STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday September 14

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday September 14, 2009

Bush Administration Officials Under Indictment = 2
Financial Sector Officials In Prison = 6

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 11, 2009

Dow... 9,605.41 -22.07 (-0.23%)
Nasdaq... 2,080.90 -3.12 (-0.15%)
S&P 500... 1,042.73 -1.41 (-0.14%)
Gold future... 1,006 +9.60 (+0.96%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.34 0.00 (-0.12%)
30-Year Bond 4.18 -0.02 (-0.41%)

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

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie, Silver and US$

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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

G-20 Inflates the Global Economy to Prosperity
BY GARY DORSCH

Who says central bankers can’t inflate an economy to prosperity? To head-off the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the “Group-of-20” central banks have slashed interest rates to record lows, while politicians have funneled trillions into the coffers of the most powerful Oligarchic banks. So far, the cost of mopping up after the world financial crisis is a staggering $12-trillion, or equivalent to around a fifth of the world’s annual economic output.

The hefty price tag includes capital injections pumped into banks in order to prevent them from collapse, the cost of soaking up toxic assets, guarantees over debt, and liquidity support from central banks. Most of the cash, about $10.2-trillion, was spent by the so-called developed countries, while the emerging countries spent only $1.8-trillion, mostly in the form of liquidity injections into banks.

In return for this hefty investment, the pace of job losses has slowed, and there’s been a recovery in industrial output. At the same time, global stock markets have bounced back with startling speed. Since hitting bottom in March, the MSCI World Index has rebounded by 50%, and key industrial commodities, such as crude oil, copper, rubber, and iron-ore have also rebounded in synchronization.

.....

Many economists have argued that the United States cannot “inflate its way out” of its debt, problem, because it would trigger a collapse of the US-dollar and bring an end to its status as the world’s reserve currency. But the US Treasury and the Fed are ready to take that risk, figuring the only way out of America’s financial crisis is through higher inflation, allowing indebted households and banks to deleverage faster and with less pain. Stimulating inflation is a quick-fix, and the Fed can pursue this strategy, while commodity inflation rate stays in negative territory.

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

It's the jobless non-recovery and massive deflation that official efforts should address.

Inflation = lots of money and lots of stuff bought via credit cards, not necessarily higher prices.

Prices can be high or low in either inflation or deflation.


So if deflation was addressed, people would run to the banks and take out all their money. Can't have that, it would cause a panic. It must be perceived that everything is fine, must have confidence.

That's why deflation is not addressed.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices dropped below $69 a barrel Monday in Asia amid a stronger U.S. dollar and a slide in regional stock markets.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was down 77 cents at $68.52 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract tumbled $2.65 to settle at $69.29.

.....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery fell 2.67 cents to $1.73 a gallon, and heating oil dropped 2.09 cents to $1.71 a gallon. Natural gas rose 4.2 cents to $3.00 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

Energy Industry Icon Re Affirms Oil and Natural Gas Prices will Correct to Downside; Recommends Investors Go to the Sidelines Quickly

MIAMI, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Karl W. Miller, a senior energy executive and institutional investor, today issued the following statement through his advisor VBCC, regarding the state of the U.S. Equity Markets and the Energy Industry.

Mr. Miller recently issued a sell recommendation on the US Natural Gas producers, and called for Natural gas to trade below $3 mmbtu in the U.S. last week.

.....


Mr. Miller continues to warn that China will be irrelevant to the U.S. economy and energy complex at for the next 12-18 months, given the fact that there is no fundamental U.S. demand and the U.S. dollar is substantially disadvantaging any minor demand that might arise in the near term.

Mr. Miller continues to remind institutional and retail investors that the Oil and Natural Gas markets and prices are decoupled in the U.S. and investors should not chase a speculatively driven oil price when it has nothing to do with the fundamentals on the ground relating to Natural Gas production and demand in the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20090914/pl_usnw/energy_industry_icon_re_affirms_oil_and_natural_gas_prices_will_correct_to_downside__recommends_investors_go_to_the_sidelines_q

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations slipped to $2.5911 a gallon as supplies rose and demand fell with the end of the U.S. summer driving season.

