STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday March 30

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday March 30, 2009

Bush Administration Officials Under Indictment = 2
Financial Sector Officials Under Indictment = 0
Financial Sector Officials In Prison = 2

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON March 27, 2009

Dow... 7,776.18 -148.38 (-1.91%)
Nasdaq... 1,545.20 -41.80 (-2.63%)
S&P 500... 815.94 -16.92 (-2.03%)
Gold future... 925.30 -16.90 (-1.83%)
30-Year Bond 3.62% -0.03 (-0.90%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.76% +0.03 )+1.02%)

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

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

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Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp

The CFO Nose
BY BRIAN PRETTI

Can you believe it? Another quarter has slipped by and it’s once again time to have a very quick check-in on what the CFO’s of major US companies have to say about life as they currently see it. The CFO survey hit the tape a few weeks back. We’ve been through this many a time so we’ll stick to the highlights. THE reason we check in regularly with this survey is that the CFO’s have been quite the fortunetellers regarding macro economic conditions, at least during the period of the current decade that this survey has been published. The bottom line in the current survey is that the CFO’s remain quite the pessimistic group at the moment. As CFO Magazine tells us in the survey, “This is very troubling. Throughout the history of our survey, CFO’s have shown a remarkable ability to predict future economic conditions. They anticipated the current recession as far back as September of 2007. Given the CFO’s track record, the historic pessimism CFO’s are currently expressing certainly indicates a tough road ahead in 2009.” Let’s get to the highlights of the report and we’ll let the facts speak for themselves.

.....

A few comments. First, you can see as you look back to 2003 what a recovery in CFO net optimism really looks like. It’s definitive, it’s big and it’s unmistakably bullish. We're looking at something quite the opposite in character at present. Secondly, although the data is very short in terms of history, it seems that once CFO net optimism drops below –40%, it’s pretty much look out below for the equity market. In fact the first quarter where we saw CFO net optimism do exactly this, drop below –40%, was the third quarter of 2007 where the S&P concurrently peaked above 1500 and then never saw this level again on a quarter end basis. For now, net CFO optimism remains deep in negative territory. Not a good thing in terms of their expectations for the forward character of the US economy and apparently not a good thing for equities.

.....

Very importantly, on the employment front, we suggest the news could not be worse. In aggregate, CFO’s expect to layoff 6% of their workforce this year. If they are even near correct with this comment, this translates to 7.6 million additional jobs to be lost. If that’s the case, we are not even half way through the current payroll contraction cycle. Although these are our comments, the impact on consumption of layoffs of this magnitude? You don’t want to know. 60% of companies will impose a hiring freeze in the next twelve months. 57% of the CFO’s say they plan to reduce or freeze wages. 39% of CFO’s say they plan to reduce hours worked for retained employees. Now you know why we have been screaming so loudly about the decline in wage growth that is sure to come directly ahead. No question about it. Their comments are not good news for the domestic labor market.

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

[Hugin]

5. "7.6 million additional jobs to be lost."

Needed even more emphasis.

x(

[snot]

98. Um, did you see

this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5359700

I'm really bad with numbers; but isn't 88 trillion an order of magnitude beyond what I thought our worst-case scenario was?

Thanks for all you do.

[Tansy_Gold]

99. Post this again in the morning, snot

most of the crew has gone to bed, but this is worth noting.


nitey-nite!



TG

[ozymandius]

2. no goobermental reports today n/t

[ozymandius]

3. Oil slides below $51 in Asia on profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oil prices tumbled Monday to below $51 a barrel as investors cashed in on recent gains, and in tandem with a pullback in world stock markets.

Benchmark crude for May delivery fell $1.80 to $50.60 by late afternoon in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.96 to settle at $52.38 on Friday.

Further declines are expected as analysts say the recent rally in crude has not been supported by any real changes in market fundamentals, with supply building up while demand from industrial consumers is falling faster than expected.

....

Crude is piling up as airlines, manufacturers, automakers and just about every other sector slow down and millions of workers lose their jobs. U.S. stores of natural gas also rose by 3 billion cubic feet to about 1.65 trillion cubic feet for the week ended March 20.

....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for April delivery fell 3.24 cents to $1.4555 a gallon while heating oil slipped 3.9 cents to $1.3935 a gallon. Natural gas for May delivery was down 0.9 cents at $3.728 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[ozymandius]

4. World stocks tumble on auto, bank concerns

BANGKOK – World stock markets tumbled Monday, with Hong Kong's key index sinking nearly 5 percent, as downbeat comments from major U.S. banks and mounting woes at American auto giants undermined recent optimism about economic recovery.

...

Investors in Asia were also unnerved by reports that the chief executives of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. both said business conditions had got tougher since they reported being profitable for January and February.

...

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average sank 390.89 points, or 4.5 percent, to 8,236.08, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 663.17, or 4.7 percent, to 13,456.33. South Korea's benchmark was down 3.2 percent while markets in Singapore, Taiwan, and India fell 3 percent or more.

As European trading got underway, Germany's DAX was down 3.7 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 shed 2.5 percent and France's CAC 40 lost 3 percent.

U.S. stock futures pointed to more losses Monday on Wall Street. Dow futures fell 187, or 2.4 percent, to 7,575 and S&P 500 futures were off 23, or 2.8 percent, at 793.10.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

[ozymandius]

6. GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan

DETROIT – Time and time again, General Motors Corp.'s board of directors reaffirmed its support for Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, even as the company piled up billions of dollars in losses and begged for government loans to stay alive.

But Wagoner is now a high-profile casualty of government intervention, forced out as part of the Obama administration's sweeping last-ditch effort to save the century-old auto giant.

.....

The management shake-up, according to several industry analysts, shows that the administration is serious about forcing GM to change more quickly and dramatically than it did during Wagoner's nearly nine-year tenure as CEO.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/ap_on_bi_ge/gm_wagoner

[ozymandius]

7. Sources: Obama to give GM 2 months to restructure

WASHINGTON – The White House forced the resignation of General Motors' top executive Sunday, on the eve of announcing new aid and a 60-day deadline for the ailing auto giant to restructure. Chrysler LLC will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA.

Two people familiar with the plan said Sunday it will demand further sacrifices from the automakers and bankruptcy would still be possible if the automakers failed to restructure. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make details public.

.....

GM has already received $13.4 billion in government loans and Chrysler has survived on $4 billion in federal aid. The automakers have been hard hit by the economic downturn and the worst decline in auto sales in 27 years. In progress reports filed with the government in February, GM asked for $16.6 billion more and Chrysler wanted $5 billion more.

.....

The administration planned to send a team to Detroit to help with the restructuring during the next 60 days. With Wagoner's departure, new management would be decided by General Motors' board of directors in consultation with the government. An official said a majority of the GM board was expected to step down.

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

[ozymandius]

8. Geithner Says Some Banks Need ‘Large Amounts’ of Assistance

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said some financial institutions will need substantial government aid, while warning against any attempt to tax investors who join a federal program to buy tainted assets from banks.

“Some banks are going to need some large amounts of assistance,” Geithner said yesterday on the ABC News program “This Week.” The terms of a $500 billion public-private program to aid banks “cannot change” for investors or they’ll lose confidence in the plan, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The Obama administration is pursuing the most costly rescue of the U.S. financial system in history while facing taxpayer concerns the aid is bailing out Wall Street firms that took excessive risks. After allocating about 80 percent of $700 billion in aid approved by Congress, administration officials want to keep open the option of seeking more.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aG9S.k0EdC58&refer=home

---

At what point does Geithner admit his plan is fatally flawed when compared to the ideas supported by the chorus of dissenting voices?

