STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday September 16

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday September 16, 2009

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

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 15, 2009

Dow... 9,683.41 +56.61 (+0.59%)
Nasdaq... 2,102.64 +10.86 (+0.52%)
S&P 500... 1,052.63 +3.29 (+0.31%)
Gold future... 1,006 +5.20 (+0.52%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.45 +0.03 (+0.99%)
30-Year Bond 4.26 +0.03 (+0.71%)

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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

Market Potpourri
BY FRANK BARBERA

The quiet interludes, the ones without the heavy drama of wide swinging market days, these can often be just as nerve wracking as the fast trending markets. To some degree, from an analytical point of view, the one benefit that we find when volatility is high is that normally markets are trending strongly in one direction. At times like that, the trend is always your friend, and experienced traders know to basically use counter trend movements to initiate new positions in the direction of the basic trend.

However, at other times, we find markets where the trend may appear to be less pronounced, or on the verge of some type of more important trend change. These much quieter markets can be nerve wracking as it can be extremely difficult to evaluate when to get in, whether to stay in, or where to get out. In the case of the US stock market, the pace of the robust multi-week, indeed, multi-month advance has slowed more notably in the last few weeks. In this market, we see the indices almost ‘drifting’ higher, but seemingly starting to lack some of the high conviction that was present throughout much of the earlier advance. In my view, this is most likely a hint that the beginning of a distribution process is getting underway, and that the advance is starting to lose some internal technical strength. Yet so far, the drop off in market technicals has been ‘modest’ at worst, mostly showing up in moderately lower values in the markets momentum indicators. This is not uncommon as an advance begins to mature. Yet, while some price momentum gauges are slowly beginning to weaken, other measurements of internal market strength are still holding together. Take the action of the daily Advance-Decline for a moment.

-see chart-
.....

Finally, I end with a strong note of caution on one final sector, that being the sector of High Yield “Junk’ Bonds. In this case, my index of Junk Bonds has experienced an enormous advance, the likes of which have never been seen before especially in such a short period of time. In passing, we note that medium term Daily RSI values are now at the highest, most overbought values seen since early 2007, when the index last recorded a major peak. While these bonds throw off an incredible yield, they are relatively a lot more over-extended than the stock market as a whole, and this is one area I would be watching very closely for signs of a substantial downside correction.

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

08:30 Core CPI Aug
Briefing.com 0.0%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.1%

08:30 CPI Aug
Briefing.com 0.2%
Consensus 0.3%
Prior 0.0%

08:30 Current Account Q2
Briefing.com NA
Consensus -92.0B
Prior -101.5B

09:00 Net Long-term TIC Flows Jul
Briefing.com NA
Consensus 65.0B
Prior 90.7B

09:15 Capacity Utilization Aug
Briefing.com 69.6%
Consensus 69.0%
Prior 68.5%

09:15 Industrial Production Aug
Briefing.com 1.0%
Consensus 0.6%
Prior 0.5%

10:30 Crude Inventories 09/11
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior -5.91M

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

Q2 current account deficit narrows to 2.8 % of GDP
8:31am Today

Q2 current account deficit lowest since Q1 1991
8:31am Today

U.S. Aug. CPI up 0.4% vs. 0.3% expected
8:30am Today

U.S. Aug. core CPI up 0.1% vs. 0.0% expected
8:30am Today

U.S. CPI down 1.5% in past year; core CPI up 1.4%
8:30am Today

U.S. Aug. energy prices up 4.6%
8:30am Today

U.S. Aug. new car prices down 1.3%
8:30am Today

U.S. Aug. shelter prices up 0.1%
8:30am Today

U.S. Aug. real earning weekly earnings fall 0.2%
8:30am Today

Those yields are dropping pretty fast so early in day, stocks are open. With money gushing into Treasuries will it flee stocks? Gird your loins Marketeers!

Julie

Up $11 already> Hmm.

Julie

"Gird your loins Marketeers!"

:rofl:

US industrial production rose 0.8% in August versus expectations for a 0.6% rise. July was revised higher to 1.0% from 0.5% previously.

/. http://www.forexlive.com/51040/all/industrial-production-ticks-up-in-august


U.S. Aug. factory output up 0.8%

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8% in August. Output was also much stronger in July than first estimated, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. The August increase was just a bit better than expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Analysts had been expecting a 0.7% gain. Capacity utilization - a gauge of slack in the economy -- rose to 69.6% in August from a revised 69.0% in July. There were gains across the board in August. Manufacturing expanded 0.6% in August. Excluding autos and auto parts, manufacturing rose 0.4%.

/. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-aug-factory-output-up-08-2009-09-16

U.S. July net foreign asset purchases $15.3 bln
9:02am Today

NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The dollar extended losses on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury data showed a sharp net capital outflow from the United States in July.

...

The net capital outflow from the United States increased to $97.5 billion in July from a revised outflow of $56.8 billion in June, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday in its Treasury International Capital flows (TICS) report.

The department originally reported an outflow of $31.2 billion in June . The U.S. posted a trade deficit of $31.96 billion in July.

/.. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN1611465620090916?rpc=401&

By Jamie Coleman || September 16, 2009 at 13:39 GMT

A respected US Fed watcher has apparently told clients to expect a Fed rate hike earlier than expected. We are searching out details.

UPDATE: Here are the details–2 members of the FOMC are ready to vote for an immediate hike but the FOMC will likely favor a communications strategy to keep inflation expectations in check. The report says there is a growing call on the committee to back away from emergency strategies, but the doves are digging in their heels.

/. http://www.forexlive.com/51044/all/usd-rebounding-on-talk-of-fed-rate-hike

Wooo...

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hung near $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as an unexpected rise in U.S. crude supplies heightened investor concerns about weak consumer demand.

.....

On Tuesday, a SpendingPulse report by MasterCard showed the four-week average for gasoline consumption in the U.S. fell 3.2 percent for the week ended Friday, the ninth straight weekly decline.

U.S. oil inventories rose last week, more evidence demand remains tepid, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Crude stocks increased 631,000 barrels while analysts had expected a drop of 3.0 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

.....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery fell 0.57 cent to $1.78 a gallon, and heating oil was steady at $1.78 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 12.2 cents to $3.44 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Oil fell before a weekly government report that may show U.S. supplies of distillate fuel rose for a fourth week.

The American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday that distillate inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consumer, rose from a 26-year high. A report from the U.S. Energy Department is scheduled later today. Oil pared larger losses earlier in the day as the dollar dropped to the weakest level this year against the euro, spurring interest in commodities as an inflation hedge.

.....

The Energy Department is expected to report today U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week to Sept. 11 from 337.5 million, according to the median of 15 estimates by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The API posted an increase of 631,000 barrels.

Distillate fuel inventories surged to 170.3 million barrels last week, the API said. That’s the highest level since January 1983. The Energy Department report will probably show stockpiles climbed 1.25 million barrels from 165.6 million the previous week, according to the survey.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=antutD3.4O4s

The Big Picture

Ben Bernanke has declared the recession over.

This leads to one simple question: Why should you care what his recession forecasts are?

Based on his track record as a forecaster and his acumen in identifying economic problems before they exploded, his views on starts and finishes of recessions are, to be blunt, irrelevant.

Recall it was Mr. Bernanke who described the sub-prime situation as “Contained;” it was he who believed Hosuing would not spill over to the broader economy; and it was he who somehow thought the Bear Stearns situation was a one-off.

More observations can be found at the above link.

even though he didn't really look like her. I'm thinking of his economic forecasting record.

SAN FRANCISCO – Lehman Brothers has accused Barclays Capital of taking $8.2 billion more than it should have when it bought key assets of the failed investment bank a year ago.

Lehman made its claim in a court filing Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of its chaotic bankruptcy filing. The court approved the sale of its U.S. banking business to Barclays less than a week after it filed.

Now Lehman wants a judge to force Barclays to give back some of the money it took as part of the deal, including $5 billion it said was given as extra collateral. Lehman said the extra value was not disclosed to the court.

.....

Lehman said Barclays took the $5 billion as well as another $2.3 billion in margin deposits on its Options Clearing Corp. accounts, and about $2.7 billion in other assests added before the court's approval of the sale. It said Barclays took on about $1.7 billion in liabilities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_bi_ge/us_lehman_brothers_bankruptcy

Separately, Peck ordered yesterday that disputes among the collapsed investment bank and counterparties on derivative and swap contracts must go to mediation.

Lehman had more than 900,000 derivative contracts outstanding when it filed the largest U.S. bankruptcy a year ago. The New York-based bank said alternative dispute resolution, or ADR, will save money and time in resolving its complex Chapter 11 case over arguing each dispute in court.

Peck approved the request to require mediation at a hearing yesterday, turning aside objections from counterparties on the derivatives who said it would severely limit their rights and force them to provide too much information to Lehman and the committee representing its unsecured creditors.

The goal is “to get to an ADR process that encourages parties to write checks,” Peck said. “I think these procedures are quite appropriate.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axX9PCd9qLd0


Interesting that Barclays is claiming that details of Lehman's derivatives should be kept secret from Lehman.

No mercy, no sympathy, and not another farthing.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc customers defaulted on their credit card debts in August at the highest rates since the onset of the recession, a sign that the banks' consumer lending woes are far from over.

The trend was echoed among most other major credit card issuers, dashing optimism sparked when many banks and specialty finance companies reported lower default rates for July.

.....

The worse-than-expected August numbers bolstered the contention of some analysts that the July decline in defaults was due more to seasonal effects, like tax refunds, then an improvement in consumers' financial health.

.....

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the largest issuer of Visa-branded credit cards, said its charge-off rate rose to 8.73 percent from 7.92 percent, while smaller Discover Financial Services (DFS.N) said its rate rose to 9.16 percent from 8.43 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090915/bs_nm/us_creditcards

WASHINGTON – A judge's condemnation of the Securities and Exchange Commission in rejecting its $33 million settlement with Bank of America over bonuses at Merrill Lynch dealt a stinging rebuke to an agency seeking to mend its image after its failure to detect Bernard Madoff's fraud scheme.

The SEC must weigh its options after the judge's finding that it was too gentle with one of the biggest U.S. banks. It must also struggle anew to gain credibility for its enforcement efforts. The ruling also marks a setback for the SEC's relatively new chairman, Mary Schapiro.

The agency may be forced to mount a court fight against Bank of America over one of the touchiest issues of the financial crisis — executive pay.

.....

In his ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of New York said the SEC's accusations of inadequate disclosure by Bank of America over the bonuses must now go to trial. Rakoff earlier had ordered the SEC to explain why it didn't pursue charges against individual Bank of America executives.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_bi_ge/us_sec_bank_of_america_aftermath

---

Could it be a remote possibility that Financial Industry executives will be punished for their greed and fraud? This is not the America I know.

God bless him.

I don't know about you, but I've had it up to here with activist judges who think they can overturn decades of legal precedent and ignore well-established norms of legal behavior in the pursuit of vague ideals like "justice" and "morality."

