STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 16 November 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 16 November 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 13 November 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 13 November 2015
[center][font color=red]
Dow Jones 17,245.24 -202.83 (-1.16%)
S&P 500 2,023.04 -22.93 (-1.12%)
Nasdaq 4,927.88 -77.20 (-1.54%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.28% -0.02 (-0.87%)
30 Year 3.06% -0.01 (-0.33%) [font color=black]


[center][/font]

[HR width=85%]

[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
[center]
(click on link for latest updates)
Market Updates
[/center]

[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

[/center]

[center]

[/center]

[HR width=95%]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
[center]
Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
[center]
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
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
[center]
Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
[center]
LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
[center]
Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
[/center]

[div]
[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
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.





[HR width=95%]


[center]


[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. Former Citigroup CEO: Big banks don't work

http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/12/investing/citigroup-john-reed-glass-steagall/

The former CEO of Citigroup just admitted to a huge mistake.

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, John Reed says large banks like the one he used to run are now "inherently unstable and unworkable." The man who was one of the chief architects of the "Big Bank" model now says the United States never should have repealed the Glass-Steagall banking act in 1999. That's exactly what Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley have been arguing on the campaign trail. They want the law reinstated. Hillary Clinton and the Republican candidates do not.

As CEO of Citi from 1984 to 2000, Reed was one of the main lobbyists advocating Congress and President Bill Clinton to get rid of the Glass-Steagall Act. It had been in place since the Great Depression, and it prohibited banks from doing both investment banking (Wall Street activities like selling stocks and bonds) and retail banking (checking and savings accounts targeted at Main Street). But Reed wanted Citi to merge with Travelers Group, an insurance company. For that, he needed the law repealed.

"We were wrong about some things, and others we failed to anticipate," Reed wrote Thursday, the 16th anniversary of the end of Glass-Steagall.

He spells out the two biggest flaws:

1. Big banks aren't more efficient.

His exact wording is: "One was the belief that combining all types of finance into one institution would drive costs down — and the larger the institution the more efficient it would be. We now know that there are very few cost efficiencies that come from the merger of functions — indeed, there may be none at all."

2. Big banks have bad cultures.

"The second thing we were wrong about has to do with culture — and this turns out to be very serious. Mixing incompatible cultures is a problem all by itself. It makes the entire finance industry more fragile," he wrote.


50 SHADES OF FRAUD...WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

[Demeter]

2. What Really Caused the Crisis & What to Do About It

http://ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/what-really-caused-the-crisis-and-what-to-do-about-it

Adair Turner, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, became Chairman of Britain’s Financial Services Authority just as the world financial crisis erupted in 2008, and he played a leading role in designing a new global regulatory structure. In his new book, Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance, Turner reveals that out-of-control private debt actually caused the crisis, and he explains what to do about it.

Turner warns that we could address too-big-to-fail and put all the rogue bankers in jail, yet excess private debt would still be creating economic malaise and setting the conditions for financial crisis and depression. Most credit, he argues, is not necessary for growth, but actually serves to pollute the economy. Economic theory, says Turner, must acknowledge the conditions of modern finance, particularly the relationships between credit extension and real estate.

Turner calls for radical changes in public policy. He proposes that sometimes we need to be open to running fiscal deficits and financing them with central bank-created money, despite the idea’s taboo. Watch the interview as Turner shares his findings with Rob Johnson, President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

[Demeter]

3. I'll eat my hat if we are anywhere near a global recession By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard NOV 5

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11973507/Ill-eat-my-hat-if-we-are-any-where-near-a-global-recession.html

The damp kindling wood of global economic recovery is poised to catch fire.

For the first time in half a decade of stagnation, government policy has turned expansionary in the US, China and the eurozone at the same time. Fiscal austerity is largely over. The combined money supply is surging.

Such optimistic claims are perhaps hazardous, given record debt ratios in most areas of the world and given that we are six-and-a-half years into an aging economic cycle that might normally be rolling over at this stage. It certainly feels lonely.

