STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 10 March 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 10 March 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 9 March 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 9 March 2015
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Dow Jones 17,995.72 +138.94 (0.78%)
S&P 500 2,079.43 +8.17 (0.39%)
Nasdaq 4,942.44 +15.07 (0.31%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.19% -0.01 (-0.45%)
[font color=black]30 Year 2.80% 0.00 (0.00%) [font color=black]


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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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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.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts







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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. Ringling Bros. to Retire Its Circus Elephants

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150305-ringling-bros-retires-asian-elephants-barnum-bailey/


The circus will send its traveling Asian elephants to a conservation center by 2018. After 145 years of featuring elephants in its circus acts, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced Thursday that it will retire its elephant herd by 2018.

"This decision was not easy, but it is in the best interest of our company, our elephants and our customers," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's parent company, Feld Entertainment, in a press release.

The company said it made the "unprecedented" decision to focus its elephant work on conservation programs. "No other institution has done or is doing more to save this species from extinction," Feld said, "and that is something of which I and my family are extremely proud."

The circus will send its 13 traveling Asian elephants to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida.

In an interview with the Associated Press, a Feld Entertainment executive vice president acknowledged a "mood shift" among the circus's consumers.

"A lot of people aren't comfortable with us touring with our elephants," said the executive, Alana Feld.

The company's press release said that "the circus will continue to feature other extraordinary animal performers, including tigers, lions, horses, dogs and camels."

There are only 41,000 to 52,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates, earning the animals an Endangered designation. Habitat loss, conflict with humans, and the illegal wildlife trade drives the population a little lower each year. (Related: "100,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Just Three Years, Landmark Analysis Finds.&quot A 2011 investigation by the magazine Mother Jones found that "Ringling elephants spend most of their long lives either in chains or on trains, under constant threat of the bullhook, or ankus—the menacing tool used to control elephants."

Despite abuse allegations raised by the Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups, Ringling Bros. prevailed in a long legal battle against the groups in 2014, collecting nearly $16 million in a settlement.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Thursday called for the Ringling Bros. to expedite the elephants' retirement.

"Three years is too long for a mother elephant separated from her calf, too long for a baby elephant beaten with the sharp fireplace-poker-like weapons called bull hooks that Ringling handlers use routinely, too long for an animal who roams up to 30 miles a day in the wild to be kept in shackles," PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement.

[Demeter]

2. State-owned RBS pays millions in bonuses to its banker fatcats despite disastrous year with £3b loss

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/state-owned-rbs-pays-millions-bonuses-5288382

BAILED-out Royal Bank of Scotland paid the same number of bankers £1million in 2014 as the year before despite losses of more than £3billion. The lender, 80 per cent owned by the taxpayer, gave 72 employees £1million or more in 2014 - while claiming it was at the “leading edge of reform” on bringing down banker pay.

RBS last week reported a £3.5billion annual loss for last year, though it was an improvement on the £8.2billion loss a year before. The figures also cover a year in which the bank paid £399million in fines to US and UK regulators over the foreign exchange rate rigging scandal.

Their remuneration report disclosed the number of bankers paid one million euros (£806,000) or more fell from 131 to 110. But the number paid 1.5million euros (£1.21million) or more rose from 43 to 51. The number of millionaires created by the bank is understood to be 72.

Last year three staff were paid between five million and six million euros (£4-4.8million) according to the report. It also revealed 1200 employees earned total remuneration of more than £250,000 while 6700 made do with between £100,000 and £250,000, and 15,500 were paid between £50,000 and £100,000.

[Demeter]

3. The month that killed the middle class: How October 1973 slammed America

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/07/the_month_that_killed_the_middle_class_how_october_1973_slammed_america/?source=newsletter

From the Arab oil embargo to the auto workers strike, one month more than 40 years ago changed this nation forever

I HAD GOTTEN MY FIRST JALOPY....AND THE GAS STATIONS SHUT DOWN. I WANTED TO CRY WITH FRUSTRATION.



OCTOBER 1973... Egypt had invaded Israel. When the United States provided military aid to the Jewish state, Saudi Arabia retaliated by cutting off oil exports to Western nations. The Arab Oil Embargo raised the price of gasoline from 36 to 53 cents a gallon — when drivers could get it. To prevent hours-long lines, filling stations sold to cars with odd-numbered license plates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, even plates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays....October 1973 was a rude awakening for the entire United States. It was a watershed month for the American middle class. The Arab Oil Embargo would lead to the downfall of the American auto industry, whose generous wages and benefits set the standard for the entire economy. It was also the month of the Saturday Night Massacre, which made inevitable the downfall of Richard Nixon. The Watergate scandal resulted in changes to the American political system that put more power into the hands of lobbyists, political action committees and wealthy, self-funded candidates ... From 1947 to 1973, the golden postwar quarter-century, hourly earnings grew at an average of 2.2 percent a year. Since 1973, they’ve been stagnant, barely keeping up with inflation, even as productivity has boomed...

For the first generation after World War II, American life was defined by one word: “more.” Not just bigger cars and bigger houses, but two cars and two houses. The nation’s standard of living increased dramatically — on a pace to double every 33 years — with much of it generated by the auto industry. In 1949, America’s automobile fleet stood at 45 million. By 1972, it was 116 million — more cars than we could fill up from our own wells. The alpine graph of American prosperity had reached a plateau, and cutting off our supply of foreign oil was all it took to push it downhill.

As the auto industry was a bellwether for the American economy, autoworkers were a bellwether for American labor. In 1970... the United Auto Workers’ last great nationwide strike. More than 400,000 workers walked out and stayed out for 67 days, until GM gave them everything they wanted: a 19.5 percent wage hike over three years, plus a one-cent an hour raise for every 0.3 percent increase in the consumer price index, and the right to retire after 30 years, at age 58, with a full pension...In 1973, after a brief strike against Chrysler, the UAW won even more generous perks: a dental plan, a longer holiday break between Christmas and New Year’s and the opportunity to retire on a full pension after 30 years of service at any age...The day that strike was settled — Sept. 23, 1973 — was the day the American middle class peaked.

“The union got to a point where we ran out of things to negotiate for,” he said. “What more could we ask for? We had a good wage, we had good health care, we had good pension. Everything was there.”

Less than two weeks later, it all began to unravel. On Oct. 6, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in an attempt to regain territory lost in the Six-Day War of 1967. As Israeli forces retreated, Golda Meir begged the United States for help. Reluctantly, Nixon sent ammunition, helping Israel repel the Arab attack — and inspiring King Faisal to declare a retaliatory embargo. The effect on the American economy was twofold: First, the embargo contributed to a recession in which the gross national product fell 2.1 percent, unemployment reached 10 percent, and inflation hit 12 percent. Not even the UAW contract could keep up with those prices... Americans stopped buying American cars. The percentage of disposable income spent on new cars dropped from 4.8 percent to 3.8 percent — the lowest since the Korean War — and a lot of the purchases were fuel-efficient Fiats, Hondas and VW Beetles, which were less expensive to fill up than those street yachts the Lincoln Continental and the Chrysler New Yorker. The Big Three found themselves in a bind, which they soon figured out how to make worse. GM, Ford and Chrysler didn’t want to build small cars, because only ginormous cars provided the profits necessary to pay the wages and benefits they had just lavished on their workers.

“We don’t believe the market is large enough for our own subcompact,” soon-to-be retired Chrysler chairman Lynn Townsend said in 1974. “The Valiant and Dart are the cars people want to buy.”

Forced into the subcompact business by the marketplace, and by the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which mandated a fleet-wide average of 27.5 miles per gallon by 1975, Detroit engineers passive-aggressively designed some of the crappiest cars ever to explode or crack a head gasket on an American roadway: the Plymouth Horizon, the AMC Pacer, the Chevy Chevette, the Ford Escort. These epically damaged the American automakers’ reputations because they were starter cars, purchased for young people by parents who weren’t over World War II enough to buy Japanese. The classic pattern was for drivers to climb the Chevy-Pontiac-Oldsmobile-Buick-Cadillac brand ladder as they became older and more prosperous. But after the floors of their Chevettes rusted out, Baby Boomers bought Corollas with their own money. In 1970, GM produced 45 percent of all vehicles sold in the U.S., while foreign manufacturers produced 7 percent. Now, foreign auto companies produce half, while GM makes a fifth... The collapse of the domestic auto industry had serious political consequences for the labor movement — and serious economic consequences for the middle class. Harry Truman, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson all kicked off their presidential campaigns at Detroit’s Labor Day Parade, in recognition of the UAW’s status as labor’s flagship union. By 2012, the UAW was so depeopled it could not prevent the Michigan legislature from passing a right-to-work law. Republicans candidly admitted the bill would have stood no chance when the UAW had 1.5 million members — three times its current strength. Factory closings cost unions their political clout, giving Republicans an opportunity to finish them off.

October 1973’s second blow to the middle class occurred on the 20th, when President Nixon refused Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox’s demand for the Oval Office tapes. When Cox wouldn’t back down, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. Richardson resigned. So did Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, leaving Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox. The so-called Saturday Night Massacre was an act of presidential lawlessness that marked the beginning of the end of Nixon’s presidency.

“Until last night,” the Washington Post reported on Oct. 21, “Congress had appeared extremely reluctant to even consider the impeachment step seriously.”

After that night, even Republicans began calling for Nixon’s removal from office. “The House of Representatives should consider to begin impeachment proceedings,” said Sen. Edward Brooke of Massachusetts. The next week, Rep. Jerome Waldie, a California Democrat, introduced a resolution calling Nixon’s “obstruction of justice” grounds for impeachment.

A politician who called his ideal voter a 47-year-old machinist’s wife outside Dayton, Nixon was a working man’s president. According to Herbert Stein, a member of his Council of Economic Advisers, Nixon was “allergic to unemployment.” In announcing his 1971 budget, he called himself a Keynesian. The following year, he proved it, ordering his Cabinet to increase spending to reduce unemployment. Nixon’s solution to inflation was wage and price controls — “a radical departure from conservative, free market philosophy” — not the job-killing interest rate hikes later imposed by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Part of it was a political strategy, to lure white working-class voters away from the Democrats, but part of it was his own hardscrabble upbringing on a California lemon ranch.

But the changes Watergate wrought on the American political system have been more enduring than the dismissal of a labor-friendly president with only two-and-a-half years left in office. The Watergate Babies — young Democrats elected to the House in the wake of Nixon’s resignation — took advantage of their numbers and of popular revulsion against The Way Things Are Done in Washington to break the power of long-serving committee chairmen who had controlled the flow of congressional legislation. The House became more democratic, but the nation didn’t. Money replaced seniority as the most important factor in moving a bill. Lobbyists and political action committees began showing up in greater numbers to make sure members cast the correct votes, rewarding those who did, punishing those who didn’t. The cost of campaigns increased.

“From an institution dominated by 20 or so powerful leaders, Congress has evolved into a collection of 535 independent political entrepreneurs with their individual interests uppermost — i.e., to get re-elected,” wrote Fareed Zakaria in his book “The Future of Freedom.” “Among the most consequential reforms of the 1970s was the move toward open committee meetings and recorded votes. Committee chairs used to run meetings at which legislation was ‘marked up’ behind closed doors. Only members and a handful of senior staff were present. By 1973 not only were the meetings open to anyone, but every vote was formally recorded. Before this, in voting on amendments members would walk down aisles for the ayes and nays. The final count would be recorded but not the stand of each individual member. Now each member has to vote publicly on every amendment. The purpose of these changes was to make Congress more open and responsive. And so it has become — to money, lobbyists and special interests.”

“Most Americans have neither the time, the interest, nor the inclination to monitor Congress on a day-to-day basis. But lobbyists and activists do, and they use the information and access to ensure that the groups they represent are well taken care of in the federal budget and the legal code.”

Since 1976, the first election following the Watergate Babies’ arrival, the price of getting elected to Congress has quadrupled, to $1.4 million. In such an environment, wealthy candidates have a huge advantage.

A BIT MORE AT LINK

Edward McClelland is the author of "Nothin' But Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland." Follow him on Twitter at @tedmcclelland.

[Demeter]

4. Austria is fast becoming Europe's latest debt nightmare

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeremy-warner/11455671/Austria-is-fast-becoming-Europes-latest-debt-nightmare.html

Ah Austria, land of schnitzel, lederhosen, Mozart, alpine meadows and beer drinking. Less widely appreciated is its special place in the history of catastrophic banking crises. It was the failure of Creditanstalt, a Viennese bank founded in 1855 by Anselm von Rothschild, that arguably sparked the Great Depression, setting off an unstoppable chain reaction of bankruptcies throughout Europe and America. No-one would think that what happened last week at Austria’s failed Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank International falls into quite the same category; we are meant to be in the recovery phase of the latest global banking crisis, so this is more about re-setting the system than again bringing it to its knees, right? Well, make up your own mind. I suspect neither financial markets nor policymakers have yet caught onto the full significance of the latest turn of events.

In a nutshell, the Austrian government has had enough of funding the bank’s losses, and announced plans to “bail-in” external creditors to the tune of €7.6bn instead. As such, this marks a test case of new European rules to make creditors pay for failing banks. About time too, you might say. What took them so long? Only in this case, the bonds are notionally guaranteed by the Austrian state of Carinthia, which now theoretically becomes liable for the bail-in. It’s an echo of the mess Ireland got itself into at the height of the banking crisis, when it foolishly attempted to stem the panic by underwriting all Irish banking liabilities; the move very nearly ended up bankrupting the entire country. Hypo will bankrupt Carinthia. Essentially, what the Austrian government is doing is cutting loose an entire region, rather in the way the federal authorities in the US allowed Detroit to go bust a number of years ago. It’s a mini-Greece going off in the heartlands of Europe.



In Hypo’s case, the bail-in also threatens knock-on consequences for public bodies elsewhere, including Bayern Landesbank, a big holder of Hypo bonds which is owned by the German state of Bavaria, and the Munich based FMSW, which is again publicly underwritten. All this is just the tip of the iceberg; Europe is awash with interlinked banking and public liabilities, many of which will never be repaid and basically need to be written off. Massive creditor losses are in prospect. The European authorities had us all half convinced that Europe’s debt crisis was over. In truth, it may have barely begun.

[Demeter]

11. Covered bond safety under scrutiny as Heta goes bad

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/bonds-covered-idINL5N0W551D20150306

The first acid test of covered bonds' exemption from bail-in will be taking place in the coming months after Austrian authorities decided to pull the plug on Hypo Alpe Adria's bad bank. Covered bonds have been one of the key pillars of European banks' funding for years and are considered to be among the safest type of bank debt. Any losses in the asset class, therefore, would send shockwaves through the market.

Heta Asset Resolution's covered deals were not included in the list of more than 11bn of bonds on which Austria's financial watchdog imposed a moratorium last Sunday after the state refused to plug a capital hole of up to 7.6bn revealed in an audit. This week, however, a number of analysts warned that things were not as clear cut. While the EU's Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) excludes covered bonds from bail-in, there is a possibility - albeit very remote - that their safety could be tested.

"This is a first important practical test for the strength of the bail-in exemption of European covered bonds under BRRD," said Bernd Volk, head of covered bond research at Deutsche Bank.

While covered bonds are exempt, the BRRD says that in the theoretical case of under-collateralisation - ie assets turning sour - the part of a secured liability that exceeds the value of the assets in the pool can, where appropriate, be subject to bail-in.

"In that case, Heta would have to fill up the gap with new assets," said a lawyer specialising in financial regulation.

"If it can't and Heta's covered bonds breach minimum asset coverage requirements, then the covered bondholders will suffer a shortfall of protection. In Heta's insolvency, they would have to claim any such shortfall as an unsecured insolvency claim from Heta's general insolvency estate."

In the case of Heta, this is particularly relevant. Heta's cover pool exposure to Austria is 58.2%, of which 63.5% is related to Carinthia, according to UniCredit analysts.

"So around 37% of the cover pool has an exposure to Carinthia - not necessarily to the State of Carinthia directly, but also to municipalities, etc., in Carinthia," they wrote. This is the highest exposure among Austrian banks.

A Moody's covered bond monitor published at the end of February showed that cover pool losses in Heta's public sector programme amounted to 44.1%. In contrast, losses in Bawag's public sector programme were a mere 13%. Analysts at Commerzbank also pointed to a currency mismatch between the cover pool, of which 86% is euro-denominated, and the outstanding bonds, which are denominated in Swiss francs.

"As the pool does not include any currency derivatives, we understand that the hedging of these imbalances would not remain in place in case of a segregation event," they wrote, adding that there was also a mismatch between the bonds with 2016 and 2017 maturities and the longer-dated cover assets.

They also pointed out that while over-collateralisation is extremely high at over 300%, unsecured bondholders might want to go after those assets.

"Unsecured bondholders may have good reasons to argue that this over-collateralisation level is excessive and should be partly released to ease their pain," they wrote.

MORE

[Demeter]

5. German bank PBB’s profit drops by 120 million euros due to value adjustment

http://customstoday.com.pk/german-bank-pbbs-profit-drops-by-120-million-euros-due-to-value-adjustment/



BERLIN: German mortgage lender Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) said that preliminary pre-tax profit plunged by 120 million euros ($130.12 million) last year to 54 million euros because of a value adjustment.

PBB’s 2014 preliminary pre-tax profit would be 174 million euros if the effects of a March 1 move by Austria’s financial watchdog to impose a debt moratorium on “bad bank” Heta Asset Resolution were excluded, the bank said.

Austria’s financial market authority (FMA) took control of Heta and halted payments on more than 11 billion euros worth of debt after the state refused to plug a capital hole of up to 7.6 billion euros revealed in an external audit.

PBB, which is gearing up for a stock market listing after completing a restructuring, said it has adjusted the value of a nominal 395 million euros of claims against Heta.

[Demeter]

6. I'M GETTING MY SHADEFREUDE OUT OF THE CLOSET---THE END IS NIGH FOR THE EURO

MAYBE MATTSH HAS SOME CURRENT EUROPEAN PROTEST SONGS....

[Demeter]

7. TAKE A PEEK AT WALLY'S WORLD!

[Demeter]

8. Former traders of Barclays and Deutsche under Euribor questioning

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/03/09/us-seriousfraudoffice-euribor-idINKBN0M500H20150309

Britain's Serious Fraud Office is calling former traders of Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank for interviews as part of its investigation of whether the Euribor benchmark interest rate was rigged, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the probe. With the help of special government funding, the Serious Fraud Office is examining if the euro interbank offered rate, Euribor, was manipulated for individual trading benefit, the newspaper said. (on.ft.com/193gu3D) UK regulators are also investigating traders from other banks, the newspaper said, citing sources.

Barclays, which set aside 750 million pounds for fines arising from allegations of manipulation in currency markets, last week said it hopes to settle these investigations as soon as possible. Deutsche, for its part, is gearing up to pay almost 1 billion euros for fines related to the settlement of allegations related to the manipulation of Libor.

The SFO followed dual strands of Euribor and dollar Libor for investigation, the newspaper said. Barclays, UBS AG Deutsche and a few other banks and brokerages were fined about $6 billion by U.S. and European regulators last year for alleged Libor and Euribor rigging.

[Demeter]

9. Inheritance prep for wealthy kids seen as niche market

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/wealth-children-idUSL1N0W528K20150306

A growing breed of financial advisers is working with the children of wealthy clients to help them avoid the pitfalls that often come with inheriting a fortune. Some firms are hiring advisers who might be retained by clients to focus on their heirs - or by the heirs themselves. Firms that offer the niche service also increase the likelihood of managing - and preserving - the family's assets for another generation. Targeting the wealthy's progeny could be lucrative. Baby boomers will leave more than an estimated $30 trillion to younger generations over the next 30 years, according to a study by financial services firm Pershing LLC.

Advising clients' kids is not always easy: they often need more education about budgeting and investments than older clients, and tend to communicate during irregular hours. Five years ago, adviser Jeff Seavey at SunTrust Private Wealth Management, part of SunTrust Banks Inc, began schooling a younger adviser to work with clients' children. The adviser, Mary Lowell Downing, now 28, has brought in 15 new high net worth clients in the last three years thanks to her appeal to members of the younger generation. She now works with about 40 percent of the clients she and Seavey serve, he said. Downing said she frequently gets late-night emails from clients with links to house listings on real estate website Zillow.com and the questions, "Do you like this?" and "Can I afford it?" - a sign of fellow millenials' comfort with her. Downing's clients are often preparing for major firsts, such as a child or house. By working with Seavey, Downing has a full understanding of her clients and their parents' financial picture. "Generations think differently about values and lifestyles," Downing said. "The way I communicate is to try to frame everything within the overall family legacy."

Similarly, at Wells Fargo & Co's ultra-high net worth unit, Abbott Downing, a dedicated practice helps clients navigate complex, long-term, family financial dilemmas. The Family Dynamics and Education group last year worked with 25 percent of Abbott Downing clients, a figure the team expects to grow this year, said its head Arne Boudewyn.


Clients appreciate the help because for their kids, inheriting may feel like winning the lottery.

"The percentage of lottery winners who are broke after five years is staggering," Hartsfield said. "Parents don't want their kids to be that statistic."

[Demeter]

10. Executives Are Jailed in Chile Finance Scandal

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/world/americas/executives-are-jailed-in-chile-finance-scandal.html?_r=1

Four executives of one of Chile’s largest financial groups, a tax auditor and a former government official were taken into custody on Saturday after prosecutors filed charges of tax fraud, bribery and money laundering against them in a scandal that has shaken the economic elite and the main opposition party. During three days of court hearings, prosecutors brought charges against 10 defendants: the owners and executives of the Penta Group, a financial holding company; two officials in Chile’s Internal Revenue Service; and two opposition politicians.

Judge Juan Manuel Escobar ordered the pretrial detention of Penta’s owners, Carlos Alberto Délano and Carlos Eugenio Lavín; its general manager, Hugo Bravo; a company accounting manager, Marcos Castro; an auditor at the tax service, Iván Álvarez; and Pablo Wagner, a former government official. The men were placed in a special unit of a maximum-security prison here. The judge placed two other defendants under house arrest, and ordered police supervision for another two.

During the hearings last week, National Prosecutor Sabas Chahuán detailed how Penta officials issued hundreds of fake invoices, evaded taxes, falsified statements and illegally financed the electoral campaigns of candidates from the right-wing opposition party Independent Democratic Union, known as UDI, with which Mr. Délano and Mr. Lavín had close ties.

Carlos Gajardo, another prosecutor, accused the Penta Group of having “a culture of tax evasion” and of becoming a “machine to defraud the state.” Mr. Gajardo told the court that the company “showed losses every year, but its executives filled their pockets with millionaire bonuses every year.” He added: “How do you explain that?”

MORE

[Demeter]

12. CHINA Exports surge, but imports dip on weak demand

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/chinadata/2015-03/09/content_19755568.htm

China's trade rebounded in February from the previous month's surprise contraction, but imports were subdued in another sign of continued weakness in the world's second-largest economy.

Exports surged 48.9 percent in February from a year earlier, reversing the 3.2-percent decline in January. However, imports plunged by 20.1 percent, accelerating from the previous month's 19.7-percent fall, according to data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The value of February exports amounted to 1.04 trillion yuan ($169.11 billion) while the value of imports was 666.1 billion yuan, resulting in a widening trade surplus of 370.5 billion yuan.

China's demand for raw materials such as iron ore and coal shrank as economic growth slid last year to its lowest level since 1990.


MUCH MORE AT LINK--WATCH THE AMAZING CHINESE DRAGON!

[Demeter]

13. Greece's Varoufakis warns of referendum if eurozone rejects debt plans

THAT'S THE TICKET, YANIS! THREATEN THE EUROCRATS WITH DEMOCRACY!

http://www.dw.de/greeces-varoufakis-warns-of-referendum-if-eurozone-rejects-debt-plans/a-18302509

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said his government was willing to hold a referendum or even early elections if Eurogroup ministers reject debt and growth plans. Varoufakis' statements came shortly before finance ministers of the eurozone countries were due to meet on Monday for crucial talks on Athens' list of reforms, which the EU received last week. Warning of "problems" that could come up in Monday's talks, Varoufakis told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview that his country could "go back to elections. Call a referendum…But as my prime minister told me, we are not glued to our seats yet." Greece's government under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reached an agreement with the European Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month, which gave Athens until the end of April to specify the reforms it would undertake in exchange for further aid.

