STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 23 April 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 23 April 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 22 April 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 22 April 2013
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Dow Jones 14,567.17 +19.66 (0.14%)
S&P 500 1,562.50 +7.25 (0.47%)
Nasdaq 3,233.55 +27.49 (0.86%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.69% -0.01 (-0.59%)
30 Year 2.89% -0.01 (-0.34%)[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
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[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."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.










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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]

[Demeter]

1. It's MORE than Immoral

It's killing the economy. An economy is money in motion, a river of money. And when the water level is too low, the Ship of State gets hung up on the sandbars.

And when the greedy siphon off the "water" to fill their personal "swimming holes" of greed, the Commons are impoverished, and the nation dies of thirst and famine.

But parables are such an old-time Biblical thing. They are out of fashion these days.

[Demeter]

2. Look Ma! No Windchill!

I started out in 2 layers and a hard frost, ended in shirtsleeves with a flat of pansies to plant (half-price! Bad timing by the store, they brought them in a week too early).

It's 61F and clear, if hazy, and it's supposed to STAY ABOVE FREEZING!!! for the rest of the week, at least!

If I weren't so badly out of limber, I'd turn cartwheels. Time to do something about that....past time. Add it to the list.

[Demeter]

51. Curses! Updated Forecast for Thurs and Weds nights below freezing

I hope they are wrong.

[Demeter]

3. Tuesday is a board meeting night

Sigh. It's getting old.

Still, what cannot be cured, etc.

[Demeter]

4. Bradley Manning and the Deepwater Horizon By Greg Palast

http://www.nationofchange.org/bradley-manning-and-deepwater-horizon-1365342892

Three years ago this month, on the 20th of April, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew itself to kingdom come.

Soon thereafter, a message came in to our office's chief of investigations, Ms Badpenny, from a person I dare not name, who was floating somewhere in the Caspian Sea along the coast of Baku, Central Asia.

The source was in mortal fear he'd be identified – and with good reason. Once we agreed on a safe method of communication, he revealed this: 17 months before BP's Deepwater Horizon blew out and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, another BP rig suffered an identical blow-out in the Caspian Sea.

Crucially, both the Gulf and Caspian Sea blow-outs had the same identical cause: the failure of the cement "plug".

To prevent blow-outs, drilled wells must be capped with cement. BP insisted on lacing its cement with nitrogen gas – the same stuff used in laughing gas – because it speeds up drying.

Time is money, and mixing some nitrogen gas into the cement saves a lot of money.

However, because BP's penny-pinching method is so damn dangerous, they are nearly alone in using it in deep, high-pressure offshore wells.

The reason: nitrogen gas can create gaps in the cement, allow methane gas to go up the borehole, fill the drilling platform with explosive gas – and boom, you're dead.

So, when its Caspian Sea rig blew out in 2008, rather than change its ways, BP simply covered it up.

Our investigators discovered that the company hid the information from its own shareholders, from British regulators and from the US Securities Exchange Commission. The Vice-President of BP USA, David Rainey, withheld the information from the US Senate in a testimony he gave six months before the Gulf deaths. (Rainey was later charged with obstruction of justice on a spill-related matter.)

Britain's Channel 4 agreed to send me to the benighted nation of Azerbaijan, whose waters the earlier BP blow-out occurred in, to locate witnesses who would be willing to talk to me without getting "disappeared". (They didn't talk, but they still disappeared.)

MORE CLOAK AND DAGGER AT LINK

[Demeter]

5. The Big Numbers Behind Big Money in Politics by Sam Ross-Brown

With an increasingly small fraction of wealthy Americans buying and selling elections, power has never been more unequal in Washington, says Lawrence Lessig in a new TED Talk. And the problem goes way beyond the 1 percent.

Everybody seems to agree that there’s too much money in politics. According to a Demos poll during the last election cycle, more than 80 percent of Americans agree that “corporate political spending drowns out voices of average Americans,” and more than half would support a ban on all corporate donations. What’s more, opposition to laws like the Citizens United decision is equally strong among those on the left and the right.

But knowing that the system is rigged is different than understanding exactly what’s behind it. With Super PACs and “independent expenditures” veiled from public knowledge by Citizens United and other laws, how do we know what’s really going on?

For activist and academic Lawrence Lessig, it all comes down to the Lesters. That is, the 144,000 or so Americans that are rigging the game for the rest of us—roughly the same small number of Americans who are named Lester. These are the guys making big donations to Super PACs and hiring high-powered lobbies. They’re also the guys members of Congress are trying very hard to impress—as Lessig adds, federal politicians spend somewhere between 30 and 70 percent of their time just trying to raise even more money from the Lesters.

But wait, it gets worse. The Lesters may have more political influence than most of us can fathom, but they’re no match for the real movers and shakers. The ones who are really in charge are the .000042 percent—that’s exactly 132 Americans—who made 60 percent of Super PAC contributions in 2012. I’m gonna let that sink in a little…

But don’t worry, there is hope. There are plenty of proposals for fairer elections already on the table, and no shortage of public support. The key, says Lessig, is to remember that the barriers to real change are not insurmountable—just political.

Read more: http://www.utne.com/politics/the-big-numbers-behind-big-money-in-politics.aspx#ixzz2REnttsek

VIDEO LECTURE AT LINK

[Demeter]

6. Solidarity NOT Forever: How the Supreme Court Kicked Retirees Into the Gutter

http://truth-out.org/news/item/15664-solidarity-not-forever-how-the-supreme-court-kicked-retirees-into-the-gutter

The Supreme Court's decision in Allied Chemical Workers v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass to give employers complete control of retiree benefits undercuts the purpose of the National Labor Relations Act and leaves vulnerable, retired employees powerless to protect themselves from costly changes in benefits.

Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act to balance the power of employers - who could operate as corporations or partnerships - by giving employees the right to band together and deal with their employer as a group. A second way Congress gave employees power was by giving them the legal right to support any employee, whether or not they were employed by the same employer. In other words, the NLRA gave employees the right to make common cause with other workers, just as employers had the right to form industry groups to support one another.

The courts, however, have judicially limited employees' rights to make common cause by deciding that certain types of employees are not actually employees under the law. In 1971, the Supreme Court decided to remove NLRA protections for retirees. Deciding that retirees were not employees might seem reasonable, because we usually think of employees as active workers. But Congress wanted the NLRA to provide broad protections to workers. Broad protections were only possible if the definition of employee was broad. As a result, Congress defined "employee" in the NLRA to include "any employee," and, to make it clear that Congress meant what it said, the NLRA says that "employee" is not "limited to the employees of a particular employer."

