STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday November 15

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday November 15, 2010

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Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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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

:hi:

:donut: :donut: :donut: :hi:

:donut: :hi:



Tansy Gold, who let herself sleep in all the way to 5:00 a.m.

this last WEE was very Euro-centric and outland--all the Old Worlds coming to the New World to rebuild lives free of oppression. Well, it was great while it lasted...the freedom from oppression, I mean.

Next WEE will focus on the Trail of Tears, what happened to the people already here when Europe showed up and started oppressing them. I figure I owe it to AnneD at least...

So perhaps on Thanksgiving Weekend, we can reconcile, break bread, and build a country for all: of the People, by the People, for the People, ALL the People, ALL the time, including NO corporations or other non-people, imposing no wrongs, but righting them. Or so it might be...

was a new phrase for me, so I looked it up. :(



(Harsh winter expected this year, btw, some already say.)...

(A soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jGGCcBtaRA)

And also for those who stayed behind and decided to integrate (my ancestors...which means that somewhere along the line Anne D and I are cousins of a sort)

They sublimated their ancestry, their culture just to survive. They did not lose their lives, but they lost their life.

A bad situation for everyone involved.

my great grandparents survived and were registered on the Dawes Rolls. We were fortunate. As I mentioned in passing in one of my posts, the Indian Wars was the longest war the US was involved in then and since (longer than the war on drugs, war on cancer, war on terror and war on the middle class).

Cherokees were a unique case in that they did adapt to the white ways and were only violent when their lands were taken. We made the mistake with backing the British as did other colonist: but because we looked different.....

The Trail of Tears profoundly altered the culture and so much was lost. But it was decided that the best was to survive was to make do. I will give you and update this weekend.

Thanksgiving is bittersweet when we dwell on it. We are so home and family oriented though. That is what saved us. Many Cherokee refused to send their kids away to Indian School, although there has always been one in Oklahoma. You might be poor as church mice, but the family was still togather.

of trusting the perfidious British.

(Although he who says that is one).

to live in Spain. I don't have a tomahawk to grind.

08:30 Retail Sales Oct
Briefing.com 1.1%
Consensus 0.7%
Prior 0.6%

08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Oct
Briefing.com 0.7%
Consensus 0.4%
Prior 0.4%

08:30 Empire Manufacturing Index Nov
Briefing.com 17.0
Consensus 11.7
Prior 15.73

10:00 Business Inventories Sep
Briefing.com 0.9%
Consensus 0.9%
Prior 0.6%

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

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/empire-state-factory-survey-turns-negative-2010-11-15

Conditions for New York area manufacturers deteriorated sharply in November, with a regional survey turning negative for the first time since June 2009.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire State manufacturing survey fell to a reading of negative 11.1, a far cry from the 15.7 seen in October, according to data released Monday. The release was far worse than economist expectations for a 15 reading and marks the first negative level since July 2009.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $85 a barrel Monday in Asia, consolidating after a big fall as investors mull what steps China may take to ease inflation pressures.

The contract fell $2.93, or 3.3 percent, to settle at $84.88 on Friday after China said inflation quickened to 4.4 percent in October. Traders are concerned policymakers may take additional measures to slow Chinese economic growth, which would undermine demand for crude.

In other Nymex trading in December contracts, heating oil rose 1 cent to $2.37 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.7 cent to $2.22 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 1.4 cents to $3.81 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

they got another think coming.

Frederick Sheehan is the author of Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession (McGraw-Hill, 2009).

"igher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes."

-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Washington Post, November 4, 2010

In Ben Bernanke’s Washington Post elucidation of Fed policy, "What the Fed Did and Why: Supporting the Recovery and Sustaining Price Stability," the Fed chairman cut-and-pasted misleading paragraphs from earlier misleading speeches. He did not discuss the two most important aspects of his money experiment. Bernanke did not address, first, the real economy or, second, the rest of the world. It will be the first of these lapses that will be discussed below.

On November 3, 2010, the Federal Open Market Committee’s decided to buy $600 billion in bonds. The exchange works as follows: $600 billion of cash will be dispensed to the banking system by the Fed and $600 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds will be extracted. The Fed will also reinvest over $400 billion of maturing mortgage securities it bought earlier and buy Treasuries. The total purchases of over $1 trillion will satisfy, to some degree, the Federal Reserve’s unstated but sine qua non obligation to fund the Treasury Department’s deficit.

This package is known as QE2: quantitative easing, second round. The first round was initiated in March of 2009. On March 18, 2009, the Fed announced it would buy $750 billion of mortgage-backed bonds, $100 billion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities, and $300 billion of long-term Treasury securities.


Read more: http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/ben-bernanke-the-chauncey-gardiner-of-central-banking.html#ixzz15LXFYK6V

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I don't think the title is an understatement. He knows about as much about an economy as Chance the Gardener.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpmlHTeVG9A&feature=related

Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Mafia. The coming collapse of the dollar and government. I never would have thought Obama was this stupid

Obama's job is to spin things to look good. If you think about it, the U.S. is really run by the banksters, big corporations and lobbyists who use our politicians to pass legislation to benefit the wealthy. Our President is a good speaking figurehead.

apparently he is given cover for plausible deniability because 'to know' means culpable. For some silly reason I assumed the first black president would have more continuity with the average citizen than the elites. I thought the legacy of MLK would actually mean something to him. That he would actually want to know and expose the corruption that runs our failing democracy. I was terribly wrong in that assumption. I see no reason to vote in 2012 for any POTUS.

he could end up like JFK

for sure.

Obama's job is to be the patsy. Set the black guy up to take the fall. Obama is just too stupid to realize it. He just can't believe all his Ivy league "friends" never really accepted him as an equal.

The Fed lends people money to buy shit they don't need at prices they cannot afford. Oy Vey.

more like Psycho

I do not have time to wade into this subject right now. Suffice to say, perhaps, that Bernanke evidences a feeble grasp of consumer psychology. Rising retirement portfolios do not put money in people's pockets. A business owner will not hire employees because his investment portfolio has risen though the course of extreme market volatility.

Unless they're nuts, consumers and business's want to get rid of the loans they have.

without hearing : The Ben Bernank

Quantitative Easing Explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

or on DU
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x524835

(But, of course, nothing to do with the anglo-saxon-zionism, we are told).

You must be shitting me.

I say we elect our pets to the Federal Reserve Board.


You really have to wonder what drugs Bernanke is on, don't you?




TG

His job has nothing to do for our economy.

Bernanke's entitelement to loot and pillage

:rofl:

We'd be in better shape if he was that passive, IMO. It's all his finagling that making a bad situation much worse.

I swear -- I have never seen so much public discord among members of the Fed system as through this last round of QE. It has become quite clear that faith in Bernanke's leadership suffers from his decision to pursue QE2. It makes me wonder if members of the higher echelons are jockeying to succeed Bernanke.

:grr:

But, let's continue focussing only on the domestic, forget the international, context for now.

Higher echelons are jockeying to succeed the Anglo-American-"Caribbean" financial system.

(Up some. Good day.)
Autumn leaves are softly falling and being very hard to get back up.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,136,758,086,733.07 + 4,582,789,597,013.42
UP 1,354,516,168.52 + DOWN 8,954,231,460.62

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 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,218.81 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,673,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,160.62.
A family of three owes $132,481.86. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,586,747,523.12.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,516,506,434.39.
The average for the last 33 days would be 3,196,824,031.26.
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$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 29 reports in 41 days of FY2011 averaging 5.45B$ per report, 3.85B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 802 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 17.9T$.
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)
11/10/2010 13,719,547,683,746.49 BHO (UP 3,092,670,634,833.41 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,157,924,652,854.70 ------------* * * BHO
Endof11 +14,704,995,609,602.40 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/21/2010 -003,241,964,507.19 --
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********
10/27/2010 +000,111,394,550.30 ------------********
10/28/2010 -000,237,760,056.32 ---
10/29/2010 +010,778,095,157.00 ------------**********
11/01/2010 +063,143,305,537.83 ------------********** Mon
11/02/2010 +000,562,237,098.37 ------------********
11/03/2010 -000,042,244,820.71 ----
11/04/2010 +002,136,844,217.63 ------------*********
11/05/2010 -000,209,791,147.70 ---
11/08/2010 -000,059,969,255.93 ---- Mon
11/09/2010 -000,005,858,868.46 -----
11/10/2010 +001,354,516,168.52 ------------*********

74,871,348,676.41 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
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4612098&mesg_id=4612126

(Up some. Good day.)
A quiet day at the office.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,137,994,773,432.55 + 4,583,984,692,252.77
UP 1,236,686,699.48 + UP 1,195,095,239.35

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 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,218.66 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,688,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,166.4.
A family of three owes $132,499.2. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,752,814,483.06.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,643,824,437.01.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,526,281,713.24.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 30 reports in 43 days of FY2011 averaging 5.35B$ per report, 3.73B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 800 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 17.9T$.
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)
11/12/2010 13,721,979,465,685.32 BHO (UP 3,095,102,416,772.24 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,160,356,434,793.60 ------------* * * * BHO
Endof11 +14,021,042,325,434.90 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********
10/27/2010 +000,111,394,550.30 ------------********
10/28/2010 -000,237,760,056.32 ---
10/29/2010 +010,778,095,157.00 ------------**********
11/01/2010 +063,143,305,537.83 ------------********** Mon
11/02/2010 +000,562,237,098.37 ------------********
11/03/2010 -000,042,244,820.71 ----
11/04/2010 +002,136,844,217.63 ------------*********
11/05/2010 -000,209,791,147.70 ---
11/08/2010 -000,059,969,255.93 ---- Mon
11/09/2010 -000,005,858,868.46 -----
11/10/2010 +001,354,516,168.52 ------------*********
11/12/2010 +001,236,686,699.48 ------------*********

79,349,999,883.08 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
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4615036&mesg_id=4615044

It took so little time for the much lauded "financial innovation" to burn through government accounts. That Celtic Tiger that decorated magazine covers on both sides of the Atlantic and was the focus of millions of words in print during the "oughties" shows how much of the boom years were pure bubble.

