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Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 08:06 PM Jun 2014

STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 4 June 2014

Last edited Tue Jun 3, 2014, 09:31 PM - Edit history (1)

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 4 June 2014[font color=black][/font]


SMW for 3 June 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 3 June 2014
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Dow Jones 16,722.34 -21.29 (-0.13%)
S&P 500 1,924.24 -0.73 (-0.04%)
Nasdaq 4,234.08 -3.12 (-0.07%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.60% +0.04 (1.56%)
30 Year 3.44% +0.05 (1.47%)[font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center]




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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.








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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]


43 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 4 June 2014 (Original Post) Tansy_Gold Jun 2014 OP
A good teacher can try to overcome a bad curriculum and worse test Demeter Jun 2014 #1
The Market Widget Demeter Jun 2014 #2
Okay, I'll try that. Tansy_Gold Jun 2014 #3
Oh, you said widget. Fuddnik Jun 2014 #4
What did you think I said? Demeter Jun 2014 #5
Fidget Fuddnik Jun 2014 #9
NO, I watched Gidget Demeter Jun 2014 #10
That's the Dow, I think Tansy_Gold Jun 2014 #6
It won't change with time, though Demeter Jun 2014 #7
Thanks for your post. littlemissmartypants Jun 2014 #8
Gold prices fall amid good news for U.S. economy, Ukraine Demeter Jun 2014 #14
Secrecy That Kills Demeter Jun 2014 #11
The Veterans Affairs Scandal and Plans for Downsizing the Social Security Administration Demeter Jun 2014 #12
Los Angeles sues big banks for predatory mortgages but unlikely to win xchrom Jun 2014 #13
Think again warn creditors after Greeks mull easing austerity Demeter Jun 2014 #15
Mathew D. Rose: When European Politicians Cannot Read the Handwriting on the Wall Demeter Jun 2014 #18
Lehman Lesson Lost as Bank Lobby Gains Clout, Swedish Leader Says Demeter Jun 2014 #16
Unstoppable $100 Trillion Bond Market Renders Models Useless Demeter Jun 2014 #17
One Day After U.S. Announces Emissions Target, China Says Carbon Cap Is On The Way xchrom Jun 2014 #19
I'd like to see that....but I don't think we will Demeter Jun 2014 #38
The whole Derecho scare is turning out to be not even a tempest in a teapot Demeter Jun 2014 #20
Australia beats growth forecast xchrom Jun 2014 #21
US seeks fresh China solar tariffs xchrom Jun 2014 #22
Eurozone business activity data adds to pressure on ECB xchrom Jun 2014 #23
Pam Martens: Wall Street Banks Are Now Trading Their Own Stocks in Darkness DemReadingDU Jun 2014 #24
US AUTO SALES HIT 9-YEAR HIGH IN MAY xchrom Jun 2014 #25
WORLD STOCKS DRIFT AS US JOBS REPORT, ECB AWAITED xchrom Jun 2014 #26
MICHIGAN LEGISLATURE OKS $195 MILLION FOR DETROIT xchrom Jun 2014 #27
SENATE CONFIRMS MASSAD TO HEAD FINANCIAL AGENCY xchrom Jun 2014 #28
EU EXECUTIVE SAYS LITHUANIA READY TO JOIN EURO xchrom Jun 2014 #29
Bring on the next sacrificial victim! Demeter Jun 2014 #39
US: CHINA TENSIONS BAD FOR ASIA BUSINESS xchrom Jun 2014 #30
May sees biggest job growth in Spain since July 2005 xchrom Jun 2014 #31
Interview with Marine Le Pen: 'I Don't Want this European Soviet Union' xchrom Jun 2014 #32
"Totally bogus!" You said it, Marine Demeter Jun 2014 #40
Decision Time: Britain Must Choose Now If It Will Stay in Europe xchrom Jun 2014 #33
U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fall After ADP Employment Report xchrom Jun 2014 #34
Europeans Irked by U.S.-Iran Trade as Companies Suffer xchrom Jun 2014 #35
Basel Defeat on Rules Is Guaranteed in Danish Banking Bet xchrom Jun 2014 #36
Krugman Condemnation of Sweden Triggers Riksbank Review Talk xchrom Jun 2014 #37
Sex, Drugs and Accounting in Europe BOGUS BOGUS BOGUS Demeter Jun 2014 #41
Tepid US recovery – it’s the middle class, stupid Demeter Jun 2014 #42
Duh. kickysnana Jun 2014 #43
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
1. A good teacher can try to overcome a bad curriculum and worse test
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 08:38 PM
Jun 2014

but his/her supervisors will be mightily displeased with the teacher for subverting the latest fad.

And that's what it boils down to....refusing to let highly educated and experienced, dedicated people do what they do best in the best way they know how, firing them and replacing them with scab labor, which has no intention of making teaching a career but only does it for "bonus points" on their resumes, and insisting that all humans are interchangeable and can be indoctrinated like programming chips for a huge computing machine.

There is so much that is wrong with America's educational system that I am grateful to have no young children in the system.

Teaching is a lot easier when teachers are allowed to use their strengths and those of their pupils, when students are sorted by ability, so that group instruction actually instructs the entire group in a co-ordinated fashion leaving no stragglers behind and no terminally bored, and when learning styles are identified and used to everyone's advantage.

The alternative, standardization, will mean not that everyone rises to the top, nor even that everyone rises to his/her potential.

It literally means the dumbing down of America...everyone reaching the lowest possible level because that's the point at which all children are alike.

Why not just kill and slaughter our children for food? It would make just as much sense.



One of my grandmothers was a teacher...I am grateful she never lived to see this. It was bad enough when she retired around 1970.

We know so much more about learning today....and use so much less of that knowledge than ever before in educational history.

Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
6. That's the Dow, I think
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 09:33 PM
Jun 2014

I'll see how this one works tomorrow and then try some of the others, as they seem to be set up so that they have to be installed individually.

This has been very frustrating.

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
7. It won't change with time, though
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 09:38 PM
Jun 2014

That's just Tuesday's candlesticks.

The widget itself will change with time.

littlemissmartypants

(22,418 posts)
8. Thanks for your post.
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 11:06 PM
Jun 2014

Gold has tanked and the #NCGA is proposing doing away with the Core Curriculum. eom
Love, Peace and Shelter. Lmsp

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
14. Gold prices fall amid good news for U.S. economy, Ukraine
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:39 AM
Jun 2014

Hope for political stability in Ukraine and signs of a strengthening U.S. economic recovery have sent gold price to their lowest level in 15 weeks. Gold for June delivery declined 2%, settling at $1,265.50 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange...

http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/fPbIBYvBbTCDvbzCCicOlvCicNIAeq?format=standard
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
11. Secrecy That Kills
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:26 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/opinion/sunday/secrecy-that-kills.html?_r=0

One of the maddening aspects of the General Motors safety scandal is the company’s maneuvering to conceal vital information about an ignition switch defect from government regulators and the public. The defect is linked to 13 deaths and many serious injuries.

For more than a decade, G.M. was aware of the faulty switches that caused some of its cars to accelerate suddenly and deactivate air bags. But as Bill Vlasic of The Times has reported, the company kept the danger hidden from regulators and from the public by reaching legal settlements with families that were conditioned on the families keeping silent. In at least one case involving a fatal 2010 crash, a court helped make such secrecy possible with a protective order sealing case records, as too often happens in product liability litigation. G.M. did not seriously face up to the problem until a scheduled deposition by a senior company official in a civil lawsuit threatened to expose the cover-up and implicate senior G.M. officials.

Partly as a result of the Times report, two senators — Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut — have introduced a bill that would make it harder for companies to hide behind private agreements with plaintiffs. Their modest but potentially lifesaving measure, the Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014, would require federal judges to consider the public’s interest in transparency before sealing court records in civil actions, or approving settlement agreements in cases affecting public health and safety. Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, earlier introduced the same bill in the House, where it still lacks a Republican co-sponsor.

“Concealment can kill, and so can secret settlements,” said Mr. Blumenthal, explaining the measure’s urgency. “By sealing court records of lawsuit settlements that show serious safety defects, judges are aiding and abetting more deaths, injuries and danger.”


The current controversy recalls another shameful episode in G.M.’s history; it became public about 10 years ago that G.M. had been secretly settling scores of cases involving exploding side-mounted gas tanks at the same time it was denying any safety worries. But the problem goes far beyond a single company, notes Richard Zitrin, a legal ethics expert at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. Secret settlements years ago allowed Firestone to hide information about tread that separated from tires over a prolonged period of time. They have also delayed the removal of hazardous toys and prescription drugs from the market.

The issue has come up before in Congress, typically sparked by a safety scandal. But so far no legislation has emerged, in part because of dubious claims by the American Bar Association and others that such strictures would have a dire effect on the efficiency of the courts and make it impossible to settle lawsuits. Mr. Graham, Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Nadler are right to try again.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
12. The Veterans Affairs Scandal and Plans for Downsizing the Social Security Administration
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:30 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/24080-the-veterans-affairs-scandal-and-plans-for-downsizing-the-social-security-administration

The media have been rightly focusing their attention on the long waiting lists for veterans seeking medical care, and even worse, the Department of Veteran's Affairs cover-up. Unlike President Obama's birth certificate and the attack on the consulate at Benghazi, delaying or denying care to veterans is really a scandal... if the investigations are pursued honestly, the result will be increased resources to the VA health care system so that delays can be eliminated and it can provide the high quality care for which it has become known. Unfortunately the VA system is not the only part of the government where essential services may be threatened by cutbacks. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has recently disclosed plans for a major downsizing that will result in the closing of many more of its field offices. The goal is to handle the bulk of Social Security's requests, questions, and complaints through the Internet.

While it's important and desirable for SSA to have an Internet site that can address most problems, the reality is that there are many people who do not feel comfortable using the web. This is especially true among beneficiaries of Social Security and disability, who almost by definition are older than the population as a whole, and often in poor health.

And the dealings these people have with SSA are important. Social Security provides the majority of income for the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries, and it provides more than 90 percent of the income for 40 percent of beneficiaries.

This isn't an issue like not being credited with frequent flyer miles; if beneficiaries are not getting a check to which they are entitled that means not having the rent money or being able to pay the electric bill. Just as with veterans not getting health care, this is not a case where we can afford mistakes. We have to make sure that the system in place works...It's great to look for savings that still preserve the quality of the service provided by SSA. But a route that will make it difficult for beneficiaries to talk to a human being doesn't fit the bill. That path virtually ensures some future scandal with large number of seniors losing their housing and being unable to pay for food because the SSA did not properly file their claim.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
13. Los Angeles sues big banks for predatory mortgages but unlikely to win
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:36 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/02/los-angeles-racist-mortgage-lending-big-banks

Some might argue that Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has become the first public official to answer Ta-Nehisi Coates’ call for reparations for African-Americans, due from centuries of slavery and sanctioned racism.

Late last week, Feuer sued JP Morgan Chase for a decade of steering minority borrowers into dicey subprime mortgages, with financial terms that led the homeowners to default.