Despite this broad definition, the US Supreme Court has decided certain categories of workers are not employees. With each exclusion, those excluded have had less power to protect themselves. In addition, the workers still protected by the NLRA also lose power. Here is how defining retirees as non-employees weakened the rights of all. For years, unions negotiated retirement benefits to provide employees income and insurance during their retirement. These benefits are deferred compensation, like putting money into the bank to use in later years. The benefits compensated retirees for their years of dedicated work for the employer. The two most important retiree benefits were - and still are - pensions and health insurance. As inflation eroded those benefits for retired workers, unions negotiated increases or resisted decreases. Active employees support benefits for retirees for several reasons. A strong bond exists between active and retired workers, who usually remain retiree members of the union. The retired workers are often family, either literally or based on years of shared working life. In addition, active workers know that their future retirement depends on protection of benefits for current retirees. The NLRB recognized the reality of this practice and also viewed current employees negotiating for retiree benefits as consistent with the purpose of the statute. As a result, the NLRB held that bargaining over retiree benefits was required. In 1971, however, a judicial amendment reversed this interpretation, with no acknowledgment of the adverse impact this "amendment" would have on the NLRA's purpose, on worker solidarity, and on bargaining power. It is easy to see that retirees have almost no bargaining power. They no longer work for their former employer. The employer no longer depends on their labor. The only people retirees can turn to for help in bargaining benefits for a secure retirement are their former co-workers who are still employed. The current workers can see that they, too, will need the bargaining power of the next generation of workers to be certain of a secure retirement.

In Allied Chemical Workers v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass, the Supreme Court allowed the employer to change the benefits of retired workers without bargaining with the union or the retirees. Today, this judicial amendment prevents unions from negotiating benefits for existing retirees unless the employer voluntarily agrees to bargain. The decision also prevents the union from striking over benefit changes or insisting on including retiree benefits in any collective-bargaining agreement. The Supreme Court's decision to give employers complete control of retiree benefits undercuts the purpose of the law. In doing so, it leaves the most vulnerable, retired employees living on fixed incomes, without the power to protect themselves from costly changes in benefits like health insurance...

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE BACK-STABBING AT LINK!

*************************************************************

Ellen Dannin

Ellen Dannin is Fannie Weiss distinguished faculty scholar and professor of law at Penn State Dickinson School of Law and author of "Taking Back the Workers' Law - How to Fight the Assault on Labor Rights."
Ann Hodges

Ann Hodges is professor of law at the University of Richmond where she teaches and writes in the areas of labor and employment law. Prior to joining the faculty, she practiced labor and employment law in Chicago and worked for the National Labor Relations Board as a field examiner.

[Omaha Steve]

70. I was just going to post this

Checked with search first. To bad you didn't get any replies.

[Demeter]

71. This is an aggregation thread. Replies are not necessary

and we are roundly ignored by the greater DU. So go ahead and post it elsewhere.

We are a rather isolated (mostly by choice) band of students of current economic/political events. Do drop in if you want a refuge. You are always welcome.

[Demeter]

7. EURINATIONS: UK turns to court to fight euro zone transaction tax plan

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/uk-g20-eurozone-britain-idUKBRE93I0UX20130419

Britain has challenged in court a plan by 11 euro zone countries to set up a financial transaction tax to help pay for the costs of the financial crisis. Britain was concerned that the planned tax would affect transactions carried out beyond the borders of countries that sign up for it, Chancellor George Osborne said on Friday. OF COURSE THEY WERE....

"We're not against financial transaction taxes in principle ... but we are concerned about the extra-territorial aspects of the (European) Commission's proposal," he said on the sidelines of meetings of finance leaders at the International Monetary Fund.

The British government filed the challenge at the European Court of Justice on Thursday, the deadline for challenging the Commission's proposal, a Treasury official said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has voiced opposition to the planned tax, which would affect banks on Wall Street and other financial centres around the world...OF COURSE HE DID...The 11 euro zone countries intend to introduce the tax on stock, bond and derivatives transactions next January, raising up to 35 billion euros a year. There are provisions to ensure the levy is applied no matter where securities from the 11 states are traded, though it is unclear how and by whom the tax would be collected, especially in non-participating countries. Brussels said it was confident the plan was on sound legal ground. "It was based on careful analysis to ensure that all the conditions for enhanced cooperation, set out in the (European) Treaties, were met," said Algirdas Semeta, the European commissioner in charge of tax policy...

MORE DETAIL: U.K. Begins Court Challenge to EU Transaction Tax

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/u-k-begins-court-challenge-to-eu-transaction-tax.html

The U.K. began a legal challenge to a European Union plan for a tax on financial transactions that could be collected worldwide, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said.

The move at the European Court of Justice seeks to give Britain protection against possible future economic damage from the tax being introduced by 11 EU nations. Osborne said the move doesn’t represent a direct challenge to the legality of the tax... To escape the proposed tax entirely, companies in other nations would have to cease financial-services business with the 11 nations involved entirely, according to the EU...MORE

AND THAT'S CALLED CUTTING OFF THE BANKSTERS' NOSES TO SPITE THEIR FACES...WILL THE BANKS OR THE EURO NATIONS SUFFER MORE, OR FIRST?

[Demeter]

8. U.S. stock exchanges call for new rules on "dark pools"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/us-regulation-exchanges-darkpools-idUSBRE93F0VI20130416

The chief executives of three major U.S. stock exchanges have called on regulators to take steps to reduce trading taking place away from public exchanges, saying the opaque practice is hurting market quality...

NOT TO MENTION THE LACK OF REGULATION AND THE LOSS OF PROFIT MARGINS....

...The exchanges made the case that higher off-exchange trading volumes are hurting market quality by creating wider trading spreads and increased intraday volatility, according to a copy of their presentation copied in the filing.

The meetings highlight a growing sense of urgency at the exchanges about the increasing amount of trading by-passing their venues and going instead to so-called dark pools and internalizers. Dark pools are trading platforms where buyers and sellers of stocks remain anonymous and their orders are hidden until they are executed. Internalizers are brokers that match orders within their own firms, allowing them to avoid exchange fees.

The exchanges have long argued that the rise of off-exchange trading distorts prices in the public markets and makes the markets in general less transparent. The exchanges pointed to rules in Canada implemented in October that require dark pools to offer meaningful improvement on the prices quoted on the public markets, or to require a minimum size threshold for off-exchange orders. The result has been a 25 percent decline in the quoted spread and a 17 percent decline in volatility, based on Canadian market data, the exchanges said. MORE

BTW: Off-exchange venues, not including electronic communication networks, made up 38 percent of U.S. trading volume in February, according to data from research firm Tabb Group...There are around 50 dark pools in the United States and 13 public exchanges. Some of the largest U.S. dark pools are run by banks that are also some of the exchanges' largest customers. They include Credit Suisse Group AG's (MLPN.P) CrossFinder, Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) MS Pool and Citigroup Inc's (C.N) Citi Match.

[Demeter]

9. Europe Car Sales Heading for 20-Year Low on German Slide

IS THIS A CASE OF BAD CARMA? WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND...SCHADENFREUDE...IT'S WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-17/europe-car-sales-plunge-10-as-germany-s-decline-hurts-vw.html

European car sales are sliding to a 20-year low after German concerns over the debt crisis sent demand plunging last month in the region’s biggest economy and removed the main buffer protecting automakers.

Registrations in March fell 10 percent to 1.35 million vehicles, the 18th consecutive decline, with Germany’s auto market plunging 17 percent, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said today. First-quarter deliveries in the region dropped 9.7 percent to a record-low 3.1 million cars.

Volkswagen AG (VOW3), Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) and Daimler AG (DAI), which last year shrugged off Europe’s decline, are forecasting unchanged 2013 earnings as investor and consumer confidence fall in their home country. A recession stemming from the debt crisis, which reared back up last month with a rescue for Cyprus, has led to 12 percent unemployment in the 17 countries sharing the euro, the highest since records began in 1995.