Gasoline lost 5.06 cents in the three weeks ended Sept. 11, according to a survey of 5,000 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California.

“Demand is poor,” Lundberg said in an interview today. “The number of those who do not have jobs continues to rise.”

.....

The highest average price for self-serve regular gasoline in the U.S. was $3.27 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska, Lundberg said. The lowest was in St. Louis, Missouri at $2.26 a gallon. On New York’s Long Island, the price was $2.84, and in Los Angeles, the largest U.S. gasoline market, it was $3.09 a gallon.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4kk6pWcnM08

WASHINGTON – One year after Wall Street teetered on the brink of collapse, seven out of 10 Americans lack confidence the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial industry meltdown, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Even more — 80 percent — rate the condition of the economy as poor and a majority worry about their own ability to make ends meet. The pessimistic outlook sets the stage for President Barack Obama as he attempts to portray the financial sector as increasingly confident and stable and presses Congress to act on new banking regulations.

.....

Only one out of five surveyed said Obama bore responsibility for the recession; 54 percent blamed former President George W. Bush and 19 percent blamed former President Bill Clinton.

Financial institutions, however, bore the brunt of the criticism — 79 percent of those surveyed said banks and lenders that made risky loans deserve quite a bit of the blame. Sixty-eight percent held the federal government responsible for not adequately regulating banks and 65 percent blamed borrowers who could not afford to repay loans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090914/ap_on_bi_ge/us_meltdown_ap_poll

Only if they put all the blame on him for deregulation, and 8 years of non-enforcement and fraud from the Bush years, and the continuing foot-dragging in White House and Congress about addressing the core problems.

See, there's a certain lag time in economic policies making their effects felt, they claim. This delay is some multiple of 4 years. So when we pull out the data that shows unemployment, deficits, GDP, etc. all improve during Democratic administrations, they say that the Democrats-in-chief all benefited from the policies of the Republicans who preceded them, perhaps two or three terms earlier.

Mind you, they still blame Obama for every bad thing happening in this economy, apparently starting some months BEFORE the election. 1 in 5 blame Obama for the recession! Apparently, he was so powerful as a mere candidate that poor President Bush could do nothing to save our nation's economy from his Kenyan Socialism.

WASHINGTON – Pushing Congress to act on proposed financial regulations, President Barack Obama is going to the heart of Wall Street on the first anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse to outline changes needed to prevent a future crisis like the one that sent the global economy into a tailspin last year.

Obama has called on Congress to pass a sweeping overhaul of how financial institutions behave but has seen slower-than-sought action. Administration officials said the president will use Lehman Brothers as a starting point to again decry a hands-off approach from Washington that enabled irresponsible lending that sent the nation's largest financial institutions to the brink of collapse and the larger economy to the edge.

.....

The speech comes as the same banks that received tens of billions of taxpayer dollars last year to stay afloat are again betting on the same bonds, commodities and exotic financial products that landed them in trouble.

.....

Proposals to better monitor the financial system and to police the products banks sell to consumers have been opposed by lobbyists, lawmakers and turf-protecting regulators. Mergers and sales of banks have consolidated lending power in even few hands. And those large firms still bet far more than the capital they have on hand.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090914/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_financial_regulations

We need to break them up. And we need to make it illegal for them to collude with each other through "industry lobbyists" to influence (buy) legislation and (lack of) regulatory oversight.

Adam Smith decried the bad effects of monopolistic markets back in 1776. We still fight that same fight today. Weirdly, the monopolists have appropriated Adam Smith's arguments for their side, and claim we need "free markets," free for them to build monopolies and cartels, rather than the competitive marketplace Smith championed. Smith wanted markets free FOR competition. They want markets free FROM competition.

Bust 'em, break 'em, smash 'em, crush 'em.

after they have destroyed the economy, the nation and the People, of course.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Bond investors are increasingly convinced the worst of the world economic crisis is over but expect a shaky recovery, the Bank for International Settlements said Monday in its quarterly review of global financial markets.

The Basel, Switzerland-based institution, which serves as a clearinghouse for the world's central banks, said markets continue to show signs of normalization. Risk tolerance continues to edge higher, while risk premia continue to recede. Interbank money markets have seen key spreads narrow to levels unseen since early 2008, while some have improved even further.

.....

Concerns about an expected 137% jump in borrowing by the U.S. government in fiscal 2009 would be difficult to absorb appeared to help boost long-term yields in the first half of the year, the BIS said. The upward pressure on bond yields from those worries appears to have faded substantially, the report said.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bond-investors-see-shaky-recovery-bis-2009-09-14

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber slumped by the most in nine months after President Barack Obama imposed tariffs on tire imports from China, spurring concern that demand for the raw material in the world’s largest consumer will decline.

Futures dropped as much as 9.3 percent to the lowest level since Aug. 24. The U.S. placed tariffs of 35 percent on tires from China, acting on a union complaint that imports were pushing U.S. workers out of jobs. China announced yesterday a probe into the alleged dumping of American auto and chicken products, two days after the U.S. action.

.....

The additional duties will begin Sept. 26 and last for three years, dropping 5 percentage points a year, according to a White House statement. The case brought by the United Steelworkers is the largest so-called safeguard petition filed to protect U.S. producers from increasing imports from China.

China’s tire exports to the U.S. are worth about $2 billion annually, according to Yale Zhang, Shanghai-based director of auto-advisory company CSM Asia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a2pJIvLyRzCg

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You may recall that China was successfully sued in 2004 for dumping electronic products in American markets, against WTO rules.

.....

The clunkers program lured hundreds of thousands of people to dealers in July and August with government rebates of up to $4,500 to trade in older, inefficient vehicles for newer, more fuel-efficient ones.

While most dealers are grateful for the boost, they're paying for it now with fewer customers. The government rebates drew people into the market who otherwise would have kept driving their clunkers due to uncertainty over the sputtering economy. Those customers might have made their purchases later in the year.

.....

Making matters worse, many dealers depleted their stocks with clunker sales, and automakers have been slow to ramp up production to replenish the lots. Grahl says Ford has built the cars he ordered but mysteriously hasn't shipped them. So the selection isn't very good for people who do want to buy.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hL5fUBpVOB7W6IjNX3uODAVIHLYgD9AML8VG2

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Less than 24 hours after his swearing-in ceremony, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner surprised Camden R. Fine with an invitation to a one- on-one meeting about the financial crisis.

“I about fell out of my chair,” said Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a Washington-based trade group with about 5,000 members. He was in a corner office overlooking the White House at the Treasury Department the next morning, telling Geithner that behemoths such as Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. were a menace, he said.

“They should be broken up and sold off,” Fine, 58, said he declared, as Geithner scribbled notes before thanking him for his time and ushering him out into the January chill.

The Treasury secretary didn’t follow through on Fine’s suggestion, just as he didn’t act on the advice of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. head Sheila C. Bair, or the dozens of economists and politicians who pressed the White House for measures that would limit the size or activities of U.S. banks.

One year after the demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. paralyzed the financial system, “mega-banks,” as Fine’s group calls them, are as interconnected and inscrutable as ever. The Obama administration’s plan for a regulatory overhaul wouldn’t force them to shrink or simplify their structure.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aUTh4YMmI6QE

---

Fine looks to have covered his ass. Geithner, on the other hand, has presented his ass as a barn-sized target on this issue.

Again, this is from The Big Picture:

Tyler Cowen’s NYT column today, Where Politics Don’t Belong, comes perilously close to the mark in identifying the key problems of the bailouts: They encourage a reliance on special Government dispensation, regulatory exemptions and taxpayer handouts:

“FOR years now, many businesses and individuals in the United States have been relying on the power of government, rather than competition in the marketplace, to increase their wealth. This is politicization of the economy. It made the financial crisis much worse, and the trend is accelerating.

Well before the financial crisis erupted, policy makers treated homeowners as a protected political class and gave mortgage-backed securities privileged regulatory treatment. Furthermore, they allowed and encouraged high leverage and the expectation of bailouts for creditors, which had been practiced numerous times, including the precedent of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. Without these mistakes, the economy would not have been so invested in leverage and real estate and the financial crisis would have been much milder.”

