STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday June 30

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday June 30, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON June 29, 2010

Dow... 9,870.30 -268.22 (-2.65%)
Nasdaq... 2,135.18 -85.47 (-3.85%)
S&P 500... 1,041.24 -33.33 (-3.10%)
Gold future... 1,243 +0.30 (+0.02%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.94 -0.02 (-0.54%)
30-Year Bond 3.92 -0.02 (-0.48%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
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Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
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Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Reports

08:15 ADP Employment Change Jun
Briefing.com 75K
Consensus 61K
Prior 55K

09:45 Chicago PMI Jun
Briefing.com 58.0
Consensus 59.0
Prior 59.7

10:30 Crude Inventories 06/26
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior 2.02M

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[ozymandius]

66. First Report

08:15 ADP Employment Change Jun
Actual 13K
Prior 57K
Revised from 55K

From the press release:

ROSELAND, N.J. – June 30, 2010 – According to today’s ADP National Employment
Report®, private sector employment increased by 13,000 from May to June on a seasonally
adjusted basis. The ADP National Employment Report, created by Automatic Data
Processing, Inc. (ADP®), in partnership with Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, is derived
from actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment
each month.

Nonfarm Private Employment Highlights – June Report:

• Total employment: +13,000
• Small businesses* -1,000
• Medium businesses** +11,000
• Large businesses*** +3,000
• Goods-producing sector: -17,000
• Service-providing sector: +30,000
Addendum:
• Manufacturing industry: +16,000

[Po_d Mainiac]

68. I believe that would be called a clean miss.

Let me guess..The anal-ists will be surprised:wow:

[ozymandius]

109. Chicago PMI next up.

09:45 Chicago PMI Jun
Actual 59.1
Prior 59.7

no revision from last month

[ozymandius]

114. Petroleum Inventories:

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending June 25, 2010

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.1 million barrels per day during the week ending June 25, 98 thousand barrels per day below the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 88.4 percent of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.4 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production increased last week, averaging 4.4 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 9.5 million barrels per day last week, down 631 thousand barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged 9.7 million barrels per day, 543 thousand barrels per day above the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 1.0 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports averaged 183 thousand barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 2.0 million barrels from the previous week. At 363.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.5 million barrels last week, and are above the upper limit of the average range. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels, and are above the upper boundary of the average range for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels last week and are in the middle of the average range. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels last week.

PDF press release available as a summary

[Demeter]

2. HA! First Rec!

Take that, insomniacs of the world.

On edit:

Good morning Ozy!

I will be escaping on a pilgrimage tomorrow, in search of intelligence in the universe--well, Dearborn, actually. I am thinking that I need someone to do the Weekend Economist gig, or to declare a holiday and just skip it.

Anybody up for it?

[ozymandius]

6. Good morning, Demeter and everyone.

:donut: :donut: :donut:

Today's thread was late because I took some time to read the fierce argument that happened here long after I went to sleep.

[Demeter]

9. Argument?

It looked like a couple of cocks crowing on the dunghill for dominance. There didn't seem to be much debate on economic issues.

[ozymandius]

14. That was difficult to read.

Fascinating but difficult.

I don't like having to be The Heavy with the rules. But when alerts are being issued on this thread over reasonable concerns, then something has to give.

[Demeter]

23. You Don't Actually Read Stuff Like That

It's like watching tennis or volleyball--ping, pong, ping, pong

Some people like sport--personally, I can take it or leave it. So I left.

[DemReadingDU]

30. Oh my, lots happened after hours

Way past my bedtime, and this week I have my little grandbabies, so time is spent elsewhere.
Have a good day!

[ozymandius]

33. Thank you for dropping in, DemReadingDU

Those were some long knives engaged in that fight.

[Po_d Mainiac]

54. But a bit of doubt as to how well honed the edges were

:donut:

That the principle tool used to to capitalize our economy has deteriorated into a gaming parlor, seems to be lost on far to many people.

[Tansy_Gold]

118. That's because they're (allegedly) still winning

One has to wonder exactly how long their "long term" is.

Know what I mean? ;-) ;-)


TG

[tclambert]

90. It reminds me of a scene in the movie "Big Trouble"

(Tim Allen movie. Great cast. Based on a Dave Barry book.) Actually it was a recurring gag. Dennis Farina can't find anything good on his car radio, stops for a moment on a sports talk call-in show. Host says, "Where are the Gators fans, huh? They never call in when the Gators lose."

Guy calls in and says, "I'm a Gators fan, and I'm calling in."

"What's your point?"

"That's my point. You said we never call in after a loss, and here I am calling in."

They proceed to argue about this complete nothingness, while Farina glares at the radio, then angrily turns it off, and says, "I hate Gators fans." Through the rest of the movie, whenever he hears a radio, the same two guys are still having the same empty argument.

The punchline is when he's flying out of Miami, Farina's stuck on a plane full of Gators fans.

[Demeter]

104. They Made a Movie Of It? I LOVE That Book!

and Dave Barry, although not in the usual way.

I'll have to find the movie.

[Ghost Dog]

133. Heh heh heh.

No, seriously, rofl.

I feel privileged, sharing the joke.

That's why I'm right now rereading Catch-22 (I was too young the first time).

Too Fucking Crazy.

[tclambert]

164. I just recently watched Catch 22 again.

Wonderful. Milo Minderbinder, the epitome of corporatism: "What's good for M&M Industries is good for America."

"Here, Yossarian, try this."

Yossarian takes a bite. "Oh, this is awful! What is it?"

"Chocolate covered cotton. I bought too much cotton. Thought I could get rid of it by feeding it to the men."

"You can't feed the men cotton! It'll make 'em sick. Try for yourself if you don't believe me."

"I did. It made me sick."
______________________

Is that not a perfect example of how business works?

[Ghost Dog]

171. Too fucking perfect, right.

"Wait. If I'm sick, I can't fly, right?

"Are you crazy?"

"No. I really don't want to fly."

"Then you're not crazy. You have to fly."

"But I'm sick."

"Why are you sick?"

"Because I don't want to fly."

"You're not sick."

... etc.

...

... Yossarian turned slowly to gaze at Milo with probing distrust. He saw a simple, sincere face that was incapable of subtlety or guile, an honest, frank face with disunited large eyes, rusty hair, black eyebrows and an unfortunate reddish-brown mustache. Milo had a long, thin nose with sniffing, damp nostrils heading sharply off to the right, always pointing away from where the rest of him was looking. It was the face of a man of hardened integrity who could no more consciously violate the moral principles on which his virtue rested than he could transform himself into a despicable toad. One of these moral principles was that it was never a sin to charge as much as the traffic would bear...

[ozymandius]

191. That must have been the germ for a dialogue I heard.

kid: "Mom. I'm hungry."

mom: "So fix yourself a boloney sandwich."

kid: "But I don't want a boloney sandwich."

mom: "Then you're not that hungry."

[Ghost Dog]

200. - So, how can I get out of flying the mission?

- Are you crazy?

- I'm not sure. You tell me.

- Well, if you're crazy, you want to fly the mission.

- I don't want to fly the mission.

- But, if you don't want to fly the mission, you're definitely not crazy.

- Huh?

- I can only ground you if you're crazy. You have to ask for it.

- Doc. I really don't want to fly the mission.

- Th en I can't ground you. You're not crazy.

- Ok, so, I really want to fly this mission.

- Commander! This man's ready and eager to go fly the mission.

- Hang on, hang on. Doc: I really want to fly this mission!

- Commander! This man's ready and eager to go fly the mission.

...

...Think again... tyro.

[Joe Chi Minh]

187. There's cartoonist here in the UK, who draws for a couple of right-wing

rags, called Pugh. His cartons are of uneven quality, but the best are hilarious.

Most are about a middle-aged couple, of which the wife is a real mare. Anyway, there's been a few about the soccer World Cup (while we were still in it).

A lot of the women in the UK get brassed off with all the football programmes. My favourite cartoon of him sitting in his armchair watching a football match on the box, his arm on the armchair rest, and holding up a little flag of St George in his hand. She's coming in the room, looking at him intently, with the legend, Brazil, on her sweater!

Here's a couple of links where there are a few good cartoons of his, and oddly enough a selection of his poorer ones:

http://www.pughcartoons.co.uk/prints.html

http://www.cartoonistsguild.com/pugh.htm

[hamerfan]

36. Good morning to you, Ozy!

And everyone else as well.

[ozymandius]

37. Good morning, hamerfan.

:donut: :donut: :donut:
Good to see you.

[tclambert]

44. Rats! I missed a lively argument.

Too bad. I would have weighed in on Mickey's side. TheWatcher and I disagree on some pretty fundamental ideas. Lots of SMW'ers seem to lean toward the pessimistic side. I lean a little more toward the optimistic side. In the history of the stock market, the pessimists sometimes get it right, and on rare occasions, they are spectacularly right. The market does go down sometimes, and sometimes crashes. Optimists prove right more often, but even bubbles inflate more slowly than crashes happen, so it doesn't seem as spectacular.

Anyway, I think it is possible to get rich, and I'm working on it. Currently, I'm finding Scientific American is my best investment guide.

[tclambert]

46. I disagree with Mickey when he said the market is unpredictable. I predict the market will

. . . fluctuate.

[tclambert]

48. Stole that from J. P. Morgan

[Mickeyc1004]

182. Very funny (lol)

Thank you for the nice comments.

I commented on yesterday's thread because I thought that others who might have some of the same views yet feel apprehensive about commenting on a thread that was going all the same way might find my comments welcoming and useful.

[girl gone mad]

52. One such rare occassion being the last decade or so?

I'm all for optimism, just not blind optimism. :)

[tclambert]

82. Exactly. And that decade cost me. One-eyed optimism from now on!

[tclambert]

84. Mind you, I can blame others for my troubles, with very little twisting of the facts.

Damn George W. Bush. Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!

[AnneD]

102. Some of my best investment have come from Scientific American....

I remember reading about chirality in molecules and it's application. I got in on the ground floor of Nutra Sweet.

One of the next big things-nano molecules and clean renewable energy sources other than corn based ethanol.

I haven't looked at SA in a while. Thanks for the reminder-I'll head to the library on my summer break.

[Ghost Dog]

137. That's it, AnneD. Building a new future.

- Under strict, sensible, intelligent, especially ecological/environmental, regulation, of course.

[AnneD]

156. When you get down to it....

that is where the real money is-at least the places where the average Joe's can catch a break.

Established companies are about retaining market shares, paying dividends, meeting payroll. Or even worse-they are about scamming honest folks and cooking the books to line their own pockets. And after a while-like the dilbert cartoon today-they don't care anymore.

Now, give me a scientist researching the poisonous skin of a frog and how it kills fungus and I'll show you a promising new family of anti fungal drugs. Show me a kid toying around building a solar car and I will show you the next generation of auto design engineers. Show me a chemist studying right handed and left handed molecules or mechanical bio delivery devices and I will show you the future of medicine. Wars make money in a hurry but it is a limited amount. Research will make us wealthy beyond our dreams.

Yes, you can lose on these 'long shots'. But what I wouldn't give to own a few shares of Apple when it started, or Google, or ATT, or Xerox, or even IBM. Every one starts somewhere sometime. If I am going to gamble, I would rather gamble on a better world than feed the casinos.

[tclambert]

190. AnneD, did you bring up solar cars because of my son?

I think I mentioned long ago that he was Crew Chief of Michigan's 2008 solar car team (North American champions) and now works on the hybrid and electric cars of the future. I was joking with him recently and asked him if he had become the world's foremost expert on electric motors. He thought it over for a few moments, actually thought it over, before saying, "No, not yet. But there is that potential." (Potential makes it an electrical joke. Hah!)

