STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday June 30

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday June 30, 2009

Bush Administration Officials Under Indictment = 2
Financial Sector Officials Under Indictment = 0
Financial Sector Officials In Prison = 3

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON June 29, 2009

Dow... 8,529.38 +90.99 (+1.07%)
Nasdaq... 1,844.06 +5.84 (+0.32%)
S&P 500... 927.23 +8.33 (+0.91%)
Gold future... 940.70 -0.30 (-0.03%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.47 -0.06 (-1.73%)
30-Year Bond 4.28 -0.05 (-1.15%)

---

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

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

Handy Links - Market Data and News:
Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance
    Google Finance    LayoffDaily

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
    Brad DeLong    Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database

---

Click image above for larger picture.


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.

Read more: du

Stop the Ponzimonium
Shame on CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton
BY ROB KIRBY

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton appeared on Canada’s Business Channel (BNN) to discuss market manipulation (or as Mr. Chilton coined it, “ponzimonium”) in the commodities markets. You can watch the interview here.

In this interview, Mr. Chilton spoke of the need for vigilance and coordination amongst regulators, globally, to help shed light on the activities of “shady operators” - specifically citing endowments, etfs, pension funds and hedge funds. The need for increased regulatory oversight stems from what Chilton refers to as the practice of “regulatory arbitrage,” whereby entities participating in dark derivatives markets register or set up ‘store fronts’ in multiple jurisdictions and then ‘cherry pick’ as to which regulators they answer to.

Chilton further characterizes these “shady operators” as ‘new specs’ (speculators) who have appeared on the scene in recent years and claims that their participation in commodities markets has unduly pushed prices up. Chilton expresses his desire to have position limits or curbs imposed on this new breed of speculator because, in his words, “these market participants have no commercial interest in the underlying commodities they are influencing the prices of.” Chilton cites President Obama’s proposed overhaul of the U.S. financial regulatory structure – giving the Federal Reserve even more power - as a positive step in this regard.

.....

Did it not occur to Mr. Chilton that West Texas Intermediate historically trades at a stiff premium to Brent North Sea crude? Concurrently with this abnormal price inversion, widespread reports began circulating in the oil industry that sudden gluts were appearing in the Louisiana / Cushing Oklahoma crude oil storage complex which in-turn led to a HIGHLY counter-intuitive global “spike” in VLCC (very large crude oil carriers – super tankers) spot rates as refiners scrambled to cope with a sudden glut of high quality, sweet crude oil.

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

09:00 S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index Apr
Briefing.com NA
Consensus -18.63%
Prior -18.70%

09:45 Chicago PMI Jun
Briefing.com 38.5
Consensus 39.0
Prior 34.9

10:00 Consumer Confidence Jun
Briefing.com 56.0
Consensus 55.3
Prior 54.9

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

U.S. April Case-Shiller home prices down 0.6%
9:03am Today

U.S. Case-Shiller index down 18.1% in past year
9:03am Today

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-home-prices-down-181-in-past-year

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. home prices were down 18.1% in the year ended April, according to the national Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday. On a month-to-month basis, prices in 20 selected cities fell 0.6% in April, with declines in 11 cities. Still, the overall pace of decline slowed in April, said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee for Standard & Poor's, which compiles the Case-Shiller index. "Every metro area, except for Charlotte, recorded an improvement in monthly returns over March," Blitzer said. "While one month's data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun, it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in some of the regions."

That's the going rate in any decent neighborhood, if not more.

Consumer confidence was worse than expected at 49.3. I guess reality is getting in the way of all the optimism.

Some sort of commie code word?

Those green shoots are poison ivy. Don't touch that shit.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped above $73 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as a weakening U.S. dollar and attacks on oil installations in Nigeria helped push prices to eight-month highs.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up $1.05 to $72.54 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $73.38. On Monday, it gained $2.33 to settle at $71.49.

....

Crude trading volume was about three times more than normal Tuesday in Asia, said Clarence Chu, a trader at market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

China boosted state-set gasoline and diesel prices Tuesday to reflect rising global crude costs, days after indicating plans to increase its strategic crude oil reserves by 60 percent over the next five years.

....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery rose 3.03 cents to $1.97 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.75 cents to $1.80. Natural gas for July delivery jumped 3.0 cents to $3.97 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

I knew I should've filled up the tank yesterday....:spank:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – General Motors Corp (GMGMQ.PK) is heading to bankruptcy court on Tuesday to seek approval to sell its assets to a "New GM" in a plan to reinvigorate the automaker under U.S. government ownership.

GM is seeking approval for the sale from U.S. bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber just 30 days after filing for Chapter 11. Under the deal, brokered by the Obama administration's autos task force, the company would sell its assets under Section 363 of the bankruptcy code to a "New GM" and continue to operate its best assets, like Chevrolet and Cadillac, while gaining access to billions in funding from the U.S. Treasury.

GM's old assets would remain behind in bankruptcy court to be liquidated.

.....

The company plans to shed dealer contracts and has deals to sell brands like Hummer and Saturn that will not be carried over to the new company. It also plans to shed the Pontiac brand and GM said on Monday that it would cut operational ties with a Northern California auto plant it had operated in a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090630/bs_nm/us_gm_sale_preview

Bastards. See if I ever buy GM. I'm glad they're selling off Saturn, I like my Saturn, and the design is superior. I hope Penske does right by the product.

(Debt up a bit for today after being down a bit for yesterday after a lot down for the day before yesterday. That's just fine. FICA can do what it wants.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,090,436,316,081.58 + 4,272,044,101,311.77
UP 335,751,413.22 + DOWN 1,369,698,385.08

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 307-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.26 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.78, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 306,739,142 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 05/25/2009 01:14 -> 306,504,012
Currently, each of these Americans owe $37,042.81.
A family of three owes $111,128.44. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 2,473,301,182.33.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,896,197,573.12.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,835,029,909.47.
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$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 108 reports in 157 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging -0.72B$ per report, -0.41B$/day so far.
There were 183 reports in 269 days of FY2009 averaging 7.31B$ per report, 4.97B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,304 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.2 and 17.8T$.
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)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
06/26/2009 11,362,480,417,393.35 BHO (UP 735,603,368,480.27 so far since Obama 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: 1,337,755,520,480.90 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
06/08/2009 +000,015,040,049.19 ------------******* Mon
06/09/2009 +000,025,670,087.48 ------------*******
06/10/2009 +000,124,232,779.18 ------------********
06/11/2009 +000,484,710,305.16 ------------********
06/12/2009 +000,342,814,514.03 ------------********
06/15/2009 +022,279,783,785.91 ------------********** Mon
06/16/2009 +000,300,303,919.12 ------------********
06/17/2009 -000,017,732,893.60 ----
06/18/2009 -005,859,665,194.24 --
06/19/2009 -000,316,361,675.40 ---
06/22/2009 +000,024,707,752.58 ------------******* Mon
06/23/2009 +000,354,103,704.29 ------------********
06/24/2009 -034,732,231,983.69 -
06/25/2009 -002,856,149,844.34 --
06/26/2009 +000,335,751,413.22 ------------********

-19,495,023,281.11 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $1,697,848,614,134.28 in last 281 days.
That's 1,698B$ in 281 days.
More than any year ever, including last year, and it's 167% of that highest year ever only in 281 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 281 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.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3944065&mesg_id=3944074

(Debt up a bit for today. Small moves lately. FICA can do what it wants.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,090,563,287,093.66 + 4,267,837,844,037.80
UP 126,971,012.08 + DOWN 4,206,257,273.97

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 307-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.26 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.78, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 306,760,742 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 05/25/2009 01:14 -> 306,504,012
Currently, each of these Americans owe $37,026.91.
A family of three owes $111,080.72. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 1,672,782,989.77.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,226,707,525.83.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,187,136,315.32.
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$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 109 reports in 160 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging -0.78B$ per report, -0.48B$/day so far.
There were 184 reports in 272 days of FY2009 averaging 7.25B$ per report, 4.90B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,301 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 12.9 and 17.7T$.
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)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
06/29/2009 11,358,401,131,131.46 BHO (UP 731,524,082,218.38 so far since Obama 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: 1,333,676,234,219.00 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
06/09/2009 +000,025,670,087.48 ------------*******
06/10/2009 +000,124,232,779.18 ------------********
06/11/2009 +000,484,710,305.16 ------------********
06/12/2009 +000,342,814,514.03 ------------********
06/15/2009 +022,279,783,785.91 ------------********** Mon
06/16/2009 +000,300,303,919.12 ------------********
06/17/2009 -000,017,732,893.60 ----
06/18/2009 -005,859,665,194.24 --
06/19/2009 -000,316,361,675.40 ---
06/22/2009 +000,024,707,752.58 ------------******* Mon
06/23/2009 +000,354,103,704.29 ------------********
06/24/2009 -034,732,231,983.69 -
06/25/2009 -002,856,149,844.34 --
06/26/2009 +000,335,751,413.22 ------------********
06/29/2009 +000,126,971,012.08 ------------******** Mon

-19,383,092,318.22 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $1,693,769,327,872.39 in last 284 days.
That's 1,694B$ in 284 days.
More than any year ever, including last year, and it's 167% of that highest year ever only in 284 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 284 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.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3945827&mesg_id=3945836

NEW YORK – In one of the highest-profile financial fraud cases in history, a judge firmly sided with Bernard Madoff's thousands of victims when he gave the disgraced financier a sentence long enough for him to die in prison.

A person familiar with the investigation said 10 more people would face federal charges by the time the probe into the multibillion-dollar fraud is complete. So far, only Madoff and an accountant accused of failing to make basic auditing checks have been criminally charged.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, wouldn't detail potential charges or say whether the 10 would include Madoff's family or former employees.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_bi_ge/us_madoff_scandal

So he could get out in 120 years with time off for good behavior?

Maybe he could cut his sentence in half if he gave evidence against the others involved.


Seriously, a 150 year sentence pretty much guarantees no co-operation.

They gave him his chance. He blew it. Perhaps because he was trying to protect his family. I suspect he was facing a faster, uglier death if he squealed.

Madoff didn't come up with this all by himself. He's got backers who are sweating right now, and enforcers who are looking for bolt holes.

In this I expect the righteous will prevail. After all, powerful people got taken. It's not like they were UAW members.

This was so unusual, really extraordinary, that the Big Fish would give himself up so willingly. Normally, the prosecution would go after the peons and work their way up. Madoff's surrender and guilty plea just made a prosecutor's work more complicated.

The judge could revisit the sentence. Jack Abramoff got this kind of deal. I think this is very unlikely in Madoff's case.

That would be the minimum amount of time Madoff would serve. Federal sentences require that 85% of the time be served before one is eligible for any kind of early release.

BERLIN/TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese unemployment hit its highest level for six years on Tuesday and euro zone bank lending stalled, adding to fears that a substantial recovery from global recession is some way off.

Unemployment in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, rose by less than economists had forecast in June, but Japan's jobless rate in May hit 5.2 percent, its highest since September 2003, as a plunge in demand for exports hits the world's No.2 economy.

....

But loans to euro zone businesses and households grew at the slowest pace on record in May, according to the European Central Bank's underscoring the need for a quick impact from the ECB's recent liquidity injection and planned bond purchases.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090630/ts_nm/us_financial

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Annual consumer price inflation across the 16-nation euro zone turned negative in June for the first time since records began 12 years ago, the statistics agency Eurostat reported Tuesday.

Annual CPI fell by 0.1%, the agency said in a preliminary estimate. Economists had forecast a steeper fall of 0.2%.

The initial estimate provides few details, but economists had expected a further deceleration in food prices to drive prices lower. Economists at UniCredit MIB forecast inflation to hit bottom in July near -0.4%.

....

The figure is far below the European Central Bank's annual CPI target of just below 2%. Central bank officials, including ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, have downplayed the threat of deflation, however.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-zone-june-annual-cpi-turns-negative

WASHINGTON – Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will testify next month before a House committee that's investigating whether he and other government officials pressured Bank of America Corp. to acquire Merrill Lynch in a deal that cost taxpayers $20 billion.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled the hearing for July 16, and a spokeswoman for Paulson on Monday confirmed he will attend.

The government is exploring allegations that Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threatened to oust Bank of America's CEO Kenneth Lewis and the bank's board members if they abandoned the takeover after discovering losses at Merrill.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_bi_ge/us_house_probe_paulson

If they had a Special Prosecutor....but that would be a sensible, good thing, wouldn't it?

:popcorn:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall, an eye-popping amount that dwarfs many states' entire annual spending plans.

Beyond California's borders, why should anyone care that the home of Google and the Walt Disney Co. might stop paying its bills this week?

Virtually all states are suffering in the recession, some worse than California. But none has the economic horsepower of the world's eighth-largest economy, home to one in eight Americans.

California accounts for 12 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and the largest share of retail sales of any state. It also sends far more in tax revenue to the federal government than it receives — giving a dollar for every 80 cents it gets back — which means Californians are keeping social programs afloat across the country.

....

When the state stumbles, its sheer size — 38.3 million people — creates fallout for businesses from Texas to Michigan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_us/us_california_why_it_matters

The Office of the Currency Comptroller is out with their Q1 bank trading report. Summary of findings:


Also note the astronomic increase in VaR across the non-Goldman banks. Including GS on this table would demonstrate just how leveraged to market swings traders are at this point, and just how much of a neutron bomb a big drop in the market would be for trading portfolios.

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/06/q1-bank-trading-only-interest-rate.html

---

This shows how much Goldman Sachs is gaming the system in derivatives trading and exploiting the absence of Glass-Steagall. If GS has focused so much of their resources into this derivatives market then this means trouble for traditional (and less desperate) income generating streams.

Here's some backstory from Zero Hedge on this kind of derivatives trading:


GS is extremely involved in gambling in risk based capital markets. It looks to me that GS is ginning the volume, therefore ginning the price. Unsophisticated herd mentality takes over with more money fed into the trades and supporting the prices. But this is unsustainable. For every trade that GS takes, there's a loser on the other side. Traders will soon tire of losing and the phantom profits will disappear.

Anything else is just continuing to rob the nation and all the people of the world.

Just what do they think they are going to do with all that money? They can't handle money, they can't handle power, they can't handle the responsibility for other people's lives. They are all like W, Infantile sociopaths.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3944065#3945280

Ozy, you are right. THIS is the kind of expertise we need n the Treasury. Elizabeth Warren knows what's what. Obama would be a fool to keep Geithner and ignore her.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-warren

The link above is an hour-long video. (When did they start doing that at YouTube?) Her speech begins about 5 minutes into the video, following an introduction.

It was posted here in April of 2008, and the system will not permit a reposting in Videos.

I think it should be handy for reference and for newbies to see, until the Present Emergency ends (or DU or the Internet; care to place a bet as to which one stops forst?)

This video is Economics 101 for our times. I'd hate for it to get lost in the circular file.

I'll place the thing in one of the reference boxes.

screaming at the top of our lungs since Geitner was 'annointed'. Elizabeth Warren is the real deal.

Never trust a skinny chef or an economist that has never held a job outside academia.

From The Big Picture

Nice interactive graphic from WSJ showing a breakdown of the funds funneling cash into large banks via all manner of Treasury and Federal Reserve programs, including:

Capital Purchase Program, Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Automotive Industry Financing Program, Targeted Investment Program (TIP), Consumer and Business Lending Initiative (TALF), Citigroup Asset Guarantee Program, Bank of America Asset Guarantee Program, Systemically Significant Failing Institutions, Home Owner Affordability & Stability Plan, Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) and Unlocking Credit for Small Businesses.

Here's the link to the tracker graphs at the WSJ. Be advised: This is one huge honkin' chart! I suppose we could use the process of elimination to discover the weakest institutions by checking off the ones who have repaid the bailout funds.

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

Last trade 79.630 Change -0.278 (-0.36%)

Pound Sunk By Biggest GDP Contraction Since 1958, After Reaching Highest Level Since October

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/Pound_Sunk_By_Biggest_GDP_1246356560350.html

The pound would set a fresh yearly high of 1.6746 before the final reading of 1Q GDP showed the lowest quarterly growth since 1958 of -2.4% down from -1.9%. The steeper than expected contraction dragged the annualized reading to -4.9% versus expectations of -4.3%. Total business investment in the country fell by 7.9% which was the most since September dimming the prospects for future growth. Meanwhile, Nationwide LLC showed that house prices rose 0.9% in June which helped support earlier bullish sentiment. However, the weak growth figures has the GBP/USD testing 1.6600

The BoE’s success in their bond purchase program continues to raise optimism for the U.K. economy. The central banks aggressiveness in their monetary policy to start the year is starting to pay dividends which continue to provide sterling support. Our contention that we may be seeing the pound become overvalued was supported by the weak growth numbers including a 1.3% drop in household spending and exports falling for a fourth quarter by 6.9%. However, with the GBP/USD reaching its highest level since last October there is very little in the form of resistance until 1.6888-50.0% Fibo of 2.0160-1.3504.

Euro bulls have regained control after a brief sell off following weak money supply figures and German unemployment reaching 8.3%-the highest since June 2007. Although, we saw a 31,000 increase in the number of unemployed Germans it was less than the 45,000 that economists were expecting. The Euro-zone June CPI-estimate also printed better than expected at -0.1% versus -0.2% which will help the ECB keep rates at 1.00% as they maintain their price stability focus. Policy members have consistently maintained that rates are appropriate and unless we see the risks of deflation substantially increase a bottom may be in place at the current record low. Bollinger band resistance at 1.4207 may limit upside potential fro EUR/USD.

The dollar has started to regain its footing after rising oil prices and higher equity prices kept it under pressure during Asian trading. Slow growth and rising unemployment in Europe is weighing on risk appetite and could lead to dollar support heading into U.S. trading. However, the expected rise in consumer confidence to 55.3 from 54.9, which would be the highest since September 2008, could fuel demand for risky assets. Additionally, Chicago PMI is forecasted to rise to 39.0 from 34.9 as manufacturing steadily improves which will raise expectations for domestic growth and future employment. Therefore, we could see the greenback trade lower on increased optimism and increased risk appetite. However, the S&P Case-Shiller house price data is also ahead and weakness in the housing market could dim the outlook for a recovery.

...more...

US Dollar, Japanese Yen Pull Back as Volatility Hits 9-Month Low

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_fundamentals/US_Dollar__Japanese_Yen_Pull_1246314174493.html

The US dollar and Japanese yen started the week off with losses as a rally in European and US equities and a drop in the CBOE’s VIX volatility index to the lowest since mid-September all indicated that investor sentiment was improving. Meanwhile, Treasuries gained, driving 10-year yields to one-month lows, after the People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said that his nation’s “forex reserve policy is always quite stable" and "there are not any sudden changes," helping to quell concerns that there will not be enough foreign demand for US Treasuries down the road to finance the country’s massive budget deficit.

On Tuesday at 10:00 ET, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for the month of June is forecasted to continue rising from its record low of 25.3 reached in February up to a 9-month high of 55.3. With record keeping having begun in 1967, the plunge in sentiment from the 2007 highs of 111.90 makes the extent of the recession especially clear. Nevertheless, a surprisingly strong result could provide a boost to risky assets, as the move would indicate that sentiment may have bottomed out. However, if consumer confidence goes little changed or rises right in line with expectations, the news is unlikely to evoke much of a reaction from the markets.

...more...

has been hung out for the world to see? There seems to be no end to the sickening revelations of how unfree and unfair the Markets are, how there isn't a snowball's chance of coming out of this with anything for any regular person, how we really ought to just go to barter with people we know and screw the rest by boycott.

We the workers of the world are being cheated of our labors, and our children and grandchildren cheated of their futures.

I have realized why the Boomers got the boom lowered on them in the 60's and 70's: young people lead revolutions. Older people are too old, too physically unlimber, too mentally stuck or too psychologically abused; their numbers have declined through death and disability. But I think the Boomers could do it one more time--indeed, we might have to. There isn't another group with as much education, experience, and sheer numbers, and for all that we are immeasurably poorer today than we were before, we are still the wealthiest subgroup.

Obama's election was meant by the Boomers to be that kind of a revolution: a civil, non-violent one. but Obama has played us false. Every little peculiar decision of his is an outright finger in his voters' face, especially the people he puts into power.

And then, the Supremes gave the finger to Sotomayor, and the old white Christian racists chortled with glee. They were still winning the culture war, while the banksters stole the shirts off their backs.

Oh, they sense something is not right, but they don't seem to go looking for why. It's like they have become paralyzed with fear, so they continue going about their daily life hoping Obama will fix everything.

Yesterday police shot dead a man who had just killed his mother and left her body in her burning house. Why else do people take drugs? They have no coping mechanisms, or they think that by suppressing themselves they can hang on until there's a change in the weather.

Michigan is coming apart at the seams. Too much murder/suicide, too much stupid robbery, too much foreclosure, too many layoffs. Too much everything, and not enough income.

This weather isn't going to change until WE the People stop dancing to the Fiddlers' Tune, and take back the power we entrusted to the government and the Corporations.

they feel entitled to whatever they want. I've even heard it called having too much self-esteem. Our culture has changed so much in the past 30 years. That Elizabeth Warren video that UpInArms posted yesterday gives some insight. Here's the link again for others to watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A


I'm in Ohio, and I too am seeing the same things as in Michigan. My son is a policeman in one of the major Ohio cities, and I fear for him as violence escalates everywhere. Unfortunately, until more people become jobless, pennyless, homeless, and hungry, I don't see many people stepping up to take back their country.

To look around and understand why this is occurring, there will be no real "change." Far too easy to get lost in a movie, video game, or American Idol every night than try to grasp why the previous working day sucked so bad.

I'll also set myself up for a bit of torch treatment by stating that a large portion of the middle class did not have to fall for the manipulations of corporate America. Much of the debt trap was avoidable. A con artist is only successful if there are willing "marks" that can't resist the bait.

What is done, is history.

That said, we had better wrest control from big insurance and the GS's of the world, and do it fast. I fear the social upheaval about to descend will be far more destructive than the economic one beginning to unfold.

People are dreaming that that the worst is behind us. They look at the market figures and believe the shit spewing out of the media about "green shoots" and "the bottom." A few years back the cache phrase was "glide path" (remember that one?) How smooth was the landing? (Leave the Billy Mays jokes alone here)

By failing to see the "lock step" (great term) market movements that can only be from manipulation, the next "market adjustment" will come hard and fast... Probably sooner than than later.

Today's newspaper will read like yesterdays. The police report will be long, and full of names aged under 30. The neglect to our educational systems are taking their toll. In the area I live, the local rag used to run an arrest column once a week. It's now done daily.

Screw the hay forks, keep your powder dry.

A history course on propaganda should be mandatory for every American student, it allows a person to easily see how manipulated every single thought an American has is being guided in 1 direction, a direction to buy, buy, buy. Truth is what's manufactured by the propagandists, not what reality says it is. This is Orwell's 1984, we are living it.

from Charles Hugh Smith blog
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjune09/squattertownUSA06-09.html

scheme targeting the middle classes. Pensions are rare trinkets today. The 401(k), which seems like legalized theft to me, has replaced the pension fund as the main means of retirement support. Andlook at how the 401(k) is popularly structured: stocks and maybe money market funds (is you're savvy). A varied portfolio consisting of stocks makes my head hurt. Look at the valuations as described in this article on yesterday's thread. The best and the worst stocks move in lockstep price correlation. And how is this weird dynamic supposed to support a sustainable future?

Our country has been looted by the banksters taking our taxmoney and by the corporations outsourcing our jobs. Until people have decent jobs and livable wages, the future is not sustainable.

of disgust I have for Obama. I know expressing it will open me to flame wars, and I'm just not interested in fighting them. I just plain don't fucking care any more.

I'm also tired of being vilified as a boomer, blamed for everything from crumbling infrastructure to the high cost of health care.

I never read Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation," but it always stuck in my craw that too few have ever given us boomers credit for what we did and under what handicaps we did it.

And now those of us who are at or very near retirement age have seen our hopes for that retirement dashed at a time when we are least able to recover. AND WE WORKED FOR IT. Whether it was social security that we paid into out of every paycheck or a union pension package that's been hacked to pieces or a mutual fund or 401k or whatever the fuck it is, WE put into it and SOMEONE ELSE got the benefits.

And we get the blame.

Phil Gramm wasn't boomer. Greenspan wasn't a boomer. Murdoch isn't a boomer. These are the architects of the collapse.

But what makes me so fucking furious -- and I have refrained from posting most of this because I just don't need another flame war -- is that Obama owes his success to the boomers. He owes his goddess-blessed life to the boomers. To those who fought for civil rights so his mother and his father could be MARRIED for fuck's sake. To those who have fought year after year after year to bring the power of the vote to those who have been left behind and forgotten for far too many years. It's not just that the youth voted in 2008, it's that the institutions were established that enabled them to vote. And it was the legacy of the boomers that brought out that youth vote.

And I'm sick and tired of that legacy being ignored, dismissed, maligned.

You're right, Demeter, our generation did lead revolutions. Where is the next revolution going to come from?

An angry and bitter and pissed off


Tansy Gold

Tansy,
I don't post much at all (obviously) but I remember reading with pleasure your posts from the past. And it is hard to avoid a distinctly sinking feeling where Obama is concerned. I am of the boomer generation as well and what we're obviously missing here, as many posters have noted, is an overwhelming sense of outrage, which I remember having in the early 70s. And that translated into giant demonstrations and a feeling, even in the Administration, that the people would not be thwarted. Now we are all asleep, waiting anxiously for the latest bit of news about Michael Jackson and completely ignoring the big, scary picture. My husband and I were both trained as journalists and I blame the death of journalism for some of this, but the people have to bear responsibility, too.

angry and pissed off too

For putting into words, much better than I ever could, exactly how I feel.
:hug:
hamerfan

Fannie Lou Hamer, and I don't know if that's where you got the name, but for those who don't know --- I'm ALWAYS writin' for the lurkers! --- Ms. Hamer was a civil rights icon and giant, known as the lady who was "sick and tired of bein' sick and tired." Google her; you'll be amazed.

Goddess bless us, but ain't we ALL sick and tired of bein' sick and tired? When's it gonna end, Barack? When's it gonna end, Joe? John McCain, moron of morons, claims the unions are runnin' this administration? What you smokin', John? Unions ain't runnin' nothin' no more, you asswipe. If they was, we'd be in a lot better shape than we are.

And yes, I do slip into the vernacular now and then, this little ol' white lady from the Chicago suburbs who would never have used a double negative. If I have a talent, it's my ear for voices, for words, and damn it, but you gotta make a point and all you got is words to do it with. So you gotta make 'em count.

John McCain is an idiot, a puppet, a tool. Seriously, would anyone in control of their faculties have done what he did in picking Palin for a running mate? He's nuts, he's stupid, he's incompetent. So why is he getting air time? Why is no one calling him out for his stupidity?

Why did the "news" programs devote every freakin' second of their time last week to the death of a has-been rock star? What effect on our daily lives, on our economy, on the state of world peace/war, on the debate over health care, on the political chaos in Iran, on the election (or whatever it was) in Honduras, on the railroad infrastructure in Italy, will the death of Michael Jackson have? Okay, he died, and so did Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays and a whole lot of other people, but where was the freakin' news?? It was all on Michael Jackson. No longer bread and circuses, it's just the circuses.

And circuses with too many clowns.

I don't have much time for tv, but the past week or so I've had a little more time than usual, so I've been trying to catch the MSNBC news shows. I don't get big chunks of time to watch a whole program, but it doesn't matter. Ed, Chris, Keith, and Rachel ALL COVER THE SAME STORIES. They interview the SAME PEOPLE. And then THEY REPEAT IT AD NAUSEAM.

Matthews and Olbermann are the headliners -- that's made clear just by the quality of their stage sets. Maddow and Schulz get low-budget graphics. But all of that window dressing has taken away from the real news that they're supposed to be reporting. Yes, the decline of journalism. Why does Olbermann have three comic relief sections: Oddball, Bests, and Worsts? Wouldn't one be enough, and devote the rest of the time to REAL NEWS? Oh, I know, I know, the lightweights say we NEED lightening up, but we NEED NEWS. And we need a whole lot less of Michael Jackson in it.

I'm outraged, and I'm most outraged at the LACK of outrage from the Obama administration. THERE IS A LOT TO BE OUTRAGED ABOUT, and he just takes it all as calmly as a bored housewife on Zoloft. We need more Howard Beale, even if he wasn't real, and we need more Fannie Lou Hamer.

But I ain't holdin' my breath.




Tansy Gold

Hamer died of breast cancer on March 14, 1977, at the age of 59 at a hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi and is buried in her hometown of Ruleville, Mississippi. Her tombstone reads, "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Lou_Hamer

****************************

Yes indeed, "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired".

I sometimes wonder if the activism today is covered up by the ongoing 24 hours news such as for Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, Jon and Kate, American Idol. Maybe that is the intent, why report disgruntled people, might stir up more activism. Or maybe watching mindless TV, is making us mindless, apathetic.


:eyes:


oops, typo

But, sorry, that is not the reference in my name. I play Hamer guitars, specifically the Hamer USA line. On the used market, they are very undervalued so it's possible to get a stunning handcrafted instrument for relatively little money.
I used to go by "dumpbush" around here. Maybe I should've kept that one. No misinterpreting the intent there, :P
Keep up the good work!

I don't know haw many times I've been tear-gassed in Washington DC. Nixswine sic'ed the Cubans on us in Miami.

And everything we fought for in the '60s and early '70s is slipping away. And we don't even have a party that even attempts to stick up for what's right and just any more. No body wants to fight for anything any more. We know what the problems are. We have a good idea what the solutions are. And the politicians that say, "Nobody could have foreseen...". Yeah, they coulda, if they would have looked past their next campaign contribution. They have access to the same, and more information than we do, and we saw this shit coming years ago! Unwinnable wars, pestilence from contaminated foods, economic devolution.

Ignorance really is bliss. Just look at Michelle Bachmann. Or Joe the Dumber.

Obama is just a symptom of a terminal disease. And I do mean terminal.

I cannot think of a stream of criticism more potent and jarring as that which you can dish out, Tansy. He needs to hear this, read it, then let it sink in.

If I have the luxury of time in teaching Economics again this year, we will examine the current economic crises (as there is more than one, concurrently) - you can bet that we will take a look at the eight months of this Geithner/Summers/Obama shit and examine what their Republican-light strategies have not done one damned bit. Of course I will not call it that. We will just look at historical crises, their attempted solutions: both failings and successes. Then we would compare then and now.

I will suggest that you put it in a letter. Post it for internet redistribution. Make flaming those who deserve flaming so easy that it would be more difficult to do nothing.

Thanks.

Whine and complain. Bitch and moan. But, they haven't offered even one suggestion, as to how to fix their mess, Yeah their mess. But, it's getting to the point now, that it's going to be the Dems mess. You can only pass the buck for so long. How long can you watch a beating, in progress, before you become an accomplice officially?

Screw this bi-partisan bullshit. When you're dealing with the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, and Tom Coburne, the only solution is to steam-roller them. They won't get out of the way, so plow 'em under.

DADT, DOMA, marriage equality, Wallstreet wins over Mainstreet, the banking industry, CC companies and hedgers continue business as usual, 2 disgusting wars, Blackwater, KBR electrocuting our troops, war crimes, torture, signing statements, The BFEE, Cheney & Co., the Military Industrial Complex all remain basically, UNCHANGED.

Not exactly what I had in mind. Not what I heard at the speeches and rallies, oops my bad for the misunderstanding.

Wrong turns? Right turns? - hell, we really haven't made many turns at all in some of the most important issues that face the country.

Yea I know, change takes time and it's only been 5 months....

My husband's getting pissed off because I'm bitching more often than I'm cheering. Told me to GIVE THE MAN A CHANCE why don't cha'?!

Yea.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x459879

Link to Bob Herbert's column posted in Editorials forum, and now I forgot by whom.

Column is about a young man "arrested" in Afghanistan a hundred years ago or maybe it was only five or six, tortured, interrogated, his US prosecuter now refusing to prosecute, but current administration JUST LIKE THE LAST ONE won't let him go.

As the OP in the other thread says, read the column, and then read the comments. They're stunning. Probably not entirely shocking to those of us who regularly post and/or lurk here, but they're stunning nonetheless. The outrage is deep and it is intellectual as well as emotional. It is a very, very dangerous outrage.

There is no excuse for this bullshit. There is no excuse. None. There's no "give him a chance" or "give him time" or "he can't do it all in a day" or any of that other bullshit. He's morphing into just another puppet of TPTB, just another corporate lackey, just another protector of the rights of the powerful and the hell with all the rest of us cockroaches.

We need another Fannie Lou Hamer, someone not afraid to get out there and tell the bastards we're all sick and tired of bein' sick and tired.

We need another Paul Wellstone, and maybe now that the usurper Coleman is finally out of Wellstone's seat, maybe, maybe, Franken will shake things up a bit.


Tansy Gold

I, too, am pissed off that we still have a high level of illiteracy in this country because the school higher-ups (from chancellors to superintendents to principals) get paid ridiculously high salaries, as do school contractors (from builders to staff training consultants), while good teachers don't. And we still have major air pollution, water pollution and superfund sites to clean up due to the corporations being exempted from paying for their pollution and from paying taxes. Meanwhile, most of us in the environmental field do our jobs as volunteers or for little pay.

As a boomer, I feel like I've kept my finger in the dike all these years, and will never be able to retire due to my "retirement" fund either not growing at all or shrinking. :puke:

Our system needs a major overhaul by US.

I have been very outspoken about my displeasure at Obama's plans. The RW thinks I have embraced their irrational hatred and fear of Obama and my Dem friend keep telling me I am being unrealistic. I have to repeat that I think appointing the people that got us into this mess to lead us out is a fool's errand and Obama is on his way to becoming a one term wonder and the last black man to have the office of president for several generations if he continues to FU. He struck me as smarter than his choices and unless he starts becoming a Democrat with a big D-we are all screwed. And Tansy, you are so right about Boomer's being blamed for all this shit. When they wanted to raise the SS tax to help pay for Boomer's SS-I was all for it...but I called for a lock box before Al Gore said it. My greatest generation neighbor first opposed it and then said it should be in the general fund not in a special SS trust account. And now my GOP leaning Mom has a 'let them eat cake' attitude. She has a pension with the phone company and social security (I and hubby are lucky to have a little something unlike most boomer's). She was bitching about single payer and god forbid "National Health care" the other day. I really lite into her and busted her chops over over her foolishness. I can't get care (insurance,meds, a doc visit) for my poor children and families and she bitches because she has to pay more on a copay. She's getting medicine dammit and most folks aren't. She then did a weasel about undocumented folks getting health care. It was all I could do Tansy, to follow the commandments. She has been so brainwashed-and yet she wants to call me brainwashed just because I am a Dem. Well I am a Dem and that gives me the right and responsibility to call Obama et al out on this. I've marched, been gassed and have missed jail time by a whisker. I am damn tired of being everyone else's mule and carrying the water too, Tansy. My attitude is...When the rest of you decide to start the party, give me a call. Until then, I have some long neglected things I need to do.

I don't make it to DU very often anymore but what a wonderful sub-thread to read after months of being away.

Now we have to hear from antigop.

:hi:

It would be nice to see antigop again. Been awhile.

I also miss Julie, Maeve, radfringe and other veterans who are part of this thread's foundations.

My brain just doesn't function these days, not firing on all cylinders anymore. I seemed to have misplaced a week yesterday afternoon. :P

Hoping this passes soon as I do miss contributing to the discussions.

Hormones - sheesh, momma told me there'd be days like this......

Looks like it was recorded on the same day as the above video. She discusses her background and family, what determined her views.


Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren for a discussion of the economic pressures confronting the two income middle class family as it struggles to pay mortgages, health care, and education costs. Professor Warren offers surprising answers to "Who goes bankrupt and why?" and explores the role of banks and credit card companies in tightening the squeeze on the average American family. The interface between politics and the law in addressing these problems is explored. Series: "Conversations with History" <5/2007>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Uk-DwUvJw

For the most part, that family isn't middle class, it's down in the depths of lower-to-poor. And now, there are millions of these families.

a few super rich, but most of us getting poorer and poorer. The middle class is being squeezed out. This will become even more apparent as more and more people lose their jobs, homes, insurance.

6/30/09 Karl Denninger: "Starve The Beast"

Look, we can rant and rave about market manipulation and government-sponsored games. We can petition the SEC, the FBI and Congress. We can demand that they stop it all we want.

But they haven't and likely won't until and unless America gets pissed off enough to force them to act.

So how do we make that happen, yet remain within the law?

Its not that hard, and in the intermediate and longer-term it would be incredibly positive for our economy and nation.

We go on a consumption strike until and unless our demands are met.

What are our demands? Here's the list:

* All the financial fraudsters are investigated, indicted, and prosecuted. This includes the con artists in CONgress who got "special deals" from Mozilo and his "Friends of Angelo" program (and who are blocking a subpoena to BofA as it would implicate them), it includes those past and current members of Government Sachs, and it includes all those other financial "professionals" who deceived Americans and others with their sale of toxic exploding mortgage products along with the securities supposedly backed by them.
* Glass-Steagall is restored, in full, and all the firms that can't exist under it are broken up. Period.
* The insider-trading that has become blatant and outrageous is prosecuted where illegal and where not, is made illegal and then prosecuted, with the focus being on the size of the scam. This includes obvious circumstances such as August 2007 (Bernanke's phone logs were FOIA'd) where trading patterns made clear that "certain someones" had foreknowledge of the discount rate cut along with Congresspeople who were briefed on the TARP and within hours or days made significant stock trades. Today if you're Martha Stewart you're prosecuted where if you make millions in an hour by exploiting government information "leaks" the SEC and FBI look the other way.
* The Government withdraws all of its backstopping of financial firms who created this mess. All of it. If you're a bank or other firm and did something imprudent, you fail. Period. This is true whether you're a small regional bank (as is happening now; 5 in the last week) or a big behemoth like Citibank or Bank Of America. No "special deals", no "special guarantees", nothing of the kind. If the government wishes to avoid "systemic risk" then the government regulators can do their damn job.
* The Fed disgorges all of its improperly-acquired MBS and other related securities. If it doesn't have a full-faith-and-credit guarantee and was bought, it is disgorged - period.
* The Fed agrees to full annual audits without exception.
* Those people inside government who conspired with certain bankers to cook the books, along with those in the banks who did so, go to jail. Our own Office of The Inspector General in the government has confirmed that there was an active conspiracy to break the law within the OTS, but not one indictment has been issued.
* Those who committed fraud in the creation of this economic mess, whether they be mortgage lenders, those who packaged up securities while intentionally omitting credit information, those in the real estate industry to pressed for appraisal fraud and others are investigated, prosecuted and if convicted jailed. All of them.
* Losses are born by those who made bad decisions, not the taxpayer generally. Those who made good decisions get to reap the benefits, while those who made bad decisions eat the losses. No exceptions.
* Government cuts the annual budget deficit to zero. If government wants to blow the money it has to have the money. If they can't raise the money they don't spend it. It is time to live within our means and hold government to account for its profligate spending along with promises of "benefits" they know they cannot actually deliver down the road such as Medicare Part D.

Until then the position of those who wish to join is simple: No non-essential purchases of anything are made. Period.

What's an essential purchase? Here's the list:

* Enough food to eat at home. No more eating out.
* Rent and utilities.
* Essential medical services.
* Enough fuel to get to and from work.

In addition any "excess withholding" is stopped; if you are getting a big fat refund from the IRS every year you are loaning the government your money at zero interest until April. Stop that; its stupid. Change your W4 so you get exactly nothing back or owe a tiny amount; if you pay estimates pay only that which you must and not one dime more.

Note that it is unlawful to use your W4 to intentionally under-withhold, but you are in fact not obligated to pay one more dime in tax than you actually owe. There is nothing wrong with adjusting withholding to match (as close as you reasonably can) your actual tax obligation.

Put the money you save (it will be a lot!) into a non-TARP Credit Union if you have one available to you, or a non-TARP local bank if you do not. Spend none of it.

If we pledge to do this and not resume normal spending habits on wants as opposed to needs until and unless the budget is balanced, the bailouts are rolled back and those who committed fraud go to prison the government will be forced to act as they will simply run out of money.

They cannot force you to buy that new iPOD or flatscreen TV, or to take an expensive vacation.

Consumer spending is 70% of the economy.

This is a consumer weapon that is more powerful than any other means of peaceful protest. Strangling the government and private business' ability to steal from us all by cutting off their revenue will force reform, and has the additional benefit of being exactly what this nation needs to provide a strong capital formation base when that reform is complete.

If businesses want my money they can join in the chorus of voices demanding that government stop the looting and start prosecuting.

Will any of us be perfect in this endeavor? No. There will be the occasional indulgence I'm sure no matter who we are. But I'm willing to bet we can shrink consumption - each and every one of us - by at least 10% without any real personal pain at all, and if we do so it will send an indelible message to those in government and business: cut that crap out!

July 4th is Independence Day.

Let's make it a day of freedom from the banksters and government financial marauders.

Who's with me?
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1174-Starve-The-Beast-July-4th,-2009.html

100% corruption at "the tables".