STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday May 25

[ozymandius]

Source: DU

Friday May 25, 2007

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 605 LONG DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2333 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2045 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2006
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 9
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 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 May 24, 2007

Dow... 13,441.13 -84.52 (-0.62%)
Nasdaq... 2,537.92 -39.13 (-1.52%)
S&P 500... 1,507.51 -14.77 (-0.97%)
Gold future... 653.30 -9.30 (-1.40%)
30-Year Bond 5.01% -0.01 (-0.12%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.86% -0.00 (-0.04%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, 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

---

more Radical Fringe here



Read more: DU

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Market WrapUp

Guru Greenspan Turns Bearish on Shanghai Red-Chips
BY GARY DORSCH

“I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said,” 'Easy' Al Greenspan once told a Congressional committee during his helm at the Federal Reserve. For seventeen long years, analysts and traders alike were often unable to correctly interpret Greenspan’s double speak.

But since early March, 'Guru' Greenspan has been very clear on at least three occasions that the US economy faces a 1 in 3 chance of a recession in the second half of 2007. If correct, there is also a 2 in 3 chance that the world’s largest economy would continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than 2006. For the record, the Dow Jones Industrials are up 12% since Greenspan’s first warning of a possible US recession back on March 6th, operating on a different set of fundamentals.

-chart-

Guru Greenspan is now predicting that the world’s second biggest bubble, the Shanghai Red-chip stock market is about to deflate in a very big way. “It is clearly unsustainable. There’s going to be a dramatic contraction at some point,” adding that a market correction could also cause problems for Chinese personal wealth. The Shanghai Red-chip market soared 130% in the past year, hitting an all-time high of 4,205 on May 24th, and is up 56% so far in 2007.

-cut-

It remains an open question whether Shanghai red-chips are in bubble territory as Mr. Greenspan believes, since company profits averaged a 100% increase from a year ago, lowering the market’s P/E ratio from 42 in Q’4 towards 23 in Q’1. Furthermore, Beijing is careful not to rattle Shanghai with dramatic tightening moves, and is reluctant to use the most powerful weapon in its arsenal, - a stronger yuan.

Allowing the yuan to strengthen by 10% to stave off US protectionist legislation against Chinese exports into the US, could lead to the loss of 5 million Chinese jobs, according to the PBoC. Furthermore, a 10% appreciation of the yuan would lessen the need for PBoC to print massive amounts of the currency to keep it artificially low.

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

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Report

10:00 AM Existing Home Sales Apr
Briefing Forecast 6.20M
Market Expects 6.13M
Prior 6.12M

http://biz.yahoo.com/c/e.html

[UpInArms]

20. Existing Homes Sales Fall

12. U.S. April existing home inventories at 15-yr high
10:03 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 30 minutes ago

13. U.S. April existing home sales fall to 5.99 mln unit pace
10:03 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 30 minutes ago

14. Dollar extends losses vs. euro after existing home sales
10:03 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 30 minutes ago

15. Euro up 0.2% at $1.3451; dollar up 0.3% at 121.56 yen
10:03 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 30 minutes ago

16. U.S. April existing home sales drop larger than expected
10:01 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 32 minutes ago

17. U.S. April existing home sales down 2.6% to 4 yr low
10:01 AM ET, May 25, 2007 - 32 minutes ago

The market will this report - it contradictss yesterday's jump in new home sales and gives the illusion that they will lower interest rates to gig the economy.

It is all lies and tricks with mirrors anyway :sigh: :shrug:

[Zynx]

34. New home number yesterday was a massive fire sale outlier.

Does not indicate strength in the real estate market; rather indicates big spec builders slashing the hell out of prices to move product they've had in motion for a while.

All other real estate numbers have been consistantly bad.

[ozymandius]

3. Crude oil prices rise in Europe trading

LONDON - Crude oil prices rose Friday amid worries about supply after Nigeria's powerful oil unions went on strike and gunmen kidnapped six oil workers in the nation's south. Concern about more tensions with Iran was also a factor.

Potential conflicts in Nigeria — Africa's biggest oil producer and a top supplier of crude to the United States — and Iran could affect global supplies and are buoying prices after a sharp drop-off Thursday, analysts said.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose 65 cents to $64.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. Brent crude for July rose 37 cents to $71.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Oil unions began a strike Thursday at Nigeria's state-owned oil company and threatened to target exports in hopes of reversing the sale of government refineries. The state oil company holds the majority stake in joint ventures with international oil companies that account for more than 90 percent of the country's oil exports.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[mojavekid]

22. Marketwatch: Crude oil gains on fresh Nigeria concerns

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/crude-oil-gains-fresh-concerns/story.aspx?guid=%7B84161C69%2D3A15%2D4400%2D81EC%2D3E871D88E0AF%7D&siteid=yhoof


Crude oil for July delivery rose 54 cents to stand at $64.72 a barrel in electronic trading.
On Thursday, the contract dropped $1.59 a barrel, losing 2.4% on the heels of a buildup in the nation's crude supplies for a fifth-straight week.
"With the IntercontinentalExchange markets closing early today because of the transatlantic holidays, we suspect things will be quiet in Friday trading, but most players will be reluctant to head home short into the long holiday weekend," said Edward Meir, analyst at Man Financial, in a morning note.
In yet another kidnapping incident in Nigeria, gunmen have made off with six oil workers in the country's main oil-producing region, the BBC reported Friday.
Also in Nigeria, staff at the country's state oil company have gone on an indefinite strike over welfare benefits and to protest the privatization of an oil refinery.
"Production is apparently still running, but unions said they would target output if their demands about job security in the wake of a refinery sale to private Nigerian and Chinese investors were not addressed," Meir said.

a little more...

[54anickel]

29. So what came of that NOPEC bill? I found it interesting how in the wake of the

highest gas prices in history, the spotlight was shifted from price-gouging big-oil corporations and their record profits to OPEC. WTF was that all about?
How is that going to play out with the petro-dollar, or is the petro-dollar about to die? Does the ability to sue OPEC really have any meaning? It just seems strange when viewed within the historical context of the origination of OPEC and big-oils record profits of the present. I was surprised by that whole brew-ha earlier this week. :shrug:

[Ghost Dog]

43. Bullshit, essentially, I think. Though they're probably aiming for

Venezuela.

[mojavekid]

35. Yahoo: Poll: Gas costs hurt, but many adjust

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_bi_ge/ap_poll_gas

WASHINGTON - Nearly half the country thinks near-record gasoline prices will cause serious hardship, prompting ever more people to consider trading their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars, an AP-Ipsos poll says.

Yet there are signs that more people also are clinging to their driving and vacation habits while grudgingly accepting the higher price tag. The government said this week that prices for a gallon of regular gasoline had hit a nationwide average of $3.22, nearly 50 percent higher than in January and pennies shy of the all-time mark.

Forty-six percent said spiking gasoline prices are causing them severe financial problems, said the poll, released Friday at the Memorial Day weekend's unofficial start of the summer driving season. That measure of public pocketbook pain is up slightly from last year and appreciably above the 30 percent figure of June 2004, when AP-Ipsos first asked the question.

more...

[54anickel]

37. But inflation expectations are low. WTF is with these quotes....who came up with

this poll back in 2004 anyway? It sounds like a "finger to the wind test" for the oil companies.

...Asked to name a fair price for a gallon of gasoline, for the first time most volunteered $2 and up, and not less than $2.

snip>

In the poll, 40 percent said the fair price for a gallon is less than $2, down from 49 percent a year ago. This year, 49 percent said a fair price for a gallon is $2 to $2.99, with another 6 percent naming even higher prices.

"Markets can train us over time to get used to things," said Tim Heath, marketing professor at Miami University of Ohio.

[mojavekid]

38. I hear you 54Anickel! Check out the Yahoo teaser headline:

More in U.S. cite financial hardship from gas prices - this is what I clicked on.

Then when the article pops up the headline is:

Poll: Gas costs hurt, but many adjust


-mojavekid

[54anickel]

44. Yeah, I adjusted to the discomfort during a root canal as well. It's WHAT are

they doing to adjust that's the bigger question. Cutting back on something else (reduced comsumption)? Car-pooling (which would reduce consumption as well)? Or racking up more debt? It's all connected to the so-called health of the economy. As Mogambo once said, "everything is related".

They blow it off like it's nothing to be concerned about. They're adjusting. Just what are they doing to adjust? Working OT; knocking off banks, stores and gas stations; cutting back or putting off paying for it? :shrug:

[Ghost Dog]

47. Good to have you around, 54anickel.

¿Have you ever considered writing for The Economist? (Serious question).

[54anickel]

49. It's good to be able to get back, even if only occassionally these days.

Thanks. And no, I haven't considered writing for The Economist or anyone else - like anyone would take me seriously! ;-)

I take that as a complement though. :blush: :hi:

[Ghost Dog]

50. Ok. Understood. Please continue, your way.

:hide: :9

[UpInArms]

4. dollar watch

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

Last trade 82.435 Change +0.030 (+0.04%)

Dollar Supported By Biggest Jump In New Home Sales In 14 Years

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_news/Dollar_Supported_By_Biggest_Jump_1180030328975.html

Just when it was looking like the dollar would close the week without a fundamental driver for long-term forecasts, today’s data lit up the wires. Among a wide breadth of releases, a big turn in new home sales led the fundamental charge by propping up the economy’s worst performing sector and brightening the outlook for growth.

Despite the bullish momentum today’s releases provided the US currency, price action was relatively reserved. Retracing yesterday’s sharp rally, EURUSD pressed another 40 points lower to put in a double touch of 1.3415 support. Wednesday’s top mover, GBPUSD, found little direction today as it carved a 60-point wide range just below 1.99. The dollar bid following the release of the housing number carried USDCHF to 1.2315 though the rally was short lived and the pair turned back to the chop that has defined price action for most of the week. USDJPY finally joined the other majors in taking its cue from the greenback. The pair was rallied 40 points in the dollars favor during the data flow this morning before quickly turning to 121.25 support.

Though the dollar was back on track for slow appreciation, the fundamentals carrying the session were volatile. In the overnight, a bullish tone was taken on the US currency in reaction to comments made by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and a report released by the OECD. Greenspan delivered an ominous forecast yesterday when he said in one of his speeches that he feared the Chinese stock market would suffer a ‘dramatic contraction’ in the near future. The global risk aversion that would likely result from such a shake up would encourage flight to quality and repatriation, both of which being beneficial to the dollar. A little more specific to the dollar, the OECD’s biannual Economic Outlook suggested the Fed should hold off on cutting the benchmark lending rate until early next year due to high inflation in the US and around the globe.

When US liquidity came on line, traders were fully prepared for uneventful releases from a few big market movers. The biggest surprise from the calendar this morning was the 16.2 percent jump in new home sales last month. Not only did this blow the 0.2 percent consensus out of the water; but it was also the biggest monthly increase in sales since 1993. The sharp increase in volume is being attributed to lower lending rates and a solid push from developers through incentives. However, neither of these factors was anything new. Instead, the deciding aspect seems to be the equally massive 10.9 percent plunge in the average sale price – the biggest contraction since the early 1970s. Now, the market will seek confirmation from future New Home Sales and other related housing reports to see whether the sharp price drop has definitely jump started a rebound in the beleaguered market. Working against this effort will be the additional burden of tighter lending restrictions that were put in place because of the high number of defaults in the sub-prime sector.

...more...

Dollar: Dow Reverses, Taking Everything Down With it

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/Dollar__Dow_Reverses__Taking_Everything_1180039750677.html

The US dollar is stronger against ever major currency with exception of the Japanese Yen. Although it would be easy to attribute the dollar’s rally today to the 16 percent rise in new home sales and the sharp increase in durable goods orders excluding transportation, that attribution would not be entirely accurate. If you took a closer look at the intraday price charts, the EUR/USD ended the US session not far from the level it traded at between 8:30am and 10:00am EST. What is driving the move lower in the EUR/USD and pairs like the AUD/USD and NZD/USD is actually carry trade liquidation. Liquidation out of AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY, EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY has inflicted pain onto the majors. The sell-off was triggered by a sharp intraday reversal in the US stock market. Having been up as much as 100 points after the housing numbers, the Dow ended the day down 84 points. It took the market some time to realize that the strong housing numbers released this morning contained underlying weakness. Even though new home sales jumped 16 percent in the month of April, the biggest rise in 14 years, the median price of homes dropped 10.9 percent, the largest on record. This means that builders, especially corporate ones are in a rush to recoup their investments by having a fire sale on inventory. We already know that they are very pessimistic about the outlook for the housing market and with even more inventory coming onto the market within the next year (here in NY, there are new buildings construction happening on almost every block), these builders must feel a strong urgency to sell. This makes tomorrow’s existing home sale figures exceptionally important. Existing home owners are generally in less of a rush to sell, can be more price sensitive and able to wait longer for a favorable offer than builders. Should existing home sales also increase strongly, then the housing market may be on its way to recovery. If it sees a sharp decrease in sales, then trouble could be ahead. Durable goods were less ambiguous as the upward revisions to the headline figure last month offset the smaller than expected rise this month. Orders excluding transportation also doubled expectations, indicating that the weak dollar is benefiting the sector as a whole. With no clear direction on where the economy is headed, the one thing that is clear is that the reversal in the Dow is having a big impact on the currency market and should stocks continue to fall, then we could see the crosses lead to more weakness in the majors.

...more...

[54anickel]

18. The $2,500bn question

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/60246632-0a5f-11dc-93ae-000b5df10621.html

Highly solvent SWF seeks mutually rewarding relationship. That might sound like an advert in a singles column but it is in fact shorthand for what is rapidly becoming a huge force in global markets and economies.

A vast arsenal of money to invest in markets is fast being built up by the swelling ranks of so-called sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), schemes set to invest the growing foreign exchange reserves and savings of countries from Norway to China.

Driven by trade surpluses unequalled as a percentage of the global economy since the beginning of the 20th century, official reserves held by some governments are now astronomically high and there is pressure to earn a better return by putting the moneywith specialised investment agencies.

Morgan Stanley estimated in March that the total funds at the disposal of SWFs may be as high as $2,500bn (£1,157bn, €1,710bn), already around half the gross official reserves of all countries. By comparison, the global hedge fund industry is thought to manage about $1,500bn to $2,000bn of assets, some of which may include existing SWF money. The SWFs are growing fast as countries reap the benefits of high oil prices or large trade surpluses.

"If we are right that these funds will grow by roughly $500bn a year, at the expense of official reserve growth, the total size of the SWFs should be as big as the official reserves in only five to six years' time," Morgan Stanley estimated.

How and where this massive - and often secretively managed - pool of funds is deployed will be one of the big investment themes of coming years. The evolution of these funds will have huge implications for financial markets.

China, for example, is setting up an SWF to manage more aggressively a portion of its $1,200bn in foreign reserves. Plans are still taking shape for the fund, likely to be called the China Investment Corporation when it opens an office some time later this year, but it is expected eventually to have a kitty of up to $300bn. "That amount represents the single largest pool of cash that any government has thrown at anything, ever. Adjusted for inflation, the US's largest effort, the Marshall Plan, comes in at just over $100bn," says Statfor, a US security consulting intelligence agency.

more...

Wow, those figures are nearly impossible to mentally grasp. And to think it's only considered money because we agree to call it that. Just like when we were kids playing make believe!

[54anickel]

19. Yuan Isn't the Cause of U.S. Trade Deficit, Wu Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1eA4gxOPWiE&refer=worldwide

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The yuan isn't the cause of the U.S. trade deficit and a ``large'' appreciation would hurt China's economy, Vice Premier Wu Yi said, signaling the nation won't cave in to demands for faster gains.

``China will continue to reform its exchange rate on its own initiative, gradually,'' Wu said at a dinner in Washington after two days of talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that yielded no agreements on the currency and failed to quell calls in Congress for sanctions against China.

About 85 percent of China's trade surplus with the U.S. is generated by foreign companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. exporting products from China that are no longer made in the U.S., Wu said, citing textiles, shoes and furniture. Imposing protectionist measures to cut last year's record $232.5 billion U.S. deficit with China would harm both nations, she said.

``The U.S. government also doesn't want a trade war with China,'' Chen Xingdong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas SA in Beijing. ``If that really happens, the losses for the Americans might not be lower than those for the Chinese.''

snip>

Wu, 68, and Paulson concluded two days of talks on May 23 aimed at easing tensions between the two nations. Paulson and Wu agreed to increase the number of flights between China and the U.S., to lift a freeze on foreign firms entering China's securities industry and to allow overseas banks to offer yuan- denominated credit and debit cards.

China will also increase the quota allotted to approved international investors for the purchase of stocks usually reserved for domestic buyers.

Paulson wasn't able to persuade Wu to allow foreign banks to own more than 25 percent of a domestic lender.

``She's not conceding on any of our points,'' said Alan Tonelson, research fellow of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, which represents about 1,500 smaller manufacturers in Washington. ``This is insulting.'' :cry:

more..

[mojavekid]

21. Daily Pfennig 5/25/07: That Positive Balance of Payments!

http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=1404

Another day of playing solitaire till dawn in the currencies... The bias on the day was for a stronger dollar, but the trading range was so small that one could barely tell what the bias was. We had a ton of stuff happen yesterday with regard to data releases, and the former Fed chairman getting his hands in there and acting like he knows what's going on. So, let's go to the tape, eh?

First off, let me tell you that the German economy got yet another great report card this morning when it was reported that German Consumer Confidence rose to a 5-month high! It was reported that falling unemployment is really boosting Consumer Confidence... And why not? I've spent a ton of time lately extolling the virtues of the German/Eurozone economy as a reason for a strong euro... But it was pointed out to me yesterday by a currency strategist that I talk to periodically, that I keep forgetting that the Eurozone has a positive balance of payments...

And he is right! At the end of 2005, I did an interview in which I was asked about what currencies would perform well in 2006, and I immediately highlighted the countries with a positive balance of payments (or Trade Surpluses). I argued that these countries wouldn't have deficits dragging down their economies going forward... And those were... Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the euro, and all the Asian countries. And that thought came front and center when the dust settled on the best-performing currencies of 2006... (you have to excuse Japanese yen and Swiss francs when talking about best-performing currencies due to the fact that they are the funding currencies of the carry trade).

more...

[ozymandius]

5. Nordic bourse OMX to merge with Nasdaq

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., which lost its battle to cross the Atlantic with a failed bid for the London Stock Exchange, agreed Friday to buy Nordic stock exchange operator OMX AB for 25.1 billion kronor ($3.67 billion).

The acquisition is a major breakthrough for the Nasdaq, which still owns almost 30 percent of the London exchange and could use the purchase of OMX to persuade LSE shareholders to agree to a deal creating a giant European exchange.

-cut-

The cash and share offer of 0.502 new Nasdaq shares plus 94.30 kronor ($13.76) in cash for each OMX share values the company at 208.1 kronor ($30.38) per share, offering a 19 percent premium over Wednesday's closing price, the company said. OMX shares rose 13 percent to 203.5 kronor ($29.77) in Stockholm.

OMX said the boards of both companies had recommended the deal, which also has the support of their main shareholders. The new group is to be called The Nasdaq OMX Group and will have Greifeld as CEO and OMX Chief Executive Magnus Bocker as president.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_bi_ge/sweden_omx_nasdaq

[ozymandius]

6. Best Buy accused of overcharging

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut's attorney general announced a lawsuit Thursday against Best Buy Co. Inc., accusing the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer of deceiving customers with in-store computer kiosks and overcharging them.

The lawsuit accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a lookalike internal Web site.

"Best Buy gave consumers the worst deal — a bait-and-switch-plus scheme luring consumers into stores with promised online discounts, only to charge higher in-store prices," Blumenthal said.

The complaint was dated May 18 to be served on the company, which must respond by June 13. The lawsuit, which seeks refunds for consumers, civil penalties, court costs, a ban on the practice and other remedies, would then be filed in Hartford Superior Court.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070524/ap_on_bi_ge/best_buy_investigation

Aside from this allegation - I have other experiences with Best Buy that give me good reasons never to shop there.

[ozymandius]

7. Gap Inc.'s 1Q profit falls 26 percent

SAN FRANCISCO - Gap Inc.'s management has changed, but the troubled clothing retailer's financial trends remain distressingly familiar with both profits and sales still evaporating.

Although it wasn't quite as bad as analysts feared, Gap's first-quarter profit fell by 26 percent as the San Francisco-based company struggled to win back shoppers after several years of fashion missteps.

Meanwhile, comparable-store sales — a key gauge of a merchant's health — crumbled by another 4 percent.

It marked Gap's seventh straight quarter of earnings erosion and 11th consecutive quarter of declining sales, measured by the yardstick that tracks the performance of stores open for at least a year.

The results released Thursday served as another reminder about the challenges facing Robert Fisher, who has been shaking things up since he became Gap's interim chief executive officer just before the first quarter began.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_gap

[ozymandius]

8. GE CEO sees "green" unit growing faster

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - news) Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said his "green" ecomagination unit is on track to "blow away" its 2010 sales target of $20 billion as demand for environmental products and services surges.

After two years in operation, ecomagination has a backlog of orders worth $50 billion for products like wind turbines, aircraft engines and energy conservation technology. Last year, it had sales of $12 billion.

At an event to celebrate ecomagination's second anniversary, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Immelt to confirm the unit's target of $20 billion in sales in 2010.

-cut-

But he said on Thursday that demand for green products and services exceeded expectations as awareness about global warming and energy conservation snowballed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070525/bs_nm/ge_environment_dc

[ozymandius]

9. back in awhile

My son's due at school.

Ozy :hi:

[UpInArms]

10. OT: FDA stops imports of Chinese toothpaste

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/tainted_toothpaste

WASHINGTON - The government is stopping all imports of Chinese toothpaste to test for a deadly chemical reportedly found in tubes sold elsewhere in the world.

The Food and Drug Administration is testing the Chinese toothpaste for diethylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in antifreeze and brake fluid, spokesman Doug Arbesfeld said Thursday. The imports will be released only if they test negative for the chemical.

The FDA began the tests following reports that tainted Chinese toothpaste was sold in Australia, the Dominican Republic and Panama, Arbesfeld said.

"There is absolutely no evidence of this toothpaste in the U.S. but it is what we believe a prudent and cautionary measure to protect the health of the American public," Arbesfeld said.

<snip>

China is the No. 6 exporter of toothpaste to the U.S. by dollar value, according to
Commerce Department statistics. It accounted for just $3.3 million, or 3.5 percent, of the overall $96 million in toothpaste imported by the U.S. last year.

...more...

[UpInArms]

11. Appeals Court Upholds Convictions in Adelphia Fraud Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/business/media/25cable.html?ex=1337745600&en=2014c4c3df611bdd&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the criminal convictions of the founder of Adelphia Communications, John J. Rigas, and his son Timothy, who both face lengthy prison terms for concealing loans and stealing millions from the company.

The court affirmed most of the pair’s July 2004 convictions on 18 counts of fraud, including securities fraud and conspiracy.

One count of bank fraud was dismissed, and the appeals court said the two men should be resentenced.

John Rigas, 82, was sentenced in June 2005 to 15 years in prison, while Timothy J. Rigas, 52, the former finance chief, received 20 years.

<snip>

The Adelphia case, along with those of Enron and WorldCom, were among the biggest corporate fraud prosecutions in recent years. The father and son were accused of looting the company, a cable television provider, to pay for personal land deals and vacation homes.

...more...

[UpInArms]

12. Documents From Sallie Mae Add to Questions About Timing of $18 Million Stock Sale

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/business/25sallie.html?ex=1337745600&en=3fb0e7b53b369e8d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

An internal document from Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender, showed that the company sought a meeting with President Bush’s budget office about two months before the company’s chairman, Albert L. Lord, sold more than $18 million in shares.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the House education committee are investigating whether Mr. Lord had inside information about the president’s budget proposal, which was released in February and called for cuts in subsidies for companies participating in the federally guaranteed student loan program. Mr. Lord sold his stock days before the budget’s release, which led to a steep decline in the company’s share price.

The plans for the meeting were disclosed in a company document dated Dec. 5, 2006, that was provided to the House education committee. It is not clear whether a meeting took place.

“This document shows that Sallie Mae intended to have discussions with the administration about the president’s budget before it was released to the public,” said Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the committee. “That raises the question of what information Mr. Lord had, when he had it and what he did with it.”

<snip>

The document also suggested that the company wanted help from two important Republicans in Congress — Representative John A. Boehner, the Republican leader from Ohio, and Representative Howard P. McKeon of California, the ranking Republican on the education committee — in pleading its case with the president’s budget office before the budget came out. Steve Forde, a spokesman for Mr. McKeon, said, “No one here remembers any contact from Sallie Mae on this issue, and no contact was made from Mr. McKeon or committee staff to O.M.B.”

...more...

[54anickel]

13. Signs of the times: Part II

http://www.prudentbear.com/articles/show/2017

It’s the best of all worlds, global growth is strong and the dollar is weak.”
Wall Street Journal April 27, Chief Market Strategist at Bank of America

However, there are some observers who are becoming concerned. A piece in WSJ.com on April 30 provided an outstanding review of over-employed leverage, or as it is euphemistically called – liquidity.

Hedge-fund manager John Paulson made $1 billion using a complex financial instrument to pump up a bet that the subprime mortgage market would crater. The parent company of retail giant Sears made $74 million using a similar device to boost its wager that a basket of stocks would rise in value.
Both were playing with leverage – the magical power that allows investors to make big investments without putting big money on the table. These days, they have lots of company. Thanks to advances in financial engineering, investors have never had so many different ways to make commitments that exceed their bankrolls. And never before has leverage wormed its way into so many nooks of the financial world.
We’re living on planet leverage, and regulators and market gurus are growing nervous.
How did this happen? For starters, hedge funds and leveraged-buyout funds have proliferated. They’re pioneers in boosting returns using borrowed money, the most traditional form of leverage. Also, investment banks are pumping out newfangled leveraging tools such as derivatives, complex securities that allow hedge funds and other investors to add leverage without borrowing money.

The kicker, of course takes us one step beyond the liquidity euphemism into the surreal with the convenience of being able to “add leverage without borrowing money”.

more...

[54anickel]

14. Meanwhile - Banks turning to credit derivatives as trading tools

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20070524/bs_ft/fto052420071726157607;_ylt=ApCfCwTAX0mbzKAKeG_TPf32ULEF

Global banks have started to use credit derivatives to expand their level of risk-taking - rather than to hedge their own credit risks, according to new analysis.

In particular, large global banks, as a sector, are now writing growing numbers of contracts that sell credit risk protection to other counterparties - instead of buying protection for their own lending risks, internal analysis from Fitch rating agency suggests.

The analysis challenges the widely held assumption that the expansion of the credit derivatives sector has helped banks, as a whole, to shed risk from their own books. Consequently, the pattern may provoke a new debate about the wider impact of the way that risk is being transferred between different players in the financial system, as innovation gathers pace.

The Fitch analysis of banks' net positions with credit derivatives was partly drawn up by its financial industry team, using bank data and other sources.

snip>
The other parties who have been selling exposure on a large scale are believed to be insurance companies and specialist credit derivative product companies. Those buying protection are believed to include hedge funds and pension groups.

snip>

However it has also dramatically boosted overall use of CDS: the total size of the sector has grown from less than $1,000bn at the start of the decade, to more than $33,000bn at the end of last year, with most of the expansion having occurred in the last three years.

more...

[54anickel]

15. SeniorCare drug program salvaged (WI)

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/136253

The emergency spending bill to continue funding for the Iraq war would also allow Wisconsin's popular SeniorCare program -- which helps more than 80,000 state senior citizens buy low-cost prescription drugs -- to continue through the end of 2009, key members of the state's congressional delegation said today.

The amendment, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, both D-Wis., and U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, would preserve the program, which had been slated to end this year.

snip>

Federal officials had announced last month that they would no longer allow Wisconsin to offer the SeniorCare program. The federal government allowed Wisconsin to create SeniorCare before a prescription drug benefit was provided under Medicare health care program for senior citizens.

The SeniorCare program has been popular because it is both easier for seniors to use and its benefits are more generous. State officials have argued that it also saves the government money because the state is able to negotiate bulk prices with drug makers, something absent from the federal law.

more...

[54anickel]

16. OT - 60% of ABC viewers polled consider the Flintstones a documentary.

I caught this segment on GMA. Unfreakin' real. Seems one guy believes society would be completely immoral without the Bible - that part didn't make it into the written article....wonder why. :eyes:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3211737&page=1

According to an ABC News poll, 60 percent of Americans believe God created the world in six days. In Petersburg, Ky. this weekend, a creation museum is opening that depicts a story far from what you may have learned in science class.

Exhibits at almost every natural history museum teach that dinosaurs are millions of years old and that they died out long before human beings existed, but at the creation museum, they say God created dinosaurs and humans at the same time.

The Creation Museum is a $27 million, high-tech sensory experience with animatronic dinosaurs and a movie theater with seats that shake, designed by the same man behind some of the attractions at Universal Studios in Florida.

The museum is aimed at convincing visitors that evolution is wrong and that the Biblical story of life on earth from Adam and Eve to Noah's ark is scientifically verifiable.

more...

On edit - the immoral stuff did make it in - missed it the first time thru :hangover:

The stakes are high. The museum argues that evolution jeopardizes people's belief in the Bible and leads to social ills like pornography and abortion.

"In an evolutionary world view, why should you have things like absolute morality? Why would it be wrong to kill someone?" said Jason Lisle, of Answers in Genesis. "I'm not saying that evolutionists aren't moral. I'm saying they have no reason to be moral."

:wtf:

[54anickel]

17. Gold Gains as Dollar, Higher Oil May Spur Demand; Silver Rises

But it has nothing to do with NK missles, although that's what they reported earlier - Gold Gains, Erasing Decline, After Missile Report; Silver Rises - Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601012&sid=au8LP95AQCeo&refer=commodities

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose in London as higher energy costs and a drop in the value of the dollar may revive investor demand for the precious metal. Silver gained.

Gold has climbed 3.1 percent this year as the dollar dropped against the euro and crude oil prices gained. Gold erased some of today's earlier gain that was triggered by reports that North Korea fired several missiles toward the Sea of Japan.

``The market is not taking the missile report as a serious threat leading to an escalation in tensions between North Korea and its neighbors and the U.S.,'' said Peter Fertig, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort in Frankfurt. ``The major concern for gold is still the dollar and oil.''

Gold gained $1.41, or 0.2 percent, to $656.05 an ounce at 12:58 p.m. local time. Prices earlier had climbed as much as $2.22. Silver added 8.5 cents to $12.94 an ounce.

more...

[UpInArms]

23. 10:39 EST and ponies for everyone!

Dow 13,500.21 59.08 (0.44%)
Nasdaq 2,554.76 16.84 (0.66%)
S&P 500 1,515.63 8.12 (0.54%)
10-Yr Bond 4.855% 0.002

NYSE Volume 585,975,000
Nasdaq Volume 382,455,000

10:00 am : The major averages are off their opening highs but buying efforts remain broad based. Of the eight sectors trading higher, Energy (+0.9%) is pacing the way, getting a lift from a 1.2% rebound in oil prices. Utilities (+0.7%) ranks second, but that's not surprising given a 2.6% drubbing yesterday that earmarked it as the day's worst performing sector.

However, the absence of upside leadership from two of the S&P 500's three most heavily-weighted sectors -- Financials and Health Care -- is minimizing early recovery efforts. The Tech sector (+0.5%) not even recouping one third of what it lost a day earlier also offers little conviction on the part of buyers this morning. DJ30 +34.25 NASDAQ +9.89 SP500 +4.52 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 765/1683/130 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 652/1948/68 mln

09:40 am : As expected, a sense that Thursday's sell-off was overdone has stocks rebounding nicely right out of the gate. More evidence of the liquidity factor that has helped lift stocks virtually unabated since mid March is also providing a floor of support.

On the M&A front, Coca-Cola (KO 51.75 +0.51) agreed to acquire vitamin water maker Glaceau for $4.1 bln while Nasdaq (NDAQ 32.47 -1.51) agreed to buy the Nordic bourse group OMX for $3.7 bln. Investors are also applauding a round of buyback announcements from Lowe's (LOW 32.29 +0.23), Amerisourcebergen (ABC 51.61 +0.96), and Equity Residential Properties (EQR 46.78 +0.41).DJ30 +51.99 NASDAQ +10.99 SP500 +5.31 NASDAQ Vol 82 mln NYSE Vol 42 mln

[Roland99]

26. Obviously making up for the over zealous selloff yesterday.

:eyes:

[mojavekid]

24. WSJ Online: Goldman Takes Private Equity to a New Level

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117996989061312894-NCL8HfLFUcw6vKuz1GWogIfg3JY_20070623.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks

Firm's Trading System
Lets Unregistered Stock
Reach Exclusive Market


Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ranks as the most profitable securities firm on Wall Street -- reflecting its mastery of trading on the world's public markets.

Now Goldman is turning that franchise on its head, creating its own private system to trade the stocks of companies that don't want the scrutiny and regulatory burdens of going public.

The new system, GS TRuE -- short for Goldman Sachs Tradable Unregistered Equity -- was announced two weeks ago and made its debut on Monday with an $880 million sale of a 15% stake in Oaktree Capital Management LLC, an alternative-investment manager.

It is the first of several new, private exchanges like these being considered by Wall Street firms and others. Nasdaq is also planning its own new market for smaller, unregistered securities.

more....

UFB.

[54anickel]

25. There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear

LaBorde campaigning for Ron Paul - does raise some interesting points along the way.....

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/laborde/laborde052507.html

snip>

Gasoline just soared above $3.00/gallon this past week end. At Shadow Government Statistics, www.shadowstats.com, Mr. Williams reports that M3 growth is almost 13% with the liquidity taps wide open. Inflation calculated by governmental pre-Clinton methods is double the now "official" figures. The real inflation number (including fuel, food and housing) is probably closer to 10%. Real unemployment including chronically unemployed and under employed is well over 10% and probably much higher.

At www.myhodges.home.att.net the Grandfather report states that the government has captured 57% of the economy leaving only 43% of the economy for the private sector. Guess who is pulling the wagon? We have fewer horses pulling a bigger wagon. Some feel the solution is to flog the horses harder. A government somewhere around 15% of the economy seems about right to me.

I am currently re-reading T. Harry William's masterful biography on Huey P. Long. In the depths of the great depression he was concerned about the disappearing middle class. The rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. The concentration of wealth in the top 1% of the population was at an all time high. He recommended liquidating all wealth over $5 million dollars and incomes over 300 times the average wage. His "share the wealth" program was accused of being socialist but he strongly denied the charge. He claimed that it was going to save capitalism from serfdom. Of course, they killed Long. With today's outlandish CEO salaries, his claims resonate a bit in the current economy. It is only because the CEOs pack the compensation committee with directors that are no longer majority shareholders that they are able to capture such large profits from the shareholders. (It's not their money.) And you have to wonder what exactly does Goldman Sachs do that makes its top men so powerful that they keep ending up heading up the U.S. treasury department.

But there is much for concern among the citizens. Homeland Security can't seem to secure our borders but they can strip search Grandma at the airport. The National Guard is no longer under control of the local governors. The local police are becoming militarized (more Barney and less Andy). The democrats are now in charge of congress and nothing has changed. Perpetual war for perpetual peace is the new mantra in the Middle East. There is the loss of civil rights through patriot act I and II (do I hear III?). Manufacturing jobs are still leaving the country at an alarming rate. Negative savings rates and maxed out visa cards. And finally just too much month at the end of the money!

more...

[54anickel]

27. A Mute Strategic Economic Dialogue: Wrong Issues, Wrong Timing, and Wrong Party

Very long article by Henry C.K. Liu

http://www.henryckliu.com/page134.html

General Omar Bradley, a great soldier much admired by enlisted men, aptly characterized the Korean War as the wrong war, in the wrong place and against the wrong enemy.

The Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) between the United States and China launched jointly by President George W. Bush and President Hu Jintao on September 20, 2006 is showing signs of turning into a dialogue on the wrong issues, wrong timing and with the wrong US Administration.

Reflecting the growing problems and opportunities in the expanding economic relationship between the US and China, the unprecedented dialogue at the highest official levels was intended to provide an overarching framework for ongoing productive bilateral exchanges of views on long-term strategic issues. It was also intended to be a forum for discussing ways the US and China can work together to address economic challenges and opportunities as “responsible stakeholders” in the international economic system.

The SED is now in clear danger of being conducted on the US side by the wrong (out-going Republican) administration after the US mid-term elections delivered the legislative branch of the US government to the Democratic Party. And as the 2008 presidential election approaches, the prospect of another Republican White House appears less than likely. The stated official intent of the SED is to discuss long-term strategic challenges, rather than seeking immediate solutions to the issues of the day. But the SED appears now to be used inappropriately by the anemic Bush administration to defuse imminent vindictive short-term punitive measures against a victimized China from a confrontational Democratic Congress unhappy with Republican trade policies.

The SED is also clearly being conducted with terribly wrong timing with the US presidential campaign heating up and with a Democratic Congress locked in bitter battle with a lame duck Republican administration suffering the lowest popularity rating in history. The high-purpose SED is forced to focus defensively on wrong issues of trivial bilateral operational trade friction, blaming China for instigating conditions that have produced an unsustainable US trade deficits when China has actually only been a powerless respondent to the dysfunctional terms of trade set by US economic policies, aggressively exploited by US transnational corporations and financial institutions for unfair profit.

President Bush’s September 20, 2006 Statement on the creation of the US-China SED demanded rightfully: “We must ensure that citizens of both countries benefit equitably from our growing economic relationship.” Whereas US-China trade has benefited the US economy more than the Chinese economy, much of the benefit has gone to the US corporate and financial sectors, rather than to workers of both trading countries equitably. President Bush asserts that “the essential goal of this dialogue is to ensure that the benefits of our growing economic relationship with China are fairly shared by citizens of both countries.” Yet the mal-distribution of the pains and gains of US-China trade in both countries has been mostly set unilaterally by US tax, economic and trade policies. China’s workers and peasants suffer from income disparity arising from global trade more severely than the US working class. More than 60% of China’s trade surpluses are traded by foreign companies, many of which are US companies.

more...

[mojavekid]

28. Mogambo Guru: Economic Caveat From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Daughty/may252007.html


Economic Caveat From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

By Richard Daughty "The Mogambo Guru"
May 25 2007 10:48AM

www.dailyreckoning.com



I nervously take another long pull from the bottle of bourbon to steady my rattled nerves when I read that Total Fed Credit was down another $5.6 billion last week, taking us down to $847.8 billion. Trying not to slur my words, I say to the bartender, "If credit isn't being created by the Fed, where in the hell is all the money coming from that keeps making stock and bond markets keep climbing and climbing?"

My bloodshot eyes sweep around the bar, looking for a scapegoat that 1) appeals to my general xenophobic nature, and 2) is too small to put up a fight if it gets to that. Over in the corner I see these two old (and little!) Oriental-looking guys, and so I snort, "It's foreigners! Especially the Chinese, I guess, as the world is all agog that a million Chinese people are opening up new brokerage accounts every week, all propelled by the powerful choice of either getting a crappy, less-than-inflation yield on their savings accounts in the stupid bank (the Chinese banking system pays 2% on deposits when true inflation is around 6%), or the stupendous, fabulous gains being reaped by speculators in the stock market."

The two guys see me talking about them, get up from their booth in the back and leave, obviously going out to buy stocks, I figure, to which I remark "See? Knowing this, everybody else in the greedy, desperate-for-gains world wants to get on board, too, which adds to the general buying frenzy!"

Plenty more...

[ozymandius]

30. lunchtime check-in

12:50
Dow 13,472.01 Up 30.88 (0.23%)
Nasdaq 2,550.78 Up 12.86 (0.51%)
S&P 500 1,511.68 Up 4.17 (0.28%)
10-Yr Bond 4.855% Down 0.002
NYSE Volume 1,132,840,000
Nasdaq Volume 801,728,000

12:30 pm : The indices kick off the afternoon session succumbing to a renewed wave of selling interest. Nine of 10 sectors were posting gains 30 minutes ago, with the relatively inconsequential Utilities sector (-0.8%) serving as the day's only laggard.

However, reversals in Financials and Health Care, which collectively account for about 34% of the total weighting on the S&P 500 (compared to Utilities' weighting of only 3.7%), have removed some influential leadership. Fortunately for the bulls, both sector's declines are minimal and, as evidenced by the Nasdaq outperforming its blue-chip counterparts to the upside, strength across the board in Tech continues to provide an important floor of support. DJ30 +25.52 NASDAQ +12.46 SP500 +4.14 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1088/1812/720 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 908/2193/550 mln

12:00 pm : Stocks are turning in a respectable performance heading into the second half of the trading day as investors embrace another round of deal making. However, with every pullback in the market being viewed as a buying opportunity of late, it's also not all that surprising to see the market bounce back, at least somewhat.

Topping today's M&A headlines is Dow component Coca-Cola (KO 51.98 +0.74). Shareholders are applauding its decision to acquire vitamin water maker Glaceau for $4.1 bln. The other notable deal involves Nasdaq (NDAQ 32.98 -1.00), which agreed to buy the Nordic exchange OMX for $3.7 bln.

Another round of buyback announcements from Lowe's (LOW 32.14 0.08), Amerisourcebergen (ABC 52.04 +1.39), and Equity Residential Properties (EQR 48.13 +1.76) further underscores the liquidity factor that has helped lift stocks virtually unabated since mid March.

Separately, with yesterday's surprisingly strong new home sales data having such a noticeable impact on trading, as overly optimistic hopes of a Fed rate cut were dashed, today's existing home sales data garnered some attention earlier. The report checked in with the lowest level of sales in nearly four years while the inventory of unsold homes surged to their highest level since 1992. Nonetheless, the market eventually didn't place a lot of emphasis on the report since it holds less influence than new home sales. BTK +0.4% DJ30 +60.99 DJTA +0.4% DJUA -0.4% DOT +0.7% NASDAQ +16.33 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +0.7% SOX +0.4% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +7.86 XOI +1.0% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1030/1841/646 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 799/2313/492 mln

[TrogL]

31. Loonie Watch

Highlights

Current:



30-day and 90-day vs.greenback:



30-day vs. Euro, Yen, UK Pound and Swiss Franc




Currency Comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/trogl/looniewatch.html

Detailed analysis: http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD

Up-to-the-minute graph: http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.Y%24%24&v=s&w=5&t=l&a=1

Historical values http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/data30.html

2007-04-24 Tuesday, April 24 0.890631 USD
2007-04-25 Wednesday, April 25 0.897183 USD
2007-04-26 Thursday, April 26 0.892698 USD
2007-04-27 Friday, April 27 0.8967 USD
2007-04-30 Monday, April 30 0.903506 USD
2007-05-01 Tuesday, May 1 0.901876 USD
2007-05-02 Wednesday, May 2 0.901957 USD
2007-05-03 Thursday, May 3 0.903424 USD
2007-05-04 Friday, May 4 0.903424 USD
2007-05-07 Monday, May 7 0.907112 USD
2007-05-08 Tuesday, May 8 0.905141 USD
2007-05-09 Wednesday, May 9 0.903914 USD
2007-05-10 Thursday, May 10 0.903098 USD
2007-05-11 Friday, May 11 0.897989 USD
2007-05-14 Monday, May 14 0.903587 USD
2007-05-15 Tuesday, May 15 0.911079 USD
2007-05-16 Wednesday, May 16 0.906783 USD
2007-05-17 Thursday, May 17 0.911079 USD
2007-05-18 Friday, May 18 0.918864 USD
2007-05-21 Monday, May 21 0.921319 USD
2007-05-22 Tuesday, May 22 0.921319 USD
2007-05-23 Wednesday, May 23 0.924556 USD
2007-05-24 Thursday, May 24 0.922424 USD


Current values

Loonie:

Last trade 0.9260 Change +0.0026 (+0.28%)
Previous Close 0.9235 Open 0.9239
Low 0.9239High 0.9286


Other combinations:

AS.M07 AUSTRALIAN $/CANADIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 0.88230 -0.00495 -0.56%
AU.M07 AUSTRALIAN $/US$ Jun (NYBOT) 0.8191 -0.0040 -0.49%
EC.M07 EURO FX Jun (CME) 1.3464 +0.0019 +0.14%
RA.M07 EURO/AUSTRALIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 1.6441 +0.0025 +0.15%
RP.M07.E EURO/BRITISH POUND Jun (CME) 0.67850 +0.00140 +0.21%
GB.M07 EURO/BRITISH POUND Jun (NYBOT) 0.6784 +0.0012 +0.18%
EP.M07 EURO/CANADIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 1.45600 -0.00045 -0.03%
RY.M07.E EURO/JAPANESE YEN Jun (CME) 163.39 +0.64 +0.39%
EJ.M07 EURO/JAPANESE YEN Jun (NYBOT) 162.42 -0.28 -0.17%
EU.M07 EURO/US$ (LARGE) Jun (NYBOT) 1.34455 -0.00235 -0.17%
YY.M07 JAPANESE YEN Jun (NYBOT) 120.970 -0.255 -0.21%
ZX.M07 NEW ZEALAND $/US$ Jun (NYBOT) 0.72395 -0.00395 -0.55%


Blather (from http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

The June Canadian Dollar was slightly lower overnight as it consolidates some of this week's rally but remains above last May's high crossing at .9200. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought, diverging but are neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near-term. If June extends the rally off February's low, weekly resistance crossing at .9312 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20-day moving average crossing at .9102 would confirm that a top has been posted. Overnight action sets the stage for a steady to lower opening in early-day session trading.

Analysis

I'm playing around with formatting today. From now on, upward change is green, neutral in black, downward is red. If something else is worth noting, it'll be red as well. For example, I think today's high is yet another record (at least until we get back to par, predicted (not by me) for September). Looking at the graph (http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.M07&v=s ) though, it looks like somebody just jumped the gun a bit.

Looking at the combinations up above, I think same as two days ago, the greenback, yen and to a lesser extent the euro are in trouble (all for different reasons) and everything else is going up in comparison.

The only economic news within Canada on the morning drivein was out of Quebec - various politicos spouting off about how they'd handle the Quebec economy. Keynesians, supply-siders and others coming out of the woodwork are going at it hammer and tongs.

[TrogL]

32. OK, so maybe I'm wrong

Up above, people are saying the greenback is up vs. most currencies.

IDGI :wtf:

[54anickel]

36. Guess it depends on what time they were looking at it.

Look at any INO chart longer than a 1 month time-frame and the buck is anything but "on fire". :evilgrin:

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

Last trade 82.311 Change -0.094 (-0.11%)

Settle Time 13:01 Open 82.390

Previous Close 82.405 High 82.466

Low 82.198 2007-05-25 13:51:36, 30 min delay

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v4.0
==================



This week is our second quarter 2007 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend on donations
from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for your support.

[Ghost Dog]

39. Yeah, hi. It says here that; Asian Stocks Post Biggest Drop in Five Weeks

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aB0eKszoguJo&refer=asia

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell the most in five weeks after U.S. home sales unexpectedly surged, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the region's biggest export market.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 2 automaker, declined the most in two weeks, while BHP Billiton Ltd., the biggest mining company, posted its second weekly drop. Miners also retreated along with metals prices.

