Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation - Bloomberg

Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation - Bloomberg: "Abrantes-Metz and Metz screened intraday trading in the spot gold market from 2001 to 2013 for sudden, unexplained moves that may indicate illegal behavior. From 2004, they observed frequent spikes in spot gold prices during the afternoon call. The moves weren’t replicated during the morning call and hadn’t happened before 2004, they found.

Large price moves during the afternoon call were also overwhelmingly in the same direction: down. On days when the authors identified large price moves during the fix, they were downwards at least two-thirds of the time in six different years between 2004 and 2013. In 2010, large moves during the fix were negative 92 percent of the time, the authors found."



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How to invest like a VC in the hottest technology

How to invest like a VC in the hottest technology: "Claremont Creek is betting on computational genomics, which has dramatically reduced the cost of sequencing genomes and promises drug treatment tailored to the individual. One of the firm's investments is Assurex Health, a Cincinnati-based start-up that uses a cheek swab to determine which psychotropic drugs or pain medications are most likely to work for an individual. Another is Natera, which uses a simple blood test to detect birth defects that once required a riskier amniocentesis."



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Guest Post: The Cash On The Sidelines Myth Lives On | Zero Hedge

Guest Post: The Cash On The Sidelines Myth Lives On | Zero Hedge: "The 'cash on the sidelines' myth has more lives than a cat. No matter how often the logical fallacy underlying it is pointed out, Wall Street continues to propagate it. Nevertheless, money and credit are of course extremely important factors in the analysis of asset markets. The above provides what are hopefully a few useful pointers as to which data one should keep an eye on in this context."



Graphics associated with  comments below in article





Rydex money market fund assets as a percentage of all Rydex assets have hit their lowest level since March 2000 at the end of 2013. Not a propitious indication with respect to the 'cash on the sidelines' myth. Rydex traders sure seem to be as 'all in' as they ever get



All retail money funds (NSA) -  over the past 18 months. They have been mired near the lowest levels in 16 years



Mutual fund cash – fund managers were deeply pessimistic in the first decade of the last secular bull market, and when their pessimism gradually unwound in the 1990s, the bull market went into overdrive and became the biggest bubble in terms of valuations ever seen. Right now this group harbors exactly zero skepticism and is invested up to its eyebrows



NYSE credit balances are deeply negative and investor 'net worth' is thus at its lowest level ever. Fuel for a bull market certainly existed in late 2002/early 2003 and again in late 2008/early 2009, but by now margin debt has expanded to truly vertiginous heights. Not even the tech mania of 2000 can any longer hold a candle to this



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Plastic Shopping Bags Can Be Turned Into Fuel, Other Petroleum Products - Science News - redOrbit

Plastic Shopping Bags Can Be Turned Into Fuel, Other Petroleum Products - Science News - redOrbit: "“You can get only 50 to 55 percent fuel from the distillation of petroleum crude oil,” Sharma said. “But since this plastic is made from petroleum in the first place, we can recover almost 80 percent fuel from it through distillation.”"



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Secret Code Discovered In Human DNA - Health News - redOrbit

Secret Code Discovered In Human DNA - Health News - redOrbit: "The genetic code uses a 64-letter alphabet known as codons. The UW team discovered that some codons, which they called duons, can have two meanings – one related to the protein sequence, and one related to gene control. These two meanings seem to have evolved in parallel with each other, with the gene control instructions appearing to help stabilize certain beneficial features of proteins and how they are made.

The discovery of duons has major implications for the way in which scientists and physicians interpret a patient’s genome, and will open new doors to the diagnosis and treatment of disease."



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Some good graphical representations to provoke a bit of thought....

The choices in futility for emerging markets

Shadow Banking in China and the parallels to 2008

3-5 shows how money is cycled back into the economy using small investors

It Begins... Another High-Yield Chinese Shadow Banking Trust Defaults | Zero Hedge

It Begins... Another High-Yield Chinese Shadow Banking Trust Defaults | Zero Hedge: "The "eerie resemblances" - as Soros previously noted - to the US in 2008 have profound consequences for China and the world - nowhere is that more dangerously exposed (just as in the US) than in the Chinese shadow banking sector as explained above."