Beware conflation of cause and effect: We need to separate the various elements that led to the crisis — radical deregulation, misplaced compensation incentives, rampant banker excess — with the unconscionable transfer of taxpayer wealth that followed. Unfortunately, the column seems to conflate the idea of government intervention as the same as regulation — that the bailouts are somehow the same as the radical deregulation that allowed the banks to run wild.

But Cowen is right about this much: The large banks and brokers lobbied for special treatment and got it; they manipulated government legislation for their own ends; They asked for and received special treatment. This is a unique dispensation that almost no other businesses have enjoyed — certainly nowhere near the degree the finance sectors has received. Instead of earning their way via market place competition, these financials were uniquely treated in terms of regulation, legislation and tax policy.

....more at link...

The pukes would call it "moral hazard," but I think it was knowing that they could get the bailouts that encouraged or enabled them to take the risks, pay the bloated salaries and bonuses, etc. There's a chicken and egg quality to it, but it did lead to a spiral.

And there's no end in sight.



Tansy Gold, still lookin'

And Godot (or the economic equivalent) isn't coming....

From Bloomberg: Stiglitz Says Banking Problems Are Now Bigger Than Pre-Lehman:

... “In the U.S. and many other countries, the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger,” Stiglitz said in an interview today in Paris. “The problems are worse than they were in 2007 before the crisis.”
...
“It’s an outrage,” especially “in the U.S. where we poured so much money into the banks,” Stiglitz said. “The administration seems very reluctant to do what is necessary. Yes they’ll do something, the question is: Will they do as much as required?”

.....

Stiglitz also wrote a comment in the Financial Times: Towards a better measure of well-being and I think this comment is very important:

Too often, we confuse ends with means. ... a financial sector is a means to a more productive economy, not an end in itself.

more at Calculated Risk...

I wonder if Geithner has his ears open.

He's got his head so far up Rubin and Summers asses.

The research and development of big ticket items costs a bit. The ability to try out more than one new model at a time gives them a better chance of making a "hit" product. But why, oh why, do giga-banks need to be so big? Their R&D costs are round about zero point zero.

I'd like Stan Lee to turn the Hulk loose on them. "Hulk smash!"

from The Big Picture

The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination – and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year.

Fascinating article by Simon Parry in the Daily Mail this evening on the Ghost Fleet of Singapore — 100s of empty container ships sidelined by the recession.

Excerpt:

Here, on a sleepy stretch of shoreline at the far end of Asia, is surely the biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history. Their numbers are equivalent to the entire British and American navies combined; their tonnage is far greater. Container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers – all should be steaming fully laden between China, Britain, Europe and the US, stocking camera shops, PC Worlds and Argos depots ahead of the retail pandemonium of 2009. But their water has been stolen.

They are a powerful and tangible representation of the hurricanes that have been wrought by the global economic crisis; an iron curtain drawn along the coastline of the southern edge of Malaysia’s rural Johor state, 50 miles east of Singapore harbour . . .

It is so far off the beaten track that nobody ever really comes close, which is why these ships are here. The world’s ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world’s economies.

more at link, including photographs...

:donut: :donut: :donut:

Alas, the time has come for me to leave. I hope you enjoy your time watching the roulette wheel spin.

:hi:

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

Last trade 76.992 Change +0.374 (+0.48%)

US Dollar Forecast Bearish on Clear Downward Momentum

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_fundamentals/US_Dollar_Forecast_Bearish_on_1252704897916.html



The US Dollar dropped like a stone on its way to fresh 2009 highs against nearly all major forex counterparts, breaking its long-standing trading range against the Euro in fairly dramatic fashion. The first full week of post-summer trading finally brought the sustained price moves we have long been waiting for. FX Trading volume increased notably through mid-week trade and fueled US Dollar losses, but fundamental “justification” for renewed US Dollar weakness was far less clear. According to FXCM execution desk data, open interest in the Euro/US Dollar jumped by as much as 20 percent before the week was through. A busy economic calendar in the week ahead suggests that the US Dollar may remain volatile, and it will be critical to see whether its recent downtrend may be sustained.

