Tracking Tuesday- Quick Midweek Update on Unemployment, Gold, QE3, Consumer Confidence, Case Shiller, New York State Thruway Shutdown, and Everybody's Favorite- Fukushima

It's Tuesday afternoon. It's time for a midweek update.

There has been an overwhelming amount of news the past few weeks - gold, Irene, total Euro banking sector economic meltdowns, BofA going bust and then being bailed out by a senile old fool two Plavix pills short of the grave, verified total U.S. economic meltdown, Fukushima going full global nuclear, WWIII about to break out in the Middle East and a whole list of other things we'd need days to discuss - then a quick check at "the markets" shows the DOW at nearly 12,000 again, on zero volume. Literally. At least from the carbon based lifeforms. Which begs the question - what is a stock really worth if there is nobody to trade it? Better yet, how does an global economic depression justify stock valuations of 1200x earnings set by high frequency computers? The short answers are, nothing and it doesn't.

Speaking of hurricanes, it's ironic that it has taken MSM and so many "experts" this long to start to figure out that there never was a recovery and it's pretty much "light's out" for the global economy going forward. Even CNN is reporting that "the economic slowdown is here to stay." But hell doesn't freeze over and the fat lady doesn't sing until CNBS joins that bandwagon. Last we heard, they're still talking "Green Shoots" and 5% GDP growth for 2011. Yes, you are allowed to laugh out loud.

While they talk "job growth" and "positive economic activity," we talk reality. Like the reality of unemployment, which is about to get much worse - we don't hide the fact that the real unemployment continues to grow exponentially. Need proof? If McDonald's "Hiring Day" in which over a million people signed up for didn't lock that in, try this for size, and then do the math. All the figures you need to extrapolate a good estimate of the job condition in this country are there.

Of interest to gold bugs, is this piece about confiscation of gold coins by the feds. Smells very much like executive order 6102 redux. How much gold does Libya have again? Oh, right. Not enough to fill all physical demand should paper take delivery but they sure will try. Oops.

Even better news for gold bugs is the Federal Reserve comments on QE3 which is now guaranteed in at least two forms and at least one new friendly name - Operation Twist(er) (aka, take your money and give it to the banksters 3.0.) As we like to say, gold is never old when the economy catches a cold and Dr. Deficit is at the printing machine helm. Ok, so it doesn't rhyme, but you get the point.

Speaking of con... fidence, Consumer Confidence just plunged to the lowest since April 2009 and looks more and more like the makings of 2008 all over again but much, much more. This should help the markets rally today. Because, as you know, it's super bull...ish. Oh, and the Case Shiller housing index? Plunged 4.5% YoY while the MSM spins housing recovery KoolAid garbage. Oops. QE3, are you ready for it? Gold sure is.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, a 100 mile section of the New York State Thruway is closed as well as the light rails to NYC. Should be bullish for productivity.

Finally, for the Fukushima in all of us (literally), here are three updates which require no commentary from us.

-"Nuclear plant worker dies of acute leukemia, TEPCO denies radiation"
-"Survey finds higher radiation than Chernobyl evacuation zone over wide area of 165 locations in Japan"

-"Radioactive cesium in San Francisco Bay Area milk close to exceeding EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level" (!!!)

Drink up. 

So that's all for now. We'll update once we begin returning to a more normal, "normal."