NEWS - From "Alternative" Sources - NOT the Mainstream Propaganda Machine...

http://stockmarketchartanalyst.blogspot.com/

Here are a number of articles I read this morning, from my favorite "alternative" news sources:

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Shadow Government Statistics:
Analysis Behind and Beyond Government Economic Reporting

http://www.shadowstats.com/

If you've watched my last few updates on the market, you'll notice that I'm quite cynical when it comes to any economic report put out by the government (and I'm also very skeptical that earnings reports aren't continually being fudged. Just look at the recent SEC case against Dell as an example). This site gives you the REAL scoop when it comes to the government's reports of economic data...

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Show Me the Recovery:
While second-quarter sales increases are encouraging, weak cash generation is worrisome.

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14522495

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Claims of Recovery But Results Nowhere To Be Found:
A weekly excerpt from the subscription issue of The International Forecaster, taken from Bob Chapman's weekly publication.

http://theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Claims_of_Recovery_But_Results_Nowhere_To_Be_Found

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Economists Cut U.S. Growth Forecast - AGAIN!:
Projected U.S. economic growth for the rest of this year and next was revised down for a third month in a row by a panel of about 50 economists.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Economists-cut-US-growth-rb-1119878296.html?x=0

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Hell Yes It’s Class Warfare! Part 1:
There is an intentional misconception out there in the market place of talking points and political discussion – it is that liberals are waging class warfare on the wealthy.

http://cons-lie.com/2010/09/07/hell-yes-its-class-warfare-part-1/

Hell Yes It’s Class Warfare! Part 2:

http://cons-lie.com/2010/09/08/hell-yes-its-class-warfare-part-2/

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The Wholly Fallible Ben Bernanke:
Despite three crucial errors at the Federal Reserve, its chairman is still revered as if he is the pope – while we pay the price.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/08/ben-bernanke-federal-reserve

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Rome is Burning:
There is a critical point that I fear the commentariat is just not getting.

http://modeledbehavior.com/2010/09/07/rome-is-burning/

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In The Headlights:
The toils of summer are bygone now. The days grow shorter and America stands in the darkling road of its own prospects like a dumb animal frozen in the blinding light of approaching fury.

http://www.kunstler.com/blog/2010/09/in-the-headlights.html#more

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Death By Globalism:
Have economists made themselves irrelevant? If you have any doubts, have a look at the current issue of themagazine, International Economy, a slick publication endorsed by former Federal Reserve chairmen Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, by former Secretary of State George Shultz, and by the New York Times and Washington Post, both of which declare the magazine to be “ahead of the curve.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts09012010.html

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And finally, the winner of the "Doom and Gloom Award" goes to this piece, which I found to be a fascinating read...

Doomsdayers Not Cynical Enough:
[Like your editor, Rick’s Picks forum regular Wayne Razzi (aka “Red Will”) is a veteran floor-trader who grew up in South Jersey. When I asked him if he would like to contribute a guest commentary, I was not expecting the provocative tour de force that unfolds, step by step, below. In the essay, Will asserts nothing less that that the impending collapse of our economic system was meticulously engineered by financial and political sociopaths. Let me attest that his is not some whack-o conspiracy theory; rather, it is the closely-reasoned argument of a highly intelligent person who values truth sufficiently to have searched for it, in the form of an answer to a profoundly disturbing question, for many years. Judge for yourself whether his conclusions tally with your own thoughts as to why the American Dream is about to go bust. RA]

http://news.goldseek.com/RickAckerman/1284012060.php

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That's it for today...
I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I did!

Happy Trading!...
the zigzagman

U.S. Stripped of AAA Credit Rating!...By China?...

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-stripped-aaa-credit-ratingby-china

By Dian L. Chu, Economic Forecasts & Opinions

Despite repeated warnings going back several years from Moody's, S&P et al that the U.S. could lose its top credit rating with ongoing fiscal deficits and heavy debts, the platinum-plated AAA rating of the United States seems all untouchable.

The top notch rating certainly has helped with continuing debt financing and bolstered the confidence of some government officials. Secretary Geithner, for example, said in a February interview that the U.S. government "will never" lose its credit rating, despite big budget deficits and a newly raised debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion.

Along came a Beijing-based rating agency--Dagong International Credit Rating Co. Its first order of business is to downgrade sovereign debt ratings on some major Western nations, while slamming its Western counterparts.

"The reason for the global financial crisis and debt crisis in Europe is that the current international credit rating system does not correctly reveal the debtor's repayment ability."

Dubbed as the world’s first “non-Western” sovereign credit rating agency, in its debut international report, Dagone (means Big Justice in Chinese) downshifted the US to AA with a negative outlook, while UK and France were given AA-; Belgium, Spain, Italy with A-.

It also rates debt risk of the US above China, and listed the US as one of the countries with exposure to increasing borrowing costs and default risks.

In June, the total US debt topped $13 trillion for the first time in history. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the U.S. deficit will stand at 64% of GDP this year, rising to just over 96% by 2020.

Concerned that high unemployment may force a double dip recession, the IMF just last week urged the United States to rein in its budget deficit.

Some see Dagong’s report as mere political propaganda by Beijing to counter the repeated pressure by the U.S. on its yuan policy. Nevertheless, the national debt by country chart (below) should say that Dagong's assessment is not entirely baseless, regardless of any possible hidden agenda.


Graph source: visualeconomics.com

Meanwhile, the flock to the U.S. treasury in recent months due to the European debt crisis--temporary in nature—is by no means a testament to America’s credit worthiness.

This downgrade, although might not carry much weight and influence on the bond market, does give a sobering glimpse into the unthinkable……, well, at least to Geithner.