That hasn't happened in a while...of course, Tansy seldom starts the thread this early...thanks, TG!


My life is going into the Twilight Zone this week ( for you yung'uns, no, it's not vampires...it's Sci-fi/thriller/horror ).

But when I get back, WEE will be honoring Hugo Chavez, the second hero of Latin America, who like his forebear, Simon Bolivar, brought to the oppressed a measure of freedom, equity, and REAL hope and change.

I get the crumbs for being second.

it's much less fattening...and less prone to crash.

PAST TIME, ACTUALLY. AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT COULD BE DONE, WITH DENIAL AT FLOOD STAGE AND ALL....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pearl-korn/its-time-for-us-to-raise-_b_2812359.html

In the past few years we have gone from the Deficit Commission to the "fiscal cliff" to the Sequester, one manufactured crisis after another that has thrown the country into a state of panic and fear, thanks to an extremist GOP that has been infiltrated by a fanatical Tea Party run by -- and for -- a handful of multi-billionaires. Keeping the People and our nation on edge and confused is their strategy, aided and abetted by the relatively small band of their minions in Congress who do their bidding.

Imagine, just a handful of the über-rich are now controlling our country and destroying our democracy. A weakened government with minimal oversight and rock-bottom tax rates for the rich is their decades-old quest -- a quest they are close to completing. Any compromise on raising taxes on the wealthy would betray their cause, so their only answer to these so-called "crises" is to slash our safety nets -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- and hike taxes for the disappearing middle class, making the American dream little more than a distant memory for many and unachievable for the rest of us in our current political and economic climate.

$85 billion is on the chopping block in this round of austerity cuts, which could not only cost 750,000 jobs, but will also affect our national security, border security, Head Start programs for 600,000 children and food stamps for young mothers and their children, at a time when we already have around 50 million going hungry on a daily basis in our country, one in four being children. How can these young minds attend school, concentrate and achieve on an empty stomach? Air controllers, teachers and healthcare providers will also feel the pain, and some states will be impacted more than others, starting in about six weeks from now.

Of course, this can all be avoided if we pass HR 900, a House bill just introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) that is called the "Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013." Passage of this bill would put an end to this draconian measure, and a petition has been circulating from SignOn.org to vote on HR 900 that needs our support...

SIGN PETITION: http://www.signon.org/sign/congress-vote-for-the?source=homepage

MORE HARANGUING AT LINK

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/how-wall-street-devoured-corporate-america/273732/

Corporate profits are eating the economy," Derek Thompson wrote yesterday. And indeed, it seems they are. Company earnings are reaching new highs as a share of GDP. Wages are falling to new lows. And the stock market is surging.

It's not just that corporations are taking a bigger bite out of the country's wealth, though. It's the banks in particular. And that's an important part of understanding why workers are falling behind, while shareholders are pulling ahead.

Thirty years ago, the financial sector claimed around a tenth of U.S. corporate profits. Today, it's almost 30 percent. As a result, it's supplanted manufacturing as the biggest profit center in the economy, a transformation I've graphed out below. The red line is manufacturing. The blue line is the finance sector chowing down like Pac Man on corporate America's bottom line.



MORE

http://truth-out.org/news/item/14929-interview-with-gar-alperovitz

Welcome to the spring of sequester and discontent. Just ahead, whatever happens in the world of politics, a world of people are going to experience yet more cuts to education, housing, healthcare, and there's no solution to poverty in sight. Even for those who were flushed with excitement last November, the new term is already feeling like a pretty glum place. What real change is likely to come? Probably not much. By how much are real wages going to grow? Probably less. "If you counted poverty the way every other nation in the world counts it, a quarter of our society is in poverty," says political economist Gar Alperovitz.

So why is it then, that Alperovitz also says we may be witnessing the prehistory of the next American Revolution? What's up?

Alperovitz believes that the storm of failure we're witnessing creates crisis but also possibility. When states and cities have "no answers," new ideas and new experiences have a chance to insert themselves into the mix. Indeed, look a little deeper than the money media tend to, and the US economy is pretty heterodox. Far from one "economy" we live in a "checkerboard" of systems, some of which look a whole lot like socialism.

VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT AT LINK

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14899-what-if-a-drone-attacked-in-the-us

...This account of an Iranian drone assassination in the United States and the release of an Iranian white paper justifying the attack are, of course, fictitious. What is not fiction, however, are the assassinations of Iranian university professors and scientists, MEK's long history , US support for, and its delisting of MEK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization at the behest of Giuliani, Dean, Ridge, etc. Also not imaginary are the legal and moral justificatory arguments offered in this illustration as they accurately mirror the reasoning, arguments, even the language used by the United States Department of Justice to justify targeted assassinations in the recently leaked white paper "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen." My intent and hope in crafting this illustration is to increase the likelihood of a rational legal and moral evaluation of a policy of targeted assassination by shifting agency from the United States to Iran. Such judgments inevitably prove easier, the reasoning less complicated, and the issues clearer, when the actions being evaluated are those of a nation other than one's own.

If, upon analysis, the Iranian white paper's argument for the legality and morality of targeted assassinations proves specious, then so must the DOJ's argument and analysis offered in its American counterpart. Conversely, if the DOJ's argument is judged convincing, then so must the arguments and reasoning offered by the Iranians....

SAUCE FOR THE GANDER IS SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE, IN OTHER WORDS

RATHER LIKE SWIFT'S MODEST PROPOSAL...ELUCIDATION AT LINK

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14952-why-is-obama-taking-orders-from-a-secretive-billionaire


PETE Petersen is a Wall Street billionaire, who, according to The Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch.Org, almost exclusively uses his wealth to back numerous organizations and public relations campaigns whose primary goals are to slash government funding to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. According to SourceWatch’s PetersonPyramid.org, in 2007, after making a fortune off of the public offering of a Wall Street private equity firm, Peterson pledged to spend a staggering $1 billion of his personal wealth to “fix America’s key fiscal-sustainability problems.” A vast portion of that $1 billion is going to a shadowy astroturf supergroup campaign known as “The Campaign to Fix the Debt”. But don’t let the fairly innocuous title fool you. As SourceWatch’s PetersonPyramid.org points out, in reality, the “Campaign to Fix the Debt” is just the latest effort by Peterson and a bunch of his billionaire friends and corporate cronies to cut away at Social Security and Medicare, all in the name of fixing America’s “debt problem”. While “Fix the Debt” was started in the summer of 2012, before its launch Peterson was already funding organizations like the “Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget” and the “New America Foundation.” As PetersonPyramid.org notes, both of these organizations have the same goals of ultimately privatizing the Social Security and Medicare programs that millions of Americans rely on to survive. Peterson also gave millions to support the Simpson-Bowles commission according to PetersonPyramid.org, a commission who’s proposed “solution” to fixing our debt includes massive austerity-type cuts to this nation’s social-safety-net programs. In fact, Erskine Bowles is a co-founder of the “Fix The Debt” program Peterson is funding, so it’s no surprise that the recent Simpson-Bowles Catfood Commission 2.0 plan included even more devastating cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

Much like the many tentacles of the Kochtopus, “Fix the Debt” is more than just one campaign. As SourceWatch’s PetersonPyramid,org brilliantly points out, “Fix the Debt” is like a well-organized machine, made up of PR firms, corporate CEO’s, partner organizations, and so-called “state chapters.” Progressives argue that if the so-called “Fix the Debt” goals are reached, it will worsen the gap between the wealthy elite in America and everyone else. But here’s the real kicker. Peterson and his “Fix the Debt” campaign have made it into the halls of The White House. Many of the CEO’s involved with the “Fix the Debt” campaign are the heads of some of America’s largest corporations, and many have testified on Capitol Hill and met with President Obama directly during discussions on the economy and the national debt. And then there are the corporations themselves that are involved in the campaign. The list of backers is a virtual Who’s Who of corporate greed and corruption, including big banks like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Besides defunding Social Security and Medicare, PetersonPyramid.org shows how “Fix the Debt” may also be a front for exploiting a corporate tax loophole to its fullest potential. Many of the corporations involved with “Fix the Debt” pay a negative tax rate – instead of paying taxes, they get government money back – which is a major reason why we have such a large federal deficit right now. These corporations are pushing for a “globally competitive” tax structure that Citizens for Tax Justice says would increase the US debt by $1 trillion over the next decade, and would also encourage the offshoring of U.S jobs. While exploiting a corporate tax loophole isn’t a direct goal of “Fix the Debt,” the proposed “globally competitive” tax structure would bring in $134 billion for at least 63 corporations involved with “Fix the Debt,” according to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies. And, of course, if Social Security is privatized, guess who takes over? Wall Street takes over. The same Wall Street where Peterson made his money, and where his buddies are salivating over the $2.7 trillion Social Security trust fund.

So what’s the bottom line to all of this?

Pete Peterson and his strong efforts to privatize Social Security and Medicare are working. Average Americans have no idea that Social Security is just fine, and has a $2.7 trillion surplus. Instead, in part because of all the PR and advertising and hired talking heads from Peterson's various front groups, Americans – particularly young Americans – are more likely than not to doubt Social Security will survive as long as they will. This perception that the social safety net in this country is failing is helping turn America into a feudalistic state. Like in Dickens' 19th Century England, the wealthy elite increasingly control everything, and the working class is forced to live off of billionaire scraps. Every day that the “Fix the Debt” and other Pete Peterson efforts succeed at destroying Americans' faith in our own government, We The People lose. To learn more about Peterson and his campaign, and his millionaire CEO buddies, go to www.petersonPyramid.org. And spread the word. Our national wealth, our national retirement and social safety net programs, should not be handed off to Wall Street.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/tsa-to-allow-pocket-knives-on-planes/

As the nation braces for potentially extended airport security lines because of the federal budget sequester, the Travel Security Administration (TSA) has announced they will allow small pocket knives and certain sporting goods on planes for the first time in more than a decade.