Demand for the safe-haven US Dollar dropped sharply on the week as the US S&P 500 and other major risk barometers reached fresh year-to-date peaks, and overall momentum favors USD losses. Indeed, forex options markets show that option traders are betting on further US Dollar weakness against almost all major counterparts. Yet those same options prices show short-term volatility expectations have dropped to their lowest levels in the past year. The fact that US Dollar weakness has not coincided with a general rise in forex volatility expectations suggests that currencies could return to sideways trading, but this will likewise depend on developments in financial market risk appetite. The 20-day correlation between the Euro/US Dollar and S&P 500 currently trades almost exactly at record-highs.

To that effect, traders should keep close tabs on S&P 500 reactions to the coming week of key US event risk. Highlights will likely include the historically market-moving Advance Retail Sales, Consumer Price Index, and Treasury International Capital System reports. Consensus forecasts call for a noteworthy pickup in domestic Retail Sales, but the expected surge is mostly a function of the highly-publicized “Cash for Clunkers” program that strongly boosted Auto Sales. Traders should instead watch for surprises out of the “Ex Autos and Gasoline” figure—predicted to gain a paltry 0.1 percent on the month. If numbers prove better than expected, the S&P will likely rally and the US Dollar may actually decline.

The following day’s Consumer Price Index numbers are less likely to force major US Dollar volatility, but traders should nonetheless keep an eye out for any especially large deviations from consensus expectations. The true fireworks may come on subsequent Treasury International Capital System (TICS) data. Analysts have long argued that massive US fiscal deficits could harm the US Dollar as the government floods markets with debt securities. Yet recent data shows that foreign demand for US Treasury bonds remains robust, and the US Dollar has thus far averted disaster. It remains important to watch for continued demand for Treasuries, and any disappointments could further fuel dollar losses.

Momentum plainly favors further US Dollar weakness, but key event risk in the week ahead could prove pivotal in deciding near-term direction for the downtrodden currency.

...more...

USD Rallies Across the Board in Overnight Trade

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/market_alerts/fundamental_alert/USD_Rallies_Across_the_Board_1252923544096.html

The economic calendar overnight has been on the lighter end with the only key releases coming from Switzerland and the Eurozone. However, even these releases have failed to factor into price action with Swiss PPI coming in as expected, and Eurozone industrial production slightly weaker. The story of the day has been the come back in the USD, with the greenback gaining across the board. Some have attributed the price action to nothing more than minor profit taking while others have attributed the USD rally to an escalation in safety buying following the announcement that the US government would impose 35% tariffs on Chinese exports. In the UK, Ernst & Young’s warning that the UK housing slump will resume into 2010, Cadbury’s rejection of the takeover proposal from Kraft Foods, and a Moody’s report that the credit outlook for UK banks remains negative, have all been seen weighing on Sterling. Aussie and Kiwi however are the weakest currencies on the day with the pullback in global equities prices, US-China trade tension, and drop in commodities all seen driving the price action. Elsewhere, Japanese Minister of Finance Tango has said that the administration is watching currency moves closely, but will not comment on specific levels. Looking ahead, Canada capacity utilization (65.0% expected) is due at 12:30GMT. On the official circuit, Fed Lacker is slated to speak at 16:30GMT on financial regulation, while Fed Yellen speaks later in the day at 19:50GMT on the economic outlook. US equities point to a lower open by some 1%, while commodities have also come under pressure.

...more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE58D12V20090914?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The severity of the U.S. financial crisis exposed investors' need to whittle down a dependence on dollar-denominated assets and diversify globally, two of Wall Street's most influential figures said on Sunday.

Asset managers have to re-think the way they diversify investments to manage risk, said Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, set to become the world's largest asset manager when it completes the $13.5 billion acquisition of Barclays' money management division.

Experts say the plunge in global markets -- which wiped out assets of fund companies and forced them to axe thousands of jobs -- is reshaping the funds management business in terms of competition, regulation and investors' risk appetite.

But investors must also start looking farther afield.

They will have to think of ways to reduce an "over-reliance on dollar-denominated assets," Fink told investors and fund managers at the Charles Schwab Impact 2009 conference in San Diego.

"One of the outcomes of the deterioration of our capital markets in the United States is a greater need for more global diversification," said Fink, whose steady helmsmanship of BlackRock through the crisis has earned him a reputation as one of the shrewdest asset managers on Wall Street.

...more...

now that's the ticket! the US should diversify out of the dollar!

and F**K the rest of the world. They'd be glad to see less of us anyway.

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE58C0YX20090913?sp=true

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last time the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates, it did so at a snail's pace. But it may not take that gradual approach to tightening policy the next time around.

Fed officials are stressing there will be no exit from the U.S. central bank's extraordinarily accommodative interest-rate stance for an "extended period" and analysts do not expect the first rate hike until 2010 or 2011.

The U.S. central bank slashed its benchmark overnight borrowing costs close to zero last December as part of an emergency rescue of the U.S. economy that included a raft of extraordinary lending and purchase programs, such as buying mortgage-related debt.

Fed watchers say it would be able to keep its low-rate pledge more easily if it were perceived as ready to move up quickly when it finally does begin to tighten.

In its last rate-raising cycle from mid-2004 to mid-2006, the Fed increased the overnight federal funds rate by a slim quarter point at each of 17 consecutive meetings.

This deliberate policy, known as "gradualism," aimed to be predictable so as not to disrupt markets. In a 2004 speech, then-Fed Governor Ben Bernanke, now the central bank's chairman, discussed reasons for gradualism, as well as an alternative, which he called the "cold turkey" approach.

Many economists believe the decision to raise rates at a "measured" pace after a long period in which they were unusually low kept monetary policy too easy for too long, fueling the housing bubble that led to the current crisis.

<snip>

"Once they decide it's time to go for broke, it's unlikely you'll see the baby steps you saw in 2004 to 2006," said Mark Gertler, a professor at New York University and a visiting scholar at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

...more...

go for broke?

MALIBU/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Reports that a Wells Fargo & Co executive used a bank-owned, beachfront Malibu home as her own private party pad reignited outrage over unbridled excesses at firms that received U.S. bailouts. :wtf:

<snip>

"It's a very special house, with lots and lots of glass, great views in a great part of the beach," said Stern, who added that the property could fetch as much as $150,000 a month as a summer rental.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE58C1ZN20090913

Only those who have access to government money, no doubt.

:-( Had CNBC on and they are carrying on about Smoot-Hawley Act and Protectionism...bad..bad for American Economy...trade wars...etc. Yet, here's an article from Bloomberg which presents another view and given the experience of SMW's ...the reality is probably that Obama appears to be appeasing unions on the Tire issue and China cleverly goes along with fighting back over chickens and auto parts with the result that the RW and Wall St. whip up a furor against "protectionism" so that Congress eventually frees up those stalled trade bills that they were afraid to pass for fear of backlash from the Unions and Dems. Amazing...how the Empire just keeps on doing the same thing over and over, no matter who is President. And, who with any financial savvy is going to believe we'd pick a fight with China when we are so dependent on them for our debt.

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

Obama’s China Tariffs May Be Prelude to Opening Trade (Update2)

By Mark Drajem

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s decision to place tariffs on tires from China may be the opening move in a campaign for fewer trade barriers, based on the strategy used by his four predecessors.

Obama announced duties Sept. 11 of 35 percent on $1.8 billion of automobile tires from China, acting on a complaint by the United Steelworkers union that surging imports were pushing U.S. factory workers out of their jobs.

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each took action to protect domestic industries early in their terms before making free trade a focus. Obama, like Clinton, has the added challenge of trying to satisfy trade-wary Democratic lawmakers and the unions that helped them win election.

“It does buy him some credibility with Congress,” said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents exporters such as Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. The decision to impose tariffs may improve the prospects for congressional acceptance of new trade accords sought by the administration, he said.

Agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea have been stalled in Congress in part because of Democratic opposition.

China Reaction

China “strongly opposes” Obama’s decision to impose tariffs and may refer the case to the World Trade Organization, that country’s Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 12. China today described the U.S. move as a “mistake” and an abuse of trade practices, a day after it announced probes into subsidies for imported U.S. chicken and auto products.

“The U.S. is within their rights to do this,” Michael Moore, former director general of the WTO, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “China is within their rights now to go to the WTO and test if they have a case.”

The case brought by the steelworkers union was the largest so-called safeguard petition filed to protect U.S. producers from increasing imports from China. Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers said the decision demonstrates Obama’s commitment to protecting U.S. workers and jobs.

