STOCK MARKET WATCH - Thursday, 15 March 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 15 March 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 14 March 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 14 March 2012
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Dow Jones 13,194.10 +16.42 (0.12%)
[font color=red]S&P 500 1,394.28 -1.67 (-0.12%)
[font color=green]Nasdaq 3,040.73 +0.85 (0.03%)




[font color=red]10 Year 2.27% +0.09 (4.13%)
30 Year 3.40% +0.09 (2.72%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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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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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
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



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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. Ask me how the day went. I dare you (WHINE ALERT)

Well, since it was pi day, I made lemon meringue pie from scratch for a client, and started to prepare orange peel to candy. Then there was the budget and finance meeting, which went okay, although news outside of the topic was rather grim...

then the papers came, and they were huge, but I got them delivered,

and on the last two papers, the car died. I walked the last two, and I could have walked home, but I called the tow truck to get to the shop, called the Younger Kid to get a ride home and some kisses from the grandpuppy, and now, instead of dinner, I am eating chocolate cake. (saving the pie for tomorrow). And complaining.

The tow guy thought the gas line wasn't delivering...I'll find out tomorrow.

And it went up to 86F, and the primroses are ready to burst into bloom, the roses broke bud and the new leaves are unfurling, and dare I switch the closet around? It's likely that I just washed and folded the last pair of long johns for the season, but to go to shorts in March?

In all, a very bad night to a pretty good day.

[Fuddnik]

6. So, otherwise, how was your day?

[Demeter]

11. Going from snow last Friday to 80+ Today is surreal

[Warpy]

39. We had snow on the ground a week ago

and today it's supposed to go to the mid 70s. This is how weather in the high desert rolls, though, 60s and 70s for a few days and then BAM! another storm comes through with howling winds and snow, measurable or not. The altitude is keeping us from the 80s and 90s, though, a distinct advantage.

In the meantime, what the hell is going on with the market? Did plutocrats abandon the Koch boys and their attempts to jigger gas prices to five bucks a gallon in the hope that whatever nutball the Republicans can find under a rock will beat Obama? Is Euorpean or Asian money flocking in to the more stable (ha) US market in hope of preserving itself against domestic implosion? Inquiring minds would love to know.

[tclambert]

38. July is usually about 40 degrees hotter than March, so how hot do you think this July will be?

Are we gonna see 120?

In 2012, Detroit turns into Tucson.

[Demeter]

44. Frankly, I'm expecting 4 inches of snow.

[Demeter]

2. U.S. Lacks Hard Data Tracking Pay Fights

I DON'T KNOW WHO WRITES THE HEADLINES AT THE WSJ, BUT HE OUGHT TO CHOOSE A DIFFERENT PROFESSION....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303717304577279602127334044.html

The Justice Department said it doesn't closely track how it is enforcing a law curbing executive pay in corporate bankruptcy cases.

The disclosure, made in a letter to key lawmakers, comes amid criticism of such payouts in courts and on Capitol Hill.

The Justice Department—whose U.S. trustees monitor bankruptcy proceedings—doesn't have precise data on executive-pay plans reviewed since an overhaul of federal bankruptcy law, according to the March 5 letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich. He added that "anecdotal evidence" suggests trustees' attempts to fight proposed bonuses fail more often than any other bankruptcy challenges they bring.

A 2005 federal law restricts "retention" bonuses that reward executives for sticking with distressed companies. But some firms have found legal ways to keep paying bonuses without running afoul of the law. The debate over executive pay in bankruptcy was the subject of a Page One article in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 27.

The bankruptcy filing by MF Global Holdings Ltd. has further highlighted the issue....MORE

[Demeter]

3. NC County Sues Banks And MERS Over Robo-Signing

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120313-716714.html

-NC's Guilford County sues banks, mortgage registry over fraudulent records

--County official cites 4,519 documents signed in robo-signer fashion

--Lawsuit comes a day after state AGs forge $25 billion foreclosure settlement

A North Carolina county Tuesday sued four of the nation's largest banks and a private mortgage registration system over forged and falsified loan documents state officials said have hurt property values and upended their own efforts at tracking records. The lawsuit filed in a North Carolina court for Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen, names units of Bank of America Corp. (BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Citigroup Inc. (C), and MERSCorp., which owns the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. It also names mortgage processing and analytics firm Lender Processing Services.

