‘Tis the Season to be…..WARY….

By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Well, I’ve been dormant for a long time, but itching to get back to the blog the whole time…..

Instead of researching politics, I’ve been immersed in stocks, the economy, and Aerogardens (I hope to  post something on these amazing little machines sometime!).

Lettuce/arugula in one of my Aerogardens

Tussling with asset managers who really don’t get it has been an increasing occupation…researching links to European banks, etc.  It is very time-consuming, to say the least!

Yesterday, I was on the monthly conference call with the guy who manages an “Alternative” portfolio….metals, currencies, foreign ETFs, etc.  He gets the overall mechanics of it all, some of the big picture, but not the underlying monster.  I keep raising questions about things and never REALLY get the answers.

Well, I am no longer alone.  A woman named Elizabeth asked a question: “How do you plan to keep our money safe?” and referred to ME….that she had been reading what I had been reading! Eureka!

The guy is good guy and has no problem adjusting our accounts. So I just finished off an email to him instructing him on a couple of things…and then added a “reading list” for him to peruse. Whether he reads any of it is a big question, but I sent it along anyway. I tried to tap into something we have in common…he got his graduate business training at Cornell and I am now heading into my 40th Reunion year since my undergrad graduation !  (Which is pretty crazy, that I’ve come that far and survived! ) I told him that as Cornellians, we could put our brains together and survive….

Anyway, I thought I’d just plug in the part of the email with my reading list….this is a VERY short list….it is probably overwhelming for him but it barely touches the surface of what I read.

So, here goes, straight from my email to him…to you. It’s not pretty, the formatting is a mess…. but it gets to the basics! Hope you find this to be a helpful start…although, if/when systemic collapse comes who knows what preparations will really bail us out as individuals.

****

Now, I will bore you with a list of things I read regularly…
1)   http://www.zerohedge.com/    ZH is the go to place for the real nitty-gritty on what’s going on, no sugar-coating.  It’s really a must; updates during the day.
2)  http://www.jsmineset.com/      Jim Sinclair’s father worked alongside Jesse Livermore and Sinclair himself took care of unwinding the Hunt Bros. silver stake way back when.
Sinclair, otherwise called “Santa” around the blogosphere,  is very respected on the economic situation, metals, etc.   You will see a link to the left for Guild …their free newsletter may interest you.  Trader Dan Norcini started here and links to his own blog are now offered.  Direct link to Trader Dan….who is very cogent on gold,general market etc. analysis http://traderdannorcini.blogspot.com/

3) http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/  This Canadian watches every ounce vs. paper at the Comex and the ETFs…things are not good there!  Also cites important news.

4) http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/   Great analysis of what the Cartel (mostly JP Morgan and the infamous Blythe Masters) is doing plus other stuff. all free. Reviews the COTS.  He’s been pretty spot on about price activity….

5) http://www.chrismartenson.com/   This started it all for me.  Former CEO, scientist started pulling things together and created the CRASH COURSE. It’s free pulls together various
threads for a big picture look at how our world is shaping up…Plus, very spot on economic analysis.  Site also is a great resource for “sustainable” living.   This site is a “safe haven” of
sorts….supportive and practical..  STRONGLY RECOMMENDED as a basis for what has many of us VERY WORRIED….and reading Zero Hedge every day….I have acted on many    recommendations…including yanking nearly all our money out of the banks like Wells Fargo….and I’m still researching TD Bank….nearly everything this man talked about a couple of years ago is unfolding now.    Pulled this up on TD Bank ….GreatPonzi.com – Canadian Credit Health Update 2011-09-19
Especially timely…current post…..http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/worse-2008/67136

6) Last but not least….the big picture of the bigger cycles/forces at work….Ray Merriman, whom I know personally to some degree.  His Weekly Preview is free.
Cut out the terminology you don’t understand, you will still get the idea….http://www.mmacycles.com/weekly-preview/mma-comments-for-the-week/
My 2012 book just came last night, so I’ll be deep into it.  These cycles are playing out right on schedule….

And, of course…I listen to Marc Faber, Jim Rogers...http://marcfaberchannel.blogspot.com/     http://jimrogers-investments.blogspot.com/
These try to keep up with major comments….

Also,  at KWN, there are a boatload of thinking people of some repute who are really watching the gold, currency etc markets and know we’re in big trouble
The KWN Weekly Metals Wrap available on Saturday AM features Bill Haynes from CMI Gold and Trader Dan.   KWN is where all the key people are interviewed–Jim Rickards, James Turk,
Martin Armstrong, Sinclair, etc. etc.   The link is the Gold/currency section, but there are sections on other areas of the market as well.
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Gold.html

I was so happy to hear another person (Elizabeth) pipe up on the call….I don’t feel so alone.  The stuff coming out of the mainstream is really not getting to the nitty-gritty. We are nervous
for good reason…I’ve been following this for several years now.  I actually keep wondering if I should just yank my money out. … Marc Faber has talked about being diversified because we don’t know what will happen….25%+ metals; 25% real estate (esp. foreign); 25% cash; 25% equities, although he is getting more negative on them… His ideas on diversification are repeated here from yesterday 12/21   http://www.zerohedge.com/news/mark-faber-i-am-convinced-whole-derivatives-market-will-cease-exist-and-will-go-zero

The overriding sense I have that we’re on the edge…and we’re not going to be an island of safety ultimately.

***

So, that’s what I fired at the poor guy…

Hey, sorry to be a downer during the holiday season…but, a holiday is just one day…it’s gone and then we’re back to reality.

I’ll toss in one positive…the days are now going to get longer and Spring WILL come…until then, I bask in the grow lights of Aerogardens!

HULU — “An evil plot to destroy the world”: A Mainstream Media Creation (FOX, NBC et al) to Squeeze Out Independent Media Content

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

If you any doubts about how the mainstream media is playing us, then here’s the proof that they indeed are.  It’s easy to see when you take a look at Hulu. Most of the uniformed world think FOX (News Corp.) and NBC/GE are “enemies”  but we see that they’re working together to suck the air out of independent media content available on the web.

Hulu–“An evil plot to destroy the world.”  I didn’t originate this description; Hulu did. It’s in their ad which features the obnoxious Denis Leary jabbering away about TV content turning your mind to mush and snarking at a “brain dead” (those are the ad’s words) geek who’s getting a stream of green stuff passed into his ear.  Before he’s through, Leary says that the folks at Hulu are  “aliens” and then winds up with the tag line, “Hulu…an evil plot to destroy the world…Enjoy.”

The ad is up at the company blog under the title “The Evil Plot Continues.”  Go see for yourself…(and be sure to “click” to see the full ad after the initial clip is over or click here for the video without the blog post.).  This week, Hulu has released a “Video Panel widget”:

To continue to deliver on our mission to connect audiences with their favorite content wherever they are — or, as Denis Leary would say, on their “bliggety blogs, facey spaces and tweety pages” — we are releasing a new embeddable product this week: the Video Panel widget.

The ad is supposed to be a cool joke aimed at the younger crowd, but in reality, it may not just a joke!  A couple of weeks ago I happened to be watching CNBC and caught an interview with the young CEO who was talking about how successful Hulu had become and how it would be even more successful as it closes in on YouTube, which is currently the top video site.

And who’s behind Hulu?  According to Hoovers (with my bolding):

Hulu Company Description

When the rich and famous name their offspring, anything is possible. NBC and FOX had a digital baby. And they called it Hulu. Initially formed as a joint venture between NBC Universal (a unit of GE) and News Corp. (the parent of FOX), Hulu.com is a video site that features video from more than 100 content providers. Offerings include TV shows from FOX and NBC, as well as from subsidiary cable channels such as Bravo and the SCI FI Channel. Hulu also shows films from studios including Sony and MGM. Content — all total, some 900 TV series and full-length movies– is streamed on demand, free of charge the day after its broadcast debut. After a nearly five-month long beta version, Hulu.com was launched in 2008.

And, there’s another player now: Disney/ABC.

Disney Buys Into Hulu. YouTube Should Be Worried.  (4/30)

As the initial exclusivity for NBC and Fox content expires, Hulu will be adding Disney/ABC videos and TV shows to its distribution mix as well. Hulu is becoming the preferred distribution channel for the big media companies. And it is succeeding in attracting the fickle Web audience. This should worry YouTube, which is still casting about for a business model that will pay for its enormous storage and bandwidth costs. The media companies cannot ignore YouTube just yet, but by strengthening Hulu they can give it their best content first.

A couple of days earlier, this article provided some extra background:

Hulu Now The Number Three U.S. Web Video Site. Soon To Be Number Two.  (4/28)

Just last month, we wrote that Hulu had gained some 10 million viewers to become the fourth largest video portal on the web. Now, it’s slain another rival to the list: Yahoo, to move into #3 — at least in terms of videos viewed.

To be clear, the new March U.S. numbers released by comScore show that Hulu is still slightly behind Yahoo’s video properties when it comes to unique viewers. But the NBC and Fox-backed Hulu should pass it any day now in that category as well. Meanwhile, the number two player, Fox Interactive Media (which runs MySpace), is slipping just as quickly as Hulu is rising in videos viewed. It could well be as soon as this month when Hulu moves into the number two web video position.