He might object to the "toying around" part, though. They work long, long hours putting those cars together. He made friends for life on that project, too. They get together once in awhile. Last winter, some of them rented a house for a weekend getaway, and my son and another team member were assigned to build a hot tub from scratch. They took an inflatable pool, a truck radiator, some propane burners, lots of plumbing, and made a pretty good hot tub.

[AnneD]

196. Actually....

another member of this forum's son is doing the same thing. kwel...

[Ghost Dog]

201. That's how to do it...

:hi:

(... and kicks for free).

[ozymandius]

3. Oil hovers near $76 as stock markets sell off

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $76 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as plunging stock markets undermined the confidence of crude traders, offsetting signs of improving U.S. demand.

The next crucial U.S. economic release is an employment report on Friday that will show whether the recovery in the world's largest economy has become self-sustaining enough to make a dent in unemployment that's been hovering near 10 percent.

Crude inventories dropped last week by 3.4 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Analysts had expected a fall of 1.2 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is scheduled to announce its supply report later Wednesday.

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

[Demeter]

4. No demand means no need for huge inventories

QED

[burf]

10. It looks as though

Kuwait is gonna get their share while the gettings good.

Kuwait looks to boost output
State-run Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) chief executive, Sami Rushaid said the country will raise production from its northern oilfields to 820,000 barrels per day by the end of July.

News wires 29 June 2010 08:25 GMT

Rushaid told told the Seyassah daily that current production from the fields stood at 720,000 bpd.

Kuwait's total production capacity is expected to reach 3.3 million bpd in August, Rushaid said, reiterating the country's current capacity was at 3.17 million bpd.

The world's fourth-largest oil exporter is aiming to reach a capacity of 4 million bpd in 2020.

Good day to all!

Link: http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article219035.ece

[Ghost Dog]

15. Good day. Although Fidel Castro warns: Terrible war begins.

... Obama has committed to attend the quarterfinals match on July 2, if his country’s team makes it to that stage. He supposedly knows better than anyone that the quarterfinals will not be contested because very serious developments will take place before that; or at least he should know.

Last Friday, June 25, an international press agency known for the attention to details in its reports, published a statement by the “…Navy Commander of the elite Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution General Ali Fadavi…,” warning “…that if the United States and its allies inspect Iranian ships in international waters ‘they will have their response in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.’”

The information was taken from the local news agency Mehr of Iran.

...

I have absolutely no doubt that as soon as the American and Israeli warships are deployed – alongside the rest of the American military vessels positioned off the Iranian coasts-- and they try to inspect the first merchant ship from that country, there will be a massive launching of missiles in both directions. At that moment exactly the terrible war will begin. It’s not possible to estimate how many vessels will be sunk or from what country.

Knowing the truth timely is the most important thing for our people.

It doesn’t matter if almost everybody, I’d dare say 99.9% or more of my compatriots, instinctively cling to hopes and agree with my sincere wishes to be wrong. I have talked to people close to me, and I have also received news from many noble, selfless and hardworking people who have read my Reflections and do not challenge my considerations in the least but rather absorb, believe and swallow my reasoning through a dry throat; however, they immediately go back to the tasks to which they devote their energies.

That is precisely what we expect of our compatriots. But it would be worse to suddenly become aware of extremely grave events without having heard as much as a news item about such possibility. Then there would be confusion and panic, and that would be unworthy of our heroic Cuban people...

/... http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2010/ing/f270610i.html

Fidel Castro Ruz
June 27, 2010
2:15 PM

Fuente original: http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2010/esp/f270610e.html

And the S&P 500 teeters on brink:

... Essentially the market is looking over the edge of a cliff here folks. Today will be an extremely important day because if we close firmly below 1040 then the chances are high that we will test the next level of support which is around 875ish on the S&P.

If we get down to 875 it darn well better hold because there is basically nothing but hot air in between there and the low of 666 on the S&P that was set back in March of 2009.

I think the technicals will have a lot to do with where we head from here in the short term. We could quite possibly see a bounce today if this level holds. If we break it, things could get rather ugly. I expect quite a tussle between the bears and the bulls here at S&P 1040.

/... http://seekingalpha.com/article/212475-looking-over-the-edge-of-the-cliff-can-the-bulls-hold-s-p-1040?source=yahoo

[Demeter]

18. I hope Castro is wrong about the confrontational stance

but knowing a little about the previous idiocies in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have no confidence in the ability of what passes for leadership in this once great nation to discern the difference between their asses and their elbows...

[Ghost Dog]

142. What 'quarterfinals' does he refer to, btw? Baseball, I thought?

But then, eating out just now, I was reminded about what most of the world is focused on.

Me, I watch some amazing tennis now and then.

[Demeter]

50. Total moves to tighten screw on Tehran

Total has become the latest big oil company to halt petrol sales to Iran, just days before Barack Obama, US president, signs into law new sanctions targeted at Tehran’s reliance on imported petroleum
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/72YZY5/VTVRG/BMJRNJ/JIJ5P7/OS/t

the economic war on Iran is certainly ramping up

[girl gone mad]

5. You're late! :)

I accidentally clicked on yesterday's thread. It was..... interesting.

Looks like a couple of sheep got away from the flock.

Speaking of which - greener pastures ahead for the markets, for now.

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures/

[ozymandius]

8. Yes, I was just about to post something about that in response to Demeter's first post.

But instead, and more appropriately, will respond to that dust-up to everyone in general.

That was very interesting and disturbing at the same time.

[AnneD]

105. yeah....

like watching a car crash in slo mo. You know what is going to happen, but you just can't help but watch it anyway. Hypnotic actually.

[Demeter]

7. Goldman Admits it Had Bigger Role in AIG Deals

http://www.truth-out.org/goldman-admits-it-had-bigger-role-aig-deals60913

by: Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

Reversing its oft-repeated position that it was acting only on behalf of its clients in its exotic dealings with the American International Group, Goldman Sachs now says that it also used its own money to make secret wagers against the U.S. housing market.

A senior Goldman executive disclosed the "bilateral" wagers on subprime mortgages in an interview with McClatchy, marking the first time that the Wall Street titan has conceded that its dealings with troubled insurer AIG went far beyond acting as an "intermediary" responding to its clients' demands.

The official, who Goldman made available to McClatchy on the condition he remain anonymous, declined to reveal how much money Goldman reaped from its trades with AIG.

However, the wagers were part of a package of deals that had a face value of $3 billion, and in a recent settlement, AIG agreed to pay Goldman between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. AIG's losses on those deals, for which Goldman is thought to have paid less than $10 million, were ultimately borne by taxpayers as part of the government's bailout of the insurer.

Goldman's proprietary trades with AIG in 2005 and 2006 are among those that many members of Congress sought unsuccessfully to ban during recent negotiations for tougher federal regulation of the financial industry.

A McClatchy examination, including a review of public records and interviews with present and former Wall Street executives, casts doubt on several of Goldman's claims about its dealings with AIG, which at the time was the world's largest insurer.

For example:

_ The latest disclosure undercuts Goldman's repeated insistence during the past year that it acted merely on behalf of clients when it bought $20 billion in exotic insurance from AIG.

_ Although Goldman has steadfastly maintained that it had "no material exposure" to AIG if the insurer had gone bankrupt, in fact the firm could have lost money if the government hadn't allowed the insurer to pay $92 billion of American taxpayers' money to U.S. and European financial institutions whose risky business practices helped cause the global financial collapse.

_ Goldman took several aggressive steps — including demanding billions in cash collateral — against AIG that suggest to some experts that it had inside information about AIG's shaky financial condition and therefore an edge over its competitors. While former Bush administration officials said AIG was financially sound and merely faced a cash squeeze at the time of the bailout, McClatchy has reported that the insurer was swamped with massive liabilities and was a candidate for bankruptcy.

A spokesman for Goldman, Michael DuVally, said that the firm followed its "standard approach to risk management" in its dealings with AIG.

"We had no special insight into AIG's financial condition but, as we do with all exposure, we acted prudently to protect our firm and its shareholders from the risk of a loss. Most right-thinking people would surely believe that this was an appropriate way for a bank to manage its affairs."

He said that Goldman didn't have "direct economic exposure to AIG."

The relationship between Goldman and AIG has drawn intense scrutiny over the past year because several Goldman alumni held senior Treasury Department jobs when the Bush administration guaranteed as much as $182 billion to bail out AIG, $12.9 billion of which AIG paid to Goldman, the most money it paid any U.S. bank.

On Wednesday and Thursday, a congressional panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis plans to question current and former senior Goldman and AIG officials, including Joseph Cassano, the former head of the London-based AIG unit that covered $72 billion in bets against risky home mortgages — wagers that cost U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars when the housing bubble burst.

MUCH MUCH MORE MUCK FOLLOWS--SEE LINK

[Demeter]

12. In U.S. Bailout of A.I.G., Forgiveness for Big Banks

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/business/30aig.html?partner=rss&emc=rss



At the end of the American International Group’s annual meeting last month, a shareholder approached the microphone with a question for Robert Benmosche, the insurer’s chief executive.

“I’d like to know, what does A.I.G. plan to do with Goldman Sachs?” he asked. “Are you going to get — recoup — some of our money that was given to them?”

Mr. Benmosche, steward of an insurer brought to its knees two years ago after making too many risky, outsize financial bets and paying billions of dollars in claims to Goldman and other banks, said he would continue evaluating his legal options. But, in reality, A.I.G. has precious few.

When the government began rescuing it from collapse in the fall of 2008 with what has become a $182 billion lifeline, A.I.G. was required to forfeit its right to sue several banks — including Goldman, Société Générale, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch — over any irregularities with most of the mortgage securities it insured in the pre-crisis years.

But after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil fraud suit filed in April against Goldman for possibly misrepresenting a mortgage deal to investors, A.I.G. executives and shareholders are asking whether A.I.G. may have been misled by Goldman into insuring mortgage deals that the bank and others may have known were flawed.

This month, an Australian hedge fund sued Goldman on similar grounds. Goldman is contesting the suit and denies any wrongdoing. A spokesman for A.I.G. declined to comment about any plans to sue Goldman or any other banks with which it worked. A Goldman spokesman said that his firm believed that “all aspects of our relationship with A.I.G. were appropriate.”

A Legal Waiver

Unknown outside of a few Wall Street legal departments, the A.I.G. waiver was released last month by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform amid 250,000 pages of largely undisclosed documents. The documents, reviewed by The New York Times, provide the most comprehensive public record of how the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Treasury Department orchestrated one of the biggest corporate bailouts in history.

The documents also indicate that regulators ignored recommendations from their own advisers to force the banks to accept losses on their A.I.G. deals and instead paid the banks in full for the contracts. That decision, say critics of the A.I.G. bailout, has cost taxpayers billions of extra dollars in payments to the banks. It also contrasts with the hard line the White House took in 2008 when it forced Chrysler’s lenders to take losses when the government bailed out the auto giant.

As a Congressional commission convenes hearings Wednesday exploring the A.I.G. bailout and Goldman’s relationship with the insurer, analysts say that the documents suggest that regulators were overly punitive toward A.I.G. and overly forgiving of banks during the bailout — signified, they say, by the fact that the legal waiver undermined A.I.G. and its shareholders’ ability to recover damages.

“Even if it turns out that it would be a hard suit to win, just the gesture of requiring A.I.G. to scrap its ability to sue is outrageous,” said David Skeel, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “The defense may be that the banking system was in trouble, and we couldn’t afford to destabilize it anymore, but that just strikes me as really going overboard.”

“This really suggests they had myopia and they were looking at it entirely through the perspective of the banks,” Mr. Skeel said.

Regulators at the New York Fed declined to comment on the legal waiver but disagreed with that viewpoint.

“This was not about the banks,” said Sarah J. Dahlgren, a senior vice president for the New York Fed who oversees A.I.G. “This was about stabilizing the system by preventing the disorderly collapse of A.I.G. and the potentially devastating consequences of that event for the U.S. and global economies.”

This month, the Congressional Oversight Panel, a body charged with reviewing the state of financial markets and the regulators that monitor them, published a 337-page report on the A.I.G. bailout. It concluded that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York did not give enough consideration to alternatives before sinking more and more taxpayer money into A.I.G. “It is hard to escape the conclusion that F.R.B.N.Y. was just ‘going through the motions,’ ” the report said.

About $46 billion of the taxpayer money in the A.I.G. bailout was used to pay to mortgage trading partners like Goldman and Société Générale, a French bank, to make good on their claims. The banks are not expected to return any of that money, leading the Congressional Research Service to say in March that much of the taxpayer money ultimately bailed out the banks, not A.I.G...MORE

THERE IT IS--MOTIVE, MEANS, OPPORTUNITY. BOOK 'EM, DANNO. ALL OF THEM.

[AnneD]

119. Side Bar....

I loved the original Hawaii 5-0 series. CBS will do a remake of the series this fall. I hope they have a diverse list of characters like the first series and they can do a lot with the plot. I'm excited-I don't watch much tv, but I will check that one out.

[Tansy_Gold]

167. AIG crisis wasn't my fault, says Cassano

thanks to Turbineguy over in the Economy forum

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/30/aig-joseph-cassano-fault

Head of AIG derivatives trading unit, widely condemned for its activities, denies taking reckless risks


Andrew Clark in New York guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 30 June 2010 17.40 BST

The man in charge of AIG's doomed Financial Products division in London has defiantly denied taking reckless risks on hefty derivatives contracts that were widely blamed for pushing the huge US insurer to the brink of bankruptcy.

Joseph Cassano, who ran AIG's financial products unit between 2002 and 2008, will tell the US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today that his division, widely derided as a hedge fund attached to a stable insurance company, took "prudent" and "appropriate" decisions but was undermined, in part, by an intervention from external auditors.

However, one of his superiors, AIG's former chief risk officer Robert Lewis, will offer a bleaker picture to the commission, admitting that AIG was "wrong about how bad things could get". In written evidence to the commission, Lewis says: "What ended up happening was so extreme that it was beyond anything we had planned for."

* * * *

"During my tenure, no counterparty declared us in breach or threatened litigation, which shows our strategy was effective," says Cassano, who learned in April that he will face no criminal charges related to AIG's meltdown. "I believe this strategy was appropriate and in the best interests of the company and its shareholders."


:grr: :grr: :grr:

MORE AT LINK


And as I posted over at the Economy forum . . . .


To quote Jimy Sohns:

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

"Hey, Joe. Where you goin' with that money in your hand?"



Bite me. It was so your fucking fault, you disgusting little wanker.



Tansy Gold, who was probably at The Cellar that December 1966 evening

[ozymandius]

20. Panel examines role of derivatives in crisis

WASHINGTON – The complex instruments at the heart of the financial meltdown, and the way two giant companies were wrapped around them and entwined with each other, are being examined by the special panel investigating the origins of the economic crisis.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is turning its focus to derivatives at two days of hearings starting Wednesday. On the hot seat will be former executives of American International Group Inc., the insurance conglomerate saved from collapse by a $182 billion taxpayer bailout, and current officials of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the finance powerhouse that has been one of Wall Street's biggest derivatives dealers.

Traded in an opaque global market valued at around $600 trillion, derivatives have caught a big part of the blame for the financial crisis that ignited in late 2008. The value of derivatives hinges on an underlying investment or commodity — such as currency rates, oil futures or interest rates. The derivative is designed to reduce the risk of loss from the underlying asset.

A CDO is a pool of securities, tied to mortgages or other types of debt, that Wall Street firms packaged and sold to investors at the height of the housing boom. Buyers of CDOs, mostly banks, pension funds and other big investors, made money off the investments if the underlying debt was paid off. But as U.S. homeowners started falling behind on their mortgages and defaulted in droves in 2007, CDO buyers lost billions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100630/ap_on_bi_ge/us_meltdown_investigation

[ozymandius]

80. Scrutiny of Goldman’s Board Focusing on Silence Over Conflicts

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Greg Palm, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. general counsel, took a call in his 37th-floor office at One New York Plaza on Dec. 16, 2008. It was his old boss, Stephen Friedman, a former Goldman chairman who was then head of the audit committee of its board of directors. Goldman’s stock was down 65 percent from its 52-week high during an accelerating global financial breakdown.

Friedman, who had become chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that year, told Palm he wanted to buy, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue.

Friedman, 72, who is still a Goldman director, bought 37,300 shares at an average of $80.78 each on Dec. 17. Five weeks later, he picked up 15,300 more at an average of $66.61. By yesterday, the stock had doubled to $133.76, giving Friedman a paper profit of $3 million.

Now, the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating Friedman’s stock purchases. It wants to know why he was permitted to buy stock in a bank he was regulating as chairman of the New York Fed.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aoqWbO3AO1iM&pos=10

:wtf:

[ozymandius]

11. Yesterday, I posted the DU rules.

I asked people to be mindful of them. So I will ask again to observe rules concerning civility as outlined in Rule #3. Arguments can become heated and justly so. Last night's responses on this thread redefined boundaries and, frankly, broke the rules.

This pains me to say this. But it must be said: It serves no one to bring this thread to the glaring attention of the moderators and administrators. This is a daily thread. If there are problems daily then the weight of those who enforce of the rules will be visited here.

Please, please, no matter how furious someone's comments make you - please keep it civil. This thread is just a thread. It carries on because the Admins make it so and give direction to the moderators of this forum. If someone is being an ass - hit the Alert link. Maybe walk away.

I like to think of yesterday's thread as legendary mainly for the quality insights and humor - not so much for the rancor. Quality discourse serves everyone well.

Thank you for your consideration.

ozymandius

[Demeter]

13. I Just Put Them on IGNORE

It shortens the thread. Also good for the blood pressure.

[Tansy_Gold]

28. There is always the morbid curiosity factor

I am one who can easily NOT look when passing a car accident, but I have difficulty avoiding discussion situations that may turn ugly. I recommend, therefore, snot's advice at the tail end of last night's thread. With that comment, in conjunction with Demeter's above, I've decided the little red x factor is healthier for my sanity, my blood pressure, my efficient use of time, and my continued stay on SMW. :evilgrin: The little red x shall be employed much more enthusiastically.



Tansy Gold, who really does not like drama queens or children who act out just so they can get attention

[Dr.Phool]

58. I've never put anyone on SMW on ignore before, but,

It looks to me like someone is trying to create a provocation, to get the thread shut down. So henceforth, whenever a know nothing shows up looking for a fight, they disappear.

[tclambert]

166. I wish Obama would put the Republicans on Ignore.

[Tansy_Gold]

168. Hallelujah and AMEN!!!! n/t

[tclambert]

60. You put me on IGNORE?

Oh, I am wounded! I weep. No, you dinnit.

I need a button that says, "Don't take too seriously or too personally."

Sometimes when people call me an idiot, they're right. Very, very rarely. And I happen to think I'm pretty smart. Got a certificate around here somewhere that says so.

[Demeter]

62. So, Are You Going to the AG then?

[Dr.Phool]

77. I used to work with a guy who had papers that said he was sane.

I think he forgot to renew them.

[tclambert]

79. I salute you, Doctor. That's a good one.

:yourock:

[ozymandius]

92. Were they signed in crayon?

It would be a rhetorical question to ask why this guy felt the need to carry such papers.

[Dr.Phool]

103. It's a true story. He spent time in the Psych ward.

He would even joke about it after he got out. "I've got papers to prove I'm sane. Do you"?

And, he did need them renewed a few times. He died recently in his late '70s.

[ozymandius]

107. That's really funny.

I'm glad he had a sense of humor about it.

Someone needs to ask Congressman Steve King to produce his papers.

[Dr.Phool]

115. I want to see the papers for the people who keep electing him.

Sometimes I think his district is made up of a chain of mental hospitals.

And don't even think about Bachmann or Virginia Foxx.

[ozymandius]

120. If he is not genuinely crazy then he is giving it the old college try.

From an article on King:

King once dismissed the shameful horrors of Abu Ghraib as mere "hazing;" he advocated treating "illegals" like "livestock;" and even once denounced efforts to give revolutionary war hero General Pulaski posthumous citizenship as being akin to "amnesty."

Maybe King would change his attitude about General Pulaski if he knew that the town named for said General was also the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan.

[AnneD]

124. First Rule of Psych Nursing.........

NEVER PUT YOUR HAND IN THE CRAZY!!!!!!!

I have put certain posters, usually on other threads, on ignore. It is a feature that works very well. In fact, my BP had dropped 20 points since I have exercised that feature.

By the by, yesterday's thread was epic and this one is starting off well. I sure would hate to see the plug pulled because a couple of nimrods come in after hours and trash it. The info is too important.

[Ghost Dog]

144. I checked out that area in my youth

(strictly as a postgraduate student, for academic research and personal growth purposes only, you understand).

I always recommend dipping into C. G. Jung and R. D. Laing with a touch of John Berger, for a good start; and, for the more mature, a mellow, but preferably not lonely, smoke. :smoke:

[Hugin]

130. I was wondering why you never reply to my posts anymore.

:rofl:

[Demeter]

134. I'm Not Ignoring You, Hugin

I just can't improve upon your perfection.

Besides, you haven't been around much lately.

[TalkingDog]

150. Oh. Hugin's around? Where?

Wait, I'll have to click on Un-ignore....


Oh...Hi!

[Hugin]

160. Hi.

:hi:

Yeah, I get lumped in on some mass ignores... I hang with a bad crowd. ;)

[AnneD]

198. You fit right in....

with THIS crowd-like minds roll down the same gutter and all. ;)

[bread_and_roses]

78. well, I'm confused - both by the reminder and the brouhaha over yesterday...

I was confused by your being asked to post a reminder because I read SMW every day (scanning, to be accurate - I don't read every word of every post) - and I couldn't recall anything recent to the reminder that seemed out of line with the rules....course, I rarely stop back in the evening...and of course as is inevitable with any form of censorship the rules are murky and interpretation somewhat subjective...so what seems fairly harmless to me might strike someone else as beyond the pale...

and yesterday's dust up - so what? I didn't see anything worse than I've seen on a thousand threads here. And while it is a minor annoyance, surely that is the price paid for having a thread on a public board? The other option would be a closed board - I belong to one on a totally unrelated, very narrow interest site and can tell you that the price paid for THAT is staleness.

I don't read much around here any more, other than to scan LBN, and read SMW and WE - and less so on the rest of the Board every day since I find any form of censorship repugnant - believing that sunshine is the best disinfectant. I'm just grateful that the SMW and WE regulars tolerate my low-value (though at least infrequent) posts.

So...I just don't get it. Not an unusual state of affairs for me, lol.

[ozymandius]

86. The rules are being revamped because of the frequency of that occurrence.

As this is an aggregate daily thread with many different opinions, frustrations and concerns - the temper of the discussion cam become quite heated. I will also add that quite a bit of attention has been paid to the SMW and the WEE recently. The after hours fight is a concern because it can boil over into the next day's daytime discourse.

It is a wonderful thing that the SMW is so popular. It will no longer be so if it becomes a place where participants vent their grudges.

[Tansy_Gold]

106. Generally, people who don't get a response to their rants

tend to stop ranting. By putting a person on IGNORE, there's no temptation to respond to them. And even reading someone else's response can be more an exercise in boredom than in curiosity raising, because the only way to satisfy the curiosity is to go through the tedious process of unignoring them.

