JAPAN'S NIKKEI PLUNGES 7% ON WEAK CHINA DATA AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM BERNANKE THAT THE FED CAN'T MAKE "QE-TERNAL"

CNBC:

[CHINA], the world's second largest economy grew at its slowest pace in three years over January to March, said economists. The flash HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for May that was released on Thursday slipped to 49.6, falling under the key 50 level, which divides expansion from contraction, for the first since October. Last month, the final HSBC PMI stood at 50.4. The decline was driven partly by a fall in new orders - with the sub-index dropping to 49.5, the lowest reading since September. 

"It is not good and it does increase the chances of a sequential slowdown in the second quarter GDP [gross domestic product]. Simply put, domestic demand this time wasn't strong enough to counter fully the impact of still weak external demand," Donna Kwok, greater China economist at HSBC told CNBC on Thursday.

AND JAPAN'S NIKKEI PLUNGED 7% - BECAUSE OF CHINA AND A STRING YEN, AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT BY BERNANKE THAT THE FED MIGHT TURN OFF THE SPIGOT.

THE GLOBAL COLLAPSE MIGHT BE JUST A FEW WEEKS AWAY... OR A FEW MONTHS.

BERNANKE KNOWS THE FED CANNOT CONTINUE TO PRINT MONEY AND PUMP UP THE GLOBAL MARKETS. HE'S BEEN SAYING THIS FOR MONTHS - BUT IT'S JUST BEGINNING TO SINK IN:

When Ben Bernanke testified before Congress Tuesday [FEBRUARY 2013, JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO] and Wednesday, he staunchly defended his easy- money policies like quantitative easing, or "QE Forever." 

"We do not see the potential costs of the increased risk-taking in some financial markets as outweighing the benefits of promoting a stronger economic recovery," the Federal Reserve chairman said. Bernanke added the central bank takes "very seriously" the excessive risk-taking its dovish policies could provoke and is watching markets carefully.
He maintained that the bank's accommodative monetary policy has "supported real growth in employment and kept inflation close to our target [2%]." 

But some Fed officials are growing concerned about quantitative easing - the Fed's purchases of $85 billion in securities a month - and believe it would be prudent to slow or stop the buying well before the end of 2013. 

THE FED CAN'T KEEP PRINTING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR.

IT HAS TO STOP.

UNLESS THERE IS ANOTHER POSITIVE INPUT - (COLD FUSION OR SOME OTHER EVENT THAT BRINGS ENERGY COSTS DOWN DRAMATICALLY, AN  END TO THE CURRENT PHASE OF THE GLOBAL RELIGIOUS WAR, AND END TO SOCIALISM - NONE OF WHICH IS LIKELY) -  IT WON'T BE PRETTY WHEN IT DOES STOP.

IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHEN.