STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

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Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

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

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

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

Feb 09 07:00 MBA Mortgage Purchase Index 02/04 NA NA 11.3%
Feb 09 10:30 Crude Inventories 02/05 NA NA 2.59M

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

Applications for U.S. home mortgages dropped last week as the highest interest rates in 10 months sapped demand for home loan refinancing, an industry group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 5.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 4.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 7.7 percent last week.

The gauge of loan requests for home purchases was down 1.4 percent.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41487287

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose above $87 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting demand may be improving.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 47 cents at $87.41 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 54 cents to settle at $86.94 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude gained 42 cents to $100.94 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 558,000 barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast an increase of 2.4 million barrels. Inventories of gasoline rose 3.2 million barrels and distillates fell 538,000 barrels, the API said.

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

(Good day.)
Papers, and more papers.
(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)
= 9,471,051,926,030.05 + 4,632,969,811,221.48
DOWN 24,110,721.58 + UP 4,222,176,668.05

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,212.18 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,314,592 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 $45,304.72.
A family of three owes $135,914.17. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 4,504,732,033.60.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,153,312,423.52.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,051,592,667.92.
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$/day.
There were 89 reports in 130 days of FY2011 averaging 6.09B$ per report, 4.17B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 713 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/07/2011 14,104,021,737,251.53 BHO (UP 3,477,144,688,338.45 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 +0,542,398,706,359.80 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,522,888,675,548.67 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/18/2011 +038,613,327,669.01 ------------********** Tue
01/19/2011 +000,009,950,983.18 ------------******
01/20/2011 -000,687,286,291.06 ---
01/21/2011 -000,057,867,302.74 ----
01/24/2011 -000,181,687,031.14 --- Mon
01/25/2011 +000,059,189,192.13 ------------*******
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon

93,701,433,988.89 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=4725252&mesg_id=4725262

(Good day.)
A day in office, and that's the ticket.
(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)
= 9,471,150,634,328.07 + 4,639,270,175,734.21
UP 98,708,298.02 + UP 6,300,364,512.73

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,212.11 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,321,792 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 $45,324.23.
A family of three owes $135,972.69. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 4,590,838,432.55.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,366,614,850.54.
The average for the last 32 days would be 3,156,201,422.38.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ 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$/day.
There were 90 reports in 131 days of FY2011 averaging 6.10B$ per report, 4.19B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 712 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/08/2011 14,110,420,810,062.28 BHO (UP 3,483,543,761,149.20 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 +0,548,797,779,170.50 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,529,093,048,833.84 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/19/2011 +000,009,950,983.18 ------------******
01/20/2011 -000,687,286,291.06 ---
01/21/2011 -000,057,867,302.74 ----
01/24/2011 -000,181,687,031.14 --- Mon
01/25/2011 +000,059,189,192.13 ------------*******
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******

55,186,814,617.90 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=4726665&mesg_id=4726688

From: http://www.freep.com/article/20110209/SPORTS03/302090001/Tom-Gores-watches-Pistons-suite-Karen-Davidson?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Of the 16,132 people in attendance Tuesday night at the Palace, the most important could have been Tom Gores, the Los Angeles financier who has been pursuing the Pistons.

Gores watched the Pistons-Spurs game from Suite 125 with Pistons owner Karen Davidson. When approached by reporters, Gores and Davidson declined to answer questions about the status of a sale. Davidson, however, did say to WWJ-AM (950) about Gores: “He’s family.”

People familiar with the discussions told the Free Press that Gores really wanted to purchase the team, but the sides had been unable to agree on a selling price so far. . . .

Gores, a 46-year-old billionaire, grew up near Flint, graduated from Michigan State and is CEO of Platinum Equity. Forbes magazine places the value of the Pistons at $360 million, down $119 million from last year, in part because of Michigan’s difficult economy.
___________________________

Platinum Equity is a merger, acquisition, and operation firm. Tom Gores built the company into the 27th largest private company (according to Forbes). They estimate his personal wealth at $2.2 billion.

