Mitt Romney confirms he would end US wind power subsidies

Mitt Romney looks set to declare war on America’s wind energy industry, further emphasising the dividing line between the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and President Barack Obama on energy issues.

Romney’s campaign confirmed this week he wants to end long-standing tax credits for wind farm projects when the incentives come up for review later this year.

The pledge means the popular production tax credits (PTCs) – which have helped drive a surge [...]

Mark Hulbert: Watch for avalanche of sell orders Monday

Monday’s trading will be the first opportunity stock investors in the U.S. will have to act on a major technical violation that occurred at Friday’s close: The breaking of the 200-day moving average.

This could result in an avalanche of sell signals hitting the market at Monday’s open, since many technical analysts use the 200-day moving average as the dividing line between bull and bear markets. They consider the primary trend [...]

RICHARD RUSSELL: The VIX Is Warning Us This Is ‘THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM’

Richard Russell, the bearish author of the Dow Theory Letters, has yet another reason to be bearish: the VIX.

 

The VIX, aka the fear index, is a measure of implied volatility.

He writes in King World News:

Starting in August the VIX headed down again as investors’ nerves settled down.  The VIX hit a low in April.  But the latest reading is a sudden surge above the 50-day MA.  This suggest that investors are [...]

‘Buffett Rule’ Exposes the GOP’s Taxophobia

If the Buffett Rule isn’t about middle-class economic security, and it’s not even about eliminating the ability of millionaires to pay less than their secretaries, what is it about? It’s about politics. But that doesn’t make it wrong or even cynical.

The central dividing line in American politics is the Republican Party’s refusal to accept any higher tax revenues on the rich. Republican taxophobia killed several attempts to reach an agreement [...]

Barely a hurricane but still packing wallop

?Seth Wenig – Lower Manhattan is seen amidst dark clouds in New York, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene bore down on a dark and quiet New York early Sunday, bringing winds and rapidly rising seawater that …

NEW YORK (AP) — Waterlogged and silent, New York awaited the worst of Hurricane Irene as an unsettled dawn broke over the city Sunday. Seawater cascaded toward Wall Street [...]

S. Korean Navy fires shots after hearing sound of artillery fire near wester sea border(NK arty)

From a Korean-language article in Chosun Ilbo

Approx 2 pm this afternoon,

NK fired three (artillery) rounds near Yeonpyeong Island which was attacked last year.

One landed on NLL(the sea dividing line.)

SK responded by firing back three rounds of its own.

All SK fishing boats returned to the shore and residents were evacuated to shelters.

So far no casualties were reported and NK appeared to fire at an uninhabited island called Yong-mae-do.

Chinese fighters ‘repel’ US aircraft… Taipei moves to play down incident in Taiwan Strait

From FT:

Two Chinese fighter jets crossed an unofficial dividing line in the Taiwan Strait late last month in pursuit of a US spy aircraft, according to defence sources in Taipei and Beijing.

The incident marked the first time in more than a decade that Chinese military aircraft have entered Taiwan’s side of the 180km-wide strait. According to Taiwan’s defence ministry, two Chinese Su-27 fighter jets [...]