STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 1 March 2016

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 1 March 2016[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 29 February 2016

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 29 February 2016
[center][font color=red]
Dow Jones 16,516.50 -123.47 (-0.74%)
S&P 500 1,932.23 -15.82 (-0.81%)
Nasdaq 4,557.95 -32.52 (-0.71%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.74% -0.02 (-1.14%)
30 Year 2.61% -0.01 (-0.38%) [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.
12/17/15 Martin Shkreli, former CEO Turing Pharmaceuticals and notorious price gouger, arrested on securities fraud charges. Posted $5M bail, resigned as CEO.
2/25/16 Jason Keryc sentenced to 9 years in prison, 3 years supervised release and to pay back $180MM to investors he bilked in a Ponzi scheme while an acct. mgr at Agape World.



[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]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. If only some other fuckers would jump, too. nt

[Hotler]

2. The angry Americans: Trump, Sanders and the aftershocks of 2008

The one story about the U.S. economy that has virtually no traction among American voters right now is that it’s doing OK.

Anyone inclined to tell that story, as President Barack Obama did in his final State of the Union address in January, can find headline data to back it up. But primary-season revolts -- the Donald Trump mutiny against the Republican establishment, and the fiercer-than-expected challenge from Bernie Sanders against a Democratic frontrunner with all the advantages -- is driven by fed-up Americans saying it isn’t so. And looking behind the headlines, the numbers might be on their side.

Unemployment at an eight-year low? Yes, but by most measures of the labor force, participation is down. More than six years of almost uninterrupted growth? Better than much of the industrialized world, for sure, but at a pace that won’t see the economy closing its output gap until 2026 at the earliest. Wage growth finally edging higher? Maybe so, in the aggregate, but not by much -- and anyway, whose wages?
(snip)
“For families who are hearing everyone say, ‘The recession is over, we’ve recovered, it’s all good,’ they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, I haven’t recovered at all -- in fact it’s gotten worse’,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum and a former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “That’s a big inconsistency between what they’re seeing in their day-to-day lives and what they’re hearing. That’s the kind of thing that makes people angry.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-angry-americans-trump-sanders-and-the-aftershocks-of-2008/ar-BBqbPGP?li=BBnb7Kv&ocid=iehp

I'm thinking the media and talking heads are no longer convincing the country that all is or getting better. If people are back to work and the unemployment numbers are down people are working shitty jobs or jobs that are shitty and have shitty pay.

[Hotler]

3. Venerable Boston mutual fund shuts doors after 48 years

One of the mutual fund industry's oldest funds, run by one of its most enduring fund managers, Kenneth Heebner, went out of business last week, when Natixis Global Asset Management liquidated its CGM Advisor Targeted Equity Fund.

"On February 17, 2016, the CGM Advisor Targeted Equity Fund (the "Fund&quot was liquidated. The fund no longer exists, and as a result, shares of the fund are no longer available for purchase or exchange," Natixis said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

So came the unceremonious end for a once-vaunted portfolio that came to life in 1968 as the New England Growth Fund, overseen for most of years by Heebner, a contrarian investor who scored some of the industry's biggest gains and losses. Heebner still runs Capital Growth Management Funds from Boston.

"This is a loss of an oldie," Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas research for Lipper, said on Tuesday. "There are not many funds that approach their 50th anniversary and drop dead just before it."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mutualfunds/venerable-boston-mutual-fund-shuts-doors-after-48-years/ar-BBpTBtL?ocid=iehp

[Tansy_Gold]

4. CFTC Advisory Committee Hijacked by (R) Commissioner

(via Naked Capitalism email notification)

CFTC Commissioner Giancarlo Admits to Hijacking Advisory Committee to Boost Commodity Speculators

Posted: 29 Feb 2016 06:55 AM PST
Last week, an advisory committee to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission produced a highly dubious report recommending that the agency abandon the Dodd-Frank mandate of setting position limits in futures markets to eliminate excessive speculation. The report was just an enhanced form of lobbying; eight of the nine members of the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC) have ties to industries that would personally benefit from killing the rule. The big question was how an official advisory committee of a federal agency could turn into a purely distilled conduit for corporate talking points? And the answer is Christopher Giancarlo, the lone Republican commissioner on CFTC at the moment, who took advantage of the committee, twisted it to his own ends, and produced a work product destined to be used in future litigation to overturn the position limits rule.

****



TG: Not the whole CFTC, just an advisory committee. But isn't that where it starts? Next question: Where does it end???

[Hotler]

6. ........

[Gungnir]

8. CFTC Commissioner Giancarlo Admits to Hijacking Advisory Committee to Boost Commodity Speculators

TG: Where does it end??? Public Citizen is on it - and on the committee.

Source: Naked Capitalism, By David Dayen

This all came out in a meeting of the EEMAC last Thursday, the same day the report was released. Only a few outlets reported on the meeting, and there’s no archived video of it yet on the CFTC website; it should pop up at some point. But Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen, the only consumer/public interest voice on the committee and the lone dissenter on the report, gave me the blow-by-blow.

see link for details.
The upshot:

The industry, of course, has already won one round in court here, back in 2012. They successfully argued that capping trades as a percentage of the total commodity market was “unnecessary.” Now, after CFTC finalizes a new version of the rule that tries to answer that judge’s concerns, the same industry players can go to court again and say “Look, even the commission’s own advisory committee said this was unnecessary!” A federal judge would likely be unaware of the ideological makeup of the committee, the role of the CFTC’s industry-backed commissioner in creating the report, the lack of objectivity, etc. They’d only see the 8-1 vote.

Meanwhile, that vote was never public. Slocum made several formal motions at the meeting to move the report back to the EEMAC for further consideration, given that it only employed selective committee resources without the consent of the full committee at the time. The motion was never acknowledged or acted upon. Nor was there ever a public vote to deliver the report to the CFTC; the 8-1 vote only approved the draft. And there are other factors as well; clearly, Giancarlo violated the charter in his sponsorship role.

If the report is not validated as the official product of the committee, it cannot be used in court the way Giancarlo and his cronies want. Public Citizen is working to make that happen.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/02/cftc-commissioner-giancarlo-admits-to-hijacking-advisory-committee-to-boost-commodity-speculators.html

see also:
http://www.citizen.org
http://daviddayen.tumblr.com/
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/

[Hotler]

5. And so it begins.

Exclusive: China to lay off five to six million workers, earmarks at least $23 billion.

China aims to lay off 5-6 million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution, two reliable sources said, Beijing's boldest retrenchment program in almost two decades.

China's leadership, obsessed with maintaining stability and making sure redundancies do not lead to unrest, will spend nearly 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) to cover layoffs in just the coal and steel sectors in the next 2-3 years.

The overall figure is likely to rise as closures spread to other industries and even more funding will be required to handle the debt left behind by "zombie" state firms.

The term refers to companies that have shut down some of their operations but keep staff on their rolls since local governments are worried about the social and economic impact of bankruptcies and unemployment.
(snip)
China aims to cut capacity gluts in as many as seven sectors, including cement, glassmaking and shipbuilding, but the oversupplied solar power industry is likely to be spared any large-scale restructuring because it still has growth potential, the first source said.

The government has already drawn up plans to cut as much as 150 million tonnes of crude steel capacity and 500 million tonnes of surplus coal production in the next three to five years.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-layoffs-exclusive-idUKKCN0W33DM

[Hotler]

7. New global crisis likely without reform - ex-BoE governor King

A new global financial crisis is certain to occur and without reform, it is likely to happen sooner rather than later, according to former Bank of England governor Mervyn King.

King, who headed the BoE when the world's financial system almost collapsed in 2008-09, said only a fundamental rethink of the monetary and banking systems could avert another crisis.

"Without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain, and the failure ... to tackle the disequilibrium in the world economy makes it likely that it will come sooner rather than later," King said in an extract of his new book published by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

He added that global central banks were caught in a "prisoner's dilemma" - unable to raise interest rates for fear of stifling the economic recovery, the newspaper reported.

The BoE has held interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for the last seven years.

Darkening global economic prospects and ructions in financial markets have pushed out investor expectations for the first BoE rate hike into 2019 - an outlook some policymakers view as too pessimistic given continued steady growth in the British economy.

King was succeeded in 2013 by Mark Carney, who on Friday warned that moves by central banks to cut interest rates below zero risked creating a "beggar-thy-neighbour" environment which could leave the global economy trapped in low growth.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-king-idUKKCN0W00VU

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by G Crosse)

A tidbit here and a tidbit there we hear the alarm being sounded. I'm thinking that some of the PTB may be a tad worried.