Since Bill Davidson's death in 2009, his widow, Karen, has sought a buyer for the Pistons. Bill Davidson's fortune came from Guardian Industries, an automotive and architectural glass maker.

I renewed my DU "membership" yesterday and I will be very pissed if I can't use that donation to heart everyone this year. . . . . .

:grr:


TG, TT

Apparently a few others have had their stars removed this week too. You are requested to send an email such that your donation can be used to send hearts on Feb13 when the fundraiser begins.

I'm trying to decide whether to send $5 today, and a bit more on Feb13 to give stars to others. Or just wait until Feb 13 to make one donation, or maybe no donation at all.

It wasn’t that many weeks ago when only the lunatic fringe were even willing to ask this question. But, thanks to a stock market rally that keeps chugging along — and a Dow winning streak that now stretches to seven straight sessions — and even otherwise sober investors are beginning to wonder.

Believe it or not, though, a large number of stocks, perhaps even a majority of them, are already above where they stood at the stock market’s all-time high in October 2007.

Few are even aware of this, however, since the widely-followed market indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 12,233, +71.52, +0.59%) and the S&P 500 index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,325, +5.52, +0.42%) , remain around 15% below their all-time highs.

But it turns out that those market benchmarks are dominated by the very largest of companies. And the market’s performance in recent years has been quite segmented, with the largest-cap stocks being one of the worst-performing of all the major sectors.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/will-market-soon-surpass-its-all-time-high-2011-02-09

What/who is going to stop it from going higher? The speculators are gambling with everything they have. They know they will never be prosecuted for anything they do. At some point, the speculators will decide to take their big profits, and then let them market free-fall.
Just my opinion.

Nothing like a fresh infusion of funny money to float away the market.

Good morning, everyone. Just call me Nanook of the North. It's 1F windchill, another three layers of pants day. And oh, goody! It will be in negative digits when I try to throw twice as many papers tomorrow. Don't expect to see me.

I'm wearing a scarf around my neck to keep warmer
:)

:hi:

A frosty sixty at 8:00 am today.
:spank:

So it's 44 now at almsot 8:00 a.m. with a predicted high of 64. Plenty of sunshine, though, to make it feel warmer.

My condolences, Nanometer. Been there, done that, don't wanta do it no more.


TG, TT

Preferably peyote.

souvenirs that I picked up on one of my visits to Mom in AZ....A snow globe that when you shook it up a carrot nose, 2 coal eyes, hat, pipe and scarf swirled around. Yeah, that is an Arizona snowman alright. I actually have pictures of snow on cactus by the way.

My other souvenir was a marble paperweight that I got in Las Vegas that said...."If God had intended Texans to ski, he would have made bullshit white."

(reverse racist joke)

ACTUALLY A SUMMARY OF THE CRIMINAL OR EXPLOITATIVE ACTIVITIES AT A NUMBER OF THE ZOMBIE BANKS...

http://www.alternet.org/story/149827/jp_morgan_making_a_fortune_off_of_american_poverty?page=entire

'In these hard times, some 43 million American families rely on food stamps. To the surprise of many, JPMorgan Chase is the largest processor of food stamp benefits in the United States. The bank is contracted to provide food stamp debit cards in 26 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The firm is paid per customer. This means that when the number of food stamp recipients goes up, so do JPMorgan profits. '

http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/straight-talk-catherine-austin-fitts-we-are-victims-financial-coup-detat/51951

"the federal government lacks sovereignty. It lacks financial sovereignty - it is financially dependent on the banks that control its depository and slush funds, create the currency through the Federal Reserve and manage the accumulated capital of the same syndicates outside the government. It lacks information sovereignty as its data, information, and payments systems are controlled and operated by private corporations, primarily defense contractors. If we could dig out the true ownership of both banks and defense contractors, my guess is that it would look identical. Finally, the members of the Administration have no way of guaranteeing their safety and the safety of their families if they defy orders of those who have the weaponry and power to enforce their will by any means necessary.

