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Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
Wed Mar 9, 2016, 06:12 PM Mar 2016

STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 10 March 2016

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 10 March 2016[font color=black][/font]


SMW for 9 March 2016

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 9 March 2016
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Dow Jones 17,000.36 +36.26 (0.21%)
S&P 500 1,989.26 +10.00 (0.51%)
Nasdaq 4,674.38 +25.55 (0.55%)


[font color=black]10 Year 1.88% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 2.66% -0.02 (-0.75%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
Market Updates
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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
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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.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.
12/17/15 Martin Shkreli, former CEO Turing Pharmaceuticals and notorious price gouger, arrested on securities fraud charges. Posted $5M bail, resigned as CEO.
2/25/16 Jason Keryc sentenced to 9 years in prison, 3 years supervised release and to pay back $180MM to investors he bilked in a Ponzi scheme while an acct. mgr at Agape World.



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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]


13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Gungnir

(242 posts)
1. The Curious Case Of The 550 Million Missing Barrels Of Crude Oil
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 12:30 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-09/curious-case-550-million-missing-barrels-crude-oil

Even as US crude oil inventories just hit a fresh record high for another week, both in Cushing and across all other regions, a more curious accumulation of excess oil inventory has emerged: according to the IEA, global oil production exceeded consumption by just over 1 billion barrels in 2014 and 2015.

As Reuters reports, crude oil production exceeded consumption by an average of 0.9 million barrels per day in 2014 and 2.0 million bpd in 2015. Of this 1 billion barrels which the IEA believes was produced but not consumer, some 420 million are said to be stored on land in OECD member countries and another 75 million can be found stored at sea or in transit by tanker somewhere from the oil fields to the refineries. This means that as of this moment, about 550 million "missing barrels" are unaccounted for "apparently produced but not consumed and not visible in the inventory statistics."

...
This is not new: missing barrels have been a feature of IEA statistics since the 1970s, and as Reuters adds over time, errors have occurred in both directions, and have ranged up to 1 million or even 2 million barrels per day.
...
And as Reuters adds, while most of the time, the oil market ignores the miscellaneous to balance item, but it tends to become controversial when it becomes very large, either positive or negative. Such as now. Furthermore, the situation is additionally compounded by the massive documented inventory glut not only in the US but around the globe, and certainly in China which, as reported yesterday, reported a record amount of oil in January even as demand is said to have been declining.

More at link

Gungnir

(242 posts)
2. The "Smart Money" Is Quietly Getting Out Of Dodge: Sells For A Sixth Straight Week As Buybacks Soar
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 12:36 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-09/smart-money-quietly-getting-out-dodge-sells-sixth-straight-week-buybacks-soar

One week ago, when looking at the latest BofA client flow trend monitor, we noticed something strange: despite the S&P's surge higher due to either a record short squeeze or because it is merely another bear market rally, the smart money was selling.

In fact, as BofA's Jill Hall calculated, the three groups that make up the so-called "smart money" basket, hedge funds, BofA's institutional clients as well its private clients, had been selling aggressively every week for the prior five. As she explained on March 1, "last week, during which the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, BofAML clients were net sellers of US stocks for the fifth consecutive week, in the amount of $1.5bn. This was the biggest weekly outflow since mid-December." Someone clearly was very grateful for the selling opportunity that this squeeze was providing.

Well, we can now add one more week to the total: in BofA's latest note, "last week, during which the S&P 500 rallied 2.7%, BofAML clients were net sellers of US stocks for the sixth week."
...
So, like last week, we again know who is selling but what about the other side: was it just shorts covering who are providing the bid? The answer is no: "buybacks by corporate clients accelerated last week to their highest level since August, and are tracking above levels we saw this time last year, though below levels we observed in 2014 (see chart below). Clients sold both large and small caps last week, but continued to buy mid-caps—which have seen the most persistent buying by our clients over the last several years despite being crowded and expensive."

Gungnir

(242 posts)
3. Former Fed President: "We Injected Cocaine And Heroin Into The System To Create A Wealth Effect"
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 12:42 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-09/former-fed-president-we-injected-cocaine-and-heroin-system-create-wealth-effect

Just two months ago, former Fed President Dick Fisher admitted that "The Fed front-loaded an enormous market rally in order to create a wealth effect." Today he is back, taking a victory lap onthe 7th anniversary of the crisis lows by explaining, rather stunningly, to CNBC that "we injected cocaine and heroin into the system" to enable a wealth effect (that he admits did not work, despite its success in raising asset prices), and "now we are maintaining it with ritalin." Fisher also confirmed his previous warning that "The Fed is a giant weapon that has no ammunition left."



Fisher explains how The Fed achieved its goals... but admits that didn't really fix anything...



And here is CNBC's higher quality (edited) version where the blame for everything is pinned on "feckless fiscal authorities..."



Once again, Fisher appears to be undertaking a major "cover-your-ass" episosde, proclaiming that he was against QE3 which is what has forced "valuations to be very richly priced."

see videos at link

Gungnir

(242 posts)
4. Flint’s Water Crisis: A Chronicle of Disenfranchisement, Denial, and Buck-Passing
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 12:51 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/03/flints-water-crisis-a-chronicle-of-disenfranchisement-denial-and-buck-passing.html


The ACLU of Michigan just released a must-see short documentary on the Flint water crisis. It’s important that this not be forgotten even as the scandal has died down and eyes are moving off Michigan now that the Democratic debate and state primary have passed.

This piece is powerful because it’s told by the local citizens who were abused (and this is not an overstatement) by emergency managers who were instructed to prioritize making bond payments. Even though readers may know many of the elements of this story from the extensive media coverage, it has a completely different impact not simply seeing it put together in one place, chronologically as it unfolded, but witnessing the appalling record of official efforts to deny that there was a problem (including deliberately constructing completely unrepresentative tests) and repeatedly telling flat out lies. It’s also not hard to discern that the emergency managers, their allies, and the state government held the Flint citizens in utter contempt. The class/race bias and condescension are palpable.

The documentary is also a testament to the persistence of the efforts of Flint citizens in mustering allies (such as the ACLU as well as the environmental engineers at Virginia Tech) to develop rock-solid evidence of the contamination of the water and publicize the developing public health crisis. The fact that the city’s overlords and state officials thought they could get away with what amounts to poisoning of a population this large is another symptom of elite insularity.

Again, this is a relatively short video given the ground that it covers. I hope you’ll view it and circulate widely.

Gungnir

(242 posts)
5. More Proof of CalSTRS’ Misrepresentations and Foot-Dragging in the Private Equity Carry Fee Scandal
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 12:57 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/03/more-proof-of-calstrs-misrepresentations-and-foot-dragging-in-private-equity-carry-fee-scandal.html

Yet CalPERS’ Sacramento sister CalSTRS, which also admitted that it did not track carry fees, instead has engaged in obfuscation and flat out lying rather than take the simple step, as CalPERS has, of contacting the general partners and getting the information. The message is all too clear: CalSTRS puts maintaining friction-free relationships with private equity firms over performing its fiduciary duties. Bear in mind that fiduciaries are tasked with assessing the level of fees and costs when deciding whether to commit funds to an investment strategy. Yet CalSTRS, like many other investors in private equity, has rationalized flying blind.

As we pointed out in an earlier CalSTRS post:

The only way to assess the reasonableness of private equity fees and costs if you can see all of them. If private equity funds are making a handsome, or indeed overly handsome living on carry fees and management fees alone, private equity limited partners should refuse to invest in any fund that charges other fees, such as transaction fees, which are simply an abuse (they are set at the level of investment banking fees or even higher, when the funds hire investment banks to provide those services, and those costs are charged to fund investors). It isn’t simply that those fees are excessive; they also create bad incentives. For instance, transaction fees reward private equity firms for churn rather than making good investments. They are why, as has been documented at length in numerous studies on private equity, like Eileen Appelbaum’s and Rosemary Batt’s Private Equity at Work, or Josh Kosman’s The Buyout of America, that private equity firms earn juicy returns irrespective of whether they make money for their investors.

Contrast what CalSTRS should have been doing with its statement to the Sacramento Bee last July, that it had did not keep tabs of the carry fees charged:

Ricardo Duran, a spokesman for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, said CalSTRS can estimate the fees “within a couple of percentage points” but doesn’t report the figure.

“It’s not a number that we track,” Duran said. “It’s not that important to us as a measure of performance.”

much more at link

Fuddnik

(8,846 posts)
6. I would like this opportunity to thank Demeter and her daughter.
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 01:00 AM
Mar 2016

They have religiously worked the polls in Michigan for years. They deserve some recognition

Gungnir

(242 posts)
7. Health apps aren’t just collecting your info. They may be selling it, too
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 01:13 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.statnews.com/2016/03/08/health-apps-sell-medical-data/

Health apps, like prescription drugs, come with side effects, it turns out. A new study has found that an astoundingly large number of health apps may be sharing users’ medical information. Many can also switch on smartphone cameras and make changes to the software on your phone.

What was found:

More than 80 percent of the 211 diabetes apps studied did not have privacy policies. And out of a randomly selected subset of 65 apps, 56 of them (86 percent) used tracking cookies, which could allow them to send information about the user to other companies, such as marketing firms, according to the analysis, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
...
Keep in mind:

There’s a lot more than blood glucose tracking on these apps. When Blenner and her colleagues analyzed the fine-print permissions that all users have to accept before downloading a diabetes app, they found that 17 percent asked to track the user’s location, 11 percent sought to switch on the smartphone camera, and 64 percent requested the ability to delete or modify information anywhere on the user’s phone.
...
The bottom line:

Most health apps are completely unregulated. If you don’t want your information shared or the memory on your phone tampered with, be very careful about which apps you choose to download.

Gungnir

(242 posts)
8. Fight over NIH funding puts Senate medical innovation bills in jeopardy
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 01:18 AM
Mar 2016
http://www.statnews.com/2016/03/09/senate-cures-nih-funding/

WASHINGTON — A Senate package of biomedical innovation bills got bogged down in a partisan fight Wednesday over funding for the National Institutes of Health, foreshadowing more trouble ahead that could threaten the effort to accelerate the search for medical cures.

Although a Senate committee eventually approved the seven innovation bills, Democrats warned that they won’t support a final package when it reaches the Senate floor unless they get an agreement with Republicans that guarantees a big funding increase for biomedical research.

The argument, which has been building over the past several months, happened when Republicans swatted down a Democratic effort to get a Senate committee to approve $5 billion a year in “mandatory” medical research funding, meaning a guaranteed source of funds that wouldn’t have to be approved by Congress every year.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tried to push for a vote on the legislation, which she introduced last week along with her Democratic colleagues on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.

Smart people are starting to wise up to how the system works and using it for positive impacts.

Fuddnik

(8,846 posts)
10. Awwwww shit.
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 10:34 AM
Mar 2016

The Sanders campaign needed drivers to drive the Senator and his entourage around Florida today. I signed up, and later got an e-mail saying they had all the positions filled. So I told my boss I'd work this afternoon. Then I got a call from D.C. last night. Could I still do it.

Nope, already told the boss I'd be there today, especially since he let me have the last two Saturdays off.

Well, at least I know I can still pass a Secret Service background check.

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