So the current administration wants to add taxes to those who work hard and are successful. What is this Robin Hood! This might make people not attend college for fear if they do make a good living that  they may not make as much as in the past. Sure, lets tax those that are spending and force people to leave the country. How come no one is asking about the stress test on banks? It looks as though we are so concerned with China and Europe that we forgot about how the banks are holding up. We know they are cash rich from laying people off, not giving loans out, etc.

There are questions that you should be asking yourselves. Does the fact that Greece received a bailout save the country from falling off the cliff? Can the euro and dollar both fall at the same time? Is the U.S. government going to raise the debt ceiling? Are consumers struggling? If salaries are not rising and gas and food keep moving upward the consumer will not have the money to spend. Companies are storing cash and not hiring just in case there is another financial crisis. The stock market continues to rise, in my opinion to create a buffer in case the market does crash. This is when we must trade on fundamentals and news as it streams in.

What a wild ride the past 2 days has been! The things that kills me is why Obama would tap into reserves on oil when prices have retreated. Why didn’t he do this when crude was $113 a barrel? Oh, maybe that’s because his 2012 campaign is happening right now and he wants to show consumers he is working for them. What he doesn’t realize is this could drag down stocks and the consumer’s 401k could get beat up. The President needs to fix the debt-ceiling issue and not worry about his campaign!

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - China is expected to import up to five million tonnes of corn in 2011, the U.S. Grains Council said on Wednesday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Agriculture Investment Summit, USGC president and CEO Thomas Dorr said China has already purchased around 1.25 million tonnes of corn this year and was expected to meet the bulk of its 2011 import needs from the coming 2011-12 new crop.

Target and other retail workers want to be unionized. I do not blame them but most of them are part time workers without benefits. Full-time workers that have been at the company for 3-5 years or more should have this opportunity. I am not against it but it should be offered to long term employees. This would create a better worker and take better employees from competitors.

A choppy market? I think people who are new to the market expect a one directional type attitude. In times like this new rules, regulations, and political actions can send the market up or down each day. Basically, one must disseminate the news each day. But what about earnings and economic data? Again, each day shows something that has to be disseminated but economic data points to a slower economy. Companies are looking to cut more employees. This shows a weak market and I do not care what anyone says. Consumers are jittery and worried about living month to month and do not want to hear about rich companies saving money or making billions. They want jobs, to stay in their home, and to be able to afford groceries without having to worry if gas will go off the charts.

The market has not changed since 2008, which means when panic selling starts the market could jump off of the cliff. The people that want your money want you to pay fees and keep your money with their firm. Being in a short fund, playing options on the short side, and or holding in cash are smart plays. There are excellent straddles one can do to be safe just in case a sell-off does not happen. Let’s face it! There is a bunch of stuff that has happened that we are still recovering from. There is more to come and the markets are not healed from the last round. Will treasuries be safe? Will the U.S . lose its A rating? Will the housing sector come back? Will jobs be created? It takes 5-7 years after a recession for an economy to bounce back. This means in that time period an economy is vulnerable like a person with a weak immune system. If anything big happens the sickness could be terminal.

A bailout for Europe! What about one for the United States? So, we help every country out when a storm hits, in earthquake rattles a nation, or when a war breaks out, yet no one is here to help us out? The reason our debt is this is high is because of over spending, wars, and bailing out the world.  If we base our premise on the fact that we have policed the world for decades than one might assume our debt is higher because of it. Is my line of thinking 100% accurate, probably not, but if is then we should let China take over as the police! After all, they are the brightest light, so let’s let them shine and spend the money they have in reserves.

Does anyone find it sketchy that China is buying up Portugal’s debt? When has China every helped another country out before; unless they either profit from it. They could be getting nervous that more countries could be defaulting over the next few years. If a number of countries cannot buy exports from China, than China could start their recession rather quickly. Please do not count a second recession out in the next few years! The debt crisis might be contained by then but the debt ceiling being raised, more money being printed, and a lack of education by leaders, could cause another recession.

Inflation is growing and this can be seen due to higher prices in fuel and food. The consumer is just getting back on their feet from the recession. The consumer is expected to spend to keep this country running and yet they are getting taxed more. Salaries need to rise to offset higher prices and higher taxes. Either way the government still gets their money and it allows the consumer to actaully breath. What do you think? Hopefully everyone learned their lesson and have stopped using credit cards as much. 58% of the Friday the 13th have been up over the years.

Rumors all over the floor of the CME Group have China finishing a deal to import another 1 MMT of US corn. This is in addition to the 1.25 MMT from early March.

The crop year is still in question but the trade acts like it’s old crop with CN-Z out to 55 again.