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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 5 April 2013
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 5 April 2013[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 4 April 2013
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 4 April 2013
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Dow Jones 14,606.11 +55.76 (0.38%)
S&P 500 1,559.98 +6.29 (0.40%)
Nasdaq 3,224.98 +6.38 (0.20%)
[font color=black]10 Year 1.76% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 3.01% -0.02 (-0.66%)[font color=black]
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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center][font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[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
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
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."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
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[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]
66 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I must admit Grumpy Cat is a guilty pleasure of mine, currently. 
I've even considered purchasing one of the art mugs. (:
"Turn that frown upside down!" "No."
GP is a natural for Demeter. 
But, maybe this weekend Ebert is the ticket.
The man was an era. 
wanker
http://www.nationofchange.org/public-banking-yes-we-can-have-banks-work-people-1364652371
...
There’s a working model for state banking. Reform groups like the Public Banking Institute often cite the state-owned Bank of North Dakota as a model worth emulating. The Bank was created in 1919 to “promote agriculture, commerce, and industry” and to be “be helpful to and assist in the development of… financial institutions… within the State.” The Bank of North Dakota operates a little bit like the Federal Reserve. It’s primarily a “bank for bankers,” rather than an institution that serves customers. It does provides student loans, and individuals can deposit money, but it doesn’t have ATMs or other customer service amenities. (Individual deposits make up less than 2 percent of its assets.) The Bank of North Dakota has established relationships with all 94 of the state’s community banks and has helped increase their lending ability in a targeted way that supports economic growth.
Local banking is desirable for many reasons, including the lenders’ familiarity with their community. (For an idealized version, think of Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life.) The presence of thriving local banks also helps fight the over-centralization of the banking system.
Public banking works. In North Dakota, community banking has also meant community lending. A meaningful economic recovery can’t take place until banks stop exploiting low-interest Federal Reserve loans and start lending responsibly, with well-underwritten loans to both consumers and the small-to-medium sized businesses that are the engines of economic growth.A 2011 report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance shows how well North Dakota’s banks did in the aftermath of the financial crisis, when compared to those of neighboring states and the nation as a whole:
There are many kinds of public banks. State banks aren’t the only public banking model worth exploring. The Public Banking Institute is also promoting the concept of county banks. Proposals for a “National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank” have been put forward in Washington, from President Obama and others, since 2007. These proposals have merit, but have tended to follow the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation model for housing loans. These infrastructure proposals would need firm safeguards to ensure that private banks don’t exploit them. Or, alternatively, they could provide loans directly, since an infrastructure lending program is urgently needed and major Wall Street institutions have not proven to be trustworthy stewards of public funds like these.
“Public option” banks could help rein in runaway greed. These public banking proposals rely on a public/private partnership. Should public banks be established which directly compete with private institutions on a full-service basis? There may be merit in the idea of a “public option” bank which is available to people who feel they’re being misused or ill-served by the private banking system. If private banks are sure they can do a better job than the government can, this would be their opportunity to prove it to the nation. If they’re mistreating or overcharging their customers, this would create competition that could curb their excesses.
Public banking can help strengthen cooperative banks, credit unions, and other nonprofit institutions. Public banks would provide another avenue for strengthening and expanding the non-profit banking system of cooperatives and credit unions, too. Public banking, together with other state and national initiatives, can be directed toward increasing these institutions’ role in the financial sector.
We’re already in the “public banking” business. Now we need to get it right. Our country already has a public bank – of sorts – in the Federal Reserve. The Fed was created by Congress and derives its power from the people. But the Fed is enmeshed with private banking interests, so it tends to serve them at the public’s expense – and is egregiously mismanaged, too. We need a sound monetary and financial system. Central banks like the Fed stabilize the economy and ensure the soundness of currency. Other government banking initiatives include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for housing; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures most bank deposits; and Sallie Mae for student loans. Despite the privatized abuses in some bank-related government programs, the services they provide are valuable and remain popular among voters. We urgently need to reform the Fed. (William Greider lays out some of those reforms here). We also need to protect other government banking program from private-sector greed and abuse.