The latest example comes from the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a hotbed of judicial promiscuity, where earlier this week Judge Jed S. Rakoff refused to go along with a perfectly good settlement that had been carefully worked out between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission -- an agreement no different from thousands of similar deals approved by courts over the years. In a brief order brimming with outrage and common sense and references to Oscar Wilde, he rejected the proposed $33 million settlement as "neither fair, nor reasonable nor adequate" and ordered that the case go to trial.

I'll go into the details of the case in a moment, but even without them it should be obvious that this is a flagrant case of judicial overreaching.

A trial? Does Rakoff expect the $750-an-hour lawyers at Cleary Gottlieb to actually go into court and try a case on behalf of the bank rather than simply string things along with endless motions and depositions until they wear down the other side?

And what does fairness -- or as Rakoff defined it, "elementary notions of justice and morality" -- have to do with securities law? Hasn't he learned that securities law is supposed to be about the triumph of form over substance, about generating endless paperwork for lawyers while giving shareholders the illusion of knowing what management is up to?

And can you believe the total lack of judicial decorum in declaring, in simple English, that the largest bank in the America had "lied" to its shareholders? Any first-year law student knows that what he really meant was that there was "a failure to disclose material information in accordance with SEC Rule 10(b)-5."

Bank of America, of course, doesn't see it that way at all. Just because it told its shareholders that, in connection with its purchase of the failing brokerage Merrill Lynch, no bonuses would be paid to Merrill directors, officers and employees without its written consent, that didn't really mean there would be no bonuses. After all, the proxy also had a passing reference to the possibility of an exception to this statement, which could be found in Section 5.2 of something called the Company Disclosure Schedule. All a diligent shareholder had to do was read Section 5.2 to learn that, in fact, Bank of America had already approved $5.8 billion worth of Merrill bonuses. Then again, getting hold of the aforementioned Disclosure Schedule would have been quite a challenge, because, according to common corporate practice, the schedule was never actually disclosed.

the snark continues on . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503498.html

If Madoff is pronounced made-off, is Rakoff pronounced rake-off (although it would appear that, unprecedentedly, this one isn't, in which case, no wonder the incredulity of the lawyers from both the bank and the SEC)?

Lets hope there are no call-girls or such in this honorable Judge's background.

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. unemployment jumped to the highest level since 1995 as the recession destroyed work in industries from banking to construction.

The number of people seeking jobs in the three months through July rose by 210,000 to 2.47 million, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. A separate measure showing claims for unemployment benefit climbed by 24,400 in August to 1.61 million. The median forecast of 28 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for an increase of 25,000.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said yesterday that households will feel pain from the recession even after the economy has stopped shrinking “because unemployment is either going to keep rising or remain high.” Policy makers are printing as much as 175 billion pounds ($288 billion) in money to aid economic growth and avoid the threat of deflation.

.....

The unemployment rate in the three months through July rose to 7.9 percent, the most since 1996, the statistics office said. That compares with the latest figures of 9.5 percent in the euro region, 9.7 percent in the U.S. and 5.7 percent in Japan.

The jobless rate based on benefit claimants rose to 5 percent, the most since 1997, the statistics office said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aC0xL814Iuvg

figures. It started, of course, during the proto-vandal years of Thatcher's premiership.

The Kid is in the hospital, rehydrated enough to be complaining about the lack of food, but still a bit yellow. After some more tests and paperwork, I expect she and her gall bladder will part ways...it could be worse, so I'm not going to complain.

Dang, Demeter. I am very sorry about your child. On the upside - the loss of a gall bladder is an easy operation. I trust she is feeling much better very quickly. Kids are resilient that way.

#9 already


Prayers for you and child.

I certainly hope for you that the paperwork goes ok. The actual op should be no problem at all.

Sorry to hear theres so much unhappy news in Chateau Demeter at the moment... I've been sending all the good Karma I can, really!

I was somewhat late with my morning recce, today. I'm usually in the top three, somewhere... Even, if I don't post anything.

Honestly, I haven't much felt like hollering into the wind, lately. I must be getting old or perhaps it's the situation that's getting old... Very old. I think, I've had my fill of horse crap and having the manufactured cognitive dissonance of others foisted off on me at fire hose strength as reality.

I've had more than eight years of it... Thirty, if you count back to Reagan. That's most of my life... And, I'm done.

Couple weeks and you'll be your feisty Hugin self again.

The Kid just went into surgery 6:30 PM. I have been here 5 hours and they want me to stay, just in case they have questions.

The gall bladder is too inflamed for the laproscopy, the potassium levels are too low, but the inflammation gets precedence. The Kid is still having diarrhea and she hasn't eaten in days....

I'll be glad (and half dead) by the time this is over. And I still have to go out at midnight to throw NYTimes and my own AA.com route, since tomorrow is Thursday and it goes to press on thursday...

So, maybe sometime tomorrow I can report progress.....

Thanks all for the good wishes and kind thoughts. They are surely appreciated.

From Naked Capitalism:

Team Obama has taken to trumpeting the idea that the recession is over. As Ed Harrison likes to point out, the fact that we will see inventory restocking will produce a statistical recovery, at least in reported GDP. But the US in 1931 and Japan after its bubbles burst both featured a period in which the economy stabilized, and pundits for the most part concluded the worst was over. And in both cases, the economy resumed its slide.

The data have moved from bad to mixed, which is a relative but not absolute improvement. But one of the negative developments, highlighted by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, is ugly indeed. Despite massive bailouts and liquidity supports, credit is contracting, and at a very rapid clip. If we are lucky, this may be a short-lived aberration. But if this pattern persists for any length of time, the prospects are not good at all.