“The president courageously stood up and enforced fair trade rules that will save jobs and help our communities,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said in a statement after the decision.

Trade Talks

Moore said such trade spats have “consequences” as evidenced by the drop in rubber futures today. Therefore, he said such events should serve as a “warning” to all WTO members to resolve their differences and conclude the Doha round of global trade liberalization talks that started in 2001.

Rubber slumped by the most in nine months today. February- delivery rubber lost 9.2 percent to settle at 195.4 yen a kilogram ($2,156 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, booking the biggest daily loss since Dec. 9.

In 1983, Reagan imposed duties and quotas on steel imports, and George H.W. Bush extended them in 1989. Clinton cracked down on autos and auto part imports from Japan. George W. Bush imposed a global safeguard on steel as he sought political support in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The presidents later worked to cut trade barriers and pushed for new trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was negotiated in the first Bush administration and passed Congress under Clinton.

Reagan, Clinton

The trade negotiations that led to the WTO were conceived under Reagan and implemented under Clinton. China’s entry into the WTO got congressional approval under Clinton and was completed in the second Bush administration.

Obama’s willingness to act on tire imports may produce a flood of trade complaints seeking action against China, according to Derek Scissors, a research fellow for Asia Economic Policy at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington public policy group.

Lewis Leibowitz, a lawyer at Hogan & Hartson in Washington who represents U.S. consumers of imports, said such complaints may be limited because imports of most products from China are down this year due to the recession.

The global integration of U.S. companies makes it less likely they will join unions in seeking to block imports. In the tire case, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the largest U.S. tiremaker, stayed neutral. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the second- largest U.S. tiremaker, opposed the relief. The company has a plant in China.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9p10LQknwTs#

ulterior motive.

This makes sense now.


TG

If 3 billion Chinese are going to eat, they can't expect KFC to deliver.

Of course, if they weren't wiping out their flocks over avian flu, this might not be so critical for their population.

(Goodly rise, nothing to write about.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,488,335,176,394.84 + 4,306,710,804,041.77
UP 12,326,876,265.82 + DOWN 1,705,679,878.82

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 $3.25 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.76, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 10 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 307,409,781 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 08/24/2009 13:24 -> 307,261,605
Currently, each of these Americans owe $38,369.13.
A family of three owes $115,107.39. (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 6,049,928,914.58.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,436,614,537.36.
The average for the last 31 days would be 4,293,497,939.38.
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$/day.
There were 160 reports in 233 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.26B$ per report, 5.01B$/day so far.
There were 235 reports in 345 days of FY2009 averaging 7.53B$ per report, 5.13B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,228 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.5 and 18.1T$.
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)
09/10/2009 11,795,045,980,436.61 BHO (UP 1,168,168,931,523.53 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: 1,770,321,083,524.20 so far this fiscal year, broken down below:
Borrowed in FY2009: 0,602,152,152,000.59 in part from time during Bush reign.
Borrowed in FY2009: 1,168,168,931,523.53 in part since Obama takes over.


LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/19/2009 +000,703,521,737.77 ------------********
08/20/2009 +001,088,553,104.23 ------------*********
08/21/2009 +000,333,547,281.04 ------------********
08/24/2009 +000,472,040,908.69 ------------******** Mon
08/25/2009 +000,287,748,587.67 ------------********
08/26/2009 -000,466,043,865.86 ---
08/27/2009 +008,131,449,864.04 ------------*********
08/28/2009 +000,123,059,531.85 ------------********
09/01/2009 +087,210,147,628.98 ------------********** Tue
09/02/2009 +000,313,556,741.81 ------------********
09/03/2009 -005,471,580,596.27 --
09/04/2009 +000,000,664,126.38 ------------*****
09/08/2009 -000,191,031,319.46 --- Tue
09/09/2009 +000,137,837,081.44 ------------********
09/10/2009 +012,326,876,265.82 ------------**********

105,000,347,078.13 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

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=4054589&mesg_id=4054721

(Tiny moves.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,488,352,210,282.27 + 4,306,343,094,699.45
UP 17,033,887.43 + DOWN 367,709,342.32

