Having any group that needs the bailout deciding how much to give of OPM (other people’s money) is a receipt for corruption and graft.

The head of the IMF should be from countries that do the bailing out. The EU’s most socialist countries are the areas that need to be bailed out. Having any group that needs the bailout deciding how much to give of OPM (other people’s money) is a recipe for corruption and graft. Usually it is the USA that historically bails out others.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund chief is locked up at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape, may still be able to arrange bail while awaiting trial.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, is accused of attacking an employee at a midtown Manhattan Sofitel and forcing her to perform sex acts. Strauss-Kahn was arrested May 14 and on May 16 ordered held without bail after prosecutors said he was a flight risk. Strauss-Kahn was placed on a 24-hour suicide watch. At the bail hearing, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer, told the judge that the district attorney invited him to come back to them with some sort of bail package.
If he skips bail NYC keeps the money and avoids the cost of a high-profile trial.

Leftists get angry if you burn the Koran. Leftists get angry if you do not burn the Bible. Read George Orwells “1984” for how socialism works. Read Ayn Rand, some one who escaped the USSR. As the world falls back into the socialism that arose with the National and International socialists of the 19th and again in the 20th century, socialists will begin incredible genocide again, as the socialists just love to vent that way. They know spring has arrived in the forests of Eastern Europe, the hills of Turkey, and the rice patties of Asia when the human bones pop out of the soil. Pity Israel if America does not reverse Obama’s trend toward socialism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErzxOz3Dzv8&feature=player_embedded#at=194

The real threat is that the field of USA presidential contenders continues to decline. The Newt Gingrich meltdown this week was an attack on the only group that is trying to reverse the American decline into the socialist abyss. This decline in candidate quality is making the American decline more inevitable. It is one thing that respect for the opposition has already vanished but Newt shows even the opposition to socialism is self- destructing.

The influential banking community and unions contribute so much to the $1 Billion that Obama wants to raise for the next election of socialists. Come-on $1Billion to elect a socialist president? That is obscene like the first $1 Billion dollar bonus package for an incumbent! That is sick greed and selfishness at its worst.

World Markets:
Economic fraud and corruption in China is becoming more visible now as foreign investors begin to take losses. This could be close to the end for China. Russia went through the same thing in the 1990’s before becoming a socialist gangster economy.

U.K. unemployment claims rose in April at the fastest pace since January 2010, underlining the fragility of the economic recovery as government spending cuts and accelerating inflation sap consumer confidence.

German investor confidence declined for a third month in May as faster inflation threatened to curb consumer spending and Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis worsened.

US Economic Highlights
Yesterday
NY Manufacturing activity in May plunged to 11.9 from 21.7 last month. Terrible
Net long-term TIC Flows Mar into the USA declined to $24.0B from $26.9B, not good.
NAHB Housing Market Index May was 16 stabilizing at a low of 16.
Housing Starts in Apr fell to 523K from 549K last month.
Building Permits in Apr fell to 551K from 594K last month.
Industrial Production stopped growing in Apr after increasing 0.8% last month.
Capacity Utilization Apr fell 76.9% from 77.4% last month.

Today
May 18 7:00 AM MBA Mortgage Index 05/13
May 18 10:30 AM Crude Inventories 05/14
May 18 2:00 PM FOMC Minutes May

This week
May 19 8:30 AM Initial Claims 05/14 -
May 19 8:30 AM Continuing Claims 05/07
May 19 10:00 AM Existing Home Sales Apr
May 19 10:00 AM Philadelphia Fed May
May 19 10:00 AM Leading Indicators

Market Outlook May 18, 2011
The stock market has now broken the lower resistance line. With QE2 ending there is less chance of a bounce. On a cashflow (not price basis) there was no new high after the last breakdown. That is why we are not in at this time.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=%5ENYA&t=6m&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=m20%2Ce50&a=m26-12-9&c=

Wider market swings occur as volatility/risk increases.

Obama does not want to balance the budget now before it gets out of control because it’s the economy stupid! Balancing the budget now would help the economy out of the recession after the 2012 elections but would hurt Obama’s going into the election. But if he is the national socialist megalomaniac some say he is, he will try to spend his way into the election and wants to lose anyway so that the Republican that follows him faces the Greek style social and economic breakdown. If the nationalist socialist cannot get respect then he will seek to look better in history by making the situation much worse for the president that defeats him.

World Markets
International trade shows that the world economy has still only revived about 25% not the 70% shown by the stock and commodities markets. QE2 is created the current stock market and commodity bubble. That means more than half of the stock market rise from the 2009 lows is unsupportable and could evaporate quickly. See:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=BDIY:IND

Click on the 3yr chart and see the low flat-line forming.

Asian markets were up last night. China up 0.7%, Hong Kong up 0.5%, India down -0.3%, and Japan up 1%

European markets are up this morning in a range of about 0% to 0.7% half way through their day.

US pre-market futures are up today about 0.2% at 7:30 AM EST.