This means that essentially there is no government as many of us think of it. It also means that the governmental mechanism is quite fractured, with many competing interests that lack an organizing mission. They simply share an organizing imperative to control and concentrate credit and cash flow and to enforce the liquidity of currency and credit that makes the system go.

Since WWII, the American economy has been “fiscalized.” By that I mean that most households, state and municipal governments, and local economies have become highly dependent on federal government credit, contracts, subsidies, and other forms of income and are heavily regulated by federal agencies. This widespread dependency on the federal financial mechanism is the basis for extraordinary central control.

In the summer of 2000, I asked a group of 100 people at a conference of spiritually committed people which of them would push a red button if it would immediately stop all narcotics trafficking in their neighborhood, city, state, and country. Out of 100 people, 99 said they would not push such a red button. When surveyed, they said they did not want their mutual funds to go down if the U.S. financial system suddenly stopped attracting an estimated $500 billion - $1 trillion a year in global money laundering. They did not want their government checks jeopardized or their taxes raised because of resulting problems financing the federal government deficit." MORE



Between 1998 and 2002, over $4 trillion went missing from the federal government. During the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations, the US Treasury has consistently refused to produce audited financial statements, as required by law since 1995, or account for missing funds. This is two decades of financial operations run completely outside of the US Constitution and the law.

I really liked the anecdote about the group, people who I think would be identified by most as those in the middle or upper areas of wealth, the shakers and movers, that would not push a button that would end narcotics trafficking because it would take away money from our economy that might cause their mutual funds to drop in value.

I think that explains a lot of the problem. Tens of thousands of people in positions to do something realize that the financial sector committed a heist, and did it with the help of more than one administration. They know full well that it continues, and that we may not be that far from yet another crash, that until we reign them in that we are going to continue our faux-forward progress and eventual decline.

But they don't want to push the button because they are afraid they might lose what "little" they have. Not because they KNOW they will, but because they are afraid they MIGHT.

In grad school lo those many years ago there was joke that grad student jobs were so ferociously fought over because the prize was so small. I wonder if all these highly-educated people, who now run the world, stopped learning at that point, 'cause I don't see a change in their behavior.

http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/joe-saluzzi-high-frequency-trading-equity-market-controlled-machines/52342

"Things have changed," he cautions. With 50-70% of all trades being conducted by algorithms at micro-second time intervals, real human traders are increasingly challenged to understand how our markets actually work. "No longer do the technical patterns - that have lasted for years and years, and are written about all over - work anymore."

In the following interview, Joe and Chris plunge into "dark pools" and other poorly-understood elements of our now-machine-dominated financial exchanges. The current system is fraught with risks of further "flash crash"-like disruptions, and at a fundamental level, feels a lot like sanctioned theft by the deep-pocketed institutions who can outspend on technology and speed. This is an important interview for anyone involved in trading (professionally or personally), as well as investors who want to know how today's markets truly operate.

SEE PODCAST AT LINK

maybe it's cause I don't have a cell phone and don't text.

on what happens when you give silly technology to sillier users.

you're busy typing and sending and not paying attention to what the autocorrect id doing.
it's quite funny.

more funny ones here:
http://fyouautocorrect.com/

http://www.alternet.org/story/149749/why_full_employment_required_to_sustain_a_that_we%27re_proud_to_live_in

...Robert Pollin makes a compelling case for the centrality of full employment to the creation of a decent society, to the ability of individuals and families to live with dignity rather than despair, and to the overall health of an economy in which consumer spending is key to sustained growth. His capsule history of economic thinking on the causes of unemployment and the tradeoff between employment and inflation -- from Marx to Milton Friedman to Gösta Rehn -- is informative, and his main policy recommendations are difficult to argue with: increase employment in the United States by shifting $330 billion in annual spending from the military and fossil-fuel sectors to public and private investments in education and clean energy for a net gain of 4.8 million jobs.

I do have one quarrel with the analysis. Pollin observes the low unemployment achieved by the U.S. economy in the late 1990s despite globalization and accepts this as evidence that the United States doesn’t have to address its trade deficit to achieve full employment. But this was possible only in a bubble scenario. With a high trade deficit, either the public or private sector (the latter, in the 1990s example) must incur debt in order to maintain high employment. Reducing the trade deficit is essential to sustaining full employment without a repeat of bubble boom and bust.

