"Its a very serious test"...really it is...

“It is a very serious test,” Franz-Christoph Zeitler, a member of the executive board of the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, said at a news conference in Frankfurt. “All this criticism was absolutely premature.”

The stress tests, similar to an exercise conducted in the United States last year, were intended to rebuild confidence in European financial institutions that has been shaken by the sovereign debt crisis. Uncertainty about which banks may be sitting on piles of Greek debt and other potentially toxic assets has made institutions reluctant to lend to each other as well as to businesses, and acted as a drag on economic growth. - nytimes

What I find interesting is that a stress test designed to rebuild confidence can accomplish that rather duplicitous task and surreptitious goal. I am rather confident that this is not a stress test but rather another piece in the charade to paint numbers with different colors in the hope that people don't recognize them for what they are and continue believing that the debt based fractional reserve money creation mechanics can create enough principle to pay the interest on the new principle they create. Thankfully, anyone who thinks that sentence sounds a little conflicted probably understands that the results of more charades and lies will suffer a similarly conflicted state. The difference is that by that time all the rich banks and bankers will have transfered any remaining assets into their books and the bills onto ours.

What is interesting is that the one thing you would expect on a stress test is what would happen if a EURO nation defaulted...or if a large bank imploded because of it. Naahhh, that type of analysis does not belong on a serious stress test. So, the people most likely to come up with this fairy tale have got to be the same people who told us the there was no subprime crisis or recession and unemployment was not a problem...speaking of which I think they just said it again:

"The White House said it expects unemployment will stay at or above 9% until 2012, and that the 2010 deficit will come in at $1.47 trillion" - cnn money

"But again, you are seeing a recovery," says Geithner in an interview to be shown on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning. "You're seeing private investment expand again, job growth starting to come back. And that's very encouraging."

• Also, you may think FDIC insurance is $250,000 per account...right? Wrong! They tumpet the ponzi scheme when they need to and then conveniently sweep the reversion back to $100,000 per account under the rug...did you hear this get any press early in the year when it was rolled back? (Note 7/26/10: The new finance reform bill permanently sets the FDIC insurance level at $250,000.)

• FDIC bank seizures are tracking well above last year same time (70 vs 102), but that doesn't matter does it...Ever wonder how many of those passed the FED's stress tests?

lets see how this plays out...most likely not like the propagandists are saying, in my opinion.

Camp Chung - A Visit With Dear Friends

I don't really know where I will be at any given time so I am thankful for friends who allow me to come at a moments notice and stay at their house for a few days.  I've been friends with Katy and Richard for years and for now, they live in a community outside of Seattle.  I got up pretty early from the campsite and called Katy to say I was near and she said, "sure, come on by!"  I arrived a few hours later and decided to stay for a while.

It is so relaxing here.  Her guest room is like sleeping on a cloud.  After days of camping and sleeping in the dirt, sleeping in a home and being among friends was a welcome treat!  It's been too long since I've been here and I am so glad I was able to stay for a while to catch up.

Richard and Katy are so kind to me, I am lucky to have them as friends.  I love their little girls and Max does too.  Max had a lot of play time with them in the backyard and around the house.  When they weren't watching, Max would steal a toy from their room to play with.  I actually saw him smile for the first time in days.

I enjoy traveling and being alone but there is something about the comfort of being around good friends.  It will be hard to leave, but I am so glad I had this time with them.   Next stop...being a tourist in Seattle and then, who knows?

ES Setup and the coming short...

The market is whacked, suffering from Fed-itis...the de-leveraging continues...bankrupting shorts in squeezes and bankrupting longs in panics. This market wants to move beyond probable levels to trigger false breakouts and breakdowns to ensure that it fulfills its "whacked" delegation.

These types of triggers, false breakouts and reversals, most frequently occur at derivative fibonacci levels not the primary ones. 1.272, 1.128 and .886 are the strongest magnets for people to think they misinterpreted the trade are are wrong footed. If we get follow through strength tomorrow, a powerful reversal is most probable in the region that I marked. (1106 to 1112 on the ES futures). Also, I would like to note that the reason these levels are important is that EVERYONE and their brother is watching the .382, .618 and .786 levels and virtually no one watches the derived levels...which is why they are natural psychological and fractal targets.

