STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 17 February 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 17 February 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 14 February 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 14 February 2014
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Dow Jones 16,154.39 +126.80 (0.79%)
S&P 500 1,838.63 +8.80 (0.48%)
Nasdaq 4,244.02 +3.35 (0.08%)


[font color=black]10 Year 2.72% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 3.69% -0.01 (-0.27%)[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.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.








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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. The thing about sinkholes, is they spread

And I hope they spread right under Mr. Moneybags.

[kickysnana]

2. Sen Amy, DINO, made the news at a drug summit here

The death of Seymour Hoffman was discussed and the availability and purity of the product available. Mentioned that the crack down on doctor prescription for pain is driving the switch to much lower cost H (or moving to Colorado).

I know everyone is supposed to be against illegal drugs but not when someone only uses that to cover her incompetent butt.

I imagine that the big guys still have a role in letting it into the country, we cannot look at every ship you know, (just in every bedroom) and they also still take care of the money laundering to fund other covert operations..

There is so much wrong, no jobs, real healthcare still hard to get, schools circling the drain, fracking, banksters, climate change, oil trains, that she could spend her time on and more drug laws that penalize mostly users in this horrible society is just her style.

[Demeter]

3. We 1%ers wouldn't actually want to FIX anything

Especially if fixing it means reducing our bottom line....got to make next quarter's numbers, by hook or crook! The future can take care of itself, doncha know?

[snot]

23. One contributing factor:

Early on in our wars in response to 9/11, a few DU'er's pointed out that, prior to our invasion, the Taliban had managed to drastically reduce heroin production in Afghanistan, and that one effect of our actions there was directly or indirectly to push locals back toward heroin production. And Afghanistan is now one of the biggest sources of heroin in the world.

[Demeter]

4. Gerald Celente: At Least 20 Dead Bankers

https://www.youtube.com/user/gcelente?feature=watch

According to this brand new video just released on the Gerald Celente YouTube channel with Alex Jones from Infowars, at least 20 bankers have mysteriously died within the last several weeks! While it has been reported that 5 TOP LEVEL bankers have been suicided, Alex’s research has found an entirely new slew of lower level bankers also ‘eliminated’. This video shares more proof of an organized campaign to ‘eliminate’ those who could imprison the ‘criminal elite’ for their financial crimes against the rest of humanity. Dead bankers can’t talk! Celente and Jones share more proof that the markets are rigged and that a MASSIVE cover-up is in progress....

[AnneD]

22. We have an unsolved murder here...

Last week a Chinese Nation they say he was an engineer, his wife and 2 young sons were killed. No signs of robbery but all killed. From what I know about the culture, it has all the marks of an assignation. I don't know his engineering area of expertise but the first thing I thought of were the bankers. Once I found out he was an engineer (and they are letting out few details) I was less suspecious...but this is an international banking and oil town. I would be careful on the streets downtown.

[Demeter]

5. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: If the Currency Collapses & You Try to Flee Into Gold,There Won't Be Any

[Demeter]

14. Although this was hard to listen to, I took away a couple of things

And I found the first plausible explanations for current events.

Roberts talks of a currency collapse: when nobody will take your dollars in exchange for anything. This explains why China is vacuuming up the gold, why Germany wanted theirs back and is angry that the Fed Reserve told them only 30% and only in 7 years, why Chavez is a hero in Venezuela, BECAUSE he got the Venezuelan gold back. Also why India is buying up silver, since China has the lock on gold.

Everyone (except President Obama) is preparing for the end of the dollar. Obama, blinded by his high position, doesn't see that in losing his Imperial right to wage wars of aggression (because the rest of the world refuses to go along anymore), he's already lost the dollar. The rest is just bookkeeping.

What would you do, if the currency collapsed? You would have to find some alternate form of trade.

This leaves one to pause and reflect on a real black swan event, the penultimate one.

[westerebus]

21. Both are talking their book.

The book that repeats the mantra "dollar collapse is coming" prepare for the "end times".

There are IMHO two possible events I can think of that could cause the dollar to drop to zero value. There may be more, but for the sake of argument I will keep it to two.

One, the US voluntarily agrees to exchange the dollar for a global currency. In which case, the rest of the globe's currencies would met an agreed to base line that would end Forex trading and a large chunk of the derivatives market would cease to exist.

Second, the US is unable to project its military power and the US economy is in shambles.

If it's in the interests of the .01% to swap out the dollar, the answer is yes, the dollar is done for. Given the wealth inherent in assets valued in dollars, why would they give up their ability to add to their wealth by giving up the system they own?