[Demeter]

17. that Would Be on the 12th of Never

when does Obama admit that he could have done better in his nomination?

[natrat]

25. sadly that nomination is spot on to him

[spotbird]

24. The banks deserve secret infusions of

money because they didn't see this coming. The automakers could see the crisis coming so they are undeserving of help. Why didn't the automakers let the bankers know?

[foxfireup]

91. Precisely

Yes, the automakers clearly should have understood the US financial situation better than and before the banks. I mean, how can we expect those poor bankers to understand much less care about such boring, complex financial matters?

[AnneD]

62. And a large amount of banks need no assistance....

and the cliche too big to fail needs to be stricken from the record.

[ozymandius]

9. Mark-to-Market Lobby Buoys Bank Profits 20% as FASB May Say Yes (FVCK!)

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Four days after U.S. lawmakers berated Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz and threatened to take rulemaking out of his hands, FASB proposed an overhaul of fair-value accounting that may improve profits at banks such as Citigroup Inc. by more than 20 percent.

The changes proposed on March 16 to fair-value, also known as mark-to-market accounting, would allow companies to use “significant judgment” in valuing assets and reduce the amount of writedowns they must take on so-called impaired investments, including mortgage-backed securities. A final vote on the resolutions, which would apply to first-quarter financial statements, is scheduled for April 2.

....

FASB’s acquiescence followed lobbying efforts by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association and companies ranging from Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s largest custodian of financial assets, to community lender Brentwood Bank in Pennsylvania.

...

Officials at Norwalk, Connecticut-based FASB were under “tremendous pressure” and “more or less eviscerated mark-to- market accounting,” said Robert Willens, a former managing director at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=awSxPMGzDW38&refer=exclusive

[ozymandius]

10. The banking lobby just keeps coming with this shit.

Side by side, the suspension of the fair value rules is identical to the Geithner plan. The similarity rests with the idea that these assets are not worthless - just misunderstood. I don't think we need any more analogies to demonstrate why this is an awful idea for people who live in the real world. This idea only benefits the banks and those individuals who profit from fictitiously inflated bank asset values.

[Tansy_Gold]

35. Yeah, well, try to get Miracle Max in the Offal Office to listen to ya.

It's shit, Barack. It's pure unadulterated shit. It doesn't make any difference what the underlying VALUE is, if any. It's the fact that people were placing huge bets on long odds that they couldn't cover, and now they're asking/demanding/robbing us to pay off. And the payees are their own best friends.

In any bet, someone wins and someone loses (or both sides break flat even, which takes the fun out of betting altogether). When you lose, you're expected to pay up. If you can't :shrug: you go home and hope the winner doesn't have a large gun and an itchy trigger finger. What you don't do is walk up to a total stranger and say, "Hey, gimme all your money so I can give it to my buddy here that I just lost a bet with."

Fuck that noise.

I can't even begin to tell you how disgusted, angry, furious, livid, enraged and outraged I am. It's almost enough to make me expose the real




Tansy Gold

[Demeter]

41. Oh, No, Not that!

and a cheery good morning to you, too, Tansy. I'm on B vitamins and dark chocolate. This economics business is dismal, indeed. It takes me all week to recover from the Weekend.

[Karenina]

61. Are y'all ready to BOOGIE? Put on your dancing shoes!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAeldJ1SYw

[ozymandius]

12. Munchau: Banks Sinking Faster Than Governments Are Bailing Them Out

Wolfgang Munchau often has a dour outlook, but his Financial Times comment today, "A new plan needed as the cycle grows vicious" is gloomy even by his standards.

Munchau argues that the heroic seeming measures to aid the banks are insufficient to compensate for the losses they are and will continue to suffer, and that as they understandably rein in lending, it will make the contraction more severe, worsening credit losses and deepening the cycle. Meredith Whitney has been making similar comments, but with a tad less urgency than Munchau.

While I agree with his concern, that a contraction can slip into a vicious circle, focusing on recapitalization as the primary policy response is wrongheaded. The Swedish in their salvage operation not only took over dud banks and hived off the bad assets, but they restuctured those loans and sin some cases even extended more credit to borrowers. And bailouts to banks without banking reform is a bad idea (and I see the Geithner talk of new measures as window dressing to appease the public in the hopes of eliciting support for the inevitable next round of rescues).

The only way out of a financial crisis is default, whether overt, through writeoffs and restructurings, or covert, through inflation. This process isn't even seriously underway until we see a lot more renegotiation.

So you think you can see the green shoots of recovery? You draw comfort from the recent stabilisation of forward-looking indicators such as new home sales in the US? Or you think the stock market rally marks the end of the crisis? Of course, economic growth rates are bound to improve soon for technical reasons. Otherwise, not much would be left of the global economy by the end of the year.

Even if a recovery were to start early in 2010, as some optimistic forecasters believe, most of the pain of the recession is still ahead of us: unemployment and default rates will rise sharply everywhere. Most of the pain in the financial sector is also still ahead of us. This will feel like a depression long after it has ceased to be one.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/03/munchau-banks-sinking-faster-than.html

[Demeter]

18. "Banks Sinking Faster Than Governments Are Bailing Them Out"

Just not fast enough to stop the foolishness, fire management, or reorganize under nationalization.

[Demeter]

31. And By the Way, Where's OUR Compensation for Losses?

Some of us were foolish, but not all of us are suffering losses due to our own efforts.

[Tansy_Gold]

47. Some of us weren't foolish at all and we're still suffering

I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the people who used their homes like ATMs, refinancing every six months and pulling out cash for luxuries. I mean, that's really no different than running up your credit card bills beyond what you can reasonably pay back.

But there are a helluva lot of people in this country who worked hard, did all the right things, and are still being thrown out of their homes, bankrupted by medical bills, struggling to pay off student loans on educations that never resulted in good paying jobs. And now these people are lumped in with the so-called 'deadbeats' in terms of having their taxes and their children's taxes and their grandkids' taxes sucked into the gaping maw of Wall Street gamblers.

What as it Kenny Rogers said? "You gotta know when to fold 'em."

It's time to fold, folks.



TG

[Theres-a]

29. I have spoken to people who think it's wrapping up

Honestly,someone said to me yesterday it's getting better now.I didn't have the heart or the eloquence to try to change their mind.I for one think it's going to get worse before it gets worse.

[Tansy_Gold]

37. Many here, too

They were watching the Dow go up last week and insisted it's all over.

Yeah, well, they got the right words, the wrong meaning.




TG

[MattSh]

23. Wish I had the "Smoke and Mirrors" concession for that meeting.

I'd be set for a year or two, at least !

[ozymandius]

11. Corn Plummets 31% as Soybeans Fall 28% in Recession Forecast

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. farmers are preparing to plant record amounts of soybeans and demand for corn is falling, driving prices to the lowest levels in more than two years.

Just a year after record grain costs sparked riots in Egypt and food shortages in Argentina, U.S. farmers will sow crops on a record 163.7 million acres, according to a Bloomberg News survey of 24 analysts and traders last week. Soybean fields will expand by 4.5 percent. While corn acreage will slip 1.5 percent, the recession will force livestock, dairy and ethanol producers to cut purchases, leaving the highest inventories for March in two decades, the survey shows.

.....

Cheaper crops may contribute to a drop in U.S. farm income after two years of record profits, threatening to reduce growers’ $367.5 billion in sales last year and curb purchases of Monsanto Co. corn seeds, Agrium Inc. fertilizer and Deere & Co. tractors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated last month that net farm income will decline 20 percent to $71.2 billion this year from $89.3 billion in 2008.

.....

The cost of planting corn in Illinois, the second-biggest U.S. producer, will rise as much as 34 percent this year, according to a survey by the University of Illinois in Urbana. In northern parts of the state, the cost will jump 30 percent to $532 an acre from $408 a year earlier, including fuel, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and labor, the survey shows.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aF1vFHFizx5s&refer=exclusive

[CatholicEdHead]

46. Looks like another Farm Crisis to build throughout the summer

and the small farmers will take it on the chin and agri-businesses will pick up many more acres.

[AnneD]

69. Over Spring Break.....

on the drive to my bradah...I couldn't help but notice all the bright shiny new tractors sitting in the lots and spring planting already here.

The Reader's Digest version on the story: If there is a drought-the farmer lose their crops (most anyway) and go belly up. If it is a good year-they lose their shirts to low prices and still go belly up. So what determines consumers prices is whither we have a drought on not. BUT, either way-as the farmers go under-look for prices to rise beyond what your unemployment check can afford you.

[ozymandius]

13. Exclusive: AIG Was Responsible For The Banks' January & February Profitability

Zero Hedge is rarely speechless, but after receiving this email from a correlation desk trader, we simply had to hold a moment of silence for the phenomenal scam that continues unabated in the financial markets, and now has the full oversight and blessing of the U.S. government, which in turns keeps on duping U.S. taxpayers into believing everything is good.

I present the insider perspective of trader Lou (who wishes to remain anonymous) in its entirety:

"AIG-FP accumulated thousands of trades over the years, all essentially consisted of selling default protection. This was done via a number of structures with really only one criteria - rated at least AA- (if it fit these criteria all OK - as far as I could tell credit assessment was completely outsourced to the rating agencies).

Main products they took on were always levered credit risk, credit-linked notes (collateral and CDS both had to be at least AA-, no joint probability stuff) and AAA or super senior portfolio swaps. Portfolio swaps were either corporate synthetic CDO or asset backed, effectively sub-prime wraps (as per news stories regarding GS and DB).

....

During Jan/Feb AIG would call up and just ask for complete unwind prices from the credit desk in the relevant jurisdiction. These were not single deal unwinds as are typically more price transparent - these were whole portfolio unwinds. The size of these unwinds were enormous, the quotes I have heard were "we have never done as big or as profitable trades - ever".

...

For those to whom this is merely a lot of mumbo-jumbo, let me explain in layman's terms:

AIG, knowing it would need to ask for much more capital from the Treasury imminently, decided to throw in the towel, and gifted major bank counter-parties with trades which were egregiously profitable to the banks, and even more egregiously money losing to the U.S. taxpayers, who had to dump more and more cash into AIG, without having the U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner disclose the real extent of this, for lack of a better word, fraudulent scam.

....

What this all means is that the statements by major banks, i.e. JPM, Citi, and BofA, regarding abnormal profitability in January and February were true, however these profits were a) one-time in nature due to wholesale unwinds of AIG portfolios, b) entirely at the expense of AIG, and thus taxpayers, c) executed with Tim Geithner's (and thus the administration's) full knowledge and intent, d) were basically a transfer of money from taxpayers to banks (in yet another form) using AIG as an intermediary.

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/03/exclusive-aig-was-responsible-for-banks.html

[amandabeech]

22. Let Detroit die, but launder money to the totally irresponsible banks?

How about demanding a complete change of the boards and give them 60 days to restructure or else they're cut off.

You say that these banks are irreplaceable? If we have trouble with China in the future, do you think that the President is going to be able to force Toyota to make war materials for the U.S.? Hardly.

I'm so furious that I can barely type.

[Ghost Dog]

38. Max Keiser video comment (Decapitation Percussion).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=290129&mesg_id=290129

[BelgianMadCow]

49. the "oops we're profitable" - accidental email thingie

was as blatant a lie as I've ever seen. We ALL knew by quarter's end things would not be rosy any more.

So now we know it wasn't so much a lie as a constructed fake reality.

I think I'll call me a waaahmbulance.

[DemReadingDU]

14. The New Yorker - Woody Allen: Madoff vs the Lobsters

reposting from the weekend thread


3/30/09 Tails of Manhattan by Woody Allen

Two weeks ago, Abe Moscowitz dropped dead of a heart attack and was reincarnated as a lobster. Trapped off the coast of Maine, he was shipped to Manhattan and dumped into a tank at a posh Upper East Side seafood restaurant. In the tank there were several other lobsters, one of whom recognized him. “Abe, is that you?” the creature asked, his antennae perking up.

“Who’s that? Who’s talking to me?” Moscowitz said, still dazed by the mystical slam-bang postmortem that had transmogrified him into a crustacean.

“It’s me, Moe Silverman,” the other lobster said.

“O.M.G.!” Moscowitz piped, recognizing the voice of an old gin-rummy colleague. “What’s going on?”

“We’re reborn,” Moe explained. “As a couple of two-pounders.”

“Lobsters? This is how I wind up after leading a just life? In a tank on Third Avenue?”

“The Lord works in strange ways,” Moe Silverman explained. “Take Phil Pinchuck. The man keeled over with an aneurysm, he’s now a hamster. All day, running at the stupid wheel. For years he was a Yale professor. My point is he’s gotten to like the wheel. He pedals and pedals, running nowhere, but he smiles.”

Moscowitz did not like his new condition at all. Why should a decent citizen like himself, a dentist, a mensch who deserved to relive life as a soaring eagle or ensconced in the lap of some sexy socialite getting his fur stroked, come back ignominiously as an entrée on a menu? It was his cruel fate to be delicious, to turn up as Today’s Special, along with a baked potato and dessert. This led to a discussion by the two lobsters of the mysteries of existence, of religion, and how capricious the universe was, when someone like Sol Drazin, a schlemiel they knew from the catering business, came back after a fatal stroke as a stud horse impregnating cute little thoroughbred fillies for high fees. Feeling sorry for himself and angry, Moscowitz swam about, unable to buy into Silverman’s Buddha-like resignation over the prospect of being served thermidor.

At that moment, who walked into the restaurant and sits down at a nearby table but Bernie Madoff. If Moscowitz had been bitter and agitated before, now he gasped as his tail started churning the water like an Evinrude.

“I don’t believe this,” he said, pressing his little black peepers to the glass walls. “That goniff who should be doing time, chopping rocks, making license plates, somehow slipped out of his apartment confinement and he’s treating himself to a shore dinner.”

“Clock the ice on his immortal beloved,” Moe observed, scanning Mrs. M.’s rings and bracelets.

Moscowitz fought back his acid reflux, a condition that had followed him from his former life. “He’s the reason I’m here,” he said, riled to a fever pitch.

“Tell me about it,” Moe Silverman said. “I played golf with the man in Florida, which incidentally he’ll move the ball with his foot if you’re not watching.”

“Each month I got a statement from him,” Moscowitz ranted. “I knew such numbers looked too good to be kosher, and when I joked to him how it sounded like a Ponzi scheme he choked on his kugel. I had to do the Heimlich maneuver. Finally, after all that high living, it comes out he was a fraud and my net worth was bupkes. P.S., I had a myocardial infarction that registered at the oceanography lab in Tokyo.”

“With me he played it coy,” Silverman said, instinctively frisking his carapace for a Xanax. “He told me at first he had no room for another investor. The more he put me off, the more I wanted in. I had him to dinner, and because he liked Rosalee’s blintzes he promised me the next opening would be mine. The day I found out he could handle my account I was so thrilled I cut my wife’s head out of our wedding photo and put his in. When I learned I was broke, I committed suicide by jumping off the roof of our golf club in Palm Beach. I had to wait half an hour to jump, I was twelfth in line.”