“The car boom in Germany has come to an end,” said Hans- Peter Wodniok, an analyst at Fairesearch GmbH & Co. “People have stopped buying cars as consumers are much less confident of the future, especially after the latest decision on Cyprus.”

MORE

[AnneD]

35. More like...

Bad Karmann ghia.

[Demeter]

10. P&G, Big Companies Pinch Suppliers on Payments

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324010704578418361635041842.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Procter & Gamble Co. is planning to add weeks to the amount of time it takes to pay its suppliers, a shift that could free up as much as $2 billion in cash for the consumer products giant, people familiar with the matter said...P&G could use that cash to fund investments in new factories overseas or to help pay for stock buybacks. That added flexibility, however, will come at the expense of the companies that supply P&G with materials or services. The suppliers will have to tie up more of their own cash in receivables or eat the interest costs charged by banks to bridge the gap until P&G pays its bills.

The move highlights how America's biggest companies continue to build on the aggressive cash management practices they adopted in the wake of the credit crisis. What began as a way to preserve cash when markets dried up a few years ago has become a means of freeing up money to fund expansions, buy back stock and support dividend payouts at a time of lackluster sales growth and shrinking profit margins.

P&G is actually late to this game. It currently pays its bills on average within 45 days, faster than the 60 to 100 days that other consumer products makers and large companies in other industries generally take, according to industry experts. The company is looking to move its payment terms to 75 days and recently started negotiations with suppliers, people familiar with the matter said.

To help suppliers deal with the changes, P&G is working with banks that will offer to advance cash to suppliers after 15 days for a fee, some of the people said. The changes are expected to be phased in over three years and ultimately could affect hundreds of companies, the people said....

[mrdmk]

57. Time Value Money (or TVM) used to be 10/30

Meaning the supplier would get a discount if payed in 10 days, the full amount is due in 30 days.

60 to 100 days is the basis for a short term loan for most entities in this economy. If major corporations want a short term loan, they can go to a money store located conveniently at the corner strip mall. Of course they will have to interest.

No wonder nobody is producing here in the U.S.A., you run up your accounts receivables faster than your cash...

[Demeter]

11. U.K. Joins Russia in Raising Alarm on U.S. Swap Rules’ Reach

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-04-19/u-dot-k-dot-joins-russia-in-raising-alarm-on-u-dot-s-dot-swap-rules-reach

Nine overseas finance officials urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to limit the cross- border reach of Dodd-Frank Act swaps rules that they say are fragmenting the $639 trillion global market.

Seven finance ministers joined Michel Barnier, the European Union financial services chief, and George Osborne, U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, to tell U.S. officials to allow for broader recognition of overseas swaps rules. Their letter to Lew follows complaints by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and overseas officials about the planned reach of U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission rules.

“We are concerned that, without clear direction from global policymakers and regulators, derivatives markets will recede into localised and less efficient structures, impairing the ability of business across the globe to manage risk,” the nine officials wrote in the letter sent to Lew yesterday.

The CFTC, led by Chairman Gary Gensler, has pushed for cross-border swaps rules that cover transactions involving overseas offices of U.S. banks and hedge funds incorporated offshore. The conflict over the international reach of the CFTC’s swaps rules has led U.S. lawmakers to introduce legislation that would restrict the agency.
Global Connections

“If a run starts in one part of a modern financial institution, whether it’s here or offshore, the risk comes back to our shores,” Gensler said in a March 20 speech for an International Monetary Fund conference in Washington. ...MORE

[Demeter]

12. ONE WEEK AGO: Gold collapses as investors race for exits, brace for end of bull market

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/uk-markets-precious-idUKBRE93E0FK20130415

The price of gold bullion tumbled 9 percent in heavy trade on Monday, and shed more than $125 (81.7 pounds) per ounce in its biggest-ever daily loss, as investors ditched the precious metal en masse in search of better returns

Commodities fell across the board, but few as hard as gold, which hit a two-year low, and silver which plunged 11 percent. Both platinum and palladium also fell sharply.

Bullion's collapse caught many veteran investors, who see gold as portfolio protection against inflation and other market risks, by surprise. Monday's drop eclipsed the rout on January 22, 1980, a day after gold hit its then-record $850 on global panic over oil-led inflation due to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution.

In percentage terms, it is set for its biggest one-day fall since 1983....The big question is whether the gold bull market is over after 12 years of consecutive yearly gains. Gold hit the lowest price since February 2011 and has now almost halved its rally since the 2008 economic crisis, leaving the metal around $550 below its record high of $1,920.30 set in September 2011....Spot gold dropped as low as $1,336.04 an ounce before recovering slightly to $1,347.29...

NOTE THAT GOLD FUTURES HAVE SINCE CLIMBED TO 1424.20 AT 9 PM MONDAY...

[Demeter]

13. Lehman Europe creditors may be repaid in full By Carmel Crimmins

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/europe-lehman-idUSL2N0D20AM20130415

SO, WHERE ARE THE LIQUIDATORS FINDING ALL THIS MONEY?

* Unsecured creditors will have to wait years

* Market bets on administrators producing a surplus

* PwC earned around 600 million pounds so far on case



DUBLIN, April 15 (Reuters) - Creditors of the European arm of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers may eventually be repaid in full, administrators dealing with the biggest bankruptcy in history said on Monday.

A string of legal wins against other defunct Lehman units has freed up billion of dollars that can now be distributed to former clients of the bank's European arm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in its ninth progress report to creditors.

"The developments we have had over the last six months have been pretty significant," Tony Lomas, lead administrator and partner at PwC, told Reuters.

Overall, Lehman Brothers International Europe owes around 35 billion pounds ($53.8 billion)to thousands of creditors, including hedge funds and banks. Some 14.2 billion pounds of that is owed to unsecured creditors, usually among the last to be paid in any wind-down. Lomas said it would be years before the unsecured creditors got all their money back.

"It could be three, four, five years down the track or even more. It depends if we have ongoing litigation," he said.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 plunged the global financial system into chaos. Its European arm, headquartered in London, was the largest and most complex part of the group because it was a hub for trading and investments. Some 13.6 billion pounds worth of assets, including securities such as shares and bonds, have been returned to former clients of the European unit of Lehman Brothers since PwC started winding it down. A further $9.1 billion should be paid out later this year. PwC has so far earned fees of around 600 million pounds.


Earlier this year, LBIE won a claim against a U.S. arm of the bank and reached settlements with units in Luxembourg and Switzerland freeing up more money for unsecured creditors.

"When you do the maths behind those settlements, they were significant enough that they tip the balance," said Lomas.

In November 2012, a first interim dividend of 25.2 percent was paid to unsecured creditors. Another distribution of around 2 billion pounds -- equivalent to about 20 pence in the pound -- will be made before the summer, according to Lomas. Further payments would be made in the coming years and, depending on the outcome of litigation, there was a chance the administration could end up with a surplus. It is not clear who would get the proceeds of any surplus due to legal cases with LBIE's two main shareholders. Defaulted claims against LBIE are now trading at over 120 percent of face value in the secondary market, reflecting investors' belief that the administrators will generate a surplus.

Lomas, who has previously worked on the bankruptcies of MG Rover and the European arm of U.S. energy firm Enron, said the Lehman case would easily see him through to retirement, probably in four years' time.

"It will keep me occupied one way or the other until I retire but it will carry on beyond my retirement, that is for sure," said the 56-year-old.