From the Telegraph:

Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said US bank loans have fallen at an annual pace of almost 14pc in the three months to August (from $7,147bn to $6,886bn).

“There has been nothing like this in the USA since the 1930s,” he said. “The rapid destruction of money balances is madness.”

The M3 “broad” money supply, watched as an early warning signal for the economy a year or so later, has been falling at a 5pc annual rate.

Similar concerns have been raised by David Rosenberg, chief strategist at Gluskin Sheff, who said that over the four weeks up to August 24, bank credit shrank at an “epic” 9pc annual pace, the M2 money supply shrank at 12.2pc and M1 shrank at 6.5pc….

---

This does not look like any recovery. This looks like a recession/depression that has been statistically nudged with an infusion of government subsidies. A pox on any house that declares we are experiencing a "jobless recovery". - ozy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4061138

... Most of the comments to the Telegraph piece are simply pure Freeperville, as far as I can understand it. So, can I begin to understand the "Civil War Doomsayers" now ...?

the wacko nut jobs represent 20-25% and they are regionally concentrated. They represent the final death knell of the old South and southern bigotry.
They just can't believe a black man was voted president. They can't accept that. They are angry and frightened. They are being egged on and supported by those with other goals-to keep the population divided in order to rule..ie. insurance companies to keep universal or public option heath care from getting a toe hold.
I fear that these verbal out bursts are not being dealt with in such a way as to know they won't be tolerated-they can easily escalate.

It's not only the rabid mentalities and attitudes, it's the sheer wilful ignorance on display.

Abraham Lincoln once said." Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open one's mouth and remove all doubt". Too bad the current GOP doesn't follow his sage advice.

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Interbank lending rates remained
at or near record lows on Wednesday, supported by extraordinary
central bank measures that are flooding markets with liquidity,
but a year after credit markets froze, there's still little
confidence in the system.

Banks remain almost wholly dependent on central bank funds
12-months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers shook the
financial world, and accelerated the economic downturn.

Traders said it was still the case that while some banks
could borrow in interbank markets well below official rates,
there were still those that were having to pay above or were
struggling to get funds at all, such is the ongoing lack of
trust between institutions.

While the European Central Bank prepares to offer markets
another unlimited injection of 1-year funds to try and encourage
lending to the wider economy, Bank of England Governor Mervyn
King on Tuesday suggested that the bank could cut the rate of
interest paid on bank reserves.

"The BoE and the ECB still have things to do, adding to the
picture of dovishness that we're seeing from the central banks
at the moment and that's helping Libor rates to keep falling,"
said Calyon rate strategist Orlando Green.

"But in terms of interbank lending and lending to the wider
economy, the monetary velocity really isn't as much as the
central banks would want to see."

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLG5301920090916?rpc=44

“The rapid destruction of money balances is madness.”

I have no idea what "balances" is supposed to mean in this context, and I don't really care. In the final count, everything just balances out. So, rapid destruction of money-debt is not madness, it is the logical and unavoidable consequence of exponentially growing creation of money-debt. Which, knowing the consequense, is madness.

Heehaw! Come all and see and try the wonderfull inflating-deflating Money Balloon! It's bouncy-bouncy!

Nah, don't really care. Your money is not even really real...

"Before our white brothers came to civilize us we had no jails. Therefore we had no criminals. You can’t have criminals without a jail. We had no locks or keys, and so we had no thieves. If a man was so poor that he had no horse, tipi or blanket, someone gave him these things. We were too uncivilized to set much value on personal belongings. We wanted to have things only in order to give them away. We had no money, and therefore a man’s worth couldn’t be measured by it. We had no written law, no attorney or politicians, therefore we couldn’t cheat. We were in a really bad way before the white man came, and I don’t know how we managed to get along without the basic things which, we are told, are absolutely necessary to make a civilized society."
-- Lakota Sage Lame Deer
http://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/

:)

etc.

edit: In Memoriam Spitzer.

:)

:smoke:



:(

Weaker Dollar
Share | Email | Print | A A A


By Nicholas Larkin

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Gold climbed to an 18-month high in London on concern that a global economic recovery may stoke inflation and on a drop by the dollar that boosted demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

The worst U.S. recession since the 1930s has probably ended, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday. The U.S. Dollar Index slid to its lowest level in almost a year as a more optimistic economic outlook reduced demand for the currency’s relative safety. Gold is trading 1.7 percent below a record $1,032.70 an ounce set in London in March 2008.

“The inflation story has got people very concerned,” said Bernard Sin, head of currency and metals trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva. “People are trying to move dollars into commodities, especially gold. The market is really concerned about the behavior of the dollar.”

...

Gold may climb as high as $1,100 an ounce in the next six months, researcher GFMS Ltd. said on Sept. 14. Spot prices have rallied 15 percent this year as the dollar index, a six- currency gauge of the currency’s strength, lost 6.1 percent. The measure slipped as much as 0.4 percent today.

..http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aXUHjVOfLTsE

Following the failure of Chicago's Corus Bankshares and its seizure by federal regulators, speculation Monday focused on the fate of the lender's $4 billion in commercial loans, a good quarter of them secured by condominium projects in South Florida.

FDIC spokeswoman LaJuan Williams-Dickerson said regulators would begin marketing the assets to potential buyers for a private placement transaction that is expected to be completed in about 30 days. She could not say whether the assets would be sold to a single buyer or in loan pools.

Corus was one of the largest condominium construction lenders in South Florida during the real estate boom, financing 34 projects in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. It held more than $1 billion in South Florida loans at the time of its Friday seizure, most of which were nonperforming.

Much like a death after a long and painful illness, Corus' failure was met with a sense of closure and relief from some local real estate analysts and developers, who said now the condo market could hit the reset switch and begin moving forward.

``They made all the loans that shouldn't have been made right at the end of the cycle. They represented the largest portfolio of troubled projects, so, in that respect it's kind of like the last hurrah,'' said Jack Lowell, vice president of Coral Gables-based Flagler Real Estate Services.

Corus also controlled a large portion of the unsold condo units in the greater downtown Miami market. A new investor, who would not be fighting to minimize losses, would likely slash prices to quickly sell inventory.

. . .

MB Financial Bank assumed Corus' deposits and $3 billion in marketable securities, leaving $4 billion in mostly soured loans with the FDIC. Corus' failure will cost the federal insurance fund $1.7 billion, the FDIC said.

The size of the portfolio and the delinquent status of most of the loans could make it hard for the FDIC to place the assets, unless it offers them at a significant discount. Some analysts said it was doubtful a single enity could swallow the entire nugget, meaning a consortium of investors would likely coalesce to make an offer or the FDIC would have to sell the portfolio piecemeal.

``I'm not sure if there is any one group that has the wherewithal or expertise to take over the entire Corus portfolio,'' said Peter Zalewski, principal of Condo Vultures, a consultancy and brokerage firm specializing in distressed condo sales.

``It's going to be an extremely interesting negotiation,'' Lowell said. ``In addition to picking up assets, are going to want to have a very detailed understanding of how the resources are going to be provided to complete the projects.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1234241.html


And the headline says the failure may be good. Good for the greedy investors perhaps but the luckless taxpayer will not be doing the happy dance any time soon.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A group led by real estate developer Stephen Ross has been given preliminary approval to establish a new bank to buy assets from a failed lender.

Ross, chairman of New York-based Related Cos., and two partners were given an initial OK on July 31 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to create SJB National Bank, which would buy up assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Related Cos. would not be an investor in the bank.

The OCC said the investors were looking to purchase ''the business of a specific failed institution from the FDIC.'' It did not identify the bank.

The bank charter approval was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Earlier this summer, several media reports said Ross' group would be a likely buyer for Corus Bankshares Inc., a Chicago lender to condominium, office and hotel projects that has been staggering from bad real estate loans.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/10/business/AP-US-Investor-Group-Bank-Failures.html?_r=2

By Nopporn Wong-Anan SINGAPORE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A cacophony of Mandarin and English echo through the streets of Singapore's Chinatown as crowds of shoppers buy joss sticks and fruit as offerings to the spirits during the Seventh Month Ghost Festival.

English has long united the ethnically diverse island-state but Singapore's leaders now foresee a time when Mandarin will be the country's dominant language and they are aggressively encouraging their people to become fluent in Chinese.

"Both English and Mandarin are important because in different situations you use either language. But Mandarin has become more important," said Chinatown shopkeeper Eng Yee Lay.

Hit hard by the global slowdown, strengthening ties with China has taken on a strategic imperative in Singapore which seeks to leverage the bilingual skills of its ethnic Chinese majority to get a larger slice of China's fast expanding economic pie.

"With the growing importance of China on the world stage, Chinese Singaporeans who are competent in the language and familiar with the culture would have a distinct advantage when working and interacting with Chinese nationals," Lim Sau Hoong, chairwoman of the Promote Mandarin Council, told Reuters.

The government-sponsored campaign to promote Mandarin began in 1979 to unite under one language Singapore's disparate Chinese communities that spoke a multitude of dialects passed on by their ancestors who came from China in the 19th and early 20th century.

Unifying the Chinese majority in a country with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities was a priority and in the early days the Speak Mandarin Campaign discouraged ethnic Chinese from speaking the dialects that prevailed such as Hokkien.

Now, with a majority of Singaporeans speaking Mandarin in their homes, according to government figures, the focus is on improving fluency in spoken and written Mandarin.

"In two generations, Mandarin will become our mother tongue," said Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew at the launch of the 2009 Speak Mandarin Campaign earlier this year.

His vision is for Singapore to become China's Southeast Asia hub as it expands its commercial interests in the region, while Singapore firms would entrench their positions in China, giving them a first-mover advantage over foreign firms.

Already, despite its small demographic size, Singapore was China's third largest foreign investor with total foreign direct investment of S$6.5 billion in 2008, a 40 percent rise from 2007, according to the Chinese government.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idAFSIN36618920090916?rpc=44

TOKYO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - New Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took office on Wednesday, launching an untested government pledged to radically change how the nation is run and make domestic demand, not exports, the engine of growth.

...

"I want to create the kind of politics in which politicians take the lead without relying on bureaucrats," the 62-year-old Hatoyama, wearing his lucky gold, silver and blue striped tie and signature pocket handkerchief, told his first news conference.

"We might make mistakes as we do things by trial and error. We want the people to be tolerant...We would appreciate if the people nurture the new government with patience."

...

"The DPJ has got to come up with an agreed list of priorities quickly, because its manifesto is just a long laundry list," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Hatoyama's choice of veteran lawmaker Hirohisa Fujii, 77, as finance minister has soothed some concerns about government spending and the debt burden, but the former finance mandarin moved currency markets even before he was sworn in.

The yen rose 0.9 percent to a new 7-month high against the dollar after he said a strong yen had merits for the economy and that recent currency moves were not rapid.

The choice of Shizuka Kamei, the outspoken head of a tiny coalition partner and an opponent of market-friendly reforms, as minister for banking and market regulation sent bank shares lower with comments on lending.

...

