And of course, I approve. Unfortunately, I think only Wally got into the government program to begin with...

Now, Miss Tansy, go see your PM....Mercury is retrograde!

This was about the second one I saw, and I didn't even look any further. It was just too perfect.

Congrats on the Nemmy abdication.

The rest are overhead.

Maybe this whole healthcare.gov fiasco will change some minds about the supposedly incontestable superiority of self-regulating for-profit private sector contractors performing inherently governmental services.

GOCOs are expensive and are rarely efficient.

Meh. It's such an ingrained Reagan legacy... I doubt they'll get it.

very interesting....but not as much as the shuffle in oil....

The petroleum market is manipulated beyond all recognition. I've pointed out it generally doesn't echo the rise and fall in the dollar for a long time. Today is a perfect illustration of that.

Some democracy we live in, eh?

However, most of the manipulation is targeted, even the tenth of a point at a time HFT.

It's why we so desperately need a transaction tax in both.

We was had, and continue to be had

They seem to have accepted a range of prices (at the top, naturally) and have simply set a price that reflects that range and doesn't change from week to week. Around here, that's $3.30/gallon at the discount places where my car eats.

if I survive

great toon

who is pretty sound on corporate workplaces, but whose global economic notions don't bear examination....

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SPAIN_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-05-09-20

MADRID (AP) -- Spain's central bank says preliminary figures show the country's economy grew in the third quarter, albeit modestly, following a recession that's lasted over two years.

The bank said Wednesday that the economy grew 0.1 percent July through September compared to the previous quarter, when it shrank an equivalent rate. The growth follows nine straight quarterly declines.

Even though unemployment in the country stands at 26.3 percent and the public finances are still a way from being fixed, the government has recently been heralding the end of the recession, claiming its reforms and austerity measures are paying off.

The bank's figures are an estimate and the first official statistics are expected Oct. 30.

The bank said that on a year-on-year basis, the economy shrank by 1.2 percent.


***you mean they don't know?

they used to call it jaw-boning, in my youth....

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-05-44-37

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Official figures show the eurozone's debt burden rose further in the second quarter despite years of austerity and a return to growth.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, says Wednesday that debt across the 17 countries that use the euro stood at 93.4 percent of the eurozone's annual gross domestic product, up from 92.3 percent the previous quarter.

Though countries across the region, such as Greece and Spain, have made great strides in reducing their borrowing through spending cuts and tax increases, they are still in deficit and that's adding to the stockpile of debt.

Greece remains the outlier. Its debt burden stood at 169.1 percent of GDP at the end of the second quarter, over 35 percentage points higher than the next most indebted country in the eurozone, Italy.

Makes me think of the Tea Party, somehow

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-06-14-58

LONDON (AP) -- Worries over the Chinese banking sector weighed on markets Wednesday, a day after weak U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve won't be reducing its monetary stimulus anytime soon.

News that the U.S. generated only 148,000 jobs in September, below the consensus among analysts for around 180,000, prompted stocks in Europe and the U.S. to rally. However, that momentum came to a grinding halt during the Asian trading session following a report that the amount of bad loans written off by China's largest banks swelled in the first half of the year.

"Yesterday's `bad news is good news' interpretation of the U.S. non-farm payroll figures only carried the markets so far before they ran out of steam," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG. "An Asian sell-off has dampened equity markets' enthusiasm."

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.5 percent at 6,664 while Germany's DAX fell 0.4 percent to 8,911. The CAC-40 in France was 0.8 percent lower at 4,261.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_PHILIPPINES_CHINA_DISPUTED_ISLANDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-07-26-22

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A Filipino-British company has begun talks with China's state-owned offshore oil producer for an oil- and gas-exploration deal in part of the South China Sea where Philippine and Chinese vessels were involved in a confrontation just two and a half years ago.

If a deal is struck, it would be the first between China and the Philippines involving territory in the sea that both countries claim.

Philippine Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said Wednesday that talks between Forum Energy plc and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, to develop an area of the Reed Bank were at a preliminary stage. Both China and the Philippines would have to approve a deal, but Petilla expressed hope that a commercial agreement could be reached despite the long-raging disputes over the Reed Bank, a vast offshore area claimed by both countries.

The majority owner of London-based Forum is a Philippine energy company, Philex Petroleum Corp. The talks were being held abroad, most recently in Hong Kong, Petilla said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-06-08-19

BERLIN (AP) -- The German government is raising its forecast for the country's economic growth in 2014 to 1.7 percent and says there should be a healthy increase in exports.

Wednesday's forecast was just above the 1.6 percent growth that the government predicted in April. It left this year's growth outlook unchanged at 0.5 percent.

It's predicting a pickup in exports, a traditional strength of Europe's biggest economy, after they increased only sluggishly this year. The forecast is for exports to grow 0.3 percent in 2013 and 3.8 percent next year.

Faster economic growth should boost the already-healthy labor market. The government says the number of people in work should increase next year to 42 million from 41.8 million this year, with some 2.9 million unemployed.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DETROIT_BANKRUPTCY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-01-16-37

DETROIT (AP) -- The city of Detroit for months has disclosed the awful condition of its finances. Now it's up to a judge to determine if the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history really can go forward.

An unusual trial starts Wednesday, pitting Detroit's emergency manager and his legal team against unions and pension funds that claim the city isn't qualified to scrub its books clean under Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

A city isn't eligible for a bankruptcy makeover unless it shows that key steps were met, especially good-faith talks with creditors earlier this year. It's a critical decision for Judge Steven Rhodes: If Detroit clears the hurdle, the case then would quickly turn to how to solve at least $18 billion in debt and get city government off the ropes.

"It's a crucial point in the case," said lawyer Chuck Tatelbaum, a bankruptcy expert in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "There will be others, but this is the go or no-go. ... If there was ever a poster child for what Congress decided when they enacted Chapter 9, it's for a city like this."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_MR_FIX_IT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-23-07-46-14

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When a federal program that promised cash rebates to people who traded in their clunkers for more fuel-efficient vehicles was overrun by demand, President Barack Obama assigned Jeffrey Zients, his deputy budget director, to help eliminate the backlog.

When the same thing happened with sign-ups for an updated version of the GI Bill, one designed to help the 9/11 generation of veterans get a college education, Obama again turned to Zients for help.

Now, as Obama's health care website continues to be plagued by a rash of technical problems that have turned it into an administration embarrassment and a source of frustration for uninsured people trying to sign up for coverage that the law now requires many of them to have, who has Obama called for help? Zients, his Mr. Fix-it.

Faced with mounting questions about the website, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that the longtime management consultant will help fix the problems and turn the site into the breezy, one-stop shopping portal Obama promised it would be.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/to-hell-and-back-spains-grotesque-recession-and-its-surprising-new-economy/280678/



MADRID – It’s been more than a rocky few years for Spain. It’s been a rocky half-century.

Run by a military dictator until the 1970s, Spain emerged in the early 2000s as a model of social democracy and the poster child for the European Union. Then the global economy collapsed in 2008, and suddenly Spain was suffering from Depression-era levels of unemployment and an economy melting down like a Dali horrorscape. In a few years it had gone from budget surpluses, a growing middle class, and generous social supports to wrenching austerity policies and collapsing wages, triggered by the massive failure of Spanish banks.

When the global crisis struck in 2008, Spain was headed by the Socialist government of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Unlike Greece, it was not a chronic over-spender. Its debt was merely 36% of its GDP in 2007, about half the debt burden of the U.S. and Germany at the time. The Socialist Party wasn’t stocked with bank industry shills, or slavish admirers of greedy capitalism, but their reaction to the crisis devastated their own constituents just as Spain’s decades-long economic model was coming undone. There are lessons for Americans in understanding what happened to Spain.

The Spanish Model: Home Is Where the Economy Is

In a way, Spain’s bubble lasted for the entire second half of the 20th century.

Its economy had been heavily dependent on real estate and construction since General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in the 1950s. This was an anomaly from the rest of western Europe, which enjoyed a post-war boom in manufacturing growth. Still, the emphasis on housing continued after Franco’s death in 1975 under the first Socialist government with Felipe González. As researchers Isidro López and Emmanuel Rodríguez noted, Spain’s ongoing property bubble, aided by an expanding European financial industry, was its domestic motor for economic expansion. López and Rodríguez called it “asset-price Keynesianism.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-chinese-bank-story-that-has-markets-on-edge-today-2013-10

It looks like worrying about China is back.
This Bloomberg story is making the rounds today as something causing people to worry.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s most profitable lender, and its four largest rivals expunged in the first six months 22.1 billion yuan ($3.65 billion) of debt that couldn’t be collected, up from 7.65 billion yuan a year earlier, filings showed. That didn’t pare first-half profits, which climbed to a record $76 billion, as provisions were set aside in earlier periods when the loans began souring.

The other China story is a rise in money-market rates, as the PBOC may be taking fresh anti-inflation moves.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-chinese-bank-story-that-has-markets-on-edge-today-2013-10#ixzz2iXzs45to

http://www.businessinsider.com/caterpillars-2013-macro-outlook-2013-10

Here are the four paragraphs from the company's earnings announcement that characterize the world in which the company operates. They include quotes from CEO Doug Oberhelman:

From an economic standpoint, the company expects better world growth in 2014. However, significant risks and uncertainties remain that could temper global economic growth. The direction of U.S. fiscal and monetary policy remains uncertain; Eurozone economies are far from healthy and China continues to transition to a more consumer-demand led economy. In addition, despite higher mine production around the world, new orders for mining equipment remain very low. As a result, the company is holding its outlook for 2014 sales and revenues flat with 2013 in a plus or minus 5 percent range. The company expects sales growth in Construction Industries, relatively flat sales in Power Systems and a decline in Resource Industries’ sales.

“There are encouraging signs, but there is also a good deal of uncertainty worldwide as we look ahead to 2014, and our preliminary outlook reflects that uncertainty. Despite prospects for improved economic growth and continued strong mine production around the world, we won't be increasing our expectations for Resource Industries until mining orders improve. We can’t change the economy or industry demand, but we've taken many actions to align our costs with the environment we’re in currently. While we’ve done much already, we're not finished and expect to take deeper actions to improve our cost structure and balance sheet. We're not seeing bright spots in mining yet, but the turnaround will happen at some point, and when it does, we'll be ready to respond," Oberhelman added.

...

World purchasing manager surveys for both manufacturing and services have improved in recent months, signaling the world economy is rebounding from more than two years of slowing growth. Recent economic indicators also suggest that growth in the United States, Europe, Japan and China in 2014 should match or exceed 2013 growth. Better growth in these key economies would improve export opportunities for other countries and increase commodity demand. We expect world economic growth will improve from 2.1 percent in 2013 to about 3 percent in 2014.

However, significant risks and uncertainties remain that could temper global economic growth in 2014. The direction of U.S. fiscal and monetary policy action is highly uncertain; Eurozone economies are far from healthy and China continues to transition to a more consumer-demand led economy. In addition, despite higher mine production, new orders for mining equipment remain very low.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/caterpillars-2013-macro-outlook-2013-10#ixzz2iY0rMqEs

http://www.businessinsider.com/caterpillar-q3-2013-earnings-2013-10

Caterpillar just announced its Q3 financial results, and the numbers look weak.
Earnings came in at $1.45 per share, which was much weaker than the $1.67 expected by analysts.

Revenue of $13.42 billion was below the $14.47 billion expected.

The stock is down 3% in pre-market trading.

"This year has proven to be difficult, with expected sales and revenues nearly $11 billion lower than last year," said CEO Doug Oberhelman. "That is a 17 percent decline from 2012, with about 75 percent of the drop from Resource Industries, which is principally mining. We expect Resource Industries to be down close to 40 percent for the full year and Power Systems' and Construction Industries' sales to each be down about 5 percent."



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/caterpillar-q3-2013-earnings-2013-10#ixzz2iY1LOCwl

http://www.businessinsider.com/state-and-local-governments-are-finally-adding-jobs-again-2013-10

Throughout the "recovery" following the financial crisis, one of the big drags on employment growth has been the situation at the state and local level, where there's been virtually unprecedented downsizing thanks to the decline of tax revenues.

The good news is that this is finally coming to an end.

Yesterday's jobs report was weak, but one bright spot was job creation at the state and local level as this chart from Calculated Risk shows.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/state-and-local-governments-are-finally-adding-jobs-again-2013-10#ixzz2iY5q8vCS

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-does-the-obama-administration-have-to-fix-the-obamacare-website-2013-10

***SNIP

Here are some key dates when problems will arise if the signup process is still not smooth:

December 15, 2013. This is the last day to sign up for insurance and get coverage that starts by January 1, 2014. This is a key date for the 14 million Americans who are already insured through the individual market and want to maintain their coverage.

These people can continue to buy coverage outside the exchange, but many are seeing premium increases because of how the ACA changes insurance markets and insurance plan structures. Many are also becoming eligible for premium subsidies they can only access by buying in the exchanges. If signup remains extremely difficult in mid-December (or even close to it, since people will need some lead time before the deadline to sign up) some Americans will end up paying more than they should or facing a coverage gap.

February 15, 2014. If you're uninsured, this is the last day to sign up for an exchange health plan and get covered by March 1, and therefore avoid paying a penalty for having too long an insurance coverage gap. The Administration has been signalling that it is likely to use a hardship provision in the ACA to delay the individual mandate penalty if Healthcare.gov problems have persisted close to this date.