[Demeter]

14. French ministers disclose personal wealth for first time

http://www.france24.com/en/20130415-french-ministers-reveal-assets-deadline-april-15-cahuzac-hollande

French authorities published the personal wealth of ministers on the government website on Monday in a bid to restore public confidence following a tax-evasion scandal which led to the resignation of former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac...French ministers disclosed their financial assets publicly on Monday in accordance with the April 15 deadline set by President François Hollande as he seeks to restore public confidence in the wake of a high-profile tax evasion scandal that led to the resignation of his budget minister.

Former budget chief Jérôme Cahuzac, once the man responsible for fighting tax evasion, was charged with tax fraud earlier this month when he admitted to having an undeclared Swiss bank account containing an estimated €600,000.

The assets of more than three dozen ministers, including Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, appeared on Monday afternoon on the French government’s website. According to the revelations, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is among the wealthiest - owning three properties worth a total of 3.9 million euros ($5.1 million) - while Ayrault has two houses and a garage. An IFOP poll released on Saturday showed 63% of respondents support the disclosure of assets, with 70% saying they would not be surprised to discover that many ministers have a high net worth...


OO LA LA!

[Demeter]

20. François Hollande targets tax evasion as approval ratings plummet

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/10/francois-hollande-tax-evasion

France is to create a new agency to fight financial fraud and force its banks to detail activities in tax havens, in a bid to clamp down on tax evasion and corruption after the disgraced budget minister confessed to hiding money in a secret foreign bank account...Cahuzac, who until last month headed the Socialists' crackdown on tax evasion, has been charged with laundering the proceeds of tax fraud...

...The measures include the appointment of a special prosecutor dedicated to financial crimes, corruption and fraud. He also promised that banks would be made to release annual lists of their international affiliates, country by country, in order to stamp out use of tax havens.

"In other words, it won't be possible for a bank to hide transactions carried out in a tax haven," he said. "Tax havens have to be eliminated in Europe and around the world."

...A list of banned professions for MPs will be drawn up, to prevent conflicts of interest. "For the sake of the French people, we aim to ensure that those who govern them, those they have elected … are not getting richer in the course of their mandate," Hollande said.

MORE

[Demeter]

21. Luxembourg agrees to automatic information exchange to help fight tax evasion

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/luxembourg-agrees-to-automatic-information-exchange-to-help-fight-tax-evasion/2013/04/10/d1ed19bc-a1c6-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html

Luxembourg is to start exchanging information with the rest of Europe to help fight tax evasion, the government said Wednesday in a move it hopes will make the country’s massive financial sector more transparent. The decision follows mounting international pressure on Luxembourg to end its policy of banking secrecy which critics argue has helped people hide money in the country from tax authorities.

Starting in 2015, the government said it will set up an automatic exchange of information about interest payments made to European Union citizens with bank accounts in Luxembourg in order “to ensure taxation according to the laws” of the customer’s home country.

The country added that the fiscal regime for U.S. citizens “will be dealt with in a bilateral agreement under negotiation between the governments of Luxembourg and the United States.”

But the government added that said the capital gains tax for those who live in the tiny country of just half a million people remains unchanged at 10 percent and that “those residents will enjoy bank secrecy as it exists today.”

MORE

[Demeter]

15. Obama budget to cap retirement deductions

http://www.pionline.com/article/20130415/PRINTSUB/304159965?AllowView=VDl3UXpKTzlDL0dCZ2dIRkN2YVJIakcyakV3UUMrTlVFQndG&utm_campaign=smartbrief&utm_source=linkbypass&utm_medium=affiliate

The retirement- and investment-related tax proposals in President Barak Obama's fiscal 2014 budget are bargaining chips in the administration's battle with Republicans, Washington insiders say. As a result, they can't be discounted as dead on arrival, even though they are drawing criticism from the industries they target.

Perhaps the most striking proposal is a limit on tax-favored accumulation of all private retirement assets, including defined benefit and defined contribution plans. The budget would allow an annual benefit of $205,000 at age 62, resulting in a cap of $3.4 million at current interest rates.

THE ANTI-ROMNEY?

MORE ENTRAILS-READING AT LINK

[Demeter]

22. White House Budget Curbs Some Deductions for the Wealthy By GRAHAM BOWLEY

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/business/white-house-budget-curbs-some-deductions-for-the-wealthy.html

President Obama is no longer pressing to raise income tax rates on the rich. But that doesn’t mean he thinks the wealthy are paying enough in taxes.

Outlining his budget proposals to Congress on Wednesday, Mr. Obama pushed to raise more than $600 billion in new revenue, mainly by curbing deductions for the most affluent taxpayers and forcing million-dollar earners to pay a minimum rate of 30 percent. Under the White House plan, deductions for tax breaks like mortgage interest and contributions to charities would be capped at a maximum rate of 28 percent. The caps would limit the value of the breaks to the top 3 percent of taxpayers who face higher marginal tax rates and generate about $529 billion in additional revenue over 10 years.

Many of the budget proposals, including the limit on deductions, have been made before by the Obama administration. Analysts said Congress was unlikely to adopt them in isolation, but that some Republicans might be open to a broader deal that included measures to close various loopholes in the tax code.

Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the main part of the tax proposal — curbing tax deductions for high earners — could form part of a future deal because they were close to what Republicans have themselves proposed in the past. “In any agreement that finally comes together this will be the core revenue piece of it,” he said. At the same time, the administration formally proposed the so-called Buffett Rule, which would impose a new minimum 30 percent tax rate on households earning incomes above $1 million. It said this could generate an additional $53 billion in revenue over a decade. It is named after Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor, who said in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times that he was paying a lower tax percentage than members of his office.

“This proposal will prevent high-income households from using tax preferences, including low tax rates on capital gains and dividends, to reduce their total tax bills to less than what many middle class families pay,” according to the White House.

...In its proposal, the Obama administration also proposed a $3 million limit on tax-deferred individual retirement accounts — another tax measure aimed at wealthy individuals who have been accused of using the accounts to shelter large amounts of money rather than for simple savings. The White House also proposed, as it has in the past, ending the preferential treatment of private equity and hedge fund profits, known as carried interest. These profits are currently taxed as a long-term capital gain. The treatment of carried interest has for years been strongly defended by elements of the financial industry, and the White House proposal was quickly attacked on Wednesday by the leading private equity industry trade group. Even supporters of the proposal conceded that it faced stiff political opposition.

“Republicans are never going to sign off on this,” said Andrew Fieldhouse, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute.

MORE DETAILS

[Demeter]

16. Commodity traders reap $250bn harvest

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9f6f541e-a397-11e2-ac00-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RFGO7Jug


The world’s top commodities traders have pocketed nearly $250bn over the last decade, making the individuals and families that control the largely privately-owned sector big beneficiaries of the rise of China and other emerging countries.

The net income of the largest trading houses since 2003 surpasses that of the combination of mighty Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, or that of an industrial giant like General Electric. They made more money than Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford Motor, BMW and Renault combined...The review casts light on an era of remarkable growth in the sector that began in 2000 – when it made just $2.1bn in profit – and massively expanded the trading groups’ influence.

They rode the commodities supercycle caused by the industrialisation of China and other emerging countries. The supercycle not only boosted commodities trading volumes, but also lifted the profitability of the groups’ investment in oilfields, mines and farmland.

However, the review has also found that the commodities trading industry is now facing strong headwinds. Aggregate profit growth has stalled, and key measures of profitability are dropping year-on-year...

[Demeter]

17. Madoff Investors Can’t Sue SEC, U.S. Appeals Court Rules

PRETTY SOON, THERE WON'T BE ANYONE ABOVE THE LEVEL OF PEON GOVERNED BY ANY LAW, NOR ANY COURT, IN THE LAND...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-10/madoff-investors-can-t-sue-sec-u-s-appeals-court-rules.html

Bernard Madoff’s investors can’t sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to uncover his massive Ponzi scheme, a federal appeals court ruled.

The regulator’s “regrettable inaction” is shielded by law, the New York-based appeals panel said today, upholding a lower-court decision to dismiss suits in which investors accused the SEC of negligence.

The three-judge panel ruled that the “discretionary function” exception to a law permitting people to sue the U.S. government applies in cases filed by Madoff victims.

“Despite our sympathy for plaintiffs’ predicament (and our antipathy for the SEC’s conduct), Congress’s intent to shield regulatory agencies’ discretionary use of specific investigative powers” defeats the investors’ claims, the court said....

SHOULD HAVE TRIED RICO, BUT THAT WOULD HAVE MEANT ERIC HOLDER....

[Demeter]

18. FHA may need $943-million bailout

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0411-fha-bailout-20130411,0,6815608.story

The Obama administration's proposed budget projects that the FHA would need a $943-million bailout this year to stabilize its shaky long-term finances...As banks pulled back on lending during the recession, the Federal Housing Administration's role in the market expanded. Now its long-term finances are being dragged down by bad loans it backed from 2007 to 2009...The Federal Housing Administration helped stabilize the real estate market after the subprime bubble and lay the groundwork for the recovery — and now the bill for taxpayers might be coming due.

The Obama administration's proposed budget released Wednesday projected that the agency, which insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages, would need a $943-million bailout this year to stabilize its shaky long-term finances. It would be the first time the FHA, which is financed by the premiums it charges homeowners, has needed taxpayer funds in its 79-year history.

"If the FHA were a private financial institution, likely somebody would be fired, somebody would be fined, or the institution would find itself in receivership," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), who has been warning that the agency was overextending itself to boost the housing market. "Instead, the FHA is merrily on its way to becoming the recipient of the next great taxpayer bailout. It's outrageous."

The FHA already has authority to draw the bailout money from the Treasury and does not need congressional approval. A final decision would not be made until the fiscal year ends in the fall. Obama administration officials said it was not certain the agency would need any taxpayer money because policy changes at the FHA, including higher premiums, have helped improve the outlook from just a few months ago.

MORE AT LINK, INCLUDING AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE INFLAMMATORY CLAIMS....

[Demeter]

19. Market regulators adopt identity theft rules

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/10/us-sec-identitytheft-idUSBRE93914K20130410

Stock and futures brokers, mutual funds and investment advisers will be required to establish programs to help detect identity theft under new rules adopted by the regulatory agencies for securities and derivatives...The vote by theSecurities and Exchange Commission at a public meeting marked the first official action by its new chairman, Mary Jo White...The new rules stem from a requirement in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, and are not considered to be controversial.

The law amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to give the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority to establish identity theft rules for the firms they regulate and to enforce them. Previously, authority had been delegated to the Federal Trade Commission. The SEC and CFTC first jointly proposed the rules in February 2012...

[Demeter]

23. JPMorgan Analysts Say Big Investment Banks Are ‘Uninvestable’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/lenders-may-have-to-split-securities-businesses-jpmorgan-says.html

NOW, DO WE BELIEVE THEM, OR IS IT A PLOY?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the largest U.S. bank by assets and the top investment bank by fees, is questioning the so-called universal bank model’s future. Top-tier investment banks are “uninvestable at this point with a risk of spinoff from universal banks,” JPMorgan analysts led by London-based Kian Abouhossein wrote in a research note today. They cited potential rule changes and curbs on capital and funding.

Investors should avoid Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), once the world’s most profitable securities firm, and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Germany’s largest bank, because of pressure on earnings and the unknown impact of new regulations, according to the report. Both firms rank among the biggest sales and trading rivals for New York-based JPMorgan, which isn’t mentioned in the report. The bank is scheduled to report first-quarter results tomorrow.

Instead, the analysts favor UBS AG (UBSN) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN), Switzerland’s first and second-largest banks, and New York- based Morgan Stanley, owner of the world’s biggest brokerage, because of their restructuring potential and ability to release capital...Second-tier operators in that business, including Morgan Stanley (MS), Credit Suisse, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, will have to restructure further because they lack scale, the analysts wrote. Goldman Sachs, Barclays Plc (BARC), Deutsche Bank, Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) should gain market share, according to the note...The Dodd-Frank Act in the U.S. and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II in Europe may lead to a drop in projected return on equity in 2015 to 9.6 percent from an estimated 15 percent, the analysts wrote. The largest impact may be on the FICC industry, according to JPMorgan.

In a worst-case scenario, if regulators were to require local funding for local operations, universal banks with leading investment banks may have to restructure and spin off their securities businesses so they can tap funding as stand-alone businesses, the analysts wrote.

“The viability of running a global Tier 1 IB business as part of a universal banking business is starting to be put in question,” the analysts wrote, referring to the investment banking business.

[Demeter]

50. The Problem With Investment Banks, as Seen By a Bank By MARK SCOTT

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/the-problem-with-investment-banks-as-seen-by-a-bank/

As Jamie Dimon puts the final touches on JPMorgan Chase’s latest earnings report, scheduled to be published on Friday, the bank’s own analysts are raining on his parade....In a report on the global investment banking industry, the firm’s analysts cut right to the chase: Many of the world’s largest investment banks are likely to offer investors paltry returns for the rest of the decade. And uncertainty caused by rising regulatory costs means investors should shy away from banks that combine complex trading activity with more mundane operations like retail banking. For the analysts, the investment advice is simple.

“We see Tier I investment banks as un-investable,” JPMorgan’s banking analysts wrote in a report to investors on Thursday. “The viability of running a global Tier I investment bank business as part of a universal banking business is starting to be put in question.”

The report singles out Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as ones to avoid, and did not specifically say to shun JPMorgan. But the 300-page report will make for some uneasy reading for many of the firm’s senior managers...The bank has championed its success as both a retail and investment bank, and has continued to report strong earnings during the financial crisis, despite a recent $6 billion trading loss from a bad bet on complex derivatives. (To avoid conflicts of interest, banks like JPMorgan have kept their analysts separate from their investment banking operations). A spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment.

JPMorgan’s banking analysts are wary of how a series of new, uncoordinated global banking regulation will hurt the future earnings of the world’s largest investment banks. New capital requirements mean firms will need to hold more money in reserve to cover potential losses on risky trading activity. Concern remains over how other rules like the Dodd-Frank Act and Europe’s proposed cap on bank bonuses will be implemented. And a reduction in investment banking revenue because of the financial crisis is likely to hit firms’ bottom lines.

All told, JPMorgan analysts expect the average return on equity, a measure of firms’ profitability, for top investment banks to fall to 9.6 percent after 2015, compared with 15 percent before the new regulation comes into effect. “Our estimate of revenue impact for global investment banks from various regulations is 8.3 percent on average,” the JPMorgan report said. In response to the expected regulatory changes, some banks have been cutting their losses by shrinking the investment banking units and focusing on more profitable businesses. Last year, the Swiss bank UBS announced that it would cut 10,000 jobs in its investment banking operations and promote its wealth management division. Its local rival, Credit Suisse, is also looking to reduce costs and focus on its wealthy clients, while the British bank Barclays said this year that it would lay off almost 4,000 employees as part of a major reorganization...

MORE

[Demeter]

24. Bedtime! Sweet Dreams, Everyone

[kickysnana]

25. Made it home thorugh the snow...MRI Wow

I've done this got the t-shirt but I should have known something was different when they handed me ear plugs. All there was to look at was a yellow fly speck on the roof of the machine. The 2008 one had a tropical isle photo.

This one was much louder and more musical and 3 times as powerful as the one I had in 2008. I could feel where this one was scanning and it felt like it was tickling the spot where I have the phantom gall bladder pain suddenly four years after it was taken out. Another spot felt like a wave of cool water flowing over two other long troublesome nerves.

Next up. If they can see something can they do something because I am getting less and less able to cope the weeks of excruciating nerve pains that come with the MS flares. I am also tired of turning into Gracie Allen, Forest Gump, Niobe or Rambo usually at the worst possible time. I have to keep giving myself a time out and it isn't working.

MS is supposed to burn out with age, or so they say. Evidently my immune system didn't get the memo.

[Tansy_Gold]

31. big, big

Glad you made it home safe and sound through that white shit.


TG, doesn't do snow

[Fuddnik]

26. Student loan debt putting damper on housing demand

Stephanie O'Donnell-Peters isn’t exactly sure how much she and her husband owe on their student loan debt, but she estimated it’s around $125,000.

“We’re paying about $1,300 a month, plus our rent, plus other bills. If we didn’t have that we’d easily be able to save for a down payment.” As it is, O’Donnell-Peters said it could take another decade before she and her husband are able to own their own home.

A new study indicates that she’s not alone. Ballooning student loan debt is dampening young adults’ appetite for mortgages and car loans, potentially threatening the fragile recovery.

“Household formation ... might not pick up as fast as it would have otherwise because of student loan debt,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at real estate website Trulia.com.

An economist and a research analyst in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Research and Statistics Group found that, in a reversal of a long-term trend, 30-year-olds with student loans are now less likely to have mortgages and car loans than those without those debts.

Higher education, especially at the bachelor’s degree level and up, is linked to higher income. Young adults with student loan debt have typically been more likely to have mortgages and car loans because they could afford homes and new (or newer) cars.

The report said that since 2003, the percentage of 25-year-olds who carry student debt rose from 25 percent to 43 percent, and the average balance nearly doubled, reaching $20,326 in 2012. This burgeoning student loan debt could be crowding out the other investments young adults typically make.

(snip)
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/student-loan-debt-putting-damper-housing-demand-6C9525090

[DemReadingDU]

27. The College Bubble?

This is a picture of asset bubbles throughout recent history. Will the current bubble we are living, be called the College Bubble?


4/22/13 A Visual History Of All Asset Bubbles
Maybe not all, but certainly the vast majority of the most popular asset bubbles since before even the Tulip Mania of 1637 (including the Kipper and Wipper currency debasement of the German 30 years War, circa 1621, which is appropriately enough deja vu in contemporary retrospect, only the war is missing). While it may be worth noting that all the bubbles to the right of center have been central-bank induced (except for that amulet bubble of 2006, although even that is likely debatable), we will not note it as it is quite obvious even without us highlighting this simple fact. One can only imagine what would happen to asset prices - all of them - when the world's central banks, which are now collectively and voluntarily "all in" on reflating the biggest asset bubble of all time across all asset classes, decide to close the liquidity spigots (if ever).



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-22/visual-history-all-asset-bubbles

[Warpy]

30. Gee whiz, kids graduating with crippling debt

into a job market with artificially depressed wages aren't rushing to assume more debt! Who'd a thunk it?

They had to assume this debt because their parents have been shortchanged on wages for 40 years.

It all comes down to depressed wages. Funny how that all fits together.

[xchrom]

28. Eurozone output still falling, PMI survey indicates

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22265415

Activity in the eurozone's services and manufacturing sectors continued to fall in April, a survey has indicated, with even German output declining.

Markit's composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the eurozone remained at 46.5 in April, unchanged from the month before.

A reading below 50 indicates shrinking activity.

The survey suggested that German private sector output fell for the first time since November last year

[xchrom]

29. Culture fears over planned EU-US trade deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22261877


European cinema and other arts will not be undermined by an EU free trade deal with the US, the European Commission has said, responding to French concern.

Wide-ranging EU-US trade negotiations are expected to be launched later this year. The aim is to clinch a major free trade deal before October 2014.

The Commission says the audio/visual sector will be included in the talks. That goes against the wishes of France and dozens of European film directors.

France has quotas for non-French arts.


***i seriously oppose a world wide mcculture -- i hate sameness.

[xchrom]

32. {i may puke a little}Wal-Mart board members get pay boost for bribery report work

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/23/walmart-pay-bonus-bribery-work

Wal-Mart Stores said on Monday that members of its board's audit committee were paid more for the latest year because of extra work they had to take on to handle an ongoing investigation into alleged foreign bribery.

The world's largest retailer also said in its annual proxy statement that the cash incentives for its top executives in 2014 would be partly based on meeting certain compliance objectives.

While incentives for senior executives will still be based on financial and growth targets, there will be compliance goals that executives will have to meet as part of the new plan. Executives who do not meet these goals could see their annual cash incentives reduced or eliminated, according to the regulatory filing.

Back in November 2011, Wal-Mart began its own probe into matters including alleged violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and whether such matters were appropriately handled by the company.

[Demeter]

38. It's just a bribe to investigate bribery, X

no need to get bent out of shape...after all, they aren't do-gooders. They expect to get paid--handsomely!

[xchrom]

33. We eurozoners must create a United State of Europe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/23/united-state-of-europe-anglo-american-union

They were a loose confederation of states in danger of falling out among themselves, and unsure if they would survive in an increasingly competitive international environment. Their debts were piling up; their currency was weak; their economies were diverse and incompatible. The idealism that had brought them together was rapidly evaporating. Something drastic would have to be done.

Sound familiar? The polity in question, however, is not the eurozone but the United States of America in the late 1780s, a few years after the 13 colonies had won independence from Great Britain. The great powers hovered menacingly. US merchant shipping was exposed to vicious attacks by Muslim pirates operating out of north Africa. Economically, the country was divided between a commercially oriented north-eastern seaboard, and an agrarian south and west. There was no real executive to speak of, Congress had no power to raise taxes to pay for national projects, and all international treaties had to be ratified by every one of the states before they came into force.

The debts of the revolutionary war were largely held by the individual states, with little prospect of being honoured, thus destroying all public creditworthiness. (The United States lacked a proper military, because the states could not agree on how it should be paid for, and many Americans were fearful that it might be used to undermine their liberties). So loose were the bonds that held the confederation together, many Americans feared the United States might fragment into its component parts, or succumb to civil strife.

As they debated how to reform their young republic, the patriots looked to the old continent for instruction. The example of the squabbling Italian city states and principalities of Machiavelli's time, which had laid the peninsula open to outside domination, was a terrible warning. They didn't think much of divided Poland either, in the process of being partitioned out of existence.