Pollin’s central argument, however, is sound, though it might benefit from further elaboration. I take as my starting point his definition of full employment -- with which I am in full agreement -- as not simply workers scratching out a living somehow but as an abundance of jobs with decent wages and working conditions. This definition of full employment raises two issues that need to be confronted: first, the implications of employers’ increased power over workers vis-à-vis wage setting, and second, the implicit willingness of policymakers to count as employment care-work jobs that pay poverty wages. Without this fiction, achieving full employment is a far more difficult proposition. If full employment means jobs for all at decent wages, then we need to be concerned about both re-employing the millions of men who lost jobs in manufacturing and construction and about wages and job quality in the rapidly expanding care-work sectors in which millions of women labor...

Got into a conversation with the receptionist. Working person, they have raised three kids.

She made the statement that there is too much entitlement, that we need to just do away with Social Security. I couldn't leave it alone, of course, and pointed out that a full third of the population retires with NOTHING but SSI to live on, that we would be just throwing people away. That didn't make any impact on her thinking, but it led to her ideas on unemployment, which is solely due to people not wanting to work. I pointed out that we have only one job for every 6 or so workers, and many aren't qualified for those, (even our local Worksource said they only have 600 jobs on the books with 3500 active seekers, not all of whom are qualified). Nope, she knows some people with a potato and onion farm in central Washington and all their workers are "Mexicans", and it's because other people think it is beneath them. I mentioned that most couldn't afford to drive there for what is paid, and if they raised the pay we couldn't afford to eat, that creating an economy based on the taxes of potato pickers was highly improbable. Nope, unemployment is all because of lazy people.

Her husband is a longtime NCO in the military.

She talked about how stupid the health care bill was, that when they were overseas EVERONE got medical care provided by the government, and they had jobs, no massive unemployment, that we should just do that. (I couldn't make any headway telling her that they in fact are having problems with unemployment, that whole economies are tanking). But then (woo-hoo)she said we ought to have government-provided health care for everyone.

It was like talking to someone whose teabag was only half-full.

It got me to thinking - beyond the subject of being closed-minded, people who think like her (which I suspect numbers into the tens of millions), simply don't have a clue as to the size of the problem or how big the solution really needs to be. No business group or entity has the size or assets to address the problem, and it is silly to ask them to do so. Not only is philanthropy not the aim of business, (which is what it would be unless there is demand for their products and disposable income to buy them), but the sheer size of what is needed, perhaps $10 or $20 trillion, is about the same scope that big business needed to get their start in this country, whether it was buying up right-of-way for the railroads, government purchase of weapons and tanks from GM and othe car companies, chemicals and petroleum from those who now provide them.

But unless people like this, who likely represent the vast majority of people, open their minds to the sheer size of the problem and realize that the majority of their neighbors ARE hard working, that it is a Reganesque myth that the problems are caused by just a few who are trying to game the system, we are going to continue over the cliff.

I thought briefly that this family should lose both their jobs, live 99 weeks on unemployment. A year after that we should have the same conversation. But I don't know that her opinions would change. There are too many wingnuts who really believe that if they keep obstructing and ignoring or talking around the problem that the worst thing that could happen is that the country would fail. That pleases them, because they think that Glenn Beck will arise to lead them out of the wilderness.

I think she would disagree that she is one of them, even if she partially parrots their ideas. (So do quite a few Democrats, btw). But she is comfortable saying those things in public because there is a lot of support for them, which means we are in real trouble. Because she gives them aid and comfort, will likely vote that way, and would serve as an obstacle to any real effort to fix our problems.

It's time to work harder on figuring out how to create a small community of people who want to survive. 'Cause I think that is going to be important in my lifetime.

The documents, dated between 2007 and 2009, point to a phenomenon known to many as "peak oil," or the point of production where you cannot continue producing more, leading to a decline in availability and a spike in prices.