Second, the possibility of an event that would allow for both a collapse in military power and economic power is a possibility; if we use the flu pandemic that followed WWI as an example. The problem with that is it would be world wide. So economies around the globe would be no better off.

On the remote chance of a nuclear war in which ONLY the US was hit and destroyed, the after effects would kill off the rest of the planet anyway. The same goes for a bio weapon. If you follow the Walking Dead or any of that genre which is what it is about, bio warfare, no one who survives uses money in any form any way.

That doesn't mean you should not own gold or silver. When the largest holders of gold are national banks there is a reason. They have agreed it has value. It is for that reason you hold what they hold. Physical metal.

Banks trade in lots of things that produce wealth for themselves as owners. Like Congress and the political party's that support their self interests.

Do the best you can.

[xchrom]

6. Gold Rises to 3-Month High on Haven Demand as Silver Extends Run

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/gold-climbs-to-three-month-high-as-u-s-concerns-spur-demand.html

Gold advanced to the highest level in more than three months as speculation the U.S. economic recovery will slow spurred demand for a haven. Silver headed for the longest run of gains since at least 1968.

Bullion climbed 4.1 percent last week, the most since the period ended Aug. 16. U.S. factory production unexpectedly declined in January by the most since May 2009, according to a report released on Feb. 14. Gold will establish a new range above $1,300 an ounce and U.S. investors are becoming friendlier to the metal, UBS AG said in a report today.

Bullion tumbled the most since 1981 last year after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and as U.S. policy makers signaled they will slow stimulus. Gold rebounded 9.9 percent this year as emerging-market equities and currencies weakened and lower prices of the metal spurred more physical demand, particularly from Asia.

“It is the insurance product against further emerging market turmoil, more bad U.S. data, potentially too frothy equity markets and unforeseen market shocks,” UBS analysts in London, who met with U.S. clients last week, wrote in the report. “With positioning so light and the sentiment turn in gold’s favor so recent, we expect that gold will remain bid.”

[xchrom]

7. Scottish Nationalists Spurned by EU on Osborne’s Warning

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-16/independent-scotland-may-find-eu-entry-impossible-barroso-says.html


Scottish nationalists were forced to defend another key plank of their campaign for independence after the European Union’s executive raised the specter of the new state being left out of the bloc.

An independent Scotland would find it “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to gain entry to the EU, European Commission President Jose Barroso said yesterday. His comments came three days after Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne ruled out sharing the pound should voters in Scotland decide in favor of leaving the U.K. in a referendum on Sept. 18.

The argument over Scotland’s constitutional future is heating up after polls last month showed the first significant movement in support of independence. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s blueprint for autonomy envisages an independent state on March 24, 2016, with sterling and negotiations with the EU based on the U.K.’s current terms.

Salmond’s deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, rejected Barroso’s argument. “He’s saying it’s impossible for new countries to join the European Union?” she told BBC Radio 4. “Manifestly that’s not the case because the European Union has been expanding almost from the moment it came into existence.”

[Demeter]

15. All the more reason to go for it

Get off that sinking ship.

The EU thinks they're the In crowd. In a pool of quicksand, is what they really are.

[xchrom]

8. Asian Stocks Advance on Record New Lending in China

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/asian-stocks-gain-for-eighth-time-in-nine-days-after-china-data.html

Asian stocks rose for a second day after China’s new credit increased to a record in January, boosting optimism the world’s second-largest economy can maintain growth momentum.

China Life Insurance Co. (2628), the nation’s biggest company in the sector, jumped 5.8 percent after UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG raised their ratings on the stock. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, advanced 3.6 percent as bullion prices rose. Rakuten Inc., an Internet retailer controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, dropped 9.5 percent in Tokyo after announcing plans buy the Viber online messaging and calling service for $900 million.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.7 percent to 136.29 at 7:40 p.m. in Tokyo as five shares rose for every two that fell. The equity benchmark climbed 1.6 percent last week as trade data from China beat estimates and Janet Yellen’s first testimony to Congress as head of the Federal Reserve buoyed optimism about the U.S. economy.

“There’s optimism in the market,” Desmond Chua, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said by phone. “Record credit growth in China should offset recent concerns the economy is slowing down. Investors are looking forward to additional monetary stimulus in Japan as the government tries to counter the negative effect of the higher consumption tax in April.”

[xchrom]

9. Thai GDP Growth Slows as Unrest Increases Rate-Cut Pressure

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/thai-economic-growth-slows-as-unrest-increases-rate-cut-pressure.html

Thailand’s economy grew at the slowest pace in almost two years last quarter as political unrest hurt local demand and tourism, increasing pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates and support expansion.

Gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent in the three months through December from a year earlier, the National Economic & Social Development Board said in Bangkok today. The expansion was the smallest since the first quarter of 2012, based on previously reported data. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was 0.3 percent. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2013 from a revised 6.5 percent in 2012.

The anti-government protests will impact investment and tourism and disrupt the nation’s policy making, the World Bank said last week. The central bank unexpectedly held borrowing costs at its meeting last month, surprising economists who had predicted a cut. The state planning agency today cut its 2014 GDP growth forecast to 3 percent to 4 percent from a range of 4 percent to 5 percent earlier.

“The data today confirmed the impact of the protests on the economy,” said Wee-Khoon Chong, head of rates strategy Asia ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore. “It is likely to worsen further this quarter, given ongoing uncertainty over the election. The tone in the recent Bank of Thailand statement remained dovish and supports our view for 50-basis-point rate cuts over the next few meetings.”

[xchrom]

10. Deflation Threat Worries G-20 Roiled by Emerging Markets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/deflation-threat-unsettles-g-20-roiled-by-emerging-market-losses.html

Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi have a new reason to consider what International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde calls the “ogre” of deflation: eroding confidence in emerging markets.

Weaker growth from Brazil to South Africa risks unleashing a “disinflationary impulse through the global economy,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. Cheaper commodities, slower trade and sliding exchange rates in developing markets all could soften price pressures internationally.

That in turn could force Federal Reserve Chair Yellen and European Central Bank President Draghi to keep monetary policy loose for longer, increasing the attractiveness of their financial assets even at the threat of creating asset bubbles.

“Emerging market volatility is likely to continue,” said Roberto Perli, a former Fed economist and now a partner at Cornerstone Macro LP in Washington. That “over time could lead to easier monetary policies than large central banks would have otherwise preferred, mainly through potential disinflationary effects.”

[xchrom]

11. China Development Bank Proposes Taking on Sole Local-Lender Role

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/china-development-bank-proposes-taking-on-sole-local-lender-role.html


China Development Bank Corp., the nation’s largest policy lender, is proposing to become the sole financier to local governments as mounting debt threatens efforts to promote urbanization.

The evaluation of loans, extension of credit and debt servicing to the nation’s towns and cities should be centralized under CDB or another bank chosen through bidding, Hu Huaibang, chairman of the policy lender, wrote in the official Qiushi magazine. Tackling the problem of local-government debt is necessary to help promote urbanization, he wrote.

Premier Li Keqiang has already been relying on China’s so-called superbank to finance the construction of affordable homes for workers who’ve moved from the countryside to cities in numbers double the population of Japan. Concern about local liabilities that have swelled to 17.9 trillion yuan ($2.95 trillion) has added to record borrowing costs as investors speculate defaults may spread.

“This is an interesting and welcome proposal to get a grip of the explosive growth of local government obligations,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole SA, wrote in a research note. “Given that CDB is a 100 percent government-owned policy bank, this would streamline management of local debt and help contain it, as well as put central government guarantee behind all forms of local government loan-based obligations, likely including LGFV debt.”

[xchrom]

12. Japan Growth Trails Forecasts as Sales-Tax Increase Looms

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/japan-growth-trails-forecasts-as-consumption-tax-increase-looms.html

Japan’s economy grew at less than half the forecast pace in the fourth quarter, underscoring risks to the nation’s recovery as a sales-tax increase looms in April.

Gross domestic product expanded an annualized 1 percent from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, less than the median projection of 2.8 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 37 economists where the lowest estimate was 1.1 percent.

While capital spending rose by the most in two years and consumption picked up, trade deficits from surging imports and limited gains in exports dragged on the expansion. Weaker-than-forecast growth may fuel speculation that the Bank of Japan will expand stimulus in coming months and add pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to flesh out his policies to make the nation more competitive.

“This weak export performance gives us a sense of risk that the Japanese economy may significantly stall after April,” Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Japan Macro Advisors in Tokyo, told Bloomberg Television. “Prime Minister Abe really needs to be quick in showing to the market that he can deliver reform.”

[xchrom]

13. Japan's quarterly growth disappoints ahead of sales tax hike

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26222281


Japan's economy grew less than expected at the end of last year, countering forecasts it would see higher spending ahead of a sales tax increase in April.

Gross domestic product rose by 1% on an annualised basis in the three-month period to December, compared with market estimates for a 2.8% expansion.

This was due to weaker private consumption and capital spending, as well as lower export figures.

However, this was Japan's fourth straight quarterly expansion.