***a united euro zone was supposed to be a socialist/worker oriented answer to the hegemony of the US and china -- then the austrian german austerians fucked it all up for every one -- including the socialists -- who took their own bite from the poison apple.

[xchrom]

34. Germany's private sector shrinks as eurozone decline continues - live

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/23/eurozone-crisis-manufacturing-services-italy-government

2:06pm US manufacturing shows sluggish growth
US manufacturing grew in April at its slowest pace for six months, with the lates PMI survey coming in below expectations.

The Markit report showed the purchasing managers index fell to 52 from 54.6 in March, less than the forecast 54. It indicates that US manufacturing may be losing its momentum as consumers worry about tax hikes and government spending cuts.

2.00pm BST Bank of England's McCafferty positive on UK economy
Meanwhile the newest member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee has been sounding an optimistic note on the UK economy.

Growth will pick up pace this year, according to Ian McCafferty, who has sought to play down fears the country has slipped into an unprecedented triple-dip recession. My colleague Katie Allen writes:

McCafferty said improving credit conditions, a brighter international outlook and his expectations of a recovery in business investment all made him “hopeful for the UK economy through 2013 and into 2014”.

“Overall, I am hopeful for a modest pickup in growth as some of the negative factors that have made the last couple of years so difficult start to fade, and as levels of confidence, so badly battered by the impact of the euro crisis, start to heal,” he said in a speech at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking ahead of official GDP data due on Thursday that is expected to show the UK has just escaped a triple-dip recession, McCafferty’s comments gave George Osborne a much needed boost after a difficult 10 days during which he was warned by the IMF’s chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, that he was “playing with fire” by sticking to his strategy of public sector cuts.

[xchrom]

36. Chinese downturn fuels fears crisis is spreading east

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/21/chinese-downturn-fuels-fears-dangerous-crash

At Burberry's flagship Beijing store, a three-floor monument to China's insatiable appetite for luxury goods, the famous check is everywhere: in three dimensions on the black exterior walls and inside, reproduced on everything from babies' bibs to suitcases.

On a cool spring day, trade is modest but steady, with no hint of the economic malaise that some investors fear is about to grip the world's second largest economy. While the markets fret about a collapse in China's huge shadow banking system, there is nothing covert about the shoppers at Sparkle Roll Plaza or the goods they are examining.

For the pessimists, problems that have been lurking beneath the surface glitter are starting to appear. Three months ago, the sense was that carefully calibrated policy action by Beijing would ensure strong growth with low inflation. But last week, the fears of a hard landing were back. Put simply, the concern is that China in 2013 is the US in 2007 – about to experience its very own sub-prime crisis.

Exhibit number one in the prosecution case is that the property market is running hot. The cost of real estate in Beijing is 8% up on a year ago; in Shanghai, prices are up by more than 6%. In both cities, house price inflation is accelerating.

[xchrom]

37. IMF warns world economy risks chronic new phase of financial crisis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/17/imf-world-economy-risk-new-financial-crisis

The International Monetary Fund has warned that new risks to global financial stability are already emerging before the problems left by the deepest slump since the 1930s have been sorted out.

In its half-yearly healthcheck on the financial system, the Fund said failure to deal with old and new risks risked propelling the five-year old crisis into a fresh chronic phase.

José Viñals, the IMF's financial counsellor) said the improvement in financial markets seen over the past six months would not be sustained unless policy makers addressed "key underlying vulnerabilities".

The Fund's Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) identified the euro area as one of the two significant legacy risks from the crisis. It said EU banks might need to reduce their leverage by a further $1.5tn (£0.9tn), and that credit was still not flowing to the countries on the periphery of the single currency zone.

[Demeter]

39. What hath "God's Work" Wrought?

Chew on that one, Blankfein!

[xchrom]

40. Retail Demand For Gold Is Going Nuclear In Asia And Shops Can't Keep It On Their Shelves [PHOTOS]

http://www.businessinsider.com/asian-physical-gold-demand-2013-4

he recent drop in gold has created a huge surge in Asian gold demand.
It's happening in India, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.
From Josh Noble at FT:
Asia is witnessing one of the strongest waves of physical gold buying in 30 years, with bargain hunters using the drop in prices to secure jewelry and gold bars.
The feverish buying has left many of Hong Kong’s banks, jewelers and even its gold exchange without enough yellow metal to meet demand. In Shanghai, the gold exchange saw volumes – often seen as a proxy for demand – rising to a record on Monday, while queues formed outside some jewelery shops in Beijing.










*** i notice the chinese and indians buy the real thing -- not paper.

[Tansy_Gold]

41. anybody want to

head up into the Bradshaws with me this week-end and go panning?

[xchrom]

42. me...but what kind of dress do i wear for that?

would this work?

[Demeter]

48. Go naked, except for sunscreen and a big hat and sunglasses

do two things at once.

[Tansy_Gold]

52. two bad choices

The first would get caught on all the low, prickly (snort) vegetation. The second would allow all the low, prickly vegetation to, uh, access the skin.

ShangriLa Ranch is on the way, however.

http://www.shangrilaranch.com/

Seriously.

[xchrom]

55. A Grand Chapeau & Foster Grants! Nt

[xchrom]

43. New Home Sales Beat Expectations And Climb 1.5%

http://www.businessinsider.com/march-new-home-sales-2013-4

The March reading of new home sales is out.
The headline number climbed 1.5% to an annualized rated of 417k.
Economists were looking for a 1.2% increase to a level of 416k.
The discrepancy in the numbers comes from the fact that last month's 4.6% drop was down to a 7.6% drop.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/march-new-home-sales-2013-4#ixzz2RIOzcbtU

[xchrom]

44. {he can kiss my ass on his way out the door}Another Democratic Senator In A Red State Is Retiring

http://www.businessinsider.com/max-baucus-retiring-2014-election-brian-schweitzer-2013-4



U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will retire and not seek re-election in 2014, the Washington Post's Paul Kane reports.

Baucus recently was one of four Democrats to buck the party and vote against an amendment that would have expanded background checks on gun purchases. He also recently said that the implementation of Obamacare was on track to be a "train wreck."

Baucus becomes the fifth Democratic Senator to announce his retirement ahead of the 2014 elections, joining Michigan's Carl Levin, West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller, Iowa's Tom Harkin, and South Dakota's Tim Johnson. Three of those five — Rockefeller, Johnson, and Baucus — come from traditionally red states.

The likely Democratic candidate to succeed Baucus will be former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who stood a chance against Baucus if he decided to go head-to-head against him in a Democratic primary. A recent Public Policy Polling survey found that Schweitzer leads Baucus 54-35 among Democratic primary voters in the state.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/max-baucus-retiring-2014-election-brian-schweitzer-2013-4#ixzz2RIQ7iMLG

[Demeter]

49. I thought he'd never leave....

Here's your hat, what's your hurry?

[Fuddnik]

53. I wish he had taken my smarmy-assed DINO with him.

[xchrom]

45. RICHMOND FED MANUFACTURING INDEX PLUNGES INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY

http://www.businessinsider.com/richmond-fed-manufacturing-april-2013-4

The Richmond Fed's monthly survey of regional manufacturing conditions is out.
The headline index plunged to -6 from +3 last month.
Economists were looking for +2 this month.
Below is an overview of the data from the text of the release:
Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region pulled back in April after growing at a slower pace in March, according to the Richmond Fed’s latest survey.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/richmond-fed-manufacturing-april-2013-4#ixzz2RIQiRkY5

[Fuddnik]

54. The new method of calculating GDP will smooth that out.

Nothing to see here folks. Move along.