What do you think will happen when governments around the globe figure out who has been robbing them, destroying social fabric and dignity in the process?

:rofl:

They'll ask them for a bigger campaign contribution, a job for the kid, and a lobbying contract for when they're out of office.

The tried and true Rubin-Gramm secret to great wealth.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x569558

To which, I would today add:



And

As part of the IMF, we were obligated to give Greece billions of money as part of Greece's bailout. I suppose we will need to come with more billions to bail out Ireland. By the time, we finish bailing out all these countries, there will be no one to bail out the U.S.


edit to add link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4370127&mesg_id=4370215

the entire US youth aren't marshmallow couch potatoes, but they've been abused since birth by Reagan and his successors.

I recall the Gramm Leach Bliley Act was predicated on the idea that if the United States did not innovate its financial markets then it would fall behind its worldwide rivals. If Phil Gramm is still on UBS payroll, maybe Gruebel could ask for his advice then do exactly the opposite.

"Geez, Mom, you never let me have any fun. Say, can I go play with firworks now? I'll stay in my room!""

unless you become a crony.

For the cronies' losses, everyone else but them have to pay.

So they say.

... That's the way it goes. Or, rather, that's the way it used to go. Under the freewheeling, happy-go-lucky leadership of Dave Hartnett, the Revenue's head of tax, readers might now think about trying their luck. Suppose you have an outstanding bill of £7,250. You phone Hartnett and arrange to meet him for dinner. It is ridiculous for the Revenue to expect you to pay the full £7,250, you say. You will give him £1,250 instead. Not right away, of course. Times are hard and money is tight. The best you can manage is £800 now and the remaining £450 some time before 2015.

Alas, I regret to inform you that Dave is unlikely to cut you any slack. He may not even return your calls. You, after all, are an ordinary British taxpayer, who must pay on demand or face the consequences. If, however, you were multinational company, Hartnett would be indulgence personified. For Vodafone, HMRC reduced a potential liability not of about £7,000 to a little over £1,000 but of about £7bn to a little over £1bn and left the second-largest company on the stock market with a remarkably light tax bill.

...

The gratified inspectors were pushing ahead when Hartnett intervened. In an interview with the FT, he treated his staff with enormous condescension. They were "very intelligent people", he conceded, but too "tough" and too "black and white about the law". He must work for a different Revenue from the one the public encounters. Ours deals solely in black and white: if you owe money you have to hand it over. Hartnett's Revenue prefers shades of grey. Private Eye, which has conducted a meticulous investigation, showed how he pushed aside the staff who were pursuing Vodafone. He arranged a settlement with John Connors, Vodafone's head of tax, who, funnily enough, was a senior official at HMRC until 2007, where he worked closely with Hartnett. We are on a visit to a very small world.

Vodafone would pay a mere £800m upfront and another £450m over the next four years, they agreed, leaving an estimated £6bn of potential tax revenue in its coffers. Hartnett indicated that he will extend the same leniency to other corporations when he said he wanted a less combative approach to business.

...

The effect on British attitudes of HMRC's sweetheart deals for the rich is hard to gauge but it could be severe. We have a Protestant north European culture. We are not like the Italians and Greeks who see nothing immoral in fiddling the system. On the whole, we believe that we must pay tax and obey the law whether we like it or not. Cheating the taxman is still a dirty secret for a few and not something they boast about, even when they are among friends. Most of us submit to HMRC's demands with grumbling reluctance.

...

If the double standards of the tax authorities sink into the public consciousness, HMRC risks shifting cultural attitudes and making tax evasion a respectable response to a morally bankrupt system.

/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/vodafone-tax-evasion-revenue-customs

"HMRC", I gather, btw, these days refers to a UK Govt. entity called something like "Her Majesty's department for Inland Revenue and Customsand and Excise".

SANFORD, Fla. – A central Florida dealership trying to drum up business is offering an unusual perk for potential used-truck buyers: A free AK-47 assault rifle.

General sales manager Nick Ginetta says that since the promotion was announced on Veterans Day, business has more than doubled at Nations Trucks in Sanford.

Customers would have to pass a background check before using the $400 gun shop voucher. They also have the option of using the money toward other firearms, or they can request a check in that amount instead.

The dealership has fielded some complaints about the deal, which Ginetta acknowledges is controversial. But, he adds: "My buyer is absolutely a gun owner, no question."

The promotion runs through the end of November.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_truck_dealer_free_guns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEqCSmXTX6o

Edit: Be careful what hearts you play with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWr-mGWj0vk

the second was beautiful

but music to me transcends language barriers... No estaría de acuerdo?

(Of course) :abrazos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTsYrB6qXXU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tozhe0yTAqo

...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD9ICDMb7yQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RP60gWKfEA&feature=related

is what I think has happened to our growth.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x265197

"It's dead, Jim"


Might we add, he's a Doctor-doctor, not a tree doctor?

:spray: