to their major slowdown, they have now seriously risked a hard landing, unless they have a plan (this is not clear as of yet) as I outlined in last week’s piece China Better Have a Plan.
Here in the U.S., I think that The Bernank’s plan was to pretend they didn’t need to print more money, get commodity prices down and then hope that the economy would respond favorably to that development. This wouldn’t have negated the need for more printing; however, it would have bought time and allowed for a potentially lesser degree of action. Instead, what has happened is that the global ponzi is completely and totally incapable of holding itself together without consistent and increasingly large infusions of Central Bank money. The debt burden is too large, the mal-investments too pervasive, the corruption too systemic. The whole house of cards that is the global economy will vanish into dust rather quickly without more and more printing. So what do you think they are going to do?
If I am correct, and the U.S. economy itself is now in the early stages of what will probably turn into a serious economic slowdown, then it will not be easily stopped with incremental Central Bank policies. The fact that they have waited this long and the fact that the global economy is in the midst of a serious slowdown tells me one thing. They are way behind the curve and by the time they realize this it will be too late to stem the momentum. That said, I do expect them to respond and the fact that things will have gotten much worse than they expected will mean a major response. I’m not talking operation twist part deux. I mean a serious print. Potentially the BIG ONE.
In this sort of scenario, the inflation hedges will sniff it out first. So I would expect the precious metals to bottom well before everything else does. In fact, we could be looking at a situation where the metals and their shares rebound sharply while the U.S. equity markets continue to decline. This could last many months. I want to point out that the GDX bottomed in October 2008 and was up 100% before the S&P 500 bottomed in March 2009. So over a five month period the GDX doubled while the SPX declined 25%. Don’t think that can happen again?
Peace and wisdom,
Mike Krieger
Thing is snoop with each new "print" job it becomes less "successful" as far as "helping" the economy (helps the rich screws the poor) and gravitating stock indices ... And you have to increase the amount of the "print" to get "positive" results .... And then you got the worries as far as now you are digging an even deeper hole to unwind at some point once we do find a bottom to this mess down the road an the potential for megainflation on the other side increase .... and their ultimate goal is to sustain the status quo not completely blow it up ... These odds (of system completely blowing up down the road) also increase with every new "print" job
So basically with each passing "print" job it becomes less and less worthwhile to do another "print" job as its effectiveness drops as well as odds of major trouble on the back end increases...
So basically with each passing "print" job it becomes less and less worthwhile to do another "print" job as its effectiveness drops as well as odds of major trouble on the back end increases...
The bond market can easily be manipulated by Bernanke...it's has been... Just look at the current ridiculously low government borrowing costs. For the bond market to blow up completely, the Fed would have to pull the plug which it won't. As far as US$, most countries are running trade surpluses with the US, meaning, unless they demand to get paid for their goods with something else, there is always a demand for US$. Also, oil is denominated in US$, except for oil export countries, everyone else need US$ in order to get oil.
Printing will make US$ lose its value overtime, printing in this environment is not the same as spending, Ben could print $10t right now and all of them would end up in excess reserve. There is a little to no risk of hyperinflation. For "H" inflation to roll, everything must rise at the same time. We're in severe stagnant with everything is deflating except for necessity costs, it's a classic STAGFLATION... but who cares! Bernanke's only goal is to prop up the market. The people who is hurt the most is average Joe. Having said that, I don't give a rat ass about those dummy progressive liberals. After all, they're the same people that consistently vote for those "CROOKS" to represent them, it's them to stick it in their asses, not ME...
Printing will make US$ lose its value overtime, printing in this environment is not the same as spending, Ben could print $10t right now and all of them would end up in excess reserve. There is a little to no risk of hyperinflation. For "H" inflation to roll, everything must rise at the same time. We're in severe stagnant with everything is deflating except for necessity costs, it's a classic STAGFLATION... but who cares! Bernanke's only goal is to prop up the market. The people who is hurt the most is average Joe. Having said that, I don't give a rat ass about those dummy progressive liberals. After all, they're the same people that consistently vote for those "CROOKS" to represent them, it's them to stick it in their asses, not ME...
There is good demand for US bonds outside the fed they just giving it an extra push to keep rates ultra low
If there comes a time the world loses faith in the fed and the US ability to pay its debt ... It's game over ...
Not saying it will happen but it can happen and the odds go up the more you print and give the government artificially low rates to be fiscally irresponsible ...
If there comes a time the world loses faith in the fed and the US ability to pay its debt ... It's game over ...
Not saying it will happen but it can happen and the odds go up the more you print and give the government artificially low rates to be fiscally irresponsible ...
Gold long term where it will be increasingly parked
And speaking of Japan who is well ahead of us in the printing game trying to drum up citizenry demand for bonds via pop bands
------------
Japanese Girl-Band Wants You (To Buy Japanese Government Bonds)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2012 - 12:21
Eurozone Greece Gross Domestic Product Japan Sovereigns
Whether it was Captain America's roadshow or Uncle-Sam 'wanting' your help, the US always seemed to maintain some semblance of class when propagandizing its citizens into buying its government bonds. Whether for patriotic or xenophobic reasons, it appeared to work. Japan, though, with its increasingly desperate demographic situation, deficits, downgrades, and well, general malaise of Koo/Keynesian-stuffed economic stagnation has turned to the next best thing - the all-girl band AKB48. As The Telegraph notes today, the all-female pop group will headline a summer campaign for "reconstruction bonds" aimed at financing projects in regions hammered by last year's quake-tsunami disaster. The debt campaign will see AKB48 - comprising about 90 performers, ranging in age from early teens to mid-20s - joined by sumo wrestling's champion Hakuho and female football star Homare Sawa, Japan's Jiji press agency reported. The group's bubblegum pop and synchronized dancing has proved a huge hit with young girls. Perhaps more disturbingly (and why Japan chose them maybe?) - running the gamut from girl-next-door to sultry temptress, the band also has a substantial male following - many of whom are older - who support a vast merchandising industry. Japan has the industrialized world's worst public debt, amounting to more than twice its gross domestic product - topping hard-hit eurozone countries including Greece, which have drawn fire from foreign investors over their fiscal management. All of this makes us wonder - Forget AKB48, how long until AK47 in musical, or primarily otherwise, format is used to encourage lending to sovereigns all around the "developed" world?
COMMENTS: 119READS: 4,077
And speaking of Japan who is well ahead of us in the printing game trying to drum up citizenry demand for bonds via pop bands
------------
Japanese Girl-Band Wants You (To Buy Japanese Government Bonds)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2012 - 12:21
Eurozone Greece Gross Domestic Product Japan Sovereigns
Whether it was Captain America's roadshow or Uncle-Sam 'wanting' your help, the US always seemed to maintain some semblance of class when propagandizing its citizens into buying its government bonds. Whether for patriotic or xenophobic reasons, it appeared to work. Japan, though, with its increasingly desperate demographic situation, deficits, downgrades, and well, general malaise of Koo/Keynesian-stuffed economic stagnation has turned to the next best thing - the all-girl band AKB48. As The Telegraph notes today, the all-female pop group will headline a summer campaign for "reconstruction bonds" aimed at financing projects in regions hammered by last year's quake-tsunami disaster. The debt campaign will see AKB48 - comprising about 90 performers, ranging in age from early teens to mid-20s - joined by sumo wrestling's champion Hakuho and female football star Homare Sawa, Japan's Jiji press agency reported. The group's bubblegum pop and synchronized dancing has proved a huge hit with young girls. Perhaps more disturbingly (and why Japan chose them maybe?) - running the gamut from girl-next-door to sultry temptress, the band also has a substantial male following - many of whom are older - who support a vast merchandising industry. Japan has the industrialized world's worst public debt, amounting to more than twice its gross domestic product - topping hard-hit eurozone countries including Greece, which have drawn fire from foreign investors over their fiscal management. All of this makes us wonder - Forget AKB48, how long until AK47 in musical, or primarily otherwise, format is used to encourage lending to sovereigns all around the "developed" world?
COMMENTS: 119READS: 4,077
Vegas would be so fricking toast if this caught on ... Obviously the establishment, Harry Reid etc will fight it tooth and nail
--------------------
Legalizing sports gambling is smartest bet yet
By Dan Wetzel | Yahoo! Sports*–*3 hours ago
In the United States of America, it is illegal for a mathematician to sit in his home, fire up his computer and employ his analytical skills in a game of online poker for money. Politicians say its about protecting him from the ills of gaming or some such nonsense.
Of course, he can go down to the bar, getF bombed and blow his life savings on endless games of mindless keno.
The gambling laws of this country have never made any sense. They are a confused maze of miscast morality, government money grabs and special-interest favoritism.
In the case of sports wagering, where the majority of profits in the estimated $350 billion industry go to offshore operations and organized crime, the laws are pure, unadulterated stupidity.
Gov. Chris Christie expects legal action but also expects "to be successful." (AP)
Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, on Thursday decided to make the boldest move yet on legalizing sports gambling in his state (and eventually all states who so chose) by daring the federal government, in the run-up to a presidential election no less, to argue otherwise.
Christie plans to enact a state regulation passed in January that will allow wagering on all sports at New Jersey horse tracks and Atlantic City casinos this fall. It’s a move that defies the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which allows sports betting in just four states, with Nevada the only one fully embracing it. Even Indian casinos are prohibited by law from operating sports books.
If the feds want to come after him, well, Christie essentially said, “See you in court.” Otherwise, anyone may be able to bet legally on football in a Jersey sports book by October.
“If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us,” Christie said at a press conference in Atlantic City on Thursday.
“Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to try to prevent it? Yes,” Christie continued. “But I have every confidence we’re going to be successful.”
[Related: Gov. Chris Christie's proposal not expected to alter NFL's Super Bowl plans]
The court of law is one thing. The court of public opinion is another and Christie may be assuming the Justice Department won’t even attempt to fight this one. Let the presidential candidates take it on.
We’ll leave the debates about legalizing marijuana and prostitution to others. When it comes to sports wagering, criminalization is hypocritical, counterproductive and thoroughly unenforceable.
It is profoundly simple to illegally bet on sports. For well over a century the public has been wagering on football and boxing and basketball and every other sport. It used be through a local bookie. Of late, it’s become just easier through international online gambling sites, where even basic age limits can be ignored and credit cards provide deep reservoirs of cash for additional bets.
The result is a massive industry, hidden right there in the open with point spreads printed in newspapers, gambling notes sitting out on the bar during NFL Sundays and free discussions in nearly every social circle about parlays, home dogs and prop bets.
Yet outside of Nevada, none of it is taxed, not the winnings of the public or the books. None of it is remotely regulated. None of the money flow can be traced, which increases criminal behavior and the likelihood of compromised competition because it’s generally not a bunch of church ladies who back up bookies.
And let’s not give credence to the absurd shrieking of the NFL, NCAA and other sports organizations who claim that bringing sports wagering into the light will somehow now draw in a criminal element, or that it might diminish their sports' popularity when their sports' popularity was partly built on gambling in the first place. The idea of Vegas-style sports books coming to towns across the country makes football weekends even more enticing.
[Related: California man pleads guilty in basketball betting ring]
Generally, the best asset law enforcement has in uncovering a point-shaving scheme is a move in the very public Vegas line. That’s a luxury they don’t enjoy on the street wagering everywhere else. Las Vegas has always wanted a square game. Atlantic City will, too.
Besides, if sports wagering is so, so, so bad, then why is it allowed in even one state? What’s so special about Nevada?
“To those with a vested interest in the status quo – the professional sports organizations who take a hypocritical stance that wagering will ruin the purity of the game and the Nevada-based conglomerates that have enjoyed that state’s stranglehold on sports wagering for the last 20 years, I respectfully say, ‘Bring it on,’*” New Jersey state senator Raymond Lesniak said in a statement.
“The sooner you can make an issue of New Jersey’s noncompliance with an unconstitutional federal ban, the sooner we can defeat that ban in the courts and put New Jersey on the same competitive footing."
Christie and Lesniak are politicians, and their motivation lies with trying to jumpstart the struggling casino industry in Atlantic City. That aside, they are in the right.
Gambling in all forms has exploded across the country the last few decades, and it is time to end the strange hodgepodge of favoritism and situational Puritanism.
There are lotteries everywhere, blackjack tables everywhere, games of chance everywhere, bingo everywhere. Everything is everywhere. To be able to blindly pull on a slot machine but not use analytical skills in online poker or sports wagering is ridiculous.
If the motivation for additional tax revenue has legalized the most zombie-like forms of gambling, then let it do the same for the higher-end stuff.
Legalizing sports books also recognizes reality. The NFL and the others may want to pretend they are outraged over wagering, but with the advent of smart phones, bets are placed today via online services or personal bookies right from stadium seats, even more convenient than a betting window at a horse track. Of course, in the old days they set up banks of pay phones on the concourse, and not everyone was using them to call home and check in with the wife.
College sports teams often feature 50-50 raffles inside the stadium. Professional sports organizations sponsor state lottery scratch tickets. Events are held in casinos, and some team owners are in the gaming business.
Sports bets are happening in the hundreds of billions each and every year. Any argument that it can be stopped, any argument that it is ruining competition, any argument that it is somehow reprehensible and dangerous and dirty (except in Nevada) can’t stand up to reality.
The ban is senseless, aiding only criminals and Cayman Island entrepreneurs who have profited in our government’s stupidity.
No time like the present to get smart and get real and end this charade.
--------------------
Legalizing sports gambling is smartest bet yet
By Dan Wetzel | Yahoo! Sports*–*3 hours ago
In the United States of America, it is illegal for a mathematician to sit in his home, fire up his computer and employ his analytical skills in a game of online poker for money. Politicians say its about protecting him from the ills of gaming or some such nonsense.
Of course, he can go down to the bar, getF bombed and blow his life savings on endless games of mindless keno.
The gambling laws of this country have never made any sense. They are a confused maze of miscast morality, government money grabs and special-interest favoritism.
In the case of sports wagering, where the majority of profits in the estimated $350 billion industry go to offshore operations and organized crime, the laws are pure, unadulterated stupidity.
Gov. Chris Christie expects legal action but also expects "to be successful." (AP)
Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, on Thursday decided to make the boldest move yet on legalizing sports gambling in his state (and eventually all states who so chose) by daring the federal government, in the run-up to a presidential election no less, to argue otherwise.
Christie plans to enact a state regulation passed in January that will allow wagering on all sports at New Jersey horse tracks and Atlantic City casinos this fall. It’s a move that defies the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which allows sports betting in just four states, with Nevada the only one fully embracing it. Even Indian casinos are prohibited by law from operating sports books.
If the feds want to come after him, well, Christie essentially said, “See you in court.” Otherwise, anyone may be able to bet legally on football in a Jersey sports book by October.
“If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us,” Christie said at a press conference in Atlantic City on Thursday.
“Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to try to prevent it? Yes,” Christie continued. “But I have every confidence we’re going to be successful.”
[Related: Gov. Chris Christie's proposal not expected to alter NFL's Super Bowl plans]
The court of law is one thing. The court of public opinion is another and Christie may be assuming the Justice Department won’t even attempt to fight this one. Let the presidential candidates take it on.
We’ll leave the debates about legalizing marijuana and prostitution to others. When it comes to sports wagering, criminalization is hypocritical, counterproductive and thoroughly unenforceable.
It is profoundly simple to illegally bet on sports. For well over a century the public has been wagering on football and boxing and basketball and every other sport. It used be through a local bookie. Of late, it’s become just easier through international online gambling sites, where even basic age limits can be ignored and credit cards provide deep reservoirs of cash for additional bets.
The result is a massive industry, hidden right there in the open with point spreads printed in newspapers, gambling notes sitting out on the bar during NFL Sundays and free discussions in nearly every social circle about parlays, home dogs and prop bets.
Yet outside of Nevada, none of it is taxed, not the winnings of the public or the books. None of it is remotely regulated. None of the money flow can be traced, which increases criminal behavior and the likelihood of compromised competition because it’s generally not a bunch of church ladies who back up bookies.
And let’s not give credence to the absurd shrieking of the NFL, NCAA and other sports organizations who claim that bringing sports wagering into the light will somehow now draw in a criminal element, or that it might diminish their sports' popularity when their sports' popularity was partly built on gambling in the first place. The idea of Vegas-style sports books coming to towns across the country makes football weekends even more enticing.
[Related: California man pleads guilty in basketball betting ring]
Generally, the best asset law enforcement has in uncovering a point-shaving scheme is a move in the very public Vegas line. That’s a luxury they don’t enjoy on the street wagering everywhere else. Las Vegas has always wanted a square game. Atlantic City will, too.
Besides, if sports wagering is so, so, so bad, then why is it allowed in even one state? What’s so special about Nevada?
“To those with a vested interest in the status quo – the professional sports organizations who take a hypocritical stance that wagering will ruin the purity of the game and the Nevada-based conglomerates that have enjoyed that state’s stranglehold on sports wagering for the last 20 years, I respectfully say, ‘Bring it on,’*” New Jersey state senator Raymond Lesniak said in a statement.
“The sooner you can make an issue of New Jersey’s noncompliance with an unconstitutional federal ban, the sooner we can defeat that ban in the courts and put New Jersey on the same competitive footing."
Christie and Lesniak are politicians, and their motivation lies with trying to jumpstart the struggling casino industry in Atlantic City. That aside, they are in the right.
Gambling in all forms has exploded across the country the last few decades, and it is time to end the strange hodgepodge of favoritism and situational Puritanism.
There are lotteries everywhere, blackjack tables everywhere, games of chance everywhere, bingo everywhere. Everything is everywhere. To be able to blindly pull on a slot machine but not use analytical skills in online poker or sports wagering is ridiculous.
If the motivation for additional tax revenue has legalized the most zombie-like forms of gambling, then let it do the same for the higher-end stuff.
Legalizing sports books also recognizes reality. The NFL and the others may want to pretend they are outraged over wagering, but with the advent of smart phones, bets are placed today via online services or personal bookies right from stadium seats, even more convenient than a betting window at a horse track. Of course, in the old days they set up banks of pay phones on the concourse, and not everyone was using them to call home and check in with the wife.
College sports teams often feature 50-50 raffles inside the stadium. Professional sports organizations sponsor state lottery scratch tickets. Events are held in casinos, and some team owners are in the gaming business.
Sports bets are happening in the hundreds of billions each and every year. Any argument that it can be stopped, any argument that it is ruining competition, any argument that it is somehow reprehensible and dangerous and dirty (except in Nevada) can’t stand up to reality.
The ban is senseless, aiding only criminals and Cayman Island entrepreneurs who have profited in our government’s stupidity.
No time like the present to get smart and get real and end this charade.
March madness, SB their busiest weekends
I'm not talking about the revenue on the gambling
I'm talking about the tourist attraction to legally bet sports that they have a monopoly on
I mean if it's just jersey on opposite side of coast maybe not that big a deal... I was talking more if it spread further....
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It will be an interesting case to follow as far as state rights vs the increasingly fascist Feds
I'm not talking about the revenue on the gambling
I'm talking about the tourist attraction to legally bet sports that they have a monopoly on
I mean if it's just jersey on opposite side of coast maybe not that big a deal... I was talking more if it spread further....
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It will be an interesting case to follow as far as state rights vs the increasingly fascist Feds