TSA Administrator John Pistole announced the change today at an aviation security conference in New York. Starting April 25, passengers flying on U.S. flights will be allowed to carry small pocket knives – blades less than 6-centimeters, up to two golf clubs, ski poles, as well as sporting sticks used for hockey, lacrosse, and billiards. Baseball bats will remain on the no-fly list, though wiffle-ball bats and souvenir baseball bats (less than 24-inches long) will be allowed.

“These are popular items we see regularly,” agency spokesman David Castelveter told Bloomberg News. “They don’t present a risk to transportation security."

PLEASE NOTE THAT SHOES ARE STILL SUSPECT.

IMAGINE HOW MUCH MONEY THE US WOULD SAVE IF IT SHUT DOWN TSA AND REPLACED IT BY SOMETHING USEFUL...

http://www.alternet.org/its-almost-tea-party-won?akid=10151.227380.JhLuuW&rd=1&src=newsletter805235&t=4

The election may have been a rebuke to austerity, but the sequester has handed the hard right a victory...

AND OBAMA HANDED THE SEQUESTER TO THE TEA PARTY, ON A SILVER PLATTER..

http://www.nationofchange.org/house-republicans-propose-rolling-back-access-birth-control-avert-government-shutdown-1362584793

I'M SPEECHLESS...AND THE PAPERS ARE HERE. I GOTTA GO.

AFP - A Greek prosecutor has charged three former ministers with failing to properly declare their wealth and revenue in order to avoid tax.

The charges laid Wednesday came two days after another ex-minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, received an eight-year jail term for hiding his revenue in the first of a series of trials related to his years in power...

... The latest prominent figures targeted by the Athens prosecutors are prominent socialist Yiannos Papantoniou, a former finance minister, and two conservatives; former public order minister George Voulgarakis and former deputy finance minister Petros Doukas. Papantoniou and Voulgarakis are charged with failing to declare money held in accounts in the 2000s in their wives' names -- $2.2 million (1.7 million euros) and 117,000 euros respectively. Doukas is charged over an undeclared sum of 1.1 million euros and could face five years in jail after the tax laws were toughened up in 2010 as the debt crisis worsened, making it easier to bring politicians to criminal trial.

Greece's coalition government has made a point of cracking down on tax evasion and fraud among the country's elite amid a public backlash over the severe austerity measures required to secure a financial bailout from the EU and the IMF.

/... http://www.france24.com/en/20130307-three-greek-ex-ministers-charged-with-tax-evasion

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday, as investors took some profits off the table awaiting the outcome of ECB and Bank of England's policy meetings due later in the session and Friday's U.S. non-farm payroll data.

Investors hesitated to extend their long positions despite the Dow Jones industrial average hitting a fresh record high for a second day overnight on optimism over the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report showed that most of the 12 Fed districts expanded 'at a modest to moderate pace' in January and February.

Japanese shares extended gains for a sixth straight session... China's Shanghai Composite index lost a percent, dragged down by banks as investors awaited a slew of data due later this week for direction. Trade data is scheduled for Friday, while reports on inflation, industrial output and retail sales are due on Saturday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended on a flat note with a negative bias.

Australian shares lost ground following an early upmove, as disappointing trade figures dragged down financial and telecommunication stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 as well as the broader All Ordinaries index slipped about 0.2 percent each... Australia's trade deficit widened by more than expected in January as exports fell and imports rose, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. The country's trade deficit in the month widened to A$1.057 billion from $688 million in December 2012.

South Korea's Kospi average lost 0.8 percent, dragged down by heavyweight Samsung and other exporters as foreign investors took some profits following two strong days of gains... New Zealand shares rose, lifting the benchmark NZX-50 index up 0.8 percent to a record high... India's benchmark Sensex was moving up 0.2 percent, extending gains for a third straight session, as gains in technology shares offset losses in heavyweights like Tata Motors and Reliance Industries...

... U.S. stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance overnight as investors paused for breath following recent gains. An upbeat employment report and a smaller-than-forecast fall in factory orders helped to support the markets to some extent. The Dow rose 0.3 percent to reach a fresh record high and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped marginally.

/... http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2013-03/26179495-asian-stocks-mixed-before-central-bank-meetings-020.htm

(Reuters) - China will likely appoint savvy international dealmakers to run its giant sovereign wealth fund and Commerce Ministry in a soft power push to soothe fears over a planned spending spree to boost Beijing's ownership of strategic global assets.

Securities regulator Guo Shuqing is tipped to take the helm at the $482 billion state investment vehicle, China Investment Corp (CIC) CIC.UL, and China's chief trade representative, Gao Hucheng, is seen running the Commerce Ministry, two sources with leadership ties told Reuters.

The appointment of seasoned, English-speaking financial negotiators to run the two agencies is a sign that China's new leaders would make commercial logic a major thrust of the push for market access Beijing needs for planned acquisitions of $560 billion of overseas assets in the five years to end-2015.

"The next government will pay more attention to trade policy and investment policy and the direction will be more open," said Tu Xinquan, associate director at the China Institute of WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Sources with ties to the leadership and officials at China's top ministerial think-tanks say the change of personnel reflects the focus President-in-waiting Xi Jinping and Premier-designate Li Keqiang have on furthering China's ambitions in the global economy. Academics said such appointments fit with the overall external thrust of China's new leadership. "Here you have people who know the global system, and this is about China becoming much more active in it," said Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business at Indiana University.

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/us-china-parliament-reshuffle-idUSBRE9260AA20130307

LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The Bank of England is set to carefully review expanding its asset purchases and other policy tools to stimulate the economy at its meeting later today, as recent data signal no clear signs of recovery. Nonetheless, economists expect policymakers to sit tight on quantitative easing. The outcome of the two-day rate setting meeting is due at 7.00 am ET.

The size of the asset purchase plan currently stands at GBP 375 billion and the interest rate has been held steady at a record low 0.50 percent since March 2009.

At its meeting in February, a call for additional stimulus by Governor Mervyn King and two policymakers, Paul Fisher and David Miles, were overturned by a majority of six members. If there are monetary policy tools that are more reliably effective in boosting demand, they should be used, Miles said in a speech last month.

Chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight Howard Archer said he believes that there could well be two GBP 25 billion helpings of QE to come, with one in the second quarter and another in the third quarter, taking the stock up to GBP 425 billion.

The latest figures from the central bank showed that banks reduced their lending to firms and households in the fourth quarter dampening hopes that the Funding for Lending Scheme will revive recovery.

Earlier in the day, the British Camber of Commerce cut its growth forecast for 2013 to 0.6 percent, citing an unexpected 0.3 percent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2012 and worsening global growth prospects. It also faces challenges from austerity measures as the government aims to contain its huge public debt after it lost the coveted AAA bond ratings for the first time since 1978.

/... http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2013-03/26180091-bank-of-england-likely-to-explore-stimulus-options-020.htm

Nationalise all banks.


StockMarketWire.com - Responding to today’s publication of the SME Finance Monitor, a BBA spokesman said:

"The UK's banks are committed to helping small and medium sized businesses in these difficult economic times. They are currently offering some of the lowest interest rates for customers in history and there should be no doubt that now is a good time for businesses to go and see their bank if they want to borrow. The figures show that the vast majority of businesses who ask for bank finance are successful.

"It is understandable that currently demand for borrowing is muted as many businesses look to pay down debts rather than take on more borrowing. These figures show that the economic climate is the biggest obstacle facing businesses looking to expand. More than three times as many businesses saw this as a major obstacle to expansion compared to the numbers citing difficulties in accessing finance.

"The survey also finds that large numbers of businesses who want finance never ask their bank because they think they would be turned down. That is why the banks are working hard to restore confidence through initiatives such as building a UK-wide network of business mentors, offering an independently-monitored appeals process for businesses whose borrowing applications have been declined, and working with alternative finance providers to provide greater access to appropriate products and services for all businesses, at each stage of their business life-cycle. For start-up businesses, equity and other forms of finance can be more appropriate, so banks are building strategic partnerships with business angel networks and community finance institutions, as well as providing full support to the Start Up Loans Company."

/... http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4550781/UK-banks-are-committed-to-helping-SMEs-says-BBA.html

[center]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/uk-britain-boe-idUKBRE92600Y20130307[/center]

The Liberal Democrat, writing in the New Statesman, warned that the Chancellor's cuts to capital spending have had "economic consequences" and that the £5bn growth in last year's Autumn Statement was too "modest to have any major effect".

He went onto imply that the the Government should borrow to invest. Although acknowledging that the coalition was right to adopt a tough deficit plan two and a half years ago, he suggested that the "balance of risks" may have changed.

"The more controversial question is whether the government should not switch but should borrow more, at current very low interest rates, in order to finance more capital spending: building of schools and colleges; small road and rail projects; more prudential borrowing by councils for house building," he wrote.

"This last is crucial to reviving an area which led economic recovery in the 1930s but is now severely depressed.

"Such a programme would inject demand into the weakest sector of our economy – construction – and, at one remove, the manufacturing supply chain (cement, steel). It would target two significant bottlenecks to growth: infrastructure and housing."

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9914520/Vince-Cable-calls-for-more-borrowing-to-spur-growth.html

The Bank of England decided not to restart its main stimulus programme for Britain's ailing economy on Thursday as the government stuck to its deficit-cutting pledge and said the Bank should support growth.

The British central bank's decision is likely to have been close-run. Last month, three officials - including governor Mervyn King - voted to buy a further 25 billion pounds of government bonds.

Since then economic data have painted a picture of an economy teetering on the edge of its third recession in three years and several policymakers had said they were open to a wide range of ideas to boost the economy...

... Ahead of the bank's announcement, Prime Minister David Cameron said that it would be disastrous for his coalition government to abandon the austerity programme that has been the mainstay of its economic policy since coming to power in 2010.

Cameron also said on Thursday that the Bank should support economic recovery without putting financial stability at risk.

Cameron's comments underscore how the Bank's monetary policy remains the main tool to support growth, even as a senior member of the coalition government suggested it may be time to borrow more to invest in infrastructure projects.

But those arguing against further stimulus already point to Britain's sticky inflation, which is currently at 2.7 percent and not expected to return to the 2 percent target until early 2016...

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/uk-britain-boe-idUKBRE92600Y20130307

The European Central Bank kept interest rates steady on Thursday and is likely to eschew dramatic action to help Italy or other euro zone countries, despite the threat of political turmoil in Rome reigniting the bloc's debt crisis.

At its monthly policy meeting, the ECB held its main refinancing rate at a record-low 0.75 percent, in line with what the majority of economists in a Reuters poll had expected. The attention turns now to a 1.30 p.m. news conference, held by ECB President Mario Draghi, himself an Italian.

The ECB has singled out the uneven transmission of its record-low interest rates across the currency bloc as its main problem at the moment and any hints on how it plans to address this dilemma will be closely assessed by financial markets.

It also begs the question as to whether a rate cut would have much effect.

"Interest rates are not the problem, but the spread between interest rates in the euro zone's core and the periphery. Not much can be achieved with a cut and the ECB seems to be aware of this," said Michael Schubert, economist at Commerzbank...

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/uk-ecb-rates-idUKBRE92600A20130307

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar fell Thursday as markets digested or awaited key central bank decisions, with the British pound pushing back above the $1.50 level after the Bank of England left monetary policy unchanged...

... The bank’s rate decision was expected, though economists had acknowledged a likely close call on the question of whether to increase the size of the bank’s asset purchases, which are the centerpiece of its quantatitive-easing strategy...

...The pound’s weakness followed a Financial Times report that U.K. Chancellor George Osborne will use his budget on March 20 to reinforce the message of “fiscal conservatism and monetary activism.”

Treasury officials are discussing proposals to change the bank’s remit with the arrival of Mark Carney as the central-bank governor in July. Options being considered include giving the BOE’s policy-setting committee greater time to bring inflation back to the 2% targeted level, in addition to expanding its mandate so it can target both employment and inflation, the report said.

“One factor that has weighed on sterling in recent months is the perception that a more ‘flexible’ BOE is poised to step on the monetary accelerator — perhaps putting the pedal to the metal when Mark Carney takes over as governor in July — just as the (U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank) apply the brakes,” said John Higgins, market economist at Capital Economics...

/... http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slips-on-day-of-central-bank-action-2013-03-07

French unemployment climbed to a 14-year high in the fourth quarter of 2012 as companies cut tens of thousands of jobs to cope with a stalled economic recovery.

The jobless rate in the eurozone's second-largest economy hit 10.6pc in the final quarter of last year, up from 10.2pc in third quarter, the national statistics institute Insee said.

French unemployment has been climbing steadily since the end of 2011 and is now at its highest since 1999...

... France's labour rules make it difficult to fire workers, even in times of economic difficulty, and that has long made employers reluctant to hire. Even in economic boom times, France's structural employment has remained relatively high.

Hollande hopes to loosen those rules, while still maintaining robust worker protections. The new plan would offer companies in financial difficulty more flexibility in setting working hours and salaries. The government hopes that will help businesses stay afloat, instead of shutting down factories or moving production to countries with cheaper labour...

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9914644/Unemployment-in-France-hits-14-year-high.html

BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Germany's factory orders fell to a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on month in January following a revised 1.1 percent increase in the previous month, the Federal Ministry of Economics and technology data showed. Economists had expected the orders to rise 0.6 percent month-on-month in January after a 0.8 percent increase originally reported in December.

The euro edged lower against its major rivals after the data. As of 6:03 am ET, the common currency was trading at 1.2331 against the Swiss franc, 122.51 against the yen, 0.8682 against the pound and 1.3011 against the dollar.

/... http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2013-03/26181097-euro-weakens-after-german-factory-orders-data-020.htm

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/jobless-claims-in-u-s-unexpectedly-decline-to-a-six-week-low.html

The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits declined to a six-week low, showing further improvement in the labor market.

First-time jobless claims unexpectedly fell by 7,000 to 340,000 in the week ended March 2, the lowest since the period ended Jan. 19, according to data today from the Labor Department in Washington. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 355,000. The four-week average dropped to a five-year low.

Companies are easing up on dismissals as purchases of equipment climb and households maintain spending in the face of higher payroll taxes. Further declines in firings are a first step toward bigger employment and wage gains, and a report tomorrow may show payrolls picked up in February.

“Every indication we have is that the labor market is beginning to pick up steam,” said Drew Matus, deputy U.S. chief economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who correctly projected the drop in claims. “It’s all consistent with 2013 being an okay year despite all the fears about what sequestration might mean or Europe might do.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/european-stock-futures-little-changed-before-ecb-meeting.html

Most European stocks advanced as the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy is growing and the European Central Bank and Bank of England kept their benchmark interest rates on hold.

Aggreko Plc jumped the most in four years after the world’s largest provider of mobile power supplies reported increased profit and raised its dividend. Carrefour SA rallied to a 19- month high after France’s biggest retailer posted a smaller- than-estimated decline in earnings. Aviva Plc plunged the most since 2009 after the U.K. insurer cut its dividend.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) added 0.2 percent to 293.94 at 1:52 p.m. in London, as more than three shares gained fore every two that fell. The benchmark gauge climbed to the highest level since June 2008 this week, boosted by optimism central banks around the world will continue stimulus measures. The measure has advanced 5.1 percent this year.

