STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday October 21

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday October 21, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 91
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2828 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2553 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2844
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

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U.S. FUTURES &
MARKETS INDICATORS>
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES

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AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.
$1 USD = EUR 1.06678
$1 USD = JPY 116.6200

In recognition of those prescient of the Dow's precipitous return of Bush values (9/29/08): JuneBourder and AnneD

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 20, 2008

Dow... 9,265.43 +413.21 (+4.67%)
Nasdaq... 1,770.03 +58.74 (+3.43%)
S&P 500... 985.40 +44.85 (+4.77%)
Gold future... 790.00 +2.30 (+0.29%)
30-Year Bond 4.28% -0.03 (-0.65%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.89% -0.05 (-1.32%)






GOLD,EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

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PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact actionpost@legitgov.org

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

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Read more: du

Derivatives Disclosure
BY ROB KIRBY

Like it or not we hear the term “derivatives” bandied about in the mainstream financial press these days with increasing regularity.

In recent times it has come to be a term that, when mentioned in conjunction with a particular financial institution, can cause loss of confidence or worse, maybe a herd-like run on deposits on the offending institution.

To help clear up some of the confusion, today’s market wrap will deal with Derivatives: where they came from and how they’ve morphed into the reviled bank-killers they are known as today.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to above $75 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as investors expected OPEC to try to halt a three-month slide in prices by cutting production quotas at least 1 million barrels a day.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose 90 cents to $75.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract gained overnight $2.40 to settle at $74.25.

...

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 2.81 cents to $2.24 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 1.44 cents to $1.73 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 2.5 cents to $6.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

higher gas/oil goes, the less people will buy, demand goes down

of Andalusia, here. They fit in well with the environment. And the slow-turning white wind turbines on the hills of Teruel and La Mancha... The economics of new energy must be made to work out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/18/cuban-oil

Mother nature, it emerged this week, appears to have blessed the island with enough oil reserves to vault it into the ranks of energy powers. The government announced there may be more than 20bn barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields in Cuba's share of the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice the previous estimate.

If confirmed, it puts Cuba's reserves on par with those of the US and into the world's top 20. Drilling is expected to start next year by Cuba's state oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet.

"It would change their whole equation. The government would have more money and no longer be dependent on foreign oil," said Kirby Jones, founder of the Washington-based US-Cuba Trade Association. "It could join the club of oil exporting nations."

-----------------------------------


I am at once happy for the poor who will (hopefully) benefit and horrified at the potential.......

WASHINGTON – With a timely endorsement from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, there's new life to the idea of Congress returning to Washington next month to pass a second round of measures aimed at injecting life into the economy.

The White House said Monday that President Bush was at least willing to consider a second stimulus measure to follow a $168 billion stimulus measure passed in February and a $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan passed 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Democrats say any stimulus bill would include items previously rejected by Bush such as road and bridge construction money and help for state budgets. Another round of tax rebates is possible as well to make the measure big enough to jolt the economy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

HONG KONG – Most Asian markets rose Tuesday, following Wall Street's gains after the chairman of the U.S. central bank signaled support for more government aid to revive the country's slumping economy.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 300.66 points, or 3.34 percent, to close at 9,306.25, marking the third consecutive day of gains.

While shares in most other countries moved higher, several key stock measures sold off early gains to close in the red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.84 percent, Shanghai's benchmark fell 0.8 percent and South Korea's index shed about 1 percent.

As trading opened in Europe, benchmarks in Britain, Germany and France were higher.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:50am EDT LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - World stocks climbed for the third day in a row on Tuesday as investors bet governments would succeed in ending the credit crisis and in controlling the global economic downturn.

The euro hit 1-1/2 year lows against the dollar.

Sentiment was boosted overnight by comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who backed government spending as a fresh measure to boost the U.S. economy.

Interbank lending rates were also fixed lower on Monday, fuelling a belief that government rescue plans were beginning to free up frozen money markets.

MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS, a broad measure of global stock market performance, rose for the third trading day in a row and was nearly 12 percent above five year lows hit on Oct. 10.

It remains down 39 percent year-to-date, however.

...

European shares rose in early trade, also extending their winning streak to a third day, with investors cheered by Bernanke and French government moves to bolster its banks.

France announced plans late on Monday to lend 10.5 billion euros ($14.12 billion) to the country's top six banks before the year end to prop up their capital reserves.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up about 0.7 percent with banks among the top gainers.

...

Earlier, the Nikkei average .N225 rose 3.3 percent or 300.66 points to 9,306.25. The broader Topix rose 3.2 percent to 956.64.

DOLLAR FIRMS, BONDS WEAKER

The euro fell to its lowest in 1-1/2 years against a broadly firmer dollar, with the U.S. currency benefiting from ongoing funding demand. The euro traded at $1.3256, having hit a low of $1.3237 <EUR=> -- last seen in March 2007.

...

On fixed income markets, euro zone government bond yields were flat.

Overnight dollar London Interbank Offered rates were fixed lower on Monday at 1.51250 percent <USDONMFSR=> versus 1.66875 percent on Friday, while one-week and three-month dollar Libor were both around 43 basis points down at 2.71875 percent <USDSWMFSR=> and 3.75125 percent <USD3MFSR=>, respectively.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLL4544220081021?rpc=44&sp=true

(Maybe we're back to normally obnoxiously high borrowing by Republicans.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,059,726,289,765.44 + 4,274,480,209,236.71
DOWN 284,087,172.52 + UP 3,351,585,328.75

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 21 reported increases in debt is 32,717,097,068.91.
The average for the last 30 days would be 22,901,967,948.24.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 12 reports in 17 days of FY2009 averaging 25.79B$ per report, 18.20B$/day.

PROJECTION:
GWB** must relinquish the presidency in 95 days.
By that time the debt could be between 10.5 and 12.5T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
10/17/2008 10,334,206,499,002.10 GWB (UP 4,606,010,702,820.53 so far since Bush took office)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01
Borrowed in FY2009: 309,481,602,089.70 so far.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) YESTERDAY'S POST LINK:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3553335&mesg_id=3553366

Scary how that's been shooting up so fast the last couple of weeks.

