STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 2 August 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 2 August 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 1 August 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 1 August 2012
[center][font color=red]
Dow Jones 12,976.13 -32.55 (-0.25%)
S&P 500 1,375.14 -4.18 (-0.30%)
Nasdaq 2,920.21 -19.31 (-0.66%)


[font color=red]10 Year 1.52% +0.02 (1.33%)
30 Year 2.60% +0.01 (0.39%) [font color=black]


[center][/font]

[HR width=85%]

[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
[center]


[/center]

[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

[/center]

[center]

[/center]

[HR width=95%]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
[center]
Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
[center]
The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
[center]
LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
[center]
Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
[/center]

[div]
[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."



[HR width=95%]


[center]
[HR width=95%]
[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Demeter]

1. Bye-Bye, 13K!

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Aaah, and there went

eight minutes and forty-one seconds of sheeer delight. Thanks!

(Didn't even have to read the words.)

[Hotler]

55. Just a blip. n/t

[Demeter]

3. Flood of Errant Trades Is a Black Eye for Wall Street

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/business/unusual-volume-roils-early-trading-in-some-stocks.html


...Traders on Wednesday said that a rogue algorithm repeatedly bought and sold millions of shares of companies like RadioShack, Best Buy, Bank of America and American Airlines, sending trading volume surging. While the trading firm involved blamed a “technology issue,” the company and regulators were still trying to understand what went wrong...The debacle comes after the botched Facebook initial public offering on the Nasdaq exchange in May and the aborted effort in March by another exchange, BATS Global Markets, to bring its own stock public. The episodes, along with the flash crash of 2010 when the market lost trillions of dollars of value in minutes, have stoked suspicions that stocks are safe only for specialists, and sometimes not even for them....The errant trades began hitting exchanges almost as soon as the opening bell rang and came from a single New Jersey broker that specializes in computer-driven trading, the Knight Capital Group...Knight later said that “a technology issue occurred” in the division of the company that uses computer algorithms to buy and sell stocks from other market participants... Shares of more than 100 companies, including big names like Alcoa, Citigroup and Ford suddenly spiked up or down. The New York Stock Exchange had most of the mistaken orders, but all of the nation’s exchanges executed trades for Knight and all agreed to cancel the trading in six stocks that had especially extreme movements. (I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD CANCEL...LET THE BASTARDS PAY!--DEMETER) One of the six, Wizzard Software, saw twice as many shares traded in the first half-hour as there were during all of Tuesday, artificially catapulting its stock more than 300 percent, according to the data firm Nanex.

The trades placed by Knight may have left the firm with millions of shares of overpriced stocks that quickly lost their value after the chaos ended, but the company did not comment on its potential losses. The firm’s own shares ended the day down 32 percent amid concerns about disgruntled customers and lawsuits. Knight is one of many companies whose fortunes have risen as regulators made a series of changes over the last 15 years that have opened up the markets to new exchanges and trading firms that use computer programs, or algorithms, to execute thousands of trades a second. High-speed firms use the algorithms to make money from small changes in stock prices and now account for more than half of all stock trading. But the changes have also introduced instability into the system, which was made clear in the flash crash. After that event, the Securities and Exchange Commission set out to add safety valves to the system. But the turbulence on Wednesday reinforced the belief that regulators had not been able to keep up with the growing sophistication and speed of the market they were overseeing...

The most important change that the S.E.C. made after the flash crash was to introduce circuit breakers that are supposed to halt trading if a stock’s price makes extreme movements. The circuit breakers, though, do not start working until 15 minutes after trading opens, so they could not catch swings that happened in the first minutes of trading Wednesday. In addition, the circuit breakers are programmed to respond to changes in the price of shares, not changes in the number of shares being traded, so they did not stop much of the unusual trading. In the end, trading was halted in five stocks: Molycorp, Corelogic, Kronos Worldwide, China Cord Blood and Trinity Industries. The S.E.C. also made plans after the flash crash to create a system that would track all stock orders in real time as they were placed. Last month, though, the agency said it had modified its plan and would gather the data only a day after trades were placed.


On trading desks across Wall Street, the turbulence on Wednesday was apparent as soon as the markets opened, particularly because trading is usually down during the summer months and has been especially light this summer because of all the recent blows to investor confidence...Soon after the chaos ended at 10:15 a.m., the industry’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, convened a call with all of the major exchanges that lasted for the rest of the trading day and centered on the stocks that had been hit and where the trades had been executed, according to employees at the exchanges. The S.E.C. had a separate call with Knight and the New York Stock Exchange, according to people briefed on the call...Even before Wednesday, the stock industry was torn by feuds as regulators examined recent technical errors and broader structural cracks in the markets. Knight, for instance, recently criticized Nasdaq for the technology flaws that the exchange suffered during the Facebook initial public offering in May. Knight has said it lost $35 million because of Nasdaq errors that delayed trading and has threatened to take legal action. Another broker, UBS, said this week that it had lost more than $350 million during the public offering. On Wednesday, Nasdaq employees, on the phone call with other exchanges, demanded that Knight provide a full accounting of its own technology problems, according to someone on the call. Analysts said that Knight could face lawsuits for the mistaken trades. Wednesday was also the day that the exchange introduced a platform that segregated orders from retail investors to offer them better prices. The platform faced strident opposition from Knight and other market participants, which complained that the program would make markets less transparent, but regulators decided to allow it last month. There was no immediate information from Knight or the exchange on whether the new platform played a role in the morning’s problems...But many market watchers warned that the full effect of earlier market flaws had only been felt in the ensuing weeks and months as investors continued to transfer money out of stocks, discouraged by the mishaps.

