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Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 07:49 PM Apr 2013

STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 25 April 2013

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 25 April 2013[font color=black][/font]


SMW for 24 April 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 24 April 2013
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Dow Jones 14,676.30 -43.16 (-0.29%)
[font color=green]S&P 500 1,578.79 +0.01 (0.00%)
Nasdaq 3,269.65 +0.32 (0.01%)


[font color=black]10 Year 1.70% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 2.91% -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 - 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=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]


35 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 25 April 2013 (Original Post) Tansy_Gold Apr 2013 OP
Second that! Demeter Apr 2013 #1
China, Iceland sign strategic free trade agreement Demeter Apr 2013 #2
EU seeks to turn up heat on offenders in raw materials trade Demeter Apr 2013 #3
Regulators Lack Power to Unwind Too-Big-to-Fail Banks, FSB Says Demeter Apr 2013 #4
Wall Street analysts discuss paradigm shift: breaking up banks Demeter Apr 2013 #5
Regulators to Restrict Big Banks’ Payday Lending Demeter Apr 2013 #6
Spanish Unemployment Hits 27.2% — Highest Since They Began Keeping Records xchrom Apr 2013 #7
The Incredible Shrinking Budget Deficit By ANNIE LOWREY Demeter Apr 2013 #8
EU ban on naked sovereign credit default swaps unnecessary - IMF Demeter Apr 2013 #9
Senator urges tough cross-border bank rules for swaps trading Demeter Apr 2013 #16
CFTC westerebus Apr 2013 #24
S&P's Outrageous, Clever Fraud Defense Demeter Apr 2013 #10
US urged to bridge accounting body cash gap Demeter Apr 2013 #11
Markets Are Going Nowhere All Around The World xchrom Apr 2013 #12
Broker-client handshake not enough, FINRA wants paperwork Demeter Apr 2013 #13
Chesapeake, Bank of New York, square off in bond trial Demeter Apr 2013 #14
Corzine Sued by Trustee Freeh Over MF Global Failure Demeter Apr 2013 #15
He should be either... AnneD Apr 2013 #35
Investigations Expand in Hacking of A.P. Twitter Feed Demeter Apr 2013 #17
Gold Rout for Central Banks Buying Most Since 1964: Commodities xchrom Apr 2013 #18
THE UNDERGROUND RECOVERY xchrom Apr 2013 #19
I call BS on this Demeter Apr 2013 #26
+1 kickysnana Apr 2013 #28
Agreed. You don't make a bunch working under the table. Nt xchrom Apr 2013 #29
True that.... AnneD Apr 2013 #30
Some business refuse Cash! DemReadingDU Apr 2013 #31
Occasionally I encounter that..... AnneD Apr 2013 #33
ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (04/25/2013) mahatmakanejeeves Apr 2013 #20
UK economy avoids triple-dip recession xchrom Apr 2013 #21
Enrico Letta set to become Italy's new prime minister xchrom Apr 2013 #22
South Korea economic growth hits two-year high xchrom Apr 2013 #23
It frosted last night Demeter Apr 2013 #25
The oher anchors made the weatherman promise that the flurries we had last night were the last... kickysnana Apr 2013 #27
Musical interlude..."On and on the rain will fall, like tears from a star, on and on the rain will mother earth Apr 2013 #32
Hail, Hail Demeter Apr 2013 #34
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
2. China, Iceland sign strategic free trade agreement
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:14 AM
Apr 2013

I WORRY ABOUT ICELAND...THEY JUST BARELY BEAT OFF A CHINESE BILLIONAIRE WHO WANTED TO BUY A BIG CHUNK, AND NOW THIS?

China Tycoon Defends Bid for Chunk of Iceland

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100666980

The chairman of one of China's leading real estate investment group's Beijing Zhongkun, made famous by his $8.8 million bid to buy a 115 square mile farm in Iceland, says the deal would have been very profitable had it gone through...


http://www.dw.de/china-iceland-sign-strategic-free-trade-agreement/a-16745190

China and Iceland have signed a free trade agreement. While Reykjavik hoped the deal would help boost its battered economy, Beijing's interest was primarily in enhancing its influence in the Arctic.

The two nations said the Chinese-Iceland free trade pact would result in the lowering of tariffs on a wide range of goods and was expected to increase seafood and other exports from the remote Nordic state to the world's second-largest economy.

The deal was inked during a five day visit to China by Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, highlighting Reykjavik's endeavors to diversify an economy that was hard hit by the financial crisis in 2008.

"It also signals the deepening of our relationship, which has been lifted to a new height," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a statement... Analysts pointed to Iceland's unique importance to China as Beijing has been attempting to gain a foothold in the Arctic, where melting ice is opening passages for shipping and could create a boom in the extraction of natural resources such as oil, gas, diamonds, gold and iron. China is seeking permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, an eight-nation body deciding on policies in the region. Beijing recently completed what was by far the largest embassy complex in the Icelandic capital, reportedly capable of accommodating a staff of 500. Trade between China and Iceland jumped 21.1 percent last year to $180 million (137.6 million euros). Iceland exports mostly fish and imports Chinese products from ships to shoes.

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
3. EU seeks to turn up heat on offenders in raw materials trade
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:16 AM
Apr 2013
http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/eu-seeks-to-turn-up-heat-on-offenders-in-raw-materials-trade_275284.html

The European Union wants to slap higher import duties on countries that use unfair practices in the trade of raw materials - a charge often levelled at China - according to reforms proposed Wednesday by the bloc‘s executive.

These increased duties would apply to imports from countries that "use unfair subsidies and create structural distortions in their raw materials markets," the European Commission wrote.

At present it limits such tariffs to what is strictly necessary to prevent injury to the EU industry in question.

"We have seen distortions of raw materials that are of the utmost importance for our industry," said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. "If we have no free access to raw materials any more then there will be a real problem."...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
4. Regulators Lack Power to Unwind Too-Big-to-Fail Banks, FSB Says
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:19 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/regulators-lack-power-to-unwind-too-big-to-fail-banks-fsb-says.html

Global regulators said they still lack the power to impose losses on creditors and wind down too- big-fail-lenders without resorting to public bailouts almost five years after the 2008 financial crisis. The Financial Stability Board said in a report today that “few jurisdictions have equipped administrative authorities with the full set of powers to resolve banks.” Many countries also lack frameworks to recognize actions taken by foreign regulators in a cross-border crisis, which is a “major weakness,” the FSB said.

Cyprus became a testing ground for investor losses when euro-area authorities last month required restructuring of the country’s two biggest banks as a condition of a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) rescue. The Cyprus program, billed by European policy makers as a unique case, imposes losses on bondholders and uninsured depositors and was accompanied by capital controls to limit contagion.

“Most of the recommendations that involve actions by national authorities can -- and should -- be implemented now without waiting for additional FSB guidance,” said the FSB, a global group of central bankers and financial supervisors from the Group of 20 nations with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.


The FSB recommended that nations give local regulators the authority to write down creditors’ claims and give them the ability to make changes to a banks’ organizational structure “where it is necessary to improve their resolvability,” according to the report.

The FSB’s review echoes comments made by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who said the “oversize banking model is still very dangerous” in a speech in New York yesterday...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
5. Wall Street analysts discuss paradigm shift: breaking up banks
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:22 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/us-usbanks-breakups-analysts-idUSBRE93A19020130411

At least three Wall Street analysts this week have written reports about the possibility of the biggest banks breaking themselves up to boost profitability, signaling that investors may be more willing to embrace an idea that is still toxic to some lawmakers in Washington.

New regulations in areas like capital requirements are imposing higher costs on the biggest investment banks, raising doubts about their future profitability. These questions make the biggest global investment banks "un-investable," wrote analyst Kian Abouhossein, who himself works at JPMorgan, one of the biggest global investment banks.

Breaking up large "universal banks," could unlock value for shareholders, Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Burnell wrote in a report on Wednesday. These "financial supermarkets" typically house investment banking, consumer banking and wealth management operations under one roof.

If these banks broke up into smaller companies, the value of the parts would likely be greater than the current whole, Burnell wrote. He estimated that universal banks currently trade at 25 to 30 percent below publicly traded financial firms that focus on just one business...

WHATEVER. JUST DO IT!
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
6. Regulators to Restrict Big Banks’ Payday Lending
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:24 AM
Apr 2013
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/crackdown-expected-on-big-banks-payday-loans/

Federal regulators are poised to crack down on payday loans — the short-term, high-cost credit that can mire borrowers in debt. But instead of taking aim at storefront payday lenders, the banking authorities are focusing on the small operations’ big bank rivals, like Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, according to several people briefed on the matter.

A handful of banks offer the loans tied to checking accounts, with the understanding that the lender can automatically withdraw the loan amount, plus the origination fee, when it is due.

Regulators from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are expected to clamp down on the loans, which carry interest rates that can soar above 300 percent, by the end of the week, these people said...

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
7. Spanish Unemployment Hits 27.2% — Highest Since They Began Keeping Records
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:24 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.businessinsider.com/spanish-unemployment-rate-hits-272-percent-2013-4

MADRID (Reuters) - More than six million Spaniards were out of work in the first quarter of this year, raising the jobless rate in the euro zone's fourth biggest economy to 27.2 percent, the highest since records began in the 1970s.

The huge sums poured into the global financial system by major central banks have eased bond market pressure on Spain, but the cuts Madrid has made in spending to regain investors' confidence have left it deep in recession.

Unemployment - 6.2 million in the first quarter - has been rising for seven quarters and the latest numbers will fuel a growing debate on whether to ease off on the budget austerity which has dominated Europe's response to the debt crisis.

"These figures are worse than expected and highlight the serious situation of the Spanish economy as well as the shocking decoupling between the real and the financial economy," strategist at Citi in Madrid Jose Luis Martinez said.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/spanish-unemployment-rate-hits-272-percent-2013-4#ixzz2RTAMNsqc
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
8. The Incredible Shrinking Budget Deficit By ANNIE LOWREY
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:26 AM
Apr 2013
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/the-incredible-shrinking-budget-deficit/

For four years, during and in the wake of the recession, the federal budget deficit ballooned to more than $1 trillion. But because of belt-tightening in Washington and a strengthening economy, it has started shrinking — and fast. The number crunchers at Goldman Sachs have lowered their estimates of the deficit both this year and next, on the back of higher-than-expected revenues and lower-than-projected spending. Analysts started the year projecting that the deficit in the current fiscal year would be about $900 billion. Earlier this year, they lowered the estimate to $850 billion. Now they have lowered it again, to $775 billion, or about 4.8 percent of economic output.

“Spending in the fiscal year to date is lower than a year ago and the nominal growth rate is lower than it has been in decades,” the Goldman economists wrote in a note to clients. “Revenues have also exceeded expectations, with a 12 percent gain fiscal year to date. What is more notable is that the strength in revenues preceded the payroll tax hike at the start of the year, and the spending decline does not seem to reflect sequestration, which has just started to take effect.” To translate: the deficit could come in even smaller than currently anticipated because of spending cuts and higher tax rates.


On the face of it, this sounds like something to applaud: The growing economy is bolstering tax revenue and reducing the need for spending on programs like unemployment insurance. Washington has gotten its act together. The budget is finally coming back into balance. Indeed, Goldman now expects the budget deficit to fall to just 2.7 percent of economic output by the 2015 fiscal year. Many economists consider budget deficits that small to be sustainable — particularly if the federal government is investing in public goods like schools and roads — with the accrued debt paid off by later years’ economic growth.

But a number of budget experts are booing rather than applauding, including the fiscal hawks at the International Monetary Fund. Last week, the fund nudged down its estimates for United States growth in 2013 and 2014. It said it saw many bright spots in the American economy, including the strength of the private sector, but it criticized Washington for imposing too much austerity, too soon, and thus sapping strength from the recovery and preventing the unemployment rate from coming down faster.

“The growth figure for the United States for 2013 may not seem very high, and indeed it is insufficient to make a large dent in the still-high unemployment rate,” the fund said. “But it will be achieved in the face of a very strong, indeed overly strong, fiscal consolidation of about 1.8 percent of G.D.P. Underlying private demand is actually strong, spurred in part by the anticipation of low policy rates under the Federal Reserve’s ‘forward guidance’ and by pent-up demand for housing and durables.”