But far from being a mad prophet of doom, the US cables' source is not someone whose credibility is easily questioned.

His name is Dr. Sadad al-Husseini, the former head geologist in charge of exploration for the Saudi oil firm Aramco. He retired in 2004, but stayed in touch with US officials.

According to al-Husseini, Saudi Arabian reserves may be smaller than thought, even though the Saudis are on a growth cycle aimed at pumping out over 12 million barrels a day over the next several years. But, al-Husseini warned, global output would likely peak before then, and potentially starting in 2012.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/peak-oil-wikileaks-cables-show-concerns-saudis-running/

In a handful of cases around the country, Citigroup has reached settlements with homeowners who accused the bank of filing fraudulent mortgage documents <1> to prove its legal standing to collect the debt in bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg reported today.

The cases put a twist on recent efforts by banks to patch over problems created because lenders and securitizers were sloppy with documentation during the housing bubble. These homeowners alleged that Citigroup’s mortgage assignments—a key document produced whenever the ownership of a mortgage changed hands—were flawed because they were dated after the bankruptcy was filed.

Mortgage assignments, as we’ve noted <2>, are sometimes processed in-house by mortgage servicers, but they may also be contracted out to companies, in this case a Texas company called Orion Financial Group. (Orion has not been accused of wrongdoing but told Bloomberg it does not “create fraudulent documents.”)

In the settlement agreements with homeowners, Citigroup did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to cover their legal costs and slash their interest rates. In a few cases, the bank also reduced the amount outstanding on mortgages.

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/disputes-over-citigroups-faulty-mortgage-documents-yield-settlements-princi

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Sometime, somehow, the foreclosure crisis will ease. But probably not anytime soon.

Home prices dropped 2.6% nationwide during the last three months of 2010, pushing more borrowers underwater, according to a quarterly real estate market survey from Zillow.com.

Now 27% of homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth. That's up from 23.2% a quarter earlier.

That will surely lead to higher foreclosure rates soon. That's because being underwater is second only to unaffordable payments in leading to foreclosure, according to Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/09/real_estate/underwater_mortgages_rising/index.htm

Is this a great country, or what?

To make it worse State Farm don't even want to extort me anymore. They canceled another 60,000 policies in Fl.

The inspector for the state-run insurer of last resort just left. This bill should be interesting.

global warning? :evilgrin:

Nothing but love for you Fudd. Living in a coastal area, I know what a game of Russian Roulette that can be.

American International Group Inc. will hold its first earnings call with analysts since May 2009, as Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche seeks to raise money from private investors to repay a government bailout.

The insurer will hold a call on Feb. 25, after reporting fourth-quarter results a day earlier, New York-based AIG said in a statement today. Benmosche, 66, has released recorded messages and letters discussing earnings since he became CEO in 2009, avoiding direct questions from analysts and investors.

“Before, he was hamstrung,” said Ernest Patrikis, AIG’s ex-general counsel, who left the insurer in 2006 and is now a partner at White & Case LLP. “You don’t want to do a conference call with analysts and say ‘I can’t speak to that, I can’t address that question.’ It’s worse than no call.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-09/aig-to-hold-first-call-since-2009-as-ceo-no-longer-hamstrung-by-bailout.html

The company buying Wilmington Trust is informing hundreds of the Delaware bank’s employees that they will lose their jobs after the two companies combine later this year, a spokesman confirmed this morning.

Last year, Wilmington Trust, a legendary Delaware-based business, burdened with troubled loans to real estate developers, sold itself to Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T Bank.

M&T Bank President Mark Czarnecki said the bank would lay off 721 employees after the merger and rebranding is complete. All but three of those would be in Delaware, largely at the two offices in downtown Wilmington, he said in a phone interview this afternoon.

"This is primarily a Delaware event," Czarnecki said.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110209/BUSINESS/110209029/Wilmington+Trust+to+lay+off+hundreds

Drastic cutbacks for Reno police, fire and parks departments can be expected in a plan released Tuesday to cut $6.3 million and eliminate 146.75 jobs from the current budget.