March 31, 2014. This is supposed to be last day of enrollment for 2014 health plans. But enrollment may be extended if signup problems persist. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) is already calling for an extension.

October 15, 2014. This is the day enrollment in the ACA exchanges will start for 2015 health plans. This will be a key date for "death spiral" concerns. If the 2014 participant pool was small and disproportionately sick, insurers may be inclined to raise premiums for 2015. They may be able to resist that urge if they know the website is working well, enrollment has gotten easier, and young healthy people who held off in 2014 are likely to buy.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-does-the-obama-administration-have-to-fix-the-obamacare-website-2013-10#ixzz2iY7PV700

Along with just about every other aspect of it...

What conceivable reason could there be for NOT having 24/7/365 signup?

10/22/13 Ohio-Based ATM Maker Diebold to Pay $48M in Probe

ATM-maker Diebold Inc. has agreed to pay more than $48 million in penalties and restitution to resolve allegations of corrupt business practices overseas, the U.S. government said Tuesday. The government said Diebold has agreed to pay a $25.2 million penalty to resolve an investigation into alleged bribes in China and Indonesia and falsified records in Russia. The goal was to obtain and keep contracts to provide ATMs to state-owned and private banks in those countries, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

In a related action, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with Diebold of civil charges under the anti-bribery law. The SEC said the company agreed to pay $22.9 million in restitution and to appoint an independent monitor to oversee its compliance with the law.

"A bribe is a bribe, whether it's a stack of cash or an all-expense-paid trip to Europe," Scott Friestad, an associate director in the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement. "Public companies must be held accountable when they break the law to influence government officials with improper payments or gifts," Friestad said.

Diebold acknowledged responsibility. Besides ATMs, the North Canton-based company makes bank security and teller equipment.

"In China, Indonesia and Russia, Diebold chose to pay bribes for business and falsify documents to cover its tracks," said acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman. "Through its corrupt business practices, Diebold undermined the sense of fair play that is critical for the rule of law to prevail," Raman said.

Under the agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, the government will hold off prosecuting two counts of violating anti-bribery and record-keeping laws and will drop the charges in three years if Diebold abides by the terms. The agreement requires Diebold to cooperate with the government and implement internal controls. In addition, the company must keep a compliance monitor for at least 18 months to oversee Diebold's operations.

"Today's settlement agreement is an important step for the company moving forward," Diebold spokesman Michael Jacobsen said in an email statement. "It's imperative for Diebold to recognize these issues head on, acknowledge responsibility, put the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) investigation period behind it and get on with the business of managing the company."

The company cannot comment on any action taken against those responsible, Jacobsen said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/ohio-based-atm-maker-diebold-pay-48m-probe-20649216

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24637362

Bank shares across Europe have fallen after details of planned healthchecks on the top lenders were unveiled.

The European Central Bank, which takes over supervision of leading eurozone banks next year, said the stress tests would unearth potential risks.

Banks with capital shortfalls may be required to bolster their balance sheets, the ECB said.

The Euro Stoxx index of big eurozone banks was down more than 2.5% in late morning trading.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24633858

The Australian government has said it plans to raise the country's debt limit by two-thirds to allay concerns it could face a future fiscal crisis.

The newly-elected conservative government is looking to raise the borrowing limit to A$500bn ($486bn; £300bn).

Australia is forecast to reach its current A$300bn ceiling in December.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said that he wanted to avoid a crisis similar to the recent US fiscal emergency.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-23/blackstone-creating-rental-home-bonds-after-buying-spree.html

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP (BX) has spent $7.5 billion acquiring 40,000 houses in the past two years to create the largest single-family rental business in the U.S. The private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) may start marketing almost $500 million of the securities as soon as this week, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. The debt will include a portion with an investment grade from at least one ratings company, according to two separate people, who asked not to be identified because the deal isn’t public.

Blackstone has led hedge funds, private-equity firms and real estate investment trusts raising about $20 billion to purchase as many as 200,000 homes to rent after prices plunged 35 percent from the 2006 peak. The largest investors, seeking to profit from rebounding prices and rising demand for rentals among millions of Americans who went through foreclosure or can’t qualify for a mortgage, are looking to the bond market for capital to buy more properties and increase returns with borrowed money.

“Securitization is the next step in the evolution of the single-family rental business,” said Rob Bloemker, chief executive officer of investment firm Five Ten Capital LLC, which got a $100 million credit facility from Deutsche Bank in April to buy homes. “It brings consistent and conforming standards to lending, which will help bring larger pools of capital in and get comfortable investing in these types of loans.”

and now, I REALLY must be going....