Needless to say,  I wondered about the name. Silly me for thinking it was a take-off on “hula” or something Hawaiian. NOOOOOOOOOO, it’s actually a Chinese name! From Wikipedia:

The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin Chinese words, hulu (simplified Chinese: 葫芦; traditional Chinese: 葫蘆; pinyin: húlú; Wade-Giles: hu-lu) “calabash, bottle gourd” and hulu (simplified Chinese: 互录; traditional Chinese: 互錄; pinyin: hùlù; Wade-Giles: hu-lu) “interactive recording.”

The company blog explains:

In Mandarin, Hulu has two interesting meanings, each highly relevant to our mission. The primary meaning interested us because it is used in an ancient Chinese proverb that describes the hulu as the holder of precious things. It literally translates to “gourd,” and in ancient times, the hulu was hollowed out and used to hold precious things. The secondary meaning is “interactive recording.” We saw both definitions as appropriate bookends and highly relevant to the mission of Hulu. ^[4][5]

(Here’s the link to the above-mentioned blog post at Hulu with a picture of the young group (mostly of Chinese background?) who worked on choosing the name: http://blog.hulu.com/2008/05/13/meaning-of-hulu/.) (Note: For all their care, it seems that “Hulu” has some unusual meanings in other languages anyway. For a sampling, see:  Hulu Translates To “Cease” and “Desist” in Swahili. Oops.)

My next stop was a visit to the Hulu site at http://www.hulu.com/.  The “News” channel has a few sub-sections, but I just looked at the Politics section closely. Of course, it varies day to day, but it certainly is NOT a comprehensive news site…an awful lot of clips featuring unchallenged spin from the Administration and cable talk shows on the day I looked.  Hulu is entirely commercial content, so you won’t see any original “ads” or political discourse from the peons here, like you see at YouTube.

Who’s running Hulu for NBC, FOX, and Disney?

The CEO is one Jason Kilar. From Business Week:

Jason Kilar serves as Chief Executive Officer of Hulu, LLC. Mr. Kilar has been Chief Executive of online video joint venture of NBC Universal, Inc. and News Corp., since July 9, 2007. He serves as Special Advisor of KBL Acquisition Corp. IV*. He served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Application Software at Amazon.com Inc. since May 2003 and was responsible for Amazon’s Marketplace business. From February 2002 to May 2003, Mr. Kilar served as Vice President of Worldwide … Application Software of Amazon.com Inc., where he joined in May, 1997 as a Product Manager. From October 2001 to February 2002, Mr. Kilar served as Vice President of Marketplace of Amazon.com Inc. and served as its Vice President of Books, Music, and Video & DVD from February 2001 to October 2001 and serves as its Vice President. He began his career with The Walt Disney Company, where he worked for Disney Design & Development. He serves on the board of Management Leadership for Tomorrow. He has been Director of AdReady, Inc. since November 28, 2007. Mr. Kilar received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School…

The company is providing  investment capital for Hulu is Providence Equity. Of course, there’s a “global presence”:

Working collaboratively from offices in Providence, New York, London, Hong Kong and New Delhi, our 74 investment professionals pursue opportunities as a unified team across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Our sector focus and international mandate enable us to dedicate our full resources to building global leaders in the media, entertainment, communications and information industries, regardless of location.

The large “team” running this firm has some interesting names on the roster.

Michael K. Powell, now a Sr. Advisor for PE, formerly FCC chairman during the Bush Administration

In addition to Kilar, there are a lot of people with Harvard ties, work history with some of the large investment banks (with a number of them with a history at Morgan Stanley), and other interesting backgrounds. Here’s a sampling of some of the names I peeked at…there are many others with similiar ties on the long list of “the team”:

• Senior Managing Directors  Glenn M. Creamer and Paul J. Salem both come out of Harvard and Brown with interesting director backgrounds over and above the Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, and Prudential experience.  Others I took a peek at include:
• COO  Gary S. Weinstein …Lehman Brothers
• Managing Director Julie A. Fisher … The World Bank  &  J.P. Morgan
• Managing Director Christopher P.  Halpin …Goldman Sachs

• Chief Compliance Officer Fred Franklin (who “served for ten years as Assistant Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement”)… from Bear Stearns

So, it looks like the total capture of the minds of the younger generation by the mass media will be complete if most of them gravitate to Hulu.  If YouTube can’t survive, will the creative video we see there dry up or become fragmented across many smaller sites?

Hulu is just another piece of the puzzle as the media “clamps down” to control what media content users see.  Scary, very scary indeed.

***

*KBL Acquisition Corp. IV is involved in “miscellaneous”  investment services but is a big player in the healthcare industry (also KBL I, II, III)

Hulu Company Profile.

GE media holdings (From Columbia Journalism Review site)

News Corp. media holdings (From Columbia Journalism Review site)

Disney media holdings (corporate site)