(Yesterday looked so normal. Shucks. We're back obnoxiously high borrowing. Three and a half times a high average. OUCH!)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,189,647,424,005.11 + 4,275,242,220,547.07
UP 129,921,134,239.67 + UP 762,011,310.36

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

ANALYSIS:
There were 20 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 20 reports is 36,894,001,232.89.
The average for the last 30 days would be 24,596,000,821.93.
The average for the last 31 days would be 23,802,581,440.57.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 13 reports in 20 days of FY2009 averaging 33.86B$ per report, 22.01B$/day.

PROJECTION:
GWB** must relinquish the presidency in 92 days.
By that time the debt could be between 10.6 and 12.7T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
10/20/2008 10,464,889,644,552.10 GWB (UP 4,736,693,848,370.53 so far since Bush took office.)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01 <--Not even realized yet. Over 1T$ in one fiscal year.
Borrowed in FY2009: 440,164,747,639.70 so far this fiscal year.

Heavy borrowing seem to start 10/18/2008.
US borrowed $800,257,841,293.03 in last 32 days.
That's 800B$ in 32 days.
More than any year ever, except last year, and it's 79% of that highest year ever only in 32 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 32 DAYS NOT 365.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) YESTERDAY'S POST LINK:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3555309&mesg_id=3555318

:donut: :donut: :donut:

School is taking a huge amount of time this week.

Have fun today.

:hi:

I will have more to say when I have time (taking ship from Cádiz to Canarias today) on what I have seen of Spain, having just taken three days to cross the country from North-East to South-West, following the line of the old Roman road. Infrastructure, infrastructure. Agriculture and industry. Quality of life...

Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:47am EDT

* Dollar funding costs fall in Europe, spreads narrow

* The Bank of Japan injects dollar and local currency funds

* ECB lends 305 bln euros in 1-week funds

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The cost of raising dollar funds on interbank markets edged lower on Tuesday and the premium paid for that cash over government borrowing costs fell, suggesting the money market freeze continues to thaw.

The premium paid for three-month interbank dollar borrowing compared with U.S. government borrowing costs was indicated at its lowest in almost a month, and market participants reported a tentative increase in lending activity.

Dealers and analysts said aggressive central bank action to ease the interbank logjam in recent weeks is working, the latest being the European Central Bank's auction of 28-day dollar and one-week euro funds, and FX swap line with the Federal Reserve.

The increased availability of interbank cash and myriad guarantees and pledges from policymakers around the world have flooded money markets with cash, which some banks are starting to lend out rather than hoard.

On Tuesday, Cazanove said UK bank Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has been able to raise as much as 10 billion pounds daily of unsecured funding for periods beyond a week since October 8. That had fallen as low as 1-2 billion pounds, Barclays' house broker said.

But analysts' caution against calling the end to the crisis, pointing to the looming year-end period and the fact that currently some major banks are finding it easier to raise funds while others still find cash hard to come by and expensive.

Clearly, some banks would rather deposit any excess cash in the safest of all havens rather than put it back in the market. The ECB said on Monday banks deposited 228 billion euros in overnight funds at the central bank on Monday.

Overall, however, interbank rates are coming down and spreads are narrowing.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLL7198320081021?rpc=44&sp=true

"some banks are starting to lend out rather than hoard" ... We shall see. Things must be kept moving, but new investment needs to be directed at the right kind of development, and excessive purely consumption-oriented debt must be discouraged. Jobs, baby, jobs. :hi:

http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tomtoles;_ylt=AjfvG_b8ol3fYIqeGYKrNYYD_b4F

This is a great source page I just found, Ozy!

10/20/08 Witness says National Century CEO offered her money to 'forget' key points of testimony
Monday, October 20, 2008 12:53 PM
By Jodi Andes

Dublin-based National Century employees developed many ways to circumvent ratings agencies and auditors, a witness testified this morning.

Lance K. Poulsen, who was chief executive of National Century Financial Enterprises, is on trial in federal court in Columbus on several counts of fraud in the company's 2002 collapse that cost investors close to $2 billion.

Sherry Gibson, considered the government's star witness, oversaw the company's compliance department. Gibson also testified today that Poulsen offered her money if she would forget keys points of her testimony.

The trial, delayed for a week because of a conflict in the judge's schedule, resumed today. When Gibson returned to the witness stand this morning, Leo Wise of the U.S. Attorneys Office asked her to describe how National Century managed the company's random audits.

Gibson said she would escort ratings-agency staff through the building and take them by a National Century processor who had been chosen in advance.

The processor would have what appeared to be a file of a health-care client on his or her desk. However, Gibson and others had prepared the folder, putting in false numbers that concealed the amount of money National Century had advanced the client, she said.

"Oh, here's Nikki. I see she's working on something. Let's see what she is doing," Gibson said, giving jurors an example of the tours. "I made it seem like it was a normal day for these processors. "

Auditors and ratings agencies were never allowed unescorted in the building and were never told that National Century had advanced millions of dollars to health-care providers who had no collateral or means to pay the money back, she said.

Gibson then testified that Karl A. Demmler, a friend of hers and Poulsen's, came to her after she was released from prison and said he was bringing her a message from Poulsen.

"He said that Lance wanted to make me whole," she said.

The money was to take care of her attorney costs and money she forfeited to the government after pleading guilty to participating in the fraud at National Century.

With help from the FBI, she secretly recorded the meetings she had with Demmler. Those recordings were played in court yesterday, as a transcript of the conversation was shown on the screen for jurors. Demmler could be heard telling her he was going to get 10 percent of whatever Poulsen paid her, for having arranged the deal.

The testimony was peppered with objections by one of Poulsen's attorneys, William Terpening, who had fought to keep it out of the trial.

Demmler and Poulsen were convicted of witness tampering and obstruction of justice in March for trying to get Gibson to change her testimony. Poulsen is serving a 10-year sentence while being tried on the fraud charges.

Demmler has not yet been sentenced.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/20/natcet.html?sid=101



10/20/08 Poulsen jury hears tapes of alleged bribe offer
Monday, October 20, 2008 - 5:42 PM
by Kevin Kemper

Lance Poulsen allegedly offered a potential witness against him up to $2 million to change her testimony, a riveted jury heard Monday morning.

Backed up by secretly recorded tapes of their conversations, Sherry Gibson, a former executive vice president of National Century Financial Enterprises Inc., told jurors that her former boss used an intermediary to try to convince her to lie during Poulsen’s trial on fraud charges. Gibson is the government’s star witness in its case against Poulsen, the former CEO and part-owner of the Dublin-based firm.

Gibson worked her way up from receptionist to senior executive a National Century, becoming a linchpin in the nearly decade-long fraud the government has alleged went on at the company. She told a jury Monday that she participated in what was essentially a massive Ponzi scheme at the company. She pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

“I pled guilty because I was guilty,” Gibson said. “... I entered a plea agreement to minimize my exposure to prison.”

Gibson spent three years in prison, repaid $420,000 to the government and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into National Century.

While in prison, Gibson said Karl Demmler, a mutual friend of hers and Poulsen’s, asked her if she would be interested in recovering the money she had paid to the government. Gibson told the jury that she was more interested in moving on with her life.

“If there was a way to reclaim my assets without nullifying, voiding or in any way imperiling my plea agreement, that would be something to check out,” Gibson read from a Jan. 25, 2007, letter she wrote to Demmler. “I have no intention of starting a fight over my current sentence because the alternative is much worse.”

Thinking that the matter was dropped, Gibson told the jury she then met Demmler for dinner after she got out of prison. But Demmler brought up the subject again, she said. Demmler told her that Poulsen thought the government had given Gibson a “raw deal,” she said, and Poulsen wanted to make Gibson “whole.”

“I was somewhat taken aback that I had just been offered a bribe and changed the subject,” Gibson said.

Gibson said she told her attorney about the offer the next day. After a few days, Gibson made an agreement with the government to record any conversations she had with Demmler.

Prosecutors played for the jury the first conversation Gibson recorded between herself and Demmler.

“I told him you would want at least a million bucks,” the jury heard Demmler say. In that same conversation, Demmler also told Gibson that for a 10 percent fee, he would manage all aspects of the money exchange for her.

“Money laundering is my business on private contracts,” Demmler said. “It’s nobody’s business but mine.”

Between June and October 2007, Gibson said she met with Demmler eight times about a possible bribe, as well as receiving several voice messages from him. In each of the recorded conversations, Demmler told Gibson that he was in touch with Poulsen and attempting to work out payments for her.

In one recorded conversation, Demmler even played a voice message Poulsen had left him that Gibson alleged referred to the bribery attempt.

“There are some ways for our friend to recover our friend’s losses,” Poulsen said in the message he left with Demmler.

Under cross-examination, Gibson admitted to Poulsen’s attorney William Terpening that she never spoke with Poulsen directly. Gibson also said she never met with Pouslen or received any money from him.

Terpening also suggested that Demmler’s reliability was questionable by asking Gibson what she knew about his political views. Gibson admitted that Demmler had some “interesting” ideas, including that any federal government taxation is illegal.

When Terpening suggested that Gibson’s only contact with Poulsen in 2007 was through a “crazy” man, Gibson responded that her contact was through an “intermediary” that was well known to both her and Pouslen. She said she couldn’t comment on Demmler’s psychological health because she is not a doctor.

Both Demmler and Poulsen were found guilty in March by a separate jury of attempting to bribe Gibson.

Poulsen is standing trial in U.S. District Court in Columbus on charges he ran a fraud that resulted in as much as $2.84 billion in investor funds going missing after National Century collapsed into bankruptcy in 2002. Poulsen is accused of one count each of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, four counts of concealment of money laundering and six counts of securities fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Defense attorneys are expected to continue their cross examination of Gibson on Tuesday.
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/10/20/daily5.html



Link backwards to previous articles
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3553335&mesg_id=3553387

ArcelorMittal to idle both Cleveland blast furnaces
Posted by Sarah Hollander/The Plain Dealer October 20, 2008 18:06PM
Categories: Breaking News, Economy, Manufacturing, Real Time News

Updated 6:42 p.m.

Both blast furnaces at ArcelorMittal's Cleveland operations are likely to be idled in the next week or two as the company responds to a drastic drop in orders, according to the local steelworkers union.

"That means we won't be making any iron, so we won't be making any steel," said Mark Granakis, president of Local 979 of the United Steelworkers of America.

The length of the closure will depend on business, but should last at least through the end of the year, he said.

"As of right now, we're going to keep everyone on a 40-hour workweek," Granakis said. Jobs for the 1,400 union employees will include maintenance and finishing work on existing inventory, he said.

Voluntary layoffs will be offered to an undisclosed number of employees, probably by the end of the month, Granakis said.

An ArcelorMittal spokesperson would not comment on Cleveland specifically but confirmed that the company is temporarily reducing capacity in certain markets to respond to the global economic slowdown.

The Luxembourg-based company, the world's biggest steelmaker, said last month that it was prepared to cut steel production worldwide by 15 percent.

(snip)

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/arcelormittal_to_idle_both_cle.html
_______________________________________________

These are the last two remaining iron producing blast furnaces in Cleveland, at the former Republic Steel, later LTV Steel plant in Cleveland. I worked on the railroad there, and still have a lot of friends there.

When I started there in 1971, there were over 15,000 union workers at the 2 mills there, and more at the old US Steel plant..

I'll make a few calls this morning and see what's going on.

National City to cut 4,000 jobs, posts another big loss
Posted by Teresa Dixon Murray/Plain Dealer Reporter October 21, 2008 06:16AM


CLEVELAND -- National City Corp. today said it's planning to cut 4,000 jobs nationwide in the next three years as it copes with another big quarterly loss.

The Cleveland bank said it lost $729 million in the third quarter -- results that were much worse than projected -- largely because it continues to build its war chest to prepare for future potential loan losses.

On a per-share basis, the loss was $5.86 for the third quarter. Ohio's largest bank was expected to lose 31 cents per share, according to a consensus of 19 analysts who follow the company.