We need public banking – but we need to do it right....
Public banks would not form a cartel. There’s no reason to believe that public banks would collude against the public interest. States compete with one another all the time. The real abuses in our financial system have occurred when public institutions like Fannie and Freddie or Sallie Mae were privatized, not in the days when they were public. If you want to see a real cartel in action, check out the way private banks colluded with one another on the LIBOR scandal.
Public banking could reduce corruption. People sometimes express the fear that public officials would be corrupted in their management of public banks. They should take another look at Wall Street’s rap sheet: Investor fraud. Stock fraud. Perjury. Forgery. And that all-time favorite: Laundering money for the drug cartels that have murdered tens of thousands, sometimes by chopping their heads off. A public banking system which lent funds to private banks would also have investigative abilities that could help reduce epidemic of corruption in our banking system...
MORE
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MORE
or not.
i'm traumatized -- i found a new wrinkle
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-scariest-jobs-chart-ever-2013-4
This morning we learned that the U.S. economy added a measly 88,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent, but that was due to a big drop in the labor force participation rate.
The jobs report was much worse than expected, and they reflect a job market that remains incredibly weak even almost four years into the economic recovery.
Calculated Risk runs a chart every month putting the current jobs recovery into perspective.
"This shows the depth of the recent employment recession - worse than any other post-war recession - and the relatively slow recovery due to the lingering effects of the housing bust and financial crisis," writes Bill McBride of Calculated Risk.
This morning we learned that the U.S. economy added a measly 88,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent, but that was due to a big drop in the labor force participation rate.
The jobs report was much worse than expected, and they reflect a job market that remains incredibly weak even almost four years into the economic recovery.
Calculated Risk runs a chart every month putting the current jobs recovery into perspective.
"This shows the depth of the recent employment recession - worse than any other post-war recession - and the relatively slow recovery due to the lingering effects of the housing bust and financial crisis," writes Bill McBride of Calculated Risk.
http://www.businessinsider.com/retail-jobs-fall-2013-4
he March jobs report is out and it's ugly.
By far the ugliest component of the report was retail trade jobs, which plunged by 24,000.
"The industry had added an average of 32,000 jobs per month over the prior 6 months," wrote the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its report. "In March, job declines occurred in clothing and clothing accessories stores (-15,000), building material and garden supply stores (-10,000), and electronics and appliance stores (-6,000)."
This is a sign to many that the payroll tax increase at the beginning of the year is really starting to bite.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/retail-jobs-fall-2013-4#ixzz2Patp4KYN
*** i don't think it has anything to do w/ the payroll tax -- employment just hasn't been great -- period.
he March jobs report is out and it's ugly.
By far the ugliest component of the report was retail trade jobs, which plunged by 24,000.
"The industry had added an average of 32,000 jobs per month over the prior 6 months," wrote the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its report. "In March, job declines occurred in clothing and clothing accessories stores (-15,000), building material and garden supply stores (-10,000), and electronics and appliance stores (-6,000)."
This is a sign to many that the payroll tax increase at the beginning of the year is really starting to bite.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/retail-jobs-fall-2013-4#ixzz2Patp4KYN
*** i don't think it has anything to do w/ the payroll tax -- employment just hasn't been great -- period.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bonn-museum-exhibit-explores-us-influence-on-postwar-germany-a-892679.html
Flipping through the visitor book at the end of a new exhibit in Bonn on the United States, it comes as no surprise to find entries like "Guantanamo = USA, shame on you!" or "Propaganda style: The winner writes history." America took a big hit in popularity with Germans because of the Iraq War. And, despite President Barack Obama's outsized personal appeal, his climate change policies and drone warfare have done little to improve America's overall standing here.
Still, "The American Way: The USA in Germany," at the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, a national museum dedicated to postwar German history, explores this 68-year-old relationship and strongly concludes: No, the love has not died. It's just complicated -- or, as the museum prefers to say, "special."
The exhibit, two years in the making, is divided into four sections that examine how American security policies, economic interests and everyday culture have shaped postwar Germany. The first, "Victor and Vanquished," welcomes visitors with a black-and-white film of American bombers dropping their payloads over Germany during World War II, before detailing how the US later imposed order, meted out justice and molded the nation from the ground up. But America's role quickly morphs from that of victor to helper as the focus turns to C.A.R.E. relief packages, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift, all of which served to recast the image of Americans in West Germany from that of occupiers to something else, the topic of the next section.
In "America as a Role Model?", the focus turns to everyday life. Cars, jeans, films, Tupperware, comic books, hula hoops, Coca-Cola machines, jukeboxes -- the displays show how American culture inundated Germany in the early postwar years. This was the honeymoon period of the relationship, when many Germans fell in love with American culture. One look at the visitors tells you it was fun: A woman marvels aloud at vintage jeans and excitedly reminisces with a friend about her first pair. A 50-year-old teacher unabashedly does the twist to Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" before an on-screen jukebox and two younger colleagues.
A poster advertises the benefits of the Marshall Plan: Visitors entering the exhibited are greeted by a black-and-white film showing American bombers dropping their payloads over Germany. But the focus quickly turns to how Americans helped reshape the country from the ground up. Among the display items are the uniform of a military guard at the Nuremburg Trials and the nose cone of a V-2 rocket.
Tupperware was introduced in Germany in the 1960s: The exhibit, two years in the making, has three unifying threads on how American security policies, economic interests and popular culture molded postwar Germany. In addition to documentary display items, much of the exhibit is made up of films, music and video recordings.
Flipping through the visitor book at the end of a new exhibit in Bonn on the United States, it comes as no surprise to find entries like "Guantanamo = USA, shame on you!" or "Propaganda style: The winner writes history." America took a big hit in popularity with Germans because of the Iraq War. And, despite President Barack Obama's outsized personal appeal, his climate change policies and drone warfare have done little to improve America's overall standing here.
Still, "The American Way: The USA in Germany," at the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, a national museum dedicated to postwar German history, explores this 68-year-old relationship and strongly concludes: No, the love has not died. It's just complicated -- or, as the museum prefers to say, "special."
The exhibit, two years in the making, is divided into four sections that examine how American security policies, economic interests and everyday culture have shaped postwar Germany. The first, "Victor and Vanquished," welcomes visitors with a black-and-white film of American bombers dropping their payloads over Germany during World War II, before detailing how the US later imposed order, meted out justice and molded the nation from the ground up. But America's role quickly morphs from that of victor to helper as the focus turns to C.A.R.E. relief packages, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift, all of which served to recast the image of Americans in West Germany from that of occupiers to something else, the topic of the next section.
In "America as a Role Model?", the focus turns to everyday life. Cars, jeans, films, Tupperware, comic books, hula hoops, Coca-Cola machines, jukeboxes -- the displays show how American culture inundated Germany in the early postwar years. This was the honeymoon period of the relationship, when many Germans fell in love with American culture. One look at the visitors tells you it was fun: A woman marvels aloud at vintage jeans and excitedly reminisces with a friend about her first pair. A 50-year-old teacher unabashedly does the twist to Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" before an on-screen jukebox and two younger colleagues.
A poster advertises the benefits of the Marshall Plan: Visitors entering the exhibited are greeted by a black-and-white film showing American bombers dropping their payloads over Germany. But the focus quickly turns to how Americans helped reshape the country from the ground up. Among the display items are the uniform of a military guard at the Nuremburg Trials and the nose cone of a V-2 rocket.
Tupperware was introduced in Germany in the 1960s: The exhibit, two years in the making, has three unifying threads on how American security policies, economic interests and popular culture molded postwar Germany. In addition to documentary display items, much of the exhibit is made up of films, music and video recordings.
