ronz28

this doesn't sound too good ?

Doubling Down To (DXY) Zero: Has The Fed, In Its Stealthy Synthetic Bet To Keep Long-Term Yields Low, Become The Next AIG?

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/did-fed-its-stealthy-synthetic-bet-keep-yields-low-become-next-aig?page=1

Has anyone seen the documentary " Inside Job " ?

It showed how Alan Greenspan and others very strenuously defended keeping an unregulated derivatives

market and I could never understand why because at the same time they were acknowledging

the severity of the financial crisis ?

But maybe this explains why ...................

" it appears that far from being worried about hedging its SOMA book synthetically, the Fed may well have be constantly doubling down on its risk exposure in the form of off-book derivative contracts in order to "pin" Long-Term rates (read the 10 Year) by constantly selling Puts on Long Dated Treasurys at opportune times when there is no incremental buying of the underlying security, yet when, as the CDO and upcoming ETF debacles have so well demonstrated, the price of the derivative actually impacts the price of the underlying! "

Any thoughts ?

Yes, where did the Fed get the authority to do off book transactions? Pure Zerohedge speculation or is the Ben Bernanke not being so totally transparent. I suppose the Ben Bernanke could get some buddy bankers to manipulate the market for him since they are mostly all on the same team.

Banker Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDmJcDvaBGU&feature=player_embedded

Don't forget the taxes in the U.S. There's property tax (state, city, county, community college, water district, fire district, limited district, etc.) ranging from about US $5,000 to $10,000 per year depending on where you live, sales taxes (State & city) 8.25% of most anything you buy, income taxes (how much do you make?- fine send it in), city franchise taxes on your land line, cell phone and cable bill, fees on your water and sewer bills so that average water/sewer bill is $115 per month, franchise taxes on you natural gas bill, road taxes on your gasoline, federal excise taxes on tires you buy, etc. Even though Texas does not have a state or city income tax like many places in the U.S., I guess that by living in the state of Taxus...at least 25%+ of my annual expenses are taxes. How much are your taxes in Thailand?

You have enough money to last the rest of your life. As long as you don't buy anything. $400K US just isn't enough considering you are likely to live another 40 years.

Good luck, but I think you will regret it. Take a look at the average farang living in a flophouse around Soi Bukhao and ask yourself, do I really want to be that guy?

It's not quite that simple. As I said before, he needs to aggressively invest the money, and yes, in the earlier years, definitely spend frugally.

Sure have to be careful with the timing of that aggressiveness and watch the stock charts. For example, an aggressive leveraged small cap ETF went from $9 to $95 from 3/2009 to the recent high but during that run it had a sell off from $72.24 down to $31.50. If you time it wrong, you could be in for a big downturn and take a lot of heat hoping for your ETF (exchange traded fund) to recover. You can just watch trendlines and get into cash when they breakdown and back in when ETF breaks out again but its not easy.

I don't live there but from what I have read, its not possible. Just normal expenses are that much if not more. One medical bill, accident, trip home or unplanned expense would put you in financial jeopardy. You need additional income.

Since you said - I will be able to continue in my current position as long as we (US) are in Afghanistan, but getting very tired of working in hostile environments... that's a determining factor.

I would quit risking my life and give Thailand a try... just watch your money and rent don't buy any property. Forget business in Thailand, just another way to lose your lifetime savings. Go to school when you get to Thailand and really learn the Thai language. For fun and a little income you could give teaching a try after learning Thai.

Chances are some sweet babe will be targeting your savings so be on guard.

Its now a considered to be a Level Seven Nuclear Disaster.

http://enenews.com/japan-officially-raises-fukushima-to-level-7-same-as-chernobyl-translation

By the time you are ready for social security, the retirement age might be 75 with a requirement of 100 work credits vs. 40 credits or some new requirement or means testing. Expect the unexpected to happen. As long as millionaires continue paying lower effective tax rates than you, due to loopholes they qualify for and you don't, the government will have to take back its promises of age 65 retirement, medicare you paid for, etc. ... just to prevent hyperinflation. Maybe getting your investments right would make it work, but it won't be easy.

See a video on capitalism and the financial crisis at:

http://www.goldmansachs666.com/2011/04/first-we-need-some-goldman-sachs.html

Putzmeister pumps are on their way....

If the elections were today, Obama would have my vote. Republican politicians lie like a rug. I can't believe so many Americans are fooled by them. I am beginning to think they aren't fooled and instead the elections are rigged. I can't stand those Republican politicians especially that cry baby Boner.... what total baloney.

7.4 quake at same location in Japan now.