"The first step will be to build a trusting relationship with President Obama," Hatoyama said. "Japan has tended to have a passive role in its relationship with the United States. We want an active role. We want the kind of relationship where we can tell one other what we are thinking frankly."

...

The Democrats have promised to scrap public works projects and other programmes they consider wasteful and use freed-up cash to stimulate consumption through measures such as payouts to farmers and families with children, and ending highway tolls.

Hatoyama told reporters he thought his government could secure the 7 trillion yen ($77.54 billion) it says it needs to fund its policies in 2010/11, starting next April. It was vital, he said, to relieve the burden on households given an uncertain economic outlook.

The economy returned to slow growth in the second quarter, but still suffers a record high jobless rate and record deflation.

The Democrats have vowed to centralise decision-making in the cabinet, and a new National Strategy Bureau will be tasked with reforming what the Democrats say is a cumbersome policy-making system that relied heavily on recommendations from bureaucrats.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSSP51644520090916?sp=true

or would like to be portrayed as if they are.

The Beltway has caught a bad case of "Butforthegraceofgawdtheregoes-Itis."

The Wall Street Corporate Media is still strangely silent on the whole matter... Oddly enough.

They don't even seem to be going in circles any more.

The only meaningful activity has been in the courts, for which I am grateful, actually.

Somebody put this "health care" legislation out of our misery, so the way is clear to begin with something worth having!

Oh, and Ben declaring the Recession (most likely) over yesterday.

TPTB have been justifying everything they've done for the last year on the fact... It's what Japan did. (Never mentioning that it didn't work when Japan did it.)

And now, Japan has quite openly displayed it intends to go in an entirely different direction... Because, the free-market hog-wash they'd been following religiously for the past ump-teen years was going nowhere.

So, instead of 'action' I suppose I could have said that the level of 'hubris' had been stepped up.

And usually it hits them right in the face. Maybe the machines should be turned around (and they could start deprogramming themselves...)

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

Last trade 76.358 Change -0.130 (-0.17%)

Greenback Finding Some Bids Into US Open

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Greenback_Finding_Some_Bids_Into_1253098520534.html

Another session of fresh 2009 highs for many of the major currencies against the buck with higher equity prices and surging gold to $1020 helping to fuel the gains. On the day, the New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollar have been the stand out winners, while the Yen has also been attracting sizeable interest. Some currencies however have not fared as well, with both Sterling and Swissie flat to lower against the greenback. Stronger data out of Switzerland in the form of retail sales and ZEW, along with slightly better than expected employment numbers out from the UK, have failed to materially prop either currency, with other broader themes dominating trade and driving the relative weakness. Any strength in the Swisse at current levels is sure to force some profit taking on fears of another SNB intervention, while Sterling has been weighed down on Tuesday’s downbeat and dovish central bank comments in which the BoE signaled that they would look to reduce the discount rate. Sterling has however recovered somewhat on the morning’s data and upbeat comments from BoE Sentance who says that he expects a much better year in 2010. In Japan, newly elected PM Hatoyama says the outlook for the domestic economy is still unclear. Market participants have also found great comfort in the recent comments from Fed Chair Bernanke who said that the recession is likely over. Finally, in Sweden, the krona has posted some nice gains following the upbeat and hawkish Riksbank minutes. Looking ahead, Canada manufacturing shipments (2.5% expected), US CPI (0.3% expected), and the current account balance (-$92B expected) are due at 12:30GMT, followed by TICs data ($60B expected) at 13:00GMT and industrial production (0.7% expected) at 13:15GMT. NAHB house data (19 expected) caps things off at 17:00GMT. US equity futures point to a firmer open and look to extend gains to fresh 2009 highs on Wednesday.

...more...

Euro Breaks 1.4700 to Mark Fresh Yearly High, British Pound Halts Two-Day Decline

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/Euro_Breaks_1_4700_to_Mark_1253099223395.html

The euro advanced against the U.S. dollar during the overnight session and reached a fresh yearly high of 1.4714 however, the three-day rally looks to be losing steam as the EUR/USD remains overbought. At the same time, the European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that the euro-region faces “risks of regression” as the outlook for a sustainable recovery remained uncertain, and said that taking away the stimulus packages “too soon after a crash” could lead to a double-dip recession as growth prospects remain weak.

Meanwhile, ECB board member Ewald Nowotny anticipates economic activity to stabilize at a “low level” in 2010 and expects to see a positive growth rate going into the follow year however, the policy maker went onto say that the economic expansion will too low to “stop an increase in unemployment.” Nevertheless, the economic docket showed consumer prices in the Euro-Zone increased 0.3% in August after falling 0.7% in the previous month, with the annual rate of inflation slipping 0.2% from the previous year to mark the third consecutive decline. Moreover, core prices grew at an annualized pace of 1.3% for the second month amid forecasts for a 1.2% rise, and as a result, the European Central Bank is likely to hold a neutral policy stance going forward as inflation expectations remain firmly anchored. As the single-currency remains overbought against the greenback, with the RSI holding above 71, the EUR/USD may fall back from the eight-month high to test the weekly low (1.4514) for near-term support however, a break below this level could expose the 20-Day moving average at 1.4396.

The British pound halted the two-day decline after finding intraday support ahead of the 20-Day SMA at 1.6415, and the GBP/USD may push higher over the next 24 hours of trading following the rebound in risk appetite. The economic calendar for the U.K. showed jobless claims increased 24.4K to 2.47M in August, which is the highest since 1995, with the claimant count rate tipping higher to 5.0% from 4.9% in the previous month. At the same time, the annual rate of unemployment measured by the International Labour Organization’s standards rose to 7.9% during the three month through July from 7.8% in the previous to mark the highest reading since 1996 despite forecasts for a rise to 8.0%, and the data foreshadows a weakening outlook for private sector spending as households face fading demands for employment paired with tightening credit conditions. As the Bank of England continues to see a risk for a slower recovery, market participants speculate the central bank to take additional steps to steer the nation out of the worst recession since the post-war period, and the pull back in the interest rate outlook may continue to weigh on the exchange rate going forward as investors weigh the prospects for future policy.