National City is taking a number of steps to reduce expenses, including personnel and purchasing. Executives are still assessing the staff cutbacks, but the bank said it's targeting 14 percent of its workforce, which is now about 29,000 nationwide. National City employs about 8,000 in Northeast Ohio.

Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Raskind said in a statement: "Despite the extraordinary disruptions in the financial markets this quarter, National City continued to maintain a strong capital position and build our franchise for the future."

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/national_city_posts_another_bi.html
________________________________________________

"National City emains in a strong capital position". Where have we heard that before?

NCC has been failing for months. Every Friday I expect to see it on the FDIC failed bank list. Last spring it was rumored that either Keybank or 5th3rd would buy them, but both of those banks are not healthy either. Maybe Citibank or BAC will swoop in on a stealth deal to get NCC, 5th3rd or Key? Maybe all of them?

They were really tooting their own horn.

They said something about supporting the same guy I do so that absolves them of all crimes.

CLEVELAND -- KeyCorp today said it lost $36 million, or 10 cents per share, in the third quarter. Results for the quarter were worse than analysts had predicted.

Key had been expected to make 16 cents per share after losing $2.70 per share in the second quarter, according to an average from 20 analysts. In the third quarter of 2007, Key earned 57 cents a share.

The Cleveland bank blamed the loss largely on an increase in its reserves to cover future potential losses. Its reserves now stand at $1.55 billion, or 2 percent of total loans. Key also was hit by a $33 million loss from derivative contracts stemming from Lehman Brothers bankruptcy last month.

In good news, Key said it opted to participate in a tax settlement with the IRS and could recover $100 million on an after-tax basis. Key also said its deposits were up and community banking revenue had increased.

Still, the results were worse than expected; analysts' projections for the quarter ranged from 24 cents per share to 4 cents per share.

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/key_posts_unexpected_loss_for.html#more
_____________________________________________

Leveraged 50-1?

Paulson panics as UK, Germany find own solution
By F. William Engdahl
By F. William Engdahl
Online Journal Contributing Writer

http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3892.shtml


Oct 20, 2008, 00:20


America’s de facto finance czar, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, has reached for the panic button and made a dramatic 180-degree reversal of his financial bailout plan passed only days before.

On September 23 in testimony before the US Congress, Paulson, former CEO of the politically influential Wall Street investment firm, Goldman Sachs, declared his adamant opposition to the idea of the US government taking equity stakes in troubled major banks in order to provide them capital and stabilize the frozen interbank trading market. On October 13, that opposition to ‘nationalization’ collapsed.

What happened to cause that sudden reversal is what interests us here. It shows the utter lack of coherency in the US financial elites over how to deal with their homegrown securitization of risk fiasco.

The Paulson plan was widely criticized among more sober US bankers and economists, including Paulson’s predecessor as Treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill who simply called the concept of using a $700 billion taxpayer bailout fund to buy ‘toxic debt’ from banks ‘crazy.’ All critics agreed the Paulson approach was far the most costly model and far from guaranteed to solve the underlying problem: inadequate bank capitalization following hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime and other security losses.

Just think of where we'd be next year with Phil Gramm as Treasury Sec.

Krugmans Nobel observation, "A Banana Republic with Nukes".

on this side of the pond towards the now-deposed "American Model." I can hear the creaking of wagons circling.

He seemed rather pragmatic and was more for triggers on the tax cuts that Greenspan just paid lip service to.

They relate to what you posted in your Engdahl article.

Plus, I heard a few of our banking criminals say they support the same guy I do so they are all redeemed, redeemed I tell you!

Posted by Teresa Dixon Murray/Plain Dealer Reporter October 21, 2008 07:22AM

CLEVELAND -- Fifth Third Bancorp today said it lost $56 million, or 14 cents per share, in the third quarter. The Cincinnati bank had been projected to make 18 cents per share. It represents the second straight quarterly loss, but it wasn't as bad as last quarter's 37-cent-per-share loss.

In the third quarter of 2007, it made 61 cents per share.

Fifth Third said its Tier-1 ratio, a key measure of bank strength, stands at 8.5 percent. It had targeted 8 percent to 9 percent. The minimum acceptable is 6 percent, but most banks shoot for at least 8 percent, particularly in current times.

Like other banks, Fifth Third said it was hurt by higher credit costs. The bank said it increased its allowance for loan losses to 2.41 percent of its loans.

"The banking industry has experienced unprecedented developments in recent weeks," Kevin Kabat, chairman and chief executive said in a statement.

"These events have a variety of causes. The headline issues -- subprime lending, option ARMs, credit default swaps, CDOs -- involve products that Fifth Third has not engaged in. Nor do we have significant exposures to troubled financial counterparties who have been in the news."

But he noted that Fifth Third is "not immune" to industry problems. "Higher credit costs once again drove bottom line results that no one here is satisfied with," he said.

He said loans that Fifth Third isn't collecting on, and loans that the bank has given up on collecting continued to increase in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Fifth Third is projected to make 25 cents per share; next year, it's projected to make $1.13 per share.

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/fifth_third_posts_another_loss.html#more

And, that's just after a cursory glance at the paper. Maybe I'll switch to vodka early today.

But probably has branches in Cleveland
:P

I used to have a car loan through them.

I was back up there in July for a wedding. That 5th Third branch, just down the street from NCC's Operations Center was now a payday lender office.

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 83.705 Change +0.638 (+0.82%)

Dollar Forecast Dependent on Testimony from Fed's Bernanke

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_fundamentals/Dollar_Forecast_Dependent_on_Testimony_1224280843996.html

The US dollar ended last week almost completely unchanged, as lingering risk aversion in the markets leaves safe-haven flows supportive of the greenback. While there have been some signs of stabilization in the markets, such as the drop in overnight interest rates, there were also indications that high volatility and lower liquidity will leave the markets prone to wild price swings. Indeed, the CBOE’s VIX Volatility Index continues to trade dangerously close to Thursday’s record high of 81.17 while the latest forex positioning report shows that open interest in pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD has been declining steadily, signaling lower liquidity. Fortunately for US dollar bulls, these factors tend to work in favor of the currency, but will these conditions persist this coming week? This may depend on what happens in the stock markets.

One of the only key pieces of event risk for the US markets will be testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday at 10:00 EDT. Mr. Bernanke’s comments tend to be extremely market-moving, especially when it comes to the US dollar, Japanese yen, and equities. Given the jittery nature of the financial markets, traders may be quick to respond to any rhetoric signaling that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at the end of the month or comments suggesting that economic and financial conditions are bound to worsen. Overall, there is potential for his testimony to boost investor sentiment a bit and spur speculation of a rate cut at the end of the month, all of which should o weigh on the US dollar through the week.



...more...

Euro Traders Growing Critical Of Growth And Interest Rates

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_fundamentals/Euro_Traders_Growing_Critical_Of_1224298299169.html

The past week was riddled with comments and data that suggests Euro Zone growth and interest rates will deteriorate faster than market participants had initially expected. This balance will be the primary concern for fundamental traders over the coming week – barring any unforeseen bank collapses or broad seizures in overnight lending. Over the next few weeks and months, traders in all markets focus will be on the effectiveness of European and other nationalized bailout efforts. Late to the game, officials from the largest member economies took sweeping and dramatic steps last weekend to extinguish ballooning fears and revive counterparty confidence to revive borrowing and investment. However, aside from a vow by ECB President Trichet to offer unlimited short-term funds to banks, most of the endeavors by policy officials have been domestic – an ineffective approach for a collective economy whose banks cross boarders. By Trichet’s own admission, it will be “up to all market participants and institutions to take the measure of what is done by the authorities.” Should traders and/or banks realize the credit bubble is far from deflated, we will once again see how quickly panic spreads and what else policy officials can do to stem the tide.

Though fear is an all consuming emotion for a trader when capital is on the line, the next concern is returns. Should volatility settle it will merely expose the euro to speculation on growth and interest rate expectations – the primary pricing tools for currency traders. Just a month ago, the euro was considered one of the few currencies that would be able to hold its interest rates at its relatively high 4.25 percent yield. That all changed however when European banks began to fail and the monetary authority was forced to cut the benchmark by 50 basis points. On the other hand, there may still be skepticism in the market that Trichet and company won’t follow up on this extraordinary move – and this is where the next leg of the larger bear wave will come from. Overnight index swaps measured by Credit Suisse suggest there is a 100 percent chance that the central bank will cut by another 25 basis points on November 6th. Economists on the other hand, believe the fight against inflation will keep the benchmark lending rate at 3.75 percent.

Another burning issue for the euro is the outlook for growth. Speculation over the severity and length of a Euro Zone recession will be held up to forecasts for all of the economy’s major counterparts; and the currency will derive its direction from this relation (the same comparison holds true for interest rates in the stead of growth). The economic docket will fuel this valuation with leading sector readings. The advanced readings of manufacturing and service sector activity for October are expected to lows not seen since the euro started trading. With the European economy already one step into recession, this figures would merely further fears that confirmation in inevitable from GDP numbers next week. - JK

...more...

10/18/08 Mike Whitney: No More Investment Banks

It worked. So far. The credit markets have begun to thaw. Overnight Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) dropped 27 basis points to 1.67 percent, the lowest level since September 2004. Three month Libor shed 40 basis points this week to 4.42 percent. The Libor-OIS spread and TED spread are edging downward, too. The VIX, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index—also known as the “fear index”–has skyrocketed to 80, a new record. But that is to be expected; after all, Wall Street is in a panic. The truth is, interbank lending is beginning to ease and the financial system has begun to function a bit more like it should.

The EU, led by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, pulled the world back from the brink of annihilation. It may be the greatest story of our generation, and very few people even know what really happened. The system was completely frozen in place. Interbank lending had stopped, major corporations were unable to meet payroll because they couldn’t roll over their short term debt. Cargo ships were stuck in ports around the world because buyers couldn’t get Letters of Credit. As analyst John Mauldin said,


“Just as the business world is dependent upon commercial paper as its life blood, the world of global trade depends on letters of credit (LOC). If you are a manufacturer of a product and want to sell to someone outside your borders, you typically require a letter of credit from the buyer before you load any cargo at a port. A letter of credit from a prime bank is considered to be proof of your ability to pay….There are buyer’s and seller’s agents who make sure these things happen seamlessly, and world commerce had grown because of it…. If you think the problems stemming from a meltdown with the commercial paper markets are threatening to the world economy, they are small potatoes when compared to a seizure in the letter of credit markets.”


The European initiative forced Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson to do the right thing. It is 100 percent certain now that his plan to use the $700 billion bailout to buy-back the non-performing loans and bad mortgage-backed securities from the banks would have failed and led to disaster. Paulson stuck by his wacko plan even though more than 200 economists opposed him and the stock market tumbled 8 straight days in a row losing more than 15 percent of its value. The EU had to put a gun to his head to force him to do the right thing. Paulson’s Wall Street bias is so great that he would have driven the country off the cliff just to reward his dodgy friends with lavish cash giveaways from the US taxpayer.

In fact, right after the European plan was announced, Paulson convened a meeting of the country’s largest banks so he could hand out $125 billion of freshly-minted, taxpayer-generated loot to shore up their flimsy balance sheets. Citigroup got $25 Billion, as did JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both netted $10 Billion each. None of these banks had to submit to any type of regulatory investigation to see how much of their asset-base was held in worthless mortgage-backed slop or other structured garbage. Paulson never even tried to find out if they are even solvent! On top of that, taxpayer gets no voting rights, no position on the board of directors, and no limits on executive compensation for the $125 billion contribution to Wall Street’s biggest white-collar criminals. On Thursday, all of the aforementioned banks reported horrendous quarterly losses, multi-billion dollar write-downs, and more grim warnings on future profits. It’s clear that Paulson wanted to deliver the bailout money before the public discovered the extent of the carnage.

more...
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/10/19/no-more-investment-banks-turn-them-into-public-utilities-by-mike-whitney/

Mike Whitney references this article in his link

10/9/08 Behind the Panic: Financial Warfare and the Future of Global Bank Power by F. William Engdahl

“It now would appear that the Paulson strategy was to use a crisis… to panic the more conservative European Union governments into rushing to the rescue of US toxic waste assets.
Were that to have happened, it would in the process destroy what was left of sound EU banking and financial institutions, bringing the world one step closer to a global money market controlled by Paulson’s cronies—US-style Crony Capitalism. Crony Capitalism is certainly appropriate here. Paulson’s predecessor at both Goldman Sachs and at Treasury, Robert Rubin, liked to accuse the Asian bankers of Thailand, Indonesia and other lands hit with the speculative attacks of US-financed hedge funds in 1997 of ‘crony capitalism,’ leaving the impression the crisis was home grown in Asia and not the result of a deliberate executed attack by US-financed financial institutions to eliminate the Asia Tiger model among other goals, and turn Asia into the funder of US debt.

Interesting to note is that Rubin is now a Director of Citigroup, obviously one of Paulson’s crony bank ‘survivors,’ and the bank which to date has had to write off the largest sum in toxic waste securitized assets.

The Paulson plan is now clearly part of a project to create three colossal global financial giants—Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and, of course, Paulson’s own Goldman Sachs, now conveniently enough a bank. Having successfully used fear and panic to wrestle a $700 billion bailout from the US taxpayers, now the big three will try to use their unprecedented muscle to ravage European banks in the years ahead. So long as the world’s largest financial credit rating agencies—Moody’s and Standard & Poors—are untouched by the scandals and Congressional hearings, the reorganized US financial power of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase could potentially regroup and advance their global agenda over the coming several years, walking over the ashes of a bankrupt American economy made bankrupt by their follies…. This is a fight for the survival of the American Century which has been built since 1939 on the twin pillars of American financial dominance and American military dominance—Full Spectrum, Dominance.”

more...
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10495


Edit to add more Mike Whitney...
Engdahl may be on to something here. Not only will the present crisis lead to further consolidation in the US by crushing local and regional banks which do not have an umbilical chord connecting them directly to the vault at the US Treasury; it could also throw the European financial system into an “every man for himself” frenzy ultimately leading to the breakup of the EU (a prospect that is now widely considered) which would allow the US banking cartel to extend its tentacles to the continent as it has with its equities markets.

The damage that the investment banks and their non-bank counterparts (Hedge funds, broker dealers, SIVs etc) have done to the broader economy and the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world is incalculable. Still, the remedy is simple and straightforward. The banks in question should be forced to establish their solvency according to “mark to market” evaluations (Triple A MBS=$.22 on the dollar) and if they cannot meet minimal capital standards; they should be taken into receivership, their equity shareholders wiped out, their leading executives removed, and they should be transformed into public utilities under the supervision of the Congress of the United States. Once the banks are entrusted to our elected officials, we can move on to the Federal Reserve. The “price fixing” and manipulation of interest rates by privately-owned banks is a failed experiment. It’s time to move on. Abolish the Fed.
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/10/19/no-more-investment-banks-turn-them-into-public-utilities-by-mike-whitney/

I have not heard one person explain how banks, having the new found ability and security, to willingly lend each other digi-dollars is going to:

a) shore up the "consumer base"

b) by creating jobs in real industry and not Finance, Insurance, Real Estate (FIRE economy) and in the meantime,

c) find said consumers a wage increase so they can spend it to stimulate the larger economy.



We might as well be living in the 2nd Life.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=6460443

"There's no way around the map. It says the nation is in recession. The recession is coast to coast," Zandi said. "Just a handful of states are expanding at this point. One of the unique features of this downturn is how broad-based it is, regionally."



(TD sez: time will tell if we get to a "depression")

Worth a bookmark.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/21/klein.depression/index.html?iref=topnews


Is it 1929 all over again?

Editor's note: Maury Klein is professor emeritus of history at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of 15 books, including "Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929" and most recently "The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Made Modern America.

:spray:

is the day things will have turned around for Michigan. We've been in Depression mode since 2001. To be "only" in a recession would be a gift from heaven right about now.

http://financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/REG/810219989/1036

This is the whole article.

Does it print new dollars? Does it use our tax dollars?

And what is left in those mutual funds that used to contain commercial paper? Treasuries?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/business/21plan.html

Maybe this is a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. I don't have the economic smarts to figure it out. But it seems like part of the argument for spending so much taxpayer money to "rescue" the banks was that they were "too big to fail." So how is making MORE "too big to fail" banks a good thing?

Kerkorian pulling out of Ford, taking huge loss
Billionaire may have lost more than half a billion dollars on the investment

updated 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Kirk Kerkorian’s investment firm said Tuesday it sold 7.3 million of its shares in Ford Motor Co. and plans to further cut what is now a 6.1 percent stake, for a potential loss of more than half a billion dollars on the investment.

Tracinda Corp. sold the shares at an average price of $2.43 per share and said it may sell its remaining 133.5 million shares depending on market conditions.

Kerkorian has tried to leave his mark on the Detroit-based automakers over the past decade. But Tracinda said that in light of current economic conditions it now sees “unique value” in other industries such as gambling, hotels, and oil and gas, so it’s moving its resources.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27294255/

Just sitting around waiting for "management" to take the initiative is a losing proposition with those guys. They didn't call it Fix Or Repair Daily for nothing.

Highlights

Current:

Loonie: Toronto Stock Exchange:

30-day and 90-day vs.greenback:



30-day vs. Euro, Yen, UK Pound and Swiss Franc




Currency Comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/trogl/looniewatch.html

Detailed analysis: http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD

Up-to-the-minute graph: http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.Y%24%24&v=s&w=5&t=l&a=1

Historical values http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/data30.html

2008-09-09 Tuesday, September 9 0.936593 USD
2008-09-10 Wednesday, September 10 0.931532 USD
2008-09-11 Thursday, September 11 0.926183 USD
2008-09-12 Friday, September 12 0.942863 USD
2008-09-15 Monday, September 15 0.937207 USD
2008-09-16 Tuesday, September 16 0.931359 USD
2008-09-17 Wednesday, September 17 0.926956 USD
2008-09-18 Thursday, September 18 0.934929 USD
2008-09-19 Friday, September 19 0.955201 USD
2008-09-22 Monday, September 22 0.963113 USD
2008-09-23 Tuesday, September 23 0.965717 USD
2008-09-24 Wednesday, September 24 0.96609 USD
2008-09-25 Thursday, September 25 0.967305 USD
2008-09-26 Friday, September 26 0.965997 USD
2008-09-29 Monday, September 29 0.962186 USD
2008-09-30 Tuesday, September 30 0.943663 USD
2008-10-01 Wednesday, October 1 0.942774 USD
2008-10-02 Thursday, October 2 0.928591 USD
2008-10-03 Friday, October 3 0.924642 USD
2008-10-06 Monday, October 6 0.906865 USD
2008-10-07 Tuesday, October 7 0.904568 USD
2008-10-08 Wednesday, October 8 0.889205 USD
2008-10-09 Thursday, October 9 0.870853 USD
2008-10-10 Friday, October 10 0.840336 USD
2008-10-13 Monday, October 13 0.840336 USD
2008-10-14 Tuesday, October 14 0.862143 USD
2008-10-15 Wednesday, October 15 0.84717 USD
2008-10-16 Thursday, October 16 0.83661 USD
2008-10-17 Friday, October 17 0.846024 USD
2008-10-20 Monday, October 20 0.834934 USD

Current values

http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD) (DTN reports downtime - these numbers may be off)

Market            Open   High    Low   Last  Change    Pct Time
CD.Y$$ Cash     0.8297 0.8297 0.8194 0.8194 -0.0189 -2.25% 12:02 
CD.Z08 Dec 2008 0.8228 0.8228 0.8220 0.8220 -0.0176 -2.10% 11:54 
CD.H09 Mar 2009 0.8437 0.8437 0.8437 0.8409 -0.0064 -0.76% set 15:04 
CD.M09 Jun 2009 0.9880 0.9880 0.9880 0.8417 -0.0064 -0.76% set 15:04 
CD.U09 Sep 2009 0.9350        0.9340 0.8417 -0.0064 -0.76% set 15:04 
CD.Z09 Dec 2009 0.9845 0.9845 0.9845 0.8417 -0.0064 -0.76% set 15:04 
CD.H10 Mar 2010 0.8800 0.8800 0.8800 0.8417 -0.0064 -0.76% set 15:04  

Other combinations: (http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?c=currencies)

Market          Open    High    Low     Last    Change   Pct 
AUSTRALIAN $/CANADIAN $ (CME:ACD)
ACD.Z08 Dec 2008 0.8324 0.8324 0.8324 0.8324 +0.0164 +1.97%   
BRITISH POUND/US$ (SMALL) (NYBOT:MP)
MP.Z08.E Dec 2008 (E) 1.6942 1.6984 1.6813 1.6848 -0.0237 -1.39%   
EURO/BRITISH POUND (NYBOT:GB)
GB.Z08.E Dec 2008 (E) 0.7757 0.7757 0.7757 0.7757 -0.0030 -0.39%     
EURO/JAPANESE YEN (NYBOT:EJ)
EJ.Z08.E Dec 2008 (E) 133.700 133.700 130.910 131.120 -3.865 -2.87%      
EURO/US$ (SMALL) (NYBOT:EO)
EO.Z08.E Dec 2008 (E) 1.31865 1.32080 1.30710 1.30710 -0.02350 -1.77%   

Blather (from http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

The December Canadian Dollar was lower overnight as it extends last week's decline. Stochastics and the RSI are oversold but remain bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near-term. If December renews the decline off September's high, weekly support crossing at 80.39 is the next downside target. It will take closes above the 20-day moving average crossing at 89.84 to confirm that a short-term low has been posted. First resistance is the 10-day moving average crossing at 85.48. Second resistance is the 20-day moving average crossing at 89.85. First support is this month's low crossing at 82.64. Second support is weekly support crossing at 80.39

Analysis

Looks like the greenback's taken off again - I have no idea why.

There have been cuts to some of the interest rates. May have something to do with it.

I caught the economics show on the drive-home last night and one lady sounded like she was about ready to start crying. She went off on a rant about Canadian banking, that it had gotten the #1 spot on the IMF's rating of banks, that Canada (as I've been saying all along) didn't have the housing crisis like in the US because of Canadian banking regulations (eg. all the hoops I had to jump through to get my mortgage, no zero down's or some of the other nonsense that went on in the states), the only banks that were in trouble were those with close ties to investment in US banks and even then they weren't in anywhere's near the kind of trouble that would make them fail. SO WHY IN HELL IS THE LOONIE DROPPING LIKE A DEAD DUCK? (pun intended)

funds?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/21/AR2008102100615.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081021/bs_nm/us_nasdaq_listings

----- Nasdaq overlooks own rule to rescue bruised stocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq Stock Market's decision to suspend one of its own listing rules comes as an avalanche of shares tumble below the $1 threshold, and is intended to avoid the mass delistings that followed the burst of the dot-com bubble.

Last week, parent company Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) filed a request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to temporarily suspend the minimum price requirement that protects listed companies from becoming penny stocks.

It said in the filing that "U.S. and world financial markets have faced almost unprecedented turmoil," which has undercut the share prices of companies that would otherwise remain suitable for continued listing.

The SEC endorsed the suspension, which went into effect on Friday and will end Friday January 16. -----


So what if the markets are a complete fraud, just change the way stocks are listed and that'll fix pure corruption! Weeeeee!

Things, you haven't seen anything yet.

Things we might see in the near future are a ban on ALL Short Selling, hell why not ban selling altogether? They will do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to artificially keep this nonsense going for as long as they can.

Right now, their precious Dow, which the pubic has been propagandized and conditioned to believe IS the economy, is almost green for the day after being down almost 300 Points. The manipulation has gotten so transparent and blatant, if people cannot see it by now, they aren't capable of doing so.

So what will it be America? Another Bubble based on synthetic bullshit, or a Free Market?