When my job requires me to transcribe a recorded statement from, say, an accident victim and they are mumbling or talking on a cell phone in an open convertible going 85 down a California freeway at rush hour (I know, I know, impossible, but for the sake of illustration) and I can't understand a word they say, I simply insert the comment (INAUDIBLE) where their gibberish goes. (INAUDIBLE) becomes a very good friend late at night when the dialect is thick and the lawyer keeps talkin' over the client. (INAUDIBLE) gets one through the ranting of a renter's insurance policy holder who's just been told his claim is denied because he can't prove he ever owned the 75 pair of Tony Lama boots, three mink jackets, 19 leather Harley-Davidson commemorative Sturgis Rally jackets, and 65-inch plasma TV that he says were destroyed when a water leak flooded his 420-square-foot studio apartment.

(INAUDIBLE) is roughly equivalent to "ignore" and I am going to make the latter my new BFF.


Tansy Gold, wavin' :hi: to all the nice folks and wavin' somethin' else to the not-so-nice ones.

[ozymandius]

108. Excellent advice.

In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mike Teevee incessantly throws snide criticism at Willie Wonka (played by Johnny Depp). Wonka responds to his disrespect with quips like, "Mumbler! I cannot understand a word you're saying."

Both are rude to each other. But the association becomes a glacially cold détente.

[ozymandius]

110. forgot to mention

I posted an update on the rules last week while changes were being debated. It is not clear either when the changes will go into effect or what changes will survive the DU feedback process.

[Demeter]

16. Executive, Legislative, Judicial Branches Merge

http://www.theonion.com/articles/executive-legislative-judicial-branches-merge,4476/

Seeking to streamline federal affairs and give the government a much-needed shot in the arm, the three federal branches inked an unprecedented $12 trillion merger deal Monday. "No more will the three branches bicker and argue and overrule each other," President Clinton said of the merger, reportedly the largest of its kind since last year's ABC-Disney deal. "This merger should give the federal government tremendous synergy, a kind of 'cross-pollinization' that the framers of the Constitution never envisioned when they developed the now-antiquated system of 'checks and balances' so long ago." In the first major move since the merger's announcement, on Tuesday Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer ordered mandatory military conscription for all adult males in preparation for a September invasion of Iraq.

DON'T ONIONS JUST BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES? IT SHOULD BE FOR AN INVASION OF IRAN, OF COURSE....

[Demeter]

26. More Humor (I think we need it today) by Dilbert's Scott Adams

[Loge23]

112. Recognize anyone there?

I always liked to joke that as soon as you recognize your company in Dilbert it may be time to move on!
Of course, that was then. Nowadays, just smile and wave! :hi:

[AnneD]

127. "Cross pollinization"

just another way to say "you're fu#ked". Same thing as being "serviced" farmers take their cows to be serviced by good bulls. Any time you see that term in a press release-just remember the true definition.

[girl gone mad]

17. The Fed Has Lost It; Publishes Essay Bashing Bloggers, Tells General Public To Broadly Ignore..

OMG. What a riot.

From http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-has-lost-it-publishes-essay-bashing-bloggers-tells-general-public-broadly-ignore-those-w?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29">Zero Hedge:

The Fed Has Lost It; Publishes Essay Bashing Bloggers, Tells General Public To Broadly Ignore Those Without An Econ PhD

Some Fed economist (with a hard-earned Ph.D mind you) named Kartik Athreya (who lasted at Citigroup as an associate Vice President for a whopping 7 months before getting sacked in 1998 only to find solace for his expiring unemployment benefits in the public sector) has written the most idiotic "research" piece to come out of the Federal Reserve since 1913, and the Fed has written a lot of idiotic research since then - after all you don't destroy 98% of the dollar's purchasing power in 97 years with non-idiotic research. But this just takes the cake. In "Economics is Hard. Don’t Let Bloggers Tell You Otherwise" Kartik says: "I argue that neither non-economist bloggers, nor economists who portray economics —especially macroeconomic policy— as a simple enterprise with clear conclusions, are likely to contribute any insight to discussion of economics and, as a result, should be ignored by an open-minded lay public." Alas, all Kartik achieves is to convince the general public that feeding Fed "economists" alcohol after midnight and letting them directly upload their resultant gibberish to the Fed's broad RSS feed the second they think they have a coherent thought , is generally a disastrous idea. In his piece, which has no other intention than to discredit and outright malign bloggers such as Matt Yglesias, John Stossel, Robert Samuelson, and Robert Reich, Athreya says: "In what follows I will argue that it is exceedingly unlikely that these authors have anything interesting to say about economic policy. This sounds mean-spirited, but it’s not meant to be, and I’ll explain why." Instead in what follows, the Fed presents 4 pages of thoughts so meandering, that the author's blood alcohol level must have certainly been well above the legal norm for the duration of the writing of this ad hominem pamphlet.

(snip)

Here are some of the pearls of wisdom contained in this stunning paper:

* Before I continue, here’s who I am: The relevant fact is that I work as a rank-and-file PhD economist operating within a central banking system. I have contributed no earth-shaking ideas to Economics and work fundamentally as a worker bee chipping away with known tools at portions of larger problems.

* Why should anyone accept uncritically that Economics, or any field of human endeavor, for that matter, should be easy either to process or contribute to? To some extent, people don’t. Would anyone tolerate the equivalent level of public discussion on cancer research? Most of us readily accept the proposition that Oncology requires training, and rarely give time over to non-medical-professionals’ musings. Do we expect advances in cell-biology to be immediately accessible to anyone with even a college degree? Science journalists routinely cite specific studies that have appeared in specific journals. They generally do not engage in passing their own untrained speculations off as insights. But economic blogging and much journalism largely does not operate this way. Naifs write books, and sell many of them too. People as varied as Matt Ridley and William Greider make book-length statements about economics. I’ve never done that, and this is my job. This is, to say the very least, bizarre.

* So far, I’ve claimed something a bit obnoxious-sounding: that writers who have not taken a year of PhD coursework in a decent economics department (and passed their PhD qualifying exams), cannot meaningfully advance the discussion on economic policy.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-has-lost-it-publishes-essay-bashing-bloggers-tells-general-public-broadly-ignore-those-w?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29">more..

See also:

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/06/how-hard-is-economics.html">Marginal Revolution: How hard is economics?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/06/do-i-have-anything-interesting-to-say/">Matthew Yglesias » Do I Have Anything Interesting to Say?

http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=5834">TheMoneyIllusion » Why won’t those &$*%#@ bloggers go away? :rofl:

[Demeter]

22. I Hope All Those Worker-Bee Economists Will Pardon Us for Living, Then

And wondering where our next paycheck is coming from.

[girl gone mad]

25. I imagine Kartik is writing from an actual tower..

made of actual ivory.

Or his mom's basement.

Either way, the dude is deluded.

[Demeter]

27. I hope the tower has no door

and nobody is desperate enough to call out: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel..."

By the way--Do you think that's where the verb "Rappel" comes from?

Etymology is a hobby of mine....

[Dr.Phool]

70. He's probably a bald headed prick anyway.

[Demeter]

74. Are We Even Sure It's a He?

The name is too unfamiliar. But the style is (ahem) rather male-pounding-his-chest, although I've seen women do that, too, from behind their "credentials".

[Viva_La_Revolution]

155. you sent me down a rabbit hole! lol!

I just had to look it up.. this is what I have so far..

rap·pel (ră-pĕlˈ)
noun
A descent of a vertical surface, as a cliff or wall, by sliding down a belayed rope that is passed under one thigh and over the opposite shoulder or through a device that provides friction, typically while facing the surface and performing a series of short backward leaps to control the descent.
intransitive verb rappelled rap·pelled, rappelling rap·pel·ling, rap·pels
To descend from a steep height by this method.

Origin: French, recall, return, rappel, from Old French, recall, from rapeler, to recall : re-, re- + apeler, to summon; see appeal .
http://www.yourdictionary.com/rappel


hmm.. but Rapunzel is a German folk tale I think..


"Although Rapunzel comes from the Grimms, the tale can be traced back to similar tales from Italy and France."
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/history.html

well, I was close.
but we do have a french connection now.. except..

As is true with many tales, the first literary traces of the tale come from Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone (1637). Basile wrote about Petrosinella in his tale, with the heroine's name being derived from "petrosine" for parsley. There are many similarities in the tale to Rapunzel with a few differences. In Basile's tale the heroic pair elopes instead of suffering before discovering each other years after the witch curses them.

Sixty years later in 1697, Charlotte Rose de Caumont de la Force, a French aristocrat, published her own version of the tale. Her collection of fairy tales included "Persinette" (once again "persille" is parsley) which had obvious direct ties to Basile's tale. This tale is almost exactly like Rapunzel excepting the more detailed ending in which the heroes suffer even more after their reunion in the wilderness. Finally, the angry fairy spares them after finding mercy in herself. Then the couple lives happily ever after.

"Persinette" was translated into German several times. One translation by J. C. F. Schulz is thought to be the indirect source of the Grimms' tale. Schulz changed the "persille" to "Rapunzel" providing one strong piece of evidence in support of his influence. The Grimms were apparently unaware of the literary tales of La Force and Schulz, and assumed the tale was oral in origin.

origin of "rapunzel"..
http://german.berkeley.edu/poetry/rapunzel.php

"In the German rendition of this tale, Rapunzel receives her name from her mother's prenatal cravings for the Rapunzel that grows in her neighbor's forbidden garden. Children's books often tell us that Rapunzel's mother craves radishes or even rampion. "
snip
"Further confusion arises when translating the noun Rapunzel. The New College German Dictionary literally translates Rapunzel as lamb's lettuce. Translator's are either unaware of this fact or think it will confuse the reader. Rampion or radishes are the norm for modern translations. A peer recalls a book which states that the mother craved arugula. This may indicate that the sought after vegetable changes according to the background and nationality of the translator and his or her intended audience. Radishes are tangible in the American mind and vocabulary. While lamb's lettuce is definable in the German context, it's unidentifiable to the American reader.

Retaining the idea of lamb's lettuce from the name Rapunzel is pivotal to the story. An innocent girl is locked in a tower to protect her virginity. Frau Gothel understands the curiosity of the adolescent mind and body. Rapunzel is her lamb, and she wishes to keep her pure as long as possible. It is my belief that the original story intended Rapunzel to be Frau Gothel's successor as a midwife. It was common practice for midwives to foster orphans from unwanted pregnancies and train them in the craft. Clearly, the husband and wife can't afford a child, even though they desperately pray for one at the front end of the story. They can't even afford to grow Rapunzel in their own garden. After the witch takes Rapunzel away, we never hear of them again (this seems odd since the witch lives next door to them and doesn't lock Rapunzel up until she reaches adolescence).

To better understand and retain the meaning of Rapunzel in the original Grimms' form, I think it's important for the translator to describe the type of vegetable briefly. The mother looks out her window and "spies the most beautiful lamb's lettuce called rapunzel." In this context, the reader understands that Rapunzel is a type of lettuce. The name lamb's lettuce creates name importance for the character. She isn't hard, round, red and spicy like a radish, but a soft, green and innocent lamb. She is the most beautiful girl under the sun. Lettuce, an above-ground plant unlike the underground radish, must have sun to thrive and bloom. Lamb's lettuce blooms into tiny blue flowers. This is reminiscent of the blue flower of Novalis and the alchemist's symbol for the impossible. The wife craves a child; she craves Rapunzel. Rapunzel, her daughter, is the price she pays for the Rapunzel she craves."


So, we have established that 'rappel' does not derive from 'Rapunzel' directly. I like to think it would have been used in the original french tale though. :)

Now that I've read this wonderful tale again, and spent way too much time playing, I have to get out and tend my own garden. I completely agree with Rapunzel's mother that Parsley is the loveliest plant in the garden, my late-planted starts are just starting to fill out. :) It's a very 'french' herb.
Seems fitting that the German version changes her name to Rapunzel. More solid than parsley, more bang for the buck so to speak, if slightly bitter (it's not one of my favorites).

sometimes the Google takes me to delightful places.
thanks for sending me out there.

[ozymandius]

24. So read Atrios then. He's a Ph.D Economist who likes to use the word 'wanker'.

Occasionally 'wanker' is applied to the Ph.D.s at the Fed. In fact - I predict Atrios (a.k.a. Duncan Black) will be using the term again really soon.

[Demeter]

29. I wish that word had been around when I was a kid

I could have used it freely, and no one would have understood the insult...

[Ghost Dog]

151. ... Used to be "jerk", ¿I always thought? n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

34. Tansy Gold is NOT a Ph.D. economist but likes to use the word 'wanker'

And Tansy Gold thinks 'wanker' is probably the most appropriate epithet to apply to, uh, whatever his name is, that wanker who wrote that stupid piece of shit about not paying attention to non-economist bloggers. That essay could serve as a textbook case in how to wank in public. Jeez louise



TG

[Hawkowl]

140. LOL!

I am going to try and use that phrase as often as possible, "I am not a Ph.D. economist but I like to use the word 'wanker'!

And no, I do not have papers to prove my sanity-- but If pressed I probably could provide a note from a pharmacist.

[ozymandius]

128. Atrios: Consequences

Michael Hiltzik:

The deficit-cutting craze of the modern day threatens another such double dip. Its promoters say they're out to protect long-term economic prospects, but without a short-term recovery there may not be a long term to protect. If they get their way, we may not feel the consequences of their error before it's too late to fix.

Thus far there's been a complete failure to comprehend the magnitude of the problem, and there is and will be a complete failure to comprehend the magnitude of the consequences. I used to joke, "you know what else causes deficits? unemployment." Mass widespread long term unemployment will cause all kinds of things, including increasing the likelihood of continued mass widespread long term unemployment.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2010/06/consequences.html

[Demeter]

136. Truer Words Have Never Been Said: Unemployment Causes Deficits

[Tansy_Gold]

157. Especially in the financial accounts of the unemployed.

Which should be OBVIOUS, but sometimes the obvious needs to be pointed out. . . to some people. . . .



TG, NTY

[Dr.Phool]

67. I've seen some PhD economists who should get a tuition refund from their university.

Because they sure didn't learn anything. Milton Friedman comes to mind. And Ben Bernanke.

I've posted an article from Scientific American several times, called "The Economist has No Clothes". The entire field of economics was based on and adapted from research and a theory from another field. The theory won a Nobel Prize. And it was later proven to be completely wrong. Kind of like Friedmans Nobel.

[AnneD]

129. Well....

the policy makers in DC have BEEN listening to those with Econ Ph D's and to quote Dr. Phil..."How's that working for you". When are these folks going to have that light bulb moment. I am convinced the electricity has gone off in DC. :eyes:

[TalkingDog]

139. Ahhh...reminds me of Grad School.....

The warm, toasty smell of insularity.

I was in a cross discipline seminar with a painting prof and a writing prof. They, proponents of postmodern thought and academic critical thinking rigor, were explaining that if you wanted your work to be "relevant" you would have to "put contrails in it". Meaning you would have to make obvious references to the fact that you were working in the 20th Century. You would have to use the styles of the era, participate in venues where your work could be understood in a 20th Century context....blah, blah...

So I asked of the writer, very sweetly: But Emily Dickinson didn't make any reference to the era she lived in. She didn't write about current events or use the literary stylings of the time. She wrote about the things she loved, the things that intrigued her. And she never sent her work off to be published, ever.....


His jaw fell slack for just a second, then he drew himself up to his balding, bearded, 5 foot 5, 125 lb fury and said: "But Emily Dickinson was a GENIUS!"


I wanted to say: And? But figured my point was made......


I've never had much use for people who have so little faith in human ability and potential; preferring to trust their livelihoods, and often their lives, to a shifting and nebulous set of arbitrary rules.

[ozymandius]

19. Home refinancing up but buying demand near 13-year low

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications to an eight-month peak, as loan rates fell to or near record lows, but demand to buy homes sank toward 13-year lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

The U.S. housing market continued to deflate after a spring sales spree, fueled by now-expired federal tax credits of up to $8,000, robbed from summer home buying.

The upside is now limited by unemployment stuck near 10 percent, heavy foreclosure supply and pent-up selling from owners just waiting for the right time to put their homes back on the market.

Mortgage refinancing requests jumped 12.6 percent in the week ended June 25 to the highest level since May 2009, as average 30-year mortgage rates slid 0.08 percentage point to 4.67 percent, the industry group said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100630/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_mortgages

[ozymandius]

31. Senate combines jobless benefits, homebuyer credit

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats are working on a new way to jump-start their stalled election-year jobs agenda while saving unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of laid-off workers.

The plan is to create one bill that combines the unemployment benefits with an extension of a popular tax credit for people who buy new homes.

Under current law, homebuyers who signed purchase agreements by April 30 must close on their new homes by Wednesday to qualify for credits of up to $8,000. The bill would give those buyers until Sept. 30 to complete the purchases and qualify for the credit.

Democrats hope to pick up Republican support for the bill by combining the two provisions. They have been trying for weeks to pass an extension of unemployment benefits as part of a larger tax and spending package, but the larger bill died in the Senate last week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100630/ap_on_bi_ge/us_unemployment_benefits

---

This is putting good medicine with bad. If I were in Congress, then I would hold my nose and vote for it. 200k people per week will lose their benefits (and means of income) without an extension. The $8k tax credit artificially inflates the price of real estate while draining even more resources from the pool of natural homebuyers. Unfortunately, this may be the only way this unemployment benefits extension can get passed.

[girl gone mad]

21. Crisis is back with a vengeance as ECB’s sterilisation auction flops

http://www.eurointelligence.com//index.php?id=581&tx_ttnews=2840&tx_ttnews=901&cHash=97716b09cf

After a brief lull, during which the crisis seemed almost forgotten, the financial market reverted to crisis from, with what FT Alphaville called a generalised bloodbath across major equity markets. Overnight, Asian markets continue to lose.

One of the reasons for the panic was concern about the state of the European banking system, and the surprising news was that the ECB’s €55bn fixed-term deposit flopped spectacularly, as it managed to managed to raise only €31.866bn at an average interest rate of 0.54%. This means that financial institutions continue to hog liquidity.

Another reason was an unexpected decline in the Conference Board consumer confidence indicator, the latest indicator to suggest that the global recovery is running out of steam. There is a lot of gloom in the US at the moment. We have no time today to go in detail, but here some pointers. Robert Shiller says another housing recession is possible, and Paul Krugman is getting really, really gloomy and angry. US 10-year bond yields were down to below 3% last night.



The FT reports on new turbulences in financial markets, as the ECB’s decision not to renew one-year loans to financial institutions spooked investors and prompted concerns about the ability of some eurozone banks to access interbank borrowing markets for funding. Financial shares dropped 4.5%, European interbank borrowing rates jumped to the highest level for nine months and the euro reached lowest exchange rate level against the yen for the last eight years.

[Demeter]

32. That last paragraph is most telling

So they really are going to do it, and set off either the collapse of the European banks, or the Greater Depression.

[Ghost Dog]

35. The FT has been spearheading attacks on Europe

in this area.

Where they speak of banks 'hogging' liquidity, that is liquidity that the ECB wants now to remove from the real world economy. Is this a feasible policy right now?

[Demeter]

41. It's more a case of velocity of money, isn't it?

Money is like manure--if it's piled up in huge heaps, it smells, draws and breeds flies and contaminates the ground water. But spread around, it can enrich the soil and improve the harvest.

there's too much hoarding by the wrong people and not enough meaningful "fertilization".

[tclambert]

76. I love that term "velocity of money."

See, this is why I come to this thread. Once in a while I learn something.

Just looked up Velocity of Money in Wikipedia. Surprisingly, it means what it sounds like it means.

I would think it would be obvious that stimulus money has more "velocity" when given to poor people, than when given to the rich. The rich are goo-ood at hanging onto money, kinda by definition. Poor people now, they'll spend it, and fast. Zoom! When have you ever heard of a poor person described as tight-fisted? But rich tightwads? There's a reason why that's a cliché.

[Demeter]

88. We the Forgotten Little People, Living in What Is Popularly Known as "Reality"

are masters of the "Obvious".

People in towers miss a lot.

[bread_and_roses]

100. now THAT is a great analogy (n/t)

[Demeter]

138. It's An Elaborat ion From "Hello, Dolly!"

Use it freely. It's fertilizer, too, but only if deployed.

[TalkingDog]

153. I like your analogy better than the one with water.....

It's so pervasive and amorphous, we often underestimate the power of water.

Nobody ever underestimates the power of poo.....

[ozymandius]

42. Nonsensical move, I say.

So the ECB wants to sop up liquidity from banks before it has been circulated through the system outside the banks? Uh, bad idea if so.

If the idea is to stabilize the banks in a similar scheme that the U.S. exercised when conducting stress tests then this is a scam perpetrated against the general EU public. This also means that unemployment is not a concern.

[Ghost Dog]

131. Word locally (Canary Islands) is that liquidity is available to businesses

(and most businesses in Spain are small and local - there's plenty of 'mittelstand') that can present sustainable balance-sheets and reasonable prospects, if not from the usual bankers then from State-run credit outlets.

Banks and savings banks have been lending into the real world, but, of course, more cautiously than before.

(Note: there are also a not insignificant number of very large Spanish multinationals (and some little guys) quietly doing good business all over the world).

I've yet to see any really convincing reason to doubt that those betting short, overall, on Spain are on the wrong side of the falling knife.

:9

[Demeter]

40. Markets unnerved by ECB loan fears

Fears that the European Central Bank was scaling back emergency support to eurozone banks too soon sparked sharp falls in financial markets
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/6VDWJN/RP6QL/RN0AHF/WL8U1W/7V/t

[ozymandius]

51. "financial institutions continue to hog liquidity"

This is becoming a full-blown credit markets crisis again. This is exactly what the bailouts were supposed to fix.

Remember: the rules in place in 2006 still apply. So nothing has really changed except for the amount of money that has circulated through the central banks to the regional banks and back again. Money has not really done any "work" by circulating to all areas of society.

Keep the head alive while the body dies - seems to be the plan.

[Demeter]

53. More banks to face stress tests

The number of European banks subjected to stress tests is likely to rise, with sources suggesting that as many as 100 institutions will be involved in a broader exercise to shore up market confidence
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/72YZY5/VTVRG/BMJRNJ/ZB03ZR/OS/t

I don't think the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, or cares, even. Ditto for the right hand.

[Demeter]

56. Fresh moves to unlock loan pool

The biggest European banks are seeking to revive the struggling wholesale finance market with a new kind of enhanced securitised product designed to attract lenders such as pension funds and hedge funds
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/72YZY5/VTVRG/BMJRNJ/D4YVS7/OS/t


where's that definition of insanity...rummage, rummage

[Demeter]

38. US scraps plan for $19bn bank fee

US lawmakers scrapped a proposed $19bn bank fee as Democrats struggled to secure sufficient votes to pass the Wall Street reform bill
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/6VDWJN/RP6QL/RN0AHF/ZB0THY/7V/t

[Demeter]

39. US blocks China fibre optics deal over national security

The Obama administration has forced a US maker of fibre optics to abandon a planned joint venture with China’s Tangshan Caofeidian Investment Corporation because it believes the tie-up would threaten national security
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/6VDWJN/RP6QL/RN0AHF/WL8U1Y/7V/t

[Demeter]

43. Auditors under fire for role in bank crisis

UK financial regulator says auditors fell short of expectations before the banking financial crisis by showing a “worrying lack of scepticism” about financial institutions
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/NSHUXX/CWSVD/M9BO1P/S3TRSK/GX/t


Stupid, naive, or complicit? take your pick.

