August 14, 2009 19:12 EDT: George Soros Cut Petrobras Stake in Second Quarter (Update2)

Billionaire George Soros cut his stake in his biggest holding, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, in the second quarter while buying more shares of other energy producers.

His New York-based hedge-fund firm, Soros Fund Management LLC, sold 22 million U.S.-listed common shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian oil company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Soros bought 5.8 million of the company’s U.S.-traded preferred shares.

August 18, 2009, 1:45 P.M. ET: Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling:

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.

August 20, 2009: U.S. Loan to Brazilian Oil Company Riles Conservatives in Favor of Offshore Drilling

In fact, the Export-Import bank receives no appropriations from Congress and thus does not rely on American taxpayer dollars and is also not "sending" $2 billion to the Brazilian company but offering lines of credit to U.S. firms so they can compete to land contracts as part of Petrobras' drilling operations.

The $2 billion "preliminary commitment" by the Export-Import Bank to Petrobras is expected to grow, as the U.S. competes on behalf of American exporters of goods and services against those from China. Beijing has extended a commitment of $10 billion -- but the Brazilians are said to prefer U.S. management and technology.

Then there is the George Soros angle.

Fast forward 10 months later to June 21, 2010: to Glenn Beck's Left Strangely Silent on Petrobras (on Fox News):

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

The problem? Last September Factcheck.org exposed the falseness of Glenn's accusations:

As reported by Bloomberg News, Soros reduced his stake in the company before any of the Ex-Im Bank’s promised loan has been dispensed.

What say you Glenn Beck?

The tone of social unrest presented during the G20 Summit in Toronto is a manifestation of negative social mood which escalated to a higher violent pitch without any sign of stopping.

The expression of anger is a reflection of a negative social mood and although there have been protests and riots during previous G20 summits in Toronto this weekend's violence, on both sides of the confrontation, is visibly more belligerent than before. Have a look:

1. Police boldly attack protesters:

2. Protesters boldly vandalize police cars:

Some people are angry and will become more so because as the next wave of deflation digs in deeper into the economy, like a runaway freight train, anything any of the G20 and G8 leaders do to stimulate the economy will not work. From the latest EWI Elliott Wave Theorist report:

Economist in the aggregate will probably not recognize that a depression is in force until 2012 or perhaps beyond.

What will the violence be like then, in 2012, late in the bear market, when the double in the 'double dip resession' hits, when the economy hits bottom?

The anger in Toronto towards the G20 leaders stems from not only being mad about economic woes but also being upset about loosing individual rights to 'big brother,' as reflected by the 'police state' graffiti on the vandalized police car:

Police Officer: "Can I see your ID?"

Protester: "No, I rather remain anonymous."

Police Officer: "You're under arrest."

Ouch, Ontario Gives Police Sweeping Powers During G20 Summit in Toronto:

Before Dave Vasey, 31, was arrested and detained for a few hours on June 24, 2010, very few people knew about the vast powers of search and arrest that police were given for the G20 Summit being held in Toronto on June 26 and 27.

After Vasey’s story became public, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair held a news conference where he explained that the law was neither new nor passed in secret. It was done just as much to protect protesters as other people. He was correct in saying that the law under which these enhanced powers of arrest and detention were granted was not new; it has been around for years. But, as far as the regulation that applies specifically to the G20 Summit weekend in Toronto, it was secret for all those who don’t make looking at new Ontario government regulations on the Internet part of their daily routine.

While G20 participants are protected behind a security fence (put up with taxpayers' money) and a police force numbering in the hundreds (paid for with taxpayers' money) the public is not. As Dan Dicks, from Press for Truth, explains:

If you happen to be involved with one of the 5 major media conglomerates here in Canada then you will not have a problem. But if you are a member of an independent media outlet like Press for Truth than you can expect a rigorous security check in almost any area of the city.

Plus the likely outcome of being arrested, as shown in the following two videos:

This is an example that goes towards showing the transition from positive (bull market) to negative (bear market) social mood. As deflation digs deeper and the economy deteriorates further (in Canada and around the world) there is on the one hand draconian like legislation and enforcement and on the other hand anarchy like protesting and violence.

This unedited video (viewable in full-screen HD) shows acts of vandalism and arson in Los Angeles following the NBA Finals on June 17, 2010. If you have information regarding persons seen in this video, or other acts of arson anywhere in Los Angeles, please call the LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section directly at (213) 485-6095.

If people are behaving like this when celebrating a win by a very popular basketball team then what kind of riots will we see when there is a full on depression?

April 15, 2010: "A Tea Party attendee holds up a sign to let people know how much each infant will have to pay in taxes during their lifetime Thursday on the east side of the Vigo County Courthouse [Terre Haute, Indiana]."

Elected (and non-elected) leaders around the world continue to perpetuate the unfortunate situation where children are born into debt.

In the United States, the Gross National Debt is:

For other countries, USA Today recently published data on the public debt as a percentage of select national economies:

Zimbabwe 304%
Japan 192%
Greece 108%
France 80%
Germany 77%
U.K. 69%
U.S. 58%*
Iran 19% (103)
Russia 7% (124)

(*Does not include Treasury debt held by Social Security Administration and the Federal Reserve.)

And elected (and non-elected) leaders around the world continue to perpetuate the unfortunate situation of taxing everything they can get their hands on:

- personal income tax
- self-employment tax
- corporate income tax
- capital gains tax
- city sales tax
- state income tax
- state sales tax
- gas tax
- meals tax
- hotel tax
- excise tax
- workers compensation tax
- cigarette tax
- wine and liquor tax
- motor vehicle tax
- real estate transfer tax
- and the list goes on...

All for the purpose of what? To fill posh IRS digs?

The $92 million renovations at the IRS compound in Andover will include a reflecting pool, an art gallery, indoor gardens, a 7,000-square-foot cafeteria and an amphitheater, but it remains unclear what new permanent jobs, if any, will come to the center.

Given the current feeble economic situation worldwide and the continued social mood change around the world, from optimism to pessimism, the overall situation for our future generations is not only bound to deteriorate with debt levels on the increase and more taxation on the way.