..........................................................................................................................
QUOTABLES
................................................................................................................................

“The machines have taken over, right?” said Patrick Healy, the chief executive of the Issuer Advisory Group, a capital markets consulting firm. “When events like this happen they just reaffirm that these aren’t investors, these are traders.”

“It may have a broader impact on Main Street, who looks at Wall Street and says it’s just another illustration that the markets are broken and the little guy doesn’t stand a chance,” said Matt Samelson, the founder of Woodbine Associates, a capital markets consulting firm.

[Ghost Dog]

53. Ah, diddums. Don't cry. As long as you're in with the in crowd,

we'll order the suckers to bail you out. Again. Or else.

You already owe us one... or more.

[Demeter]

4. THE OXYMORON FOR THE MILLENIUM: A Tea Party Intellect From Texas, Poised to Join the Senate

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/us/politics/republican-senate-candidate-in-texas-is-known-as-an-intellectual-force.html

I'M POSTING THIS FOR THE UNINTENTIONAL (ONE ASSUMES) HUMOR. IT COULDN'T BE INTENTIONAL; I DON'T THINK THE GRAY LADY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR.

THE ARTICLE ITSELF INDUCES GAGGING AND NAUSEA....

THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE WHAT CONSTITUTES AN INTELLECT.

[bread_and_roses]

21. Gore Vidal on the "Property Party"

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/01-6

Published on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 by The Nation
Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution
by John Nichols

"To maintain its grip on the nation, the Property Party must keep actual issues out of political debate. So far they have succeeded marvelously well. Faced with unemployment, Nixon will oppose abortion. Inflation? Marijuana is a halfway house to something worse," he explained, in a soliloquy that, with the change of a few names and locations, remains fresh 40 years after it was written. "The bombing of North Vietnam? Well, pornographers are using the mailing lists of Cub Scouts. Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite from the beginning."

[Demeter]

28. This Cruz Fellow is as much an Intellect as Goebbels

using the same techniques and for the same purpose.

[Demeter]

5. MetLife, Prudential profits rise on derivative gains

http://news.yahoo.com/metlife-profit-doubles-derivatives-gain-202533623--sector.html

Profit at MetLife Inc , the largest U.S. life insurer, doubled in the second quarter after a huge gain on derivatives tied to falling interest rates, and operating results at the company beat Wall Street expectations on double-digit growth in the Americas...The company, like its peers, is heavily exposed to the persistently low interest rate environment. But it has long had a substantial derivatives program designed to counter that risk...As rates fell in the quarter, the company booked a $1.4 billion gain on its derivatives positions and other items. MetLife reported a profit of $2.26 billion, or $2.12 per share, compared with a year-earlier net profit of $1.07 billion or $1 per share. On an operating basis it earned $1.33 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average expected $1.24 per share. The company said operating earnings at its Americas segment grew 11 percent on strength in retail life insurance and annuity sales as well as in its group and voluntary benefits unit. Operating earnings also rose by double digits in the insurer's Asia and EMEA units, which have been growing in importance for MetLife since its 2010 acquisition of the international insurer Alico. Despite the weak rate environment, the company also reported a 4 percent rise in net investment income. Analysts and actuaries have warned that insurers could suffer as they reinvest money at historically low returns. MetLife shares rose 1.9 percent in after-hours trading.

PRUDENTIAL WEAKER

MetLife peer Prudential Financial , the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, also reported a higher profit on Wednesday after its own extraordinary gains, in its case tied to currency. Prudential reported a net profit of $2.2 billion, or $4.64 per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $779 million, or $1.58 per share. The company recorded $1.9 billion in pre-tax gains from changes in currency rates and derivatives, largely tied to the strengthening of the Japanese yen in the period. On an operating basis, Prudential earned $1.34 per share. That was short of the $1.55 estimated on average by Wall Street analysts. It was the third time in the last four quarters that the company missed Street expectations, and shares fell 2 percent in after-hours trading. Prudential took $246 million in pre-tax charges in the quarter for a wide variety of items, the largest of which was a strengthening of reserves in its individual annuity business.

I GUESS THEY LAID OFF ALL THE ACTUARIES...AND HIRED GAMBLING ADDICTS.

[Demeter]

6. I once went to a financial planner

(this was before the crash, when I had some money)

She tried to talk me into an annuity. This was a very bad idea for someone with a disabled child. But I couldn't understand even then how the life insurance company could advertise 8% return on investment.

NOW I understand....they are crossing their fingers, and gambling like hell.