[ozymandius]

57. Skeptics make great regulators, lawyers and investigators.

I like skepticism because it relies little on faith in believing the people will "do what's right".

From the article:

The 80-page study, a joint initiative with the Financial Reporting Council, details instances where auditors failed to highlight inconsistent fair value assumptions, as well as haphazard provisioning methodologies for loans that were inconsistent across and within banks.

Crucially, there was also “a general deficiency” to audit properly how banks separate clients’ money and assets. The FSA stressed these failings could give rise to enforcement action.

"Fair Value" - as in "make believe" that the underlying asset is worth more than it really is.

[Demeter]

45. Air passenger traffic bounces back

The number of passengers carried by the world’s leading airlines has returned to levels before the start of the global recession in the first half of 2008
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/NSHUXX/CWSVD/M9BO1P/18VHLN/GX/t

[Demeter]

47. Tesla shares in strong demand after IPO

Shares of Tesla Motors, which produces a $109,000 electric-powered sports car, rose after strong demand helped it to raise more in an initial public offering than it had expected
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/NSHUXX/CWSVD/M9BO1P/M9NIDA/GX/t

[tclambert]

172. I'm not gonna touch Tesla's IPO.

Apparently the company is up to $2.5 billion value. But they've sold, what, less than 1,000 cars? That would be $109 million in sales, far less in profit. The Chevy Volt, the Ford Focus EV, and the Nissan Leaf are coming out soon, before Tesla's sedan. I just don't see Tesla ever becoming a mass market company.

Six months after an IPO, the insiders get to make moves, buy, sell, say things. A123Systems went down sharply after six months. (I think my wife is a little ticked at me about that. ((But I bought some more.)) Six months from now, I think Tesla stock will plunge. I may actually try a short sale, and I NEVER do that.

[Demeter]

49. Lehman creditors oppose pay-out plan

A group of Lehman Brothers’ creditors, including Paulson & Co and Calpers, has come out against a pay-out plan for the bankrupt bank, arguing that they would unfairly lose out to big banks on billions of dollars of claims
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/NSHUXX/CWSVD/M9BO1P/18VHLU/GX/t

[Demeter]

55. Dodd-Frank bill is no Glass-Steagall

Instead of the ‘formidable barrier’ set up in the 1930s, present-day financial institutions have to navigate a maze of prohibitions and exemptions that will have different effects on ­different companies
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/72YZY5/VTVRG/BMJRNJ/BMK0Q2/OS/t

[ozymandius]

75. Volcker Said to Be Disappointed With Final Version of His Rule

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Volcker is disappointed with the final version of the rule that bears his name.

As first envisioned, the Volcker rule would have banned banks from running private-equity and hedge funds, an attempt to curb risk-taking that fueled the financial crisis. Last-minute congressional negotiations aimed at winning Republican support led to a compromise that allows banks to invest up to 3 percent of their capital in such funds.

Volcker, the 82-year-old former Federal Reserve chairman, didn’t expect the proposal to be diluted so much, said a person with knowledge of his views. He’s content with language that bans banks from trading with their own capital, the person said.

Lobbying by banks and congressmen sympathetic to Wall Street’s views, as well as some administration members in the banks’ defense, trampled the views of Volcker and others who favored a stronger proposal, the people said.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.ASrSpdMdtY&pos=5

[Demeter]

59. Delays feared as BP relief bore nears well

Pressure from Washington has steered the energy company into a risky procedure that has no precedent at 6,060m below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/5CKVBR/3CWTA/IY1LH3/725G50/QR/t


things that make one go hmmmmmm

[florida08]

61. morning ozy and all

Looks like things got a bit edgy in here last night. Too bad a few didn't watch William Blacks's video but opinions and bungholes.

Here's an interesting video with Rob Johnson explaining why the banks want to keep the recession going. There's a reason why they're doves on finance reform and hawks on austerity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj7AETNcvkM&feature=player_embedded#!

[Demeter]

63. That's a great cartoon parody

but a bit dated...

[florida08]

91. lol

well it's what came to mind with the G20 austerity push. Now you see it now you don't.

[ozymandius]

69. Bungholes?

Is that Dr. Phool's car parked in the emergency space? :evilgrin:

[Dr.Phool]

85. Nah, I drove through the front door about 10 minutes later.

Actually Sara was driving.

[ozymandius]

87. Heh!

That's why the picture hasn't been updated. I'm guessing they had to move.

[Demeter]

89. Into the Witness Protection Program. Under an Assumed Name

which is where I wish I was, these days.

[Demeter]

64. Greece set to return to finance markets

Greece is preparing a make-or-break return to the financial markets next month as it plans to raise about €4bn in its first borrowing attempt since last month’s bail-out by the EU and IMF
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/5CKVBR/3CWTA/IY1LH3/18VU26/QR/t

[Demeter]

65. New York pension fund reviews suit against BP

New York’s state pension fund is reviewing its planned lawsuit against BP over the Gulf of Mexico disaster, after a Supreme Court ruling that could curb the expected crop of investor claims against the company. The ruling last week on the ability of shareholders to pursue foreign companies in US courts is a blow not only to the non-US investors who own the majority of BP, but also potentially to American shareholders as well, legal experts said.
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/QF8LD3/CWSVD/A7SF21/BMKA9F/HK/t

[Festivito]

71. Debt: 06/28/2010 13,038,916,836,943.40 (UP 611,050,132.15) (Mon)

(Down a little. Good day.)

(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,555,694,983,404.56 + 4,483,221,853,538.84
DOWN 856,644,286.03 + UP 1,467,694,418.18

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 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.23 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,230.32 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.69, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 309,566,762 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $42,119.89.
A family of three owes $126,359.66. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 2,208,462,189.82.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,545,923,532.87.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,496,055,031.81.
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$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 185 reports in 271 days of FY2010 averaging 6.10B$ per report, 4.17B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 937 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.3 and 17.9T$.
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)
06/28/2010 13,038,916,836,943.40 BHO (UP 2,412,039,788,030.32 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,129,087,833,431.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,520,727,155,729.04 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
06/08/2010 -000,061,366,300.19 ----
06/09/2010 +000,374,218,915.72 ------------********
06/10/2010 -005,787,434,254.89 --
06/11/2010 -000,035,173,484.80 ----
06/14/2010 +000,237,116,126.71 ------------******** Mon
06/15/2010 +026,653,914,221.49 ------------**********
06/16/2010 +000,179,185,558.18 ------------********
06/17/2010 -040,132,025,764.65 -
06/18/2010 +000,218,467,463.90 ------------********
06/21/2010 -000,091,646,713.41 ---- Mon
06/22/2010 -000,064,399,407.68 ----
06/23/2010 +000,605,957,540.69 ------------********
06/24/2010 -003,383,268,122.91 --
06/25/2010 +000,258,141,060.04 ------------********
06/28/2010 -000,856,644,286.03 --- Mon

-21,884,957,447.83 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4446866&mesg_id=4446937

[Ghost Dog]

159. Good day, Festivito.

Roll on.

[Festivito]

193. back atcha.

Guess nobody wants to call me names and fight with me.

[Festivito]

178. Debt: 06/29/2010 13,037,542,715,703.81 (DOWN 1,374,121,239.59) (Tue)

(Up a little. Good day.)

(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,556,448,489,602.01 + 4,481,094,226,101.80
UP 753,506,197.45 + DOWN 2,127,627,437.04

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 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.23 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,230.25 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.69, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 309,573,408 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $42,114.54.
A family of three owes $126,343.63. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 2,045,617,488.48.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,500,119,491.55.
The average for the last 32 days would be 1,406,362,023.33.
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$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 186 reports in 272 days of FY2010 averaging 6.06B$ per report, 4.15B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 936 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.3 and 17.9T$.
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)
06/29/2010 13,037,542,715,703.81 BHO (UP 2,410,665,666,790.73 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,127,713,712,192.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,513,292,297,610.72 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
06/09/2010 +000,374,218,915.72 ------------********
06/10/2010 -005,787,434,254.89 --
06/11/2010 -000,035,173,484.80 ----
06/14/2010 +000,237,116,126.71 ------------******** Mon
06/15/2010 +026,653,914,221.49 ------------**********
06/16/2010 +000,179,185,558.18 ------------********
06/17/2010 -040,132,025,764.65 -
06/18/2010 +000,218,467,463.90 ------------********
06/21/2010 -000,091,646,713.41 ---- Mon
06/22/2010 -000,064,399,407.68 ----
06/23/2010 +000,605,957,540.69 ------------********
06/24/2010 -003,383,268,122.91 --
06/25/2010 +000,258,141,060.04 ------------********
06/28/2010 -000,856,644,286.03 --- Mon
06/29/2010 +000,753,506,197.45 ------------********

-21,070,084,950.19 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4448473&mesg_id=4448593

[Demeter]

72. Deeds-in-lieu gain favor with lenders as alternative to foreclosure

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20100627-5,0,370257.story

Short sales have been the hot solution for financially stressed homeowners and their lenders for the last year, but here's another potent foreclosure alternative that's about to take center stage: deeds-in-lieu.

Some of the largest mortgage servicers and lenders in the country are gearing up campaigns to reach out to borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth with cash incentives that sometimes range into five figures, plus a simple message: Let's bypass all the time-consuming hassles of short sales and foreclosures. Just deed us the title to your underwater home and we'll call it a deal. We won't come after you to collect any deficiency between what you owe us on the mortgage and what we obtain from the home sale. We might even be able to wrap up the whole transaction in as little as 30 to 45 days. How about it?

Mortgage companies say troubled borrowers increasingly are signing up. One of the largest servicers, Bank of America, has mailed out 100,000 deed-in-lieu solicitations to customers in the last 60 days, and its volume of completed transactions is breaking company records, according to officials.

What precisely are deeds-in-lieu? The full name is deeds-in-lieu-of-foreclosure. They are voluntary transfers of property ownership from borrowers to creditors that make court-directed foreclosures unnecessary.

The concept is one of the oldest in real estate, but it got a boost this year when the Obama administration included it as an option in its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, and mortgage giant Fannie Mae cut the penalty-box time for homeowners who use the technique from four years to two before they can qualify for another home mortgage.

Deeds-in-lieu also are surging because they provide a win-win for borrowers and mortgage investors that short sales often cannot match. Tops on the list: speed. Travis Hamel Olsen, chief operating officer of Loan Resolution Corp., a Scottsdale, Ariz., firm that works with lenders to solve troubled borrowers' problems, said deeds-in-lieu represented "a very expeditious way to move on" for underwater borrowers who are facing potential foreclosure.

"A lot of owners just want to be finished with it, now," he said. "They don't want to deal with anymore."

They don't want to deal with real estate agents or signs on the front lawn that reveal their financial squeeze to neighbors. They don't want to haggle with potential buyers coming in with low-ball prices. But they also don't want to simply walk away because that will affect their credit files and scores for as long as seven years.

A key motivation for lenders is that they are stuck with massive backlogs of underwater homes that haven't yet gone through foreclosure and been put on the market — the so-called shadow inventory, said Greg Hebner, president of MOS Group Inc. of San Diego, which works with banks and investors across the country to resolve defaulting borrowers' situations.

Not only is it cheaper for lenders to do deeds-in-lieu to gain control of those properties, but with current mortgage rates below 5%, they're likely to be able to resell the properties faster and on potentially more favorable terms in the summer and fall...

[ozymandius]

73. Asian stocks fall; worst quarter since Lehman

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday and ended the second quarter with their worst performance since the collapse of Lehman Brothers as investors got out of shares and high-yielding currencies on concerns over bank funding in Europe.

Asian stocks have slipped nearly 10 percent in the past three months and are on course for their worst quarterly performance since last three months of 2008, when investors fled to safety after the Lehman collapse and Asian shares dropped 23 percent.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) dropped 0.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) fell 2 percent to a seven-month low after breaking below a support level.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI (.KS11) fell 0.6 percent, driven by falls in exporters and banks such as Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) and Shinhan Financial Group Co
(055550.KS).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100630/bs_nm/us_markets_global

[Demeter]

81. How the world's 'master minds' aim to turn a non-recovery into a full-blown 30's-style depression

http://dailyreckoning.com/g20-meddlers-at-it-again/

“The doctrine of regulation and legislation by ‘master minds,’ in whose judgment and will all the people may gladly and quietly acquiesce, has been too glaringly apparent at Washington during these last ten years. Were it possible to find ‘master minds’ so unselfish, so willing to decide unhesitatingly against their own personal interests or private prejudices, men almost godlike in their ability to hold the scales of justice with an even hand, such a government might be to the interests of the country; but there are none such on our political horizon, and we cannot expect a complete reversal of all the teachings of history.”

A friend sent the above quote with an invitation to guess the speaker. We would not have guessed. It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1930, when he was still governor of New York.

Which goes to show that the people who rule us are no dopes. It also provides more evidence of our dictum: people come to think what they must think when they must think it.

As last as 1930, Roosevelt was still among the living. He campaigned for president on a conservative platform, arguing that Herbert Hoover was a spendthrift. Roosevelt pledged to balance the budget.

Was he a liar? Probably no more than anyone else. Between being governor of a state and president of the US, his thinking changed. He found that the times no longer called for it. When the Great Depression began, people thought it was just a ‘recession.’ They thought the economy would recover quickly.

It was only when that didn’t happen that the voters demanded the government ‘do something’ to bring the depression to an end. Actually, the government had already done more than enough. It had practically caused the boom of the ‘20s...and then the depression of the ‘30s all by itself. First, the head of the Federal Reserve at the time had decided to help out his English friends by delivering a ‘coup de whisky’ – lower interest rates - to the financial sector. Stocks soared.

Then, after the bubble burst, the Hoover administration intervened heavily in the markets, refusing to allow the economy to adjust quickly. Not only that, but two errant members of Congress – Smoot and Hawley – set off a trade war, putting further pressure on international commerce and economic growth.

And once again, the feds are meddling. The New York Times:

“The action at the Group of 20 summit meeting here signaled the determination of many of the wealthiest countries, after enacting spending programs to counter the worldwide financial crisis , to now emphasize debt reduction. And it underscored the conviction of European nations in particular that deficits represented the biggest threat to their economic stability.

“President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner had consistently advocated a measured approach to debt reduction that would not stymie growth and lead to a double-dip recession.

“The United States, however, joined other countries at the summit meeting, which was met by protests and several hundred arrests, by endorsing a goal of cutting government deficits in half by 2013 and stabilizing the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product by 2016. Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, had proposed the targets, backed by Germany and Britain. “

Stabilize public debts by 2016? By then, the US and other major economies will have more government debt than GDP. It is bound to be too late for many of them.

And even this modest goal presumes that economies are able to grow faster than their debt – in real terms. When you get debt equal to 100% of GDP, you’re over a barrel. If interest rates were to return to the double digit levels of the ‘70s, it could cost more than 10% of GDP just to pay the interest.

That’s not going to happen. Things fall apart before they get that far out of whack. Something else will have to happen. But what? Don’t know...

But we can take a guess...

[Demeter]

83. Bill Bonner: Greek Hideway

At last...a way out of the debt mess! Greece is raising money by selling islands. The Guardian reports:

“There's little that shouts "seriously rich" as much as a little island in the sun to call your own. For Sir Richard Branson it is Neckar in the Caribbean, the billionaire Barclay brothers prefer Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, while Aristotle Onassis married Jackie Kennedy on Skorpios, his Greek hideway.

Now Greece is making it easier for the rich and famous to fulfill their dreams by preparing to sell, or offering long-term leases on, some of its 6,000 sunkissed islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mountainous debts.

The Guardian has learned that an area in Mykonos, one of Greece's top tourist destinations, is one of the sites for sale. The area is one-third owned by the government, which is looking for a buyer willing to inject capital and develop a luxury tourism complex, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Potential investors also looking at property on the island of Rhodes, are mostly Russian and Chinese. Investors in both countries are looking for a little bit of the Mediterranean as holiday destinations for their increasingly affluent populations. Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, is among those understood to be interested, although a spokesman denied he was about to invest.

Greece has embarked on the desperate measures after being pushed into a €110bn (£90bn) bailout by the EU and the IMF last month, following a decade of overspending and after jittery investors raised borrowing costs to unbearable levels.

The sale of an island ?? or convincing a member of the international jet-set to take on a long-term lease – would help to boost its coffers. The Private Islands website lists 1,235-acre Nafsika, in the Ionian sea, on sale by private interests for €15m. But others are on offer by private owners for less than €2m – less than a townhouse in Mayfair or Chelsea. Some of the country's numerous islands are tiny which could barely fit a single sunbed.

[Ghost Dog]

161. Mmmm. I smell... Large Commissions!

... and burnt corpses.

[ozymandius]

93. Citigroup Stock Trade That Triggered Curb Is Canceled

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- A 17 percent plunge in Citigroup Inc. today triggered a five-minute trading pause, making the bank the second company halted by the two-week-old circuit- breaker program created to prevent market panics.

The order that caused the slump, 8,820 shares of Citigroup that crossed for $3.3174 at 1:03:51 p.m. in New York, was canceled, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock changed hands for $3.80 when trading resumed, compared with yesterday’s close of $4, as U.S. stocks posted the biggest losses in three weeks.

Regulators are seeking to prevent declines in one or more securities from causing volatility to snowball, prompting a cascade of losses across markets. During the May 6 rout that erased $862 billion in value from U.S. equities in less than 20 minutes, ETFs and companies such as Accenture Plc fell as much as 99 percent. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the plunge may have been fueled by curbs that applied on some venues and not others.

The SEC is testing the program that pauses trading for five minutes in S&P 500 companies when their stock rises or falls at least 10 percent in less than five minutes after 9:45 a.m. New York time. U.S. stock exchanges are about to propose doubling the number of companies covered by the trading curbs and expanding the program to include hundreds of exchange-traded funds, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aTWhCzyZqp7g

[Roland99]

147. How about doing things the old fashioned way

bring back the ticker tape.

[ozymandius]

94. Markets are open for bidness.

9:31
Dow 9,860.33 9.97 (0.10%)
Nasdaq 2,134.95 0.23 (0.01%)
S&P 500 1,040.68 0.56 (0.05%)
10-Yr Bond 2.95% 0.18

09:17 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.80. A bounce off of the low levels set in the prior session had looked to be in order as market participants took their cues from Europe's major bourses, which benefited from quelled liquidity concerns. The euro has also rebounded to a 0.4% gain against the greenback. However, the mood both here and abroad soured when market participants got their hands on a disappointing ADP Employment Change Report, which showed that private payrolls increased by a smaller-than-expected total in June. That likely portends a weak Nonfarm Payrolls Report on Friday. Trade often turns a bit subdued ahead of such a pivotal report, but that could be undone by the volatility that can accompany end-of-month and end-of-quarter portfolio rebalancing. Coming up at 9:45 AM ET is the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for June, then the latest oil inventory data at 10:30 AM ET.

[florida08]

95. Friday will be interesting

[ozymandius]

98. It sure will be.

The unemployment rate and factory orders are due. U3 is forecast to be at 9.8%. I, for one, will not be surprised if there are more "surprised" economists come Friday morning given the ADP report today.

[Roland99]

96. and move steadily down

Dow 9,840 -31 -0.31%
Nasdaq 2,135 -0 -0.02%
S&P 500 1,040 -1 -0.11%
GlobalDow 1,718 -2 -0.13%
Gold 1,237 -6 -0.45%
Oil 75.82 -0.12 -0.16%

[AnneD]

97. Morning Marketeers.....

:donut: and lurkers. There is a giant in the distance and we can hear, see, and feel his presence. Even though the beast is over 400 miles from us, the waves at Galveston are high the winds are picking up and the skies are heavy with moisture. We are expecting monsoon type rains any time now. The giant is making his presence known.

Every one here is sensitive because of Ike. This hurricane might get up to a Cat 1 but Ike was a Cat 3 with a long reach. Folks are still trying to recover from Ike-you don't hear that on the national news. The lawyers are still advertising here and you see blue tarps on some roofs. Red Cross has sent vehicles and our fire department has dispatched equipment (air boats etc)and manpower. The city workers have been cleaning and clearing drains and bayous in preparation for the deluge.

We just sit, wait, and listen as the giant attacks the far off village. It is the price we pay for living where we do. Even now, if asked, most of us would still choose to live where we do and yet we can't understand why folks live near volcanoes or in earthquake prone areas. I guess every paradise has it's snakes.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[ozymandius]

99. Be safe Anne.

No doubt you are prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at you. But being a nurse - do you think you might be called to help in an emergency?

[AnneD]

121. Not really....

but I did when we had folks evacuated from Katrina. The city's health care system was innundated and there was a great need so I volunteered to help.

I don't mind volunteering, but I do not like being pressed into service because hospitals and health care facilities start making stupid decisions when they think they have a captive work force. You generally know hurricanes are coming so the sick and injured should be moved. PERIOD!

[Tansy_Gold]

101. Paradise and snakes

Sometimes those are literal. Believe me -- I know about snakes in paradise!!

Take care, Anne. Batten down the hatches and all that, stay safe.



TG, who has been getting outdrafts from nearby storms but nothing serious.

[AnneD]

122. How would we know what ....

Paradise looked like unless we had an occasional snake go through.

[ozymandius]

111. 10:39 numbers and blather

Dow 9,890.41 20.11 (0.20%)
Nasdaq 2,147.51 12.33 (0.58%)
S&P 500 1,045.46 4.22 (0.41%)
10-Yr Bond 2.96% 0.04
NYSE Volume 1,259,988,875.00
Nasdaq Volume 453,460,750.00

10:30 am : Commodities are up modestly this morning. As such, the CRB Commodity Index currently sports a 0.2% gain.

Of a few primary commodities, oil sports the best gain. The energy component was up roughly 0.5% ahead of the weekly inventory report, which showed a draw of 2 million barrels when a draw of 1 million barrels had been expected. Oil prices haven't shown much reaction to the data.

Natural gas prices are up a relatively tame 0.3% to $4.56 per MMBtu. Contract prices for the commodity dove about 4% in the prior session.

Gold prices are up 0.3% to $1246.10 per ounce. Gold's gain comes on top of the modest advance it made during the prior session's selloff. Silver prices slipped in the prior session, but they are up 0.4% to $18.68 per ounce at the moment. DJ30 +1.59 NASDAQ +8.23 SP500 +2.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1512/428 mln/853 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1901/225 mln/875

10:00 am : The stock market recently extended its early advance, but it quickly encountered a bit of resistance around the 1046 line. Still, the tone of trade in the broader market remains modestly positive, especially compared with the prior session's widespread pessimism, which culminated in a 3% drop for the S&P 500.

Volatility has also cooled since the prior session. As such, the Volatility Index, often dubbed the Fear Index, is down 3% after it had been up some 20% in the prior session. The Volatility Index is now up more than 50% year-to-date.

[hamerfan]

113. Quoting from the above post:

"Volatility has also cooled since the prior session. As such, the Volatility Index, often dubbed the Fear Index, is down 3% after it had been up some 20% in the prior session. The Volatility Index is now up more than 50% year-to-date."

So is this referring to the Stock Market or the SMW? ;)

[ozymandius]

116. Well, I can see a little of both venues and some of each descriptor.

Fear = Anxiety. There's plenty of that everywhere. Volatility: we have some of that too.

[Tansy_Gold]

117. Wait a minute

If the Volatility index is down 3% after being up 20% and being up 50% YTD, isn't the Volatility Index rather, um, volatile itself? Or am I missing something here?