The layoffs of 100.5 full-time equivalent employees is included in the plan to be considered Thursday night by the Reno City Council. Freezing vacant positions and soon-to-be vacant positions by retiring employees account for the rest.
Since the recession began three years ago, the city workforce has been cut by 24 percent, from 1,644 to 1,250 employees.

“We have had more revenue losses this year,” said Kevin Knutson, city budget director and author of the report. “We need to take action now because we have to end the year with a balanced budget. And because there’s only a third of the year left, we only get a third of the savings per employee. So more employees will be let go.”

http://www.rgj.com/article/20110208/NEWS/110208036/1321

SEATTLE (AP) — Media software and services company RealNetworks Inc. said Tuesday that it will cut 130 jobs — or 10 percent of its work force — though it will continue to hire in select, more lucrative areas.

The company will eliminate jobs across its engineering, sales, marketing and administrative departments, affecting workers in most of the company's 16 offices, which are spread across the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The company expects to log a charge of about $3 million in the first quarter as a result of these layoffs, but eventually save $11 million a year.

"Our plan to simplify, restructure and grow is on track," said Bob Kimball, the company's chief executive, in a statement. "While the process of restructuring is always difficult, we made substantial progress in 2010 in simplifying our organization and restructuring to reduce costs."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-08/realnetworks-to-cut-10-percent-of-work-force.html

JCPenney stores in Cedar Hill and Rockwall are cutting a total of 156 jobs.

In a statement, Penney's said, "We continually review staffing at all of our stores and facilities to ensure that they are staffed to operate efficiently, and we are in the process of adjusting the staffing standards for these stores to align with anticipated need."

The company did not release total staffing at the stores.

The Cedar Hill store will let go of 81 people. The Rockwall store is cutting 75. The cuts are expected to be completed next month. They met the standard for reporting to the Texas Workforce Commission.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2011/02/07/two-jcp-stores-cut-total-of-156-jobs.html?ana=yfcpc

The merger of two leading rivals in rehabilitation care and skilled nursing is expected to result in the loss of 200 coveted local jobs.

Clayton-based RehabCare Group Inc., which owns and operates long-term acute-care hospitals and manages therapy programs, announced Tuesday that it had agreed to be acquired by Kindred Healthcare Inc. of Louisville, Ky., for about $900 million in stock and cash.

As a result, the St. Louis area will lose another corporate headquarters.

John Short, chief executive of RehabCare, said the company planned to downsize its Clayton office "by about 200 jobs" in the next 18 to 24 months — offering jobs in Louisville to some employees and severance packages to those laid off.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/article_26bc3419-6758-5d59-9d3e-fee276ba90f3.html

At your next job interview, be sure to hold the door for the eight other people behind you applying for the same job.

Adding underemployed people—full-time job seekers working temporary jobs to pay the bills—to the number of unemployed brings the ratio of people per job opening to 8.5, according to numbers crunched by BNY ConvergEx Group. That’s up from 8.3 per opening in November and the third straight monthly increase, said BNY’s strategists, who analyzed the thorough Job Openings and Labor Turnover treatise released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday.

“In our thinking, however, it is more useful to use the ‘underemployed’ stat as the numbers of workers employed part-time for economic reasons and marginally attached/discouraged workers have shown no signs of improvement,” wrote Beth Reed, part of Nicholas Colas’ strategy team at BNY ConvergEx. “Until we see consistent improvement in hirings and available positions, we can’t say the jobs picture is getting brighter.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41491100

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Postal Service warned Wednesday that it may default on some of its financial obligations later this year after reporting yet another quarterly loss.

The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said it suffered a loss of $329 million in the first quarter of the federal fiscal year 2011. That compares with a loss of $297 million a year ago.

The agency has been suffering from an ongoing decline in mail volume, which has undercut revenues, while retiree health care costs have been straining its reserves.

Excluding costs related to retiree benefits and adjustments to workers' compensation liability, the Postal Service said it had net income was $226 million in the first quarter, which ended December 31.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/09/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm