STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday 24 April

[ozymandius]

Monday April 24, 2006

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 1001 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 1950 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1650 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1611
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON April 21, 2006

Dow... 11,347.45 +4.56 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq... 2,342.86 -19.69 (-0.83%)
S&P 500... 1,311.28 -0.18 (-0.01%)
Gold future... 635.50 +12.40 (+1.95%)
30-Year Bond 5.10% -0.04 (-0.74%)
10-Yr Bond... 5.01% -0.03 (-0.54%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Dollars, Loonie and Silver


PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

[Oversea Visitor]

1. Nice cartoon

In a way very true

But that guy got a slap for his trouble :rofl:
Now face all red with a five finger imprint on his face :rofl:

[ozymandius]

2. WrapUp by Chris Puplava

WEEK IN REVIEW

Economics Highlights:

The big market movers this week were the Producer Price Index (PPI), Housing Starts, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes on Tuesday, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday.

The FOMC minutes for the March 27-28 meeting were fairly upbeat on inflation as policymakers noted "that data over the intermeeting period, including measures of inflation expectations, suggested that underlying inflation was not in the process of moving higher." Most participants agreed that "the end of the tightening process was likely to be near," and that some members expressed concern that retention of the phrase "some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks...roughly in balance" could be misunderstood as suggesting that the Committee thought that several further tightening steps were likely to be necessary."

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[ClintonTyree]

26. That was before the price of crude went on it's current.....

flight into the stratosphere. Of course, oil and food aren't figured into the inflation index, god knows why as they're one of the most hefty expenditures in a family's budget, so I imagine the numbers will still be upbeat and all peachy-keen! I don't expect the Fed to stop their rate increases though, not with the current economic news.
Is Greenspan's "irrational exuberance" coming to bear again in the market? The magic 8-ball says, "everything points to yes".

[ozymandius]

3. Oil eases below $75 peak, Iran worry supports

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil eased below $75 a barrel on Monday as dealers took profits from last week's surge to a record high, but healthy investor demand, thinning U.S. gasoline stocks and growing tensions over OPEC producer Iran limited losses.

U.S. light, sweet crude tumbled 53 cents to $74.64 a barrel, distancing itself from the $75.35 record high struck on Friday, the fourth consecutive day in a row for a new peak.

-cut-

Many analysts see little chance of a sustained pull-back in prices that have soared more than 20 percent since January as investment funds plow more cash into the market amid growing geopolitical concerns surrounding major OPEC producers and worries about the state of summertime U.S. gasoline supply.

"At the moment, even without the event risk, you have a quite bullish picture," said Michael Coleman, managing director of hedge fund Aisling Analytics. "Add the event risk to that and it's difficult to see the market coming off anytime soon."

[rfranklin]

8. Why is it oil prices seem of no concern to the market now...

when a few weeks ago, according to commentators, the market was down because of oil prices that were $10 a barrel lower?

Could it be that business reporting is essentially bullshit?

[ozymandius]

In general, it is because money has sloshed over to petro-energy

stocks with their promise for a higher return. This is one of the curious psychological aspects of the markets. Energy is a safe haven for now with oil and related products being so high. When prices on the wholesale market move lower then you will see averages fall. Money seeks safety. The markets always gyrate wildly, falling as a result, when the prevailing direction loses its momentum.

[ozymandius]

9. Gas Prices Climb Sharply, Survey Finds

CAMARILLO, Calif. - Retail gas prices across the country jumped an average of nearly a quarter per gallon in the past two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.

Self-serve regular averaged $2.91 a gallon, up from $2.67 two weeks ago, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the nationwide Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations.

Also Sunday, OPEC President Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru predicted that oil prices would fall from their current high of just over $75 a barrel to stabilize in the "upper fifties to lower sixties."

more

[UpInArms]

40. Gas Prices Continue to Soar

http://cbs4denver.com/national/topstories_story_113200049.html

(CBS) More gas pains for drivers.

The Lundberg Survey says retail gas prices across the country jumped an average of nearly a quarter per gallon in the past two weeks.

Self-serve regular averaged $2.91 a gallon, up from $2.67 cents two weeks ago.

Analyst Trilby Lundberg says mid-grade hit three dollars a gallon while premium climbed to an average of $3.10.

The survey covered the period from April seventh through April 21st.

Among the stations surveyed, the lowest average price in the country for regular unleaded was in Boise, Idaho, at $2.54 a gallon.

Drivers in San Diego were paying the most for gas, at an average of $3.12 a gallon for regular.

...more...

[WhiteTara]

104. cheapest in Ukiay CA $3.13

name brand is $3.25 Yikes!

[ozymandius]

12. US won't ask OPEC for more oil

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman on Friday said he will not ask the OPEC cartel to pump more oil even though gasoline prices are soaring and Republican congressional leaders want the White House to do more to fight rising energy costs.

High energy prices will be on the agenda this weekend at the International Energy Forum in Doha, Qatar, which will be attended by officials from 65 countries, including the United States and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,

The price for U.S. crude oil hit a record $75.35 a barrel on Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange and gasoline at $3 a gallon continues to spread to many U.S. cities and towns.

-cut-

U.S. consumers should expect some short-term gasoline supply disruptions this summer as oil refiners switch from using the water-polluting fuel additive MTBE to ethanol when making motor fuel, Bodman said.

more

[54anickel]

41. Maybe because they know what the answer would be....

Hell NO! No more oil for you today!!!!

Jeez, you think that maybe prices would relax a bit if BeelzeBush would back off on the saber-rattling? He's such an undiplomatic ass.

So, when do we get to see those oil execs under oath anyway?

[ret5hd]

60. i think the answer might be more like this:

i'm givin' 'er all she's got, cap'n!

[Robbien]

73. You were right. OPEC said no more oil for you suckers

OPEC agrees to leave oil output unchanged

OPEC oil ministers have agreed to leave the group's 28-million barrels per day output ceiling unchanged, Venezuela's oil minister said on Monday, accepting there is little they can do to cool record high oil prices.

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez was speaking after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met for informal consultations during a summit of energy producers and consumers in Doha.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said OPEC was powerless to defuse the global tensions that were the chief cause of crude prices topping $75 a barrel, which did not reflect the demand from oil refiners.

http://www.miningweekly.co.za/min/news/today/?show=85022

[UpInArms]

71. Dimson: Gouger-in-Chief

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=11639

excerpt:

George got to his podium and, staring intently at the camera to show his utmost sincerity announced: "I know people here are suffering at the gas pump," George said, in his best “I feel your pain” voice. "I pledge to the people here that if we find any price gouging, it will be dealt with firmly."

At that point, filled with incredulity, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. I wondered if he was being cynical or sarcastic, or if he really believed what he was declaring.

He as the foremost gouger, the main leaker, the advocate of maximum corporate profits, the instigator of leaks, voting fraud and weapons of mass destruction, was announcing that he was going to do something drastic about high gas prices.

Sure, George, we all believe you. You bet!

Not long ago Prince Bandar and George kissed each other on the cheek, held hands, and took a little walk together, then a short time later gas prices doubled. Just coincidence? Sure, George, we believe you.

Then the energy company executives were assembled and questioned by a Republican sycophant who announced that swearing-in was unnecessary. Evidently they were all gentlemen, whose word of honor was sufficient to erase all doubt of their conspiring to raise prices. These are some of the same people that met with Dick Cheney, to help him form legislation concerning energy, in a secret session which still remains secret.

...more...

(edited 'cuz I duped an article that Ozy had posted :blush: )

[UpInArms]

101. Sen. Grassley (GOPpiggie-Iowa) opposes oil windfall-profits tax

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B78507CFA%2D2358%2D4835%2DA7E1%2D748D8335C02B%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Senate's top tax writer was cool Monday to calls to impose a windfall-profits tax on oil companies. Ultimately, "only consumers pay taxes," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters. "I see it as driving up the price of gasoline." Grassley said he was also "somewhat backing off" an inventory-based tax proposal aimed at the oil industry. Rising gas prices and record oil industry profits have led to growing calls by lawmakers for a profits tax, as well as tighter industry oversight.

:mad:

[UpInArms]

63. June Crude @ $74.20 bbl - May NatGas @ $7.80 mln btus

10:05 AM ET 4/24/06 JUNE CRUDE FALLS 97C, OR 1.3%, TO $74.20/BRL IN EARLY TRADE

10:05 AM ET 4/24/06 MAY NATURAL GAS DOWN 18.1C, OR 2.3%, AT $7.80/MLN BTUS

[UpInArms]

76. June Crude @ $74 bbl - May NatGas @ $7.765 mln btus - May Unl Gas @ $2.204

11:49 AM ET 4/24/06 JUNE CRUDE FALLS $1.17 TO $74/BRL AFTER A $73.65 LOW

11:49 AM ET 4/24/06 MAY NATURAL GAS FALLS 21.6C, OR 2.7%, TO $7.765/MLN BTUS

11:49 AM ET 4/24/06 MAY UNLEADED GAS DOWN 3.44C, OR 1.5%, TO $2.204/GAL

[Ghost Dog]

4. Tokyo shares drop: Yen strong against dollar

(FT) Japanese stock indexes fell on Monday at their fastest pace since the Livedoor shock in January, hit by a drop in the dollar against the yen and by fears over higher oil prices.

The Nikkei 225 plunged 2.8 per cent to 16,914.40. The Topix fell 2.6 per cent to 1,710.76.

The dollar fell to a three-month low against yen, hitting exporters with high exposure to the US market.

However, many exporters performed no worse than the market as a whole – with many domestic stocks falling by as much.

Analysts said stocks across the board were hit by fears that high oil prices might damage the new year’s corporate earnings.

/more, detail...

[Ghost Dog]

6. Japan market outlook (FT)

"What's really been exciting investors about Japan is how the domestic economy is now starting to stand on its own two feet.

During the 1990s up to about 2003 the domestic economy had lots of structural problems. Japan was very much dependent on the export cycle, selling products particularly to the US.

The export cycle is still important, but the emergence of the Japanese domestic economy is really starting to move things forward. It is manifesting itself in areas like real estate. Tokyo property prices fell every year for 15 years, but started to rise in 2004 and in some of the central business district areas, they're at 10 per cent to 15 per cent year on year.

We expect this to filter through from Tokyo into the second cities and out to the regions. It will give individuals in Japan the positive wealth effect from seeing their assets go up in price.

The other area that's really important is the way in which the Japanese corporate sector is now so much more profitable. This has allowed Japanese companies to reinvest in capacity and in manpower. Japan, if anything, has got a capital labour shortage. Corporate Japan is building factories, production bases and starting to re-employ people. Those people are now expecting higher wage growth.

The impact of a healthier property market and wage growth is giving the consumer a more positive feel-good factor to go out and spend.

Admittedly, it is coming from a low point. There is still a lot of movement to go.

But the big picture is that Japan has now got two engines, the export cycle and the domestic cycle. If those two engines are firing at the same time, the underlying growth rate should be sustained for the next two or three years.

/more...

[Ghost Dog]

7. EU calls on Japan to abolish barriers to investment

(FT) Japan should scrap barriers to foreign investment, including those on all-share mergers, Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, told business leaders in Tokyo.

In a speech ahead of Monday’s meeting with Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister, Mr Barroso said that Japan should improve regulations to “further its goal to be an open, flexible and competitive market economy”.

Mr Koizumi has led a push to attract more foreign investment from a historically low base. But foreign business associations, including those representing Europe, have complained that regulations implemented by the Koizumi administration have sometimes hindered, rather than facilitated, investment flows.

Referring to a rule requiring foreign companies to incorporate in Japan from next month, Mr Barroso said: “This will make some European companies technically illegal”.

He also complained about restrictions on all-share cross-border mergers, including what he said was an implicit requirement that companies undertaking such transactions be listed in Japan. “This de facto re-quirement should be scrapped,” he said.

<snip>

In spite of obstacles, Europe had been the biggest investor in Japan in recent years, averaging $5.5bn in the years 2002 to 2004.

In 2004, Japanese companies invested some €10bn in EU states, more than in any region, including the US or China, he said. Investment had been particularly heavy in new member states, where Japanese companies have built lower-cost manufacturing plants to export across Europe.

/more...

[Ghost Dog]

5. Bourses slip as euro climbs versus dollar

(FT) Europe’s bourses fell at the open on Monday as the euro hit a seven month high against the dollar making eurozone exporters’ goods less competitive.

/more, detail...

[Ghost Dog]

18. Dollar "Slides"

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The dollar slid sharply to its lowest for threem months against the yen and seven months versus the euro on Monday after the Group of Seven said at its weekend meeting in Washington that China should let its yuan currency appreciate as a way of fixing global imbalances.

The yen climbed around one percent against the dollar and the euro, which gained additional support as comments from Qatar and Russia added to speculation that central banks are shifting their reserves away from the dollar.

<snip>

EURO MOMENTUM BUILDS

The euro got a boost as yet another central bank said it was shifting reserves away from the dollar.

Qatar's central bank said on Sunday it had been buying euros in the foreign exchange market and could keep building its holdings of the European currency until they make up 40 percent of reserves.

Last week Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, said it had cut the share of dollars in its $21 billion of foreign exchange reserves in favour of the euro.

"We are seeing a dollar bearish move unfolding. The reserve story will support the euro from all angles," said Ian Stannard, currency strategist at BNP Paribas.

Also, Russia will be able to start investing its rouble-denominated oil stability fund in top-rated government securities, dollars, euros and pounds after Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov signed a law on investment rules, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told Reuters.

Kudrin on Friday questioned the dollar's pre-eminence as the world's "absolute" reserve currency.

/Plenty more...

[Ghost Dog]

88. ... Closed lower

FTSE 100 6098.7 -0.55%
CAC 40 5221.44 -0.59%
DAX 6079.09 -0.26%
SMI 8076.25 -0.21 %

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - European stocks retreated on Monday after a three-day winning run, hit by losses in pharmaceuticals such as Novartis (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) after the Swiss drugmaker reported weaker-than-expected sales.

Losses in Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and GlaxoSmithkline (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research), and in banks HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) also weighed on the market, while U.S. stocks fell.

<snip>

London's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> ended 0.5 percent lower, dragged by a late fall in mining stocks.

BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was off 0.7 percent, Antofagasta (ANTO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) eased 0.4 percent, while Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was flat after hitting record highs earlier in the day.

/more...

[Ghost Dog]

10. Gold "Rollercoaster"

Expect more of the same I guess when NY opens. See the Kitco 24-hour spot chart. Spot price currently around $632/oz.

SYDNEY, April 24 (Reuters) - Gold took a rollercoaster ride on Monday as investors first lapped up bullion then sold out, sending prices down more than 2 percent to $623.50 a ounce.

A weak dollar first pulled more money into gold before easing oil prices took some of the worry out of inflation concerns, prompting a wave of bullion sales, dealers said.

"Gold was up, but just as quickly seemed to come off," one said.

A range of investment and private funds -- increasingly seeing gold as a hedge against the depreciation of the dollar, particularly as rising oil prices spell higher inflation -- have pushed prices up as much as 25 percent this year.

Gold raced has high as $639.00 on Monday versus versus $632 in late New York trade on Friday before dropping to an intraday low of $623.10. At 0518 GMT, spot gold <XAU=> cost $624.10/$624.90 an ounce.

"It's not the biggest of moves, but we are seeing some profit taking after gold opened higher here," Commonwealth Bank of Australia commodities analyst Tobin Gorin said.

/more...

[ozymandius]

11. Snow urges end to lend-and-forgive cycle (screwing the poor)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As wealthy nations offer debt relief to the poorest, they must be sure not to trigger a new lend-and-forgive cycle that becomes endless, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Sunday.

"The clearance of unsustainable debt is a critical component of the broader solution," Snow said in prepared remarks to the Development Committee of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund.

"However, it also means we must take care that we don't add to these burdens in the near term," he said. The IMF and World Bank need mechanisms to constrain the accumulation of so-called concessional debt -- debt offered at below-market rates -- so countries do not get themselves right back into debt problems.

-cut-

"We believe countries which receive assistance from the multilateral development institutions should use the World Bank's procurement systems -- not only because they are the best in the business -- but also because it promotes fair and efficient competition, which saves these governments money," Snow said.

more

[54anickel]

21. Imbalances grow as leaders point fingers

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/hvvgwRSTZNkGq9g2tx4ljh?siteid=mktw&dist=TNMKTW&print=true&dist=printTop

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The top economic minds from around the world grappled for hours Friday to defuse a ticking time bomb: global imbalances.

Everyone knows what to do about the imbalances, in theory. But it's a different story when it comes to actually deciding whether to disconnect the red wire or the black wire first.

Global imbalances have been growing for years, the result of extra low interest rates, booming export growth in Asia, a glut of savings in some nations and a gluttony of consumption in others.

snip>

Snow said global imbalances must be readjusted with care. The key question for policy makers around the globe is "who picks up the slack" when U.S. economic growth slows to its long-term trend rate, as it must, Snow said. :hurts:

more...

[UpInArms]

79. Treas' Adams Gets Mad because anyone notices USoA Debt and Deficits

12:11 PM ET 4/24/06 ADAMS BLASTS 'FANATICAL OBSESSION' WITH U.S. FISCAL DEFICIT

12:11 PM ET 4/24/06 ADAMS: U.S., CHINESE MEET TODAY ON FINANCIAL MODERNIZATION

12:11 PM ET 4/24/06 ADAMS: U.S., CHINESE IN AGREEMENT ON SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES

12:11 PM ET 4/24/06 TREASURY'S ADAMS: U.S. SEES G7/IMF AS "EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL'

[AnneD]

83. So let me rephrase this...

This guy that stands guard at the cookie jar is upset because we have noticed that someone is taking cookies and replacing them. Talk about displaced blame:nuke:

[ozymandius]

13. Market Preview: Consumer confidence faces challenge from high oil prices

High petrol costs and rising energy bills are growing burdens for consumers globally, draining their disposable income and limiting their appetite for retail spending.The impact is set to show in this week's data releases and potentially poses a challenge to the optimism now displayed by equity investors.Specifically, there could be evidence that US growth is starting to slow. The US Conference Board consumer confidence index, due tomorrow, is expected to ease from 107.2 in March to 106.0 in April.

While robust growth in the labour market appears to have outweighed concerns over higher petrol prices, fears are growing that the shift towards ethanol-based petrol could precipitate another jump in gasoline prices this summer, similar to the sharp rise that followed Hurricane Katrina last autumn.Confidence was hugely affected by the devastation of New Orleans, making it impossible to isolate the impact of higher petrol prices on consumers.

But since then interest rates have continued to rise while the housing market has shown evidence of a slowdown.And although US existing home sales broke a five-month decline in February with a rise to 6.9m (annualised), further weakness is expected with a decline to 6.7m in March's data tomorrow.

one huge honkin' paragraph

[Ghost Dog]

17. UK Retail sales up but trend downwards

LONDON (Reuters) - Retail sales rose more quickly than expected last month but put in their weakest quarterly performance in a year, official figures showed on Monday.

The Office for National Statistics said sales rose 0.7 percent in March after a downwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in February, putting them up 2.6 percent on the year.

The monthly rise was more than double analysts' forecasts but for the first quarter of 2006 as a whole retail sales fell 0.7 percent from the previous three months -- the first drop and weakest outturn since February 2005.

"While the data is on the face of it good, the weakness evident in this report suggests that the consumer sector remains weak," said Gavin Redknap, economist at Standard Chartered. "Mixed messages for the Bank of England."

<snip>

The Bank of England has been counting on a consumer spending recovery to drive economic growth this year but with the underlying rate of sales growth dipping into negative territory that revival seems far from assured.

Still, short sterling interest rate futures fell after the stronger-than-expected March figure as it raised market speculation the next move in interest rates will be up from 4.5 percent.

/more, including UK "public sector net borrowing"...

[ozymandius]

14. On Wall Street: Three 'bears' lie in wait for Goldilocks

Who to believe when different markets tell different stories?

Follow the stock market, and the impression is that all is well. Tuesday saw the strongest and broadest rally for US stocks in over a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the longest established US index, hit a six-year high on Thursday, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies had its best rise in more than five years on Tuesday.

All well and good. But look at the commodities markets. The run-ups in a range of basic materials and precious metals continue to dazzle. Most notably, oil has run back over $70 per barrel. This should be bad news for the stock market - aside, of course, from companies who make their money from selling oil.

And then there is the bond market. Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond pierced the 5 per cent barrier last week. Higher bond yields, all other things equal, should lead to lower ratings on stocks.

So what is going on?

more

[54anickel]

19. Warning flags flutter on economy

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0424/p17s02-cogn.html

Economists are reluctant to forecast recessions, especially since they have become less frequent in recent years. It is professionally damaging to wrongly predict such a slump.

Economists are less reluctant to warn of trouble ahead, such as a housing bubble bursting, trillions of dollars in loan-related financial packages coming unglued, or the dollar plunging as huge United States trade deficits continue.

In general, economists do modestly better at predicting the economy than simple mathematical projections of past economic trends do. But economists often get into trouble when they try to foretell financial downturns. Why do you suppose that is? Couldn't be that the PPT has made their prediction tools as meaningless as the gov't reports that come out every month - could it?

Perhaps that's why most economists are cheery about the health of the US economy. When in doubt - cheerlead! Ruh-Roh!!!

Economists and policymakers at the US Federal Reserve also have a history of upbeat forecasting. They didn't see the last recession in 2000 and 2001 until about nine months after it started.

That's typical, because the Fed and other economists rely on financial data collected with a lag of a month or more. That have been massaged to death - nothing like lying to yourself. :eyes:

more...

[ozymandius]

58. Here's a rhetorical question for you.

If we had large trade surpluses, a federal budget surplus, a housing market that had slow but guaranteed growth and a stable dollar - all that would be a bad thing?

I wish one of these "cheery" economists would answer me that.

[54anickel]

20. Check out Josh Bolten's second and third points of his 5 point strategy

(Thanks to Bush_Eats_Beef for posting this link in another discussion this weekend)

2 MAKE WALL STREET HAPPY. In an effort to curry favor with dispirited Bush backers in the investment world, the Administration will focus on two tax measures already in the legislative pipeline--extensions of the rate cuts for stock dividends and capital gains. "We need all these financial TV shows to be talking about how great the economy is, and that only happens when their guests from Wall Street talk about it," said a presidential adviser. "This is very popular with investors, and a lot of Republicans are investors."

3 BRAG MORE. White House officials who track coverage of Bush in media markets around the country said he garnered his best publicity in months from a tour to promote enrollment in Medicare's new prescription-drug plan. So they are planning a more focused and consistent effort to talk about the program's successes after months of press reports on start-up difficulties. Bolten's plan also calls for more happy talk about the economy. With gas prices a heavy drain on Bush's popularity, his aides want to trumpet the lofty stock market and stable inflation and interest rates. They also plan to highlight any glimmer of success in Iraq, especially the formation of a new government, in an effort to balance the negative impression voters get from continued signs of an incubating civil war.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1186555-1,00.html

[Roland99]

22. More Campaign, Less Governing

[54anickel]

27. Still all about image, you've got to admit it has worked well for the

Repukes in the past. They've focused on image, pushing their false realities while Dems tried to focus on real and difficult issues that just don't convert well to sound bites. Murikans love sound bites, they've been kept too busy and too poor to pay attention to the details. Hoepfully they're hurting enough to start paying attention now.

[TAPat]

30. BINGO!

Hit that one right on the head ---> they've been kept too busy and too poor to pay attention to the details. :(

[AnneD]

51. Morning Marketeers,

:donut: and all you lurkers. Welcome aboard. Many of these soon to be surprised economists have become adept at lying to us via faulty report (then going back and 'readjusting' the numbers when we're not looking). The sad thing is that they have started believing their own press releases and the public AKA Main Street has wised up and is not falling for it in the numbers they use to. The consumers are like the mules in the mine shaft. They have been pulling the cars full of coal in the dark mine shaft for most of their life. They are finally seeing the light and know that Wall St and the Corp have taken advantage of them. It will get even uglier before long....

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears..