Infectious diseases in children may permanently limit one's IQ. More effort in eliminating or reducing infectious diseases in Thailand through vaccines, etc. should raise the average national IQ in Thailand. That is one of the things the Bill Gates foundation is trying to do in Africa in providing mosquito nets, children's vaccinations and better medical care to the impoverished children. You can teach your heart out to a child that has had his or her brain damaged by an infectious disease but the damage will limit learning that might otherwise be possible.

The core at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has melted through the reactor pressure vessel, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey told a hearing on the nuclear disaster on Wednesday.

"I have been informed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the core of Unit Two has gotten so hot that part of it has probably melted through the reactor pressure vessel," said Markey, a prominent nuclear critic in the House of Representatives.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/04/06/us-japan-markey-idUKTRE7353Y820110406

Its just inappropriate behavior and she must know better.. Perhaps she is advertising for customers in public places. Someone should tell her she needs a work permit for that and she probably won't get one so its best to coverup. I guess building management/security is just sleeping in a chair somewhere but they tell her to coverup and leave.

Best Features in Firefox 4

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-features-in-firefox-4-2011-3#tabs-moved-above-the-url-bar-1

Maybe she could spare an acre for one her subject vagrants to live on instead of giving them a passport to Chiang Mai...

http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-biggest-landowners-2011-3#1-queen-elizabeth-ii-15

I guess they need to go back to their home country if they are in permanent need. Other countries shouldn't be warehousing their elderly or poor vagrants in Thailand. Such other countries need to provide them transportation back to their home country and take away their passport if those people don't have the will or means to care for themselves. Giving them a passport and then organizing others in a foreign country to take care of them for you at no cost is inappropriate. Its your problem...not Thailand's.

Consequences of a plutonium reactor meltdown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yiCXb1Nhd1o

Previous secret nuclear reactor meltdown cover-ups:

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2011/03/governments-have-been-covering-up.html

A leash law might help in Thailand with an animal control department that would pick up the dogs and hold them for a week until the owners come and get them for a small fine. After that the dogs would go up for adoption and if no takers be put to sleep. Its a difficult/costly thing to do but people need to be responsible for their animals to care enough to keep them from harming people, spreading rabies, etc.

Old men who take the law into their own hands perhaps due to a touch of old timer's disease (Alzheimer's) just can't go around shooting animals or people they disapprove of. I believe Thai law is sufficient to deal with him but he may need to be examined for Alzheimer's.

Think they are holding back info from you? Google translates Maincihi Times Japanese newspaper directly for you to English via Google Chrome browser. To get the translation be sure and check the offer to translate box at the options section, under the hood tab, you get to by clicking on the wrench symbol on the top right hand corner of the Google Chrome browser. It appears the Japanese are angry and believe info is being withheld from them too.

http://mainichi.jp/

Bankers flee Tokyo

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42109096

Sounds like a lawyer's ___ dream.

People may want to avoid flying through the radiation clouds during the week. See map here... but its just an estimate of where it may go

http://www.wundergro...l?entrynum=1763

and forget going to Tokyo as radiation is 23 times normal

http://www.marketwat...011-03-15-04540

While I would never recommend voluntarily increasing your exposure to radiation if it wasn't necessary, it is helpful to point out that by your own link they are stating only .809 uSv. That is a tiny, tiny amount. To put it in perspective, here are some exposure limits:

Effect / Dose

Blood count changes 50 rem

Vomiting (threshold) 100 rem

Mortality (threshold) 150 rem

LD50/60* (with minimal supportive care) 320 – 360 rem

LD50/60 (with supportive medical treatment) 480 – 540 rem

100% mortality (with best available treatment) 800 rem

(Adapted from NCRP Report No. 98 "Guidance on Radiation Received in Space Activities, NCRP, Bethesda, MD (1989))

* The LD50/60 is that dose at which 50%of the exposed population will die within 60 days.

Since 100 rem is 1 Sv, this means that an individual could currently stay in Tokyo for 17 months at the current levels without even reaching the lowest level medical threat on this chart. Any astronaut who has ever been into space has been substantially more exposed to harmful radiation than the current population of Tokyo. On an average airline flight, you are exposed to .238 uSv/hr., so spending 10 hours in Tokyo is no more dangerous than flying round trip from the US to Bangkok. The Japanese so far have done an excellent job at containing this threat.

I understand people are scared, but it doesn't help to spread fear and misinformation. I wouldn't suggest a trip to Tokyo right now if you didn't have to, but if you do have to, the threat is negligible. There is no reason to cancel your plans over this.

Perhaps, but some airlines are cutting out flights to Tokyo, etc. due to the contamination risk to people and aircraft based on their risk assessment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-japan-quake-airlines-idUSLNE72E04J20110315

People may want to avoid flying through the radiation clouds during the week. See map here... but its just an estimate of where it may go

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1763

and forget going to Tokyo as radiation is 23 times normal

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tokyo-radiation-levels-23-times-normal-officials-2011-03-15-04540