Timely? Actually, this was just the latest in a series of housing discrimination lawsuits that Feuer has filed since getting elected as City Attorney last year. JP Morgan joins Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, all of whom Feuer sued under similar charges back in December.

So the four largest US banks all stand accused by Los Angeles of discriminatory lending, a practice that stripped wealth from minority communities and led to debilitating foreclosures. The city, in an echo of policies of segregation that pre-date the civil rights era, accused these banks of “reverse redlining,” explicitly targeting people of color with unfair terms of credit, in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
15. Think again warn creditors after Greeks mull easing austerity
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:42 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.euronews.com/2014/06/02/think-again-warn-creditors-after-greeks-mull-easing-austerity/



The Greeks had been looking forward to some cheer from their government soon, with finances improving and encouraging signs of a return of confidence, and growth to the economy.

The government had been hinting that after years of austerity some of the pain was about the be relieved, for example by tax cuts.

However that idea has been shot down by Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. He has urged continued discipline and in any case has not ruled out a third bailout before 2022, when the troika creditors’ group – the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – says Greek debt will be at a sustainable level.

The IMF, which agreed with Schaeuble about keeping the screws tight in Greece, along with the ECB and European Commission, are in effect running policy in Athens.

However politically if last week’s European elections are a fair barometer, sentiment in Greece has shifted from making sacrifices to saying enough is enough. Syriza, the left-wing winners of the European poll, argue for very different EU policies to combat the financial crisis.

“Schaeuble’s warnings and the IMF’s supporting continued caution might disturb the Greek government’s plans. Following defeat at the European elections, it planned to announce the end of austerity, starting by cutting tax burdens. There had also been rumours that the finance minister was to be replaced. That’s now on hold and fresh questions about when the Greek austerity programme could end are being raised,” says euronews’ Symela Touchtidou in Athens.

IMF Approves Next Tranche of Greece’s Bailout

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/05/30/imf-approves-next-tranche-of-greeces-bailout/

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of a €3.41 billion installment of Greece’s bailout package on Thursday, ending six months of protracted negotiations.

During its meeting, the IMF board reviewed the latest report submitted by the head of its mission to Greece, Poul Thomsen, which goes into the progress made in the country under the terms of the 2012 international bailout program that required unpopular austerity reforms to help restore public finances and deal with the country’s enormous public debt.

The new disbursement is twice as much “given the delay in reaching agreement on the review” between the IMF and its bailout partners, the European Union’s executive, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said recently.

The IMF last issued €1.7 billion in July 2013, and has so far lent Greece about €11.4 billion under a four-year program meant to help the country recover from its sovereign debt crisis, and rebuild its economy.

In April, the Eurogroup Working Group gave the ‘green light’ for a massive €6.3 billion installment of Greece’s bailout package, while commencing talks on Greece’s promised and much-anticipated debt relief.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
18. Mathew D. Rose: When European Politicians Cannot Read the Handwriting on the Wall
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:51 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/06/mathew-d-rose-european-politicians-read-handwriting-wall.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29



Despite the alarming results of the European elections last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained unflinching. The success of the elections, claimed Ms Merkel, confirmed that “We need a policy aimed at competitiveness and growth.” There might have been a few setbacks in the past six years, but for Ms Merkel the EU’s strategy is an unequivocal triumph. So what is missing? Her view: “Policy has to connect with the people.” In other words, austerity as usual needs to dressed in new, improved polemic.

Unfortunately Germany’s European policy has not only failed to connect with the people, even worse, it does not connect with reality.

The German ideology of austerity has led into a cul-de-sac of high unemployment, increased debt and recession for much of Europe. There is nothing wrong with trying to convince other people to believe in the confidence fairy as Paul Krugmann calls it, but it’s inherently off-base, even reckless, to believe in one’s own fable. Over the course of the current economic crisis in Europe, I do not believe I have ever heard so many references to the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel since the Vietnam War – and we know how that ended.

One thing is certain: The denizens of Europe, with the exception of the Germans, have lost faith not only in the confidence fairy and an EU economic recovery, but the EU as well. For many it has become a collection of corrupt politicians and quislings of the Germans.

MORE
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
16. Lehman Lesson Lost as Bank Lobby Gains Clout, Swedish Leader Says
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:45 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-01/lehman-lessons-lost-as-bank-lobby-wins-ground-sweden-s-pm-says.html

Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the world risks forgetting the lessons of the financial crisis as the bank lobby gains dominance.

Regulators “have listened too much to banks and others who argue that if you try to do something like this we won’t be able to conduct a banking business,” the 48-year-old said in an interview last week at his Rosenbad office in Stockholm.

Since the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision unveiled rules in 2010 to rein in an industry whose excesses plunged the global economy into crisis, banks have attacked the standards as posing a threat to economic growth. Reinfeldt says there’s a risk politicians might stray from the original policy goals articulated during the darkest hours of the crisis, as memory of the financial shock triggered by the 2008 failure of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. fades.

The premier, whose government has imposed some of the world’s strictest bank capital rules and faces an election in September, is urging regulators to show more resolve in their efforts to protect economies from financial risks.

“There are financial players that are trying to reshape society in such a way that high risk-taking should be rewarded in terms of their private finances when things go well and debts should be sent the way of taxpayers when things go badly,” Reinfeldt said. “We simply can’t accept that.”
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
17. Unstoppable $100 Trillion Bond Market Renders Models Useless
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:46 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-01/the-unstoppable-100-trillion-bond-market-renders-models-useless.html

If the insatiable demand for bonds has upended the models you use to value them, you’re not alone.