[Demeter]

7. Tansy, you might want to add Matthew Kluger to the Wall of Shame

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/07/confessions-of-insider-trading-m.html

[Demeter]

8. Is Corporate Money in Politics Making Us Poorer Than Canada? By Mehrad Yazdi

http://www.nationofchange.org/corporate-money-politics-making-us-poorer-canada-1343742585

WELL DUH!

Canadians are now officially earning more than Americans. Did this happen while we were too busy making fun of our neighbors to the north? Let’s take a closer look: the Canadian system of governance isn’t all that different from the American system:

These two former British colonies are both large nations that have federal systems in which national elections are regulated by the national government, but where state or provincial elections are regulated by those governments.

In both nations, political parties are not uniform across jurisdictions, and field candidates who compete in single member districts. Both have well-developed campaign finance regulations, and an independent agency to implement those regulations. Both have Courts that have sought to protect free expression by checking campaign finance regulations.

But where the Canadian and American governments differ is in the focus of their campaign finance regulations. The United States emphasizes the liberty of the individual in campaign contributions while Canada emphasizes equality in campaign finance. Take Canada’s campaign contribution limits:

There are contribution limits for individuals, corporations, and unions, and these are indexed to inflation. Spending limits are in effect for political parties, candidates, and “third parties” — non-party organizations that seek to influence election results.

According to the latest regulations, individual contributions in Canada are limited to $1,200 for a political party or candidate. The limit on election advertising by third parties is $188,250 compared to the unlimited amount of money that super PACs are allowed to raise and spend on American elections. Also different from the United States, corporations and trade unions are also banned from giving money to parties and candidates, and individual contributions exceeding $200 must be publically disclosed. Although corporations and trade unions can give money to third parties that run election advertisements, any contribution above $200 also has to be disclosed. Canadian law also states that political parties are entitled to free airtime on television and radio, which reduces pressure on these parties to scavenge for campaign contributions.

So how has Canada been doing with their campaign finance regulations that ensure equality? Clearly not too badly if their unemployment rate is lower than ours (at 7.2 percent) and the average Canadian is richer than the average American. But then again, I guess they are just losing slower than we are.

[DemReadingDU]

9. Remember Jordache jeans?

8/1/12 What Ever Happened To Jordache Jeans?
NPR Transcript:

Renee Montagne talks with reporter Matt Boyle about his story in the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine about Jordache, the brand whose skintight jeans were an '80s staple.

MONTAGNE: All right. So let's start with the basic question, whatever did happen to Jordache?
BOYLE: It is actually pretty fascinating. We had no idea that this brand which, of course, as you say, became iconic and so associated with the '80s, is now this, you know, multibillion-dollar conglomerate spanning the globe. They've got hotels. They've got nightclubs. They own an airline. And it all came, you know, originally from the profits they made from those famous jeans. And, you know, we thought it was a fascinating story and it's really never been told, so we thought it would be a great tale.

MONTAGNE: Tell us a little bit more about the Nakash family, the family that started Jordache.
BOYLE: Sure. Sure. They are Syrian Jews. Joe Nakash, who is sort of the patriarch of the family, he's 69 years old now, but at the age of 19 he left Israel, came to New York. He had just a sixth grade education and he found work, you know, at a retail store and realized he loved the whole process of merchandising and haggling with suppliers and stuff. And over the years, his brothers joined him as well. They pulled all the money they had together, which was only 20,000 bucks and created this partnership to sell jeans out of the storefront in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. They started selling a heck of a lot of jeans and a denim manufacturer started visiting the store to figure out what was in style. And now unfortunately - or actually it had a happy ending - but in 1977, as you'll recall, were the riots in New York City and their store was burnt down. There was a lot of arson at the time around Bushwick. So they took the insurance settlement and Joe said, look, I'm tired of just selling other people's jeans. Let's make our own.

MONTAGNE: And may I ask, are they still around?
BOYLE: They are. You find Jordache jeans in Wal-Mart, of all places. Back in 1995, the designer jeans craze was kind of fading, and so what they decided to do what shift most of their business to Wal-Mart. And at the time, Wal-Mart was trying to get branded jeans, you know, jeans with a following. Levi's basically said to go take a hike. The last thing we want to do is sully our Levi's brand, but the Nakashes were willing to deal with Wal-Mart. And their first order was for $55 million worth of jeans.

They also around this time said, you know, we have all these factories, why not make so-called private label jeans for other brands. So they just started making jeans for Tommy Hilfiger and they've made jeans for Abercrombie and Fitch and they've made jeans for The Gap. So that became another sort of arm of their apparel empire and the next step is that they took this apparel business and then expanded first into real estate, and they bought up resorts. And how do you get to resorts? Well, you have to fly to resorts. So they bought an airline. It's weird how they see an opportunity, they move fast, they grab it, but there isn't much rhyme or reason to the empire.


a bit more and audio at link, appx 4.5 minutes
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/01/157699850/what-ever-happened-to-jordache-jeans

[xchrom]

10. what will they have in store for us today?

[Demeter]

35. I think it's panic time

The beginning of the end is nigh.

Really bed timing for Ben....Europe disintegrating just before US markets open...

[rusty fender]

57. What is that and where's it from?

[xchrom]

58. I don't know. It's a random image I found

To me it's a good portrait of the powers that be.