“Investors are hopeful that U.S. economic growth has some foundation,” Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley Group Plc in London, said in a telephone interview. “Irrational exuberance continues to dominate, with continuous liquidity infusion from central banks.”

“Investors are hopeful that U.S. economic growth has some foundation,” Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley Group Plc in London, said in a telephone interview. “Irrational exuberance continues to dominate, with continuous liquidity infusion from central banks.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/u-s-productivity-dropped-in-fourth-quarter-as-labor-costs-rose.html

The productivity of U.S. workers fell in the fourth quarter by the most in four years, while labor expenses accelerated as companies added workers and boosted hours, revised Labor Department figures showed today.

The measure of employee output per hour decreased at a 1.9 percent annual rate after a 3.1 percent third-quarter gain, the agency said in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 1.6 percent drop in productivity after a previously reported 2 percent decrease. Expenses per worker increased at a 4.6 percent rate, more than first estimated.

Companies took on more employees at the end of last year as orders for business equipment jumped and exports increased. The pace of payroll additions may be sustained as household spending holds up in the face of a two percentage-point increase in the payroll tax, making it difficult for productivity to improve.

“It’s tough to wring efficiencies out of labor when you’re adding to your workforce, whether you’re expanding hours or what’s now going on, expanding jobs,” Robert Stein, a senior economist at First Trust Portfolios LP in Wheaton, Illinois, said before the report. The firm is the second-best forecaster of productivity over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “It’s quite natural at this point in the business cycle to have a temporary slowdown in productivity growth.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/dead-man-spurs-methadone-probe-at-bain-s-crc-clinic-in-baltimore.html

Maryland state regulators are investigating an addiction-treatment clinic owned by Bain Capital Partners LLC after the methadone-related death of a Baltimore man.

The probe is focused on the Pine Heights Treatment Center in Baltimore, one of dozens of clinics operated by Bain’s CRC Health Corp., the largest methadone-treatment provider in the U.S. It was triggered by a complaint from the public, said Dori Henry, a spokeswoman for the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. She declined to comment on the investigation’s details.

The complaint alleges that Warren Lumpkin, 34, a forklift operator, died on Jan. 4 after ingesting methadone that was given to him by a CRC patient, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News. An autopsy found that “methadone intoxication” contributed to his death, records show.

Lumpkin’s ex-wife, Sabrina M. Lumpkin, who filed the complaint, said in it that he wasn’t a patient at the CRC clinic. He had a friend who was, and that friend gave half a dose of methadone from the clinic to Lumpkin, according to the complaint.

ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (03/07/2012)

Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20130386.htm

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

In the week ending March 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 347,000. The 4-week moving average was 348,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 355,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 23 was 3,094,000, an increase of 3,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,091,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,121,750, a decrease of 37,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,159,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 333,389 in the week ending March 2, an increase of 23,198 from the previous week. There were 368,433 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
....

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 347,000. The 4-week moving average was 348,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 355,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 23 was 3,094,000, an increase of 3,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,091,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,121,750, a decrease of 37,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,159,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 333,389 in the week ending March 2, an increase of 23,198 from the previous week. There were 368,433 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.

== == == ==

Good morning, Freepers and DUers alike. I ask you to put aside your differences long enough to read this post. Following that, you can engage in your usual donnybrook.

I have been posting the number every week for at least a year. I seriously do not care if the week's data make Obama look good. They are just numbers, and I post them without regard to the consequences. I welcome people from Free Republic to examine the numbers as well. They paid for the work just as much as members of DU did, so I invite them to come on over and have a look. "The more the merrier" is the way I look at it.

I do not work at the ETA, and I do not know anyone working in that agency. I'm sure I can safely assume that the numbers are gathered and analyzed by career civil servant economists who do their work on a nonpartisan basis. Numbers are numbers, and let the chips fall where they may. If you feel that these economists are falling down on the job, drop them a line or give them a call. They work for you, not for any politician or political party.

The word "initial" is important. The report does not count all claims, just the new ones filed this week.

Note: The seasonal adjustment factors used for the UI Weekly Claims data from 2007 forward, along with the resulting seasonally adjusted values for initial claims and continuing claims, have been revised. These revised historical values, as well as the seasonal adjustment factors that will be used through calendar year 2012, can be accessed at the bottom of the following link: http://www.oui.doleta.gov/press/2012/032912.asp

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRADE_GAP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-07-09-02-51

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit widened in January, reflecting a big jump in oil imports and a drop in exports.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that the deficit rose to $44.4 billion, an increase of 16.5 percent from December. U.S. exports dropped 1.2 percent to $184.5 billion, reflecting declines in sales to Europe, China, Japan and Brazil. Imports rose 1.8 percent to $228.9 billion as oil imports surged 12.3 percent.

Even with the wider deficit in January, economists say they think the deficit this year will narrow slightly, in part because of continued gains in U.S. energy exports. A narrower trade gap boosts growth because it means U.S. companies are earning more from overseas sales while U.S. consumers and businesses are spending less on foreign products.

The deficit for all of 2012 was revised down slightly to $539.5 billion, a drop of 3.6 percent from 2011. The January deficit was running at an annual rate of $533.4 billion.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-07-08-01-57

BRUSSELS (AP) -- France has called on fellow European nations to ease off on painful austerity policies to give the economy some breathing space and avoid social upheaval.

Continuing a strict course of spending cuts and tax increases would only "nourish a social crisis that leads to populism," French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici warned Thursday.

"There is no alternative to starting a path that will lead to a return of growth," he added, speaking at a conference of the European Parliament's group of center-left parties in Brussels.

France's appeal comes as the debt crisis, which had grown to threaten the 17-nation eurozone's existence over the past three years, is easing in financial markets in the wake of political and economic reforms and a pledge by the European Central Bank to do whatever it takes to defend the common currency.

3/6/13
Head Of Communications At Italy's Scandal-Ridden Banca Monte Paschi Has Committed Suicide

It has been several weeks since the name Monte Paschi, likely the most bailed out Italian bank in history, not to mention the oldest bank in the world, graced these pages: with the Italian elections now over and BMPS' political utility as leverage against Italy's Democratic Party finished, we expected that the next time we would read, and write, about it would be the next time it would need a bailout (its fourth in the past four years) sometime in the next 3 to 6 months. Sadly, Monte Paschi is squarely back on the front page following news moments ago that David Rossi, the head of communications at the bank, committed suicide by jumping off the building.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-06/head-communications-italys-scandal-ridden-banca-monte-paschi-has-committed-suicide

What did he know?

Communications....unless he did it in unlabeled envelopes stuffed with unmarked bills...

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/03/07/inenglish/1362661686_575006.html

The town council of Pereiro de Aguiar (population 6,000) in Galicia, with a five-million-euro annual budget, cannot make ends. The mayor, Eliseo Fernández -- who has held his post for 25 years, in a region where an ironclad political boss culture prevails -- has begun to refuse certain services to the inhabitants.

The mayor, aligned with the controversial local political boss José Luis Baltar of the Popular Party (PP), goes on collecting the salary he assigned himself -- 50,000 euros annually, plus other payments he receives for attending council meetings and official events of the Deputation (a provincial-level authority). And last year, without touching his salary, he accepted the town's declaration of bankruptcy.

Fernández presented a cost-cutting adjustment plan, in view of pending debts of almost a million euros. To cope with the economic situation, he has suppressed almost all the municipal services in the town. Other services, on which considerable sums were spent, have never worked.

For example, the town's sewage treatment plant, near the municipality's boundary with the city of Ourense, was finished in 2010. It cost some five million euros (partly from state aid funds). But it has never become functional. Once built, the mayor noticed it had no outlet.

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-site-y-911-phase-ii-tel-aviv-israel-2013-3



Last year it was announced the U.S. was looking to build a secret underground complex in Israel. On February 13 a contract was awarded to Conti Corp Federal Services in Edison, NJ to complete the project.

Their bid of almost $63 million came in well below the possible $100 million set aside for the project.
Conti's bid went toward building five underground levels and six above ground buildings that they have 900 days from February 13 to complete.

The U.S. government then issued another request for proposal December 28 to construct Site 81 Phase II. Also in Israel, also partially underground, this project calls for up to $100,000,000 to refinish six underground facilities and some currently occupied surface buildings.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-site-y-911-phase-ii-tel-aviv-israel-2013-3#ixzz2MrbgFU2S

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/investors-and-middlemen-exploit-helpless-in-berlin-real-estate-market-a-887039.html

heir offices are in places where a lot of money is turned into even more money: in Luxembourg, the City of London and on Lake Geneva. They deal in shares of companies in Asia and Africa, and in real estate in Europe. They own more than 6,000 apartments in Berlin. Narghita lives in one of them.

Narghita, 27, is from Romania, a member of the Roma ethnic group. She has never met the owners of her apartment. There is no heat, and she has covered the mold on the walls with mint-green paint. The toilet hasn't been working for weeks, and her three children urinate in the bathtub. She found her furniture in the garbage and poisoned the rats in the apartment she occupies on the ground floor of Scharnweberstrasse 111 in Reinickendorf, a northwestern district of Berlin.
For a long time, Narghita believed that Marcus Harstel owned her apartment. He is the chairman of an association called "Anker e.V. - Berlin in 2010." According to its bylaws, the association doesn't aim to make money. "We make people strong," reads Anker's motto -- strong, so that they'll have better opportunities.

Anker brokers run-down property owned by international investors to the poor: ex-convicts, the homeless and immigrants. The association, founded in Berlin in 2010, devotes special attention to the Roma and Sinti ethnic groups, which as Anker officials say, "were living in public parks under completely grim hygienic conditions." According to the bylaws, Harstel and his colleagues aim to "improve" living conditions for these people and place them into "adequate" living spaces.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/07-0


Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Obama's nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget. (Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

f President Barack Obama goes forward with his nomination of Walmart Foundation head Sylvia Mathews Burwell for director of the Office of Management and Budget, it will be a coup for Walmart and its foundation, where Burwell has used its massive budget to expand Walmart's influence at all levels of government and pave the way for its expansion into towns and cities across America. Unfortunately, it will also be a disaster for America's working families.