Citigroup's Willem Buiter has issued a global recession alert. Professor Nouriel Roubini from New York University joined him this week, warning that the odds of a fresh slump have doubled to 30pc.

Mr Roubini's gloom is unsettling for me. We saw the world in almost exactly the same way in the lead-up to the Lehman crisis, when it seemed obvious to both of us that sharply rising interest rates would prick the US housing bubble and the EMU credit bubble.

This time I dissent. Years of fiscal retrenchment and balance sheet deleveraging have prevented the current global economic recovery from gathering speed, and have therefore stretched the potential lifespan of the cycle.

The torrid pace of worldwide money growth over recent months is simply not compatible with an imminent crisis.


WELL, YES, IT IS, ACTUALLY, BUT NOT A DEPRESSION...MORE LIKE A RUNAWAY INFLATION, WHICH WOULD BE DUMPED ON TOP OF THE GRAND DEFLATION. GOD KNOWS WHAT SORT OF MONSTROSITY WOULD BE THE RESULT OF SUCH FINANCIAL ENGINEERING, BUT I EXPECT WE WILL FIND OUT, SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

...It is, of course, possible that money signals have lost their meaning in our brave new world of zero rates and secular stagnation, but the current pace of growth would typically imply a flurry of economic activity over the following year or so. ...

IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD...WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?

[Punx]

4. Robert Reich: The Big Struggle Is the Financial Elite vs. Everyone Else

Good discussion here by Reich


Though I think what he is stating is what most of us here have known for some time. We are rapidly coming to a cross roads and there will be two choices. The one represented by Trump is what scares me. And frankly I don't see HRC really getting it either.


http://www.alternet.org/economy/robert-reich-big-struggle-financial-elite-vs-everyone-else


"Political economies that bestow most gains on small groups at the top are inherently unstable. The real question is not whether change will occur, but whether it will come through democratic reform or authoritarian mandate."


On that cheery thought, off to bed, will be at work around 6am Pacific time.

[tclambert]

25. I did a quick internet search for where to buy guillotine.

I found guillotine paper cutters, and I found miniature guillotines used for a magic trick in which you pretend to cut off your finger. And I found a few stories about some rumor that the government had bought 30,000 guillotines. I think maybe those were the paper cutter kind.

I guess I'll just have to build my own. Doesn't look that hard. The blade might be the most difficult piece. The rest is basic woodworking, plus a pulley and rope.

[MattSh]

5. A Game Worth the Candle: Terror and the Agenda of our Elites

In case this dies in GD, I'm sure some here will appreciate this...

People see the carnage in Paris, and cry, “When will this end?” The hard answer is that it is not going to end, not any time soon. We are living through the horrific consequences of decisions and actions taken long ago, as well as those of being taken right now. The currents and movements set in motion by these actions cannot be quelled in an instant — not by wishing, not by hashtags of solidarity or light shows on iconic buildings … and certainly not by more bombing, destruction, repression and lies, which are the main drivers of our present-day hell.

There will be no end to rampant terrorism soon because our leaders are not really interested in quelling terrorism. This is simply not a priority for them. For example, in the past 12 years they have utterly destroyed three largely secular governments (Iraq, Libya and Syria) and turned them into vast spawning grounds for violent sectarianism. They did this despite reports from their own intelligence services and military analysts telling them that the spread of violent extremism would almost certainly be the outcome of their interventions. But for our leaders — both the elected ones and the elites they serve — their geopolitical and macroeconomic agendas outweighed any concerns over these consequences. Put simply, to them, the game was worth the candle. They would press ahead with their agenda, knowing that it would exacerbate extremism and terrorism, but doubtless hoping that these consequences could be contained — or better yet, confined to nations seen as rivals to that agenda, or to remote places and peoples of no worth to our great and good.