Chill out. Dear Leader has got this.

[xchrom]

46. Time for Growth: Austerity Has 'Reached its Limits,' Barroso Says

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/barroso-says-austerity-in-europe-has-reached-its-limits-a-896019.html

Striking statements were made by one of Europe's most powerful men on Monday night, when European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the strict austerity measures thus far imposed on the EU's beleaguered economies may have reached their political limits.

Although this policy is "fundamentally right," it has nevertheless "reached its limits," he told a conference in Brussels. "A policy, to be successful, not only has to be properly designed, it has to have the minimum of political and social support," he added.
Barroso's comments came just ahead of the release of the EU's latest budget deficit numbers by the body's statistics agency Eurostat on Monday. They showed that for 2012, though Europe's combined deficit level dropped, the overall debt for the 17 members of the EU currency union jumped from €8.2 trillion ($10.7 trillion) to €8.6 trillion. The drastic belt-tightening policies imposed on a number of ailing member states have apparently had little effect. On the contrary, many theorize that the spending cuts intensify budgetary problems because they stifle growth, which has prompted fierce protest in the Southern European countries in recession.

Barroso suggested that these countries in crisis be given more time to bring their deficits down to the required 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Spain and Greece, for example, are far from reaching that goal, with both of their budgetary deficits at 10 and 10.6 percent respectively, according to Eurostat. France, too, is running a deficit above its target of 4.5 percent, reaching 4.8 percent of GDP for 2012. While these countries are still expected to bring their deficits down, Barroso said that there should be a discussion about how quickly that needs to happen.


***i'll believe it when i see it.

[Demeter]

47. Getting our first lawn-mowing today

Not that the grass grew, exactly, but clumps of it did, wherever a dog watered it....

Opened the window to smell the green and got a bunch of gas fumes, instead....

[Fuddnik]

56. Good idea!

I'll make chili.

[kickysnana]

64. Show off. They shoveled out the ballpark for the Twins game this afternoon.

[Demeter]

65. So sorry to hear that

(it didn't really need mowing...but there's rain coming, and then it definitely would look bad for the weekend)

Sending you some Spring:



50 count 'em 50!

[Fuddnik]

68. Mowed my weeds the other day.

Now, if I can just get Rosco to stop catching snakes.

[Demeter]

69. If it's a python, you'll have to stop the snake from catching Rosco.

Good luck with that!

[Warpy]

58. OK, just what the hell happened this afternoon?

Did somebody's computer bank develop AI and realize that there's nothing holding the market up but hot air and wishful thinking?

It's going to be fascinating to hear the BS about this one. It would be even more fascinating if they ignored it completely, somebody's computer dumped the market today but there's nothing to see here, folks, move along and keep buying!

[Demeter]

59. They'll just give the trader a mulligan

As usual.

[Fuddnik]

60. Evil Tweeters

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-shake-bogus-tweet-white-house-end-higher-6C9559363

(snip)
But that wasn't the tale of the day. That took place at 1:07 p.m. ET, when a fake tweet from The Associated Press about explosions at the White House injuring President Barack Obama slashed more than 140 points from the Dow. The CBOE Volatility Index — the market's so-called fear gauge — shot higher by 7 percent shortly after the false tweet.

Less than five minutes later, the Dow turned higher again, but not before the whole even rattled Wall Street, Main Street and the media.

At a news conference shortly after the bogus post, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "the President is fine."
(snip)

[Demeter]

63. That would have been an excellent reason for the market to drop, IMO

C'mon Biden!

[Demeter]

61. Here it is: AP Twitter Account Hacked, Tweet About Obama Shakes Market

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/23/178620410/ap-twitter-account-hacked-tweet-about-obama-shakes-market?ft=1&f=1001



A Twitter account from The Associated Press was hacked Tuesday afternoon and the — to be perfectly clear, it WAS NOT TRUE — sent stocks down sharply for a few moments.

The false message claimed there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Obama had been injured. Again, none of that happened.

Just after 1 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 130 points, around 1 percen. It quickly bounced back as the truth — that there had been no such explosions and that the president was fine — became apparent.

By 1:45 p.m. the Dow was firmly back in positive territory, more than 120 points (about 1 percent) up from Monday's close.

The AP's corporate communications department has :

"The @AP Twitter account has been suspended after it was hacked. The tweet about an attack on the White House was false."

It isn't known yet who was behind the hacking.

Update at 2 p.m. ET. Syrian Electronic Army?

It appears the same pro-Bashar Assad group that , the Syrian Electronic Army, is claiming it was behind the AP hacking.


IF I WEREN'T SO TIRED, I'D BE ROFLMAO

[Demeter]

62. No need to save the twits from Twitter Commentary: Look for a second source before acting

YOU MEAN, RESEARCH? VERIFY? WHAT ARE YOU, NUTS? WANT TO SHUT THE MARKET DOWN FOR A DECADE?


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-need-to-save-the-twits-from-twitter-2013-04-23?siteid=YAHOOB

Let’s take a look who did not and did get hurt by the false tweet sent from the Associated Press account about White House explosions, which, of course, were also fictional.

Those who were not hurt:

• Mutual-fund investors. Funds price daily based on closing data, so no impact there.

• Those who did not trade at all in the four minutes after the AP tweet: Nothing ventured, nothing lost. It’s all good.

• Those who weren’t quite sure why stocks suddenly got cheaper and bought.

• Those who pretty well knew the tweet was false and decided to buy accordingly.

And now let’s look at those who were harmed:

• Those who sold at artificially low levels without knowing what was happening.

• Those who thought there was substance to the AP tweets and acted.

• Robots whose programmers hasn’t envisioned the possibility that a news source’s Twitter account could be hacked.

Bond trading was impacted by the false AP tweet

There’s some sympathy, of course, for the first of these — those who sold at artificially reduced levels — though one can put a floor on the price of a stock to be sold when entering an order. The second group — those who assumed there was truth in the tweet — is basically a bunch of Chicken Littles. Boo hoo.

And the third group (the employers of the robots, not the robots themselves) are basically millionaires trying to arbitrage news flow — which, by the way, is absolutely fine. But, as with any strategy, it comes with risks. Caveat emptor.

The false AP tweet isn’t even the day’s only example of false news moving the market. The euro briefly surged against the Hungarian forint when a news service sent out erroneous headlines that Hungary’s central bank had just cut interest rates to 1% from 5%, instead of to 4.75%, as had been expected — and actually happened.) Again, the false central-bank headline was as odd as the White House tweet from AP, and any sensible human would not have acted.

What’s the lesson? Maybe wait a second, look for a second source, even in fast markets. No one’s portfolio is going to be won or lost over a percentage point.

Another alternative, of course, is to settle in among the ranks of the twittering Chicken Littles.

— Steve Goldstein, Washington bureau chief

[Fuddnik]

66. Sources? Who do you think they are? CNN?

Don't need no sources when we have LSD.

[Demeter]

67. I think your age is showing

The drug of choice is cocaine on Wall St. Everybody says so!