The U.S. dollar weakened across the board following the rise in risk appetite, and the reserve currency may continue to lose ground going into the North American trade as equity futures foreshadow a higher open for the U.S. market, Nevertheless, economists forecast consumer prices to increase 0.3% in August, with the annual rate of inflation projected to fall 1.7% from the previous year, while core prices are expected to grow 1.4% from the previous year, and the data could stoke increased selling pressures on the greenback as investors speculate the Federal Reserve to ease policy further over the coming months. At the same time, industrial outputs are projected to increase 0.6% in August, while the NAHB housing market index is anticipate to improve for the third consecutive month in September, and the slew of data is likely to spark volatility across the financial markets as market participants weigh the outlook for a sustainable recovery.

...more...

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The pound fell to a four-month low against the euro for a second day as U.K unemployment rose to the highest level since 1995, denting optimism that an economic recovery is taking root.

The British currency also held near the lowest level in a week against the dollar after the Office for National Statistics said the number of people seeking jobs in the three months through July rose by 210,000 to 2.47 million. The pound tumbled yesterday after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King signaled it may cut the rate paid to hold reserves at the central bank.

“The market had a shock yesterday and the data this morning was not strong enough to reverse the trend,” said Vincent Chaigneau, head of currency and interest-rate strategy at Societe Generale SA in London. “The data confirmed what King said yesterday, which is that we can pretty much rule out a strong recovery. It was a wake-up call for the market.”

The pound was little changed at 88.87 pence per euro as of 12:52 p.m. in London, after weakening as much as 0.5 percent to 89.31 pence, the lowest level since May 15. It climbed 0.1 percent to $1.6508.

The unemployment rate in the three months through July rose to 7.9 percent, the most since 1996, the statistics office said. That compares with the latest figures of 9.5 percent in the euro region, 9.7 percent in the U.S. and 5.7 percent in Japan.

Deposit Rate

King told lawmakers in London yesterday that the central bank is “looking at” cutting the deposit rate to stimulate lending by financial institutions and revive consumer demand. The bank’s next Monetary Policy Committee decision is on Oct. 8.

Banks are currently paid 0.5 percent on the deposits. While the central bank is boosting its reserves through asset purchases under its so-called quantitative-easing program, King said he doesn’t want them to grow too much.

/.. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601083&sid=aMsALnd1LxIU

Lawmakers bow too frequently to a "new religion" of obedience to Wall Street's wishes, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said Monday.

Sherman decried colleagues' deference to large financial companies' interests, saying that assistance for big business is less driven by lobbyists than lawmakers' attitude toward the companies.

"It's tough to go up against Wall Street -- they almost always get what they want," Sherman said during an appearance on CNBC. "Not so much because of their lobbyists, but because they have created this new religion that involves genuflecting in the direction of Wall Street, and believing this idea that, 'Oh my God, if those institutions don't get what they want, we're all going to be fighting for rat meat in the streets.'"

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/58613-congressman-decries-lawmakers-genuflecting-toward-wall-st



This sounds true.

The lobbyist money is just a bonus.

Maybe Sherman hasn't been the beneficiary of the lobbyists' dough and other goodies, but congressmen in their jobs for awhile "get it."

(Small moves down.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,488,158,294,444.95 + 4,304,457,178,826.84
DOWN 193,915,837.32 + DOWN 1,885,915,872.61

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 307,444,341 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 $38,356.91.
A family of three owes $115,070.74. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 20 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 20 reports is 6,141,619,499.79.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,094,412,999.86.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,962,335,161.16.
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$/day.
There were 162 reports in 237 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.15B$ per report, 4.92B$/day so far.
There were 237 reports in 349 days of FY2009 averaging 7.46B$ per report, 5.07B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,224 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.5 and 18.0T$.
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)
09/14/2009 11,792,615,473,271.79 BHO (UP 1,165,738,424,358.71 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: 1,767,890,576,359.30 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: 1,165,738,424,358.71 in part since Obama takes over.


LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*******
09/14/2009 -000,193,915,837.32 --- Mon

103,031,390,286.24 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=4059705&mesg_id=4059978

(Debt up a good bit.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,522,853,517,308.98 + 4,311,337,127,992.07
UP 34,695,222,864.03 + UP 6,879,949,165.23

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 307,452,981 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 $38,491.06.
A family of three owes $115,473.18. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 7,828,931,525.01.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,480,252,067.51.
The average for the last 32 days would be 5,137,736,313.29.
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$/day.
There were 163 reports in 238 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.36B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 238 reports in 350 days of FY2009 averaging 7.60B$ per report, 5.17B$/day.

PROJECTION:
There are 1,223 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.5 and 18.2T$.
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)
09/15/2009 11,834,190,645,301.05 BHO (UP 1,207,313,596,387.97 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: 1,809,465,748,388.60 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: 1,207,313,596,387.97 in part since Obama takes over.


LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*******
09/14/2009 -000,193,915,837.32 --- Mon
09/15/2009 +034,695,222,864.03 ------------**********

137,393,065,869.23 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=4061901&mesg_id=4062087

Rockefeller & Co’s CEO committed suicide: report
(Reuters) – James McDonald, chief executive officer of investment management firm Rockefeller & Co, committed suicide on Sunday in Massachusetts, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Newport Beach financier Danny Pang dies at 42
(LATimes) – Newport Beach financier Danny Pang died early Saturday at a local hospital, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. The cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy is planned for Sunday, said Larry Esslinger, supervising deputy coroner.

Financier Finn Casperson dead in apparent suicide
(Inquisitr) – Ex-CEO of Beneficial Corp. Finn H.W. Casperson was found dead in an apparent suicide behind an office building in Westerly, Rhode Island.


(CNN) – Financier Christopher Kelly told police shortly before he died Saturday that he took an “overdose of drugs”. Police are investigating the death of the former chief fundraiser for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a “death-suicide”.



Casperson was a UBS tax dodger, wonder if any of the others were in the same boat? Kelly was heading towards a jail cell which was probably led to his action. But what about the two others?

It's pathetic that a human being would even come to a state of mind where that's the truth but here we all are, as uncomfortable as it is. Personally, I'd rather see jail time for the crooks as they'd be alive and be a constant reminder of what happens to people when they take the criminal path.

they do be mounting. Put it under the Exec gone to jail.

Feel free to make nominations! :evilgrin:

I'll make the first. On second thought I won't. Once I start, I'll be here for hours. Names just keep popping into my head.

Failing these two - the Daily Show!! I could see them running a segment of "People Who Have Not Offed Themselves Today"

I wouldn't be a bit surprised. It would be more efficient, too.

Customization is great. I wish the Stock Market Watch could be as customizable for the end user as Pandora.com. But given it ain't - on this end - we could afford to add a group effort list. Voluteers?

I wonder who is going to jump, rather conveniently, off a bridge now that five BoA execs have been subpoenaed for deposition in New York. Popcorn futures are looking up with this one.

LOL, some of us don't get enough sleep as it is now. I think it is a bit odd that these 4 were clustered so close together. You are ahead of the trend Ozy. I just came back from Costco and bought some popcorn. I can't share the actual now, but the virtual is less fattening. :popcorn::popcorn:. More butter and salt for you?

Which of you heavy hitters pulled it off, though? Demeter has an alibi. Ghost Dog is on another continent. Oops, I don't have an alibi myself. But I lean toward making it look like a vigilante execution. I think that might strike more fear in the others.

I told the surgeon I could be here until 11:30, and I think he took me at my word.

Unfortunately that means I get to go work without food or sleep or feeding the cats, who will survive, I expect. Not so sure of myself.

Motherhood. It's not for the faint-hearted (of those of low stamina).

what a nightmare. If I lived close by I would help out. I know how rough it is. Prayers for strength and healing sent your way..O8)

Barclays has been accused of "banking by sleight of hand" after creating a new company to take over its most toxic assets and ringfence future losses.

By Philip Aldrick, Banking Editor
Published: 8:19PM BST 16 Sep 2009
Barclays accused of trickery in $12.3bn toxic asset sale
The deal promises to make 45 former investment bankers at Barclays Capital very rich Photo: AFP/GETTY

Britain's second largest bank has sold $12.3bn (£7.5bn) of its riskiest assets to a new company called Protium Finance, registered in the Cayman Islands and run by two Barclays bankers who resigned on completion of the deal on Wednesday. Barclays has provided Protium with a 10-year, $12.6bn loan to buy the assets.

The sale will allow the bank to "derecognise the assets", shielding it from any further fall in their "mark-to-market" value. Instead, Barclays will use a different accounting treatment to take "a longer term view" that will provide "a boost to its capital strength by punting the issue into the long grass", Ian Gordon, banks analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said.

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The deal also promises to make 45 former investment bankers at Barclays Capital very rich. They have resigned to join Protium, which will charge Barclays a $40m annual management fee, including office costs. The bank stressed that no leaver will receive a severance payment.

The structure of Barclays' loan is unusual. It will earn interest at 2.75pc above the US inter-bank rate, which it hopes will "amount to a cumulative total of $3.9bn" over the 10 years. However, interest will be paid after investors, who are injecting $450m and earning 7pc a year, receive their cut. Normally, investors rank behind lenders in the payment heirachy.

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The investors, who have not been revealed but Barclays said consisted of one US and one UK fund, and the bank will be paid from the assets' cashflow. Mr Lucas said: "What we are trying to do is get a stable return profile for shareholders. We rely on those cashflows, so why not undertake a restructuring to show we rely on them and maximise shareholder value?"

Protium hopes to repeat the deal with other banks.

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6199483/Barclays-accused-of-trickery-in-12.3bn-toxic-asset-sale.html

... Do not imagine for one moment that this deal will actually involve an office nor the physical presence of any of these people in the Cayman Islands, of course ... And do not expect too many embarrassing questions about regulatory nor tax regimes involved, at least not in this particular newspaper ...

... Also, recall the Barclays-BlackRock deal in August:

Aug. 6, 2009, 2:04 p.m. EDT LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Barclays PLC shareholders assented Thursday to the $13 billion sale of the bank's Barclays Global Investors unit to BlackRock Inc., making BlackRock the world's biggest money manager and handing several Barclays executives multimillion-dollar payoffs ... http://www.marketwatch.com/story/barclays-shareholders-ok-bgi-sale-to-blackrock-2009-08-06

Barclays is getting rid of all those toxic loans by lending $12 billion to another company to buy them.

This seems like a banking equivalent of all those horrible debt consolidation Ads that you used to appear on British television for Ocean Finance or First Plus the latter just happening to be owned by Barclays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7GBQHURlEw&feature=player_embedded#t=13