It's what gets a revolution going....

In other news, the natives are getting restless in Jonestown tonight.

Somebody hit the hive with a stick.

And several other distractions, also known as Internet problems, fixing supper, and (ugh of ughs) the day job.

STAY AWAY FROM JONESTOWN.

I wish I could help with that widget thingamajig.

it was frightening, actually. Lord of the Flies frightening.

I can get the kitco to display, but, it is not pretty and has a string of html gobbligook dangling from the end of it.

Has anyone thought to go to ATA and inquire about widgets?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/ecuador-sends-gold-reserves-to-goldman-sachs-in-liquidity-hunt.html

Ecuador agreed to transfer more than half its gold reserves to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for three years to give the government easier access to cash. The central bank said it will send 466,000 ounces of gold to Goldman Sachs, worth about $580 million at current prices, and get the same amount back three years from now. In return, Ecuador will get “instruments of high security and liquidity” and expects to earn a profit of $16 million to $20 million over the term of the accord. The central bank didn’t detail additional terms of the transactions, such as any fees or financing costs paid to Goldman Sachs. (I'LL BET THEY DIDN'T--ECUADOR WOULD BE IN FLAMES--DEMETER) The deal comes as the South American country’s government, which defaulted on about $3.2 billion of bonds five years ago, seeks to cover a budget deficit forecast by the Finance Ministry to swell to a record $4.94 billion this year. President Rafael Correa said in April he also planned to sell about $700 million of foreign debt this year in the country’s first international bond sale since the 2008 and 2009 default.

“Gold that was not generating any returns in vaults, causing storage costs, now becomes a productive asset that will generate profits,” the central bank said in the statement. “These interventions in the gold market represent the beginning of a new and permanent strategy of active participation by the bank, through purchases, sales and financial operations, that will contribute to the creation of new financial investment opportunities.” The country’s gold reserves fell by $605 million, or 55 percent, to $493 million in the week ending May 23, according to a separate report on the central bank’s website. The bank, which was stripped of its autonomy in a 2008 constitutional referendum, had about 845,000 troy ounces of gold as of April 14, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Last year, Goldman Sachs proposed a swap with Venezuela to provide $1.68 billion in cash to be backed by $1.85 billion of that country’s gold, documents obtained by Bloomberg News showed. The deal, which wasn’t completed, would have carried an interest rate of 7.5 percent plus the three-month London interbank offered rate. Venezuela would have kept its exposure to gold, with the nation posting the precious metal or cash to a margin account if the price fell and Goldman Sachs posting U.S. dollars if it rose, the documents show.

Ecuador’s deal with Goldman Sachs is a signal the central bank is short on cash, Vicente Albornoz, the dean of the Universidad de las Americas business school in Quito, said in a telephone interview. The funds should help prop up government spending this year needed to drive economic growth. “About the only thing that’s clear is that they’re converting part of their reserves into some sort of cash equivalent,” Albornoz said. “If the government doesn’t find funds to finance the deficit, it’ll have to cut spending.” OR LOSE THE GOLD.

$20 million / $580 million = 0.0344827586206897 or 3.45% + savings on storing and watching the stuff! That is barely keeping up with inflation. No wonder is country defaulted five years ago

Question, who is doing whom a favor here?

... The Spanish constitution does not have a precise law regulating abdication and royal succession. Mr Rajoy's emergency cabinet meeting will draft an abdication law which must then be approved by parliament. Correspondents say that the process could take as long as a month.

The two main parties in parliament remain loyal to the monarchy. But most left-wing parties are opposed and staged demonstrations attended by tens of thousands of people across many cities including Madrid and Barcelona.

"Send the Bourbons to the sharks!" protesters chanted in Madrid. The Spanish royal family is a branch of the House of Bourbon.

Many demonstrators are demanding a referendum on the future of the monarchy. Spanish media say Prince Felipe will be proclaimed King Felipe VI by parliament on 6 June and a coronation ceremony will be held soon afterwards...

/... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27672997
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/02/watch-sen-elizabeth-warren-and-author-thomas-piketty-discuss-economic-inequality/

A discussion between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and economist Thomas Piketty regarding income inequality and how to combat it will air Monday night at 8:30 p.m. EST.

“It’s fundamentally this question about whether or not the game is rigged,” Warren said in footage released from the talk, which was filmed in Boston, Massachusetts this Saturday night. “The game right now, in America, is rigged.”

Piketty’s latest book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, recently topped the New York Times‘ best-seller list for hardcover non-fiction works. In it, he argues that a wide income disparity is a feature of capitalism, as opposed to side-effect, and says that government regulation is necessary to limit the potential damage to the democratic process.

It should be a process, with multiple pathways, and no cliffs or bear traps.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/02/seattle-city-council-unanimously-approves-minimum-wage-increase-to-15-per-hour/

SEATTLE (Reuters) – The Seattle city council voted unanimously on Monday to approve a sharp increase in the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next seven years, marking the first time a major U.S. city has committed to such a high base level of pay.

Under the terms of the plan, businesses with fewer than 500 workers must raise wages to the $15 mark in the next seven years, an increase of more than 60 percent from Seattle’s current minimum wage of $9.32 an hour.Larger businesses must meet that level within three years, or four if they provide health insurance.

“We have worked alongside organized labor in Seattle who have campaigned vigorously for $15 (an hour),” said socialist council member Kshama Sawant, a supporter of the measure (pictured above).

“We forced the establishment to lift the wages of 100,000 low-wage workers in Seattle, to transfer $3 billion from business to workers at the bottom of the pay scale over the next 10 years. We did it. Workers did it,” Sawant said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-06-18-22

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Global stocks were mixed on Tuesday with inflation data showing a weak recovery in Europe even as Chinese manufacturing was recovering from contraction.

European stocks opened lower. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent to 6,840.60 and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.1 percent to 4,510.77. Germany's DAX lost 0.2 percent to 9,927.49.

The European Union's statistics agency said that inflation in the combined economy of countries using the euro was a lower-than-expected 0.5 percent last month, down from 0.7 percent in April, suggesting demand is weak.

The decline in inflation puts more pressure on the European Central Bank to take additional measures to support the fragile economic recovery when it reviews monetary policy on Thursday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_VIETNAM_CHINA_ECONOMIC_STAKES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-04-02-55

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Like thousands of other factory owners in Vietnam, Nguyen Van Phuc relies on China for the expertise and raw materials needed to keep his production line humming. But spiking tensions between Hanoi and Beijing over maritime territorial claims are threatening that relationship and his bottom line.

Chinese technicians scheduled to upgrade his equipment are too spooked to visit following anti-China violence. His Chinese suppliers no longer accept cash on delivery, fearing an even sharper deterioration in relations would leave them out of pocket, so Phuc must now pay more from a third-party supplier.

"One hundred percent of Vietnamese companies just want to have peace to do their business," he said at his electric cable company in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi.

China has long feuded with its Southeast Asian neighbors over who owns what in the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and a region potentially rich in oil and natural gas. In recent years, Beijing has been more forceful in pressing its expansive claims, bringing it into conflict with Vietnam and the Philippines.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-06-40-25

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Inflation in the eurozone sagged more than expected to 0.5 percent in May, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to take action this week to support the weak economic recovery.

The figure released Tuesday by the European Union's statistics agency fell from 0.7 percent in April and was short of market analysts' forecasts for 0.6 percent.

Inflation has been low for several months, increasing concerns that the 18-country eurozone could fall into outright deflation, a sustained drop in prices that chokes off growth as consumers delay purchases in hopes of bargains and businesses postpone investment.

Even merely weak inflation can hold back the economy if it lasts too long. It can make it harder for indebted companies and governments to reduce debt, and it also makes it harder for weaker countries such as Greece or Portugal to become more competitive relative to their stronger trade partners such as Germany.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ECONOMY_MANUFACTURING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-02-13-49-16

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Institute for Supply Management twice corrected its May manufacturing index on Monday to show that factories grew at a strong pace during the month. The original report said that manufacturers had expanded at a weaker pace.

The index, a widely followed gauge of factory activity, now reads 55.4, up from 53.2 in the initial report. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The corrected figures indicate that manufacturing is expanding at a healthy pace and should help the economy rebound after a weak start to the year. Nearly all of the 18 industries tracked by the index reported growth, led by furniture, electrical equipment, and appliances. Textiles, the only sector that didn't grow, were flat.

"They say that the third time is the charm," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, in a research note. "Let's hope so for the ISM's sake... Based on the corrected survey, it appears that manufacturing activity is still gathering momentum."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEATTLE_MINIMUM_WAGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-06-09-57

SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle activists celebrated a successful campaign to gradually increase the city's minimum wage to $15 by calling for a national movement to close the income and opportunity gaps between rich and poor.

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that would give the city the highest minimum wage in the nation.

Socialist City Council Member Kshama Sawant, who after the council meeting called on the people of America to elect more independent and socialist candidates, said the push for a higher minimum wage is spreading across the nation.

"Seattle may be a hippie city. We may wear socks with our sandals," but it's also a city where different progressive groups can work together to bring about change, Sawant said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOME_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-08-04-54

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. home prices rose in April compared with a year earlier, but the increase was the smallest annual gain in 14 months. Price gains have slowed this year as sales have faltered.

Data provider CoreLogic says prices rose 10.5 percent in April from 12 months earlier. That is a healthy gain, but it's down from March's 11.1 percent increase and February's 12.2 percent gain.

On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 2.1 percent. But CoreLogic's monthly figures aren't adjusted for seasonal patterns, such as warmer spring weather.

Higher mortgage rates, tight credit and a limited supply of available homes have slowed the housing recovery. Sales of existing homes ticked up in April after falling to a 20-month low in March. They were still 6.8 percent lower than a year ago.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/180079/15-great-big-wage-hike-seattle-great-big-movement-nationally

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for five years, even as income inequality has more and more become a pressing issue. Yet as recently as a year ago, prospects for meaningful increase in base pay for the working poor seemed remote.

Then fast-food workers struck, unions began to make real demands and election results confirmed that people were ready to support great big wage hikes.

Now doubling the minimum wage is on the agenda.

Actually, that prospect just moved off the agenda and into official policy in one of America’s largest cities—Seattle—where the city council will on Monday unanimously approved implementation of a $15-an-hour minimum wage. The specific accomplishment in Seattle is strikingly significant; as Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant says, “We forced them to lift 100,000 low-wage workers in Seattle out of poverty—to transfer $2.5 billion to workers at the bottom of the wage scale over the next ten years.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/obama-unveils-1-billion-europe-security-fund-amid-russia-threat.html

U.S. President Barack Obama, arriving in Poland today, announced a $1 billion fund to help boost defensive capabilities of European allies shaken by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Obama will officially call on Congress to approve the fund this afternoon during a joint press conference with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski in Warsaw. The “European Reassurance Fund” will build on previously announced measures by increasing the capability, readiness, and responsiveness of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces to address continued threats and deter further destabilizing activities, according to a White House fact sheet.

The initiative, unveiled in Poland, a NATO ally, marks the highest-profile measure to date by Obama in affirming a commitment to Europe following months of tensions surrounding the February ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Russia’s moves since then to annex Crimea and back pro-Russian separatist movements in Ukraine triggered sanctions against members of Putin’s inner circle by the U.S. and Europe.

“Our commitments to Poland’s security, as well as the security of our allies in Central and Eastern Europe, is a cornerstone of our own security,” Obama said as he arrived in Warsaw this morning after flying overnight from Washington. “It is sacrosanct.”

Not the NSA, I'll betcha.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/yellen-turns-goose-for-u-s-stocks-rising-on-speech-days.html

Janet Yellen has spoken publicly at length on the economic outlook or monetary policy seven times since becoming the Federal Reserve chief. Her next address, on June 18, might provide as good a reason as any to buy stocks.

That’s because Yellen’s effect has introduced a new fowl to central-banking euphemisms. To doves and hawks, we have our first goose.

Blame Allan Meltzer, a historian of the Fed and a professor at the David A. Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, who has warned for the better part of five years that Fed interest rate cuts and asset purchases were going to trigger inflation any day now. He says Yellen’s Fed is “goosing” equities with its provision of easy money.

Yellen didn’t take kindly to the description, saying last month she would “hardly endorse” the suggestion.

“We have no target for stock prices,” she told a Senate committee on May 7.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/norway-oil-riches-at-stake-as-political-brinkmanship-sets-agenda.html

Investors in Norway, western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, face more political wrangling as the level of brinkmanship in lawmaking picks up.

The minority coalition, in office since October, is Norway’s first in almost a decade to rely on opposition parties to push through laws. Those include how to manage the nation’s $880 billion sovereign wealth fund and how to develop key offshore oil projects. The composition of the legislature means stakeholders in Norway’s affairs must gird for “some disturbances,” Finance Minister Siv Jensen said yesterday in an interview in Oslo.

Investors in Scandinavia’s richest nation have been wrong-footed a few times in the past three years, most notably when the government in 2011 withdrew Eksportfinans ASA’s state backing, turning top-rated bonds into junk notes. Then in 2013, investors balked at a decision to cut gas distribution tariffs, a move they said sliced as much as $6.5 billion off their income.

The Labor government that pushed through those measures is now the largest party in the opposition bloc. “The decision-making process takes a little longer time than it has been for the last eight years with a majority government,” Jensen said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/euro-inflation-slowing-more-than-forecast-pressures-ecb.html

Euro-area inflation slowed more than economists forecast in May, cranking up pressure on the European Central Bank to deploy measures as soon as this week to kindle prices and drive growth.

The rate fell to 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent in April, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 38 economists was for a decline to 0.6 percent. The rate has been less than half the ECB’s target for eight months.

With ECB President Mario Draghi warning about the risk of a negative price spiral, the Governing Council is considering measures from negative interest rates to conditional liquidity for banks. The central bank is also contending with high unemployment, which unexpectedly decreased in April while remaining near a record, a separate Eurostat report showed.

“It’s a surprise, but not enough of a surprise to change materially the global economic outlook that the ECB will release on Thursday,” said Michel Martinez, an economist at Societe Generale SA in Paris. “What seems highly likely is that the ECB will cut key rates and probably also inject further liquidity.”

Anyone famiiar with UK train travel?

If so, can you help?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10886144

Sorry for the off-topic post, but the Marketeers are a friendly lot and may be able to help.

http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?

Unfortunately, it's only DAILY updates... Instead of near realtime.

DJIA 30

NIKKEI

FTSE

DAX

NASDAQ

S&P 500

At first, I wasn't sure what markets the graphs represented, but, now the markets are there.
Good, thanks!

there's lots more to the widget than just the graphs...play around with it. It would be really handy (and compact) if we could somehow incorporate it.

http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?