At this moment, the captain escorted Madoff to the lobster tank, where the unctuous sharpie analyzed the assorted saltwater candidates for potential succulence and pointed to Moscowitz and Silverman. An obliging smile played on the captain’s face as he summoned a waiter to extract the pair from the tank.

“This is the last straw!” Moscowitz cried, bracing himself for the consummate outrage. “To swindle me out of my life’s savings and then to nosh me in butter sauce! What kind of universe is this?”

Moscowitz and Silverman, their ire reaching cosmic dimensions, rocked the tank to and fro until it toppled off its table, smashing its glass walls and flooding the hexagonal-tile floor. Heads turned as the alarmed captain looked on in stunned disbelief. Bent on vengeance, the two lobsters scuttled swiftly after Madoff. They reached his table in an instant, and Silverman went for his ankle. Moscowitz, summoning the strength of a madman, leaped from the floor and with one giant pincer took firm hold of Madoff’s nose. Screaming with pain, the gray-haired con artist hopped from the chair as Silverman strangled his instep with both claws. Patrons could not believe their eyes as they recognized Madoff, and began to cheer the lobsters.

“This is for the widows and charities!” yelled Moscowitz. “Thanks to you, Hatikvah Hospital is now a skating rink!”

Madoff, unable to free himself from the two Atlantic denizens, bolted from the restaurant and fled yelping into traffic. When Moscowitz tightened his viselike grip on his septum and Silverman tore through his shoe, they persuaded the oily scammer to plead guilty and apologize for his monumental hustle.

By the end of the day, Madoff was in Lenox Hill Hospital, awash in welts and abrasions. The two renegade main courses, their rage slaked, had just enough strength left to flop away into the cold, deep waters of Sheepshead Bay, where, if I’m not mistaken, Moscowitz lives to this day with Yetta Belkin, whom he recognized from shopping at Fairway. In life she had always resembled a flounder, and after her fatal plane crash she came back as one.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2009/03/30/090330sh_shouts_allen?currentPage=all

[willing dwarf]

26. What a great read!

Still if I was one of those lobsters, I don't think it would be his ankles I'd be going for, but instead something further up and more delicate.

[Tansy_Gold]

44. Mmmmmm, tasty and tender!

Sorry, I couldn't shake the image. :rofl:

[AnneD]

64. As Lawrence Welk would say.....

Vonderful,Vonderful......
The story brings to mind a theme song for today....Bubbles in the Wine.

BUBBLES IN THE WINE ENDING LYRICS

Good night, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you
Here's a wish and prayer that every dream comes true
And though it's always sweet sorrow to part
I know you'll always remain in my heart

Good night, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you
Here's a wish and a prayer that every dream comes true
And now 'til we meet again

Adios, au revior, auf weidersehen.....Good Night!



DODGE DANCING PARTY ENDING LYRICS

This Closing Theme was a medley of Good Night Ladies, Hope You Had a Happy Time (to the tune Mary Had a Little Lamb), and Bubbles In The Wine.

Good-night ladies,
Farewell gentlemen,
So long everyone,
It's time to leave you now . . .

Hope you had a happy time,
Happy time, happy time . . .
Hope you had a happy time,

(spoken solo:) Dodge had a good time too...
(spoken by everyone:) Good night!"
(Segue into Bubbles In the Wine theme)
Bubbles In The Wine (aka the Lawrence Welk Theme), had been his band's theme song since the 1940s.

It was composed around 1939.There's some info that Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehn was composed by George Cates and John M. ("Jack") Elliot in 1969. It's likely the lyrics are of that vintage, but the song is Bubbles in the Wine.

It's just to hard to be sad or scared when you are listening to a little Champagne Music. I can skip the accordian, but the music takes be to happy, safer times.

[DemReadingDU]

15. Columbus Ohio - National Century 'Architect' of fraud sentenced to 30 years

National Century
'Architect' of fraud sentenced to 30 years
Saturday, March 28, 2009 3:10 AM
By Kathy Lynn Gray

The largest case of private-sector fraud in U.S. history concluded yesterday with the longest sentence for white-collar fraud.

Lance K. Poulsen, a founder of National Century Financial Enterprises, had nothing to say as he stood in prison garb and shackles before U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley and heard that he'd likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison.

"Mr. Poulsen was the architect of the fraud," Marbley said before sentencing the 65-year-old Poulsen to 30 years. The scheme he masterminded stole $2.4 billion from investors, shut down 275 health-care providers and enriched its conspirators by millions of dollars.

Poulsen was the last major executive of the Dublin-based company to be sentenced, and he got the stiffest term.

Marbley also sentenced National Century founder Rebecca S. Parrett, who disappeared after her trial last March, to 25 years for nine fraud-related charges yesterday. Officials said the hunt for Parrett, 60, continues.

"For the victims in this case, with these verdicts, there is a sense of justice," said an exuberant Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Squires after five hours of sentencing hearings yesterday.

Those actions ended the bulk of a several-year investigation into National Century fraud.

Poulsen, who was chief executive officer of National Century, was convicted in October of fraud and money laundering. He also was found guilty last year of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, along with his friend Karl A. Demmler, for trying to persuade key prosecution witness Sherry Gibson to feign amnesia when questioned in court.

Gibson was wearing a wire during conversations with Demmler, who owned the Bogey Inn restaurant in Dublin.

Yesterday, Marbley sentenced Demmler, 57, to seven years in prison for his actions. The judge had sentenced Poulsen to 10 years in that case, and that sentence will be served at the same time as his 30-year sentence.

Demmler, also in shackles and prison garb, apologized in court for his actions and statements, which included saying that he'd like to cut up a bankruptcy judge "and feed him to the fish."

He said his comments had been "taken entirely out of context" and that he had been "misled" by many people.

"I don't believe I was evil in this case," he said.

Of the three sentenced yesterday, Demmler was the only one whose friends and family made statements in court.

His mother, Norma Demmler, 76, begged the judge to give him probation.

"I just want my son home. I hope you can help me," she said.

However, Marbley said that although Demmler was "used and manipulated" by Poulsen, his "culpability was not inconsequential or slight" and his offense "goes to the very core of our system of justice."

Demmler will get credit for 18 months in jail and on house arrest.

The judge saved his harshest words for Poulsen, who said throughout his trial that he knew nothing of the fraud. Poulsen blamed investors for not catching the illegal acts.

"That's like the wolf blaming the hens for getting out of the hen house," Marbley chided him. "Nothing happened at National Century without your blessing."

Marbley said it's impossible to know why Poulsen, a successful entrepreneur with children and a wife, went down the wrong path.

"Avarice and greed apparently took hold and clouded his judgment," the judge said. "He amassed significant wealth and thousands of investors suffered."

Besides the prison time, the sentence for Poulsen and the others found guilty in the fraud case includes restitution of $2.4 billion.

Squires said the federal government will be aggressively seeking that money by seizing goods, property, investments and pensions from the guilty. This week, the government seized nearly $400,000 from an account Parrett had in Arizona.

In sentencing Parrett, Marbley said she is the only defendant in his 12 years on the bench who absconded after he presided over their trial.

"I believe, as justice is always served, she will be found," he said.

National Century bought accounts receivable from health-care providers and charged a fee to collect what was owed. It raised money by selling bonds to investors. The fraud took place for seven years, beginning in 1995, when the company paid out millions of dollars without purchasing the accounts to back the loans. The company went bankrupt in 2002.

Squires said agents from the FBI and several other agencies "sifted through a warehouse of documents" to piece together the evidence in the case.

Marbley said he meted out long sentences not just as punishment for those involved but to discourage other white-collar criminals.

One National Century defendant, Brian J. Stucke, pleaded guilty to one count in 2003 and has not yet been sentenced.