The fund’s economists specifically dinged “sequestration,” the $85 billion in mandatory budget cuts that Congress promised to undo, but failed to undo, earlier this year. “While the sequester has decreased worries about debt sustainability, it is the wrong way to proceed,” the fund said. “There should be both less and better fiscal consolidation now and a commitment to more fiscal consolidation in the future.”

MORE
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
9. EU ban on naked sovereign credit default swaps unnecessary - IMF
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:31 AM
Apr 2013

WHOSE OX IS GETTING GORED THIS TIME?

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/uk-imf-cds-idUKBRE93A0ZT20130411

The International Monetary fund said the European Union was moving in the wrong direction by banning the use of a hedging strategy related to sovereign credit default swaps. In a report published on Thursday ahead of its annual meeting April 19-21, the IMF said the ban on so-called naked SCDS is not supported by any empirical evidence and could in fact lead to more instability in the financial markets.

Credit default swaps act as a kind of insurance for investors who own debt, in this case debt issued by sovereign nations, against potential default or restructuring.

"Overall, the evidence here does not support the need to ban purchases of naked SCDS protection," the IMF said, adding that negative perceptions about the instruments are not backed up by empirical evidence.

An EU rule came into effect November 1 that banned speculative trading in the contracts. A naked contract means the investor does not have an offsetting position in the underlying asset even though they own protection against a rise or fall in the price of the asset...At the height of the financial crisis, CDS came in for major criticism and were seen as one potential destabilizing factor in the market. The IMF says this is difficult to assess since risks affecting SCDS are the same as those affecting other areas of the financial system. According to the IMF study, the SCDS market had a net notional value of $3 trillion (1.9 trillion pounds) at the end of June last year, compared with $50 trillion for total government debt outstanding at the end of 2011. In the CDS market, net notional positions generally represent the maximum possible amount of money that will change hands between those who sold and those who bought credit protection in the event of a default or restructuring...

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
16. Senator urges tough cross-border bank rules for swaps trading
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:55 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/24/us-cross-border-bank-idUSBRE93N17V20130424

A top lawmaker urged regulators to tighten the rules for swaps trading at foreign offices of U.S. banks, stepping into a simmering global conflict over how to supervise the $650 trillion derivatives market. Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to disregard criticism from overseas and from U.S. lawmakers who have chided the derivatives watchdog for what they say is an aggressive stance.

"American families and businesses deserve strong protections against the risks posed by derivatives trading, including from cross-border swaps," Levin, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said in a letter.


The Dodd Frank overhaul of Wall Street gives the CFTC the powers to regulate derivatives trading overseas as long as it has a "direct and significant" effect on U.S. business, but there is debate about how to interpret the phrase. In December, the CFTC gave foreign banks more time to meet its new rules for derivatives trading, as it finalizes regulation that would subject banks abroad to tough requirements if they want to trade with U.S. banks.

Under the CFTC's rules, foreign banks would have to register with the agency as a "swap dealer" and comply with the same rules as American banks if their annual swaps trading volume with U.S. banks exceeds $8 billion. But the European Union, Britain and Japan have all urged the CFTC to rely more on foreign regulators, who are all working on similar rules after global leaders in 2009 agreed to clamp down on the financial sector. They say that imposing foreign rules abroad could subject banks to rule sets that contradict each other. But the talks between regulators are in stalemate.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
10. S&P's Outrageous, Clever Fraud Defense
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:34 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-23/s-and-ps-outrageous-clever-fraud-defense#r=hp-ls

Standard & Poor’s has filed its motion to dismiss the U.S. Justice Department’s big fraud suit, which accuses the rating agency of helping trigger the 2008 financial crisis. The company’s defense lawyers came up with a theory that seems on its face outrageous, even insulting. It just might work.

S&P, a unit of McGraw-Hill (MHP), former owner of Bloomberg Businessweek, has hired two of the nation’s best known attorneys to fend off the multibillion-dollar civil suit that the Obama administration filed in February. John Keker, a San Francisco-based white collar trial lawyer, and Floyd Abrams of New York, probably the country’s most prominent First Amendment media attorney, make for a formidable duo.

As expected, their motion, filed on April 22 in southern California, derides the government’s accusations as “a stretch,” emphasizing that rival agencies Moody’s (MCO) and Fitch issued ratings of mortgage investments identical to S&P’s, yet weren’t named as defendants. That’s a logically appealing contention, as it’s far from obvious why the Justice Department singled out S&P.

More provocatively, the Keker-Abrams team says that S&P cannot be held liable for its prolific claims of integrity and analytic skill because those boasts were the sort of baloney that investors and the wider public never take seriously in the first place...The real punch behind S&P’s motion comes from the lawyers’ invocation of precedent. It turns out that a series of federal courts around the country have recently dismissed similar allegations of fraud against S&P based on the identical don’t-take-our-puffery-to-heart defense. The most recent ruling came in December from the federal appeals court in New York, which affirmed a trial judge’s dismissal of a securities fraud action against S&P brought by a Florida-based pension fund...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
11. US urged to bridge accounting body cash gap
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:36 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/accounting-funding-idUSL5N0CY2FJ20130411

The international accounting body working to beef up company audit rules says it is running short of money and wants the United States to stump up more cash to help it complete its reforms.

The Group of 20 economies (G20) want to make it easier to spot risks on bank balance sheets to avoid taxpayers again having to bail out lenders as they did in the financial crisis.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have been trying for years to end disagreements on how to "converge" or align their differing rules.

But the IASB says a scaling back in contributions from U.S. companies which doubt American companies will ever adopt international standards has led to a cash crunch...

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
12. Markets Are Going Nowhere All Around The World
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:38 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-april-25-2013-4

Things have gotten very quiet.
Markets are basically doing nothing all around the world.
After starting flat, Japan did gain half a percent, hitting a new 5-year high. China fell a bit, but less than 1%.
European markets are virtually at the zero line, as are US futures.
Later in the day we get initial jobless, which will give us another nice look at the labor market, but that's about it.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-april-25-2013-4#ixzz2RTE59VTS
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
13. Broker-client handshake not enough, FINRA wants paperwork
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:39 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/us-broker-shortcut-idUSBRE93A0S720130411

Morgan Stanley broker Douglas Greenberg recently suffered a fate that is increasingly befalling advisers. Greenberg was fined $10,000 after he traded securities in a client account in 2010 without written instructions from the client or the firm to do so, according to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority settlement dated March 27.

"The client and broker spoke and agreed on the strategy," said Abe Lampart, Greenberg's San Francisco-based lawyer. Lampart said it was not a case where the trades were not authorized.


Greenberg, who neither admitted nor denied FINRA's findings, still works at Morgan Stanley. The firm directed inquiries to Lampart.

FINRA in most cases prohibits brokers from making such trades - a practice known as "using discretion" - without clients' written approval. Brokerage firms typically want to approve such arrangements in advance as well. Some may even bar the practice. Yet, Greenberg is among a growing number of brokers who have been penalized by the watchdog for trading on clients' behalf without first getting permission to do so in writing, showing why, when in doubt, advisers would be well-advised to err toward getting their paperwork in order. FINRA has disciplined 17 brokers since January for violations stemming from its rule about improper use of discretion. That is nearly twice the number of cases involving such violations during the same period last year. In all, FINRA sanctioned 47 brokers last year, in part, for not following its rule about discretion.

The penalties, which can include fines and short-term suspensions, can have serious consequences for brokers. Even a brief, five-day suspension, for example, can be a roadblock to finding a job later, especially at a big-name brokerage...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
14. Chesapeake, Bank of New York, square off in bond trial
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:41 AM
Apr 2013
http://news.yahoo.com/chesapeake-bank-york-square-off-bond-trial-174929998--sector.html

Chesapeake Energy Corp began an expedited trial on Tuesday against Bank of New York Mellon Corp over the energy company's effort to redeem $1.3 billion of notes at par. The proceeding in Manhattan federal court comes less than two months after Chesapeake sued the bank, the trustee for the bonds, seeking to prevent it from interfering with the redemption. The dispute is separate from other legal issues involving Chesapeake, the second-largest natural gas producer in the United States.

Chesapeake, which faces a projected $3 billion cash shortfall this year, argues that it had until this past March 15 to notify noteholders that it intended to redeem the notes, which have an interest rate of 6.775 percent and mature in 2019, at par. If it is not able to, the company will pay about $100 million in interest, one of its attorneys, Stephen Ascher, said in court on Tuesday.

The bank disagrees, arguing that Chesapeake had to complete any par redemption by March 15, and that any redemption thereafter requires it to pay an additional $400 million make-whole payment to investors.

The trial is expected to run through early next week. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer is hearing the case without a jury...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
15. Corzine Sued by Trustee Freeh Over MF Global Failure
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:48 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/corzine-sued-by-trustee-freeh-over-mf-global-failure.html

Jon Corzine, the former head of MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MFGLQ), failed to oversee the futures broker, leading to the eighth-biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history, according to a lawsuit filed by Louis J. Freeh. Corzine, a former governor and senator from New Jersey and once a co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., was sued along with senior executives Bradley Abelow and Henri Steenkamp in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan yesterday. Freeh, a trustee for the failed holding company of the brokerage, alleged that they failed to act in good faith and implemented strategies that caused the company to fail.

During their tenure, the three executives “dramatically changed the company’s business plan without addressing existing systemic weaknesses that ultimately caused the plan to fail,” Freeh said in the complaint.


The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages “to be determined at trial,” as well as legal fees, according to the 61-page filing. It follows a 124-page report published this month by Freeh which blamed Corzine and his management team for bungling an expansion of the company’s traditional business model while ignoring deficiencies in its risk controls.

The parent company of brokerage MF Global Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, 2011, after a wrong-way $6.3 billion trade on its own behalf on bonds of some of Europe’s most- indebted nations. The company listed assets of $41 billion and debts of $39.7 billion...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
17. Investigations Expand in Hacking of A.P. Twitter Feed
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 06:58 AM
Apr 2013
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/investigations-expand-in-hacking-of-a-p-twitter-feed/

Three federal agencies are now investigating an incident Tuesday in which hackers hijacked the Twitter account for The Associated Press and momentarily erased $136 billion from the stock market after they posted a fake Tweet reporting that there had been explosions at the White House that injured President Obama. A group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating who was behind the attack, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating the impact of the attacks on the market.

“We have standard operating procedures whenever there are market developments, and this is no exception,” said John Nester, an S.E.C. spokesman. “These procedures start with getting the facts about what occurred. We do not limit ourselves to looking at the catalyst for an event, but also its repercussions, to determine whether any further inquiries or actions are warranted.”


The A.P.’s account was the fourth prominent Twitter account of a media organization to be hacked in recent months — accounts for CBS, NPR and the BBC have all been hijacked by hackers recently — but the A.P. incident had the most serious impact. Within seconds of the fake A.P. post, the Dow Jones Industrial Average nosedived, dropping 150 points, before recovering five minutes later. High-frequency trading algorithms that are designed to make trades based on certain headlines served as a catalyst...The C.F.T.C. is now investigating trading in 28 futures contracts that took place over that five-minute period, according to CNBC. A C.F.T.C. spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment but John Chilton, an commissioner with the agency, told CNBC Wednesday that “We need certain rules of the road for technology and that’s particularly true with the advent of social media.” Mr. Chilton, who referred to high frequency traders as “cheetahs,” noted that there was no “kill switch” in their technology to prevent them from acting on misinformation. “We need to set up basic rules of the road,” Mr. Chilton said. “We should not just accept technology blindly.”

The timing of the A.P. on Twitter comes just two weeks after Bloomberg announced that it would start incorporating Twitter feeds into its financial information terminals. The new feature allows traders to monitor social media buzz and market-moving news from their Bloomberg terminals. Ironically, Bloomberg introduced the service, in part, to prevent the spread of misinformation on Twitter after an erroneous tweet suggested that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was dead last August, creating a surge in crude oil prices....

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
18. Gold Rout for Central Banks Buying Most Since 1964: Commodities
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:13 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-24/gold-rout-for-central-banks-buying-most-since-1964-commodities.html

Central banks bought the most gold since 1964 last year just before the collapse in prices into a bear market underscored investors’ weakening faith in the world’s traditional store of value.

Nations from Colombia to Greece to South Africa bought gold as prices rose for an 11th year in 2011, highlighting the reversal of a three-decade-long bout of selling that diminished the world’s biggest bullion hoard by 19 percent. The World Gold Council says they added 534.6 metric tons to reserves in 2012, the most in almost a half century, and expects purchases of 450 to 550 tons this year, valued now at as much as $25.3 billion.

Central banks are the biggest losers, with about $560 billion of value erased since gold reached a record $1,921.15 an ounce in September 2011. The metal was already in the eighth year of its longest bull market since the end of World War I when reserves started expanding again in 2008. They were also buying in 1980 when bullion peaked at the equivalent of $2,400 in today’s money, and selling in 1999 as prices slumped to a 20- year low.

“They sell at the wrong time and buy at the wrong time,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion of assets at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. “They aren’t traders. They are looking at it as a long-term holding, as an ultimate reserve currency. With the benefit of hindsight, they tend to get it wrong more often than not.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
19. THE UNDERGROUND RECOVERY
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:26 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2013/04/29/130429ta_talk_surowiecki

WWhen we all finished filing our tax returns last week, there was a little something missing: two trillion dollars. That’s how much money Americans may have made in the past year that didn’t get reported to the I.R.S., according to a recent study by the economist Edgar Feige, who’s been investigating the so-called underground, or gray, economy for thirty-five years. It’s a huge number: if the government managed to collect taxes on all that income, the deficit would be trivial. This unreported income is being earned, for the most part, not by drug dealers or Mob bosses but by tens of millions of people with run-of-the-mill jobs—nannies, barbers, Web-site designers, and construction workers—who are getting paid off the books. Ordinary Americans have gone underground, and, as the recovery continues to limp along, they seem to be doing it more and more.

Measuring an unreported economy is obviously tricky. But look closely and you can see the traces of a booming informal economy everywhere. As Feige said to me, “The best footprint left in the sand by this economy that doesn’t want to be observed is the use of cash.” His studies show that, while economists talk about the advent of a cashless society, Americans still hold an enormous amount of cold, hard cash—as much as seven hundred and fifty billion dollars. The percentage of Americans who don’t use banks is surprisingly high, and on the rise. Off-the-books activity also helps explain a mystery about the current economy: even though the percentage of Americans officially working has dropped dramatically, and even though household income is still well below what it was in 2007, personal consumption is higher than it was before the recession, and retail sales have been growing briskly (despite a dip in March). Bernard Baumohl, an economist at the Economic Outlook Group, estimates that, based on historical patterns, current retail sales are actually what you’d expect if the unemployment rate were around five or six per cent, rather than the 7.6 per cent we’re stuck with. The difference, he argues, probably reflects workers migrating into the shadow economy. “It’s typical that during recessions people work on the side while collecting unemployment,” Baumohl told me. “But the severity of the recession and the profound weakness of this recovery may mean that a lot more people have entered the underground economy, and have had to stay there longer.”
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
26. I call BS on this
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 11:25 AM
Apr 2013

People working underground aren't making enough money to pay taxes. If they were, people would take notice. Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's just the way it is.

Go after the RICH, the CRIMINALLY RICH, and The CRIMINALLY RICH, TAX-CHEATING CORPORATIONS!

AnneD

(15,774 posts)
30. True that....
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 01:31 PM
Apr 2013

There are many reasons I personally use cash:
I tend to spend less...It keeps me honest with my budget.
I don't like banks with their hands in my pocket (ie collecting more interest than they should).
Cash spends very well and merchants frequently give discounts for cash (CC don't nick them for merchant fees).
There are times when all they take is cash (try paying for gas on CC after a hurricane or natural disaster).
Cashless is too easy to track and stop, and frankly I don't trust my government enough to let them into my banking business. I guess I am old school Indian.

I call bull shit on the article. It is another drum beat to march us into a cashless dictatorship IMHO.

DemReadingDU

(16,000 posts)
31. Some business refuse Cash!
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 02:31 PM
Apr 2013

It was a bit of a shock! Spouse went to pay bill for car insurance. He wanted to pay in cash. Nope. Either had to pay with a check or credit card.

A retail store was hesitant with taking cash to pay a bill, but finally accepted the cash with manager approval. They followed with a receipt, always a good thing.

AnneD

(15,774 posts)
33. Occasionally I encounter that.....
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:06 PM
Apr 2013

But more often, it is the other way around. I keep checks for that purpose and a debit card too.

I am a cash and carry kinda gal. I want the bird in the hand.

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,906 posts)
20. ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (04/25/2013)
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:31 AM
Apr 2013

Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Read More: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20130756.htm

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 339,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 355,000. The 4-week moving average was 357,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 362,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending April 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 13 was 3,000,000, a decrease of 93,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,093,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,071,750, a decrease of 17,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,089,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 323,529 in the week ending April 20, a decrease of 34,690 from the previous week. There were 370,632 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
....

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 13 were in California (+24,303), Texas (+3,050), Florida (+2,623), Indiana (+2,372), and Arizona (+1,296), while the largest decreases were in New York (-14,113), Michigan (-5,998), New Jersey (-4,204), Ohio (-3,036), and Illinois (-2,455).

== == == == ==

Good morning, Freepers and DUers alike. I ask you to put aside your differences long enough to read this post. Following that, you can engage in your usual donnybrook.

I have been posting the number every week for at least a year. I seriously do not care if the week's data make Obama look good. They are just numbers, and I post them without regard to the consequences. I welcome people from Free Republic to examine the numbers as well. They paid for the work just as much as members of DU did, so I invite them to come on over and have a look. "The more the merrier" is the way I look at it.

I do not work at the ETA, and I do not know anyone working in that agency. I'm sure I can safely assume that the numbers are gathered and analyzed by career civil servant economists who do their work on a nonpartisan basis. Numbers are numbers, and let the chips fall where they may. If you feel that these economists are falling down on the job, drop them a line or give them a call. They work for you, not for any politician or political party.

The word "initial" is important. The report does not count all claims, just the new ones filed this week.

Note: The seasonal adjustment factors used for the UI Weekly Claims data from 2007 forward, along with the resulting seasonally adjusted values for initial claims and continuing claims, have been revised. These revised historical values, as well as the seasonal adjustment factors that will be used through calendar year 2012, can be accessed at the bottom of the following link: http://www.oui.doleta.gov/press/2012/032912.asp

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
21. UK economy avoids triple-dip recession
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:50 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22290407

The UK economy has avoided falling back into a recession after recording faster-than-expected growth in the first three months of the year.

The Office for National Statistics said its first estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew 0.3% during the first quarter of 2013.

Chancellor George Osborne said it was an "encouraging sign".

But the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said that the economy was "just back to where it was six months ago".

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
22. Enrico Letta set to become Italy's new prime minister
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:51 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22278038

The appointment of Mr Letta, currently deputy leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, could see the end of two months of parliamentary deadlock.

An inconclusive general election in February left the country in political limbo.

Mr Letta said he would aim to change the course in Europe on austerity.

"European policies are too focused on austerity which is no longer enough," he said, following the closed-door meeting with the president in Rome.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
23. South Korea economic growth hits two-year high
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 08:53 AM
Apr 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22289514

South Korea's growth rate hit a two-year high in the first three months of the year, boosted by a rebound in construction, investment and exports.

The economy grew by 0.9% in the January to March quarter from the previous three months, the central bank's estimates showed.

The data is likely to help allay fears over the health of the Korean economy.

Earlier this year, the government cut its growth forecast for the current year amid a slowdown in exports.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
25. It frosted last night
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 10:53 AM
Apr 2013

and I didn't tarp the peach tree. The buds hadn't opened...and it snow-showered all day....I am hoping that it will be all right...

Will this winter never end? It's supposed to snow shower today, too.


Later: Now it's raining and blowing.

kickysnana

(3,908 posts)
27. The oher anchors made the weatherman promise that the flurries we had last night were the last...
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 12:04 PM
Apr 2013

People are c.r.a.n.k.y.

mother earth

(6,002 posts)
32. Musical interlude..."On and on the rain will fall, like tears from a star, on and on the rain will
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 02:43 PM
Apr 2013

sing, How Fragile We are...


 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
34. Hail, Hail
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 03:34 PM
Apr 2013

either small hail, of very large sleet.

We've had everything except a tornado this week.

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