[Roland99]

47. The only people buying it now, though, are the die-hard 30%ers

Oh, and the M$M.

[54anickel]

50. M$M probably ain't buying, but they sure are selling it (for a profit) n/t

[Roland99]

54. Well, depends on how far up you go in the M$M corporate ladder

Some of the "grunts" (David Gregory, Helen Thomas, Bob Woodruff, etc.) don't buy it but they're pretty much ham-strung by $$$-eyed editors and execs.

[ozymandius]

15. Economic earthquake can be prevented

SUDDENLY, the tectonic plates of the world economy have shifted. The weekend’s tremors felt in Washington at the spring gatherings of the International Monetary Fund and finance ministers of the world’s key economic powers were slight, but they seemed to have the potential, at least, to herald some significant upheavals to come.

The much-vaunted problems of “global economic imbalances”, which were a central focus of the talks in the US capital, can certainly be compared to the formidable geological pressures that accumulate under the Earth’s crust.

Like tectonic forces, the imbalances are vast and, to most, unfathomable. They are the product of the action of fundamental forces between the world’s big geographical blocs — in this case huge international flows of goods and capital. The imbalances, too, harbour the potential to unleash a devastating “quake” if stresses reach a critical point — the shockwave in this case being most likely to come in the form of a slump in the dollar.

The crucial difference, though, between the geological dangers and the economic ones that threaten the global economy is that we can do something to mitigate the economic threats. The problem of the global imbalances is well diagnosed, the scary prognoses are well known and the prescriptions to forestall disaster have been spelled out repeatedly by experts, not least the IMF’s — but to little effect.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8210-2149380,00.html

[54anickel]

23. Bad Advice (Roach)

http://www.morganstanley.com/GEFdata/digests/20060421-fri.html#anchor0

So China didn’t give on the great currency issue after all. After months of increasingly intense expectations, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington ended pretty much as it began on this great bone of contention. The Chinese leadership has rejected the advice to institute a major revaluation of the renminbi offered by a broad array of so-called US experts -- from prominent academics and business leaders to a majority of the political establishment. While China will now have to face the wrath of the protectionists, in my view, the Chinese leadership has made the right decision at the right time. The US body politic has given China truly terrible advice on this key issue.

This is not the first time that Washington has tried to browbeat a major US trading partner into submission by using the blunt instrument of currency appreciation as the “remedy” for a trade imbalance. Repeatedly during the 1980s, when the US was in the midst of its first external crisis -- a current account deficit that peaked at a then-unheard of 3.4% share of GDP -- Washington pounded on Japan to let the yen rise. After all, the bilateral deficit with Japan was the biggest piece of the then-gaping US multilateral trade deficit. The theory was if Japan repriced its “unfair” competitive advantage, all would be well for an unbalanced world. Unfortunately, the Japanese heeded this advice, and the yen/dollar cross rate soared from 254 in early 1985 to an intraday peak of 79 in the spring of 1995. Sadly, Japan’s “endaka” (strong yen) was a major factor behind its subsequent undoing -- fueling the mother of all asset bubbles in equities and property that ended with a sickening collapse into a protracted post-bubble deflation. Politics never cease to amaze me, but I am incredulous that a mere 20 years later, America is offering the Chinese the same bad advice that took Japan down a road of unmitigated macro disaster. Fortunately, saner minds have prevailed in Beijing.

It’s worth belaboring this comparison a bit further. There are important lessons from the Japan side as well as from the US side that bear critically on China’s macro strategy. Japan was a very wealthy and prosperous nation when it acceded to endaka in the 1980s. Then -- and still now -- the world’s second largest economy, Japan was operating from a position of strength. In 1985, its per capita GDP was about 50% that of the United States. It thought -- incorrectly, as it turns out -- that it could afford to take a gamble with currency appreciation. China, by contrast, is still a very poor economy. Its per capita GDP of $1,700 is only 4% that of the United States. Moreover, China is at a very delicate point in its reform process -- undertaking a truly extraordinary transformation in its system of ownership that has great consequences for the world economy. Unlike the Japan of 20 years ago, China is operating from a position of weakness as it confronts the calls for a sharp RMB revaluation.

The US is also in a far more vulnerable position today than it was back then. Its current-account deficit is twice the size of the peak shortfall in 1987 -- and undoubtedly heading for further deterioration. Despite the 1980s-style trade-bashing rhetoric coming out of Washington, this is hardly China’s fault. As I have droned on ad naseum, it is a critical outgrowth of America’s unprecedented saving deficiency -- a net national saving rate that plunged to a record low of 0.3% of national income in the second half of 2005. By contrast, the US national saving rate was in the 6% zone in the mid-1980s, providing much more of a macro cushion than is evident today. With the current shortfall of domestic saving dwarfing that of 20 years ago, it’s hardly shocking that the Washington angst factor is far more intense today than it was back then. America is in a much deeper hole in 2006 than it was in 1985.

more...

[ozymandius]

16. Powerless OPEC to meet during global energy talks

DOHA (Reuters) - OPEC will hold talks during a global energy summit on Monday, powerless to halt surging oil prices that threaten consumer nations' economies and could trigger a collapse in demand disastrous to producer states.

Oil raced to an all-time high above $75 last week as Iran continued to defy world pressure to halt its nuclear program, a quarter of Nigeria's output lay idle after rebel attacks and Iraq's once considerable oil industry was mired in crisis.

Consuming nations -- from top energy user the United States to poor African nations -- are afraid high energy costs will snuff out economic growth. Producers fear a price collapse.

more

[54anickel]

24. Avoiding Political Talk, Saudis and Chinese Build Trade

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/world/asia/23saudi.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

As President Hu Jintao of China made his first state visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday, his arrival in Riyadh offered the latest sign of shifting winds across the oil-rich Persian Gulf region: China has grown as a major market for oil, and Arab states have begun turning to it as an alternative to the United States and Europe in other areas.

snip>

For decades, many Middle Eastern countries saw China as a source of low price, low quality goods or, worse, as a Marxist threat that armed rebel groups in the region during the 1950's and 1960's. But relations warmed in the 1990's, and oil trade boomed.

Now, interest in China and other Asian countries is rising throughout the Arab world. In Dubai, the sprawling Chinamex Mart, a mall of Chinese businesses, is seeking to become the largest distribution hub for Chinese products in the region. Chinese diplomats are making their presence felt on the society pages of local newspapers, and airlines in the region have been adding flights to Asian capitals. University courses in Chinese history and language have become more popular than ever.

"Saudi leaders are moving from benign neglect of China to considering it as a long-term partner," said Samuel Blatteis, a Fulbright fellow who has studied the growing ties between China and the Persian Gulf. "China is no longer the only side doing the courting."

more...

[54anickel]

25. China president looks to establish Saudi-fed oil reserve

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060423/bs_wl_afp/saudichinadiplomacy;_ylt=At1s0TwnQSrAGoQ1IlTfzMWmOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

RIYADH (AFP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao discussed a proposal to set up a Saudi-fed strategic oil reserve in China during a visit to the kingdom which has seen the signing of energy and defense deals, a Chinese official said.

The plan was raised during Hu's talks with King Abdullah on Saturday and both sides want to see it through, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The reserve would be on top of the oil supplies Saudi Arabia exports to China for its daily needs, which reached some 22.18 million tons last year, making Riyadh Beijing's biggest crude supplier, he said.

The reserve would be set up in a coastal city in southeast China, to be used by Beijing in case of emergency.

The official did not say how much oil would eventually be stockpiled. But he said Riyadh and Beijing were discussing the feasibility of the plan and ways of cooperating to carry it out.

snip>

Official Saudi media reported that in addition to signing a security agreement, the two sides inked a "contract on defense systems."

snip>

The Chinese president said nations should not be criticized for differing from the West in terms of cultural norms.

Hu warned the differences "should not be used as a pretext to hurl false accusations against the internal affairs of other countries, let alone blame a specific civilization, people or religion for causing problems and conflicts in the world." Now THAT'S an nice contrast to Bushco that I think will go over well with most of the globe (except for the West).

more...

[Ghost Dog]

36. Goes over very nicely here in Europe

(Based on long experience...)

[54anickel]

28. If GM Fails, Then What?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm23apr23,1,424116.story?coll=la-headlines-business

Ponying up more than $100,000 of their own money, three dozen General Motors Corp. dealers nationwide this month bought full-page newspaper ads imploring the public to give GM a chance.

"For the good of everyone, they must succeed and they need our help," the ad read. "We pledge ours. We hope you will do the same."

snip>

A GM bankruptcy filing would be the largest in history, challenging Wall Street, organized labor, politicians and the legal system to deal with the fallout.

GM's 147,000 workers in the U.S. and 460,000 retirees would face the prospect of their pension plans' being dumped on the federal government and of seeing their future benefits reduced.

Stock and bond markets could be upended, at least temporarily. GM shareholders, including billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who owns 9.9% of GM, could lose every penny of their investments in the carmaker. Meanwhile, the company's bondholders, banks and other creditors would face unknown losses on $33 billion of debt.

Almost certainly, a GM bankruptcy filing would have enormous repercussions for the entire U.S. auto industry, which still directly employs about 1 million Americans, many of them in the Midwest.

more...

Geez, feel that gun on your temple? Hey GM, what have you done for me lately? What are you gonna do for me if I decide to help? More outsourcing? More wage concessions for higher exec and shareholder pay? I'm thinking those dealers shouldn't have bothered wasting their money. :eyes:

[corporate_mike]

106. Ford Shares Drop to 3-Year Low

Ford Motor Co. shares dropped more than 5 percent to a three-year low Monday, three days after the company reported a first quarter loss of $1.2 billion.

[54anickel]

29. So, You Think You’ve About Wrapped Things Up?

(End of the Credit Bubble Bulletin) http://www.prudentbear.com/creditbubblebulletin.asp

Has the Fed About Wrapped Things Up? This apparently is the message being telegraphed to the markets. Tuesday, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President (and voting FOMC member) Janet Yellen caught the markets’ and media’s fancy, declaring that she was ‘highly alert’ to the Fed’s tightening policy “going too far.” And with Wednesday’s release of the March FOMC meeting minutes came this zinger of capricious dovishness: “Most members thought that the end of the tightening process was likely to be near, and some expressed concerns about the dangers of tightening too much.” On the back of this revelation, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 200 points and the broader market surged to new record highs. Definitely not to be outdone, the CRB and Goldman Sachs Commodities indices surged to new all-time highs; crude oil jumped to a record high, while Gold surpassed $640 and silver $14 an ounce.

Ms. Yellen was interviewed Wednesday on CNBC. In response to a question on the degree of Fed concern with rising commodities prices, Ms. Yellen downplayed the risk, stating that it was a reflection of the strong global economy. She immediately noted that the Fed was carefully monitoring “inflation expectations” and, in this regard, was comforted by the narrow TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) bond spread. With the Fed blithely fixated on the TIPS market, investors and speculators across the globe are in a frantic stampede to acquire assets for protection against, and to profit from, what they must expect will be the most powerful ongoing inflationary forces in many years. At this point not all too surprising, the Fed is content to focus on one of the very few indicators not signaling a problematic monetary backdrop.

It is crucial for the Fed and investors to recognize that TIPS spreads are today an especially poor barometer of the predominant global inflationary pressures (explaining why they are losing significant relative value to commodities and global asset markets). The principal of a TIPS investment is protected only against the loss of monetary value associated with a decline in a narrow facet of inflation – the government’s measurement of an aggregate of consumer prices. Irrespective of the myriad problems with the methodology of the government’s calculations, this period’s gross inflation (loss of purchasing power) is manifesting in surging energy, commodities, and global asset prices generally – largely outside of CPI. To be sure, TIPS spreads are today an especially deceiving indictor of general monetary conditions, and it is unbecoming of the Fed to give it significant weight in policy analysis.

snip>

As recipients of a little slice of each monetary inflation (new Credit, equity or derivative instrument), the major financial institutions are enjoying an unprecedented Credit Bubble Blow-off Windfall. Significant portions of this bounty go directly to compensation and stock buybacks. This compensation is a not insignificant element of the enormous Asset Bubble-related income bonanza today feeding the U.S. Bubble Economy. And the massive buybacks – Citi, BofA, JPMorgan and Merrill combined to repurchased 189 million shares DURING THE QUARTER – work to bolster stock market liquidity that works to sustain the Credit Bubble. And, you can be sure, giant pay packages (certainly including option grants) and aggressive stock buyback schemes are not indicative of managements about to become more conservative in lending or market activities.

snip>

But the financial world is changing rapidly and radically. The dollar is methodically losing its status as a stable and reliable reserve currency. At the same time, currencies generally are losing favor to real assets as stores of value. Understandably, market participants are questioning the will and capacity for central bankers and policymakers to stabilize the Unwieldy Global Credit system. It would at this point require a determined and concerted effort to instigate some serious financial and economic restraint, especially among American, Chinese and Japanese authorities. No one would dare hold their breath waiting for such an outcome.

With faith in the prospects for the dollar and global currencies in retreat, the U.S. is in the process of losing its invaluable competitive advantage issuing top-rated liquid securities. This has huge ramifications come the next period of financial dislocation. The Fed’s intent to aggressively cut rates and incite yet another bout of lending and leveraged speculation (Credit Inflation) will likely be obstructed by the unwillingness of foreigners to accumulate more dollar IOUs. In the meantime, I believe the changing global landscape will necessitate that that the U.S. now pays an ongoing significant yield differential. Rampant liquidity and speculative excesses demand that global rates rise across the board, while the stability of the dollar depends upon the Fed’s willingness to maintain significant rate differentials. Our foreign creditors will demand higher rates and much tighter monetary conditions, and the Fed’s dream of wrapping things up before it gets painful faces the reality that our creditors are increasingly tired of getting hurt.

more...

[UpInArms]

31. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX

Last trade 87.67 Change -0.23 (-0.26%)

Market Reverts to US Dollar Weakness

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_technicals/Market_Reverts_to_US_Dollar_1145872872293.html

EUR/USD – Last week was quite the party for euro bulls as EUR/USD set not only yearly, but 30 week highs. The strength seen last week could quite possibly be the start of a major up trend, but that does not mean that near term profit taking will not lead to declines in the interim. From open to close, the pair rallied 235 pips last week. There have been only 35 weeks (prior to last week) out of a possible 384 weeks (since the advent of the euro in 1999) that EUR/USD has gained 200 pips or more from open to close in one week. Of those 35 weeks, the next week saw a decline in price 21 times. Thus, after a gain of at least 200 pips, EUR/USD declined the next week 61% (21/35) of the time. The average of those 21 declines was 147 pips. On the other hand, if the pair will continue to gain the next week 40% of the time (14/35) the 14 gains produced an average gain of 105 pips. In summary, history suggests that the probability for a correction is greater than the probability for a continuation and that the potency of a move down is potentially greater than the potency of a move up by a factor of roughly 1.5 to 1.

<snip>

USD/JPY – The Yen has slaughtered the US dollar as USD/JPY has finally found support at the 200 day SMA. Friday’s close below the supporting trendline from May 2005 immediately led to today’s 140 pip drop. We can exclaim with a good deal of certainty that we have left the tight range conditions behind a long as the pair makes a daily close below the 3/20 low of 115.49. A sustained break below the 200 day SMA at 115.50 targets the 50% fibo of 108.75-121.37 at 115.06. Continued weakness probes the 1/12 low of 113.41. The confluence of the former supporting trendline from May near 117.00 / 4/19 low at 116.93 is now resistance. Daily oscillators are bearish but have plenty of room to move to the downside with RSI still above 30 – RSI can hover around extreme levels for quite some time during strong trends.

...more...

[UpInArms]

34. G-7 Message Fuels Yen Rise

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_brief/G_7_Message_Fuels_Yen_Rise_1145876239636.html

Without a doubt the story of the night in the currency market was the parabolic move in USD/JPY as the hawkish tone of the G-7 communiqué with respect to yuan revaluation caught the market by surprise and pushed the pair lower by more that 150 points from its New York close on Friday. In fact the pair gapped lower by 100 points in the Tokyo open – a rare event in the currency market – as traders scrambled for the exits. G7 asserted that it was "critical" for China and other Asian economies to pursue greater currency flexibility a move seen by the market as a verbal prod to the Chinese to speed up the process of free floating the yuan.

Chinese officials promptly rejected those calls with PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan stating that “Each country is entitled to choose an exchange rate system consistent with its own economic development.” Indeed, in early Monday trade the yuan refused to budge actually weakening from 8.0170 on Friday to 8.0185 today. However, the yen benefited mightily as a proxy for what the market believes will be eventual yuan strength.

Over the past several weeks speculators have been itching to sell USD/JPY first on the assumption that ZIRP would be removed quickly and then on the idea that the yield on 10 year JGB’s will rise above 2%. When neither of those scenarios materialized, market players quickly jumped on the G-7 news to push the yen higher.

...more...

[UpInArms]

35. Dollar slides to 7-month low vs. euro, 3-month low vs. yen

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BBBF2F3B6%2D49F5%2D49CF%2DB144%2D53CF46E35E77%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The dollar slumped to a three-month low against the Japanese yen and seven-month low against the euro early Monday, after the world's seven richest nations urged China on Friday to promote greater flexibility in the value of its currency. "The main cause in this drop was the G7's communiqué that shifted to a firmer policy tone against China's regulation of currency exchange," said Boris Schlossberg, senior currency strategist at Forex Capital Markets. "With both European and American policy makers now unified in seeking a readjustment in exchange rates of Asian currencies, the strength in the yen is likely to continue." In early New York trading, the dollar weakened 1.4% to 114.94 yen, after earlier touching 114.83 yen. The euro rose to $1.2409, before slipping back to $1.2365, up 0.2%.

[UpInArms]

82. dollar hits a sinkhole

Last trade 87.52 Change -0.38 (-0.43%)

Settle Time 15:02 Open 87.89

Previous Close 87.9 High 87.92

Low 87.45 2006-04-24 12:53:00, 30 min delay

[54anickel]

87. Dollar risk to global economy outweighs yuan risk - China central banker s

Dollar risk to global economy outweighs yuan risk - China central banker says

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/04/23/afx2689701.html

WASHINGTON (AFX) - China's central bank chief said the dollar represents a greater risk to the global economy than the yuan does.

Rather than monitoring the yuan, global financial institutions should watch the US dollar, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China.

snip>

'Global trade, settlements and reserve assets are heavily reliant on a single currency,' Zhou said in remarks to the International Monetary Fund. 'The fund should give priority to establishing a surveillance and check-balance mechanism of the major reserve currency countries.' Uhhh, hey, that be US!!! :yoiks:

'Favorable conditions in the financial markets do not rule out the possibility of a sudden reversal in sentiment,' Zhou said. The lack of coordination in the G7 on monetary policy 'could result in large and volatile movements of financial markets.

'We cannot ignore the risk of disorderly adjustments in financial markets,' Zhou said.

snip>

'In particular, the developed countries, while enjoying low-cost imported goods and services, have to restructure their industrial sectors quickly to create job opportunities and export advantages to improve their competitiveness and dampen protectionism,' Zhou said in prepared remarks to the International Monetary Fund's policy-making committee.

more...

[54anickel]

97. The Honeymoon Is Over! (Today's Pfenning)

http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=675

snip>

"The honeymoon period is now really over," Jan Lambregts, head of research at Rabobank Groep, said in Singapore. "The world is really starting to pressure China. There will be appreciation pressure on Asian currencies."

So... It's all coming together for the Asian currencies... Sure, the Asian Central Banks will attempt to "manage" the gains made by their currencies, by intervening and selling their own currency... But those will be temporary blips and should be used as opportunities to buy!

The dollar has been sold like hotcakes at a State Fair overnight... It will be interesting to see if that will continue once the U.S. traders arrive... I would imagine so... But you never know... You just never know... The thing I keep thinking about is the story I told you on Friday about Big Ben sending a letter to lawmakers telling them that "If the dollar declined sharply, it would not necessarily disrupt markets." I said at the time I thought he was giving them a "heads up"... And then right after that, G-7 comes out with their call for Asian currency appreciation... Hmmm... Smells a little fishy to me!

On Friday, we saw the euro and other currencies rally back a bit on the day after a story hit the streets that was quite interesting... Recall, I told you on Friday that Sweden's Riksbank had told everyone that they had reduced their dollar reserves in favor of euros... Well... In the face of Riksbank reserve adjustments away from the dollar, we had the Russian finance minister comment on the reserve status of the dollar... Let's listen in to see what he had to say... "The U.S. dollar is NOT the absolute reserve currency."

OK... I know, what does the Russian finance minister know? But... As we have visited a few times in the past couple of years... Foreign Central Banks continue to make noise about their currency reserves and how they need to adjust the dollar portion of the total reserves... This is a great conspiracy story... And one I can really sink my teeth into! Was the Russian FM tipping his hand and the hands of other central banks? We'll have to wait and see, eh? I'm guessing that he did... But that's just a guess at this point!

more...

[UpInArms]

102. Dollar decline won't hit stocks -- yet

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=mktw&guid=%7BE6834C6B-C52D-43A4-BD4F-E0646F94F141%7D&symbol=

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar's decline is unlikely to have a significant impact on the U.S. stock market in the near-term but the longer term is another story, market observers said Monday.

A falling dollar will discourage non-U.S. residents from investing in U.S. equities because investors would sustain losses in line with the decline of the U.S. currency. In other words, if the stock market goes up by 10%, but the dollar goes down by 10%, on net, investors get zero returns.

"$1.25 is an important psychological threshold for the euro/dollar," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at the Bank of New York. When that level is breached, "there will be the general perception in the market that the dollar has begun its next leg lower and resumed its structural decline."

But "right now we're in reasonably safe waters."

...more...

Oh, now I feel so much better! :sarcasm:

[UpInArms]

103. dollar tumbling - now at 87.43

Last trade 87.43 Change -0.47 (-0.53%)

Settle Time 15:06 Open 87.89

Previous Close 87.9 High 87.92

Low 87.41 2006-04-24 15:14:05, 30 min delay

[UpInArms]

32. Slow death consumes Oklahoma mining town

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-04-24T120120Z_01_N23131359_RTRIDST_0_LIFE-OKLAHOMA-GENERAL-FEATURE-PICTURE.XML

PICHER, Okla., April 24 (Reuters) - The death of their small town is not coming easily for the people of Picher, Oklahoma. But it is coming.

For 23 years now, the 1,500-plus residents of this historic mining community in northeast Oklahoma have known they were in trouble, trapped by growing evidence that waste from mining operations the area once thrived on was poisoning the air, the water and the land.

They have known about the lead contamination, the learning disabilities suffered by area children, the declining property values, and the cavernous holes found around the area, including one dubbed by locals as "hell's half-acre."

They have known their community was considered one of America's worst environmental disasters and have held tight to hopes that federal and state efforts could clean up the area and get rid of the dozens of 50-foot-tall (15-metre-tall) piles of lead and zinc mining waste known as "chat."

But hope died on Jan. 31 when the U.S. Corps of Engineers invited the townsfolk to a school auditorium and told them that a study of crumbling underground mine shafts showed entire swaths of their community could literally cave in at any time.

...more...

[54anickel]

38. OMG, that is sooo sad. I wonder when the mines actually closed and

deserted this community for green pastures to rape. The article says mining was the mainstay until the early 70's, but is that when they abandoned or did they hang around a little longer? I can't believe piles of that "stuff" have been laying around for 3 decades. Where were the "good stewards of the earth"? Oh, I suppose too busy, fat and happy living in a mining boom town being suckered by the mining corporation.

link to the local news - http://www.topix.net/city/picher-ok

link to discussion and pictures - http://www.tarcreek.com/

Little League Field



Chat pile between Connell and Main

[54anickel]

33. Real estate boom or doom?

http://www.prudentbear.com/archive_comm_article.asp?category=Guest+Commentary&content_idx=53735

Excerpted from July 2005

THE ECONOMY & DEFLATION
For Real Estate, It’s Time

snip>

Some say real estate can’t go down because far too many people are concerned about a real estate bubble, a worry that is now even greater than it was for stocks at the March 2000 NASDAQ peak. But as our section on “Real Estate and the Uh-Oh Effect” in January explained, it is actually another sign of a top when participants are dismissive of the warnings. The June 22 issue of Business Week asked a roster of economists if housing prices were “soaring unsustainably and due to plunge?” Not one said yes, though one did admit that the market “is caught up in the psychology of a bubble.” The rest agreed that the concept of “a national housing bubble is relatively silly.” The man on the street remains largely oblivious to the debate. A poll by the National Association of Realtors found that only 23% have heard of the potential of a housing bubble, and many didn’t know what pollsters meant by “bubble.” When informed, 37% said that a housing bubble is “somewhat” or “very likely.” The survey may explain the uh-oh effect. Apparently, a significant percentage of the population does not know that a return to earth is implicit in a financial asset’s pole-vault to record heights.



Excerpted from September 2005 Elliott Wave Financial Forecast

THE ECONOMY & DEFLATION

Back in March 2000, EWFF noted that the “fate of the world” hinged on the manic rise in 50 U.S. stocks, many of which were unprofitable. Five years and one recession later, the global economy is hanging by a similarly thin thread. The difference now is that the weight of the world is being held up by the public’s affection for real estate and the debt needed to acquire it. According to Irwin Stelzer of The Weekly Standard, data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics “shows that housing and related industries now account for 4.8 million jobs, some 60% more than the once-mighty auto industry.” While the U.S. auto industry lost 60,000 jobs in the past 4 years, the housing industry created almost 600,000 jobs in construction and financial services. Newspapers are a good example of how whole industries are clinging to real estate’s coat tails. As anticipated in past issues, the newspaper industry is slowly falling prey to the Internet and gathering deflationary forces, but its saving grace is a flood of real estate ads that have poured in over the last year. The Wall Street Journal reports that real estate ad revenue increases of 16% to 45% are “masking what has been a years-long decline in classified-ad revenue at newspapers.”

But the home-buying binge comes at a steep cost to U.S. households. The household surplus/deficit chart from Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust Co. shows the financial impact to homeowners. From the 1950s to 1999, one year before the start of the bear market, households maintained a surplus, whereby disposable personal income exceeded total expenditures on consumer goods and services and residential investment. At the height of the great financial mania, the balance of payments shifted, and households rapidly slipped into arrears. People’s willingness to borrow and spend on goods, services and homes bailed the economy out, but it leaves the primary driver of the U.S. economy with virtually no financial flexibility. What possessed owners and home buyers to spend themselves into a $400 billion deficit? Only the psychology of a Grand Supercycle trend change can account for it. Nothing else can explain the twisted mindset on display in recent real estate stories in the L.A. Times: “Mortgages used to be something people strove to pay off. Now they’ve become income tools.” “What was once considered undesirable — taking on large debt — is now seen as smart. And what used to be smart — becoming debt-free — is described as imprudent.” Says the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors and author of Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?, “Paying off a mortgage very unsophisticated.” The chief executive of an Internet-based mortgage company echoes this sentiment: “If you own your own home free and clear, people will often refer to you as a fool.” Many of these people undoubtedly said the same thing about anyone who advised against piling into Internet stocks in 1999.

snip>

Excerpted from April 2006 Elliott Wave Financial Forecast

Whatever You Do, Don’t Say D-O-W-N

February was another bad month for the housing industry, as sales of new homes plunged 10.5%, the biggest drop in nearly nine years, while prices fell and the number of homes on the market hit a record high. This has to be the real estate toboggan slide we’ve been expecting. In concert with the turn, the government is setting its sights on lenders. “Brokers who arrange home loans at high interest rates drawing scrutiny from law enforcement authorities,” and federal regulators are cracking down on the Federal Home Loan Banks in a way that threatens to shrink a subsidy long enjoyed by thousands of lenders.” New rules proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Board would require the banks to retain more of their earnings as capital to build up a bigger cushion against potential losses. These news items mark a tidal shift away from the feverish “sub-prime” lending climate that EWFF profiled in the July and September issues. As Barron’s notes, “Teaser rates have expired. With house prices no longer soaring, can’t easily cash out or refi.” Keep this quote from our July issue in mind: “This time there is no mistaking who the Enrons of the bust phase will be. They will be the firms now peddling adjustable-rate, no-interest/nothing-down and assorted other types of ‘sub-prime’ mortgages.”

And still there is virtually no fear about home values. A recent national survey of homeowners by the L.A. Times shows “widespread faith in the real estate market.” A question about expectations for house prices asked only about the predicted amount of future rises and did not even include a category that allowed for expressing an opinion about any decline. The worst possible scenario, that prices would “stay the same” over the next 3 years, was selected by just 5% of homeowners. That total was less than the 6% who said they expect to see a rise of “31% or more.” No matter how much talk of a bubble there may be, homeowners continue to demonstrate that they have no clue about the ramifications of one. Included in the survey were respondents with adjustable-rate mortgages, a quarter of whom said they “aren’t sure they’ll be able to make their monthly payments if interest rates go up.” Even among the financially strapped, the very concept of falling real estate prices is not a consideration. And, as the latest housing figures attest, this is in an environment in which prices actually are falling! The denial runs so deep, it’s not even denial anymore. It’s some kind of epic disconnect between the reality of a newly-falling housing market and an unwritten social contract that says home prices do not fall. Whatever this delusion is called, it cannot last much longer.

more...

[54anickel]

96. The housing bubble has popped

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P149596.asp?Printer

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal, "Hot Homes Get Cold" (subscription required) offered lots of its useful vignettes that serve as a microcosm of manic markets -- starting with the bravado-cum-denial displayed by a medical-equipment salesman in Stuart, Fla.

Concerned about his real-estate investment apparently going sour, he can't afford to reduce the price to what homes now sell for in his neighborhood -- which is about $100,000 less than he's asking. Says the salesman: "If I got in a jam, I would have to drop the price, but I am not at that point." His game plan: Rent the house, so as not to "lose my shirt."

That's the mentality often seen in manic markets -- the belief that you can't possibly lose, and, when the price goes against you, you don't have to deal with it, because it will come back. This fellow (and millions more like him) is going to find out that his belief is a mistaken one, in the same way that folks did when the stock bubble burst.

Dwelling takes a little shelling
The story went on to note that many formerly hot markets in California, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Florida are now "languishing without buyers or even prospects. Many once-booming markets are seeing double-digit declines in sales." The magnitude of the drop in Florida home prices (once the frothiest market in the country) is striking. Single-family home sales declined 20% in February, year-over-year. Similarly, California sales dropped 15%. Some of the hottest towns in those states were off twice as much.

more...

[UpInArms]

37. Voter anger sends tremors through Ohio

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604230398apr23,1,4501446,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed

LONDON, Ohio -- Looking for trouble? Well, come to the convenient, one-stop shop called Ohio, where the shelves are crammed with citizen crabbiness, outrage and high-octane bile.

There is plenty to provoke anguish--the economy and mounting job losses, the war in Iraq, rising health-care and gasoline costs. Preachers are squabbling, and the reality--not just allegations--of a "culture of corruption" has taken root. The state lost $50 million in a rare-coin scandal, and hapless Republican Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to failing to report free golf outings from lobbyists, has been blamed for nearly everything short of murdering Santa Claus.

With a litany of complaints that would resonate from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., Ohio this election year is America in political miniature, a little shop of public-opinion horrors that speaks volumes about what bothers people nationwide. Like the state tourism pitch, "Ohio, the heart of it all," it's all right here.

"What you're seeing is an ongoing distrust of major institutions," said Mark Weaver, a Republican Party strategist in Columbus. "It's corporate America, it's state and local government scandals . . . and I think the war in Iraq and the price of gas fuel the discontent in that people feel they've lost control over events."

<snip>

For better or worse, this is an election year in Ohio. May 2 is primary Election Day, and voters will choose nominees for major state offices, including governor. A recent University of Akron poll said 59 percent of Ohioans want to oust the Republicans, who have controlled state government for 16 years.

...more...

[UpInArms]

39. Treasurys higher after G7 statement on yuan

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BDB2F7109%2DEA75%2D4ECA%2DAD4F%2D53431C93B909%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

NEW YOEK (MarketWatch) - Treasurys were higher in the early going Monday, sending yields lower, drawing safe-haven interest from overnight weakness in Asian stock markets. Heavy losses on the Nikkei 225 sent money flows into U.S. Treasurys and other low risk instruments. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note last was up 7/32 at 96-5/32 with a yield ($TNX) of 4.997%. There are no U.S. economic reports to lend direction to trade Monday. The Treasury Department will make an afternoon announcement on upcoming auctions of 2-year and 5-year notes.

[UpInArms]

69. Printing Press Humming: Fed buys coupons, adding permanent reserves

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T144153Z_01_N24293216_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-FED-OPERATIONS.XML

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Monday said that it was buying coupons, adding permanent reserves to the banking system.

The Fed said it was buying coupons with maturities ranging from February 15, 2008 to November 15, 2008.

The Fed said all callables were excluded as well as the following three issues:

4.625 of 2-29-08;

4.625 of 3-31-08; and

4.375 of 11-15-08.

Bids are due by 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). Settlement is Tuesday, April 25.

[UpInArms]

81. US Treasuries up as traders await Bernanke and GDP

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T162433Z_01_N24436150_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Monday with traders anticipating more clues to the direction of interest rates later in the week in testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The market also awaits this Friday's release of the initial estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product.

With no economic indicators set for release on Monday, Treasuries trade was lackluster, with some limited support from strong energy prices.

"There is a little bit of value hunting going on, but also the thoughts are that oil prices, even though they are down a little bit right now, are still extremely high and could negatively impact consumer spending," said Mary Ann Hurley, a senior Treasuries trader at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Seattle.

...more...

[UpInArms]

42. American Express 1st-qtr profit falls

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T130143Z_01_WEN5255_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-AMERICANEXPRESS-EARNS-URGENT.XML

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - American Express Co. (AXP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the credit card and travel services company, on Monday said first-quarter profit fell, but growth in card accounts helped push net income per share from continuing operations higher.

Net income for the New York-based company fell to $873 million, or 69 cents per share, from $946 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier.

Profit from continuing operations rose to 70 cents per share from 59 cents, American Express said.

[54anickel]

43. Just one more option on the ways CEOs can sell out stockholders

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/3811941.html

Buy low, sell high. So goes the old investment adage. It's more difficult than it sounds — unless you're a chief executive. Then there's a far greater chance you can beat the odds.

For years, top executives have demonstrated an uncanny ability to exercise stock options granted near the bottom of the market.

Options are designed to align an executive's compensation with shareholders' return. So a chief executive who is granted options at, say, $4 has incentive to drive the stock higher.

But what if the stock is at $10, drops as low as $4, then shoots back to $10 and an executive receives a big slug of options the day the stock hits $4? Investors who already owned the stock at $10 are breaking even.

The executive, though, already has a profit of $6 a share.

snip>

Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether some companies backdated options to ensure they were granted at market lows, thus making the options more profitable, according to the Wall Street Journal. No companies were named.

more...

[54anickel]

44. Fees Eat Away at Employees' 401(k) Nest Eggs

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-retire23apr23,1,2876662.story?coll=la-headlines-business

snip>

After a flurry of phone calls and e-mails, Fuchs learned that the $48 deduction was no mistake. The money was paid to an outside firm that enrolls employees in his company's 401(k) plan, mails quarterly account statements and handles other administrative tasks.

Fuchs knew the mutual funds he'd chosen charged fees for investing his money. He didn't know that overhead costs were also being taken out of his account. They now cost him about $500 a year.

Because the administrative fee is a percentage of his balance, he will pay more and more as his savings grow. Fuchs figures that by the time he retires, it will have cost him more than $316,000 in direct charges and lost investment returns.

"I think a lot of people out there pay this fee but don't know it," said Fuchs, 38, an information technology manager for an engineering firm in Exton, Pa. "To the average employee, it's totally invisible."

As many employers scrap their traditional pensions and doubts grow about the future of Social Security, Americans' hopes for a secure retirement depend more than ever on their 401(k)s. About 44 million workers have more than $2 trillion invested in these accounts.

much more...10 page article!!! :wow:

[Ghost Dog]

45. STOCKS NEWS US - Time to take profits? - strategist

Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:46 PM BST
(Reuters messaging) - U.S. stocks hit fresh highs last week, boosted by strong earnings reports, but risks are lingering just over the horizon, Cantor Fitzgerald's U.S. market strategist, Marc Pado says.

"When we combine short-term momentum indicators, May's propensity to be a "pullback" month, the uncertainty over the May 10th FOMC meeting, rising geopolitical tensions, soaring inflationary implications from crude and other base commodities, and steadily rising interest rates, it is better to take profits into strength and leave the last few pennies for the risk-takers among us," Pado said.

/more wake-ups...

[UpInArms]

46. Ameritrade execs to sell 5 to 6 million shares

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B41AEE09C%2D499C%2D49C8%2D8082%2DEAF3BB61C39E%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- TD Ameritrade's (AMTD 21.50, -0.32, -1.5% ) CEO Joe Moglia said Monday that he and other top executives will sell a total of 5 to 6 million company shares over the next several weeks to diversify their holdings and update their estate planning. Moglia said that today about 90% of his family's net worth, excluding any gains from the a newly announced contract, is in Ameritrade shares and that he will be selling shares to get that number down to about 60%. Moglia said he'll invest the majority of the sales' proceeds in fixed income assets. "We need greater diversification," Moglia said on the conference call.

[54anickel]

48. Hostile Trends (Hussman)

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc060424.htm

Historically, the worst outcomes for stocks have typically emerged when valuations were rich and there were well-defined upward pressures on interest rates and other yields. The tendency for bad outcomes to be born of such conditions is so established that our investment discipline virtually demands that we hedge when they are present.

At the same time, the elements just mentioned virtually assure that a defensive position will look ridiculous for some amount of time. Specifically, rich valuations imply that the market will typically have done well in recent months or years, and that it will probably still be establishing marginal new highs (until, of course, it doesn't). Likewise, upward pressures on interest rates and other yields typically imply concurrent economic strength and strong consumer confidence. So at the most compelling times to hedge risk, the market will be achieving fresh highs and the economy will appear strong. Hedging under those conditions is often accompanied by foregone short-term gains that are made irrelevant by subsequent market weakness.

snip>

I'll start this section by emphasizing that it is not the nature of our investment approach to make short-term forecasts, and no short-term forecasts are intended here. We don't rely on specific predictions, but on the law of large numbers. Just like you can't predict the flip of a coin, but expect that after many, many flips your average will be about 50% heads, we take investment positions, again and again, based on the average return/risk profiles we've observed in any given Market Climate. We can't predict the specific outcome for any specific period. We just expect that risk-taking will be rewarded better, on average, in some Climates than in others.

I've noted before that a fully hedged investment position earns implied interest (generally somewhere between the 3-month Treasury bill yield and the broker call rate – currently just over 5% annualized), so that hedging will typically increase investment returns in periods when the market's total return falls short of risk-free interest rates, even if the market's total return is positive.

On that note, investors should recognize that since the 1960's, when the 10-year Treasury yield, the 3-month Treasury bill yield, and the Consumer Confidence index have all been rising (say, above their levels of 6 months earlier), the S&P 500 has underperformed risk-free T-bill yields by an average of -5.13% annualized, on average.

But it gets worse.

more...

[UpInArms]

49. Kimberly-Clark Profit Falls by a Third

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060424/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_kimberly_clark

DALLAS - Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, said Monday its first-quarter profit fell by more than one-third on higher costs for raw materials, a trend it expects to continue through this year.

The company said it earned $275 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $450 million, or 93 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding what the company termed unusual charges related to restructuring, Kimberly-Clark said it would have earned 93 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31.

Analysts expected the company to earn 92 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

<snip>

The company, based in the Dallas suburb of Irving, said it had to absorb $90 million in higher costs.

About one-third was driven by higher costs for polymer resins, absorbents and other oil-based materials, and another third by energy costs. Fiber, higher taxes and the cost of expensing stock-based compensation also reduced earnings, the company said.

...more...

[UpInArms]

52. U.S. investor optimism at 5-month low in April (Huh?)

If optimism is low, why is the market climbing?

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T133321Z_01_N24281115_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-INVESTORS.XML

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - Investor optimism tumbled to a five-month low in early April on lowered expectations for economic growth and concerns over signs of quickening inflation, a survey showed Monday.

The UBS/Gallup index of investor optimism fell 16 points from March to a reading of 63 this month, UBS Securities said. It was the third straight monthly decline. The year began with a surge in January to a 19-month high in investor optimism.

Investors showed declining optimism about the U.S. investment climate over the next 12 months in three key measures, the report said.

Only 45 percent of investors are optimistic about economic growth, down from 50 percent in March. Confidence in the performance of the stock market also dipped below 50 percent, according to the survey.

Investors also see inflation as increasingly troublesome. In March, only 37 percent of those polled were pessimistic about the impact of inflation on the investment climate; this month that number rose to 42 percent.

...more...

[Roland99]

55. So, what do people do when they're "depressed"? SHOP!

[54anickel]

53. Forrest Gump's Evil Twin

http://www.alternet.org/story/35238/

How extraordinary. Something is happening here that has never happened in America's history. A consensus is sweeping the nation. Not that the war in Iraq is wrong, or that oil companies are screwing us blue, or that the climate is going to hell, or that good-paying jobs are being replaced by low-paying jobs, or that our national health care system is a disgrace, or that that the rich are getting a lot richer while the middle class gets poorer.

While all that's true, and more and more folks are getting it, that's not the consensus of which I speak. Nope. This one is bigger, enormous, huge!

Here it is: The president of the United States is a moron.

Yes, stupid, dumb as common road gravel. And not figuratively, but literally. George W. Bush, president of the world's last remaining superpower, is a moron. Forrest Gump's evil twin.

more...

[UpInArms]

56. 9:47 EST Will it be Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Today?

Dow 11,328.96 -18.49 (-0.16%)
Nasdaq 2,330.91 -11.95 (-0.51%)
S&P 500 1,306.94 -4.34 (-0.33%)
10-Yr Bond 5.004 -0.08 (-0.16%)

NYSE Volume 157,968,000
Nasdaq Volume 183,245,000

09:40 am : As futures trade presaged, the market appears to be taking a breather following last week's broad-based rally. Meanwhile, Dow components Caterpillar (CAT 78.75 +0.88) and American Express (AXP 52.31 +0.06) have kicked off the busiest week of earnings with better than expected reports, keeping the S&P on pace for eleven straight quarters of double-digit growth. However, a sense that the market may be overbought on a short-term basis, especially following the Dow's best weekly performance in about three months, has prompted some early consolidation. DJ30 -15.69 NASDAQ -8.30 SP500 -3.96 NASDAQ Vol 92 mln NYSE Vol 58 mln

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.0.

09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.5. Stage remains set for stocks to give up some of last week's gains at the onset as futures indications continue to trade below the unchanged mark. Even amid no major negative geopolitical event over the weekend, which typically sets a more upbeat tone to the market on Monday mornings, coupled with a pullback in oil prices providing some relief, a shortage of major merger announcements has also given the market little incentive to extend the recent rally.

08:31 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.0. Still shaping up to be a slightly lower start for the major averages. Meanwhile, Caterpillar (CAT) has handily topped analysts' forecasts and boosted its FY06 outlook, which has helped improve overall sentiment. Nonetheless, even though the absence of economic data places more emphasis on earnings, the Dow posting its biggest weekly advance (+1.9%) in nearly three months and hitting a six-year high last week is underpinning a cautious tone that a market correction could be looming.

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.5. Futures versus fair value suggests the market will take a breather as last week's broad-based rally creates a sense that the market may be overbought on a short-term basis. A 2.8% sell-off in Japan's Nikkei 225, spurred by a strengthening yen after the G-7 called for a revaluation of China's currency, and the surfacing of another bin Laden tape are so far stalling follow-though buying efforts as investors sift through the week's first batch of earnings.

[ozymandius]

57. Markets are open, money to be had.

9:48
Dow 11,325.52 -21.93 (-0.19%)
Nasdaq 2,330.17 -12.69 (-0.54%)
S&P 500 1,306.77 -4.51 (-0.34%)
10-Yr Bond 50.06 -0.06 (-0.12%)
NYSE Volume 163,262,000
Nasdaq Volume 189,117,000

[Roland99]

59. Weak dollar, mixed earnings weigh

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks lost ground in early trading Monday as investors mulled the impact of a sliding U.S. dollar and a mixed set of earnings reports, with strong results from Caterpillar Inc. but a weaker-than-expected performance from Xerox.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22 points to 11,326 after ending Friday's session at a six-year high.

The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 11 points to 2,332 while the S&P 500 Index was off 4 points at 1,307.

For Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald "earnings have been a wonderful distraction" for the stock market, but equity investors will not be able to ignore high energy and commodity costs for much longer.

[ozymandius]

61. The non-existent 10am bounce.

10:14
Dow 11,314.15 -33.30 (-0.29%)
Nasdaq 2,327.71 -15.15 (-0.65%)
S&P 500 1,305.15 -6.13 (-0.47%)
10-Yr Bond 49.96 -0.16 (-0.32%)
NYSE Volume 350,404,000
Nasdaq Volume 375,353,000

[Oversea Visitor]

68. Ugly

n/t

[Roland99]

62. America's borrower-industrial complex (A conservative details the risks)

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BF7AC7D24%2D0259%2D4FC8%2D8744%2D0231319C9258%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=

One: The nation's global overreach, demonstrated by the so-far-unsuccessful invasion of Iraq.

Two: The surge of militant, fundamentalist, evangelical, right-wing religion in the U.S.

Three: America's ballooning debt, which has mortgaged the country's economic health to financial speculation.

The first two points are fascinating enough, but our column focuses on the economy, so what concerns us most is point three: those expanding debts. They may be worse than we imagine, much worse.

...

[UpInArms]

64. Exide to close Louisiana battery plant in June

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T135830Z_01_WEN5264_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-EXIDE-URGENT.XML

CHICAGO, April 24 (Reuters) - Exide Technologies (XIDE.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which makes batteries for cars and trucks, on Monday said it will close its Shreveport, Louisiana, lead-acid battery plant effective June 22.

The plant, which employs more than 200 people, makes auto batteries for Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research), among other aftermarket customers, the company said. Production from the plant will be absorbed by other plants.

[UpInArms]

65. Enron: NYTs attempts to polish Lay's image (Kenny-Boy Who?)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/business/businessspecial3/24enron.html?ex=1303531200&en=ff66062c3aaef185&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

HOUSTON, April 23 — Kenneth L. Lay used to enjoy having the eyes of Texans upon him.

Six years ago, 41,000 residents of the state celebrated his contributions to Houston when he threw out the first pitch at the city's fancy new baseball park, then called Enron Field. Former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were there, cheering him on. So was George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas.

Now much of Houston will be watching to find out if the Ken Lay so many once admired can persuade them he was not a fraud.

After two weeks of testimony by Jeffrey K. Skilling, a fellow former Enron chief executive, Mr. Lay is expected to take the stand in his own defense Monday morning in federal district court here. While both men are charged with conspiring to defraud Enron's investors, Mr. Lay, legal experts say, may stand a stronger chance of acquittal than Mr. Skilling, who found his credibility under constant assault during cross-examination.

<snip>

Mr. Lay was the public face of Enron, the gentlemanly glad-hander who rubbed elbows with presidents and princes, raised and donated millions of dollars to modernize Houston's sleepy downtown and flirted with a political career.

...more...

[UpInArms]

70. Lay says Enron dream now a 'nightmare'

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T143433Z_01_N24285784_RTRIDST_0_ENRON-TRIAL-PICTURE.XML

HOUSTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Former Enron Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay took the witness stand at his criminal trial on Monday, declaring his innocence and telling the jury he had been devastated when the company collapsed.

"I guess you could say in the last few years I've achieved the American nightmare," Lay said during questioning by his lawyer, George McCall Secrest.

Lay is on trial with former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling on charges they lied to investors about the true financial condition of the company that was once the seventh largest in the United States as it crumbled into bankruptcy in December 2001.

Lay, 64, headed Enron for 15 years from its inception until 2001, when he turned over the CEO job to Skilling.

Lay resumed his role as CEO when Skilling resigned six months later, and prosecutors have contended that Lay then took charge of a conspiracy to lie about the energy company's financial health.

...more...

[UpInArms]

66. Gold drops as much as $11, but Iran, dollar limit loss

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=mktw&guid=%7B7CBCB5A6-8B87-4DFA-9965-DBF2F6C39B2D%7D&symbol=

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell as much as $11 an ounce on Monday morning as traders locked in recent gains that brought prices to quarter-century highs, but the dollar's steep decline against the yen following the weekend meetings of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations and International Monetary Fund kept a floor under prices.

Iran also provided support, after its foreign ministry insisted over the weekend that its uranium-enrichment program is "irreversible." Those comments came just days before a United Nations deadline for the Tehran government to cease its research.

"This week could prove quite important for gold as speculators decision whether to probe higher or to continue locking in profits," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London.

"Gold should continue to find good support given the limited change in the macroeconomic and geopolitical picture, particularly with the U.N. Security Council's deadline on Iran approaching at the end of the week," he said in a note to clients.
For now, "dips generate good buying interest with support pegged at $618/$610," he added.

Gold for June delivery fell to a low of $624.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It last traded at $624.80 an ounce, down $10.70, or 1.7%. On Friday, the contract added more than $12 an ounce in a sharp reversal of its prior-session losses. Analysts agree that the metal is heading higher in the long run, even if it experiences bouts of profit-taking on its way up.

...more...

[UpInArms]

75. June Gold @ $630.20 oz - May Silver @ $12.28 oz - May Copper @ $3.106 lb

11:48 AM ET 4/24/06 JUNE GOLD FALLS $5.50 TO $630.20/OZ AFTER A LOW OF $622.10

11:48 AM ET 4/24/06 MAY SILVER DROPS 68.5C, OR 5.3%, TO $12.28/OZ

11:48 AM ET 4/24/06 MAY COPPER DOWN 5.55C, OR 1.1%, AT $3.106/LB

[UpInArms]

86. June Gold closes @ $623.90 - May Silver @ $11.775 - May Copper @ $3.111

1:51 PM ET 4/24/06 MAY SILVER CLOSES AT $11.775/OZ, DOWN $1.19, OR 9.2%

1:44 PM ET 4/24/06 JUNE GOLD FALLS $11.60, OR 1.8%, TO END AT $623.90/OZ

1:39 PM ET 4/24/06 MAY COPPER CLOSES AT $3.111/LB, DOWN 2.95C, OR 0.9%

[UpInArms]

67. Xerox quarterly profit dips

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-04-24T125828Z_01_WEN5217_RTRUKOC_0_US-XEROX-EARNS.xml

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Xerox Corp.(XRX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), one of the world's biggest makers of copiers and printers, on Monday said its quarterly profit missed Wall Street estimates, hurt by increased costs and a decline in sales of its most expensive black-and-white equipment.

Xerox shares slipped 4 percent in pre-market trade after the company said revenue from the sale of equipment declined 4 percent. The decline is likely to renew concerns held by many analysts that Xerox has taken too long to turn new products and services into sustained revenue growth.

"It was a very weak quarter driven by gross margin and lower than expected revenue," said analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research.

For the first quarter, net income before payment of preferred dividends was $200 million. After those payments, Xerox's profit was $186 million, or 20 cents a share, versus $196 million, or 20 cents a share.

Total revenue fell 2 percent to $3.70 billion, down from $3.78 billion a year earlier.

...more...

[UpInArms]

72. Xerox Sees Profit Decline as Sales Drop

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Xerox.html?ex=1146542400&en=af67423985f0f90e&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS

NEW YORK (AP) -- Xerox Corp., a maker of copiers, printers and other imaging equipment, on Monday reported a modest decline in first-quarter profit as sales dropped. Its shares dropped more than 4 percent in early trading.

Net income available to common stockholders declined to $186 million, or 20 cents a share, for the three months ended March 31 from $196 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago. The per-share results held steady because the number of shares outstanding dropped to 918.3 million from 931.2 million at the same time.

Revenue slipped 2 percent to $3.695 billion from $3.771 billion in the prior-year period. Equipment sales fell 4 percent, while service, licensing and financing revenue slipped 1 percent in the quarter.

Excluding the unfavorable impact of currency translation, revenue was flat year over year, Xerox said.

...more...

[Roland99]

74. 10-year yield dips to 4.99%

30-year down to 5.06%.

Markets maintaining a plateau at morning negative levels.

[UpInArms]

77. Avon sets 1,300 job cuts as part of restructuring

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=marketsNews&storyID=2006-04-24T133538Z_01_WEN5262_RTRIDST_0_MANUFACTURING-AVON-URGENT.XML

CHICAGO, April 24 (Reuters) - Avon Products Inc. (AVP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that it plans to cut more than 1,300 jobs under its previously announced restructuring plan and take about $70 million in related charges in the first quarter.

Avon, the world's largest direct seller of beauty products, had previously indicated that restructuring costs for all of its initiatives would be in the range of $500 million. The New York-based company said on Monday that it expects to record about $95 million to $100 million in pretax charges related to the job cuts, with about $70 million in charges to be taken in the first quarter of 2006.

Avon, which sells brands including Anew and Skin-So-Soft, announced a restructuring plan in late 2005 that includes cutting 20 percent to 30 percent of its management jobs and exiting some operations.

[UpInArms]

78. 12:19 EST numbers and blather

Dow 11,328.08 -19.37 (-0.17%)
Nasdaq 2,331.73 -11.13 (-0.48%)
S&P 500 1,306.10 -5.18 (-0.40%)
10-Yr Bond 4.983 -0.29 (-0.58%)

NYSE Volume 965,199,000
Nasdaq Volume 970,812,000

12:00 pm : Major averages continues to languish near session lows as the incentive to lock in recent profits overshadows a pullback in oil prices and falling bond yields. Amid the absence of economic data, earnings remain front and center. In particular, Dow components Caterpillar (CAT 78.43 +0.56) and American Express (AXP 51.85 -0.40) have kicked off the busiest week of earnings with better than expected reports, keeping the S&P on pace for eleven straight quarters of double-digit growth. However, a sense that the market may be overbought on a short-term basis, especially following the Dow's best weekly performance in about three months, has prompted some early consolidation.

Even though a weaker greenback typically makes dollar-denominated commodities like oil and gold more attractive, Energy and Materials -- this year's best performing sectors, are turning in the day's worst showings. Energy is trading lower in sympathy with consolidation in crude oil from record highs above $75; oil is off 1.8% at $73.85 per barrel after surging 6% last week. Materials has lost ground in part following downside FY06 EPS guidance from Rohm & Haas (ROH 50.72 -1.22).

Aside from more consolidation in the semiconductor group, led by follow-through selling in Broadcom (BRCM 41.66 -1.99), weakness in office electronics -- the day's worst performing industry group -- has also weighed on Technology. Xerox's (XRX 14.06 -0.74) CEO said that full-year earnings growth remains "on track," but the stock continues to get punished following a disappointing Q1 report.

Industrials, however, has shown some relative strength after Caterpillar handily topped analysts' forecasts and boosted its FY06 outlook, which plays into Overweight rating on the sector. Reports that Cendant (CD 17.52 +0.67) is exploring the sale of its travel services unit have also provided sector support. Consumer Staples has been the only other sector trading higher, benefiting largely from a better than expected Q1 report from Kimberly-Clark (KMB 58.44 +1.25) and expectations that profitability will pick up throughout the year. Investors may also be tabling risk-averse positions in favor of higher beta stocks since the market seems to have ignored the risk that earnings growth for the S&P 500 is expected to decelerate heading into the second half of 2006. DJ30 -18.97 NASDAQ -12.59 SP500 -5.61 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2017/884/884 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2113/974/622 mln

[UpInArms]

80. Ex-CEO of Computer Associates Admits to Fraud

Ex-CA CEO Kumar seen pleading guilty for fraud today: WSJ

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BB3B6D2DA%2DB43E%2D4F44%2D85DC%2D7887B09CE2D9%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Sanjay Kumar, former chief executive of CA Inc. (CA 25.46, -0.30, -1.2% ) , is expected to plead guilty to financial fraud charges later today, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Monday. CA was formerly known as Computer Associates International Inc.

[UpInArms]

84. Don't buy Unilever Food Solutions! I just found foreign object in my soup!

Well, I bet you know that really ruined my lunch!

In mine and my hubby's bowls of soup - pieces of cardboard and who knows what else - YUCK!!!

It was a first try on a different brand of soup for us - won't do that again!

What lousy freakin' corporate oversight of food production!

:puke:

I guess I won't be eating anything ever again that comes from them.

[rfranklin]

89. Frog's Head Found in Frozen Green Beans....Yummy!

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/COMMUNITIES25/604220336/1203/SPORTS



Couple hopping mad, says frog's head found in food
Pair suing Pathmark, packaging company

BY ANDREW MEDEIROS
DAILY RECORD

WATCHUNG -- Linda Lanza was cooking dinner for her family one night last December when she reached for a bag of frozen green beans.

She poured the bag into a pot of boiling water only to find something odd: In addition to frozen beans, she says, there also was one frozen green frog's head.

Lanza and her husband, Arthur, have filed a lawsuit against Pathmark and Twin City Foods in state Superior Court claiming both were negligent in allowing the frog's head into the bag of green beans.

[54anickel]

94. OMG, I'm gonna puke!!! THAT would totally freak me out! I can't stand

the site of frogs - give me the heebie-jeebies. Not sure if it was from biology class or growing up near a swamp where at certain times of the year you couldn't avoid stepping on the little suckers! That would give me nightmares for weeks.

Sheesh...I'm just shuddering in my chair right now.

[Roland99]

85. UBS lowers builder forecasts as housing market slows

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B470066B8%2D9744%2D4670%2D8075%2D4A785DE8A0D7%7D&siteid=mktw

Last Update: 4/24/2006 1:26:00 PM

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- UBS cut its earnings projections for home builders Monday, with several companies reducing their home-delivery targets as the steam continues to come out of the U.S. housing market.

"The long-anticipated housing slowdown appears to be finally upon us," wrote analyst Margaret Whelan in a research note, citing new-home sales down 21% from their July high, while new-mortgage applications are off 23% from their peak in June.

Yet she noted that markets vary by geography, reflected in the disparity in home-order growth being reported by the building companies.

Whelan's long-standing expectation was a "soft-landing" scenario, reminiscent of the corrections in 1994 and 1995, and also between 1998 and 2000, where new-home sales dipped 20% over a 20-month period.

[54anickel]

90. THE US ECONOMY: THINGS ABOUT MANUFACTURING AND FREE TRADE THAT YOU HAVE NO

http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/50/4608/2006-04-24.asp?wid=50&nid=4608

Many economists hold to the view that when the NAICU (non-accelerating inflation rate of capacity utilisation) reaches 82 per cent inflation will pick up in the US economy. Capacity utilisation for last March was nearly 82 per cent. This figure is giving some economists heartburn.

The thinking here is that when utilised capacity reaches 82 per cent prices will begin to rise because output will no longer be able to keep up with demand. Shortages of factors will emerge and wages will rise as firms compete for against each other for labour. A rather novel variation of this explanation has emerged. It holds that because the world has opened up enormously during the last 20 years the idea of using capacity utilisation as an indicator of future trends in prices has been rendered obsolete.

People who subscribe to this view do not understand that labour shortages and bottlenecks were never indicators of future inflation because they are in fact caused by inflation. More than 175 years ago John Stuart Mill described the frenzied process of the boom as such that “. . . they have built mills and erected machinery, they will be likely to repent at leisure”.

Of course, our current crop of economic forecasters would not dispute Mill’s account but simply declare that things are different today. These will invariably be the same economists who announced that the 1990s boom heralded “a new era”— the very same thing Irving Fisher said about the 1920s boom.

And what make today different? According to their analysis it is the entry of hundreds of millions of workers from China, Russia and India into the world market place. This rapid expansion of the international labour force makes any notion of emerging labour shortages look absurd. Should domestic demand outstrip the labour supply firms will be able to depress wage pressure by using foreign labour and so avert inflation.

What advocates of this view do not grasp is that this policy is not averting inflation but is actually exporting it: a fact that could have grave consequences for other countries. By using artificially low interest rates to flood the economy with ‘cheap’ credit the Fed triggered the boom. It’s this monetary expansion in the form of credit that is generating labour shortages and causing bottlenecks to develop.

more...

[Roland99]

95. Have US exports increased (but not at a level equal to imports)?

I'm just curious as to where this extra output is ended up. Esp. since real wages aren't keeping up with inflation.

[ozymandius]

91. Faeries came out to play.

2:41
Dow 11,345.63 -1.82 (-0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,334.17 -8.69 (-0.37%)
S&P 500 1,308.00 -3.28 (-0.25%)
10-Yr Bond 49.87 -0.25 (-0.50%)
NYSE Volume 1,492,700,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,480,296,000

2:30 pm : Buyers return from on the sidelines within the last 30 minutes, but only enough to sparingly inch the Dow back into the green. Turnarounds in Caterpillar (CAT 78.00 +0.13), JP Morgan (JPM 42.58 +0.08) and Honeywell (HON 43.58 +0.03) have been some of the more obvious sources of recent support; but renewed enthusiasm in a only couple names has kept gains on the price-weighted index at a minimum. DJ30 +6.00 NASDAQ -6.31 SP500 -2.39 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1978/1047/1.43 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2014/1184/1.03 bln

2:00 pm : Market is still chalking up modest losses as the absence of notable industry leaderhip continues to weigh on the proceedings. Financial, meanwhile, has finally begun to benefit from falling bond yields and pared most of its early losses to hover just below the flat line. The rate-sensitive Utilities sector, which recently inched into positive territory but is providing minimal leadership as the S&P's least influential sector, has also taken advantage of renewed interest in the Treasury market. DJ30 -12.39 DJUA +0.1% NASDAQ -8.06 SP500 -3.74 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1956/1040/1.33 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2026/1140/948 mln

[UpInArms]

92. WTF? CIA Investment Head Resigns After 4 Months

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=513&e=9&u=/ap/20060424/ap_on_go_ot/cia_investors

WASHINGTON - The new chief of the CIA's venture capital organization, In-Q-Tel, has resigned after just four months on the job.

Amit Yoran, who was the government's cybersecurity chief until he left that job in 2004, said Monday he stepped down for personal reasons.

<snip>

In-Q-Tel — named for "Q," the fictional inventor of spy tools and toys for James Bond — makes about a dozen such investments annually with roughly $60 million it receives from the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

...more at link...

When did the CIA become involved in "venture capital"?????

[Ghost Dog]

107. Since 2000, seems. Some more answers here (WaPo)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081401108.html
In-Q-Tel, CIA's Venture Arm, Invests in Secrets
By Terence O'Hara
Monday, August 15, 2005; Page D01

<snip>

In the five years since it began active operations as the "venture capital arm" of the CIA, In-Q-Tel's reach and activities have become vast for so small an operation. It has invested in more than 75 companies and delivered more than 100 technologies to the CIA, most of which otherwise would never have been considered by the intelligence agency. Virtually any U.S. entrepreneur, inventor or research scientist working on ways to analyze data has probably received a phone call from In-Q-Tel or at least been Googled by its staff of technology-watchers.

Born from the CIA's recognition that it wasn't able to acquire all the technology it needed from its own labs and think tanks, In-Q-Tel was engineered with a bundle of contradictions built in. It is independent of the CIA, yet answers wholly to it. It is a nonprofit, yet its employees can profit, sometimes handsomely, from its work. It functions in public, but its products are strictly secret.

<snip>

But in interviews with more than a dozen current and former CIA officials, congressional aides, venture capitalists that have worked with it and executives who have benefited from it, no one disputed that what began as an experiment in transferring private-sector technology into the CIA is working as intended. The Army, NASA and other intelligence and defense agencies have, or are planning, their own "venture capital" efforts based on the In-Q-Tel model.


<snip>

In-Q-Tel has invested in and worked with a computer gaming developer, a company that makes software to analyze huge volumes of voice recordings, data security firms, a semiconductor maker, a firm that designed software for Las Vegas casinos to track relationships between casino customers and employees, and a company whose software can tell you, in less than 10 seconds, how many dangling participles are in "Moby Dick."

Exactly how all that stuff is being used by the CIA and other intelligence agencies is less clear -- and mostly secret.

/more...

[UpInArms]

93. HP employees caught in job cuts may lose state benefits

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8H6FR4O4.html

{free registration or try www.bugmenot.com)

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Some workers who chose early retirement when the Hewlett-Packard Co. cut jobs in Corvallis may have found that they're not eligible for unemployment benefits.

One said he has been ordered to repay $7,000 he had collected.

The company reduced its Corvallis workforce by more than 700 as part of a worldwide cost-cutting move that aims to slash 14,500 jobs.

HP offered two severance packages, one of which was an early retirement package for workers over 50 with at least 15 years at HP. It included paid insurance coverage for several months.

Two who took early retirement said they were shocked this spring when the state Employment Department cut their unemployment benefits, judging that they had quit without good cause. They said those who took the regular severance package qualified for unemployment benefits.

Dave Berger, 54, of Lebanon, said his benefits were restored on appeal, but John Scott, 52, of Philomath was denied. He's been ordered to repay the $7,000.

...more...

Well, isn't that special!

[54anickel]

98. Immigration Crackdown Poses Legal Dilemma for U.S. Companies

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=ajwlxJxS_AgI&refer=latin_america

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants creates what many companies call a dilemma: Demand proof that workers are legal and risk bias suits or skip that scrutiny and run afoul of government prosecutors.

The law-enforcement campaign announced last week by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff may lead to onerous penalties for employers who rely on low-skilled immigrants in such industries as agriculture, construction and meat processing. The government has rarely enforced immigration laws against businesses since President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

``Companies should not be placed in the role of policing who has proper work documentation,'' said Gary Mickelson, spokesman for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc., the world's biggest meat processor.

Business aren't ``forgery experts,'' said R. Bruce Josten, a lobbyist for the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents three million companies.

snip>

Current law only requires companies make sure their employees fill out a form stating their immigrant status and providing identification, usually a driver's license or birth certificate and a Social Security card. Prosecutors must prove employers knowingly hired illegal immigrants to win a conviction.

Companies don't often question whether the identification is false. Such scrutiny might expose them to discrimination suits by minorities who would say they were singled out, lawyers say. The government's crackdown may no longer give businesses that option.

Didn't Tyson successfully use that exact defense a couple of years back? Or was that some other slaughter house?

more...

[54anickel]

99. 3:34 and last minute attempt at a rally in the pits

Dow 11,353.93 +6.48 (+0.06%)
Nasdaq 2,336.89 -5.97 (-0.25%)
S&P 500 1,309.94 -1.34 (-0.10%)
10-yr Bond 49.85 -0.27 (-0.54%)
30-yr Bond 50.64 -0.35 (-0.69%)
NYSE Volume 1,779,861,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,717,036,000

Advances & Declines
NYSE Nasdaq
Advances 1167 (34%) 1069 (33%)
Declines 2050 (60%) 1968 (62%)
Unchanged 150 (4%) 124 (3%)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up Vol* 496 (30%) 637 (39%)
Down Vol* 1135 (68%) 982 (60%)
Unch. Vol* 21 (1%) 14 (0%)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Hi's 121 157
New Lo's 93 45

[UpInArms]

100. Bank of New York pays $250K to settle SEC charges

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=mktw&guid=%7BC3E72665-6BC8-455A-937C-5FC8268E5DCC%7D&symbol=

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Bank of New York Co. (BK) will pay a $250,000 penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to be vigilant in searching for lost shareholders. The New York bank, a registered transfer agent, settled without admitting or denying the SEC's claims, contained in a civil lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Transfer agents are required to use reasonable care in searching for security holders who are deemed "lost" after correspondence sent to them is returned as undeliverable.

The SEC alleged that Bank of New York failed to classify more than 14,000 shareholders as lost between January 1998 and September 2004 even though correspondence sent to them had been marked undeliverable. It said the bank escheated $11.5 million of those shareholders' assets, handing them over to the state as unclaimed property. The SEC said other shareholders were forced to pay unnecessary fees to third parties to recover lost assets.

Bank of New York agreed to cease and desist from future violations, repay security holders for the fees paid to third parties, and provide holders whose assets were escheated the value of the asset at the time, or currently, whichever is greater.

David Horowitz, an assistant district administrator in the SEC's Philadelphia office, which brought the case, said the missing shareholders "were never sought out" by Bank of New York as required and that their holdings were improperly categorized as unclaimed property.

...more...

[ozymandius]

105. closing numbers and blather

Dow 11,336.32 -11.13 (-0.10%)
Nasdaq 2,333.38 -9.48 (-0.40%)
S&P 500 1,308.11 -3.17 (-0.24%)
10-Yr Bond 49.85 -0.27 (-0.54%)
NYSE Volume 2,117,473,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,008,077,000

4:20 pm : Stocks took a breather Monday as last week's broad-based rally created a sense that the market may be overbought on a short-term basis offset some much needed relief in the form of plummeting oil prices and a decline in borrowing costs.

Before the bell, Caterpillar (CAT 77.58 -0.29) handily topped analysts' forecasts and boosted its FY06 outlook, lending some credence behind an eleventh straight quarter of double-digit growth for the S&P 500 and underscoring our Overweight rating on Industrials. Also kicking off the busiest week of earnings in which investors will sift through reports from about one third of the S&P 500 was American Express (AXP 51.84 -0.41), which beat Wall Street's forecasts by a penny. Nonetheless, not even the absence of economic data placing extra emphasis on better than expected earnings offered much enthusiasm for owning stocks, especially after the Dow posted its biggest weekly advance (+1.9%) in nearly three months and hit a six-year high last week.

Meanwhile, further deterioration in the greenback may be good for U.S. exporters and typically makes dollar-denominated commodities like oil and gold more attractive; but that was not the case today as the Energy and Materials sectors continued to consolidate their market leading year-to-date gains of 18.6% and 13.2%, respectively. The dollar closed at a 7-month low against the euro and a 3-month low against the yen after the G-7 called for a revaluation of China's currency.

With geopolitical concerns driving the price of crude oil up 25% over the last four weeks, 6% of which came last week alone, OPEC saying supplies are "adequate" sparked profit-taking that closed oil down 2.5% at $73.35 a barrel (-$1.82). The absence of Energy's leadership (-1.4%) and the growing realization that Energy sector profits are unlikely to increase at the same pace as over the past year prevented investors from more aggressively embracing the temporary relief that a pullback in oil may have on consumer spending.

On a positive note, the likelihood that oil near record levels will lead to slower economic growth and a sense that bonds have been "oversold" on a short-term basis, also enticed investors to lock in Treasury yields near their highest levels in four years. The yield on the 10-yr note fell as low as 4.96% and closed at 4.98%. Falling bond yields briefly helped the rate-sensitive Financial sector and the Dow inch into positive territory with 30 minutes left in the trading day, but recovery efforts were short-lived as both closed below the flat line.

Aside from more consolidation in the semiconductor group, led by follow-through selling in Broadcom (BRCM 41.57 -2.08), weakness in Office Electronics -- the day's worst performing industry group -- weighed on Technology. With regard to the latter, Xerox's (XRX 13.99 -0.80) CEO said that full-year earnings growth remains "on track," but the stock continues to get punished following a disappointing Q1 report.

Industrials, however, posted a modest gain not on account of Caterpillar's solid report but rather news that Cendant (CD 17.49 +0.64) is exploring the sale of its travel services unit. Consumer Staples also traded higher, benefiting largely from a better than expected Q1 report from Kimberly-Clark (KMB 58.52 +1.33) and management's expectations that profitability will pick up throughout the year. DJ30 -11.13 NASDAQ -9.48 SP500 -3.17 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1955/1098/1.97 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1917/1322/1.51 bln