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/03/28/NC_sentences.ART_ART_03-28-09_A1_SPDCL12.html?sid=101


link backwards to previous articles...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3797365&mesg_id=3797446

[Demeter]

19. Wow. 2.4 Billion in Restitution

How big were the losses in total?

[Tansy_Gold]

82. How big were the losses in total? $2.4 bn

He's gotta pay it all back. It's a shame he never really will, or at least not all of it. And it oughta have PayDay Loan interest, too. You know, the 500% APR kind.



I'm really in a foul mood today. So bad that I actually had a post of mine removed by the mods! Not here, in another thread, and it did kinda deserve to be pulled, but I'm really getting sick of this shit.


The unapologetic

Tansy Gold

[AnneD]

70. Bravo.......

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

[Festivito]

16. Debt: 03/26/2009 11,046,247,657,049.48 (UP 8,330,775,891.65) (Up a little.)

(Up an average amount.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,754,100,383,090.75 + 4,292,147,273,958.73
UP 7,175,786,187.90 + UP 1,154,989,703.75

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 306-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.27 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.8, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 14 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of this report, there should be 306,048,086 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html
Currently, each of these American's owe $36,093.18.
A family of three owes $108,279.53. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 7,861,330,239.39.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,502,931,167.57.
The average for the last 28 days would be 5,895,997,679.54.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 46 reports in 65 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 0.41B$ per report, 0.39B$/day so far.
There were 121 reports in 177 days of FY2009 averaging 8.44B$ per report, 5.77B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,396 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.0 and 19.3T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
03/26/2009 11,046,247,657,049.48 BHO (UP 419,370,608,136.40 so far since Obama took office.)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01
Borrowed in FY2009: 1,021,522,760,137.00 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/06/2009 +000,851,040,035.06 ------------********
03/09/2009 -000,039,321,146.54 ---- Mon
03/10/2009 +000,452,187,222.11 ------------********
03/11/2009 +000,187,775,216.55 ------------********
03/12/2009 +031,351,798,430.48 ------------**********
03/13/2009 -000,013,659,079.13 ----
03/16/2009 +047,789,810,398.18 ------------********** Mon
03/17/2009 +000,031,463,665.67 ------------*******
03/18/2009 +000,237,422,838.19 ------------********
03/19/2009 +004,087,134,960.77 ------------*********
03/20/2009 +000,429,200,142.60 ------------********
03/23/2009 -000,116,003,157.82 --- Mon
03/24/2009 +000,222,913,900.31 ------------********
03/25/2009 +000,059,898,960.86 ------------*******
03/26/2009 +007,175,786,187.90 ------------*********

92,707,448,575.19 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $1,381,615,853,790.41 in last 189 days.
That's 1,382B$ in 189 days.
More than any year ever, including last year, and it's 136% of that highest year ever only in 189 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 189 DAYS NOT 365.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3802924&mesg_id=3802983

[Festivito]

84. Debt: 03/27/2009 11,045,554,110,788.92 (DOWN 693,546,260.56) (Down a little.)

(Down a tiny amount.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,753,632,237,153.97 + 4,291,921,873,634.95
DOWN 468,145,936.78 + DOWN 225,400,323.78

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 306-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.27 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.8, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 14 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of this report, there should be 306,054,258 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html
Currently, each of these American's owe $36,090.18.
A family of three owes $108,270.55. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 8,019,505,216.73.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,613,653,651.71.
The average for the last 28 days would be 6,014,628,912.55.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 47 reports in 66 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 0.34B$ per report, 0.35B$/day so far.
There were 122 reports in 178 days of FY2009 averaging 8.37B$ per report, 5.73B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,395 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.0 and 19.4T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
03/27/2009 11,045,554,110,788.92 BHO (UP 418,677,061,875.84 so far since Obama took office.)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01
Borrowed in FY2009: 1,020,829,213,876.50 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/09/2009 -000,039,321,146.54 ---- Mon
03/10/2009 +000,452,187,222.11 ------------********
03/11/2009 +000,187,775,216.55 ------------********
03/12/2009 +031,351,798,430.48 ------------**********
03/13/2009 -000,013,659,079.13 ----
03/16/2009 +047,789,810,398.18 ------------********** Mon
03/17/2009 +000,031,463,665.67 ------------*******
03/18/2009 +000,237,422,838.19 ------------********
03/19/2009 +004,087,134,960.77 ------------*********
03/20/2009 +000,429,200,142.60 ------------********
03/23/2009 -000,116,003,157.82 --- Mon
03/24/2009 +000,222,913,900.31 ------------********
03/25/2009 +000,059,898,960.86 ------------*******
03/26/2009 +007,175,786,187.90 ------------*********
03/27/2009 -000,468,145,936.78 ---

91,388,262,603.35 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $1,380,922,307,529.85 in last 190 days.
That's 1,381B$ in 190 days.
More than any year ever, including last year, and it's 136% of that highest year ever only in 190 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 190 DAYS NOT 365.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3806687&mesg_id=3806733

[girl gone mad]

20. This one is worth keeping an eye on, imo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=114&topic_id=61960&mesg_id=61960

maybe nothing comes of it, but if it's true, it isn't good.

[BelgianMadCow]

51. YES!! see also post 13 above. This scam is freaking UNREAL

how many times can you milk the same cow?

[Demeter]

21. Spain crisis builds as disinflation harkens; First in euro zone to see negative price growth

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/spain-becomes-first-euro-nation/story.aspx?guid={57961195-3EEA-444D-BC02-3FCE45C853F7}&siteid=yahoomy

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- The economic crisis in Spain took a new turn on Monday after the country became the first in the euro zone to report a negative price change on the heels of a weekend takeover of a Spanish savings bank by the government.

Preliminary data showed that harmonized consumer prices fell 0.1% in March on an annual basis, against a 0.7% rise in February, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatdistica. It was the first decline in consumer prices since the INE started tracking figures in 1961.

Analysts were expecting a rise in prices of around 0.4%. Inflation has been decelerating across the euro zone since peaking last summer.

There were no details given in the report or a breakdown, but Eoin O'Callaghan, analyst at BNP Paribas, said the very weak data is probably due to three factors: last year's early Easter dropping out of the annual comparison; more favorable food and energy base effects; and "given the pace at which the Spanish economy is deteriorating," a further dramatic fall in core prices in response to weak demand.

[fasttense]

27. Disinflation?????

Why not just call it lower prices? Or depressing prices?

I noticed a post up stream about falling prices in farm commodities. Hmm, isn't that why FDR destroyed crops and threw out milk during the 1st Republicon Great Depression, in order to increase the price of food and get farmers farming again? (A bad decision in my opinion.)

So is it the 2nd Republicon Great Depression yet?

[Demeter]

28. As Far As I'm Concerned

it's been a GOP Depression since 1980, or maybe back even to Nixon, with brief periods of relief during the Carter and Clinton eras.

[Pale Blue Dot]

30. Kunstler: Under a Flourescent Moon

Mr. Obama heads to Europe now where official hostility is rising against the Anglo-American method of pounding monetary sand down the rat-holes of “non-performing” debt, bankrupt enterprise, and bubble-levitated bonds. Our poised and charming Prez may escape personal obloquy from the quaint old-world street folk, but most of the other G-20 policy playerz take a dim view of the shell-and-pea games being played by the custodians of the world’s reserve currency, including front-end-loader bank bail-outs, the shuffling of worthless securities under TARPS and TARFS, the desperate efforts to prevent the sane re-pricing of real estate, the cannibalizing of treasuries by the Federal Reserve, the now-notorious hijacking of public “liquidity” injections by third parties like Goldman Sachs, and most generally the perceived sacrifice of everybody else’s greater good for the sake of maintaining Lloyd Blankfein’s cappuccino machine.