Not like you have a choice in the matter.

As for today's nonsense, all I can say is "Based on WHAT?" More "hopes?" "expectations?" "prospective improvement?" "converging synergy?"

;)

:)

However, it seems the name of the game this week is to keep it above the psychological level of 9000 at all costs. I expect them to pull out all the stops this week.

We shall see if it works yet again.

Who knows, maybe I am completely off base and 200-800 point swings in the Dow are now "normal market activity." ;)

"Profit Taking." "Taking A Breather." "Pocketing Gains." "Cashing In On Recent Profits."

Oh, I just can't keep up.

Right Now it looks like the 2:00 Pump, 3:00 Dump play.

:)

2 of them actually. :)

Corrected. :)

:rofl:

Did the spell check miss one? :)

Right now, their precious Dow, which the pubic has been



:)


Are we having fun today!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

I TOTALLY missed that!

:rofl: rofl:

Now that is embarrassing. :)

They plan on going out and drinking heavily until sometime in '09. So bugger off!

for election night.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7682877.stm

Critics accuse the government of simply wishing to get its hands on the funds.
*******
exactly! someday coming to America

Shall I join with other nations in alliance?
If allies are weak, am I not best alone?
If allies are strong with power to protect me,
Might they not protect me out of all I own?
Is a danger to be trusting one another,
One will seldom want to do what other wishes;
But unless someday somebody trust somebody
There'll be nothing left on earth excepting fishes!

There are times I almost think
Nobody sure of what he absolutely know.
Everybody find confusion
In conclusion he concluded long ago
And it puzzle me to learn
That tho' a man may be in doubt of what he know,
Very quickly he will fight...
He'll fight to prove that what he does not know is so!

From "Puzzlement"

:toast: and Lurkers. You don't hear me say that often. It has been a hectic day. I came in to let you know we have had early voting. I went out yesterday (after once in the AM) and finally got in. Took a little over an hour of voting but everyone around me were voting for Obama and the first day of early voting had 2x the number of folks-beating the 2004 record. The GOP will have trouble hanging onto folks.

Have fun, read a novel-while you wait to vote.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

Dow 9,033.66 Down 231.77 (2.50%)
Nasdaq 1,696.68 Down 73.35 (4.14%)
S&P 500 955.05 Down 30.35 (3.08%)
10-Yr Bond 3.703% Down 0.183
NYSE Volume 5,132,136,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,157,767,500

4:25 pm : The stock market posted a large loss on Tuesday as several companies posted quarterly earnings misses and cautious outlooks that overshadowed signs of improvement in the credit markets. In addition, investors digested news the U.S. government plans to take additional steps to shore up money market mutual funds.

The S&P 500 spent the entirety of the session in negative territory, although it did see large swings. The Index traded near the unchanged mark with an hour of trade left, but a surge of selling interest sent it to session lows to settle with a loss of 3.1%.

It was extremely busy session on the earnings front. Results were mixed -- of the 77 companies that reported earnings after yesterday's close and before this session's open, 52% topped estimates, 35% missed and 13% were in-line. Outlooks were cautious -- of the 49 companies that issued guidance, 45% were negative, 30% were in-line, 21% were mixed and only 3% were positive.

Some notable names that topped third quarter earnings estimates include 3M (MMM 60.02, +2.51), American Express (AXP 26.33, +1.98), DuPont (DD 33.32, -2.85), Pfizer (PFE 17.35, +0.01) and Lockheed Martin (LMT 84.43, -8.79). DuPont and Lockheed, however, issued downside earnings guidance for their fourth quarter and full year.

The more widely held companies that missed estimates include BlackRock (BLK 129.24, -13.98), Caterpillar (CAT 38.84, -2.06), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 32.81, -3.91) and Texas Instruments (TXN 16.85, -1.13). Texas Instruments also gave a downside fourth quarter earnings outlook, citing a slowdown in orders.

With regard to the government's latest effort, the Fed will buy commercial paper -- which is short-term corporate debt that many businesses rely on -- from money market mutual funds. The Fed said it created the facility because money market mutual funds and other investors have had difficulty selling assets to satisfy redemption requests and meet portfolio rebalancing needs. The Fed had already announced plans to buy commercial paper directly from companies.

While the Fed needing to shore up money market funds shows that the financial markets remain considerably strained, there continue to be signs of improvement. The rates banks charge each other for short-term dollar loans, measured by Libor, decreased across all terms.

In the end all ten sectors posted a decline in broad-based weakness. Volume was on the light side with 1.16 billion shares exchanging hands on the NYSE, which is short of the one-year average of 1.49 billion.

The tech sector (-5.6%) posted a large decline due to the 6.3% drop in Texas Instruments. An earnings warning from Sun Microsystems (JAVA 4.78, -1.00) also weighed on the sector.

The energy sector fell 4.3% as crude prices dropped 4.5% to $70.89 per barrel. The drop in crude prices was fueled by global economic concerns and a 1.5% surge in the dollar.

The materials sector declined 5.7% after copper producer Freeport McMoRan plunged 11%.

The financial sector outperformed on a relative basis with a loss of 1.8%. Strength in American Express helped offset weakness in BlackRock and Citigroup (C 14.17, -0.92). DJ30 -231.77 NASDAQ -73.35 SP500 -30.35 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 745/2.15 bln/2029 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 925/1.16 bln/2182

The Meth Heads are partying After Hours based on AAPL's "Upbeat conference call. WAFJ. There was nothing "Upbeat" about that call except a dazzling sprinkling of weasel words, bullshit, and smoke and mirrors, attempting to hide the Massive WARN for the next quarter that they just snuck in there. It wouldn't have mattered. The idiots don't pay attention to that kind of stuff anyway

If I didn't know better, I would think that was a call from CSCO from 1999.

Even Yahoo is up after a poor earnings report.

The Rabbit Hole just gets deeper.

Loss is Profit. Recession is Recovery. Depression is Prosperity. And last but not least.....

Greed, for a lack of a better word, is still GOOD.

Down is the new up.

TIME TO BUY!!!!!!!

most of europe just opened down almost 3%...