STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 4 August 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 4 August 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 3 August 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 3 August 2015
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Dow Jones 17,598.20 -91.66 (-0.52%)
S&P 500 2,098.04 -5.80 (-0.28%)
Nasdaq 5,115.38 -12.90 (-0.25%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.15% -0.05 (-2.27%)
30 Year 2.85% -0.06 (-2.06%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
Market Updates
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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.
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. The Trade Dealers Went Home--Job Incomplete

We live to breathe another few weeks. No TPP, yet.

[antigop]

2. Puerto Rico and Goldman Sachs

I came across this article...

http://tollroadsnews.com/news/goldman-sachs-abertis-close-on-40-year-1136m-concession-of-puerto-ricos-pr22--pr5-tollroads

The Puerto Rico government and a Goldman Sachs/Abertis joint venture called Metropistas have closed on a 40 year toll concession project for PR22 and PR5. The tollroads which currently generate about $90m/year will be expanded and modernized by the venture which has paid the state an upfront fee of $1,136m. In return for the concession fee and the obligation to expand and modernize the roads as well as to maintain and operate them the venture has the right to the toll revenues over 40 years.

[MattSh]

3. Oil Re-Bloodies the “Smart Money” | Wolf Street

The “liquidity death spiral.”

Oil plunged again on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate down over 4%. At $45.17 a barrel, it’s just a hair away from this year’s oil-bust low. During 8 weeks in a row of relentless declines, WTI had plunged 26%. July’s 21% drop was the largest monthly decline since the Financial Crisis collapse in 2008.

There’s a laundry list of perceived reasons: The rig count has been rising again. Shale oil companies, like Whiting Petroleum, are bragging about “record” production to prop up their shares. Production in Russia has been strong. And OPEC, powered by Saudi Arabia and increasingly Iraq, raised production in July to 32 million barrels per day.

There’s the dreaded surge of Iranian oil onto the world markets. Just this weekend, Iran’s oil minister mused that his country could raise oil production by 500,000 bpd within a week of when the sanctions would be lifted and by 1 million bpd within a month.

It gave oil markets the willies. They were already fretting over the slowdown in China, the crude oil inventories in the US, at a record for this time of the year, the oil inventories in other developed markets, and even oil stored in leased tankers. Oil everywhere, it seems.

Whatever the perceived reasons, the price of oil has gotten re-crushed, and so has the hope a few months ago that this would be over by now.

Complete story at - http://wolfstreet.com/2015/08/04/oil-gas-re-bloodies-private-equity-investments-smart-money/

[MattSh]

4. Charles Hugh Smith: Billary Clinton and the Perfection of Consumerist Narcissism

In this perfection of consumerist narcissism, the only goal is maximizing private gain by whatever means are available.

I don't think it's coincidence that Bill Clinton's presidency and Christopher Lasch's landmark analysis The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations both date from the same year, 1993.

Clinton solidified the modern presidency's narcissistic obsession with public approval (the political equivalent of "likes" on Facebook) and the exploitation of that popularity for maximum self-enrichment.

The relentless charm offensive and rapacious exploitation of Billary's proximity to power has yielded a fortune once reserved for tech titans and hedge fund superstars:

Hillary And Bill Clinton Report $139.1 Million In Taxable Income Since 2007

This sum doesn't include the tens of millions vacuumed up by the Clinton foundation machine, which distributes tribute to further the interests of the Clinton dynasty under the convenient guise of charity.

This is not to single the Clintons out as bad eggs in an exemplary system; it is to identify them as the stars of a thoroughly corrupt system. The Clintons did not make the political system; they have simply proven themselves the most adept at milking it for fame and fortune.

Complete story at - http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2015/08/billary-clinton-and-perfection-of.html

[MattSh]

5. The Complete Breakdown Of Every Hillary And Bill Clinton Speech, And Fee, Since 2013

Earlier today, when we reported that based on Hillary Clinton's latest tax disclosure, she and her husband had made $139 million in gross income since 2007 most of its from private speaking fees, the one aspect that readers founds most fascinating was the breakdown of all the bribes better known as speeches given by the two Clintons (who in Hillary's words came out of the White House "dead broke&quot in 2013 as well as the going rate.

So due to popular demand, we appended to the 2013 speech detail first released last week the full breakdown of Hillary's and Bill's 2014 and 2015 speeches which had been provided previously as part of her mandatory disclosure in May of this year.

As Politico cautions, the disclosure omits an unknown number of speeches that the Clintons delivered while directing the payment or honoraria to the Clinton Foundation, despite instructions on the and guidance from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, saying that honoraria directed to a charity should be reported.

Still, as readers will note, even the "modest" data that Hillary chose to share is quite stunning.

We hope it will surprise nobody that the bulk of speeches were bought and paid for by Wall Street and affiliated "financial entities" because that's what hollow populist pandering is all about - pretending to be an "everyday American" while getting paid tens of millions by Wall Street and America's biggest corporations.

How many millions?

Since 2013 Bill Clinton has been paid $26.6 million for 94 speeches; Hillary's grand total is slightly less: $21.7 million for 92 private appearances.

Below we present the full breakdown of every publicly disclosed speech event by Hillary Clinton, together with the associated fee.