[rusty fender]

67. It looks like a creature that could be benign despite the horns

and the long nails.

[Demeter]

59. It looks like Maurice Sendak to me, but it's not

Travis Louie’s paintings are inspired by 19th-century portrait photographs. Instead of people, however, his subjects are goofy-looking monsters. His work is beyond mere art for children, however. There is a refined eeriness to his pieces that give them depth and an elusive quality that really makes them stand out...

http://www.lostateminor.com/2008/04/11/travis-louie-2/

[xchrom]

11. Goldman Leads Foreign Banks Accelerating Job Cuts In Japan

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-02/goldman-sachs-leads-foreign-banks-accelerating-job-cuts-in-japan.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) led foreign banks in accelerating job cuts at their Japanese brokerages last fiscal year as employees relocated to other Asian financial centers and firms trimmed costs amid a global industry slump.
The number of staff at nine global securities firms in Japan fell by 537, or 7.3 percent, to a combined 6,796 as of March 31, more than double the previous year’s 3.2 percent reduction, according to company regulatory filings.

[xchrom]

12. Knight Bruised As Analyst Estimates $170 Million Loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-02/knight-bruised-as-analyst-estimates-170-million-loss.html

The latest black eye for U.S. equity markets is proving a body blow for Knight Capital Group Inc. (KCG)
Shares of the Jersey City, New Jersey-based firm plunged 33 percent, the most ever, in record volume yesterday as investors speculated on how much a breakdown that whipsawed owners of 140 stocks will cost the company. Its loss may be as much as $170 million, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Knight, led by 57-year-old Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Joyce, has been at the center of U.S. equities for a decade as one of the biggest market makers, executing almost $20 billion of trades a day in June. Its importance was never so visible as yesterday when its computers helped spur sudden price swings of 10 percent or more in dozens of companies.
“This isn’t good for the market overall and it’s not good for Knight,” Sang Lee, managing partner at Boston-based research firm Aite Group LLC, said in a phone interview. “They took a beating in their share price. It’s not going to devastate the business of Knight since they’re a major market maker in equities. But when you’re a major player like Knight, mistakes will have a more expanded impact.”

[Demeter]

22. I beg to differ

Putting these vultures out of business will be VERY good for the markets and the world. Even better if they do it themselves.

[xchrom]

13. Berkshire Benefits As Buffett Wagers On U.S. Housing

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-02/berkshire-benefits-as-buffett-wagers-on-u-s-housing.html

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) is benefiting after billionaire Chairman Warren Buffett increased investments tied to the U.S. housing market and sidestepped bets on Europe amid the region’s debt crisis.

Berkshire’s Class A shares rose this week to the highest in 16 months. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which is expected to report second-quarter earnings tomorrow, is about 3 percent away from the top closing price since 2008.

Buffett added to holdings of Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, bought real-estate brokers and bid on mortgage assets of bankrupt Residential Capital LLC as he bets on a rebound in housing in the world’s largest economy. Rather than spend his company’s cash pile on European companies after a 2008 trip to the region, he made his largest acquisitions in the U.S., including Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

“I don’t know if he’s lucky, smart or patriotic, but it’s worked out for him,” Cliff Gallant, an analyst at KBW Inc., said in a phone interview. He estimates that Berkshire will post an operating profit of $1,750 a share for the second quarter, a 6.7 percent increase from a year earlier.

[Demeter]

25. Oh-oh! Buffett's Voting Against the Eurozone

The euro is toast, methinks.

[xchrom]

14. Iran Loses $133 Million A Day On Embargo, Buoying Obama

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/iran-loses-133-million-a-day-from-sanctions-as-oil-buoys-obama.html

U.S.-led sanctions against Iran are costing OPEC’s third-largest producer $133 million a day in lost sales without raising global crude prices, handing President Barack Obama an election-year foreign-policy victory.

Shipments from Iran have plunged by 1.2 million barrels a day, or 52 percent, since the sanctions banning the purchase, transport, financing and insuring of Iranian crude began July 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Annualized, that would cost President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s country about $48 billion in revenue, equivalent to 10 percent of its economy.

While Iran’s threats to disrupt the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf sent crude to a three-year high in March, increased production from Saudi Arabia, a U.S. output boom and the slowing global economy have left prices 0.7 percent lower in 2012. That’s helping Obama avoid steeper domestic fuel costs before the November presidential election. Iran has to contend with a weakening currency and rising unemployment.

“It’s been an unqualified success,” Mike Wittner, head of oil-market research for the Americas at Societe Generale SA, said in a telephone interview from New York on July 25. “There were a lot of concerns sanctions could backfire by causing an oil-price spike, but in the end the U.S. and Europeans got their cake and they ate it too, because volumes are down and prices are down.”

[Demeter]

26. If anyone thinks the Iranians or their trading partners are telling Bloomberg the Truth

then I feel really sorry for them, and I hope it's not genetic, so their children aren't congenital idiots.

[xchrom]

15. GM PROFIT FALLS 41 PERCENT ON WEAKNESS IN EUROPE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EARNS_GENERAL_MOTORS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-02-07-43-07

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 41 percent as losses in Europe and South America cut into strong North American earnings.