Varoufakis denounced reports that he was calling for a vote on remaining in the euro, claiming they were a part of "willful attempts to undermine the good course" of the Greek government's discussions with its partners. In his interview with the Italian daily, Varoufakis said eurozone partners had not yet responded to Greece's proposals to replace its current debt with bonds linked to nominal growth. "I'd like for Europe to understand that this would be a way of paying back more money, not less." The finance minister said his government was fighting the "establishment that said it was saving Greece while it put everything on the backs of the poor." Varoufakis said his country did not need a new loan to pay its bills.

More loans to Greece 'illegal'

However, the EU and IMF have refused to release aid before Athens completes promised reforms. The country faces a decline in tax revenues, and uncertainty over its financial position has been growing. EU leaders want to avoid another crisis like the one in 2011, when Greece's financial status nearly plunged the eurozone into economic problems until a bailout agreement was reached. ECB director Benoit Coeure also expressed his institution's tough stance ahead of Monday's talks. "The ECB cannot finance the Greek government. We're not allowed to. That is illegal," Coeure told German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

But European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker took a more conciliatory approach. "We must be sure that the situation does not continue to deteriorate in Greece," Juncker told German weekly Die Welt.

Monday's talks in Brussels would determine how EU countries would evaluate Athens' plans to streamline bureaucracy, raise revenue from online gambling and hire tax sleuths to clamp down on tax evasion.

[mother earth]

16. Greece is in good hands, we need a Syriza.

The finance minister said his government was fighting the "establishment that said it was saving Greece while it put everything on the backs of the poor."

TY for posting these news items, don't want to miss any of them.

[Demeter]

17. Troika Tightening the Noose on Greece as Government Cash Crunch Worsens

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/03/troika-tightening-the-noose-on-greece-as-government-cash-crunch-worsens.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

“I begin to discern the profile of my death.” That arresting sentence, culled from early drafts, served as the anchor for one of the finest novels ever written, Margarite Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian...The Troika and Eurogroup look to be working towards the Greek government to start having similar thoughts. However, given the high level of popular support for Syriza, and press reports that Greek citizens fully expect that the new government to at best only be able to deliver on a small portion of its campaign promises, the end game for Greece is looking more and more likely to be a failed state rather than a more neoliberal-friendly government. We warned almost as soon as the memorandum was agreed among Greece, the Troika, and the Eurogroup, that given that the government was already out of cash and had IMF payments due in March, the logical course of action would be to withhold funds to force Greece to give in on structural reforms. Remember that the current “bailout,” which is being used as a term of art, is seen by the Troika and Eurogroup as a continuation of the existing IMF funding package, which includes a set of structural reforms. Syriza wanted to change what it says are 30% of them. The IMF and ECB have made clear that they expect the new government to stick with the existing program, and their body language is that they aren’t open to much in the way of changes, save perhaps humanitarian relief (Varoufakis has said that he secured agreement on that issue; the Troika has been mum). Indeed, the creditors are behaving just as expected. From Friday’s ekathimerini:

Greece submitted to Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem Friday an outline of seven reform proposals to form the basis for discussion at Monday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers, but the signs from Brussels are that Athens is no closer to securing the release of its next tranche of bailout funding.

The 11-page document sent by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis sets out several proposals that have already been made public as well as some that were only made known Friday. The suggestion that caused the most surprise was to fight tax evasion by enlisting non-professional inspectors, including tourists, on a two-month basis during which they would collect audiovisual data that could be used to target evaders..

In his letter to Dijsselbloem, Varoufakis calls for technical discussions regarding the proposals to begin as soon as possible.

“We envisage that… the majority of the items on our first list can be further specified as soon as possible so that the resulting agreement can be ratified by the Eurogroup, and Greece’s Parliament, and become the basis for the review,” wrote the Greek finance minister, who added that the government proposes all technical discussions and fact-finding or fact-exchange sessions should take place in Brussels.

A European official speaking on condition of anonymity told journalists in the Belgian capital that since no technical work had been done by Greece’s lenders due to the proposals only being submitted Friday, there is no way eurozone finance ministers will be in a position to approve the Greek proposals on Monday.

You can see what is going on here. Notice first that the proposed reform list has changed, allowing the Troika to act as if this is a new proposal. Second, the two sides disagree on what constitutes an adequate technical review, and the Troika’s view will govern. Third, which the article does not acknowledge, Varoufakis appears to be trying to circumvent the process envisaged in the memorandum, which was for the Troika to approve the reform package, and then have the Eurogroup approve any release of funds. So the lenders’ actions can be dressed up as bureaucratic necessities, but they amount to delaying tactics given that time is clearly of the essence for Greece. The Greek government is starting to sound desperate. Per the Telegraph:

Speaking in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Alexis Tsipras appealed to the ECB to alleviate pressure on the cash-strapped country.

The ECB “is still holding the rope which we have around our necks” said Mr Tsipras, referring to the central bank’s reluctance to resume ordinary lending to Greek banks at a meeting in Cyprus on Thursday.