(Go to site to see the complete lists)

Complete story at - http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-03/every-hillary-and-bill-clinton-speech-2013-fees'

[DemReadingDU]

6. Pimco Gets Warning From SEC That Lawsuit Could Be Coming

8/4/15 Pimco Gets Warning From SEC That Lawsuit Could Be Coming
SEC’s Wells Notice pertains to the Pimco Total Return ETF

Bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. said Monday that it could be sued by the country’s top securities regulator over how it valued assets in one of its most popular funds aimed at small investors.

The Pimco Total Return Active ETF, an exchange-traded fund previously managed by star investor Bill Gross, has been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for at least a year for allegedly artificially boosting returns from its trading of certain mortgage bonds, The Wall Street Journal first reported in September 2014.

Pimco disclosed in a news release Monday that it received a so-called Wells notice from the SEC concerning the ETF, which means the agency’s staff intends to recommend a civil action against the firm related to its investigation. The notice isn’t a formal allegation of wrongdoing and won’t necessarily lead to an enforcement action.

The SEC is looking at a four-month time period between the fund’s launch on Feb. 29, 2012 and June 30, 2012, examining how Pimco valued smaller-size positions in nonagency mortgage-backed securities purchased by the ETF during that time, according to the release. The agency is looking at the fund’s performance disclosures for that period, and at Pimco’s compliance policies and procedures.

more...
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pimco-discloses-wells-notice-on-etf-1438636165

[DemReadingDU]

7. Gallup: July U.S. Consumer Spending Flat, at $91

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' daily self-reports of spending averaged $91 in July, similar to June and essentially unchanged from monthly figures since April. The latest spending average is slightly lower than the average in July 2014, but higher than every other average for July since 2009.

Gallup's daily spending measure asks Americans to estimate the total amount they spent "yesterday" in restaurants, gas stations, stores or online -- not counting home, vehicle or other major purchases, or normal monthly bills -- to provide an indication of Americans' discretionary spending. The July 2015 average is based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews with more than 15,000 U.S. adults.

Americans' reported spending estimates moved little between 2009 and 2012, after the global financial crisis. By late 2012, the metric began to rise and continued to do so into 2013. Since then, it has hovered near the $90 mark, compared with much lower averages closer to $70 from 2009-2012.

In past years, spending has changed little from June to July -- the largest increase was $5 in 2011. There were slightly smaller increases of $3 in 2012 and 2014.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/184433/july-consumer-spending-flat.aspx

[DemReadingDU]

8. Ohio: First sales-tax holiday will help back-to-school shopping

Maybe consumers will spend more if don't have to pay sales tax?


8/2/15 First sales-tax holiday will help back-to-school shopping

The back-to-school season is a bigger deal for retailers in Ohio this year — and consumers — thanks to the state’s first sales tax holiday.

Legislation passed last year lets Ohio shoppers buy certain items and avoid paying the sales tax. The window of opportunity comes this weekend: From Friday through Aug. 9, all clothing and footwear with price tags no higher than $75 per item as well as school supplies and instructional materials up to $20 per item can be purchased tax-free. There’s no limit to how much people can spend, as long as the per-item caps are observed.

While the sales tax holiday is aimed at back-to-school shoppers, the list of merchandise that is eligible for sale without state tax includes many items that even non-students might want.

As long as it doesn’t cost more than $75, eligible apparel includes steel-toed shoes, scarves, neckties, diapers (either for children or adults), formal wear, bathing suits and girdles.

Similarly, school supplies covered under the tax holiday include cellophane tape, legal pads, notebooks, various kinds of paper, pens and scissors. Instructional materials include a fairly limited range of items, including textbooks and reference material.

There is no limit on the amount of the total purchase. The qualification is determined item by item. So, a shopper could buy two shirts, two pair of pants, a pair of shoes and a jacket — with each item costing $50 and the total purchase $300 — and it is all exempt from taxes.

Items placed on or picked up from layaway during the sales-tax holiday are exempt from sales tax.

Items sold by mail, telephone, e-mail or Internet qualify for the sales-tax exemption if the consumer orders and pays for the item and the retailer accepts the order during the sales-tax holiday period, even if it’s delivered later.

more...
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/08/02/01-holiday-deals.html

[antigop]

9. “Yes, We’re Corrupt”: A List of Politicians Admitting That Money Controls Politics

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/30/politicians-admitting-obvious-fact-money-affects-vote/

One of the most embarrassing aspects of U.S. politics is politicians who deny that money has any impact on what they do. For instance, Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania’s notoriously fracking-friendly former governor, got $1.7 million from oil and gas companies but assured voters that “The contributions don’t affect my decisions.” If you’re trying to get people to vote for you, you can’t tell them that what they want doesn’t matter.

This pose is also popular with a certain prominent breed of pundits, who love to tell us “Don’t Follow the Money” (New York Times columnist David Brooks), or “Money does not buy elections” (Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner on public radio’s Marketplace), or “Money won’t buy you votes” (Yale Law School professor Peter H. Schuck in the Los Angeles Times).

Meanwhile, 85 percent of Americans say we need to either “completely rebuild” or make “fundamental changes” to the campaign finance system. Just 13 percent think “only minor changes are necessary,” less than the 18 percent of Americans who believe they’ve been in the presence of a ghost.

So we’ve decided that it would be useful to collect examples of actual politicians acknowledging the glaringly obvious reality.

[DemReadingDU]

10. Dick Durbin: The banks

“The banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.” – Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in 2009.