The company earned $1.5 billion from April through June, $1 billion less than its $2.5 billion net income a year earlier.

GM earned 90 cents per share compared with $1.54 a year earlier. Revenue fell 5 percent to $37.6 billion.

The company beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 75 cents per share.

[xchrom]

16. Robert Shiller Senses Housing Bubbles Forming In Two US Cities

http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-shiller-housing-bubbles-forming-san-francisco-phoenix-2012-8

In the wake of the biggest housing bust ever, it's hard to imagine that we would be walking right back into a housing bubble.
But that's just the nature of bubbles: you don't know if you're in one until after the fact.
Robert Shiller, the economist who famously predicted the dotcom and housing bubbles, was on Fox Business News discussing the Case-Shiller home price index, which recently rose faster than expected.
"I think it's possible this is the bottom, but I'm not at all confident," said Shiller regarding the housing market.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-shiller-housing-bubbles-forming-san-francisco-phoenix-2012-8#ixzz22OIMR2GV

[xchrom]

17. KNIGHT CAPITAL PLUNGES 40% AFTER REPORTING MASSIVE LOSSES AND 'SEVERELY' AFFECTED CAPITAL BASE

http://www.businessinsider.com/knight-capital-is-facing-a-440-million-loss-after-yesterdays-trading-glitch-2012-8

Here's the press release from Knight.

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE Euronext: KCG) today provided an update on the August 1, 2012 disruption to routing in NYSE-listed securities.

As previously disclosed, Knight experienced a technology issue at the open of trading at the NYSE yesterday, August 1st. This issue was related to Knight's installation of trading software and resulted in Knight sending numerous erroneous orders in NYSE-listed securities into the market. This software has been removed from the company's systems.
Clients were not negatively affected by the erroneous orders, and the software issue was limited to the routing of certain listed stocks to NYSE.

Knight has traded out of its entire erroneous trade position, which has resulted in a realized pre-tax loss of approximately $440 million. Although the company's capital base has been severely impacted, the company's broker/dealer subsidiaries are in full compliance with their net capital requirements. Knight will continue its trading and market making activities at the commencement of trading today. The company is actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives to strengthen its capital base.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/knight-capital-is-facing-a-440-million-loss-after-yesterdays-trading-glitch-2012-8#ixzz22OJwNYKR

[Demeter]

27. Don't cry for them

[westerebus]

30. Knight Capital post mortem.

Oh wait they're still alive.

No they are not.

Are you sure?

You could always ask Jimmy Hoffa for a second opinion.

[xchrom]

31. let me get my lipstick mirror -- i'll hold it under their nose...

nope -- still breathing...

[Demeter]

37. Give it a week

After they turn up no angels to rescue them, then we will see.

[xchrom]

39. May they Rest in Pieces. Nt

[DemReadingDU]

48. Amen

[westerebus]

64. That is a very disturbing photo.

There is a great deal of anguish in her expression. Addiction? Despair? Truth.

[xchrom]

65. That's 1 of the Queens from Warhols circle.

& a friend Diane Arbus - who took the photo I believe.

[westerebus]

66. I thought Warhol because of the composition. I just didn't trust my memory.

On your posting the reply, I recall seeing a montage years ago in NYC when they did a large scale Warhol exhibition.

Not all soup cans that was for sure. I miss that city.

[Po_d Mainiac]

62. ...

[Roland99]

18. US Futures enthusiastic this morning.

S&P 500 +0.5%
DOW +0.5%
NASDAQ +0.5%

[Roland99]

38. um, hmm...was MarketWatch batty? US Futures in the tank right before open >>>>

[font color="red"]S&P 500 -0.8%
DOW -0.7%
NASDAQ -0.7% [/font]

[DemReadingDU]

41. No QE?

no more gambling money?

edit: and DRAGHI DISAPPOINTS

[Demeter]

43. Panic time in eurozone...bleeding into US markets

Now we really get to see who is swimming naked, and who has nerves of steel, and who is clueless, and who is lunch.

[DemReadingDU]

46. The speculators were wanting a stimulus for more gambling

The well is drying up

[Demeter]

49. Yeah, well, things are tough all over

and the drought goes on....on all levels.

[Roland99]

50. Bouncing off the Draghi lows for now...be interesting to see where Europe closes in 2 1/2hrs.

[Tansy_Gold]

51. ....

[Roland99]

19. Today's Reports

[Roland99]

20. Unemployment claims >>>>

* Monthly claims average at lowest level since March
* Continuing claims drop 19,000 to 3.27 million
* U.S. jobless claims rise 8,000 to 365,000
* Four-week claims average falls 2,750 to 365,500

[xchrom]

23. Andalusia rebels against debt ceiling imposed by Madrid

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/08/01/inenglish/1343847067_384191.html


Andalusia on Wednesday continued to rebel against the austerity measures imposed by Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro and appealed to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to reconsider the debt ceiling imposed on the region, which it claimed would force it to cut basic services.

The Socialist premier of Andalusia, José Antonio Griñán, said the cap on its debt levels of 13.2 percent of GDP for next year meant it could not draw up the regional budget for 2013 without closing schools and hospitals, which would imply having to sack 60,000 workers.

The debt ceiling imposed on Andalusia involves a cut of 1.9 percentage points from current levels, and means that the region will have to cut planned debt issues by 2.7 billion euros, equivalent to a reduction of 10 percent in spending.

“For us, the primary objective is education and any cut in resources impoverishes Spain,” Griñán said.

[Fuddnik]

24. Underwater Homeowners Face a Tax Time-bomb.

Underwater Homeowners Face a Tax Time Bomb
On Dec. 31, underwater homeowners could be hit with a huge tax bill, unless Congress moves to help them.
August 1, 2012




The letter from Bank of America Home Loans got right to the point. “We are pleased to inform you that we have approved your Home Equity Account for participation in a principal forgiveness program offered as a result of the Department of Justice and State Attorneys General global settlement with major mortgage servicers.” In the letter, which I obtained from an anti-foreclosure activist, Bank of America offered the homeowner full forgiveness of their entire home equity loan balance of over $177,000. But then Paragraph 5 came with an ominous warning: “Please be aware that we are required to report the amount of your cancelled principal debt to the Internal Revenue Service.”

Under current law, a principal reduction like this would be exempted from tax liability. However, that law, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, expires at the end of the year, and after that, any mortgage debt forgiveness provided to a borrower will count as gross income for tax purposes, potentially costing millions of families several billion dollars. In the above case, the borrower would be required to pay taxes on the entire $177,000 amount forgiven by the bank, as if it were earned income. And that’s money that struggling homeowners simply don’t have.

“They wouldn’t be able to handle it,” said Peggy Mears of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a community organizing group in California that has worked extensively on foreclosure issues. “If they could handle it, they wouldn’t be in arrears with their house notes. They don’t have that kind of money.”

The tax issue could significantly disrupt a still-fragile housing market and rob homeowners of the tools to pull themselves out of mortgage debt. It also represents a final indignity for homeowners who have been abused by the fraudulent mortgage practices of leading banks for years. Just when they think they get relief from their troubles, they get hit with a massive tax bill they cannot pay. “This has the effect of pulling people up with one hand, and hitting them in the face and knocking them over the cliff with the other,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who supports extending the law.

(snip)
http://www.alternet.org/economy/underwater-homeowners-face-tax-time-bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why doesn't this surprise me? Things are so rigged against the working class.

And as a bonus, if you're unemployed, get a big write down on principal, you just moved into the upper 2% for tax purposes. I'm rich, bitch!!!! Honk, honk. With apologies to Dave Chappell.

[Demeter]

29. Holy Moly! Did you see what Europe Done?

Was this why?

[Demeter]

34. OR IS IT THIS? Europe’s Central Bank Holds Benchmark Interest Rate at 0.75%

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/business/global/europes-central-bank-holds-benchmark-interest-rate-at-0-75.html

The European Central Bank is ready to make purchases of government bonds in league with Europe’s bailout fund, the bank’s president, Mario Draghi, said Thursday, announcing a major escalation of its efforts to prevent disintegration of the euro currency union.

“The euro is irreversible,” Mr. Draghi said at a news conference.

The decision, which could help hold down borrowing costs for countries like Spain and avert their financial collapse, comes after Mr. Draghi said last week that he would “do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.” High borrowing costs for some countries are interfering with the E.C.B.’s ability to influence interest rates, Mr. Draghi said Thursday, adding that these are “unacceptable and need to be addressed in a fundamental manner.” His statement last week prompted a global stock rally as investors concluded that he was preparing a forceful intervention in bond markets. Many analysts had warned of a market backlash if the E.C.B., facing opposition in Germany to large-scale bond buying, did not deliver a major new initiative. It now appears to have done so. The decision is likely to reassure financial markets and investors, coming a day after the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, disappointed many by declining to make any immediate moves to stimulate the economy.

The E.C.B. also left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75 percent. With the interest rate already at a record low, intervening in the bond market may be a more effective way for the central bank to lower borrowing costs in the troubled euro zone countries that need it most.

The E.C.B. has not yet spelled out in detail how the coordinated bond intervention will work, saying that would be done in coming weeks. There are numerous technical hurdles to be overcome, and the bond purchases would begin only after a country like Spain requested relief, which it has not yet done. But Mr. Draghi’s statement shows that the bank is increasingly willing to stretch its mandate and wield its financial resources to prevent the collapse of the euro currency union — and avoid all the dire economic consequences that might result without a rescue. Market pressure had all but compelled Mr. Draghi to act, Jacques Cailloux, chief European economist at Nomura, said in a note ahead of the decision. Having raised market expectations, Mr. Draghi was “now cornered and will need to push through a policy response to avoid renewed tensions,” Mr. Cailloux wrote.

The E.C.B. decision is likely to be welcomed outside the euro zone as well because of the danger that its crisis poses to the world economy.

IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE WELCOME NEWS TO ME

[Demeter]

42. THERE'S A LOT OF GOSSIP AND SPECULATION

We may not really know what's going on today, until the dust settles.

[Ghost Dog]

52. Looks like direct quote here:

[div class ="excerpt"]"The Governing Council, within its mandate to maintain price stability over the medium term and in observance of its independence in determining monetary policy, may undertake outright open market operations of a size adequate to reach its objective." Draghi said after the bank kept euro zone interest rates at 0.75 percent.