What’s going on now is nature’s way of telling you that America’s standard of living has to be reduced by something between 20 and 50 percent. You can have it in the form of a compressive deflationary depression, including widespread bankruptcies… or you can have by way of inflation, in which money loses its value. But there’s one basic qualification to this: the way down is not symmetrical with the way up. That is, it’s really not just a matter of ratcheting down to a standard of living half of what it was, say, in 2006, because in the event all the various complex systems that support everyday life enter failure mode before our society re-sets at a theoretically lower level of equilibrium.

By this I mean our methods for getting food, for moving about the landscape, for deploying capital, for trading and manufacturing, for schooling, doctoring, and running public services all destabilize and, to some degree or other, fail to deliver their contribution to normal daily life. Banking (capital deployment) is already mortally wounded. It remains to be seen how this will affect the food supply half a year ahead in the harvest system. Capital is as big an “input” for our method of farming as diesel fuel or fertilizers made from methane gas. The failure of banking will combine with city and state insolvency to crush public transit, law enforcement, fire protection, and whatever flimsy local safety nets exist to keep the ultra-poor and helpless from die-off. The lowering of living standards by 20 to 50 percent essentially eliminates all but the must critical commerce, meaning that most of the stores in the malls and strip malls lose their customers and shed employees, while the mall and strip mall owners lose their rents, and the bankers lose performing commercial real estate loans. As all this occurs, tax revenues go way down, schools can’t pay their employees or buy diesel fuel for their yellow bus fleets. More people lose the ability to carry health insurance. Hospital emergency rooms are overwhelmed. Health care descends to Third World levels. Meanwhile, pensions are destroyed, the elderly live on dog food and ketchup. . . .

This is where we’re headed. It could easily be worse than the 1930s, when we still had plenty of family farms, plenty of oil, plenty of factories in good running order, and a highly regimented population of workers unaccustomed to luxury, leisure, and entitlement. We’ve hardly begun to see the potential political repercussions of economic disorder now underway. I think it will start to show in a big way not long after Memorial Day, when the current false euphoric Wall Street rally ends in yet another pool of tears, and the despair trickles downward. A crucial piece of the outcome depends on what happens over at Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department – which lately seems to have seceded from the federal government. A peeved public is going to start wondering why the bankers and insurers have not been called in by the criminal division to do a little ‘splainin'. As the spring yields to summer, the Obama team’s current fix-it plans are also likely to have run out of credibility. Mr. O better be prepared to get a new game.

http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2009/03/under-a-flourescent-moon.html

[Demeter]

32. Yup.That About Says It All

And people wonder why we are depressed.

[DemReadingDU]

92. because most of them still have their heads up their butts

They think recovery is just around the corner, everything back to normal by year-end. They refuse to wake-up and really see what is going on.

[fasttense]

45. Yup, I've been figuring our Agribusiness will be crashing much like the banks/Wall Street/insurance

firms and car manufacturers have. So if you can, start growing your own food. If you can't, get to know a farmer and make a deal. (I've got a deal with the hog farmer down the street. He'll give me a suckling pig and I'll give him a dozen eggs a week for a little over 6 months.)

"It could easily be worse than the 1930s, when we still had... a highly regimented population of workers unaccustomed to luxury, leisure, and entitlement."

So we are currently an un-regimented population (a good thing) accustomed to luxury, leisure and entitlement? So when do I get my luxury, leisure and entitlements? Seems to me only a handful (like the top 1% of Americans) got the luxury, leisure and entitlements part, while the rest of us had to work like rats to make a living.

[tama]

74. How many hectares

of fertile soil can a single farmer mine for Monsanto food without fuel for his tractor, artificial fertilizers and pesticides?

How many fat and lazy urban Americans does it take to do the manual labour of a single Mexican illegal immigrant? How much food to feed them? How many psychotic ex-marines cowboys to protect his land-title from slave rebellion and external threats and gain some more land and slaves, if given a chance?

Hard questions for the new (same as age-old) feodalistic aristocracy to answer...

[Wednesdays]

33. Methinks the March rally is now history

Dow already down around 200.

[nc4bo]

34. The day is young so there's still time for another amazing rally

complete with happy, shiny faces, cake and party favors for all all topped off with heavy clouds of fairy dust and magic mushrooms spores.

Don't think anything can surprise me anymore.

[kickysnana]

36. I think maybe the Inaugural Hats are Presidential omens. n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

39. Is there a way to not see that second pic?

:puke:

[Demeter]

42. Wilful Blindness--Works for Me!

[nc4bo]

43. Whistlin' past the graveyard is America's new pastime. nt

[Demeter]

40. Whoops! Somebody Let the Cat Out of the Bag

Dow down 234 points at 10:30


Methinks the nation disapproves of the way GM is being kicked around.

[Demeter]

48. Stolen From KittyWampus: Federal Pension Insurer Under Bush Shifted To Risky Stocks Just Before Mark

Just months before the start of last year's stock market collapse, the federal agency that insures the retirement funds of 44 million Americans departed from its conservative investment strategy and decided to put much of its $64 billion insurance fund into stocks.

Switching from a heavy reliance on bonds, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation decided to pour billions of dollars into speculative investments such as stocks in emerging foreign markets, real estate, and private equity funds. ...

Nonetheless, analysts expressed concern that large portions of the trust fund might have been lost at a time when many private pension plans are suffering major losses. The guarantee fund would be the only way to cover the plans if their companies go into bankruptcy.

The kicker, though, comes from the Bush-era official who oversaw the switchover:

Charles E.F. Millard, the former agency director who implemented the strategy until the Bush administration departed on Jan. 20, dismissed such concerns. Millard, a former managing director of Lehman Brothers, said flatly that "the new investment policy is not riskier than the old one." ...

A finance professor who had previously advised the agency not to make the switch away from bonds compared the move to an insurance company writing policies to cover hurricane damage and then investing the premiums in beachfront property.

Talkingpointsmemo.com

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2...

[Tansy_Gold]

52. So, is this where the PPT got its money?

Just wondering. . . . . .


:tinfoilhat:



Tansy Gold

[antigop]

55. "Bush was able to do for the PBGC what he tried and failed to do for Social Security."

See
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/03/buy_high_sell_low.php

Also
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/03/big_trouble_2.php

The more I look at these investment decisions of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and former Lehman exec Charles Millard the more my suspicion grows that some very bad happened here. There's no question that something happened very bad for the pensioners who were relying on this fund. But is there any conceivable good reason why you'd take most of the assets of the fund designed to insure pension benefits out of safe investments like bonds and put them into highly speculative investments -- hedge fund, equities, etc. -- just before the stock market collapsed.

Incompetence doesn't cut it as an explanation.

First, some topline numbers: The PBGC decided to put most of its $64 billion of reserves into stocks. And already by September 2008, i.e., before the bottom really fell out on Wall Street, the stock portfolio had already lost 23%. That percentage must be much higher today.

One of the big drives behind Social Security privatization was the desire to find more money -- in the case of Social Security, a lot more money -- to keep the fires burning on Wall Street. Not just more fees for the people handling the money, but more money to keep pushing asset values higher. This looks like the same thing just using slightly different means.

[tclambert]

89. To keep a Ponzi scheme going, you have to recruit new investors

with more dollars to invest all the time. When new investment stops, the Ponzi pyramid crumbles very quickly.

[antigop]

56. And look who warned about all this....check the entire sub-thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3187952&mesg_id=3188425

[Tansy_Gold]

58. Shall I send you your very own rubber stamp?

You get the non-:sarcasm: golden glob award of the day. I'm sure you'll treasure it always -- not.