The Walmart Foundation is hardly your traditional charity. It exists to advance the company's agenda – silencing dissenters in their rapid urban expansion. It has donated to groups that have gone on the record to support Walmart during its most contentious political disputes, including the ongoing effort to open stores in New York City. And it has even donated directly to municipalities and to groups tied to powerful elected officials.

Here in New York, the company is one of the highest-spending special interests in its effort to open its first New York City store. In 2011, Walmart spent $2.8m on New York state lobbying. It was ranked No 5 on the list of top special interest spenders – money that was spent trying to win favor with elected officials and deploying advertising designed to improve its public image with New Yorkers (pdf).

The Walmart Foundation is simply another means by which Walmart can leverage its largesse in order to advance its corporate agenda – and Burwell has been at the helm as the company uses the foundation to deploy millions of dollars to buy silence from erstwhile opposition. Every year, Walmart and the foundation spend millions to influence decision-makers in their efforts to build more Walmarts and shut down competition.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/173221/beware-obamas-dealmaking


Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.)


As sequestration churns on, President Obama is reaching out to moderate Republican members of the Senate to see if he can still put a deal together. He is coming to the Hill next week for a Republican luncheon, and hosting other members for dinner tonight. The president is also picking up the phone. “He just called me,” Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters yesterday. “What I see from the president is probably the most encouraging engagement on a big issue that I’ve seen since the early years of his presidency. He wants to do the big deal.”

This should, and does, worry progressives inside and outside of Congress. The default position among center-left pundits is that if Obama gets Republicans to agree on a grand deficit reduction package that includes new revenue, he’s “won.” But that assumption really needs to be interrogated, and each concession examined.

Sequestration is a terrible policy; the cuts will touch a number of vital government functions and inflict unnecessary pain on many Americans. But here’s what Obama is proposing: an unbalanced package of $930 billion in cuts and $580 billion in revenue, with an additional $100 billion in deficit reduction through Chained CPI. This is the formula that would cut Social Security benefits $1,000 per year for some seniors and take $1,400 per year from disabled veterans.

Is that truly better? The sequestration cuts are damaging, but money taken away can always be restored later. (In this case it would involve scrapping the Budget Control Act, which is no doubt more difficult.) Chained CPI, however, permanently cuts the safety net, and that’s much harder to ever undo—and the fact that a Democratic president did it opens the door to even more cuts down the road.

for those of us who have been wary since, oh, 24 Nov '08. . . . .

9:52am: And while we're on the subject of iron ore prices, here's BusinessDay's Phil Wen on China's views about price manipulation by the world's biggest miners. Fair to say, they've made no secret their displeasure:

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have deflected heated accusations from China's top economic planning agency that the world's biggest miners have manipulated the market to spur a more than 80 per cent spike in iron ore prices in the past six months.

"The three major miners and some traders have delayed shipments and held back stocks to control supplies in order to send a fake market signal that there was a supply shortage,'' the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website, adding that the pricing mechanism was ''unreasonable''.


9:44am: The price of iron ore throughout this year has been a fertile source of speculation through the first couple of months of the year. Overnight, Morgan Stanley joined the chorus with projections of price in the second half of 2013.

The price probably peaked at about $159 a metric ton last month and will average $133 this year, Morgan Stanley analysts Joel Crane and Peter Richardson said in a report today. The consensus forecast for 2013 is $121, a figure that's "overly negative," they wrote.

Others have projected a price well below $US100.

Global seaborne supply will rise 9.1 per cent this year, topping an 8.3 per cent gain in demand, Morgan Stanley estimates.

Morgan Stanley joins analysts from Deutsche Bank to Bank of America in forecasting lower iron-ore prices. The steelmaking commodity rallied 68 percent since September as economic growth in China accelerated and port inventories in the country reached a three-year low.

The surge was caused by changes in demand, market speculation and "unreasonable" pricing methods, China's top planning body said.

/... Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets-live/markets-live-asx-set-to-open-higher-20130308-2fpc6.html#ixzz2MtiIMAtL

In a swipe at the UK, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who took over as president in January, said that Britain’s high national debt and persistent budget deficit had left it vulnerable to attacks from currency traders.

His comments will not be welcomed by the Coalition, coming just days before the Budget and with the pound already in freefall, having dropped from €1.23 to below €1.16 since the start of the year. It will also invoke ugly memories of the last sterling crisis, when the pound crashed out of the ERM in 1992.

Speaking to students at the University of Amsterdam, Mr Dijsselbloem said the UK was a much riskier proposition than the US due to the state of the public finances, despite its equally high deficit and the battles in Washington over the need to cut spending.

“England is vulnerable, it may be faster on the currency speculation. That has happened in the past. A new sterling crisis could happen again,” Mr Dijsselbloem said.

His intervention is reminiscent of Christian Noyer’s attack on the UK in late 2011. The head of the French central bank, who sits on the European Central Bank, said at the time that Britain should lose its AAA sovereign credit rating before France...

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9916575/Euro-Group-head-says-UK-at-risk-of-sterling-crisis.html