"The Governing Council will consider further non-standard monetary policy measures according to what is required to repair monetary policy transmission. In the coming weeks we will design the appropriate modalities for such policy measures."

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/uk-ecb-rates-bonds-idUKBRE8710RP20120802

Also:

... At his press conference, Mr Draghi said that the ECB's bond-buying process would resume, but that it would be different to the Securities Markets Programme (SMP), which involved buying large quantities of government bonds from banks and other financial institutions on the open market.

Mr Draghi said that the new scheme would involve buying shorter-term bonds, which should allay some of the fears of the German government.

...

"Policymakers in the euro area need to push ahead with fiscal consolidation, structural reform and European institution-building with great determination," he said.

Mr Draghi continued: "The adherence of governments to their commitments and the fulfilment by the EFSF/ESM of their role are necessary conditions."

/... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19096371

[Ghost Dog]

54. "... giving guidelines without giving concrete measures ..."

“Risk premia that are related to fears of the reversibility of the euro are unacceptable, and they need to be addressed in a fundamental manner,” Draghi said at a press conference after keeping the benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.75 percent. “The euro is irreversible.” There is a “severe malfunctioning” in bond markets, he said.

The euro declined and Spanish bond yields rose after Draghi’s remarks, which came after a week in which markets soared on optimism he would announce a bond-purchase plan to end the debt crisis. While Draghi’s proposals go further than the ECB’s market interventions to date, he signaled that the 23- member Governing Council has yet to reach a final agreement.

Bundesbank ‘Reservations’

“It is clear and it is known that Mr Weidmann and the Bundesbank have their reservations about programs that buy bonds,” Draghi said, referring to the head of the German central bank.

The euro initially climbed as much as 0.5 percent to $1.2405 after Draghi’s comments before falling to as low as $1.2174. The yield on Italy’s 10-year government bond rose 23 basis point to 6.129 percent and the yield on Spain’s 10-year bond climbed 7 basis points to 6.716 percent.

“The market reacted positively when Draghi said the ECB will address the seniority issue,” said Mohit Kumar, head of European fixed income strategy at Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank. “But then when details emerged, it suggested he is giving guidelines without giving concrete measures, and that’s when the market went from risk-on to risk-off mode.”

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-02/draghi-signals-ecb-to-join-forces-with-governments-to-buy-bonds.html

So it's largely just impatience, is it? chop chop, you lazy colonials, and cover our losses toute suite...

Heaven forbid, there's an attempt at real planning going on. EU isn't ruled by diktat, unlike some we could mention...

[Demeter]

32. A Budget Crisis Averted, for Now

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/opinion/after-budget-deal-no-government-shutdown-this-year.html

Members of Congress used to be embarrassed when they could not perform their basic job of passing spending bills and instead had to finance the government with a series of short-term resolutions. But such patchwork has now become commonplace, and it is a sign of Washington’s profound dysfunction that the short-term agreement reached on Tuesday came as a relief to both sides.

House and Senate leaders settled on a deal to keep the government running through March, preventing it from shutting down when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. With Congress polarized and paralyzed by the coming election, no regular appropriations bills have been enacted, and none will be before the deadline.

The prospect of a shutdown was a real one because House Republicans broke an agreement that they had reached with the Senate last year on the size of the federal budget for the 2013 fiscal year. In settling the debt-ceiling crisis last year, the two chambers passed a measure setting discretionary spending at $1.047 trillion for 2013. But to make one of its periodic points about excessive spending, the House recklessly chopped $20 billion off that amount in March, much of which would have come out of Head Start, Pell grants and state aid.

At the time, many House conservatives said that they relished a confrontation with the Senate, hoping the threat of a shutdown would give them the cuts they wanted. After all, it worked the year before when Republicans cynically used the deadline to wring nearly $40 billion in cuts from the 2012 budget. The withdrawal of that much spending helped neutralize the stimulative effects of the previous year’s payroll tax cut, keeping the economy stagnant...The difference this year is the November election. Wiser Republican leaders knew that a shutdown crisis in September would leave a bad taste with voters, many of whom (correctly) tend to blame these kinds of things on their party. So the lawmakers agreed on a continuing resolution that will keep the spending limit at $1.047 trillion — far lower than it should be when the economy needs a boost, but at least it’s not making things worse. The White House signed on, and the resolution is supposed to be passed after the August recess.

MORE INSANITY AT LINK

[Demeter]

33. VERY IMPORTANT MUST-READ: Romney Hasn’t Done His Homework By JARED DIAMOND

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/opinion/mitt-romneys-search-for-simple-answers.html

MITT ROMNEY’S latest controversial remark, about the role of culture in explaining why some countries are rich and powerful while others are poor and weak, has attracted much comment. I was especially interested in his remark because he misrepresented my views and, in contrasting them with another scholar’s arguments, oversimplified the issue.

It is not true that my book “Guns, Germs and Steel,” as Mr. Romney described it in a speech in Jerusalem, “basically says the physical characteristics of the land account for the differences in the success of the people that live there. There is iron ore on the land and so forth.”

That is so different from what my book actually says that I have to doubt whether Mr. Romney read it. My focus was mostly on biological features, like plant and animal species, and among physical characteristics, the ones I mentioned were continents’ sizes and shapes and relative isolation. I said nothing about iron ore, which is so widespread that its distribution has had little effect on the different successes of different peoples. (As I learned this week, Mr. Romney also mischaracterized my book in his memoir, “No Apology: Believe in America.”)

That’s not the worst part. Even scholars who emphasize social rather than geographic explanations — like the Harvard economist David S. Landes, whose book “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations” was mentioned favorably by Mr. Romney — would find Mr. Romney’s statement that “culture makes all the difference” dangerously out of date. In fact, Mr. Landes analyzed multiple factors (including climate) in explaining why the industrial revolution first occurred in Europe and not elsewhere...

.

Jared Diamond, a professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the author of the forthcoming book “The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?”

[xchrom]

36. Bundesbank chief warns ECB council on price stability

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0802/1224321293683.html

BUNDESBANK PRESIDENT Jens Weidmann has warned European Central Bank governors meeting this morning he will defend Germany’s culture of price stability “with all means and at all levels”.

Expectations are high that today’s Frankfurt meeting will see the ECB crank up its sovereign bond buying programme, started in March 2010 but idle since March, to drive down borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.

A week after ECB president Mario Draghi promised to do “everything necessary” to defend the euro, the Bundesbank said Mr Weidmann’s remarks, posted yesterday on the German central bank’s website, were an 11th-hour riposte to the ECB head.

With Spain and Italy under sustained pressure on financial markets, Mr Weidmann said the Bundesbank faced “more pressure than ever before” to back crisis-fighting measures it finds of questionable legality and limited effect.

[Demeter]

40. Goldman to Invest in City Jail Program, Profiting if Recidivism Falls Sharply

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/nyregion/goldman-to-invest-in-new-york-city-jail-program.html

New York City, embracing an experimental mechanism for financing social services that has excited and worried government reformers around the world, will allow Goldman Sachs to invest nearly $10 million in a jail program, with the pledge that the financial services giant would profit if the program succeeded in significantly reducing recidivism rates.

The city will be the first in the United States to test “social impact bonds,” also called pay-for-success bonds, which are an effort to find new ways to finance initiatives that might save governments money over the long term.

First used in Britain and now being explored in Australia, the bonds are rapidly capturing the imagination of some public officials in the United States: on Wednesday, Massachusetts announced that it was completing negotiations with two nonprofit groups to finance juvenile justice and homelessness programs, with the promise of repayment only if the programs work.

The federal government, Connecticut, New York State and Cuyahoga County, Ohio, among others, are at various stages of considering using the bonds to harness new funds for human-services programs...

THE NEXT FINANCIAL CON IS ON--AND GOLDMAN HAS THE LEAD!

[xchrom]

44. Greece agrees new raft of cutbacks

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0802/breaking18.html

Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras overcame growing differences with his two coalition partners to secure €11.5 billion of budget cuts and keep international rescue funds flowing.

Mr Samaras brokered the accord with Democratic Left head Fotis Kouvelis and Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos after the three met yesterday in Athens for the second time this week.

Mr Venizelos, the ex-finance minister who negotiated this year's latest bailout, disagreed with Mr Samaras, saying the premier should be pushing now for more time to implement the steps.

"Cutting spending by €11.5 billion was set as a necessary prerequisite for Greece to remain in the euro," finance minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters after the meeting.

[Demeter]

45. Dive, Dive, Dive!

[Tansy_Gold]

56. I love sick humor. n/t

[Demeter]

60. It is NOT Sick!

And Geithner and Bernanke better pray that the fairies don't go out on strike.

[xchrom]

47. Catalonia cannot pay social and health workers for July

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0801/1224321232742.html

CATALONIA HAS announced it will not be able to pay thousands of health- and social-sector workers for the month of July, highlighting the pressure many Spanish regions are under as the country struggles through the economic crisis.

Hospitals, mental-health centres, nursing homes and clinics for people with disabilities that rely on a mixture of public and private money will bear the brunt of the one-month funding cut-off.

The Catalan regional administration blames the central government for the lack of funds but says payments in August will be made as normal, with the arrears included.

An association representing the sectors affected warned that many health and social organisations faced imminent “collapse” due to the regional administration’s decision. The authorities did not put a figure on how much money was being held back, but El País newspaper estimated that it was about €400 million, with up to 100,000 workers not receiving their wages for the month.

[just1voice]

61. U.S. markets as dispicably corrupt as "European bailout plans"

Every single day a new bailout propaganda piece flies across the news screens while very few people ever address the pure corruption behind it all.

There are no U.S. or world markets where large criminal banks are involved, there are only controlled corporate profit centers that manipulate everyone's 401ks, pensions, savings and checking.

Maybe someday, although I doubt it, people will start to see what a complete sham the entirety of the field of economics is and stop reciting false paradigms every day of their misinformed lives. Until that day comes, the unbridled corruption will continue.

[Demeter]

63. We live for that day

May it be soon.