A reversal there will convince many market participants to play the upside breakout and buy any weakness thereafter...The caveat is, the weakness will actually be the follow through to last weeks probe to the downside that I posted about and that we traded.

The systems covered beautifully and are setup for shorts here. The income system for ES took entries this afternoon on the close in the 1091 area.

No Reservations Along The Oregon and Washington Coast

As with all travels, sometimes there are days where you just want to observe and soak in the moment.  I didn't take many photographs today but I did stop to snap this one of the piles and piles of trees in a lumber yard.  You will notice that the hills are a bit bare in Oregon.  Sometimes you will see a lone tree that was left to live on the bald hill.  These weren't so lucky.

After the excitement of meeting new friends at Horse Camp and witnessing a hit and run at the Tillamook factory, Max and I decided to just drive up the coast and enjoy the rest of the day.  This particular night we didn't know where we were going to sleep.  I usually plan it that way but sometimes when the weather is nice and school is out, there are others out there that want to camp too.  Imagine that!

Side Note: Some days are just not that interesting to blog about.  Those particular days will be a bit like this day.  I have been blogging every day for a while now but I don't know how long I will be able to keep it up.  I don't want to bore you with the small details of each travel day if there isn't anything to talk about. If I miss a day, usually it's because it went something like this...

As it was getting late, I stopped at several campsites along the way that I was familiar with but on this day, each one was full. Even some in which I thought would be remote enough to have availability, didn't.  So, we were in a sense...lost with nowhere to go.

However, I didn't give up hope.  I drove to more state parks and places where I thought we would be able to find a place but each time we pulled up, we had the same outcome.

It was a bit frustrating but I kept driving until we were out of cell phone range and without a town in sight.  I pulled into a small campsite (I will link a site once I remember the name) along the coast in Washington and even though there was a sign saying it was full, I saw about 15 sites that were empty.  I thought to myself, "it's late, It's been over two days without a shower and I've been in the car driving all day" so I decided to take a chance.  I set up camp in the smallest spot, took a shower and went to sleep hoping that the owners of the site wouldn't show up in the middle of the night.

I don't recommend this type of traveling for most.  It's a bit stressful at times but in the end I found a great campsite.  Before it got too late, I snapped a photograph from my phone of our view of the lake.  I thought I would be restless with the "knowing" feeling that someone could come in at any moment to tell me to move but I have to tell you that the best sleeping pill is taking a hot shower after days of camping in the dirt without one.  It's like a miracle spa treatment even though you have to scramble for quarters when the water runs out and shampoo is still in your hair.

The next morning I woke up early and headed out on the road again without a plan.

US in decline...this is an interesting discussion about it

My favorite quote: "To he who has a hammer, all problems look like nails" - Mark Twain

Applies well to financial markets too.

Johan Galtung and Dennis Kucinich discuss the proposal for a Department of Peace

Visiting Tillamook, Driving Up The Oregon Coastline, And Witnessing A Hit And Run

There is always adventure in each day.  Max and I left Horse Camp and headed up the coast on beautiful highway 101, stopping along the way to admire some scenic overlooks.  It was a day to take a leisure drive up the coast without a plan to see where we would end up.

We drove through some charming towns along the way and decided to stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for an ice cream treat.  Well, Max stayed in the car but I enjoyed a delicious one scoop (if you can believe it) of chocolate peanut butter.

I decided to do a little people watching so I sat outside and ate it on a bench during a very windy afternoon.  As I headed back to the parking lot, I decided to sit in the car to catch up on some emails.  As I was on the computer in the car, I witnessed a person back up into another car and hit the bumper.  From where I sat, it looked like a tap and the owner of the vehicle got out to inspect the damage.  I went away on the computer figuring that everything was ok.  About twenty minutes later, I saw a few people gathered around the car looking at the damage.  After a while, a gentleman came up to me to see if I saw anything. I told him my story and what I didn't know (or see) was that she left a big dent on the side of the car.  I told him that I would help out in any way I could since I would be there for a while.

Shortly after, a police officer came to write up a report of the incident.  She came to my car to ask me a few questions and after I answered, I asked her if I could ask her a few questions and take her photograph.  To my surprise, she agreed to it!  So there I was, out in the middle of the Tillamook parking lot taking photographs of the town's female sheriff to perhaps be included in my "Women's Work" project.

It goes to show you that you never know what will happen in your day or who you will come across.  Not only was I able to get caught up on some mail in the parking lot, I was able profile the sheriff of Tillamook and let's not forget that huge scoop of ice cream!  That was enough excitement for the day so we decided to leave and continued our journey north.

Real Food XI: Sourdough Buckwheat Crepes

Buckwheat was domesticated in Southeast Asia roughly 6,000 years ago. Due to its unusual tolerance of cool growing conditions, poor soils and high altitudes, it spread throughout the Northern latitudes of Eurasia, becoming the staple crop in many regions. It's used to a lesser extent in countries closer to the equator. It was also a staple in the Northeastern US until it was supplanted by wheat and corn.

Buckwheat isn't a grain: it's a 'pseudograin' that comes from a broad-leaved plant. As such, it's not related to wheat and contains no allergenic gluten. Like quinoa, it has some unusual properties that make it a particularly nutritious food. It's about 16 percent protein by calories, ranking it among the highest protein grains. However, it has an advantage over grains: it contains complete protein, meaning it has a balance of essential amino acids similar to animal foods. Buckwheat is also an exceptional source of magnesium and copper, two important nutrients that may influence the risk of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease (1, 2).

However, like all seeds (including grains and nuts), buckwheat is rich in phytic acid. Phyic acid complexes with certain minerals, preventing their absorption by the human digestive tract. This is one of the reasons why traditional cultures prepare their grains carefully (3). During soaking, and particularly fermentation of raw batters, an enzyme called phytase goes to work breaking down the phytic acid. Not all seeds are endowed with enough phytase to break down phytic acid in a short period of time. Buckwheat contains a lot of phytase, and consequently fermented buckwheat batters contain very little phytic acid (4, 5). It's also high in astringent tannins, but thorough soaking in a large volume of water removes them.

Buckwheat is fermented in a number of traditional cultures. In Bhutan, it's fermented to make flatbreads and alcoholic drinks (6). In Brittany (Bretagne; Northwestern France), sourdough buckwheat flour pancakes are traditional. Originally a poverty food, it is now considered a delicacy.

The following simple recipe is based on my own experimentation with buckwheat. It isn't traditional as far as I know, however it is based on traditional methods used to produce sourdough flatbreads in a number of cultures. I used the word 'crepe' to describe it, but I typically make something more akin to a savory pancake or uttapam. You can use it to make crepes if you wish, but this recipe is not for traditional French buckwheat crepes.

It's important that the buckwheat be raw and whole for this recipe. Raw buckwheat is light green to light brown (as in the photo above). Kasha is toasted buckwheat, and will not substitute properly. It's also important that the water be dechlorinated and the salt non-iodized, as both will interfere with fermentation.

For a fermentation starter, you can use leftover batter from a previous batch (although it doesn't keep very long), or rice soaking water from this method (7).

Ingredients and Materials

• 2-3 cups raw buckwheat groats
• Dechlorinated water (filtered, boiled, or rested uncovered overnight)
• Non-iodized salt (sea salt, pickling salt or kosher salt), 2/3 tsp per cup of buckwheat
  
• Fermentation starter (optional), 2 tablespoons
  
• Food processor or blender

Recipe

1. Cover buckwheat with a large amount of dechlorinated water and soak for 9-24 hours. Raw buckwheat is astringent due to water-soluble tannins. Soaking in a large volume of water and giving it a stir from time to time will minimize this. The soaking water will also get slimy. This is normal.
   
2. Pour off the soaking water and rinse the buckwheat thoroughly to get rid of the slime and residual tannins.
3. Blend the buckwheat, salt, dechlorinated water and fermentation starter in a food processor or blender. Add enough water so that it reaches the consistency of pancake batter. The smoother you get the batter, the better the final product will be.
4. Ferment for about 12 hours, a bit longer or shorter depending on the temperature and whether or not you used a starter. The batter may rise a little bit as the microorganisms get to work. The smell will mellow out. Refrigerate it after fermentation.
   
5. In a greased or non-stick skillet, cook the batter at whatever thickness and temperature you prefer. I like to cook a thick 'pancake' with the lid on, at very low heat, so that it steams gently.
   

Dig in! Its mild flavor goes with almost anything. Batter will keep for about four days in the fridge.

Thanks to Christaface for the CC licensed photo (Flickr).