:hug:


Tansy Gold

[antigop]

63. Tansy, you were on that sub-thread, too! Along with DemReadingDU. n/t

[DemReadingDU]

94. I remember that

If they don't take our money one way, they take it another. Eventually we will have nothing, and the elites get it all.
:(

[JDPriestly]

59. PPT?

[Tansy_Gold]

60. Plunge Protection Team

.

[antigop]

65. Interesting post on TPM...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/genius_federal_pension_guarantor_switched_from_bon.php

Posted by jolly ranchero

I've got a simpler explanation -- they were relying on that $64 Very Large to help artifically support the market prior to the November elections.

Shorter: its the PPT "operation" that's been half-jestingly mentioned every time the market does some crazy unexplained end-of-day reversal. I long thought it was fantasy, but now I'm not so sure.

[Demeter]

85. Wouldn't Surprise Me in the Least

It's not like they'd pull dough out of their own pockets.

[Tansy_Gold]

86. More like shoving OUR dough

INTO THEIR pockets.

a pox on all of 'em.



wankers.




Tansy Gold

[Demeter]

87. Tansy, I Used To Jokingly Refer to Revolution and FRSP

I don't think I'm joking, any more. Obama will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, if he doesn't start prosecuting, nationalizing, and taking care of people.

[Tansy_Gold]

95. Well, Demeter, I said upthread that I was angry this morning but would be

sane in a few hours. I meant that my boiling rage over this continued pillaging of the working classes had overturned my long blanket refutation of the death penalty.

There is a novel that I read many years ago that contained a scene so disturbing that it literally kept me awake at night for many years afterward. I was never able to finish the book. And yes, I know the title and the author. I read and enjoyed many of his books, including one that ranks high on my all time favorites. (Right up there with The Far Pavilions.) Sadly, the scene depicted in fiction has been recently replayed for real and reported in our media. Oh, not exactly the same, but far too close for peaceful nights.

It was, in fact, that scene in that novel that sparked my own opposition to capital punishment, even though the scene did not involve criminals paying for their crimes. And because it happens to be set during the French Revolution, it has been in my mind rather more of late than in the past few years.

And that's why I "joke" even less than most about the FRSPs.

I couldn't even watch the Max Keiser youtube thing. It's too grisly for me, even in black and white, even with no details. It conjures up that scene from that book. . . . .

When I was writing fiction, I had to kill off people, some good and some not so good. I never found it particularly easy, even when they were just figments of my imagination. Some would say I'm too sensitive, and there's probably a great deal of truth in that.

So it alarmed me this morning when I realized how furious I was at these people who have treated us like so much vermin. And I don't mean just Cassano and Mozilo, Thain and Greenberg. Has Obama really been any better? Ultimatums to the auto makers and gifts on silver platters to the financiers who do nothing but steal? They toil not, neither do they spin, yet they live as sumptuously as Solomon in his glory? Is that what we have come to?

I still do not believe in the death penalty, not even for these monsters. No, I would much rather see them reduced to toiling at the lowest, toughest, meanest jobs. Scrubbing prison floors on their hands and knees. Scouring pots and pans until their hands are raw.

But there is little sense in it. These are not people capable of understanding what they have done and why it is wrong. They are indeed conservatives/oligarchs/assholes without conscience. They are sociopaths who have no concept -- who are incapable of conceiving the concept -- of other people as human beings. If they did have a shred of conscience, they would not have done what they did.

They spare no thought for us, and there is a part of me that says we should spare no thought for them. We should seize their assets and leave their families to get by as best they can. Perhaps their wives can take in laundry or open a day care. There will be no Linda Lay style garage sales or consignment shops. Everything will be relinquished. The horses and dogs and cats that have been abandoned because their owners can no longer afford them can be grazed and kenneled in the Greenwich mansion grounds. The laid off auto workers and their families will be given shelter in the mansions themselves. And then, when these monsters of the deep have seen everything they "worked" for stripped from them and given to those they despised for so long, then. . . . . . . .






Tansy Gold

[Tansy_Gold]

97. Ooops, actually it was downthread

:blush:

[antigop]

50. AIG crisis could be the tip of an insurance iceberg

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-aig30-2009mar30,0,4637747.story?track=ntothtml

When insurance giant American International Group Inc. imploded last fall, the firm's problems were quickly blamed not on its core insurance business but on an obscure operation that traded exotic mortgage securities.

But as the economic crisis deepens, it has become clear that AIG's problems extend across most of its business lines, including its massive life insurance and retirement services operations, which reported a staggering $18-billion quarterly loss this month.

The company's situation is emblematic of problems across the life insurance industry, which is suffering deep losses on investments that underlie policies for millions of American families.

So far, some of the biggest companies have suffered sharp drops in their stock prices, and many of them are asking for federal assistance.

Industry conditions last year were the worst in memory and are expected to grow deeper this year amid credit rating downgrades, declining revenue and investment losses, according to credit rating firm A.M. Best Co.

The worst-case scenario is that a second financial crisis is looming if these life insurance companies come under too much stress.

Notice the mention of securities lending near the end of the article:

Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said AIG's life insurance companies also played a very risky game of lending out long-term securities and investing cash collateral for those loans in securities backed by subprime mortgages.

[Tansy_Gold]

57. FRSP all around

In an hour or two I will return to sanity, but right now. . . . .




You know what I'm talkin' about.





TG

[specimenfred1984]

53. The markets sure do hate a CEO being held accountable

I think it's great! Now let's fire about 50 others and charge most of them with fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, price-fixing and price-gouging, conspiracy to conceal evidence and market manipulation.

I'm 100% serious.

[natrat]

54. howsabout they eject the rifraf at the top of the finance industry, sigh a girl can dream

[Karenina]

73. Sound track...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAeldJ1SYw

[specimenfred1984]

77. I support lifetime jail terms so the criminals can be seen as examples

That and death sentences don't seem to be any deterrent.

[Karenina]

79. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS, I SAY!!!

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[spotbird]

66. Morgan Stanley Says Sell Best S&P 500 Rally Since ’38

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Investors should sell U.S. stocks following the steepest rally since the 1930s because earnings are likely to keep weakening, according to Morgan Stanley.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 21 percent in the past 14 trading days, the most since 1938, according to data compiled by New York-based S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt. It closed at 815.94 last week, rebounding from the 12-year low of 676.53 reached on March 9.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEaj0AIFX2w0&refer=home

[antigop]

67. Paulson had to approve the PBGC investment strategy

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/03/30/pension_insurer_shifted_to_stocks/?page=full

Under Millard's strategy, the pension agency was directed to invest 55 percent of its funds in stocks and real estate. That included 20 percent in US stocks, 19 percent in foreign stocks, 6 percent in what the agency's records term "emerging market" stocks, 5 percent in private real estate and 5 percent in private equity firms.

Millard said he thought he had little choice but to seek a higher investment return in part because Congress had limited the agency's ability to charge higher premiums based on each plan's likelihood of drawing on the agency's funds.

The agency's board - which consists of the secretaries of Treasury, Labor, and Commerce - approved the new investment strategy in a meeting in February 2008. But the board members have had only a limited role in the agency's operation, meeting only 20 times over the 28 years before 2008.

The board is also too small to meet basic standards of corporate governance, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office.

"The whole model of having three sitting Cabinet secretaries with day jobs overseeing a $60 billion investment portfolio and occasionally owning significant percentages of large American companies is fundamentally flawed," said Belt, the former agency director.

So Paulson had to sign off on it but "had only a limited role in the agency's operation".

[54anickel]

68. Oh my, has someone discovered the gig is up? Or is it the jig?

The dance is done and time to play the fiddler?
The scam is uncovered, the scoundrels are on the run?