Just last month, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York retooled a gauge of relative yields on Treasuries, casting aside three decades of data that incorporated estimates for market rates from professional forecasters. Priya Misra, the head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America Corp., says a risk metric she’s relied on hasn’t worked since March.

After unprecedented stimulus by the Fed and other central banks made many traditional models useless, investors and analysts alike are having to reshape their understanding of cheap and expensive as the global market for bonds balloons to $100 trillion. With the world’s biggest economies struggling to grow and inflation nowhere in sight, catchphrases such as “new neutral” and “no normal” are gaining currency to describe a reality where bonds are rallying the most in a decade.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
19. One Day After U.S. Announces Emissions Target, China Says Carbon Cap Is On The Way
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:51 AM
Jun 2014
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/03/3444105/china-carbon-cap-2/

One day after the United States proposed rules to limit the amount of carbon emitted from existing power plants, China said it will limit its total CO2 emissions for the first time, likely starting in 2016 with the announcement of their next five-year plan. China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, and the U.S., the second biggest, account for about 42 percent of global emissions. The back-to-back signalling of serious domestic efforts to reduce emissions could signal a much-needed boost of momentum at the upcoming U.N. climate talks in an effort to establish a post-Kyoto global commitment. However the statements, which come from He Jiankun, chairman of China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change, are without specific detail or commitment and merely offer speculation on China’s approach to regulating GHGs going forward.

According to Reuters, He told a conference in Beijing on Tuesday that an absolute cap on carbon emissions will be introduced later this decade.”The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap,” He said.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
38. I'd like to see that....but I don't think we will
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:12 AM
Jun 2014

top-down energy consumption reduction? Are they calling out the army, or just abandoning the "Chinese Miracle"?

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
20. The whole Derecho scare is turning out to be not even a tempest in a teapot
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:56 AM
Jun 2014

Economic models, weather models....

it's all a question of Garbage In/Garbage Out and pushing the limits on the defining equations beyond their validity.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
21. Australia beats growth forecast
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:15 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27691884

Australia's economy grew more than forecast in the first three months of the year, boosted by a rise in exports and domestic consumption.

Growth was 1.1% in the January-to-March period, from the previous quarter. Most analysts had forecast growth of 0.9%.

The annual growth rate was 3.5% - the highest in nearly two years.

However, some analysts said the figures indicated that Australia's economy was still too heavily reliant on the mining sector - which has been a concern.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
22. US seeks fresh China solar tariffs
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:17 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27676365

The US has proposed higher and more extensive tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

The Department of Commerce said it plans to impose duties of between 18.56% to 35.21%. That is much higher than the tariffs announced in 2012.

The duties will be levied on solar panels and the cells used to make them. Previously they covered just the cells.

The US has said that import duties will help offset the subsidies given by China to solar panel makers.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
23. Eurozone business activity data adds to pressure on ECB
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:18 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27694575


Eurozone business activity grew at a slower pace in May, a survey has indicated, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to take steps to boost growth.

The final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from research firm Markit dipped to 53.5, down from 54.0 in April, and short of an initial 53.9 estimate.

However, it remained above the 50 level indicating expansion.

German businesses saw strong growth, but French business activity fell.

DemReadingDU

(16,000 posts)
24. Pam Martens: Wall Street Banks Are Now Trading Their Own Stocks in Darkness
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:42 AM
Jun 2014

6/3/14 After Charges of Running a Price Fixing Cartel on Nasdaq in the 90s, Wall Street Banks Are Now Trading Their Own Stocks in Darkness
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

On July 17, 1996, the U.S. Justice Department charged the biggest names on Wall Street, names like Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and predecessor firms to Citigroup, with pricing fixing on the electronic stock market known as Nasdaq. The Justice Department felt the firms were so untrustworthy to make a fair electronic marketplace that as part of its settlement it required that some traders’ phone calls be tape recorded when making Nasdaq trades and it gave itself the right to randomly show up and listen in on the traders’ calls. The scandal made headlines for years and revealed that the price fixing had been going on under the unwatchful eye of regulators for more than a decade. Now, more than six years after the greatest Wall Street crash since 1929, the public is still learning stomach-churning details about the lingering effects of de-regulating Wall Street.

Yesterday we learned that the very same Wall Street firms charged with price fixing in the 90s have somehow conned their regulators into allowing them to own their own dark pools – effectively unregulated stock exchanges – and make markets in the stock of their very own Wall Street bank. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) – a self-regulatory Wall Street body (which under a previous name was responsible for missing the Nasdaq price fixing for more than a decade) released trading data yesterday for the dark pools operating the week of May 12 – 16. This was the first time such data has been released. The data releases are set to continue.

There are three major concerns that are immediately raised by the trading statistics:
that Wall Street banks are allowed to make a market in their own stock inside an unregulated dark pool;
that the other largest banks are making large markets in each other’s stocks;
and why the public is just seeing a sliver of sunshine – instead of what went on in the previous 51 weeks or prior years of trading in these dark pools? Since the Wall Street firms knew this public data release was coming, it’s possible that higher trading volumes were previously occurring in their own and each other’s stocks.

Bank of America’s trading arm, Merrill Lynch, owns two dark pools, one of which is Instinct X. Last evening, FINRA data showed that during the relevant week Merrill’s dark pool, Instinct X, traded 8,207,150 shares of its own parent’s stock in a total of 16,246 trades. Merrill is now stating that it provided erroneous numbers to FINRA and the figure is really just 4,103,575 shares and 8,123 trades. A second Merrill Lynch dark pool, which goes by the letters MLVX, last evening showed it traded in its company stock to the tune of 66,200 shares in 94 trades. This morning, those figures have been cut in half.

