Iowahawk strikes again.

Huh? What is “margin debt”? Well, let Zero Hedge explain:

It is not just the stock market that is at the highest levels since Lehman. Probably just as importantly, NYSE margin debt has surged to $269 billion, an increase of $13 billion from the prior month, and the highest since September 2008 when it was at $299 billion, and subsequently tumbled as investors rushed to get out of all margined positions…

This is a sign of optimism – but also a sign of “all in”. In other words, everything that can get in there to push stock prices higher is already in there. Trouble is, for stocks to keep rising there has to be a continual increase in buying. If everyone who has a mind to be in stocks is already there, and buying on margin as much as they can, then we’re at a peak. Where to from here? Flat or down – with down being the more likely of the two. But not necessarily right away…there is still some wiggle room for a bit more increase in margin debt and thus a bit more run-up in stock prices…and then, once we’re really maxed out, it might still be a while before everyone understands its time to bail out.

We’ll have to see what and when on the event which will trigger a sell off – sovereign default in Europe, further monetary tightening in China as they try (in vain, it will prove) to reign in inflation; further rise in US unemployment as the holiday sales bloom fades; further rise in foreclosures and bankruptcies as house values continue to drop (and they are continuing to drop). Lots of things can happen – the thing to remember is that there is no really good way out of this. No matter how it happens, bad events will come. Some can be worse than others, but none will be comfortable for an already weak US economy. I hope for the softest landing possible, but I fear we’re really in for it thanks to massive spending by Treasury and massive printing by the Federal Reserve. Fake money and government debt are never good things…

More of that good, old Bernanke-created, Obama-backed economic policy:

Proving that Ben Bernanke can even screw up the economics of Christmas, the price of a lump of coal has increased more than 63 percent in the last year and a half…

Bunch of morons running things in DC…it won’t get better until we get rid of them.

Record crowds:

Bethlehem hosted a record number of pilgrims this Christmas, Palestinian officials said Saturday as tens of thousands flocked to celebrate in the birthplace of Jesus.

With thousands still heading to the West Bank city on Christmas Day, officials said the numbers may have even surpassed the 90,000 predicted by the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Holy Day.

“This is the first year that Bethlehem has hosted so many people,” Bethlehem city official George Saade told AFP. However, he said they did not yet have exact figures…

Let those who try to defend Hamas in Gaza compare and contrast…90,000 people easily made their way to Bethlehem and celebrated a non-Moslem event and no acts of violence or repression were recorded…and no trouble from the Israeli authorities at this large and risky moving of people through areas once known to be rife with terrorists. The people of the West Bank, having finally got some native leadership willing to be even partially reasonable, are reaping the reward: normal life. The people of Gaza, living under an exceptionally insane version of radical Islam are suffering terribly…and only a few miles away from peace and prosperity.

This event clearly shows that the Palestinian’s problem is not primarily Israel – that, in fact, the Israelis only care about Palestinian doings to the extent that those doings put Israel at risk. If you don’t want your town bombarded by Israeli war planes, then you best option is to not fire rockets at Israel. Additionally, if you want free and easy access from Israel to your territory, then you might want to look in to stopping suicide bombers from leaving your territory to kill Israelis.

All of the Islamist and allied global leftist propaganda is shown up as nonsense just in the fact of what happened in Bethlehem this Christmas. The problem is not Israel; the problem is not US support for Israel (plenty of Americans went to Bethlehem and none of them were in any way molested); the problem is the leadership of the Moslem side. When it is insane, it provokes a reasonable and very harsh response…when it is sane, it provokes an equally reasonable and soft response.

Let me here no more talk of curbing Israel or demanding of concessions until all of the leadership of the Moslem world is as least as sane as the leadership of the West Bank.

A blessed Christmas to all:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus

that the whole world should be enrolled.

This was the first enrollment,

when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth

to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,

because he was of the house and family of David,

to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

While they were there,

the time came for her to have her child,

and she gave birth to her firstborn son.

She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,

because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields

and keeping the night watch over their flock.

The angel of the Lord appeared to them

and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were struck with great fear.

The angel said to them,

“Do not be afraid;

for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy

that will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David

a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.

And this will be a sign for you:

you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes

and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,

praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” – Luke 2:1-14

From EconForecast

Just in time for Christmas, On Wednesday, Dec. 22, U.S. gasoline prices hit an average $3 a gallon for the first time in more than two years, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report…

We’ve been over $3 a gallon here in Las Vegas for couple weeks now. $3.09 is the worst I’ve seen, so far, but the prices seem to go up every couple of days. While the MSM is putting out reports that its the cold weather causing the rise in prices, the reality is that the massive printing by the Federal Reserve has made our money worth less and thus the oil suppliers are demanding more dollars for oil. As the linked article notes, the price of oil is 71% of the price of a gallon of gasoline – so, while cold weather might be playing a role, it is the fact of $90 a barrel oil which is really driving things.