Not a very pretty chart today!!!!

[Imperialism Inc.]

71. Extremely small volume. Tomorrow will be the key. This is not a rush for the

exits. yet!

[54anickel]

81. Hmmm, then perhaps it's just the jig for now. n/t

[antigop]

72. Looks like GM will use bankruptcy to deal w/ retiree healthcare 'problem' w/ blessing of Obama admin

http://blogs.wsj.com/autoshow/2009/03/30/car-maker-bankruptcy-option-leads-white-house-plans/
Same with Chrysler

The Obama administration’s leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move would in essence split both companies into their “good” and “bad” components. The government would like to see the “good” GM, which would comprise brands such as Chevy and Cadillac, to be a standalone company, according to an administration official. The “good” Chrysler would be sold to Fiat SpA, assuming that deal is completed, this person said.

[BelgianMadCow]

75. shedding pension plans through chapter eleven

it's truly astonishing that is allowed. A pension is a RIGHT you have WORKED for. How can anyone let these things happen?

I know it's par for the course - the US steel industry was gonna be sold to Lakshmi Mittal but at his (via strawmen) urging they first went through chapter eleven as well. Bye-Bye pensions for the 100k workers...:crazy:
Ok, not bye-bye - their pensions got to be covered by a wholly underfunded government institution, yay.

So the only thing the auto workers can and MUST do is make sure that underfunded institution gets FUNDED, like NOW. It should be a real easy case to present - surely if the discussion is public, nobody would dare to underfund and risk comparison with erm other funding. I would hope Obama already has his sights on that funding, then this would just be a hidden part of the auto "bailout". This would surely be a better cause than secretively funding JP Morgan and the like through AIG. Compare and contrast.

Am gonna look up what the federal agency is called - important, if anyone knows...it wasn't the FDIC.

regards
bmc

[Hugin]

76. See post #48.

It's already gone.

[antigop]

78. Post #48 refers to the PBGC--it insures defined benefit pension plans

The blog entry up-thread said they will use bankruptcy to take care of retiree healthcare cost "problem".

That's not the same thing.

The PBGC does not insure retiree health plans. It only insures defined benefit pension plans.

[burf]

83. And Wagoner walks away with

$20 million in severance.

[antigop]

80. The blog entry did not refer to pension plans-- it said bankruptcy to take care of retiree health

Now the bankruptcy will be used to turn over the pension plan to the PBGC.

The PBGC does not insure retiree health plans.

[tclambert]

88. Been looking forward to seeing the GM discussion all day.

But they wanted me to, you know, work. And I wanted the, you know, paycheck.

So, GM stock went down 92 cents. 92 cents doesn't sound like much. Less than a dollar. But wait, in this case, it is a lot. 25.4% GM closed Friday at 3.62 per share. Closed today at 2.70 per share.

Let me say that again, GM down 25.4%.

And now you tell me it looks like the government wants to force GM into bankruptcy so they can stomp on the union workers some more, and then stomp on retirees. Back when airlines were going through bankruptcy every other week, the business rags were touting that as a worthwhile strategy for companies to free themselves from those odious pensions and retiree health care plans. Darn those freeloading retirees, expecting money for no work. Darn them to heck.

Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, the new CEO, sort of specializes in restructuring. He led restructuring efforts with GM's Asian operations, then with GM's European operations. Now he gets to do it for the whole company, or the pieces that survive. Still doesn't sound like a "car guy" to me.

[Demeter]

90. stolen from kpete: The Executive Who Brought Down AIG Joseph Cassano

The Executive Who Brought Down AIG Joseph Cassano Made More Than $300 Million at the Insurance Firm Updated at 7:04 PM

Source: ABC News

The Executive Who Brought Down AIG
Joseph Cassano Made More Than $300 Million at the Insurance Firm He Virtually Bankrupted
By ANNA SCHECTER, BRIAN ROSS, and JUSTIN ROOD
March 30, 2009


The FBI and federal prosecutors are reportedly closing in on the AIG executive whose suspect investments cost the insurance giant hundreds of billions of dollars. The government is investigating whether or not 54-year old Brooklyn-native Joseph Cassano committed criminal fraud in virtually bankrupting the company.

"He almost single-handedly is responsible for bringing AIG down and by reference the economy of this country," said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Ca.)

Cassano, who lives in London, made more than $300 million running the infamous Financial Products Division of AIG where he, with about a dozen others, committed AIG to insure what turned out to be more than a trillion dollars worth of junk quality loans held by banks.

"He is the golden boy of the casino," said Rep. Speier. "They basically took peoples' hard earned money and threw it away, gambled it and lost everything. And he must be held accountable for the fraud, for the dereliction of his duty, and for the havoc that he's wrought on America."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7210007&page=1%3...

[ozymandius]

93. Time to put this one to bed.

Dow 7,522.02 Down 254.16 (3.27%)
Nasdaq 1,501.80 Down 43.40 (2.81%)
S&P 500 787.53 Down 28.41 (3.48%)
10-Yr Bond 2.714% Down 0.047
NYSE Volume 6,953,079,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,089,112,125

4:30 pm : The possibility that General Motors and Chrysler may be facing bankruptcy along with renewed concerns that banks may need more federal financing provided market participants with two good reasons to sell stocks Monday. The downward move was underscored by broad-based weakness, which took the S&P 500 to a 3.5% loss. The S&P 500 has fallen more than 5% during the course of the last two sessions.

Stocks were under pressure for the entire session. Pessimism was provoked by news the U.S. government's auto task force determined that neither General Motors (GM 2.70, -0.92) nor privately held Chrysler submitted viable restructuring plans. The task force also indicated bankruptcy may be required for the two companies. Shares of GM lost one quarter of their market cap as a result.

In a statement, GM indicated it will address the issues to improve its long-term viability, including restructuring financial obligations.

Though automakers (-8.3%) and autoparts and equipment companies (-5.9%) displayed marked weakness for the entire session, financial stocks weighed the most on trading. Financials fell 9.4% after Treasury Secretary Geithner stated this last weekend that banks may need more bailout funds. The news weighed most heavily on diversified banks (-13.5%) and diversified financial services companies (-12.0%).

Consumer finance companies (-12.9%) also showed weakness, but their decline was more closely related to an article in The Wall Street Journal indicating an accounting rule change could block capital for certain credit card issuers.

Gains among financials were few and far between, but Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB 2.48, +0.13) was able to trade higher after announcing it will sell a majority stake in its processing business to Advent for $561 million in cash. The two companies will operate the business as a joint venture.

Though all 10 sectors in the S&P 500 closed lower, health care (-0.7%) was the only one able finish with a loss of less than 1%. Abbott Labs (ABT 47.89, +1.29) provided support to the sector, thanks to favorable reports about one of the company's stents, and separate reports late in the session that indicated Abbott held preliminary talks with Wyeth (WYE 43.00, -0.11), which suggest the company is open to ride the sector's recent merger wave.

The session's broad sense of pessimism prompted a broad-based selling effort, in which more than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 closed with losses. Still, stocks were able to pare a portion of their losses heading into the close as the S&P 500 found support at a key technical support level around 781.

Participants return to Tuesday's trading without many market-moving earnings or economic reports to digest. There are no earnings reports of consequence heading into tomorrow's open, and the only noteworthy items on the day's economic calendar include the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for January and the Consumer Confidence Index for March. However, investors are heading into quarter-end, which could lead to additional volatility in the coming session.DJ30 -254.16 NASDAQ -43.40 NQ100 -2.5% R2K -3.0% SP400 -3.5% SP500 -28.41 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2045/619/2.04 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2740/356/1.51 bln

[Demeter]

96. Thank You Ozy!

See you in the morning.