Last edited Mon Oct 6, 2014, 11:12 PM - Edit history (1)

October 06, 2014

How Do They Sleep at Night?

The Incarceration of the American Consumer

by RALPH NADER


How do corporate attorneys sleep at night considering that with the power of their large corporate clients, they often crush the freedoms of workers, consumers and small communities who are trying to break out of a complex web of shackles?

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/06/the-incarceration-of-the-american-consumer/

Sorry Boy Reposted

Anything else? Fuggetaboutit.

Ralph has a good way of speaking the truth, to bad lots of folks won't listen to him.

http://www.businessinsider.com/german-industrial-production-falls-4-2014-10

German industrial production dropped 4% from July to August, versus an expected decline of 1.5%. This is the biggest month-on-month drop in five years. The figure represents a 2.8% drop on the same month last year.

Similarly ugly numbers on factory orders released on Monday and the worrying business reports suggest the sector is in decline.

We don't yet have a full quarter's data but Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics is already calling it: "The German manufacturing sector is in a recession."

"The weakness in industrial production has now significantly increased the probability that German GDP failed to grow at all in the third quarter," added Chris Scicluna of Daiwa Capital Markets in a note.

There are factors to consider here: Largely the impact of summer holidays in Europe. But even if Germany's industrial growth isn't going rapidly into reverse, it's stalled at best.

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54339faeecad04493d3301ab-960/unnamed%20(1)-6.jpg

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/german-industrial-production-falls-4-2014-10#ixzz3FS2GebMi

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-october-7-2014-2014-10

1. Islamic State militants have entered the Syrian town of Kobani on the Turkish border. The Guardian warns that capturing Kobani would "give the group full control of a large stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border."

2. A Spanish nurse has been infected with Ebola after treating two patients in Madrid. She is thought to be the first known person to have contracted the virus outside West Africa.

3. President Obama said the White House was taking an "all-hand-on-deck" approach to preventing an Ebola outbreak in the US. Last week, a man traveling from Liberia was the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus while on US soil.

4. Samsung has forecast a 60% drop in third-quarter profits from a year ago. This is the biggest decline in quarterly profits since 2009.

5. South Korean and North Korean patrol boats exchanged fire on a disputed sea border, before the North Korean ship retreated.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-october-7-2014-2014-10#ixzz3FS2sXzil

I guess all that arrogant "US is superior" propaganda didn't sell well in the public's perceptions.

their carefully crafted midterm election dialogs on Bengahzi, the ACA and IS-whatever.

Especially, the Republicans due to their attacks on the ACA in the lead in to a pandemic of a fatal disease that although anyone can catch it is preying on their prey, the Underclass.

I'm amused by that aspect of the decay. THEY NEED TO DO THEIR JOBS!

http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-oct-7-2014-2014-10

Here's the scorecard:

France's CAC 40 is down 0.69%

Spain's IBEX is down 0.84%

Italy's FTSE MIB is down 0.14%

Britain's FTSE 100 is down 0.68%

Germany's DAX is down 0.66%.

Asian markets closed mixed. The Nikkei closed down 0.67%, while the Hang Seng closed up 0.25%.

U.S. futures are down a little, with Dow futures down 48 points and and S&P futures down 5.6 points.

It's a slow day for data. German industrial production dropped 4% from July to August, versus an expected decline of 1.5%. Industrial production numbers for the UK are out at 4:30 a.m. ET.

In the US later, consumer credit change data comes out at 3 p.m. ET, and there are speeches by Fed policymakers Narayana Kocherlakota and Bill Dudley.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-oct-7-2014-2014-10#ixzz3FS3iwg4C

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-face-eu-investigation-over-luxembourg-tax-deal-ft-2014-10

(Reuters) - The European Commission is set to begin a formal probe into allegations that Luxembourg allowed Amazon.com Inc to benefit illegally from state subsidies for its European operations for almost 10 years, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The investigation relates to favorable terms given to Amazon under a 2003 tax ruling, which cap its tax exposure to the Grand Duchy and limit the overall cost to less than 1 percent of the company's European income, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the case.

The commission contends that Luxembourg permitted Amazon to misallocate gains within its corporate structure, in a way that fell short of standards expected of an arms-length transaction between corporate subsidiaries, the FT said.