The central bank has also rebuffed Greek appeals to raise the limit on short-term debt issuance, as it faces €6.5bn in payments over the next three weeks.

Should the ECB continue to resist Greek pleas for assistance, “the thriller we saw before February 20 will return” warned Mr Tsipras, referring to the market turmoil which gripped the country as it carried out protracted negotiations with its creditors.

The wee problem was that the thriller extended only to Greek deposits, Greek bonds, and European stocks. Unlike the its US coutnerpart, the ECB doesn’t care about equity prices. Periphery bond yields barely budged, and now with QE about to be launched, they are now trading at insanely low levels. Mario Draghi almost certainly thinks he has the Greek situation well contained. And the February 20 comparison does not bode well either. As Nantina Vgontzas put it in a Real News Network interview:

You know, in April the institutions–or the troika, it was formally called, you know, the IMF and the ECB, they’re going to review SYRIZA’s budget, basically. And at that point the European Central Bank might be playing some games again. Already today they said that they’re not going to loan money to Greece until they see that they’re complying with the bailout measures. So as those pressures are going to increase again, we’re going to see if the government is going to blink like they did on February 20 or if they’re going to resort to imposing capital controls, nationalizing the banks, and then, lastly, the most radical–not in the ideal ideological sense, but in terms of its economic repercussions, exiting the Eurozone.

John Dizard of the Financial Times works through the implications:

The problem is that the Greek government will run out of cash to pay its operating expenses in full by the summer, or even sooner, and neither the Europeans nor anyone else will give them enough new money to pay its bills. That means the Syriza cabinet will have to tell public sector employees and pensioners that part of their income will be paid in (transferable) IOUs, which will plunge to a steep discount. The leaders can blame Germans, oligarchs, neoliberal economists or Martians, but a lot of their core supporters will be unhappy, and quite open about their feelings.

The eurogroup political leadership and the eurocracy are prepared for this. Their recent civil exchange of letters represents a truce, not a peace. The eurogroupies know that there is no mutually acceptable deal to be had with the Syriza government. So their silent intention is to negotiate with the next government, whoever that might be, after the Greek government is forced to call for an early election.

Things have to get pretty bad for that to happen; after all, Syriza just won fair and square less than two months ago, and their policies are supported by a majority of the Greek public.

The Troika, having gotten Greece to blink once, appears to believe it will prevail no matter what, either by getting Syriza to capitulate (unlikely but not impossible) or to make non-compliance so costly that the government will be ousted. Of course, as we’ve separately pointed out, economic sanctions (which is what this amounts to) do not have a great track record of success. Look how Putin enjoys high poll ratings despite the concerted efforts of the West to damage Russia’s economy as a way to force regime change.

However, one factor that works against Syriza is not just its utter lack of experience in governing, but also visible divisions in the party itself. Ministers have repeatedly contradicted each other, and the vote within the party representatives was 42% against approving the memorandum, a troubling high level of dissent. So the problem for Syriza is likely to be not the fact that Greece will suffer more if it continues to defy the Troika and Eurogroup, but that the ruling coalition will be perceived as less than competent in reacting to adverse developments and ameliorating the damage.

[mother earth]

20. I wonder at what point do TPTB realize that Varoufakis is perhaps the most reasonable man in the

room.

It ain't all about Greece, now is it? There are plenty of others who have been pushed to the brink by austerity, which is undoubtedly why they are strong-arming, but in the end, the house of cards is unsustainable. Change is coming, will it be for good or bad, is up to the power players.

[Demeter]

22. It's not enough to be reasonable. To win an argument

you either have to threaten annihilation, or save somebody's bacon.

There aren't any reasonable people (damn few, anyway) anymore. Just go look at any thread not in Hugin's Economy group.

And thank you Hugin, for keeping the crazy at bay.

[mother earth]

26. Point taken.

But only "reasonable" gets it done in negotiations, even for Germany. It doesn't matter, the house of cards will fall, and after that, then what for the EU? Gotta see the big picture, from both sides, or its on to ruins & damnation.

[Demeter]

27. Germany doesn't negotiate. Germany makes demands and impossible conditions

[mother earth]

28. And forgets what its past was and what it was forgiven. nt

[Demeter]

29. Precisely!

[Demeter]

14. JACK LEW Treasury chief begins 'extraordinary measures' to avoid debt default

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/234847-lew-demands-debt-limit-hike-as-he-prepares-extraordinary-measures

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is preparing to deploy “extraordinary measures” to avoid default as the nation’s debt limit again takes effect. In a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sent Friday, Lew called on Congress to quickly raise the borrowing cap for the nation’s $18 trillion debt “without controversy and brinkmanship.”

“Increasing the debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. It simply allows the government to pay for expenditures Congress has already approved, thereby protecting the full faith and credit of the United States,” he wrote.

Boehner's office responded to Lew’s letter with a rebuke of President Obama’s fiscal policies.