Our leaders are not opposed to terrorism, neither as a concept nor as a practical tool. Over the past several decades, our leaders and their allies and puppets around the world have at times openly supported terrorist violence when it suited their aims. The prime example is in Afghanistan, where Jimmy Carter and his Saudi allies began arming and funding violent jihadis BEFORE the Soviet incursion there. In fact, as Carter’s own foreign policy guru, Zbigniew Brzezinski, has openly stated, the United States began supporting Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan precisely in order to draw the Soviet Union into the country. Despite fierce internal opposition in the Kremlin, the Soviets finally took the bait, and sent in troops to save the secular government it was backing from the fundamentalist rebellion.

Ronald Reagan continued and expanded this policy. The same type of men now in charge of ISIS and al Qaeda were welcomed to the Oval Office and praised by Reagan as “the moral equivalent of our founding fathers.” They were given arms, money and training in terrorist tactics by our military and intelligence services. They were given textbooks — prepared, financed and distributed by the US government — to indoctrinate schoolchildren in violent jihad. The creation of this worldwide network of Islamic extremists was aimed at weakening the Soviet Union. This was the overriding geopolitical concern of the time. Any other consequences that might flow from this policy — creating a global infrastructure of sectarian extremism, seeding a radical minority with arms, funds and innumerable contacts and connections with state were considered unimportant. But we are now living with those consequences.


-----> http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/2532-a-game-worth-the-candle-terror-and-the-agenda-of-our-elites.html

[bread_and_roses]

10. Read it and weep (n/t)

[Ghost Dog]

21. Yup. n/t

[antigop]

6. Hillary Clinton Appeal to 9/11 to Defend Wall Street Donations Was Bad, But This Was Worse

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/11/hillary-clinton-appeal-to-911-to-defend-wall-street-donations-was-bad-but-this-was-worse.html

(HRC): " Look at what happened in ’08, AIG a big insurance company, Lehman Brothers, an investment bank helped to bring our economy down. So I wanna look at the whole problem. And that’s why my proposal is much more comprehensive than anything else that’s been put forth."

...
So pulling out two firms, Lehman and AIG, without acknowledging their funders and counter-parties, is the epitome of a half-truth. Lehman’s largest creditors in the bankruptcy were global banks from Germany and Switzerland. AIG’s largest counter-party was Goldman Sachs. Singling them out of a hopelessly interconnected financial system is a meaningless argument, especially when you consider that the largest recipient of federal government support was a universal bank called Citigroup, which only didn’t end up failing after having their pockets stuffed with trillions from the Treasury and Federal Reserve.

Any serious analysis of the central drivers of the crisis necessarily lead you to the largest banks as the focal point for the interconnection and risk buildup. The Lehman/AIG postulate is totally disingenuous. But it’s more than that. It’s a distraction maneuver, designed to cast a sympathetic eye on the same mega-banks going forward. Because if they weren’t responsible, how could more stringent regulation on them make sense? Why should they be broken up, if they aren’t the sole source of the trouble? Why should their political power and influence represent a threat? This is a clear case of the dictum that if everyone’s responsible, nobody’s responsible.

Shadow banking is absolutely a threat, and one Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and the leading financial reformers should talk about more. I’d love to see more attention on collateralized loan obligations and fintech and all sorts of credit vehicles. But it’s beyond clear what Clinton is up to with this silly tactic, one that falls apart upon the slightest scrutiny.

[Demeter]

7. The Rigging of the American Market By Robert Reich

http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2015/11/the-rigging-of-the-american-market/

Much of the national debate about widening inequality focuses on whether and how much to tax the rich and redistribute their income downward. But this debate ignores the upward redistributions going on every day, from the rest of us to the rich. These redistributions are hidden inside the market. The only way to stop them is to prevent big corporations and Wall Street banks from rigging the market.

For example, Americans pay more for pharmaceuticals than do the citizens of any other developed nation. That’s partly because it’s perfectly legal in the U.S. (but not in most other nations) for the makers of branded drugs to pay the makers of generic drugs to delay introducing cheaper unbranded equivalents, after patents on the brands have expired. This costs you and me an estimated $3.5 billion a year – a hidden upward redistribution of our incomes to Pfizer, Merck, and other big proprietary drug companies, their executives, and major shareholders.

We also pay more for Internet service than do the inhabitants of any other developed nation. The average cable bill in the United States rose 5 percent in 2012 (the latest year available), nearly triple the rate of inflation. Why? Because 80 percent of us have no choice of Internet service provider, which allows them to charge us more. Internet service here costs 3 and-a-half times more than it does in France, for example, where the typical customer can choose between 7 providers.

And U.S. cable companies are intent on keeping their monopoly. It’s another hidden upward distribution – from us to Comcast, Verizon, or another giant cable company, its executives and major shareholders.

Likewise, the interest we pay on home mortgages or college loans is higher than it would be if the big banks that now dominate the financial industry had to work harder to get our business. As recently as 2000, America’s five largest banks held 25 percent of all U.S. banking assets. Now they hold 44 percent – which gives them a lock on many such loans.

If we can’t repay, forget using bankruptcy. Donald Trump can go bankrupt four times and walk away from his debts, but the bankruptcy code doesn’t allow homeowners or graduates to reorganize unmanageable debts. So beleaguered homeowners and graduates don’t have any bargaining leverage with creditors – exactly what the financial industry wants. The net result: another hidden upward redistribution – this one, from us to the big banks, their executives, and major shareholders.

Some of these upward redistributions seem to defy gravity. Why have average domestic airfares risen 2.5% over the past, and are now at their the highest level since the government began tracking them in 1995 – while fuel prices, the largest single cost for the airlines, have plummeted? Because America went from nine major carriers ten years ago to just four now. Many airports are now served by one or two. This makes it easy for airlines to coordinate their fares and keep them high – resulting in another upward redistribution.

Why have food prices been rising faster than inflation, while crop prices are now at a six-year low? Because the giant corporations that process food have the power to raise prices. Four food companies control 82 percent of beef packing, 85 percent of soybean processing, 63 percent of pork packing, and 53 percent of chicken processing. Result: A redistribution from average consumers to Big Agriculture.

Finally, why do you suppose health insurance is costing us more, and co-payments and deductibles are rising? One reason is big insurers are consolidating into giants with the power to raise prices. They say these combinations make their companies more efficient, but they really just give them power to charge more. Health insurers are hiking rates 20 to 40 percent next year, and their stock values are skyrocketing (the Standard & Poor’s 500 Managed Health Care Index recently hit its highest level in more than twenty years.)

Add it up – the extra money we’re paying for pharmaceuticals, Internet communications, home mortgages, student loans, airline tickets, food, and health insurance – and you get a hefty portion of the average family’s budget.

Democrats and Republicans spend endless time battling over how much to tax the rich and then redistribute the money downward. But if we didn’t have so much upward redistribution inside the market, we wouldn’t need as much downward redistribution through taxes and transfer payments. Yet as long as the big corporations, Wall Street banks, their top executives and wealthy shareholders have the political power to do so, they’ll keep redistributing much of the nation’s income upward to themselves.

Which is why the rest of us must gain political power to stop the collusion, bust up the monopolies, and put an end to the rigging of the American market.


Robert B. Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations,” and”Beyond Outrage.” He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His film, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. His new book, “SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few” is out 9/29.

[Demeter]

8. There's a new way traders are defrauding the market — and they're starting to get busted for it

http://www.businessinsider.com/spoofing-verdict-2015-10

Panther Energy trader Michael Coscia has been found guilty in a high-profile market-manipulation trial in Chicago. His crime? Spoofing. It's a funny-sounding term for the practice of making and cancelling bets in a way that can push prices around.

It's what alleged "Flash Crash" trader Navinder Singh Sarao was accused of earlier this year. Spoofing investigations have actually become quite a trend at the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulators. But Coscia is the first person to be found guilty of spoofing since it was forbidden under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, and his conviction shows that a key defense against the charge may not be effective.

Coscia was indicted last year and charged with multiple counts of commodities fraud and spoofing. Prosecutors say the Chicago-based high-frequency commodities trader defrauded the market to make some $1.6 million in illegal profits.

His lawyers tried to prove that the anti-spoofing law is "hopelessly vague, and its criminal enforcement would violate Michael Coscia's right to due process of law."

They didn't succeed....MORE DETAIL AT LINK

[Demeter]

9. RICHARD WOLFF'S NOVEMBER UPDATE

SEE ESPECIALLY DISCUSSION AT 30 MINUTE MARK

[Demeter]

11. The Paris Terrorist Attacks are expected to shiver the timbers of the market this week

hold onto your hats

[Demeter]

14. Stocks reverse losses as market impact from Paris attacks seen limited

VOLATILITY IS THE WORD THEY WANT...FEAR NOW DOMINATES THE MARKET

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/16/us-global-markets-idUSKCN0T41AC20151116?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

European shares reversed early losses on Monday and the safe-haven yen fell against the dollar with analysts seeing no long-term economic impact from Friday's attacks in Paris. Asian shares hit six-week lows as investors bought traditionally safe investments, including gold, the yen and low-risk government debt. However, gold came off the day's highs, falls in bond yields moderated and the yen lost ground against the dollar.

"I don't want to say that we have got used to these things, but the markets have learnt to realize that the attacks tend to have very limited impact upon the economy and markets," Commerzbank economist Peter Dixon said.

Oil prices rose as France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria following the attacks that killed more than 130 people in the French capital.

U.S. stock index futures turned positive, indicating Wall Street was likely to open higher.

The pan-European FTSE 300 index opened lower, dragged down by travel and leisure stocks, before turning positive as miners and energy stocks rose. The index was last up 0.11 percent. Paris's CAC 40 index, however, fell 0.2 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell nearly 1.5 percent, its biggest daily fall since Sept. 29, and was last down 1.2 percent.

Leading the losers was Japan's Nikkei stock index, which tumbled nearly 1.1 percent, nearly wiping out last week's gains as data showed the economy slipped back into recession in the July to September quarter. It contracted at a 0.8 percent annualized rate. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2 percent contraction.

Emerging market stocks lost 0.9 percent.

The widely tracked CBOE volatility index or "fear gauge" hit its highest level since Oct. 2.

Chinese stocks bucked the trend in Asia, however, reversing early losses to end higher. The CSI300 index of the largest-listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.5 percent while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.7 percent.

Yields on safe-haven two-year German bonds hit a record low of -0.382 percent and was last at -0.36 percent, slightly higher on the day.

Ten-year German yields, the benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, edged up to 0.57 percent, reversing falls after the EU statistics agency revised October inflation to 0.1 percent year-on-year from an estimated zero.

U.S. Treasury yields fell. Ten-year yields were last down 2.1 bps at 2.26 percent, having hit 2.241 percent in Asian trade.

In currency markets, the euro initially hit a 6-1/2-month low against the safe-haven yen before recovering to trade up 0.1 percent at flat at 132.03 yen. The single currency was last down 0.5 percent at $1.0725, having hit $1.0674 last week on expectations the European Central Bank will step up quantitative easing (QE). "Ultimately, the Fed/ECB divergence will be the focus, with markets already pricing in a 10-basis-point deposit rate cut by the ECB and extension of the QE program," Credit Agricole FX strategist, Manuel Oliveri, said.

The dollar rose 0.1 percent against a basket of major currencies and 0.4 percent against the yen.

MIDDLE EAST

Markets in the Middle East, which trade on Sunday, were hit hard, though part of that decline was due to last week's drop in oil prices. Saudi Arabia's stock index hit a 35-month low on Sunday while stocks in Dubai and Egypt hit their lowest this year.

Crude oil rose more than 1 percent. Benchmark Brent added 54 cents to $45.01 a barrel, having dropped 1 percent on Friday. Traders said the rise was largely a matter of sentiment, with a premium being factored in after French strikes in Syria in response.

Spot gold rose more than 1 percent to as high as $1,097.90 an ounce. It last traded at $1,091.50, having hit its lowest since February 2010 on Thursday.

[Fuddnik]

15. Never fear.

Hillary Giuliani is there to protect the banks.

A noun, a verb, 911, and Wall Street.

[Demeter]

12. Citi sees Paris attacks as ‘turning point,’ bringing backlash against globalization

THE BACKLASH WAS ALREADY THERE...THIS WILL DESTROY THE EUROZONE'S BORDER-FREE SCHEME

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/citi-sees-paris-attacks-as-turning-point-bringing-backlash-against-globalization-2015-11-16?siteid=YAHOOB

Analysts also predict more terrorist strikes, more military action

The attacks in Paris could mean a backlash against globalization and could signal that more terrorist strikes against the West are ahead, according to Citi analysts. More nations may join in a broader fight against Islamic State, says a research note from Citi’s Tina Fordham, Guillaume Menuet, Tiia Lehto and Willem Buiter. Below are a few key points from the note.

Backlash against globalization: Reports that one attacker was a Syrian who sought asylum in Serbia before going to France will “intensify opposition to efforts at burden-sharing with regard to resettling refugees across the EU,” the Citi analysts wrote. They see stepped-up opposition to economic integration: “Heightened calls to restrict freedom of movement, whether by building physical fences, tightened security measures, ‘temporary’ border closures and the reinstatement of border controls, is highly likely, contributing to a growing backlash against a key element of globalisation.”

More terrorist attacks, more military action: The January attack on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine “prompted widespread solidarity, yet little broader change in European or U.S. strategy toward countering terrorism or addressing the conflict in the Middle East,” the analysts wrote. They think “this time is different, and signals that IS has changed its strategy,” so they see a greater risk of more terrorist attacks in the Mideast and West. There is also now an increased likelihood of “international military intervention in IS strongholds in Syria, Iraq and Libya,” the Citi note says.

Why market reaction might be muted: The analysts say the aftermath of the Paris attacks “may not in itself prompt extensive market-based volatility, not least given the tendency of financial markets to treat such developments as idiosyncratic and the unfortunate reality of a world where large-scale carnage has become an almost daily, if sickening, development.”

Ties to the U.K., Lebanon, Russia: The analysts predict other countries will join the U.S., France and Russia in launching airstrikes against Islamic State, with the U.K. “among the first to resume consideration of participating in attacking IS.” The Paris attacks come “days after the worst suicide bombing in Beirut since the civil conflict ended in 1990, and two weeks after the downing of a Russian passenger airliner over Sinai,” the Citi note says, adding that IS has said it’s responsible for all three, though confirmations are still needed.

“Such a series of successful attacks on targets aligned with countries at war with IS in Syria suggests a new front in the conflict, with IS moving beyond fighting in Syria and Iraq to extending the theatre of war beyond its ‘caliphate,’” the analysts wrote.

[Demeter]

13. Pros and Cons of Income-Generating Strategies in Retirement

FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW

http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=723125&SR=Yahoo

[Demeter]

16. Remember When Obamacare Was Supposed To Help Small Businesses?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2015/11/16/remember-when-obamacare-was-supposed-to-help-small-businesses/

Obamacare promised to help small businesses. But it’s now clear that small businesses don’t want the law’s brand of help.

Specifically, they want nothing to do with Obamacare’s “Small Business Health Options Program,” or SHOP. This online marketplace was supposed to allow employees at small firms to choose from among competing, low-cost plans — and grant employers tax credits to help them pay for coverage.

But in reality, SHOP has been a massive flop.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office projected that a million people would enroll. Instead, 85,000 workers from 11,000 companies have done so. Those 85,000 represent less than 1 percent of all workers covered by small-group plans outside Obamacare’s exchanges...The promise that workers would be able to choose from a range of health plans has not been kept. In many states, there are fewer plans offered inside the SHOP exchange than on the private market outside. In several states, there’s only one.

Obamacare has also failed to reduce premiums for small businesses. Most haven’t ventured onto the SHOP exchanges because the plans available are more expensive than the ones they already have.

MORE

[Demeter]

17. How the TPP Trade Deal Could Blow Up the Primaries

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/11/05/How-TPP-Trade-Deal-Could-Blow-Primaries

...the Obama administration is expected to inform Congress of the president’s intention to sign the agreement, starting a 90-day countdown that will likely put the bill before Congress in the heat of the primary election season.

At 30 chapters and supplemented by dozens of appendices and annexes, the TPP runs to thousands of pages of sometimes dense legalese that will ultimately govern trade in goods and services amounting to some 40 percent of the global economy. Under an agreement struck with Congress earlier this year, Obama’s notification that he intends to sign the agreement is followed by a 90-day period in which the text of the deal, which was negotiated in secret, is publicly available. When the 90 days have passed, Obama may then actually sign the deal, triggering the next step in the TPP’s journey toward enactment.

In the same deal with Congress, the president was granted “fast-track” trade authority, which allows him to present a trade deal directly to Congress for a vote, with no possibility of amendment. Fast-track is widely seen as improving the chances of the package gaining legislators’ ultimate approval. Congress will have 45 legislative days to consider the deal before it comes to the floor.

The arrangement means that the deal will likely come before Congress in March, just as presidential candidates are barnstorming the country hoping to nail down primary election victories. Candidates on both sides of the Democratic-Republican divide are likely to make opposition to the deal central to their stump speeches. Arguably the most visible candidate in either race, real estate billionaire Donald Trump has made criticism of the Obama administration’s negotiations with other countries a centerpiece of his campaign...However, Obama’s trade pact will likely face significant opposition from the president’s natural allies. The top candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have already come out against the deal, and multiple groups on the left side of the political spectrum – from environmentalists to labor unions to online activists -- are all mobilizing against the deal.

...While opponents of the deal are mobilizing to fight it, the biggest thing the TPP has in its favor is widespread public indifference to it. A Monmouth University poll released Thursday found that 60 percent of American have no opinion on the impact the deal would have if it is allowed to go through.

[Demeter]

18. We Have (Almost) No Idea What The Economy Will Look Like On Election Day By Nate Silver

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-have-almost-no-idea-what-the-economy-will-look-like-on-election-day/

There’s almost exactly one year to go until Election Day 2016. But I want to wind the clock back eight years, to Nov. 5, 2007. What were the headlines that day? According to the news aggregator Memeorandum, the most talked-about national stories were the confirmation of Michael Mukasey as attorney general and the increasing unrest in Pakistan. There was also the typical litany of campaign stories, particularly about the growing rivalry between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who were both serving in the U.S. Senate and running for the Democratic presidential nomination. But there was very little about the economy, even though it was about to become the focal point of the campaign. The Dow Jones industrial average, for instance, was doing fine, having wobbled a bit from its October highs but still having risen by about 13 percent year over year.

Just one month later, however, the economy would be in recession — indeed, in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression as part of a global financial crisis whose aftereffects are still being felt today.

Could we find ourselves in equally dire straits by this time next year — in the midst of a severe economic crisis that few people saw coming? Well, maybe. There were some warning signs by November 2007; the subprime mortgage sector was already in distress, and there were some voices in the wilderness suggesting that it could have dire consequences for the economy. But that wasn’t the consensus view of policymakers or forecasters. Instead, the forecasting survey put out by The Wall Street Journal in November 2007 called for slower-than-usual growth but assigned only a 1 in 3 chance of a recession.2

Indeed, economists have shown very little ability to forecast the direction of the economy more than six months in advance. As I wrote in my book, the historical margin of error associated with GDP forecasts made a year ahead is plus-or-minus a whopping 4.6 percentage points. By this time next year, the economy could be back in recession — or in the midst of a “Morning in America” resurgence.

And because the economy is so important to presidential campaigns, events in China or Greece or the American oil boom, which few political observers are paying much attention to today, could prove to be the real “game changers” in the election.

[Demeter]

19. Moscow creates vast new bank from Post Office

http://rbth.com/business/2015/11/04/moscow-creates-vast-new-bank-from-post-office_535635

Russia’s government approved the establishment of a massive new bank based on the country’s postal service, a move that will eventually create an institution with more retail branches than all other Russian banks combined. The new entity, called Post Bank, is a joint venture between Russian Post and one of the country’s largest lenders, state-owned VTB Bank.

Post Bank is being established in part to provide banking services across Russia’s far-flung, near-empty regions, and to target pensioners. VTB will fuse one of its subsidiaries, Leto Bank, into the new institution. The partners say the new institution will begin giving out loans as early as January 2016, with a pilot project to be launched in Moscow this fall.

Over the next three years, the bank will open outlets in no less than 15,000 Russian Post offices. After this initial rollout, the bank should start operating in all the 42,000 offices of the national operator. The current leader, Sberbank, has more than 17,000 outlets. Once it is completed, Post Bank will have more retail locations than all other Russian banks combined, according to the Russian banking portal Banki.ru...The government won’t back Post Bank up with financial help, social benefits or donations, Leto Bank’s press office said, adding the new institution aims to bring more Russians into the banking system.

“Today only 50% of Russia’s population over 18 years old uses banking services. In China the share is 70%, and in Scandinavian counties it’s over 97%. The creation of Post Bank should change this situation”, Leto Bank press service said. “The experience of France, Japan and China proves that a bank project like this is relevant and rather successful. Moreover, Post Bank should decrease the share of cash payments and increase the competition in some areas where only one or two banks operate,” the bank said.

MORE

[Demeter]

20. Reality calls

Frost and sun. going up to 60F. Marigolds are dead, grass dormant. I gotta go...

[MattSh]

23. And what did we get to today?

43F maybe. With light rain and wind.

The dark, dank, dreary, depressing days of December have arrived early, it would seem.

[MattSh]

22. ISIL Financed by 40 Countries, Including G20 Member States - Putin

Putin said at the G20 summit that Russia has presented examples of terrorism financing by individual businessmen from 40 countries, including from member states of the G20.

"I provided examples related to our data on the financing of Islamic State units by natural persons in various countries. The financing comes from 40 countries, as we established, including some G20 members," Putin told reporters following the summit.

The fight against terrorism was a key topic at the summit, according to the Russian leader.

"This topic (the war on the terror) was crucial. Especially after the Paris tragedy, we all understand that the means of financing terrorism should be severed," the Russian president said.

Russia has also presented satellite images and aerial photos showing the true scale of the Islamic State oil trade.


"I've demonstrated the pictures from space to our colleagues, which clearly show the true size of the illegal trade of oil and petroleum products market. Car convoys stretching for dozens of kilometers, going beyond the horizon when seen from a height of four-five thousand meters," Putin told reporters after the G20 summit.

The Russian president also said that Syrian opposition is ready to launch an anti-ISIL operation if Russia provides air support.

"A part of the Syrian opposition considers it possible to begin military actions against ISIL with the assistance of the Russian air forces, and we are ready to provide that assistance," the Russian president said.

If this happens, the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad, on the one hand, and the opposition, on the other hand, will fight a common enemy, he outlined.

-----> http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151116/1030199114/isil-financing-g20-putin.html

I was beginning to forget what it was like to have an adult in the room...

[Demeter]

24. Very Impressive, Mr. Putin!

Thank god for an adult, indeed!

And a spy service that focuses on the real task, not the J. Edgar Hoover version.

It's about time Obama sat down and shut up. Maybe he'll learn something.


NO WONDER SAUDI ARABIA IS "PUMPING LIKE MAD"...THEY ARE TRYING TO CONCEAL THE ISIS OIL SALES WITHIN THEIR OWN, I'LL BET YOU! THAT'S WHY THEY WON'T CUT BACK ON PRODUCTION, THEY ARE LAUNDERING OIL.