This allowed the company to reduce artificially its tax bill on a selective basis, the FT reported citing sources familiar with the initial investigation.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-face-eu-investigation-over-luxembourg-tax-deal-ft-2014-10#ixzz3FS4M6zjw

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-financial-regulators-advisers-meeting-yellen-2014-10

The White House did not identify any specific additional possible reform measures, months after Obama declared in an interview that an "unfinished piece of business" of his administration was further crackdown on banks that accept big risks.

From the White House, here's the list of participants in the meeting:

Participants in today’s meeting included:

Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Mary Jo White, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Martin Gruenberg, Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Mel Watt, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Timothy Massad, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Debbie Matz, Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration
White House and Administration Participants:

Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury
Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
Jeff Zients, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel
Sarah Bloom Raskin, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Seth Wheeler, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-financial-regulators-advisers-meeting-yellen-2014-10#ixzz3FS4wCl75

It's only the bottom of the 6th (year)...this should have happened in the 6th month, not the 6th year.

And when is he gonna pick the patsy to take over from Holder?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DISTRACTED_DRIVING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-03-09-46

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just because you can talk to your car doesn't mean you should. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse instead of better.

The systems let drivers do things like tune the radio, send a text message or make a phone call while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, but many of these systems are so error-prone or complex that they require more concentration from drivers rather than less, according to studies released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah.

One study examined infotainment systems in some of the most common auto brands on the road: Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai and Mercedes. The second study tested the Apple iPhone's Siri voice system to navigate, send texts, make Facebook and Twitter posts and use the calendar without handling or looking at the phone. Apple and Google are working with automakers to mesh smartphones with infotainment systems so drivers can bring their apps, navigation and music files into their cars.

The voice-activated systems were graded on a distraction scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing no distraction and 5 comparable to doing complex math problems and word memorization.

***about the only thing i say to my car is 'fuck you'.

My younger daughter has one of those...an earlier model. It's impossible to operate at all, IMO. And I am not technologically unsophisticated.

It would say in female voice "The door is ajar" and I kept thinking no, its a door, silly. It has been awhile, so they are doing it with and upgrade again huh?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-04-14-44

KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX fell 0.9 percent to 9,127.05 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.8 percent to 4,253.72. Wall Street looked set for more declines, with futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 down 0.3 percent in pre-market trading. On Monday, the S&P shed 0.2 percent and the DJ lost 0.1 percent.

ASIA'S DAY: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 declined 0.7 percent to 15,783.83 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent to 23,408.19. Seoul's Kospi was up 0.2 percent at 1,972.91. Sydney's S&P ASX 200 lost 0.2 percent to 5,284.20 and India's Sensex was off 0.6 percent at 26,404.29. Singapore, Taiwan, Jakarta and New Zealand also fell.

WALL STREET: Stocks fell despite corporate news including Hewlett Packard Co.'s announcement it will split into two companies. The U.S. Federal Reserve was due to release notes on its latest meeting, and investors were looking for signs of when the Fed might raise rates - a move that for now is not expected until mid-2015.

WORLD BANK: The World Bank trimmed its growth forecast for developing East Asian economies to 6.9 percent from an outlook of 7.1 percent in April. The bank said China, the region's biggest economy, should grow by 7.2 percent, declining to 7.5 percent next year, as the government tries to shift from reliance on trade and investment to growth driven by domestic consumption.

ANALYST'S VIEW: "Investors are also weighing improving fundamentals in the U.S. versus deteriorating conditions in Asia, especially after the World Bank downgraded growth forecasts in China and developing East Asia yesterday," said Desmond Chua of CMC Markets in a report.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_TRANSPORT_STRIKES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-02-43-08

BERLIN (AP) -- A union representing German train drivers has called members out on a nine-hour strike Tuesday night, starting a campaign of walkouts after members voted for strikes in a pay dispute.

The GDL union set the strike at national railway Deutsche Bahn for 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday through 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) Wednesday.

GDL wants a 5 percent pay increase and shorter working hours for train drivers. It also is claiming the right to negotiate pay for other railway staff traditionally represented by a rival union.

Separately, a union representing Lufthansa pilots announced a walkout Wednesday and Thursday at the airline's cargo unit. It already has hit the company's passenger operations in a string of several-hour strikes over its demand that Lufthansa maintain transition payments for those wanting early retirement.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RETAIL_HOLIDAY_FORECAST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-00-04-19

NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans are expected to spend at the highest rate in three years during what's traditionally the busiest shopping season of the year, according to the nation's largest retail industry trade group.