Thigpen's lawsuit alleging robo-signing, or the filing of mortgage documents signed without proper review, comes just a day after the four named banks and Ally Financial Inc. agreed with state attorneys general to a landmark $25 billion settlement of similar foreclosure abuses. The banks neither admitted nor denied guilt in the attorney general settlement, which doesn't protect them from certain other litigation. Thigpen said he wants the banks and MERS to "clean up the mess" they made, and increase the transparency of the private registry that has resulted in fraudulent mortgage filings.

Just last month, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman charged MERS has curbed the public's ability to track property transfers because those transfers are maintained in a private registry instead of county clerk offices. Delaware officials have also sued MERS for damaging the state's land records and leading to faulty foreclosure practices....A spokeswoman for MERS said the complaint "contains a lot of political rhetoric" and "misconstrues the role of the MERS system...MERS does not eliminate or replace county land records," she said.

[Demeter]

4. Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Docs (I): Ally’s Side Deal

http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/03/13/foreclosure-fraud-settlement-docs-i-allys-side-deal/

I spent last night reading most of the foreclosure fraud settlement documents that were filed in federal court in DC yesterday. I’m going to lay out my findings in a series of posts. Let’s take a look at the penalties being paid to the states.

There’s a discrepancy between the numbers initially contemplated to be delivered to the states and the eventual numbers in the settlement documents. Simply put, all of the numbers in the settlement documents are slightly lower. For example, the spreadsheet showing very specific settlement numbers released on February 9 shows that Alabama would receive $26,474,753. In reality, in the settlement documents, Alabama will receive $25,305,692. New Jersey’s haul from the February 9 spreadsheet? $75,520,276. Their actual total? $72,110,727. The reductions range from $100,000 (in the case of Wyoming) to $20 million (in the case of California). I didn’t do a full tally of the total reduction, but my back-of-the-envelope guess would be over $100 million.

What accounts for this? Probably this little nugget buried in a Reuters article on the settlement:

Some banks negotiated separate requirements.

Ally Financial, for example, negotiated a steep discount on the fine part of its settlement, based on an inability to pay it, according to people familiar with the matter.

It was expected to pay some $250 million, but the Justice Department cut it to around $110 million, these people said.

In exchange, it committed to solicit all borrowers in its own loan portfolios and to offer to cut principal for delinquent borrowers down to 105 percent of the home’s value. It also offered to refinance underwater borrowers who are current on their payments.

Gee, I didn’t know that federal and state civil penalties had a “pay what you can” quality to them.

This matches up pretty well with the reduction in fines for the states. And let’s be clear: those fines, and the fines to the federal government, are the only hard dollars in the settlement deal. The rest is air, money in “credits” to go toward principal reductions, short sales, refinancing, and as we learn in the documents a variety of other possibilities, many of which the banks habitually do anyway. So now we’re moving away from the banks paying penalties up front and toward the banks getting credit for their current practices over a period of a number of years. And in Ally’s case, I think we should be more than a little shocked that an established bank could not pay a $250 million fine...

[mbperrin]

40. Crooked banks (but I repeat myself) need to take a haircut.

Somewhere to around the C1 vertebra, I think.

[Demeter]

5. Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Docs (II): Giving Homes to Charity as a Penalty

http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/03/13/foreclosure-fraud-settlement-docs-ii-giving-homes-to-charity-as-a-penalty/

Here’s the second installment in the review of the foreclosure fraud settlement documents. Exhibit D in this document lays out the menu for credits toward the settlement. When we talk about credits, the federal government and state AGs want you to assume that means a set amount of principal reductions that the banks will grant. But in reality, the banks can employ a variety of strategies to receive credit toward the settlement, including a number of routine actions they would probably undertake whether there was a settlement in place or not.

First, let’s look at the top line. Banks get a dollar-for-dollar credit on first-lien principal modifications on bank-owned loans when the borrower is under a 175% loan-to-value ratio. [E.g., you still owe $175,000 on a property whose current market value is only $100,000.] Any principal reduction on a portion of a loan over 175% is given half-credit. This stops the bank from getting credit on loans likely to default anyway. Banks can also get $0.40 credit on the dollar by forgiving forbearance on modifications they have already done. Forbearance occurs when a certain amount of principal is shifted to a balloon payment at the end of the loan. If the bank forgives that, they get partial credit, even though that doesn’t affect a monthly payment in the near term whatsoever.

When the loan is not owned by the banks but by investors in mortgage-backed securities, the credit for a modification drops to 45 cents for each dollar of principal reduction. There’s a provision in the rules that states “First liens on occupied Properties with an unpaid principal balance (“UPB”) prior to capitalization at or below the highest GSE conforming loan limit cap as of January 1, 2010 shall constitute at least 85% of the eligible credits for first liens (the “Applicable Limits”),” which is supposed to assure that the bank’s portfolios will be the primary source of first-lien write-downs. But as Yves Smith explains, there are ways to structure it so that the number of write-downs may conform, but the value is weighted more heavily on those investor-owned loans. After all, if you can get any credit at all with someone else’s money, you’re going to do it. (more on this in a later post)

If a first lien gets written down, and one of the five banks covered by the agreement owns the second lien, that second lien (typically a home equity line of credit) must be written down on equal terms. It doesn’t have to be extinguished entirely unless it’s 180 days delinquent. This violates standard priority, which would be to wipe out the second liens first before modifying the firsts. Since banks own most of the second liens, this gives them an implicit subsidy, and by improving the chances of the first lien to perform, it enhances the ultimate value of the second liens, giving an additional bank subsidy. “Performing second liens” (up to 90 days delinquent) actually get $0.90 on the dollar credit, so banks will have a lot of incentive to make their seconds current through whatever alchemy. More delinquent second liens (up to 180 days) get $0.50 on the dollar credit, and second liens delinquent over 180 days get $0.10 on the dollar...

[Demeter]

7. New York to Settle Some Mortgage Claims With 5 Banks

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303717304577279953721486914.html

Five of the nation's biggest banks have agreed to pay New York a total of $25 million to settle claims by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman regarding their use of a private national mortgage electronic system.

The agreement, filed in federal court Tuesday, resolves certain monetary claims by the New York attorney general against Ally Financial Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

The agreement preserves the New York attorney general's right to sue for damages suffered by consumers and to push for procedural changes...

[Demeter]

8. Mortgage Settlement Lets Banks Systematically Overcharge You And Wrongly Take Your Home

http://abigailcfield.com/?p=1057

On my first read through of the consent agreements the bailed-out bankers (B.O.Bs), the Feds and the States I saw much as had been promised. One thing I hadn’t seen coming, however, was that the B.O.Bs would now be allowed to systematically overcharge borrowers and steal their homes. Seriously. Who cares about $1 million or $5 million penalties if horrible damage can be inflicted without punishment?

To see what I’m talking about, you need to look at Exhibit E-1. (It’s in all the consent agreements; here’s Chase’s.) Exhibit E-1 is a 14 page table titled “Servicing Standards Quarterly Compliance Metrics.” That is, it’s a table that details what, precisely, will be monitored to make sure that the B.O.Bs are meeting the very pretty servicing standards detailed in Exhibit A (again part of all the agreements.)

Note: You may want to print out table E-1 while reading this, or at least keep it open in another browser window; these metrics are shocking enough you won’t want to take my word for it, you’ll want to verify I’m citing the text correctly.

Now, the table doesn’t come right out and say, we, the federal and state governments of the United States of America do hereby bless the institutionalization of servicer abuse, but it should. To understand why, you need to keep your eye on how the table’s columns are defined. For most issues, the critical columns are C “Loan Level Tolerance for Error” and D “Threshold Error Rate.” Later I’ll talk about the problems in Column F, the “Test Questions.”

GO TO THE LINK...IT'S TOO COMPLICATED FOR HERE

[Demeter]

9. Sanctions choke off Iran oil output

Iran’s oil production has fallen to a 10-year low and could drop to levels last seen during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as sanctions over its nuclear programme disrupt an industry already suffering from years of underinvestment

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/TWK799/2OQATM/6ADGM/MSLWBQ/62RL4M/QR/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=14

[Demeter]

10. Tube to provide free WiFi for Olympics

Passengers on the London Underground will get free WiFi services during the Olympic Games, allowing them to access the internet and emails on most of the city’s subterranean stations for the first time.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/WTX6SP/4VXHZ/U109V3/4CSUZR/UP/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=14

[hamerfan]

12. K&R!

And a really great 'toon.
hamerfan

[DemReadingDU]

13. FDIC shoots to kill on "too big to fail"

3/14/12 FDIC shoots to kill on "too big to fail"

Bank regulators are launching a campaign to sell the markets on the idea that "too big to fail" is dead.
Martin Gruenberg, the acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said the agency will soon be meeting with financial institutions, investor groups, public interest groups and academics.
The goal, he says, is to shoot down the idea that the government does not yet have the smarts or the guts to smoothly dismantle failing financial firms that are so large and complex that their collapse would threaten markets.
"Too big to fail" was a buzzword in the 2007-2009 financial crisis when the FDIC only had the power to unwind traditional banks, not firms such as Lehman Brothers or insurer AIG.
The result was massive taxpayer-backed bailouts or in the case of Lehman, a failure that nearly brought global markets to their knees.

Showing that the FDIC has the capability to liquidate a large bank if needed is part of combating this idea and instilling more "market discipline," Gruenberg said.
Gruenberg said there is not yet a schedule for the meetings, but said the agency is taking this approach because it has made significant progress in setting up the architecture, plans and staff needed to carry out the new resolution powers.

more...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-financial-regulation-fdic-idUSBRE82D1GO20120314\



Is it possible that a TBTF bank is going to fail?

[Demeter]

22. In a race to the bottom, anything is possible

Both BoA and Citi are good contenders, but there are others not far behind....

[xchrom]

14. thursday morning

Welcome Morning

There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry "hello there, Anne"
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn't shared, I've heard,
dies young.

~ Anne Sexton ~

[Tansy_Gold]

19. That

is lovely.

And I won't spoil it with the tale of my Thursday morning!

[xchrom]

20. oh do go on...

we'd all love to hear!

i know i have to live vicariously --

[Demeter]

23. I can tell you about mine

4:30 NYT distributer calls; it is today, not tomorrow, I'm supposed to sub, and my car is still broken at the shop which won't open until 8. I call a friend for a car, throw on clothes, get down there at 5, bag until 6, throw papers until 8, discover I'm short 4 (technically 5, but I had taken an extra)

Go back for more, finish by 9. Meanwhile, antsy customers are calling my cell, because my eccentric friend with the route has given them my number....one called, it wasn't even 6AM, and I believe the on time delivery is at least 6, maybe later....

So, I am home, the shop is just now starting to look at the car, and the day is going to be out of joint until I get it back....

[xchrom]

24. oy gevalt!

you have the patience of a saint -- i swear!

let us know about the car -- i always get nervous having my car in the shop -- because i don't know anything about engines.

isn't it funny how attached to newspapers people are?

[Tansy_Gold]

25. Car trouble is the worst.

You have my most sincere sympathy. Been there done that far too many times. Will probably do it again in the future.

[xchrom]

15. Beware European humble-pie

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1624341-beware-european-humble-pie

Whenever a state that wants to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) or the European Union (EU) succeeds in overcoming one of the obstacles on the administrative assault course imposed by those organisations, I am immediately reminded of the remark made by Zoran Dogramadziev, one of only a handful of Macedonian journalists to have enjoyed an international career.

In an article published in this newspaper several years ago, he pointed out that with every step towards accession, candidates to join the European club are required to eat humble pie and the best policy is to swallow it as quickly as possible so as to avoid a second helping.

Slovenia was forced to hand back property belonging to the Italian minority, Croatia had to surrender some of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Piran, while Romania lowered its guard to accept a large number of concessions on the Hungarian minority: something it never would have done were it not for pressure from Brussels.

Tour d’Europe

Bulgaria was also forced to eat humble pie with the partial closure of the Kozlodouï nuclear power station, which is the country’s most profitable installation. As for Macedonia, our serving of humble pie [a compromise with Greece in the dispute over the use of the name Macedonia] has had time to accumulate over the last 20 years and will be extra difficult to swallow.

[xchrom]

16. Despite Progress, Euro Crisis Is Far From Over

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,821404,00.html

For a change, everything has been going according to plan in the fight to save the euro in recent weeks. On Wednesday, euro-zone finance ministers gave the green light to the €130 billion ($170 billion) second rescue package for Greece. It's a pure formality after a satisfyingly large proportion of creditors agreed to a debt cut for Greece. Perhaps the most significant success of recent days is that even though the debt cut was deemed a so-called credit event, triggering the payment of the financial contracts known as credit default swaps, hardly anyone seemed to care.

For more than two years, the international financial lobby had been warning the public and governments that these credit default swaps must under no circumstances be triggered, because that would cause a disaster similar to the meltdown that followed the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Their message, effectively, was that taxpayers should cover all the losses, rather than private-sector creditors. But the CDS horror scenario has failed to become reality.

So has Greece been rescued and financial markets been tamed? Is the euro crisis a thing of the past? Unfortunately not. With their successes in the last few days, euro-zone politicians have done little more than bought themselves time. They must use this window to brace themselves for the next wave of the euro crisis which is about to crash down on Europe.

It's already clear that the Greek economy can't survive with a government debt to GDP ratio that will -- at best -- still be at 117 percent in 2020, especially given the record pace at which the country's GDP is contracting. There is still no coherent strategy for making Greece competitive again inside the euro zone, or for raising the capital for the huge investments needed -- let alone for the wholesale revamp of the country's entire public administration.

[xchrom]

17. Germany Fails To Meet Its Own Austerity Goals

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,820828,00.html

As she travels from one European Union summit to the next, Angela Merkel's constant mantra in recent months has been austerity, austerity, austerity. But apparently the German chancellor hasn't been quite as strict when it comes to her own country's budget.

SPIEGEL reports this week that the German government didn't reach even half of its planned savings in the federal budget. Only 42 percent of the spending cuts named by Merkel's coalition government, comprised of the conservative Christian Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party, were actually implemented.

Calculations made by the influential Cologne Institute for Economic Research indicate that only €4.7 billion ($6.16 billion) of the €11.2 billion in austerity measures stipulated by the savings package actually took shape in 2011.

The government is also falling behind on its targets for this year. Of the originally planned €19.1 billion in savings, less than half has been implemented. For the coming year, the concrete measures that have been agreed on so far cover just one-third of the announced amount of savings. Merkel's cabinet is hoping to agree to the basic foundations of the 2013 federal budget in March.

[xchrom]

18. Portuguese Seek Greener Pastures in German Town

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,821118,00.html

When Guido Rebstock came into his office on Feb. 8, booted up his computer and checked his email, he could hardly believe his eyes. About 2,500 applications had accumulated in his mailbox -- all overnight and all from Portugal. It quickly dawned on the head of the government employment agency in Schwäbisch Hall, a small city in southern Germany, why he was being flooded with applications. A short time earlier, the city had gone on a media offensive. City officials invited seven journalists from countries affected by the euro crisis, including Greece, Italy, Spain and even Portugal, for two days to inform them about job opportunities in the area.

Little happened after Greek and Spanish journalists published stories. In contrast, journalist Madalena Queirós unleashed a wave in her home country. More than 10,000 Portuguese people have already applied to firms and the city's employment agency. "Because it was the only article that was available online, the news spread like wildfire on Facebook," Rebstock explains.

So far, 18,127 people have liked Queirós' article on Facebook, and applications continue to flood Rebstock's in-box. Even though the campaign was supposed to be focused on skilled workers, the employment agency is receiving applications of all kinds: cleaning ladies and construction workers are applying alongside engineers and IT specialists. "They represent virtually every profession that is imaginable," Rebstock told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

So what did the journalist write in the business magazine Diário Económico that led so many Portuguese people to imagine Schwäbisch Hall to be some kind of heaven on Earth? The article, which ran under the headline, "Get to know a German city that wants to put Portuguese to work," promises Portuguese suffering from high unemployment a town that seems to be flowing with milk and honey. According to the story, here a person can earn on average €2,700 ($3,500) per month, children go to school for free and one can live in a state where even university fees were recently abolished thanks to its governor, a member of the Green Party. Furthermore, Schwäbisch Hall never has traffic jams, not even during rush hour, Queirós reports.

[xchrom]

21. The Biggest Engine of Economic Growth? 8 Ways Taxpayers and the Government Are Necessary

http://www.alternet.org/story/154538/the_biggest_engine_of_economic_growth_8_ways_taxpayers_and_the_government_are_necessary_to_capitalism/

The Biggest Engine of Economic Growth? 8 Ways Taxpayers and the Government Are Necessary to Capitalism

Dating back to Ronald Reagan, and even before, conservatives have constantly attacked government. The drumbeat repeats the notion that the private sector can do everything better. “Privatize everything" is the mantra. It’s hard to imagine anything more destructive to our economy.

This presidential season, GOP candidates have revved up the maligning of government, and even liberals and Democrats join in the chorus, spreading the big lie that government is too big, corrupt and wasteful without understanding just what government provides the economy and society.

A big part of the message is that the private sector is responsible for the progress and innovation that drive economic growth. Conservatives crow that private venture capital is what makes America great. Mega-millionaire Mitt Romney is the loudest on this point -- a man who made his money at Bain Capital, a venture operation known for buying companies, laying off workers and selling them off for big profits.

Yet the persistent view that the private sector is chiefly responsible for economic growth is false. Those who claim the superiority of private capital and insist that government is not effective as an inventor or venture capitalist should consider the history of the jet engine and the computer, to name just two inventions have been essential to progress and technology growth. They were both developed with public money. The Internet, too, was invented in a government laboratory in the late '60s , and its early applications were heavily underwritten by the federal government.

[Tansy_Gold]

26. What's with the front page?

I never look at much on the DU home page but today I scroll down a little bit to the "Left Column" and there's our dear ol' SMW on the front page? Is that because of recs or something?


Tansy Gold, sometimes in the dark about these things.

[Fuddnik]

28. They're on to ya!

Quick, Hide!

[Tansy_Gold]

35. You, and maybe one other person who shall go mainely unidentified,

are THE REASONS I DO NOT ALLOW LIQUIDS IN MY OFFICE!

[xchrom]

29. oh that's cool! nt

[KoKo]

36. Glad to see you all back on the Front Page!

I'm not of here...but do scan front page and gotta tell you what a treat that was to see you all back for my morning check.

Congrats! You make the DU-3 a better place.



KoKo..

{the long time lurker and sometimes poster on the "SMW" since way, way back.)

[hamerfan]

37. I first saw this yesterday,

thanks to someone's tipoff about it in yesterday's SMW. I hope it continues.

[xchrom]

27. Wen signals something new

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/NC16Ad02.html

After years of delay, crackdowns, and failures, the time finally seems to have arrived for political reform in China, and this coincides with a major demotion in the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as on the 15th controversial Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai was replaced by Jiang Dejiang.

In his last press conference as prime minister, Wen Jiabao announced on March 14 to Chinese and foreign journalists - and to the billion Chinese who followed his remarks on TV - that without political reform, the economy could face serious problems. Thus he ideologically reversed the previous order of things, which called for economic reforms first and then, later or never, political changes. Moreover, he hinted that without political



changes even the present economic welfare, buttressing the CCP's hold on power, could be shaken.

We do not yet know the timing and content of these reforms, but the urgency with which the prime minister brought up the issue points to a definite change in policy emphasis, as the Chinese often only make allusions, clues, and vague references. It was raised in a manner that was at times dramatic, as when he explained that without political reforms China would likely to return to the serious mistakes of the Cultural Revolution. This would be a nightmare for the country, which considers that decade, from 1966 to 1976, a period of devastation.

The political reforms Wen outlined would help to undo the negative legacies of the Cultural Revolution, the "feudal past" (the ancient imperial tradition), and the modern phenomena of corruption and social inequality.

[xchrom]

30. SWIFT financial service cuts ties with Iran

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10145760



BRUSSELS (AP) — The SWIFT financial transaction service says it's cutting ties with Iranian banks that are subject to European sanctions.

In a statement Thursday, SWIFT — the banking hub crucial to oil, financial transactions and other trade — said the EU decision "prohibits companies such as SWIFT to continue to provide specialized financial messaging services to EU-sanctioned banks," and the company was forced to act.

Lazaro Campos, chief executive of SWIFT, said "disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT. It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran."

The sanctions are aimed at forcing Iran to demonstrate to the international community that it's not trying to develop nuclear weapons.


*** that's the whole article.

[Ghost Dog]

42. This does indeed set an extraordinary and unprecedented

precedent.

[xchrom]

31. Saudi Billionaire’s Gold Find May Double Ethiopian Production

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/saudi-billionaire-s-gold-find-may-double-ethiopian-production.html

National Mining Corp., a closely held company owned by Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi, said it found gold deposits in southern Ethiopia that may produce at least 10 metric tons a year, almost doubling national output.