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Blackstone-Fueled Single-Family Home Boom Lifts Chicago - Bloomberg

Blackstone-Fueled Single-Family Home Boom Lifts Chicago - Bloomberg:



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America's disappearing middle class - Economy

America's disappearing middle class - Economy:



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91 million Americans aren't looking for jobs - Economy

91 million Americans aren't looking for jobs - Economy: "In fact, about 91 million adult Americans don't work, and aren't looking for jobs. They make up 37% of the population -- the highest level on record since 1978."



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What Happened The Last Time The Unemployment Rate Dropped This Much | Zero Hedge

What Happened The Last Time The Unemployment Rate Dropped This Much | Zero Hedge: "So how about the Obama recovery: well, we find that between October 2009 and January 2014, the civilian, non-institutional population rose by 10.4 million, to be expected considering the far greater general population of the US - it is also a number which, on average, increases by about 230K or so every month. So what about the labor force? It is here that things get zany (as we predicted they would many years ago), because it is here that the Obama Recovery has somehow only managed to add a paltry 1.7 million people to the workforce: from 153.8 million to 155.5 million!"



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New DNA supercomputer promises radically cheaper genome tests | The Verge

New DNA supercomputer promises radically cheaper genome tests | The Verge: "Over the following five years, the cost of a full genome dropped from roughly $10 million to only $10,000, as illustrated by the NIH chart below. Illumina's previous model, released last year, performed sequencing for as little as $3,000."



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Topol on Notable Cancer, Drug, and Wearable Technology News

Topol on Notable Cancer, Drug, and Wearable Technology News: "Also in genomics, I'd like to mention a major report on pharmacogenomics and the response to lithium for bipolar disorder. [4] A sequence variant fully predicted whether there would be a clinical response in a cohort of Han Chinese individuals, with replication and an odds ratio of 120! Very high odds ratios are not so unusual with drug response or major side effects, and I have included a table below that I put together to show the top odds ratios reported so far. Sadly, we are sitting in prescription medicine darkness, whence there are over 6000 medications and there are genomic data for less than 2% of them. Much more needs to be done for commonly prescribed meds and for those in clinical investigation."



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Why Everyone Seems to Have Cancer - NYTimes.com

Why Everyone Seems to Have Cancer - NYTimes.com: "Over the eons, cells have developed complex mechanisms that identify and correct many of the glitches. But the process is not perfect, nor can it ever be. Mutations are the engine of evolution. Without them we never would have evolved. The trade-off is that every so often a certain combination will give an individual cell too much power. It begins to evolve independently of the rest of the body. Like a new species thriving in an ecosystem, it grows into a cancerous tumor. For that there can be no easy fix."



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8 things you need to know about tax reform

8 things you need to know about tax reform:



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What The Government Spent Money On Last Quarter | Zero Hedge

What The Government Spent Money On Last Quarter | Zero Hedge:



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Consider This... | Zero Hedge - Excellent read on what's being conveniently ignored

Consider This... | Zero Hedge:



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Fed's Lacker Slams Permabulls, Pours Cold Water On The US "Growth Story" | Zero Hedge

Fed's Lacker Slams Permabulls, Pours Cold Water On The US "Growth Story" | Zero Hedge:



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The Stunning Magic Of "New Normal" Hedge Fund Leverage | Zero Hedge

The Stunning Magic Of "New Normal" Hedge Fund Leverage | Zero Hedge: "But who would be on the hook should things turn south, and the massive leverage blows up in the face of Balyasny and its LPs? Not Balyasny of course, but the Prime Brokers who provided the fund with 5x leverage. Prime Brokers who just happen to be the same TBTF banks that were bailed out last time around, and which will have to be bailed out once again as soon as the Bernanke levitation finally ends."



Leveraging $5 for every $1 under management, this could be the biggest meltdown yet if the market cracks



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Romanians Reject Euro Loans After Hungary Disaster: Mortgages - Bloomberg

Romanians Reject Euro Loans After Hungary Disaster: Mortgages - Bloomberg:



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The Impact Of Heavy Snowfall On Jobs: What The Facts Really Say | Zero Hedge

The Impact Of Heavy Snowfall On Jobs: What The Facts Really Say | Zero Hedge:



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US severely exposed if rates rise: Erskine Bowles

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101384122