But industry watchers say shoppers will need fat discounts, and there will be a huge divide in spending between the haves and have-nots.

The National Retail Federation said Tuesday that it expects sales during the November and December period to be up 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, up a percentage point higher than last year. It marks the highest increase since 2011 when the rise was 4.8 percent. Still, analysts say retailers will need promotions to lure shoppers.

"It goes without saying there still remains some uneasiness and anxiety among consumers when it comes to their purchase decisions," said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. "The lagging economic recovery, though improving, is still top of mind for many Americans."

Ain't gonna happen.

No frost yet...just practicing....this is only a test.


The sun is shining, the grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway
There's never been such a day
In Beverly Hills, L.A.

But it's December the 24th
And I'm longing to be up North...

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,
just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
to hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,
with every christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright,
and may all your christmases be white

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIG_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-06-16-02-51

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The 2008 government bailout of American International Group Inc. was specifically designed to punish the insurance giant, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in U.S. court Monday.

The $85 billion loan package extended to AIG - then reeling from the financial and housing crisis - gave the government control of 80 percent of its stock. Unlike other major financial firms rescued in the middle of the worst economic downturn in roughly 80 years, Paulson said that AIG shareholders should have faced punishment for their troubled balance sheet as part of any rescue.

Paulson's testimony came as part of a lawsuit brought by former AIG chairman and CEO Maurice Greenberg. The 89-year-old is suing the federal government for damages of roughly $40 billion, saying that it violated the Constitution's Fifth Amendment by taking control of AIG without "just compensation" in return for the shares.

Paulson's successor as Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, and former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke are also scheduled to testify this week.

Poor Baby!

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_MARKET_FIXING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-07-06-23-17

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Serious Fraud Office says a senior executive from a U.K. bank has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud in a case of market-rigging.

It is the first criminal conviction in the country's investigation into a global scheme to fix the London Interbank Offered Rate, also known as LIBOR, an interest rate that affects trillions of dollars in loans and mortgages worldwide.

Other countries, including the U.S., are also investigating the case.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said Tuesday it has charged another 11 individuals who await trial and is still investigating others. It did not name the banker who pleaded guilty, in line with court orders.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-06/global-banks-face-25-loss-absorbency-rule-in-fsb-plan.html

The largest global banks will have to hold more capital and liabilities than previously reported that can automatically be written off in a crisis -- as much as a quarter of risk-weighted assets -- as regulators take on lenders deemed too big to fail.

The Financial Stability Board is developing minimum standards that will limit the double-counting of capital banks use to meet existing international rules, according to an FSB working document sent for comment to Group of 20 governments and obtained by Bloomberg News.

The restriction means that, while the basic requirement will be set at 16 percent to 20 percent of risk-weighted assets, the final number will be higher because the banks must separately meet “other regulatory capital buffers,” according to the document, dated Sept. 21. The FSB in Basel, Switzerland, declined to comment on the non-public document.

“These standards are an important step in developing a strategy which will limit taxpayers’ exposure to failing banks, but of course a lot of work still has to be done to determine how much flexibility national regulators will have or even need when applying the rules,” said Richard Reid, a research fellow for finance and regulation at the University of Dundee in Scotland.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/europe-cash-pile-signals-savings-glut-sequel-for-markets.html

Europe is becoming China without the economic growth.

What that means is that the euro area is building history’s biggest current-account surplus. The result: mountains of money likely to buoy the world’s stock and bond markets.

Deutsche Bank AG’s George Saravelos has coined a phrase for a pile he estimates has reached $400 billion: the euroglut.

“It is Europe’s huge savings glut -- what we call euroglut -- that will drive global trends for the foreseeable future,” the London-based strategist wrote in a report yesterday. “Via large demand for foreign assets, it will play a dominant role in driving global asset-price trends for the remainder of this decade.”

The cash is piling up because the world is buying European goods and services -- especially Germany’s (GRCAEU) -- and the euro area’s depressed consumers aren’t buying much of anything from home or abroad. The region’s current-account surplus is now 2.2 percent of gross domestic product having been in a deficit of almost 2 percent as recently as 2008. In dollar terms, Deutsche Bank reckons it’s just above China’s peak last decade.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/plunging-ruble-pummels-profits-of-foreigners-in-russia.html

Russia’s falling ruble is hitting Western European corporate giants such as PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG), Henkel AG and Carlsberg A/S (CARLB) on its way down, further undermining operations under strain because of the country’s stagnant economy.

With the currency now at a record low against the euro and dollar, companies that have bet heavily on Russia are finding that the plunge makes it costlier for local factories to import supplies and parts, increases prices for customers, and reduces the foreign-currency value of any profits they manage to generate.

“The weakening of the ruble is a problem,” Peugeot Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares said at the Paris Motor Show last week. He blamed his company’s Russia woes on “the lack of visibility for the customer, and the price increase due” to the ruble’s fall.

The currency is trading at almost 40 rubles to the dollar, its weakest level ever, as the simmering conflict in Ukraine prompts investors to sell Russian holdings. And inflation is accelerating to the fastest pace in three years as import bans on food from the European Union and U.S., imposed in retaliation for sanctions on Russia, drive consumer prices upward.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-06/boj-majority-said-to-favor-ditching-2-year-price-timeline.html

The Bank of Japan marked down its assessment of industrial production as dissent spread on the outlook for inflation.

Board member Sayuri Shirai objected to policy-statement language that says inflation expectations “appear to be rising on the whole,” saying instead they’re on “an uptrend from a somewhat longer-term perspective.”

Another board member, Takahide Kiuchi, has since last year been voting alone against committing to a timeframe of about two years to achieve the BOJ’s 2 percent inflation target. Shirai stopped short of joining him at today’s gathering.

Her comments reflect signs of a waning impact on consumer prices from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s unprecedented monetary stimulus unleashed last year. Stripping out the impact of a sales-tax increase and fresh food, prices increased 1.1 percent in August from a year before. A majority of board members now favor ditching the two-year timeframe at some point, Bloomberg News reported before today’s policy announcement, citing people familiar with the discussions.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/wall-street-moles-go-to-ny-s-top-cop-spurning-sec-cash.html

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s offer of huge payouts for details on Wall Street wrongdoing hasn’t stopped whistle-blowers who want quick results from calling New York’s top cop.

A tip that helped spur New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s June lawsuit against Barclays Plc was first shopped to the SEC, as was another that triggered his investigation into a controversial trading practice at BlackRock Inc., said people with direct knowledge of the matter. By going to Schneiderman, informants risk hurting their chances of collecting as much money as possible from the SEC.

The SEC, responding to its failures to police Wall Street before the 2008 credit crunch, tried to improve its bounty program with input from the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies that have long paid whistle-blowers. While the overhaul benefited from congressional approval to offer bigger rewards in a wider swath of cases, informants say they’re frustrated by the SEC’s slow process.

“The SEC receives thousands of whistle-blower tips every year, which they can only investigate a fraction of,” said Jordan Thomas, a former SEC enforcement attorney. At the same time, “an individual investigation can take years to complete due to the sheer amount of discovery that is required to successfully put a case together,” he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/homebuilders-offer-freebies-as-booming-u-s-markets-cool.html

Joseph Beben wasn’t in the market for a house until he heard about a year-old community in suburban Phoenix where 10 homebuilders are offering buyers incentives such as swimming pools, built-in barbecues and subsidized mortgage rates.

Beben, a 33-year-old general manager at Best Buy Co. (BBY), visited three of the sales offices flanking the main corridor of The Bridges at Gilbert, whose 17 subdivisions are among the about 200 locally that have opened since early last year. He settled on Woodside Homes’ community within The Bridges after the builder agreed to cover as much as $10,000 of his closing costs, and throw in another extra he liked.

“When I saw this deal, it looked like a good business decision,” said Beben, who will pay $332,000 for a 3,000-square-foot (280-square-meter) house scheduled to be completed by February. “And I wanted a pool.”

Builders in Phoenix and areas from Sacramento, California, to Orlando, Florida, are sweetening offers as sales slow in some of the country’s most volatile housing markets. Buyers, suffering from sticker shock after large price gains in 2013, are pulling back after the U.S. government cut the maximum size for mortgages with low down payments. In Phoenix, the Federal Housing Administration’s loan limits dropped well below the median price for a new home.