[xchrom]

16. Dollar hits six-week lows, Italian bonds rally

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/17/uk-markets-global-idUKBRE9920LO20140217

(Reuters) - The dollar fell to six-week lows on Monday as recent weak U.S. data cast doubt on the pace of monetary tightening, while prospects for a new reforming government in Italy sent its bond yields to their lowest since 2006.

World stocks rose to 3-1/2 week highs, helped by encouraging news on Chinese lending.

A run of weak U.S. data, including an unexpected fall in January manufacturing output on Friday, has caused some investors to revise their expectations of how fast the Federal Reserve will scale back stimulus and tighten monetary policy.

"There's been a very patchy data outlook for the past six weeks to two months and expectations of a rate rise from the Fed have been curtailed," said Peter Kinsella, strategist with Commerzbank in London.

[xchrom]

17. Dividend hunters toast earnings season surprises

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/17/uk-markets-stocks-dividends-idUKBREA1G0PG20140217

(Reuters) - Halfway through Europe's company earnings season, investors who made record bets in search of dividends have cause for celebration, though they should prepare for disappointment from some traditionally high-paying sectors.

Global miner Rio Tinto raised its dividend by 15 percent last week, and French oil firm Total joined in with a 3.4 percent rise, while French bank BNP Paribas said it planned to boost its dividend payout ratio to around 45 percent of earnings by 2016 from 41 percent.

That would have been welcome news to those who ploughed more than $1 billion (597 million pounds) into European dividend funds in January, the biggest monthly sum since the middle of 2011, EPFR data showed.

Investors have been lured to these funds by predictions that aggregate dividend levels in Europe will return to growth this year after holding flat for two years.

[xchrom]

18. Renzi poised to form new Italian government

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/17/uk-italy-politics-idUKBREA1G0I920140217

(Reuters) - Italian centre-left leader Matteo Renzi said on Monday he would begin talks to form a new government within 24 hours, and expected to lay out a programme of reforms to be completed over the next few months.

Renzi needs to seal a formal coalition deal with the small centre-right NCD party to secure a majority and to name his cabinet before seeking a formal vote of confidence in parliament, probably later this week.

He has promised a radical programme of action to lift Italy out of its most serious economic slump since World War Two, but will have to deal with the same unwieldy coalition which failed to pass major reforms under its previous leader.

"In this difficult situation, I will bring all the energy and commitment I am capable of," he told reporters after a 90-minute meeting with President Giorgio Napolitano when he was given a mandate to form a new government.

[xchrom]

19. The Most Important Alliance You've Never Heard Of{ANTI-LEFTIST PROPAGANDA}

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/the-most-important-alliance-youve-never-heard-of/283877/

?n155jk
A membership diagram of Latin American and Caribbean intergovernmental organizations. (Wikimedia Commons

In Venezuela, students have been killed while protesting against the government of Nicolás Maduro, who is jailing opposition leaders and just closed a television station that dared broadcast the demonstrations. Argentina is irresponsibly racing toward a dangerous economic cliff. The Brazilian economy is in recession and 2014 will mark its fourth consecutive year of subpar growth, as the country reels from its largest capital flight in more than 10 years.

Is a decade of progress in Latin America coming to an end? For some countries, surely. But not necessarily for the entire region. Four nations are developing an initiative that could add new dynamism to Latin America, redraw the economic map of the region, and boost its connections with the rest of the world—especially Asia. It could also offer neighboring countries a pragmatic alternative to the more political groupings dominated by Brazil, Cuba, and Venezuela.

Amid all the bad news in the region, the presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru met with little fanfare in Cartagena last week to seal an economic pact launched in 2012. They call their project the Pacific Alliance, and it will soon include Costa Rica and possibly several other countries. The four founding members are the most successful economies in Latin America; they boast the region's highest economic-growth rates and lowest inflation rates. Together, they represent 36 percent of the region's economy, 50 percent of its international trade, and 41 percent of all incoming foreign investment. If the Alliance were a country, it would be the world's eighth-largest economy and seventh-largest exporter. Its members lead the lists of the most competitive economies in Latin America and those where it’s easiest to do business. Given that trade among the four countries is currently a mere 4 percent of their total trade, the potential to expand trade and investment flows is huge.

Unfortunately, history shows that potential alone is not enough to cement regional agreements. Like all previous attempts at integrating Latin American economies, the Pacific Alliance is animated by the huge gains that would accrue from successfully developing closer economic ties between neighbors. But the potential of Latin American integration initiatives has always been as enormous as the actual results have been meager.

[Demeter]

20. Colombia? ? It REEKS of Yankee Imperialism

Sounds like a DEA/CIA/NSA consortium.

[Demeter]

24. I don't think the US market is open today, Tansy

My bad.