Exploration conducted over 15 years shows the Okote site in Ethiopia’s Oromia region has more than 550 tons of gold, of which 73 tons may be ready for extraction within 24 months, Chief Executive Officer Melaku Beza in an interview on March 12 in Addis Ababa, the capital. The company plans to invest $150 million in the initial phase of production, he said.

“This area has huge potential,” he said. “The revenue will be about $4 billion in 20 years’ time” from the 73 tons and the government will receive $1 billion from tax and royalty payments over that period.

Ethiopia, the world’s third-biggest coffee grower, is diversifying its economy to reduce its reliance on agriculture, which accounts for 43 percent of the gross domestic product, according to African Development Bank data. Gold exports surged 75 percent to 11 tons in the fiscal year through July 7, 2011, generating $485.3 million. Earnings totalled $258.8 million in the first half of the current fiscal year from $179.2 million a year earlier, according to Trade Ministry data.

[Demeter]

32. A Jobs Bill That Will Provide Help, but for All the Wrong People

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/a-jobs-bill-that-will-provide-help-but-for-all-the-wrong-people/?ref=business

Finally, the House passed a jobs bill last week. And what a bill it is!

Officially called the Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups Act, it calls for reopening our capital markets to exciting new start-ups by ridding protections for investors and stripping away disclosure requirements for smaller companies. JOBS has been repeatedly assailed, but it will bring much-needed help to some of the harder hit sectors of the economy. John Coffee, a Columbia Law professor, has hailed the bill as “the boiler room legalization act.” And rightly so. Boiler room operations were one of the unsung job creators of the 1990s, producing some of America’s greatest penny stocks and boom times for yacht makers and coke dealers. But these small, hard-working firms have run into hard times. Areas of Long Island and Boca Raton, Fla., still have not recovered since the heyday of the Nasdaq. How long must a lost generation of Lamborghini-loving 20-somethings suffer while their talents for talking quickly go to waste? Congress is on the case, with Democrats and Republicans working together at last. It’s not just the House. The Senate is expected to pass a similar bill this week.

Since the technology stock blowup, the accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, investors have been needlessly wary of putting their savings into fledgling companies offered by Wall Street banks.

The JOBS bill fixes that. Taking advantage of the revolutionary possibilities of the Internet, the bill loosens decades-old investor protections so that companies can directly advertise to those who would like to be separated from their money. It does that by giving broad exemptions for start-ups that want to “crowdfund” by raising small amounts of money over the Internet. I.P.O. pitches next to “Lose Your Belly!” ads. Sounds like a great idea!

Nigeria shouldn’t be the only country to benefit from the Web. Right here in America, the elderly are increasingly attractive to a variety of entrepreneurial spirits. If JOBS becomes the law, such innovators could flourish. Let’s not forget Wall Street analysts. Once, men and women could make a good living by stamping glowing ratings on companies offering stock to the public for the first time, even if they secretly believed those companies were dogs. You could even become famous, like Jack Grubman or Henry Blodget. Ever since the cleanup back then by the New York State attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, analysts have lost some luster. With JOBS enacted, Wall Street analysts will once again be able to shill for the companies that their own investment banks are shepherding through the initial public offering process....And, anyway, trust and confidence are overrated. Wild West markets are more thrilling. If Americans thought otherwise, Las Vegas casinos would have the buy-and-hold room next to the roulette wheels....Then again, for entertainment, our capital markets just cannot compete with Congress.

*********************************************************************

Jesse Eisinger is a reporter for ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Email: [e-mail]. Follow him on Twitter (@Eisingerj).

[xchrom]

33. Chinese Economy Already in ‘Hard Landing,’ JPMorgan’s Mowat Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/chinese-economy-already-in-hard-landing-jpmorgan-says.html

China's economy is already in a so- called “hard landing,” according to Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief Asian and emerging-market strategist.

“If you look at the Chinese data, you should stop debating about a hard landing,” Mowat, who is based in Hong Kong, said at a conference in Singapore yesterday. “China is in a hard landing. Car sales are down, cement production is down, steel production is down, construction stocks are down. It’s not a debate anymore, it’s a fact.” His team was a runner-up for best Asian equity strategists in a 2011 Institutional Investor magazine poll.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.6 percent yesterday, the most since Nov. 30, after Premier Wen Jiabao said home prices are still “far from a reasonable level.” His comments fueled concern the government will maintain restrictions on the property market for an extended period even as the curbs threaten to slow economic growth.