"This is a sad reminder that President Obama's proposed budget will never, ever balance," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "House Republicans believe there is a better choice than endless taxing, borrowing, deficits and debt."

The nation’s borrowing cap was suspended over a year ago, and under that law, it will again take effect on March 16. The limit will then be automatically hiked to cover all government borrowing that occurred over the suspension period. But that also means that, as soon as the debt limit returns, the government will immediately be at that ceiling. As such, the Treasury Department will yet again need to deploy its set of extraordinary measures to free up space under that cap to continue making payments. On March 16, Lew said the Treasury will stop issuing a special type of security meant to help state and local governments comply with tax rules. Halting those securities is typically the first in a series of steps the department takes to ensure it can continue to pay bills without extra borrowing room. On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the Treasury Department’s tools will be able to stave off a missed payment until sometime in the fall, likely October or November. However, the CBO emphasized that this initial estimate could change in the coming months, as the government receives and sends out huge amounts of payments.

President Obama has typically demanded Congress raise the borrowing cap without any additional policy provisions, calling the matter too critical to be used for leverage. But the upcoming debt-limit debate will mark his first with an all-Republican Congress, and at least some GOP lawmakers will be looking to extract concessions from the president in exchange for a borrowing boost.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on Congress to hike the borrowing cap "immediately," and placed blame for any drama squarely at the feet of Republicans.

“Republicans are only stoking the fires of uncertainty," she said in a statement. "House Republicans need to stop creating crises and work with House Democrats to advance the needs of America’s families."

[Demeter]

15. Japan-U.S. gap left in working-level TPP talks

BLESS THE JAPANESE RICE FARMERS WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF HIGH-GRADE, RADIATION-FREE RICE, BUDDHA! AND LET THEM RESIST TO THE LAST MAN AND THE LAST RICE PADDY THE TPP

Japan and the United States failed to bridge the gap over tariff issues related to agricultural and auto trade as they wrapped up working-level bilateral talks associated with Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade negotiations on Friday. Hiroshi Oe, Japan’s deputy chief TPP negotiator, told reporters after the two-day meeting that there still remain some thorny issues.

Meanwhile, the two countries agreed to resume the talks later this month. They hope to have a ministerial meeting to reach a bilateral accord before a summit meeting being arranged during a U.S. visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe planned for the Golden Week holiday period from late April. Oe stressed that the two countries would work for an early accord regardless of a delay in U.S. congressional procedures to grant President Barack Obama Trade Promotion Authority, which gives the president significant power to negotiate trade deals.

Of the unresolved issues, Japan and the United States will hold talks on agricultural tariffs on the sidelines of a meeting of chief negotiators from all 12 members in the TPP talks set for Monday through Sunday in Hawaii.

They are expected to resume auto-related talks in the United States in mid-March.

[Demeter]

18. It's going to be a bad week for me

and Friday is Euchre Night, plus a day-long expo event. I will post when insomnia strikes.

Keep it together everyone, and send me some strength and control over rage....

I checked on the snowdrops last night. They are fully formed, but laying sideways, still bound in the ice, and blooming. Nature/Life is incredibly stubborn. And the ice is taking quite a while to melt. Maybe when it hits 50F....we are supposed to do that all week, but just for an hour or so...

I wore only one layer yesterday, and by the afternoon, needed a lighter coat.

[Fuddnik]

19. It was 70 degrees at 6:00am today.

High is supposed to be around 86-66.

I'm on the verge of getting my life back. Got Dad settled into an assisted living facility close by, and he's agreed to go to the DMV to get checked on his driving skills, so maybe he'll finally give up the car voluntarily. I've kept it in my driveway, and hid the keys for the last month.

As for the rage, we'll think of you when we go to see Lewis Black on Sat. If everything works out over the next few days, I can get a kayak and go floating down the river for a few hours a day to help regain my sanity.

[Demeter]

23. I'll keep fingers crossed for you with your Dad problem

and floating down a stream sounds like heaven.

I think the most relaxed I've ever been was on a sailboat in the Atlantic. In my next life, that's what I'll hold out for.

[Fuddnik]

25. It's not a stream,

And where we live, it can contain the following at any time,

Dolphins, gators, sharks, manatees......But even the gators and sharks beat Republicans.

[Hotler]

21. Why conservatives don't like to talk about race

The second reason that conservatives don't like to talk about race is that accusations of racism in public life can be extremely powerful, are basically impossible to disprove, and tend to be refereed by the national media, which is largely made up of progressives who tend to regard conservatives as guilty of ill will until proven otherwise. This combination makes those attacks extremely toxic, and accounts for much of the peculiar defensiveness of conservatives on race issues.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/why-conservatives-dont-like-to-talk-about-race/ar-AA9AiLx?ocid=iehp

Why conservatives don't like to talk about race? Because they fucking are and they know, they just don't like beings called out for it, poor, poor us, liberal media picks on us.

[Demeter]

24. I think a solid long-term marriage to a person of another race

with house and children and all the rest, would be a good proof.

Or a group of mixed races, all working together, building friendships....or practically any social endeavor!