This is a massive tax upon business, the poor and the middle class – a gigantic loss of purchasing power because everyone now has to spend more on fuel and thus has less to spend on everything else. You might recall the actual triggering event for our current economic crisis – $4 a gallon gas in 2007. That hit to our economy ensured that the housing bubble would pop. Now, our economy is in even shakier condition than back in 2007 and here in December – usually a time of low gas prices due to reduced demand – we’ve now got prices for gas we shouldn’t see until July. What will the price be in July? $4? $5? What do you think that will do to all the rosy predictions coming out of the banksters and bureaucrats about the 2011 economy? If we’re lucky, that 2 percentage point reduction in the payroll tax will cover our increased cost of living…

I don’t see a way out of this which is pleasant or easy…if the Federal Reserve finally turns off the presses, the financial system collapses and that kills the economy; if the Federal Reserve keeps the presses running, prices rise for the basics of life, thus killing the economy. Rock and a hard place, my friends.

HAT TIP: Zero Hedge

Byron York over in the Washington Examiner:

…With a significantly smaller, 53-seat majority in the Senate, Democrats will no longer be able to pass contentious legislation all by themselves or with just one or two Republican votes. On the other side, Republicans, with 47 votes, will no longer have to achieve perfect unity to sustain a filibuster and stop objectionable legislation. They’ll be able to lose three, four, five, even six members of the GOP caucus and still stop a bill.

That’s why you’re hearing confidence from the likes of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and deficit hawk Sen. Tom Coburn. “There aren’t going to be any big spending bills,” Coburn told ABC recently when asked to assess prospects for legislation next year.

It’s also why you’re hearing new rumbling about what many Democrats consider the ultimate fix for the Washington-is-broken problem: eliminating the filibuster…

York goes on to note that Democrats have all got on board a rules change to make killing a filibuster a lot easier…after all, if they can’t get rid of the filibuster, it will be almost impossible to pass big spending legislation through the Senate. Also, any contentious judges or Administration nominations will be held up! The horror of horrors!

Until, that is, January of 2013…as Democrats are almost certain to lose the Senate in the 2012 election (holding 23 seats up for election, the GOP needs to win only 4 of them to gain the majority), you just watch: once back in minority status, all of a sudden the filibuster will be a sacred thing no one may tamper with lest America die!

Hypocrites – plain and simple; power-mad, corrupt, political hacks. That is all the Democrat party is made up of these days.

But, have a holly, jolly…

From Pajamas Media:

…Among the two most alarming revelations is the already completed sale and delivery, to Venezuela by Russia, of nearly 2,000 advanced, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting aircraft as high as 19,000 feet. Equally and perhaps more alarming is an October agreement between Iran and Venezuela. The agreement establishes a joint ground-to-ground missile base on Venezuelan soil and calls for the sharing of missile technology and the training of technicians and officers. In addition, Venezuela may use the missiles as it chooses for “national needs” and in case of “emergency.” Several types of missiles will be deployed, giving Venezuela the ability to strike targets throughout South and Central America and throughout the U.S…

We’ve already discussed the Russian anti-aircraft missiles, but this Iranian connection adds a whole, new dimension to this: with such missiles, Venezuela will become a nation capable of directly attacking the United States – and this means that the government of Venezuela must be counted, absolutely, as an enemy regime.

But, of course, the Obama Administration will do little or nothing about this – to them, American national security is whatever the UN says it is. We’ll have to wait for a change in Administrations before we can do anything to break up this new threat – and by then, the threat will be larger and harder to deal with. Obama is going to leave us with a legacy of woe – and this makes it doubly important to beat him in 2012: we’ll be in a bad enough mess come January 20th, 2013…we daren’t allow ourselves the geo-strategic nightmare Obama will leave us by 2017.

Arms deals with dying Russia – silence about Iranian missiles to Venezuela. That is all one need know about Obama – he’s completely incompetent.

Once again, a busy day – and so:

The American Catholic lists the top 5 Christmas movies. What are yours? I tend to dislike most Christmas movies because they tend towards a “spirit of Christmas” message without mentioning Jesus…you know, the reason for the season. But, that’s just me and I tend to get cranky about some things.

Little Fockers gets a really, really bad review. I saw it – not as good as the first two (and the second in the series was, in my view, by far the best), but its worth going to see. But, then again, I’m tending towards a taste for entirely harmless entertainment in my movies…no obscenity, no nudity, no violence; guess I’m getting rather fuddy duddy as time goes on.

Middle class squeeze: as home values drop, property taxes go up. Thanks, big government!