Wen announced at the beginning of a national lawmakers’ congress on March 5 an economic growth target of 7.5 percent for this year, down from 8 percent over the past seven years. Data last week showed China’s factory output in the first two months of the year rose the least since 2009, while retail sales increased less than economists predicted and inflation eased to the slowest pace in 20 months. A report today showed foreign direct investment in China fell in February.

[xchrom]

34. Global Food Prices Seen Declining as Demand Growth Slows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/rice-prices-10-30-higher-in-many-asian-nations-correct-.html

World food prices will drop this year as increases in unemployment in developing and developed countries slows growth in demand, the United Nations said.

“We have started to see a decline in food prices,” Jose Graziano da Silva, director general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said at a conference in Hanoi today.

World economic expansion will slow to 3.3 percent this year from 3.8 percent in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund. In China, Premier Wen Jiabao has announced a growth target of 7.5 percent for this year, down from 8 percent in the past seven years. Global harvests of wheat and rice, the world’s two most-consumed food grains, are headed for records as farmers boost planting to benefit from rising prices.

“We saw acreage up across almost all crops, while we’ve seen efforts at expanding livestock herds,” adding to food supply and pushing prices lower, Michael Creed, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by phone from Melbourne. The high prices last year certainly produced a response from farmers, he said.

[Demeter]

41. Up-date on a day to remember

Well, the fuel pump on the car was dead, and cost $700 to replace, which puts the trip to the gas station immediately after into perspective...

and now, there is a tornado on the ground about 15 miles from here, heading this way.


I am going to a small interior room now...to cry.

Did I mention that I went to get my spare car, and it's also broken? The ignition switch is kaput....two in one day (my borrower ran it this morning...I knew it was failing...anything with 215K miles on it....

[Ghost Dog]

43. I had a fuel pump replaced on the 12-year-old Peugeot Diesel last year.

Cost some €220 all told.

[kickysnana]

45. The Chilton on Demeter's car probably says "first remove engine"

I had one of those once and I did take it in but that was back in the day when fuel pump and labor were normally $90 and they only charged me $120.

BTW are you saying that "my car costs less than yours na, na" or "you shoulda bought a diesel" or that "American mechanics gouge customers" or like me usually are you just making conversation which turns into a flame fest because "almost anything on DU can be taken as an offensive and often is by some wiseacre like me."

[Fuddnik]

46. Most of us regulars know each other pretty well.

And just converse and exchange experiences.

I've had plenty of those cars before. Remove engine. Replace loose nut behind steering wheel.

I just tried to replace a $20 part on my motorcycle. Screwed it up, took it to a mechanic who knew what he was doing, and found a disaster waiting to happen. You know, something minor like the pistons melting. It cost me $400, but probably saved me $2000.

[Demeter]

48. NO, but they had to remove the gas tank

It's just that the part was so incredibly expensive. For that much money, it SHOULDN'T EVER fail!

After all, the Saturn's fuel pump is still going strong after 20 years and 215 thousand miles....

[DemReadingDU]

49. The never-ending nightmare

So sorry to hear of all these problems.
I wish you a better day tomorrow.

[Ghost Dog]

50. No offense intended!

I guess it's the cost of the part that appears excessive, as Demeter agrees above. And also I'd generally be plugging the lower cost of living to be enjoyed along with the equitable climate in the Canary Islands (where I'm at at the moment, taking a few days furlough from UK where the car's awaiting further travels - a Peugeot 306 Break HDI, a nice drive, with only 105000 km (65200 miles) on the clock, the last 5000 just added on the trip up to and around UK).

I've noticed few older cars on the roads in UK, btw. It seems the annual roadworthiness test there is a scam, wherein local garages perform the tests and have an incentive to find faults and insist on expensive repairs. In Spain they're government-run testing centers with no such incentive. So there's a lot of private debt in UK financing new cars (on top of all the mortgage debt - housing is incredibly expensive there, as is everything else to my hispanic eye).

[Fuddnik]

47. Stay safe, and good luck Demeter!

I'm looking at the Weather Channel right now, and it looks very scary and dangerous in your neighborhood.