``Investors had thought a low interest rate environment would continue in the U.S., helping drive shares there higher,'' said Hiroshi Chano, who helps manage $7.3 billion at Yasuda Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``The housing market is staging a comeback, so expectations rates would come down have dissipated.''

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index fell 1 percent to 147.83 at 7:52 p.m. in Tokyo, with all of its 10 industry groups retreating. The drop was the most since April 19, when concern borrowing costs in China would increase dragged stocks lower. The MSCI measure gained 0.3 percent this week.

China's CSI 300 Index rose to a record. Shenzhen Development Bank Co. led gains after increasing an offer to investors to make all its stock tradable. Lenovo Group Ltd. surged in Hong Kong after reporting earnings that prompted upgrades from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group.

Benchmarks in China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the only ones in the region to advance. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.2 percent, the most in a month. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.3 percent.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

40. And also: Japan's Consumer-Price Declines Slow to 0.1%

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ad1uXV8pcw_8&refer=asia

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's consumer prices fell at a slower pace in April, signaling gains may soon resume, making it easier for the central bank to raise interest rates.

Core prices, which exclude fresh food, declined 0.1 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo, matching economists' estimates. The measure of inflation fell 0.3 percent in March, the steepest drop in two years.

Rising prices would shore up support for the Bank of Japan's policy of increasing its 0.5 percent benchmark interest rate, the lowest among major economies. Governor Toshihiko Fukui said last week that the bank could raise rates even with prices falling to prevent excessive investment and sustain growth.

``The improvement of consumer prices certainly provides relief and gives the BOJ's arguments some conviction,'' said Eishi Yokoyama, an economist at AIG Global Investment Corp. in Tokyo. ``We're going to see more speculation among investors about an early rate hike.''

/....

[Ghost Dog]

41. Incidentally: (European) Bourses flat as bank losses offset M&A gains

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html-story.asp?pulse=true&siteid=ft&dist=ft&guid=%7B696d82e9%2D9491%2D41a5%2D80f8%2Dd998a46e2894%7D

Bank losses kept European equities flat on Friday, but bid activity helped keep the market afloat after Nasdaq made an offer for Stockholm bourse operator OMX. By the close, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was unchanged at 1,597.74, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax added 0.5 per cent to 7,739.2, the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.2 per cent to 6,057.49 and London’s FTSE edged 0.1 per cent higher to 6,570.5. OMX, the Nordic stock exchange operator, climbed 10.8 per cent to SKr199.50 after announcing it had agreed to a takeover by Nasdaq, the US exchange, in a deal that valued the Swedish group at SKr25.1bn ($3.7bn).

[Ghost Dog]

42. London closes higher as media bid talk provides lift

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html-story.asp?pulse=true&siteid=ft&dist=ft&guid=%7B312f45fe%2De665%2D49ae%2D8a39%2Dc843ff563acd%7D

ITV jumped 3.9 per cent to 119.10p yesterday on rumours that British Sky Broadcasting was preparing to sell its 17.9 per cent stake in the television broadcaster to RTL, the owner of Channel 5. ITV saw heavy trading with almost 98m shares changing hands, more than twice this year’s daily average, encouraging talk that Sky would prefer to sell its ITV stake to RTL, a free-to-air broadcaster, rather than Virgin which is a more direct competitor. Sky is facing an investigation of its ITV holding by the Competition Commission and may prefer to time its own exit than wait for further regulatory pressure. The FTSE 100 fell 5.1 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6,570.5 while the FTSE 250 retreated 72.9 pints, or 0.6 per cent at 12,057.6 in a relatively subdued session as traders looked forward to the long holiday weekend. Trading volumes were light with 3.1m shares changing hands. Over the week, the blue-chip index lost 1.1 per cent while the mid-cap index fell 1.2 per cent.

/..

Greetings from offshore Africa (was flying today). In (if I remember right) the words of J. Hendrix: "Change of Climate".

[AnneD]

46. I am pea green with envy....

would love to be in Africa-on some savanna.

[Ghost Dog]

48. I think I did say "offshore", AnneD. Think Atlantic tradewinds.

Fuerteventura. Canary Islands.

[UpInArms]

45. Closing the popsickle stand for the weekend

Dow 13,507.28 66.15 (0.49%)
Nasdaq 2,557.19 19.27 (0.76%)
S&P 500 1,515.73 8.22 (0.55%)
10-Yr Bond 4.861% 0.004

NYSE Volume 2,316,622,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,569,319,000

4:20 pm : The major averages closed modestly lower for the week but finished Friday with respectable gains as investors rallied around some more acquisition activity.

A sense that Thursday's sell-off was overdone also helped stocks bounce back right out of the gate as virtually every dip in the market of late continues to be viewed as a fresh buying opportunity.

Below average volume, though, indicated there was little conviction overall on the part of investors. Total volume on the NYSE didn't surpass 1.0 bln shares until there were only 15 minutes left in the session. Soon after lunch, market participation continued to dry up as trading desks began to empty in anticipation of the extended Memorial Day weekend.

On the M&A front, the day's biggest headlines came from Dow component Coca-Cola (KO 51.84 +0.60), which agreed to acquire vitamin water maker Glaceau for $4.1 bln.

The other notable deal involved Nasdaq (NDAQ 32.84 -1.14), which agreed to buy the Nordic exchange OMX for $3.7 bln. Separately, a fresh batch of buyback announcements from several companies (e.g. LOW, ABC, and EQR) provided another source of support.

Of the nine sectors finishing higher, Energy led the charge with a 1.4% advance as oil prices rose 1.6% and closed at session highs. Crude for July delivery settled at $65.20/bbl.

Technology (+1.0%) was the biggest driver behind Friday's rebound. Bellwethers like Microsoft (MSFT 30.48 0.31), IBM (IBM 105.15 +1.20), Google (GOOG 483.52 +9.19), Apple (AAPL 113.62 +2.93), and Oracle (ORCL 19.24 +0.49), which averaged gains of 1.9%, were notable sources of sector support. DJ30 +66.15 NASDAQ +19.27 SP500 +8.22 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1043/1974/1.39 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 987/2247/1.08 bln

3:30 pm : Buyers remain in control of the action going into the close as market internals hold a decidedly bullish bias. As reflected in the A/D line, advancers on the NYSE hold a more than 2-to-1 edge over decliners while those on the Nasdaq hold a 19-to-11 margin.

It is worth noting, though, that the blue-chip indices look like their seven-week winning streak is about to be snapped. The Dow is still 66 points away from breakeven for the week while the S&P 500 is also another 0.5% advance shy of at least finishing flat since last Friday's close. DJ30 +49.22 NASDAQ +20.19 SP500 +7.23 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1109/1904/1.21 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1028/2189/958 mln

:hi:

Have a great weekend everyone!