[Gungnir]

9. Fabulous New Paper: Random Justice in Bankruptcy Trial Courts

source: Credit slips

I just read a terrific new paper by Gary Neustadter of Santa Clara University Law School, called "Randomly Distributed Trial Court Justice: A Case Study and Siren from the Consumer Bankruptcy World." It presents a monumental empirical study of a debt buyer's litigation campaign to pursue essentially identical contract and fraud claims against hundreds of secondary mortgagors in state courts, federal District Courts, and federal Bankruptcy Courts. The paths and outcomes of these materially identical cases are so different in so many surprising (and often disturbing) ways, the paper offers a really stunning look behind the curtain of our often arbitrary trial-level justice system. And Neustadter's telling of the story is gripping--I read the paper and most of its footnotes from beginning to end in one sitting, unable to put it down. The revelations in this paper are a gold mine for civil proceduralists generally and bankruptcy practitioners in particular. It offers a cautionary tale and useful playbook for lawyers (and perhaps judges) in how to make many aspects of our system more effective. Get it while it's hot!

http://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2016/02/fabulous-new-paper-random-justice-in-bankruptcy-trial-courts.html

Paper:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2722054

[Gungnir]

10. We helped uncover a public health crisis in Flint, but learned there are costs to doing good science

Source: The Conversation

...
Our work, by any measure, succeeded. But at the same time, this experience has forced us to confront broader questions.

We have learned that as well-trained scientists and engineers, we can be agents for positive change. However, we have also learned that many obstacles make it hard to do good science – not only in crisis situations, but every day.
...
We went to Flint several times to confirm and expand these findings by taking and analyzing more water samples. Again MDEQ tried to discredit our results, calling us lead “magicians” who could “pull that rabbit out of that hat anywhere they go.”

This struck a nerve. As scientists, we spend significant amounts of time making sure our results are accurate. In response to MDEQ’s claims, we became completely transparent about what we were doing and how we were sampling for lead. Because we took this approach, people in Flint trusted us.

Much, much, more at link, such as:
A culture of compliance
Conflicting incentives for scientists
What scientists and engineers can do

https://theconversation.com/we-helped-uncover-a-public-health-crisis-in-flint-but-learned-there-are-costs-to-doing-good-science-54227

[Gungnir]

11. Congratulations To Prominent Anti-HFT Critic Eric Hunsader For Winning $750,000 Whistleblower Award

Source: Zero Hedge

It has been nearly six years since Zero Hedge proudly began collaborating with Nanex and Eric Hunsader (recall first from June 2010: "How HFT Quote Stuffing Caused The Market Crash Of May 6, And Threatens To Destroy The Entire Market At Any Moment&quot who has been one of the most vocal critics of everything this website has also stood against: rigged, manipulated markets, and corrupt and captured regulators and government officials.

Nanex's and Hunsader's persistence in exposing market manipulation won it numerous "tin foil hat" jeers from participants (many of whom criminals themselves) of the very same rigged industry which he had set out to expose.
...
As MarketWatch adds, Hunsader has some advice to would-be whistleblowers, especially other outsiders trying to tell regulators about an issue based on their own original analysis.

“It doesn’t matter if an algorithm is ripping off the market, for example, you have to prove intent. You better be absolutely sure you can prove intent. The SEC had a good piece of evidence to go confidently to the NYSE ,” said Hunsader. “You could not refute it. It only took three charts. I told them, ‘There’s nothing more you need from me.’”

Hunsader also praised Markopolos, who unsuccessfully tried to report the activities of Bernie Madoff to the SEC.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-01/congratulations-prominent-anti-hft-critic-eric-hunsader-winning-750000-whisteblower-


(Note: I'm assuming the quote is part of the sentence introducing it, and therefore qualifies as one paragraph for copyright purposes)

[Gungnir]

12. As Patents Expire, Farmers Plant Generic GMOs

Source: MIT Technology Review

Billy Maddox planted 100 acres of Roundup Ready soybeans this year. The big news is he didn’t pay Monsanto a dime.

It’s been 20 years since Monsanto developed its first genetically modified crops. Now some of its early patents are starting to expire, leading to the first “generic GMOs”—off-patent seeds that cost half as much and which farmers are free to save and replant.
...
When the patent on a blockbuster drug ends, cut-rate competitors jump in and suck up market share. It’s too soon to say if something exactly like that will happen with GMOs. “We’ve gotten calls from all over the country, but how big a deal it’s going to be we still don’t know,” says Donald Dombek, director of the University of Arkansas Crop Variety Improvement Program, which developed the seeds Maddox has been selling.
...
Monsanto says it’s not worried about the patent expiration. It developed a new version, Roundup Ready 2, several years ago that it says works better and whose patents are still in force. A third generation is pending approval.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/539746/as-patents-expire-farmers-plant-generic-gmos/

[Fuddnik]

13. Time to rewatch this.

https://vimeo.com/20355767