Citigroup, which became insolvent during the 2008 crisis and required multiple bailouts from the taxpayer, owns a total of four dark pools according to a list posted at the SEC’s web site – none of which the general public has ever heard of: LavaFlow, LIQUIFI, Citi Credit Cross and Citi Cross. (The more dark pools a Wall Street firm owns the greater the concern that it could be trading between these pools to effectively paint the tape, i.e., manipulate the price of a stock.) Dark pools match buyers and sellers in the dark, without disclosing the bids and offers to the public marketplace. According to FINRA data for the relevant week, Citigroup’s dark pool, LavaFlow, traded 645,756 shares of Citigroup stock in 1,838 trades while Citi Cross traded another 39,997 in 256 trades.

Merrill Lynch’s dark pool, Instinct X, has dramatically changed its data as to what it traded in Citigroup stock for the referenced week: last night it showed it was the largest trader among the dark pools in Citigroup stock with total shares traded of 1,791,492 in 10,282 trades. This morning those figures have been cut exactly in half, making it the seventh largest share volume trader in Citigroup for the referenced week among the dark pools. Ranking above it in share volume are, in order, the dark pools of Credit Suisse (CrossFinder), Deutsche Bank (DBAX), UBS, Goldman Sachs (Sigma-X), Barclays (LATS) and Morgan Stanley (MSPL).

Data for the same week for JPMorgan shows its dark pool, JPM-X, traded 826,614 shares of its own stock in 1,483 trades. JPMorgan ranked seventh among the dark pools for trading in its stock that week with the following dark pools trading a million or more shares of JPMorgan: Credit Suisse’s CrossFinder (1.9 million); UBS (1.57 million); Barclays LATS (1.15 million); Deutsche Bank’s DBAX (1.12 million); Goldman Sachs’ Sigma-X (1.07 million). Three of Citigroup’s dark pools — LavaFlow, LIQUIFI and Citi Cross — traded a total of 939,072 shares in JPMorgan.

more...
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2014/06/after-charges-of-running-a-price-fixing-cartel-on-nasdaq-in-the-90s-wall-street-banks-are-now-trading-their-own-stocks-in-darkness/

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
25. US AUTO SALES HIT 9-YEAR HIGH IN MAY
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:49 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AUTO_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-15-16-24

DETROIT (AP) -- Brisk demand for SUVs and pickup trucks - and five sunny weekends - pushed U.S. auto sales to a nine-year high in May.

Chrysler, Nissan and Toyota all reported double-digit sales gains over last May. Even General Motors, battling bad publicity from a mishandled recall, surprised with a 13 percent sales increase.

Ford's sales rose a better-than-expected 3 percent, while Hyundai's were up 4 percent. Of major automakers, only Volkswagen's sales fell.

May is traditionally a strong month for the auto industry, as buyers spend their tax returns and think ahead to summer road trips. This year's calendar, with five weekends, gave it an extra boost. Sales were particularly strong the last weekend of the month, automakers said.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
26. WORLD STOCKS DRIFT AS US JOBS REPORT, ECB AWAITED
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:50 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-04-05-21-49

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- Global stock markets drifted lower Wednesday as investors awaited confirmation of new stimulus from the European Central Bank and a crucial U.S. jobs report.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX shed 0.3 percent to 9,890.55 and France's CAC 40 was down 0.6 percent to 4,478.19. London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent to 6,811.71.

Futures indicated another day of muted trading on Wall Street after hitting record highs earlier in the week. Dow futures slipped 0.1 percent to 16,704.00 and S&P 500 futures were down 0.2 percent to 1,918.

Investors have largely been in wait-and-see mode this week amid expectations of stronger employment growth in the U.S. and an interest rate cut along with other measures for the 18-country eurozone economy. Figures earlier this week showed that inflation in the eurozone fell to 0.5 percent in May, below the 2 percent target and suggesting chronically weak demand.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
27. MICHIGAN LEGISLATURE OKS $195 MILLION FOR DETROIT
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:52 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_XGR_DETROIT_BANKRUPTCY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-04-01-44-48

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The Michigan Legislature's $195 million lifeline to help prevent steep cuts in Detroit's pensions and the sale of city-owned art is being hailed as a major step forward in ending the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The state funds will join commitments from 12 foundations and the Detroit Institute of Arts to shore up Detroit's two retirement systems. The city's art museum and its assets would be transferred to a private nonprofit.

A delighted Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and allies are hoping Tuesday's approval of the state money will immediately persuade tens of thousands of retirees and city workers to get behind the unusual pension and art rescue. They are in the midst of voting on the deal their leaders - and now lawmakers from both parties - have endorsed.

"I clearly encourage everybody to vote `yes,'" the governor said during a news conference. "A protest vote is not helpful."

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
28. SENATE CONFIRMS MASSAD TO HEAD FINANCIAL AGENCY
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:55 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CFTC_NOMINEE_CONFIRMED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-03-19-16-28

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Barack Obama's choice to head an agency overseeing potentially risky financial market activities.

Timothy Massad, who has promised to act aggressively against misconduct to ensure investors' confidence, was approved as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The CFTC, which regulates futures and options markets as well as derivatives trading, oversees some of the riskiest corners of the financial world. Derivatives were blamed for fueling the financial crisis.

Massad, a Treasury Department official, will succeed Gary Gensler, a Wall Street veteran who surprised many by becoming a tough regulator who pushed for strict rules that were opposed by large banks.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
29. EU EXECUTIVE SAYS LITHUANIA READY TO JOIN EURO
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 07:57 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_LITHUANIA_EURO_?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-04-07-33-17

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union official that oversees the euro says Lithuania is ready to join the common currency as of next year and expects a full decision next month.

If it joins, the Baltic nation would become the 19th country to use the currency that was launched in 1999.

Lithuania's move to join is another vote of confidence in the euro, which has suffered a half-decade of financial stress following debt problems in a number of countries, such as Greece and Spain.

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Wednesday that "thanks to the efforts of the past five years, this ship is far better placed to navigate rough seas than it was at the outbreak of the crisis."

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
30. US: CHINA TENSIONS BAD FOR ASIA BUSINESS
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:01 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_ASIA_US_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-04-07-13-25

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that Washington wants to expand economic ties with Asia, the world's fastest growing region, but warned that China's provocative conduct in the South China Sea raises tensions that are bad for business.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker told American and Filipino business groups that the United States has overinvested its diplomatic, economic and strategic resources in other parts of the world. She said it was committed to policies "to correct the imbalance and to deepen U.S. engagement" with Asia.

Pritzker's swing through Vietnam, the Philippines and Myanmar is mainly focused on the economic elements of President Barack Obama's policy of refocusing U.S. foreign policy on Asia. At the same time, Obama has been in Europe reassuring U.S. allies about its security commitments to the region after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula raised tensions.

Asia and the Pacific are expected to be home to 54 percent of the world's middle class by 2022 and will import nearly $10 trillion worth of goods and services by then, more than double the level today, Pritzker said. Through 2020, more than $1 trillion of infrastructure investment is needed in the 10-member countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations to meet the demands of a growing population.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
31. May sees biggest job growth in Spain since July 2005
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:04 AM
Jun 2014
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/06/03/inenglish/1401802710_134611.html

May was another month of improvement in Spain’s job market. Social Security affiliations grew by 198,320 people, the greatest increase on record since July 2005, when the government granted legal status to thousands of undocumented migrants who left the informal economy and joined the rolls. New contributions to Social Security are used as a measure of job creation in Spain.

In another piece of good news for the labor market, jobless claims shrank by 111,916, the biggest drop ever recorded in May.

This is the third consecutive month that Social Security has recorded a rise in affiliations. May and June are typically the best months for the Spanish labor market because of tourism, construction and harvesting work. As such, the greatest number of new affiliations were for jobs in these sectors.

Seasonally adjusted figures also posted positive signs for the ninth month in a row.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
32. Interview with Marine Le Pen: 'I Don't Want this European Soviet Union'
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:07 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-french-front-national-leader-marine-le-pen-a-972925.html

SPIEGEL: Ms. Le Pen, having won 25 percent of the French vote, your Front National party stands as one of the primary beneficiaries of the May 25 European Parliament election. How could such a thing come to pass?

Le Pen: The French want to regain control of their own country. They want to determine the course of their own economy and their immigration policies. They want their own laws to take precedence over those of the European Union. The French have understood that the EU does not live up to the utopia they were sold. It has distanced itself significantly from a democratic mode of operation.

SPIEGEL: Yet, prior to the election, it was said that the establishment of lead candidates for the two biggest groups -- Jean-Claude Juncker for the center-right and Martin Schulz for the center-left -- would strengthen democracy in the EU.

Le Pen: That is totally bogus. Everybody knew that the parliament wouldn't be making the final decision on the next president of the European Commission.

SPIEGEL: Do you want to destroy Europe?

Le Pen: I want to destroy the EU, not Europe! I believe in a Europe of nation-states. I believe in Airbus and Ariane, in a Europe based on cooperation. But I don't want this European Soviet Union.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
33. Decision Time: Britain Must Choose Now If It Will Stay in Europe
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:09 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/spiegel-editorial-argues-britain-must-determine-future-in-eu-a-972903.html

Following last week's elections for the European Parliament, Europe finds itself at a historical turning point. It faces two questions. The first is that of how seriously the European Union is about its promise to become more democratic. The second is whether Britain can remain a member of the EU.

The extent to which those two questions are inextricably linked became clear last week when Prime Minister David Cameron refused to recognize the results of the European election and nominate winner Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission, the EU's executive. Most countries and leaders in the European Council, the powerful body representing EU leaders, had previously agreed to this procedure. It was a significant promise to the people of Europe -- they were to be provided with a greater say and they were supposed to be given a sign that their vote counts, that it has concrete effects. But Cameron threw a spanner in the works.

The crisis in European democracy is also the consequence of an unsettled relationship. Both the EU and Britain have perceived their relations as a burden in recent years. People in Brussels suffer under a London that is constantly thwarting European unity, that has slammed the brakes on progress and has doggedly prevented a deepening of relations.

The Tipping Point

In Britain, people suffer under the EU itself. It is a chronic suffering, one without any prospects of relief. During the May 25 European election, the anti-EU UKIP party garnered 27.5 percent of the vote, making it the strongest British party in the new European Parliament. And this, despite the fact that Britain's other political parties -- with the exception of the Liberal Democrats -- are about as EU-friendly as Germany's euroskeptic AFD.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
34. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fall After ADP Employment Report
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:37 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/u-s-stock-index-futures-fall-as-investors-await-adp-data.html

U.S. stock-index futures declined as a private report on payrolls showed that companies in the world’s largest economy added fewer workers last month.

FuelCell Energy Inc. plunged 13 percent after saying its loss widened in the second quarter. Protective Life Corp. surged 18 percent after Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. agreed to buy the life insurer for 582.2 billion yen ($5.7 billion). Under Armour Inc. gained 1.6 percent after Jefferies Group LLC raised its rating on the shares.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) expiring this month fell 0.2 percent to 1,917.70 at 8:19 a.m. in New York. The equity gauge reached an all-time high on June 2. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slipped 30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,683 today. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 0.3 percent.

“We’re a tad weaker, but we’ve had several very, very good days,” said Patrick Spencer, London-based head of equity sales at Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees more than $100 billion. “The economy is in a good position where it’s not so buoyant that the Fed has got to withdraw its support quickly, and not so weak that they have to worry about further weakening. That’s where we are ahead of this jobs number.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
35. Europeans Irked by U.S.-Iran Trade as Companies Suffer
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:39 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/europeans-irked-by-u-s-iran-trade-as-companies-suffer.html

Europeans are complaining about rising American trade with Iran as their companies bear the brunt of the sanctions that the U.S. government pushed through against the Islamic Republic.

While Europe’s trade with Iran still dwarfs that of the U.S. by more than 20-to-one, American business has climbed 35 percent since 2011, compared with a 77 percent drop for the European Union, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some officials say it’s unfair that U.S. exports, mostly food, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, are rising at a time when European companies are making sacrifices and their banks are being fined for alleged dealings with sanctioned countries.

“The EU needs to address concerns with the U.S.,” said Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the EU parliament who has served on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade committees. “American sanctions vis-a-vis Iran have had undesired extra-territorial impact on EU business,” Schaake, who was in Iran in December, said in a written response to questions.

Divisions among the allies over measures against Iran may hurt any effort by the U.S. and Europe to partner in a new sanctions regime to punish Russia’s Vladimir Putin for his Crimea land grab, said Ian Kearns, director of the London-based European Leadership Network, a policy-advisory group led by former EU officials.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
36. Basel Defeat on Rules Is Guaranteed in Danish Banking Bet
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:41 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/basel-defeat-is-guaranteed-in-danish-banking-bet-nordic-credit.html

Denmark’s government said its proposals from May to ease Basel III liquidity rules will probably prevail when the European Commission reveals its final decision on the matter this month.

Economy Minister Margrethe Vestager said she sees “no reason to believe there are any changes to the proposal” published by her ministry last month, in an interview yesterday in Copenhagen.

Denmark, which has spent the past 3 1/2 years battling rules by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision the nation says penalize its home finance system, is telling its banks they won’t need to follow the global regulator’s standards for covered bonds. Vestager said in May her ministry had received assurances from Brussels that Denmark’s needs would be taken into account when Europe adapts Basel III to its own markets.

The government in Copenhagen has argued that applying Basel’s rules, which limit the asset classes banks can use to fill liquidity reserves, would force lenders in the Nordic country to sell covered bonds. The Danish mortgage industry says there aren’t enough government bonds -- favored under Basel -- to fill the gap, because the AAA-rated nation doesn’t have enough public debt. Banks currently use mortgage-backed covered bonds to meet about 70 percent of their liquidity needs, versus a 40 percent cap set by Basel.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
37. Krugman Condemnation of Sweden Triggers Riksbank Review Talk
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 08:43 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/krugman-condemnation-of-sweden-triggers-riksbank-review-talk-1-.html

Sweden is considering a more rigorous oversight of its monetary policy two months after Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman lambasted the nation’s central bank for failing to stave off the threat of deflation.

Finance Minister Anders Borg said it’s “worth having a discussion” to explore whether an independent agency should monitor the central bank to address concerns about its failure to fulfill its inflation mandate. The bank is currently overseen by the parliament’s finance committee.

Krugman in April described Sweden’s use of monetary policy during the financial crisis as an example of “sadomonetarism” that was creating a deflationary spiral similar to that suffered in Japan. Sweden has endured four months of consumer price declines, prompting members of the Riksbank’s own board to criticize the bank for its rate policies.

“Increased openness and more discussion I think is normally good,” Borg said in an interview yesterday.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
41. Sex, Drugs and Accounting in Europe BOGUS BOGUS BOGUS
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:25 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-05-30/sex-drugs-and-accounting-in-europe

Europe has a new source of economic growth. In the next few months all European Union countries that do not already include drugs, prostitution, and other illegal and gray-market businesses in their gross domestic product calculations will have to do so. The 2010 version of the European System of Accounts becomes obligatory for GDP reporting by EU member states in September. It states unequivocally that "illegal economic actions shall be considered as transactions when all units involved enter the actions by mutual agreement. Thus, purchases, sales or barters of illegal drugs or stolen property are transactions, while theft is not."

The ostensible goal is to make countries' economic data comparable.
Relatively permissive EU members such as Germany, Hungary, Austria and Greece, where prostitution is legal, already include the revenue it produces in their national accounts. Other countries with more prudish laws have been denied a statistical bonus. The same goes for drugs: Some of them are decriminalized in the Netherlands -- and have long been included in the GDP calculation -- while other countries have shied away from doing this, to their own statistical detriment...Italy already includes much of its shadow economy in its GDP figures, but will now have to go further. Adding drugs, prostitution, and black market alcohol and cigarettes could increase Italy's GDP by as much as 2 percent, according to Eurostat. In this way, Italy's hookers and drug addicts would help Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi bring Italy's budget deficit below the euro area's statutory 3 percent of GDP. They would also help him to meet requirements to show declines in Italy's debt to GDP ratio, which continued its steep rise to 132.6 percent as of December...The U.K., which also already includes part of its gray economy, and would only add $16.7 billion, or slightly more than 0.7 percent, to its 2009 GDP under the new rules. The British Office for National Statistics hasn't done the calculations for subsequent years yet.

GDP measurements have long been a feast of creative accounting. Italy's 1987 sorpasso, or rush to overtake the U.K. as the world's fifth largest economy, is an often cited example: It was achieved when Italy first started accounting for its untaxed shadow economy, adding about 18 percent to GDP...To understand how these things happen, it's useful to delve into the official methodologies. To estimate the drug market, for example, Statistics Netherlands figures out the number of heavy users from data provided by nongovernmental organizations working with addicts. It then accepts sociological data on the number of recreational users, corrects for some overlap between the two groups and literally guesses at the average daily drug dosage. There is no way to correct for factors such as the purity of heroin sold on the street. As for the price of the drug, the 2005 Dutch report on the calculation methodology contains the phrase "according to the Internet."

Prostitution estimates are more precise in the Netherlands, although that sector is also partly in the shadows: Forced and underage prostitution, as well as unregistered freelancing, are as hard to assess as anywhere else. It can be calculated, for example, that a "window prostitute" in Amsterdam's famous red-light district has, on average, three clients a day. It is harder to work out the rate for other flavors of the trade. The 2005 Statistics Netherlands report states optimistically: "As escorts and call girls have to travel, we assume they have only one client per evening." The U.K. National Statistics Office, whose methodology is based in part on Dutch studies, assumes that Britain's approximately 58,000 prostitutes (a number based on a 10-year-old study by a charity organization) have a rather higher turnover. They serve an average of 25 clients a week.

Calculating GDP is notoriously difficult, but anyone who has read the methodological documents involving drugs and prostitution will find it hard to go on taking economic growth numbers seriously.
Statisticians could do even more to turn GDP estimates into a travesty. They could, for example, include bribes. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development puts the cost of corruption at 5 percent of global GDP and, according to the World Bank, more than $1 trillion is paid out in bribes every year. Corruption is known to reduce public spending on health, education and other useful pursuits, but why should it only be treated as a cost? It falls nicely under the definition of a voluntary transaction in the European System of Accounts. There is no substantive difference between the services of a prostitute and a corrupt bureaucrat...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
42. Tepid US recovery – it’s the middle class, stupid
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:30 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/753839f0-e75b-11e3-88be-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk

The only point of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable, said J K Galbraith. Economists blame most of the US’s 1 per cent shrinkage in the first quarter of this year on the harsh winter. Now that the polar vortex is over, America’s much-awaited take-off will finally happen, they say. Such is the profession’s unshakeable self-belief. For my money, I would sooner consult the star signs. Or the weather report. Economic forecasters have yet to internalise the fact that the US economy has fundamentally altered. The purchasing power of the majority of Americans has not only stagnated since the recovery began five years ago – it has actually declined.

At $53,000, the median US household is more than $4,000 – or 7.6 per cent – poorer in real terms than it was at the start of the recession in 2008, according to Sentier Research. Yet the economy as a whole has long since overtaken its pre-recession size. The culprit is rising income and wealth inequality – a central economic truth of our time. As Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, put it last week: “Within societies, virtually without exception, inequality of outcomes both within and across generations has demonstrably increased.” When most of the gains of growth go to a small slice of high earners at the top, little of it is spent. Aggregate growth is perennially vulnerable.

There is nothing mystical about the forces at work. Take the US housing recovery, which has once again stalled in the past few months (a negative trend that both predates and postdates the terrible winter). During the first four months of this year, the sales of the 1 per cent most expensive US homes – those worth $1.67m or more – have increased by 21 per cent, according to Redfin, the real estate group. It followed a gain of 35 per cent in 2013 – led by the gilded San Francisco Bay area, where the priciest homes start at $5.35m. Sales of the bottom 99 per cent of homes in the US, meantime, have fallen by 7.6 per cent so far this year. Here, in a nutshell, you have the US economy. The total value of home sales has risen. But most people are not seeing it.

The same is true of other forms of consumption. The high end is booming. And so are parts of the bottom end. Most things in between are struggling. In the first quarter of 2014, revenue growth at LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate that includes high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, rose by 9 per cent worldwide – led by robust sales in the US. ...look north to Canada, which has endured its harshest winter in 20 years. First-quarter Canadian growth was plus 1.2 per cent, as opposed to minus 1 per cent in the US. Canada happens to have a more robust middle class. There is far more to America’s disappointing recovery than the weather.

kickysnana

(3,908 posts)
43. Duh.
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 11:59 AM
Jun 2014

We finally have the DFL in power here and although they are doing good things they are also able to be easily lured to shiney beans.

Feds are running priority oil trains 24/7 through here in place of the pipeline and it delays both Amtrak and the light rail they have installed. The next light rail project has had a lot of trouble finding an alternate route through the west suburbs due to stuff already in place but they are planning to go ahead with it anyway but it will it will not allow oil trains.

Last week we had flooding rains for quite a few days. All the watersheds are full. Growth in the western suburbs has not been kept up with in infrastructure and 10 years ago the suburbs said they needed an immediate increase in sanitary sewer volume. The Met council controls the sewage mains in the area. The Met council appointed by the Governor has tabled that suggestion every year since instead focusing on the new stadiums and trains. Rain sewers and sanitary sewers are separated mostly here but there is seepage and I imagine sump pumps operating 24/7 force the city of Mound MN between a rock and a hard place. They could either let the sanitary sewer back up in at least 1000 basements or filter it for solids and add rain water before dumping it in the chain of lakes there, so lakes it was.

Minneapolis and St Paul are gung ho on putting in street cars, more toys. They can get Federal money for that and improving the bus system only if they do that.
There were very good reasons the TC area stopped street cars in 1953 and now they are going to start from scratch. Double duh!

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