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 $3.25 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.76, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 10 seconds we net gain a another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 307,418,421 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 08/24/2009 13:24 -> 307,261,605
Currently, each of these Americans owe $38,366.91.
A family of three owes $115,100.73. (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 5,827,696,362.45.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,273,643,999.13.
The average for the last 31 days would be 4,135,784,515.29.
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$/day.
There were 161 reports in 234 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.21B$ per report, 4.99B$/day so far.
There were 236 reports in 346 days of FY2009 averaging 7.50B$ per report, 5.12B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,227 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.5 and 18.1T$.
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)
09/11/2009 11,794,695,304,981.72 BHO (UP 1,167,818,256,068.64 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: 1,769,970,408,069.30 so far this fiscal year, broken down below:
Borrowed in FY2009: 0,602,152,152,000.59 in part from time during Bush reign.
Borrowed in FY2009: 1,167,818,256,068.64 in part since Obama takes over.


LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/20/2009 +001,088,553,104.23 ------------*********
08/21/2009 +000,333,547,281.04 ------------********
08/24/2009 +000,472,040,908.69 ------------******** Mon
08/25/2009 +000,287,748,587.67 ------------********
08/26/2009 -000,466,043,865.86 ---
08/27/2009 +008,131,449,864.04 ------------*********
08/28/2009 +000,123,059,531.85 ------------********
09/01/2009 +087,210,147,628.98 ------------********** Tue
09/02/2009 +000,313,556,741.81 ------------********
09/03/2009 -005,471,580,596.27 --
09/04/2009 +000,000,664,126.38 ------------*****
09/08/2009 -000,191,031,319.46 --- Tue
09/09/2009 +000,137,837,081.44 ------------********
09/10/2009 +012,326,876,265.82 ------------**********
09/11/2009 +000,017,033,887.43 ------------*******

104,313,859,227.79 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

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=4058122&mesg_id=4058267

It says everything that is wrong with this economy. We can not survive another jobless recovery. it really is not getting much better out there and I know so many people that are working a couple of jobs just to make ends meet. And a lot without healthcare.

Judge Rakoff says Bank of America (BAC) and the SEC's proposed consent judgment "was a contrivance designed to provide the S.E.C. with the facade of enforcement and the management of the Bank with a quick resolution of an embarrassing inquiry - all at the expense of the sole alleged victims, the shareholders. Even under the most deferential review, this proposed Consent Judgment cannot remotely be called fair."

http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/32440


The briefs the SEC and BoA filed to justify the settlement were jokes. Reading through them it was hard to believe those guys thought that gobblygook was going to get them off Judge Rakoff's bad side.

There's going to be a trial!

Oh, goody! Then again, maybe they will just hold a parade of witnesses pleading the Fifth. Nah, somebody will start pointing fingers.

I'd like to see him start throwing these guys in jail for contempt of court when they bring out their "I don't recalls" and "I plead the fifths".

This is the judge that wouldn't let Enron fade away even though he was under a lot of pressure to let it do so.

Its a bit naive of me, but I have hope some justice may find its way through this trial.

I've been keeping an eye on this one. This company has a deal with MIT as a source for advanced battery technology. They plan to build a big plant in Michigan to supply batteries for the potentially huge electric and hybrid/electric car market. They filed papers with the SEC for an IPO in August of last year. Then Wall Street went all La Vida Loca, and the IPO got pushed back.

Well, they just filed new papers with the SEC (http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1167178/000104746909008218/a2193887zs-1a.htm) as of Sept. 9, 2009, in which they say, "Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to public: as soon as practicable after this Registration Statement is declared effective." Dunno what that means in reality, but it sounds like "Soon."

Autos of the future will use more batteries than any other application has needed. They will need the equivalent of thousands of laptop batteries per car. Most of the battery makers are subsidiaries of giant corporations (LG Chem, Johnson Controls, Delphi, etc.) and thus not as promising as a growth investment as a company that concentrates on batteries. (That's my opinion, anyway.)

A123Systems recently won a $249 million grant from the Department of Energy. http://earth2tech.com/2009/08/05/battery-grant-winners-a123systems-rakes-in-249m/ That suggests they have a promising future.

I didn't know that they pulled it back, and I thought I'd missed it.