Tansy Gold, who usually is

[florida08]

123. Jon Stewart explains

H.R.W.A.T.P.T.R.T.C.I.T.G

well I guess a link would be helpful

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/30/stewart-blame-clinton-not_n_630471.html

[ozymandius]

125. H.R.W.A.T.P.T.R.T.C.I.T.G

"H.R.W.A.T.P.T.R.T.C.I.T.G -- He really was a terrible president that ran the country into the ground."

Spot on.

[Demeter]

148. That Was Illuminating and Funny

In a way that makes for great sadness.

[florida08]

152. I'm sorry

Demeter..please don't be sad :(

[ozymandius]

126. Barring some momentous news - today's trading session will be a snoozer

12:19
Dow 9,902.65 32.35 (0.33%)
Nasdaq 2,151.27 16.09 (0.75%)
S&P 500 1,047.03 5.79 (0.56%)
10-Yr Bond 2.98% 0.09
NYSE Volume 2,326,255,250.00
Nasdaq Volume 865,295,000.00

12:00 pm : The stock market recently pushed to a fresh session high. Though its overall gain remains modest, the mood among market participants is drastically improved from the widespread pessimism that was exhibited in the prior session.

Treasuries have been taken modestly lower after they traded with strength in the prior session. In turn, the yield on the 10-year Note has made its way back toward 3.0%, though it still remains below that line. DJ30 +30.84 NASDAQ +15.53 SP500 +5.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1726/850 mln/787 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2141/420 mln/778

11:30 am : The stock market has spent most of the session chopping along with a modest gain, but it has recently made a push toward its morning high. There hasn't been any particular leader to help the latest leg higher, but energy stocks have garnered some solid support. The sector is presently up 1.0%, even though oil prices have pulled back to the flat line at $75.95 per barrel in the wake of a larger-than-expected draw in weekly inventories. Natural gas prices have spiked, though; the commodity is now up 1.6% to $4.62 per MMBtu.

Financials had been early leaders, but the sector has since seen its initial gain slashed in half. The sector now trades 0.5% higher for the day. DJ30 +14.33 NASDAQ +11.55 SP500 +4.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1622/724 mln/882 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2004/364 mln/866

[ozone_man]

132. Goldman Technician Says To Short Market Unless S&P 1083 Is Recovered Today

Courtesy of reader Apocalicious, we present the following piece of technical analysis from Goldman's Tony Pasquariello. According to the technician, a critical level to watch is the 12-month moving average, which many consider a critical indicator of upward (or downward momentum). According to Goldman, "unless S&P recovers the 1083 level today, we will have crossed down and through the moving average. On this simple basis, the technical signal is to be short the market." In any other market we would say a 40 point ramp in the S&P on a day such as today when the ADP came in so far below expectations would be simply insane... But not in our market. After all, the best traders taxpayer money can buy reside at Liberty 33. And they are on a mission.

(more)



http://www.zerohedge.com/article/goldman-technician-says-short-market-unless-sp-1083-recovered-today

Hmmm, I wonder if we'll see a 40 point rise today. Doubtful.

[Demeter]

141. A Mission From God?

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

[ozone_man]

143. God works in mysterious ways.

What a great trailer that is.

[Demeter]

149. Two of My Favorite Movies Of All Time

sometimes I watch just for the music.

[florida08]

154. thanks

love that movie

[Roland99]

146. Goldman shorted $615M of its CDOs, mortgage securities

Goldman shorted $615M of its CDOs, mortgage securities
Cohn defends derivatives trades with AIG before insurer almost collapsed
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-shorted-615m-of-its-cdos-rmbs-2010-06-30

[martinojacko]

135. stocks are gaining today

Thank God.

[Roland99]

145. pretty much unchanged in the big picture, percent-wise.

Looks like another tight range-trading day.

[Tansy_Gold]

158. wow. hi & bye.

Are we allowed to say that?

[Dr.Phool]

162. That was quick. Wonder what happened?

[Tansy_Gold]

163. BTHOOM

beats the hell out of me. . . ..

[ozymandius]

165. That was amazing.

I haven't seen anyone gone so quickly since the day GUN TOTIN' REPUB joined Democratic Underground.

Edit: I did not make that name up.

[Tansy_Gold]

169. :spew: :spew: :spew:

Oh, man, Ozy, I NEEDED that laugh!


:rofl: :rofl:


Tansy Gold, who occasionally eats at her desk but NEVER brings liquid refreshment into the office for good reasons

[ozymandius]

179. Thank you very much.

I'll be here all week.

>>Bada-bump<<

[AnneD]

170. Please post a warning Ozy......

that was great. I didn't know we had an S&M forum :spank:

[ozymandius]

192. GUN TOTIN' REPUB

What the hell did that person think was gonna happen?

He would've lasted longer with the name TROLL.

I hope it was just a joke because I'd hate to think someone could be that stoopid.

[Demeter]

181. Did I Miss Something, or Someone?

There are no deletions on my screen....

[Tansy_Gold]

183. the poster

jackomartini or whatever it is has been TSed. Why the post is still here, I don't know. Mods must be busy elsewhere? :shrug:

[TalkingDog]

173. did the cleaning lady accidentally unplug the DOW again?

Looks like the Rockettes slipped on a banana peel.....or ummmm......

[Ghost Dog]

174. Stocks end rough quarter with more questions

Stocks slump for April-June quarter after investors worry they bet too soon on the economy
ap
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market has ended a painful second quarter that left investors with heavy losses and far more doubts about the economy than they had just months ago.

Traders who took a bleaker view of the economy after the market peaked in April were selling again Wednesday. A disappointing June employment report from payroll company ADP set the tone for the day. The market's losses, as they often did during the quarter, accelerated in the last half-hour.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 96 points, or 1 percent, to 9,774. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10, or 1 percent, to 1,030. The Nasdaq composite index lost amost 26 points, or 1.2 percent, and closed at 2,109.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 1.43 billion shares. Losing stocks were ahead of gainers by about 2 to 1.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

/... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-end-rough-quarter-with-apf-1716139872.html?x=0

[Juneboarder]

175. PPT = Slackers...

They let it go under 9800!?! I thought we were in recovery...
:sarcasm:

[Ghost Dog]

176. Spain faces further downgrade

Published: June 30 2010 20:56 | Last updated: June 30 2010 20:56 By Mark Mulligan in Madrid

(FT) Spain’s Aaa bond rating have been placed on review for possible downgrade by Moody’s, the credit rating agency, in a fresh blow to the country’s standing among international investors.

Moody’s said on Wednesday the move has been prompted by deteriorating economic growth prospects, the difficulty for the government of cutting an 11.2 per cent fiscal deficit and concerns over rising funding costs.

The move, which follows actual downgrades this year by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, the other main credit rating agencies, affects Spain’s local and foreign currency government bond ratings...

/... http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3c2d77a8-847a-11df-9cbb-00144feabdc0.html?referrer_id=yahoofinance&ft_ref=yahoo1&segid=03058

Muy bien. Yeah. Blah, blah, blah... Water off a black swan's back, my threadbare fiends, sorry, friends

[Roland99]

177. At the bloody close

Dow 9,774 -96 -0.98%
Nasdaq 2,109 -26 -1.22%
S&P 500 1,031 -11 -1.01%
GlobalDow 1,711 -9 -0.55%
Gold 1,243 -3 -0.20%
Oil 75.26 -0.37 -0.49%

4th test of the yearly low for S&P. Gonna stick this time?

Might be some fireworks coming up....

[Joe Chi Minh]

180. How about this for imagery - by ilargi of 'theautomatricearth'?

"No, the debt deflation must and will run its course, and Bernanke is devastatingly powerless to do anything about it. Not that he will ever admit it, even if he knew. But it's like having your local weatherman believe he controls the climate."

.. and the line about economists, a bit further down the piece:

".... They've never seen a crisis they couldn't make worse."

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

Kunstler and Orlov are hilarious mavens with words, too, though I wonder if there is anyone who understands our Western capitalist world, in all its madness, as profoundly as Joe Bageant. I often pick up something very discerning and enlightening from his articles.

You Yanks are all mad, anyway. You'll never say anything in a simple, boring, linear way, if you can use a metaphor - often outlandishly evocative and comical.

[Ghost Dog]

184. Ya gotta organize a headline folks'll wanna read

on, Joe.

I also believe in every word that Bageant writes, amongst many others, mate.

[Joe Chi Minh]

185. No, it wasn't exactly an attenton-grabber, was it!

[Ghost Dog]

189. And here:

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

[Joe Chi Minh]

186. No, it wasn't exactly an attenton-grabber, was it!

[Ghost Dog]

188. Nah. We're still cool, ok?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vmiwxUZ3k

[Joe Chi Minh]

203. Why not? 'Ask advice of every wise person; never scorn any profitable

advice,' as the good book says. And I nivver had to ask.

[Dr.Phool]

194. Tomorrow looks like another strange day.

Is the shit preparing to hit the fan?

Nikkei has opened down 150 points already. The rest of Asia is in the red, except for Hang Seng, which isn't open yet.

At 10:10 pm Dow futures are down 47 points.

S&P futures are down 7.10

Nasdaq futures are down 11.75.


I guess things really are back to normal. :evilgrin:

[Ghost Dog]

195. Just, watch out for 'Press Gangs', Dr.

Make sure your pint mug has a glass bottom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGWr2i1f5s0

[Capn Sunshine]

197. All kinds of crossed signals out there

Is this an oversold situation right now? By some of the more popular measurements there's a good argument to be made. By others such as the McClellan Oscillator (not even below -200 yet last I looked) we aren't yet at extremes. Speaking of extremes apparently, what people made of my post yesterday would qualify. I don't have time to post here much in the daytime, but out here in the desert wilderness there's plenty of stupidity to go around.

I'm not pushing anything , or anyone's agenda, I'm a trader and what I'm seeing on the trading floor reminds me of the selloff that washed all the specs out back in November. Then the boyz decide that the world isn't so grim after all, and lo and behold, we ended up back at 10,000.

Now, if anyone wants to imply anything from THAT I'm only saying it looks like playing the bounce that is coming is the game to be in, but it isn't going to last long.

The rest of the sorry assed baggage which accompanies any upside call around here, well, I can't be resonsible for that.

But some guys online telling me what a jerk off I am, I really don't care. Nor should you. Those of you who have been here long enough know what the story is. :hi:

[Ghost Dog]

199. Sensible, and experienced remarks, thanks, Captain.

Personally, with a half-million or so in USD terms right now positioned in various stocks, in various markets, in various currencies, I'm so well-balanced what I lose on the one hand I gain on the other (the other is mostly a levereged negative short on SPY).I t's getting boring (but at least I can feel free to take days/weeks off with minimal risk. I'm only discussing what's supposed to be volatile. Although stability, and covering living costs, and a good life among good people, uff, is what I crave for. But I'm thinking maybe it's time to get a little unbalanced for a while. To be just.

Every penny, originally, hard-earned. This is, fair play, no more than we can afford to entirely lose, now, on principle, you understand.

Let the best wanker win, or lose all.

You think I'm. um, a bit weird? Let me tell you: I've no kids of my own. But there's a whole (self-divided) clan including some dozen-or-so teenagers and plenty more younger kids here demanding that I play the role of 'grandaddy'. Plus their parents. Spain can get you like that.

Meaning of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdl4ijru8o


I'm a technician. From a long line of technical, technically, exploited, wankers. Be very afraid. Where are you coming from?

[ozone_man]

202. Sure there will be bear market rallies

all the way down for the next five years, some that may last a year even, like the recent one.

But, after this present wave of hope is exhausted, and I think it is, it's time for panic selling again. Maybe you should fasten your seat belt, just in case.

The market now is like Wiley Coyote running off the cliff, and I think he finally took a look back and saw there was only air below.