STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, May 23, 2011

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday May 23, 2011

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Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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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 = 12

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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

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell to below $98 a barrel Monday in Asia as a stronger U.S. dollar made commodities more expensive for investors with other currencies.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was down $2.35 to $97.75 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.17 to settle at $100.10 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for July delivery was down $2.39 to $110.00 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The euro dropped against the greenback to $1.4020 from $1.4201 in late trading in New York on Friday.

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

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/businesspro-us-markets-oil-idUKL3E7G601S20110523

(Reuters) - Crude oil futures slipped more than $3 on Monday due to the peripheral euro zone's debt crisis, which pushed the dollar to a two-month high versus the euro and knocked broader equity markets lower.

North Sea Brent crude futures led the oil complex lower, trading down $3.36 at $109.03 a barrel by 1250 GMT, having dropped by $3.81 earlier.

U.S. crude was trading $2.95 lower at $97.15.

"The ratings cut for Italy and concern over Greek restructuring and the subsequent euro weakness appear to have prompted the price fall in crude this morning," said Mark Thomas, head of energy Europe with brokerage Marex Financial.

Just in time for Memorial Day, just like the oil barons "predicted"...

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets

A sea of red.

:donut:

U.S. stock futures fell, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend three weeks of losses, as a downgrade of Italy’s credit outlook and election defeat for Spain’s Socialist Party deepened concern about Europe’s debt crisis.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL), the world’s largest airline, slid 3.2 percent in European trading as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland threatened trans-Atlantic traffic. Alcoa Inc. (AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, dropped 2 percent in New York as base metals retreated.

S&P 500 futures expiring in June sank 0.9 percent to 1,315.7 at 6:36 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tumbled 114 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,352.

“The news on Italy is weighing on the market,” said Walter Harecker, a Vienna-based fund manager at Semper Constantia Privatbank AG, which oversees about $11 billion. Debt defaults in Spain and Italy “would be too much. That’s the fear.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23/u-s-stock-index-futures-sink-united-continental-alcoa-decline-in-europe.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/us-markets-global-idUSTRE71H0EB20110523

(Reuters) - Doubts about Europe's ability to manage its debt hammered markets on Monday, knocking the single currency, driving up bond yields and dragging down equities in Europe and elsewhere.

Wall Street looked set to join in the flight from risk. U.S. stock index futures pointed to losses at the open.

Investors were digesting a block of bad news about the euro zone crisis, a political and fiscal struggle to bring the huge debt in peripheral economies to heel.

Following a three-notch cut of Greek debt by Fitch Ratings on Friday, which pushed the country deeper into junk status, rival Standard & Poor's cut its outlook for Italy to "negative" from "stable" on Saturday.

http://www.firstpost.com/economy/dollar-is-in-the-drivers-seat-crude-and-silver-on-the-skids-13331.html

The price direction of major commodities in the week starting 23 May depends on the performance of the US dollar. Reason: it was the recent rally in the dollar that stopped and reversed the uptrend in major commodities.

Since a major chunk of the commodity trade is invoiced in dollars the movement of the greenback has a strong influence on the price of commodities. So what’s in store for the dollar and the commodities it influences?

US dollar: The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, had a minor correction to its rally last week, providing relief to gold, silver, oil and copper. The recent dollar uptrend is far from over, which should put commodity bulls on notice. The dollar index, which bottomed recently at 72.65, closed at 75.43 last Friday (20 May).

There are two ways of looking at the market — through fundamental analysis and technical analysis. Fundamentals turned to favour the US dollar as debt restructuring issues in Europe came back to the fore. Investors rush to the safety of the dollar when risk in the market increases. Additionally, economic news on housing and unemployment in the US has not been good, which results in investors doving out of equities to cash, increasing the value of the dollar.

The FRN is losing the race to the bottom this morning.

I've been having nightmares about my birthday which was last month's non-event.. there was another big storm last night. With very little restful sleep, I could be a bear myself....

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/ME24Dg01.html

BEIJING - After decades of isolation, North Korea, one of the world's last surviving Stalin-style socialist command economies, is launching a 10-year economic development plan, with an ambition to boost the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to $360-400 billion.

Pyongyang has put attracting foreign investment at the heart of the State Strategy Plan for Economic Development, setting up a National Development Bank and assigning an insurance company to protect foreign investors.

Reaction has been mixed among Chinese businesspeople who do work with North Korea. While some believe the new plan will open


more business opportunities, others say it is still not a good time to start investing across the border.

The 10-year plan, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, will focus on building up infrastructure as well as developing agriculture and other basic industries such as electricity, coal, oil and metals.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/ME24Dk01.html

MONTREAL - All of Asia's traditionally calmer exchanges once again traded last week with the same kind of volatility more usual in the Hong Kong, Mumbai and Shanghai equity markets. This presents a recipe for further overall volatility that threatens a continuation of negative moves, even if zigzagged.

The MSCI Asia Japan Index closed the week at 134.61, down 1.2% from the previous week's close and violating its medium-term uptrend support, which passed through 136.34 to the end of the week. While it is close to being oversold, other short-term technical indicators reversed from favorable to unfavorable in the course of the week, growing steadily more negative from day to day.

Asian equity markets displayed a moderately negative (-0.33) correlation between volatility and percentage change, but this


became sharper when aggregated by geographic region and still more so (-0.87) when aggregated by functional specialization.

The electronics-heavy sector as represented by South Korea and Taiwan fared the worst. The TSEC/Taiex, the most volatile this week of all ten indexes reviewed here, lost 1.9% on the week to close at 8,837. Important leading technical indicators reversed to the downside on Tuesday as volatility dipped and then rose, and momentum remained moderately negative. The index is neither overbought nor oversold. Continuing weakness is likely to find sold support only in the low 8,300s although there are several potential stopping-points on the way down.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_MANUFACTURING_RISKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-23-06-57-45

BEIJING (AP) -- An explosion at one of two factories that make Apple's new iPad 2 highlights the risks of a global manufacturing strategy that has cut costs but concentrates production in a few locations.

Foxconn Technology Group, the contractor that manufactures Apple's iPhones and iPads, said Friday's blast in the western city of Chengdu killed three employees and injured 15. The Taiwanese company said production was suspended but did not respond to questions Monday about how supplies of iPads might be affected.

Foxconn said the blast was caused by combustible dust in a workshop that polished products. It said operations in workshops that do similar work at its other factories in China would be suspended pending an investigation.

Estimates by industry analysts of the impact on iPad production ranged from minimal to up to 2.8 million units in lost output. That is equal to just over half the number sold in the first three months of this year but Apple says sales are so strong it already is struggling to keep up with demand.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_SONY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-23-07-07-38

TOKYO (AP) -- Sony Corp. is expecting an annual loss of $3.2 billion, reversing its earlier projection of a return to profit, as the electronics giant struggles with production disruptions from Japan's tsunami and a hacker attack on its online gaming service.

The Japanese maker of PlayStation 3 video game machines and Bravia flat-panel TVs said Monday that the projection of a net loss of 260 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 2011 was largely due to writing off 360 billion yen ($4.4 billion) related to a tax credit booked in the fourth quarter.

Sony's official earnings report is expected Thursday. The company had earlier projected a 70 billion yen ($860 million) profit.

Like many other Japanese manufacturers, Sony has been hampered by the production disruptions set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 25,000 people, destroyed many factories and sent the nation's economic recovery into reverse.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/us-markets-japan-stocks-idUSTRE74M0SY20110523

(Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell to a five-week low on Monday after hedge funds unwound positions in construction machinery makers, spurred by Nomura Securities' downgrades on sagging China demand, with investors eyeing more losses for the benchmark after it breached a key support level.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110521a1.html

With the nuclear crisis pressing hard on management, Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday reported a record group net loss of ¥1.24 trillion for fiscal 2010.

Tepco didn't include what are expected to be massive compensation payments to people and companies harmed by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

President Masataka Shimizu announced he will resign after the blue chip utility's June 28 shareholders' meeting to take responsibility for the disaster triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Toshio Nishizawa, 60, a veteran from Tepco's planning division, will assume the presidency.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-23/asian-stocks-drop-to-two-month-low-as-europe-debt-crisis-deepens.html

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks dropped, with the regional benchmark index set for its biggest decline since March 15, as Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit rating and Standard & Poor’s said Italy’s rating was at risk, deepening concern over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

Esprit Holdings Ltd., the Hong Kong-based clothier that counts Europe as its biggest market, dropped 4 percent. Canon Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of cameras, lost 1 percent in Tokyo. Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the nuclear reactor crippled by the March earthquake, slumped 9 percent after posting a record loss. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company and Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, declined 1.7 percent in Sydney.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.2 percent to 131.67 as of 7:19 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for its lowest close since March 21. Almost nine stocks fell for each that rose. The gauge declined 1.1 percent last week, its third straight week of declines and the longest streak of weekly losses since November, as Greece’s debt crisis grew, Japan’s economy contracted and disappointing U.S. economic data fueled concern about a global recovery.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-05/23/c_13889421.htm

CHONGQING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Yangtze River, China's longest, has been plagued by a severe drought, with the lowest level of rainfall this year since 1961, an official with the river's flood control and drought relief headquarters said Monday.

The spring drought has affected Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with forty to sixty percent less rainfall on average, said Wang Guosheng, chief director with the headquarters.

Some regions have been overwhelmed by the lingering drought, which has seriously affected irrigation and water supply, Wang said.

In spite of the increased rainfall that commenced in May, downstream provinces such as Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu have received twenty to forty percent less of it.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-05/23/c_13889839.htm

SEOUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea plans to put the country' s troubled savings banks on public sale, the state deposit insurer said Monday.

The public sale notice will be announced through a sale advisory firm on Tuesday, with bidding open to all industrial players with stable financial conditions and abilities to absorb soured assets, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) said in statement.

South Korea's financial watchdog suspended a total of eight savings banks in January and February due to their liquidity shortages.

Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank, which was suspended in January, resumed its operations after being acquired by the nation's No. 2 banking group Woori Finance holdings, but the remaining banks, including former top player Busan Savings Bank, have been controlled by the KDIC.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-05/20/c_13885809.htm

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Pakistan and China should put more emphasis on economic cooperation while maintaining the all-dimensional relationship, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here Friday.

During an exclusive interview with Xinhuanet, Gilani expressed that in light of the all-dimensional relationship, economic cooperation should be further enhanced. He proposed to target for a bilateral trade volume of 15 billion U.S. dollars within two years.

“Our trade at the moment is nine billion U.S. dollars, we want to enhance it to 15 billion U.S. dollars with the expansion of two years, and this is doable. We are moving in the right direction," said Gilani, who is on a four-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. This is also his fourth visit.

This year 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations and was declared China-Pakistan Friendship Year by Wen and Gilani during Wen's visit to Pakistan in December 2010.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-05/23/c_13889885.htm

TOKYO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks plunged on Monday, with the key Nikkei stock index slumping 1.52 percent and hitting a five-week closing low after Nomura Holdings Inc. said demand for construction machinery from China may cool and Greece's credit rating downgrade added to a sour market mood.

Morning trade dropped from the get-go, with brokers saying that a report from Nomura Holdings Inc. saying that demand from China and other emerging economies for Japanese construction machinery may be going through a period of lull triggered a selloff in the sector and companies like Komatsu were notable decliners on Monday.

Nomura forecast that demand from China may fall by 20 percent for the year ending March 2012, due to issues of inflation, interest rates and price gain increases exceeding state targets.

"It's logical for governments to tighten money supply during inflation, but it's hard to strike the right balance and the market is worried about a possible overkill," said Mitsuhige Akino, chief fund manager of Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/worldwide-worries-weigh-down-jci/442743

Investors fled emerging market assets amid the worsening debt crisis in Europe and a potential slowdown in the US economy, sending the Jakarta Composite Index lower on Monday.

The JCI fell 94.50 points, or 2.44 percent, to close at 3,778.45, the index’s biggest drop since Jan. 10. The benchmark index had a record close on Friday, on investor appetite for emerging-market assets.

Standard & Poor’s cut its ratings outlook for Italy’s debt from stable to negative on Saturday, citing its poor growth prospects and concerns about its ability to reduce public borrowing, while Fitch Ratings slashed Greece’s rating three levels to B+. Those cuts, rising inflation rates and more expensive commodities all weighed on investor sentiment.

There was still positive news in Indonesia, though, such as easing inflation. Statements from Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo that the state would not reduce fuel subsidies should also calm fears about rising prices.

:rofl:

:spray:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/us-lone-star-advantage-partners-idUSTRE74M16X20110523

(Reuters) - U.S. investment fund Lone Star will become the top shareholder in Tokyo Star Bank when Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners relinquishes ownership due to trouble repaying debt, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The transaction will bring Tokyo Star back under the umbrella of Lone Star, which had taken the mid-sized lender public in 2005 and sold its remaining stake to Advantage Partners in 2008 near the height of a leveraged buyout boom.

Tokyo Star, which provides loans to individuals and small businesses in Tokyo, has struggled to carve out a profitable niche for itself in Japan's overcrowded banking sector. It posted a net loss of 2.8 billion yen ($34.3 million) in the past business year.

Advantage Partners has agreed to hand over all its shares in Tokyo Star, which it owns through a special purpose company, to lenders in return for not having to repay loans extended for its 280 billion yen purchase of the bank, the people said.

http://www.economist.com/node/18713578

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, India’s first prime minister, decried those “who sit in stock exchanges, shout at one another and think themselves civilised.” Today the barbarians aren’t confined to the bourses. In Mumbai one specimen can be found in a café near the Gateway of India, a landmark, wearing flip-flops and in the manner of a bored zillionaire yapping with his broker on his mobile phone while tapping a laptop alive with share prices. He is not alone. IIFL, a big Indian brokerage firm, has more than 1m customers and operates in over 500 cities and towns. Some $30 billion of equities are now traded in India in a typical day, either through cash deals in shares or by using derivatives. The majority of this activity is by foreigners, rich individuals and retail investors.

That all suggests a bonanza for stock exchanges. Yet a stroll a few blocks away to the country’s once-dominant Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), established in 1875, shows the truth is stranger. The BSE’s 1970s tower looks tired inside—on the walls of the warren-like corridors there are no-spitting signs—but not as exhausted as the bourse’s market share, which has slipped to about 25% in cash trading and below 5% if derivatives are included too. Its lunch has been stolen by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), established in the 1990s, brilliantly run and unencumbered by the BSE’s clubby traditions. From a glass and steel campus in the north of Mumbai, its boss, Ravi Narain, insists that the two firms’ rivalry is of the Coke and Pepsi kind. But in truth many financial types doubt the older exchange will survive.

The NSE’s rise is mainly explained by its early mastery of derivatives contracts on individual stocks and equity indices. Barely existing a decade ago, derivatives now account for 85% of equity trading in India. There are some technical explanations for this convulsion, but most brokers reckon lower trading costs and the animal spirits of Indian citizens have much to do with it. In contrast to many countries there are few safeguards to keep out retail investors. Unleashed, Gujarat’s grannies are as mad for call options as Wall Street’s finest.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/currentaffairs/indiastilltopinglobalconsumerpollnielsen_545506.html

Consumer confidence surged in the Middle East and North Africa in the first quarter in the wake of social uprisings, but deteriorated in the euro zone periphery as Portugal's financial woes came to a head, a survey showed on Sunday. India retained the top spot.

Portugal, which was finally forced to follow Greece and Ireland and seek an international bailout last month, ranked bottom in a quarterly global survey of consumer confidence by New York-based The Nielsen Company, a market information and analytics company.

Consumer morale globally improved slightly from the fourth quarter of 2010, helped by sharply rising confidence in fast-growing Asian economies and in Europe's biggest economy Germany. US consumer sentiment also increased slightly.

Asia dominated the top 10 most optimistic markets while nine of the 10 most pessimistic markets were in Europe.

http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/business-blogs/frenching-the-indian-auto-market-13833.html

As you twiddle your thumbs in a traffic jam on your way to work tomorrow do have a look around; the one thing you will not notice are French cars, unless you’re sitting in a Meeru/Cool Cab— which invariably are Logans— but that was never a French car in my books, only a really cheap car designed to sport a really cheap Romanian badge that was never really cheap in India.

Not that the French didn’t bother.

Back when the Indian car market was just opening up Peugeot were the first off the blocks and thanks to their experience in Africa they had, in the 309, a great hand-me-down. In the TUD5 diesel they had an engine that was the best of its time. And in their Indian partner, PAL, they had … a big problem. A litany of very big problems actually, not the least being labor unions determined to prove that India was no place to do business, and predictably it all ended in tears.

Then came Renault, a fairytale marriage with Mahindra, a car that was hailed the world over and … the clash of cultures didn’t take long to surface. I’m not for a moment suggesting Renault should foot all the blame for the divorce but they didn’t really do themselves any favours by getting into dalliances left, right and centre. While the Mahindra matrimonial bed was still warm they tied the knot with Bajaj to do a Nano— a car that nobody at Renault thinks will happen and everybody at Bajaj says is on track. Alliance partner Nissan meanwhile got cozy with Ashok Leyland to do what, for a while, looked like another Nano but now’s been restricted to light commercial vehicles. And the foundation was set for the massive Renault-Nissan Alliance factory in Chennai to build Nissans and non-Mahindra Renaults. It simply could not work.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/glencore-works-its-magic-in-india/story-e6frg9df-1226060935935

HOW Glencore makes money in India is a mystery puzzling oil traders in London for the past year.

Rivals report the Swiss commodities trader has consistently undercut them to win supply contracts from Indian refiners.

Glencore, which will enter the FTSE 100 index tomorrow, has been buying oil from Nigeria and other West African producers and shipping it to Indian companies such as Bharat Petroleum, which then turn it into petrol for the Indian market.

Contract after contract has gone to Glencore, but nobody in the oil market can work out how it has made profit on the deals. Glencore is said to have undercut its rivals by so much it has effectively cornered the Indian market - but with enormous losses.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Sensex-dips-below-18k-mark-down-333-points-on-global-cues/articleshow/8533000.cms

MUMBAI: The BSE sensex on Monday sank below the 18k-mark to 17,993, lowest level in 2-months, losing 333 points as funds sold heavyweights on persisting concerns over inflation and high interest rates amid weak global cues on deepening euro-zone debt troubles.

The NSE Nifty lost about 100 points and finished the day below the 5,400 mark.

Brokers said investors sold across-the-board and heavy offloading was also partially prompted by the approaching expiry, on Thursday, of the derivative contracts for May.

Last weekend, ratings agency Fitch downgraded Greek's debt rating, while Standard & Poor's downgraded outlook for Italy's rating, spurring concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Economic-growth-on-track-more-steps-to-check-inflation-PM/articleshow/8513805.cms

NEW DELHI: Bullish on an economic growth rate of 8.5 per cent in the past seven years of its rule, the UPA government on Sunday said high prices still remain a major concern and hinted at more steps to contain inflation, especially for the poor and vulnerable sections.

Presenting its annual report card for the year 2010-11, the government said it would seek to contain food inflation through measures for higher production of various agriculture products, while minimising the impact of high fuel prices on 'poor and vulnerable' of the society.

At the same time, the government presented a bullish stance on the state of economy and pegged the average growth rate between 2004-05 and 2010-11 at 8.5 per cent and said it was determined to take India to the select league of "middle income countries".

In the report card being presented every year ever since UPA government came to power in 2004, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said the government has taken many steps to improve production of agriculture commodities to contain inflation and intends to take more steps in future.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/23/india-trade-talks-africa-china

India's prime minister and dozens of business leaders began trade talks in Ethiopia on Monday as the Asian giant strives to catch up with China in what has been dubbed "the new scramble for Africa".

Manmohan Singh received a red-carpet welcome as he led a delegation to the India-Africa summit in Addis Ababa, aiming to trumpet historical and cultural links with the continent in an effort to emerge from Beijing's shadow.

"The India-Africa partnership rests on three pillars of capacity building and skill transfer, trade and infrastructure development," said Singh at the start of the six-day trip to Ethiopia and Tanzania. "Africa is emerging as a new growth pole of the world, while India is on a path of sustained and rapid economic development." The trade meeting is due to be attended by 15 African leaders. On its fringes was an India show comprising business seminars, cultural projects and a trade exhibition.

Bilateral India-Africa trade has grown from about £620m in 2001 to £28.5bn in 2010. India's commerce and industry minister, Anand Sharma, hopes it will reach £43bn by 2012. Some 250 Indian companies have invested, mainly in telecommunications, chemical and mining companies.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-22/fed-focusing-on-inflation-expectations-with-policy-unchanged.html

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- The cue for the Federal Reserve to start withdrawing its record monetary stimulus may be a measure of its own credibility: inflation expectations.

Expectations for annual consumer-price gains have jumped by 43 percent to 2.10 percentage points since the central bank began its second round of asset purchases in November, as measured by the breakeven rate for five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. The measure is close to levels before the recession -- when the central bank’s benchmark interest rate was 5.25 percent, compared with about zero today.

“It’s highly likely that some movement in inflation expectations will be the first signal that they need to take action,” said J. Alfred Broaddus, 71, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, whose career dates back to the inflation surge of the 1970s. “The Fed is right to be watching this very, very closely.”

Central bankers are starting to debate how and when to tighten policy after buying $2.3 trillion of assets to bring the economy out of the recession. William C. Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, says the Fed still has a “considerable way to go” to reduce unemployment from 9 percent, while other policy makers, including the Philadelphia Fed’s Charles Plosser and Richard Fisher of Dallas, say waiting too long to tighten risks igniting inflation.

http://www.firstpost.com/world/the-future-is-here-and-brics-are-getting-there-faster-14088.html

In its catchy 2003 report which conjectured that the combined GDP of the BRIC economies would exceed that of the United States, Japan, Britain, France and Germany, collectively, by mid-century, Goldman Sachs projected the sizes of the Chinese, Indian, Russian and Brazilian economies to be
$4.8, 1.4, 1.2 and 0.9 billion respectively, in 2015.

In fact, each of the BRICs surpassed its projection in 2010. Clearly, the future is arriving sooner than was thought!

Looking at growth prospects in the decade ahead, the protracted global under-achiever is not likely to be a BRIC economy. In fact, gauging by the influential body of emerging research on growth dynamics in economies labouring under large output gaps, excess leverage-induced dislocations and declining working age population structures (which have tended to peak virtually concurrently with asset price bubbles), the US economy appears to face structural headwinds to growth that would be familiar to old policy-hands in Tokyo.

If the future is arriving sooner than anticipated, the present had arrived much earlier than is conventionally presumed. Catapulted into the limelight as a result of their economic resilience (save Russia) during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and their track record as drivers of global consumption growth in the period since, the BRICS’ coming-of-age is typically dated to their inaugural, stand-alone leaders meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009. Yet the rise of the BRICS phenomenon can in fact be traced to a much earlier date: September 2003.

http://golemxiv-credo.blogspot.com/2011/05/peek-into-one-of-deepest-little.html


...Beyerishe LB lost 3.7 billion euros as a result of acquiring, in 2007, the Austrian bank, Hypo Alpe Adria. Which economy of reporting covers over a manhole which leads down into what is one of the deepest little cesspits in Europe. I say 'one of' because only a congenital regulator would imagine that Beyerishe is the only entrance into the sewer of European banking that ran a river of financial and political corruption, money laundering and dangerously shady arms deals from Croatia and Serbia to Austria, Bavaria, Italy and on to Ireland...Beyerishe LB was either the witless dupe who was left holding a huge shit schnitzel or just the last in a long line of greedy and corrupt bottom feeding institutions who wanted the chance to siphon some of that fetid underground nourishment for themselves. I personally feel the latter is the more likely explanation for the Europe wide enthusiasm for buying Austrian banks. Austria, with its anonymous accounts had made itself into a major portal for dirty money seeking onward transfer into European banks. And European banks were drawn to Austria like flies to a sewer...The fact is Beyerische bought a bank for 1.6 billion euros into which it had to immediately pour another 2.1 billion euros just to keep it afloat. Which although it sounds blunderingly stupid is, by Bavarian banking standards little worse than average. Compare Beyerische to the saga of inept incompetence which surrounded two other Bavarian banks Beyerische Hypotheken-und Wecshel Bank and Beyerische Vereins-bank, whose billions in losses forced the shot-gun wedding whose issue was HVB (see Dominoes Falling from the East) and you wonder how Germany has any banks at all...Today there is still another 3.1 billion euros of bad debts to be paid at Beyerische. The open question vexing both sides of the German/Austrian border is who will pay? Since Beyerishe sold Alpe Adria back to Austria for a whopping 1 euro it might fall upon the Austrian people. But it might still land back on Beyerishe and therefore on the German taxpayers. Both sides would love to find a way of claiming they were just innocent victims of foreign fraud.

How could Beyerishe have been so stupid? Well at the time, buying Austrian banks was the must have item for any megalomaniacal European banker. After all Hypo Vereins (HVB), that other Bavarian bank, had got itself Bank Austria to play with. Bank Austria was the number one Austrian bank. Poor Beyerishe had to settle for Alpo which was only number five. And it wasn't just the Bavarians. UniCredit of Italy got its snout into what was running through Austria simply by buying HVB as a whole and so getting Bank Austria as a subsidiary. A German banker told me the Austrians bitterly resented the Bavarians buying up their banks and that the Bavarians in their turn had a deep loathing for being acquired in turn by the Italians. And lest it seem that the taste for Austrian banks was limited to some axis of corrupt Mitteleuropa imbeciles let's not forget Anglo Irish also had its own Austrian subsidiary. A subsidiary which, thanks to Kathleen Barrington's work, we know had in it 600 million in cash deposits which Anglo sold for just 141 million to Valartis bank which needed a loan of 24 million euros in order to make the purchase. A loan Valartis got from...Anglo. Hmmm?...

And what about the Irish? So far the Irish regulator has been a stand out disgrace. When Senator Norris tried manfully to read the list of Anglo's bond holders which I wrote about, in to the public and parliamentary record he was shut up: "The names are Aberdeen Asset Management (London) Limited, AGICAM, Aktia Asset Management, Aletti Gestielle SGR, AllianceBernstein (UK) Limited, Allianz Global Investors France, AmpegaGerling Investment, Anima SGR..."
was as far as he got before he was interrupted and told what he had to say was not relevant. He continued anyway adding, "One Swiss bondholder owns 40% of the bonds and will get millions of euro from us.." at which point the debate was terminated.

There is a trail of disturbing facts, like crumbs of dry excrement, running from bank to bank, country to country. All it would take is courage and honesty to follow the trail. So many of the details of the dishonesty and bottom feeding are already known but scattered in different countries, that it cries out for a prosecutor with Europe wide powers and authority to be charged with joining the dots. Will it happen? Of course not. We will have do it ourselves - with the courageous help of the few honest men and women such as WhistleblowerIRL who have spoken up and who may just give others the courage to do the same.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-new-bomber-20110522,0,6128044.story

Deep in the Mojave Desert, surrounded by tiers of barbed-wire fence, the nation's largest defense contractors work in secrecy designing and building the latest military aircraft at Air Force Plant 42.

The military's top weapons buyer quietly visited the Palmdale facility this month to talk with leading aerospace executives about plans to build a fleet of radar-evading bombers that the military hopes to have ready for action by the mid-2020s.

he plane would be the first long-range bomber built in the U.S. since the last of the 21 bat-winged B-2 stealth bombers by Northrop Grumman Corp. rolled off the assembly lines at Plant 42 more than a decade ago. The Air Force owns the 5,800-acre industrial park and leases space to aerospace contractors.

Now on the Pentagon wish list is a proposed fleet of 80 to 100 nuclear-capable bombers that could operate with or without a pilot in the cockpit.

What this world really needs is nuclear tipped drones....

Both Muchau and Krugman point out that the ECB is making what amounts to batshit crazy threats. Per Munchau:

The ECB has since stepped up its rhetoric, and is now threatening to deny Greek banks access to the ECB’s refinance operations after any restructuring.

Think about this for a second. Cutting Greece off from ECB liquidity would constitute a dramatic escalation of the eurozone debt crisis. It would force Greece out of the eurozone within days. You could say that the ECB is threatening to create so much mayhem in the financial system that the monetary union would effectively collapse.

Any explanations of ECB Derangement Syndrome very much appreciated.

Perhaps there will be a late-morning rally.

IT'S A TWO-FER! I CAN ONLY PICK ONE, SO READ IT ALL...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/opinion/23krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

...the irresponsibility of certain politicians — like those Republicans claiming that defaulting on U.S. debt would be no big deal — is scary. But at least in America members of the pain caucus, those who claim that raising interest rates and slashing government spending in the face of mass unemployment will somehow make things better instead of worse, get some pushback from the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration.

In Europe, by contrast, the pain caucus has been in control for more than a year, insisting that sound money and balanced budgets are the answer to all problems. Underlying this insistence have been economic fantasies, in particular belief in the confidence fairy — that is, belief that slashing spending will actually create jobs, because fiscal austerity will improve private-sector confidence...Unfortunately, the confidence fairy keeps refusing to make an appearance. And a dispute over how to handle inconvenient reality threatens to make Europe the flashpoint of a new financial crisis.

After the creation of the euro in 1999, European nations that had previously been considered risky, and that therefore faced limits on the amount they could borrow, began experiencing huge inflows of capital. After all, investors apparently thought, Greece/Portugal/Ireland/Spain were members of a European monetary union, so what could go wrong?

The answer to that question is now, of course, painfully apparent. Greece’s government, finding itself able to borrow at rates only slightly higher than those facing Germany, took on far too much debt. The governments of Ireland and Spain didn’t (Portugal is somewhere in between) — but their banks did, and when the bubble burst, taxpayers found themselves on the hook for bank debts. The problem was made worse by the fact that the 1999-2007 boom left prices and costs in the debtor nations far out of line with those of their neighbors...

HERE'S A BANDWAGON WE OUGHT TO BE GETTING ON...

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE74L07820110522

Energy minister Doris Leuthard is set to propose Switzerland gradually exits nuclear power, two Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the government.

The multi-party Swiss government was expected to make an announcement on nuclear policy on Wednesday and may recommend an exit.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/05/battle-over-imf-chief-proxy-war-over-power-of-banks.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

There’s a fight afoot over who will be the next head of the IMF. Yours truly is not making odds on this one, save that Christine Lagarde is getting far and away the most attention in the media and more generally, a big push is on to have a European take the reins. The logic is that with the eurozone mess far and away the biggest priority, the new IMF chief needs to have credibility with the major actors, and that argues for a European choice.

The contrary camp is the “the countries formerly known as emerging” who point out that it is their turn to have an IMF head from one of their countries. The IMF has been led by a European since its inception. Even though votes have been rejiggered to give younger economies more weight, the mature ones still are in control of the outcome.

But what is intriguing are the arguments that follow, which reveal what the real stakes are. Crudely speaking, the advanced economies are far more bank friendly than their “emerging” counterparts. China is actively hostile to neoclassical economics and unfettered capital markets. Efforts to make China safe for investment bankers have been rebuffed. India sailed though the global financial crisis relatively well by having capital controls and heavily regulated banks. Pretty much any country that has taken IMF medicine (such as the countries caught in the Asian crisis, like Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand) also sees the IMF as an enforcer for major capital market firms and international banks. Japan, as a military protectorate of the US, has limited degrees of freedom. Even so, during the Asian crisis, it pushed for a bailout within the region (ie, outside the IMF) and that idea was quickly slapped down by the US.

While the US and Europe have the votes to determine who gets the nod at the IMF, consider the open hostility to Western banks in this Guardian article:

'Heavy weight': Glut of foreclosed homes threatens housing market
'Housing prices are falling, and they are going to fall some more'


By ERIC DASH
updated 2 hours 58 minutes ago



EL MIRAGE, Ariz. — The nation’s biggest banks and mortgage lenders have steadily amassed real estate empires, acquiring a glut of foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump and create a further drag on the economic recovery.

All told, they own more than 872,000 homes as a result of the groundswell in foreclosures, almost twice as many as when the financial crisis began in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data provider. In addition, they are in the process of foreclosing on an additional one million homes and are poised to take possession of several million more in the years ahead.

Five years after the housing market started teetering, economists now worry that the rise in lender-owned homes could create another vicious circle, in which the growing inventory of distressed property further depresses home values and leads to even more distressed sales. With the spring home-selling season under way, real estate prices have been declining across the country in recent months.

(snip) more

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43132149/ns/business-us_business/

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/05/federal-court-in-texas-deals-a-potentially-serious-blow-to-mers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

...The borrower challenged an assignment from Citimortgage to MERS based on a pretty simple basis: MERS was not authorized to do so and on top of that violated its own procedures:

Plaintiff alleges that the assignment by MERS to CitiMortgage is void for the following reasons: (1) Blackstun was not appointed as vice president by MERS’ board of directors; and (2) MERS was without authority to transfer the Note. Plaintiff claims that the Deed of Trust is a cloud on its title and sues to quiet title in the Property and claims the assignment violates Chapiter 12 of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. Alternatively, Plaintiff sues to enforce its equity <*3> in re-demption.

The court found that the mechanism used by MERS, of having MERS’ corporate secretary (Hultman) appointment various MERS signing officers was invalid because the appointment has not been approved by MERS’ board of directors, as required by MERS’ by-laws. That means that when the signing officer executed the assignment, it resulted in MERS filing a fraudulent document in the deed records.

Per April Charney: “The Court found that MERS failed to address the issue of the legal effect of an assignment executed by an unauthorized signer.” The court also rebuked MERS, noting that the signing officer “had no such authority, MERS would know that fact. It appears to be more than mere negligence by MERS.” Given the large number of signing officers that MERS has (over 20,000, with a lot of churn among them) which would seem to make it impractical for the board to have authorized them individually as required, and the fact that in past cases Hultman appears to have provided the MERS authorization for signing officers, MERS appears to have more than a wee problem if other courts follow this Federal court ruling.

I'm hearing more and more anecdotal evidence of people bypassing foreclosed/short sale homes in favor of paying more to purchase from a builder or an existing home that's not in default.

People aren't wanting to deal with the hassles.

Makes me wonder if we're on the brink of a huge new potential for "flippers".

a new business opportunity for people with a little capital, a lot of time, and some handyman experience...if one doesn't mind the wait, while the property continues to deteriorate and the taxes mount up...

I don't feel one ounce of pity on the banks. They started this.

Want to build up the nest egg a bit first, though, but by the time i have that done, the market will probably have recovered. ;-)

here it is

before a foreclosure can move forward.

Adios DocX, hello collective heartburn for the banksters.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175395/tomgram:_rebecca_solnit,_when_institutions_rape_nations/

Worlds Collide in a Luxury Suite
Some Thoughts on the IMF, Global Injustice, and a Stranger on a Train
By Rebecca Solnit

How can I tell a story we already know too well? Her name was Africa. His was France. He colonized her, exploited her, silenced her, and even decades after it was supposed to have ended, still acted with a high hand in resolving her affairs in places like Côte d’Ivoire, a name she had been given because of her export products, not her own identity.

Her name was Asia. His was Europe. Her name was silence. His was power. Her name was poverty. His was wealth. Her name was Her, but what was hers? His name was His, and he presumed everything was his, including her, and he thought he could take her without asking and without consequences. It was a very old story, though its outcome had been changing a little in recent decades. And this time around the consequences are shaking a lot of foundations, all of which clearly needed shaking.

Who would ever write a fable as obvious, as heavy-handed as the story we’ve just been given? The extraordinarily powerful head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a global organization that has created mass poverty and economic injustice, allegedly assaulted a hotel maid, an immigrant from Africa, in a hotel’s luxury suite in New York City.

Worlds have collided. In an earlier era, her word would have been worthless against his and she might not have filed charges, or the police might not have followed through and yanked Dominique Strauss-Kahn off the plane to Paris at the last moment. But she did, and they did, and now he’s in custody, and the economy of Europe has been dealt a blow, and French politics have been upended, and that nation is reeling and soul-searching...MORE AT LINK

Last night, SNL opened with a skit on ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn at Riker's Island.

In it, two Riker's inmates discuss their feelings on the eurozone crisis with DSK. It includes such classics as, "Germans be good at being austere," and, "in Spain they need chorizo and sangria."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/strauss-kahn-dsk-snl-open-2011-5#ixzz1NBFvdhmv

IT'S WONKY AND DISGUSTING...AND SO, ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE, I GUESS...

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2011/05/03/imagine-if-the-unemployed-helped-run-the-fed/

BUT TECHNICALLY, IF THEY WERE ON THE BOARD, WOULD THAT CONSTITUTE EMPLOYMENT?

http://torrentfreak.com/ip-address-not-a-person-bittorrent-case-judge-says-110503/

SO, THEY'RE GOING TO ARREST COMPUTERS, THEN?

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/05/03/228235/Leaked-Doc-May-Have-Forced-US-To-Speed-Up-Bin-Laden-Raid

SO, WIKILEAKS ACTUALLY GOT OSAMA?--WELL, THERE GOES THE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN!

I keep hearing about 2 year, 5 and 7 year investigations. Why find new criminals when you can sit on old ones and get paid for it.

I've got enough to piece together my own tidy little conspiracy theory:

They knew where Osama was, but he was neutralized, so they put him in the file...after all, W's re-election was in the bag--election fraud is always preferable to foreign expeditions...closer to home, easier to oversee, less likely to have blowback...

BUT--Wikileaks posts their little data file, Obama decides to go for it, way in advance of the election, because the stink that would arise if he didn't doesn't bear mentioning..

And they throw the body in the sea because all the SEALS died in the helicopter crash...whether it really was Osama, and whether those ladies are credible witnesses and really Osama wives....well, it's like the Arabian Nights, all over again! Great bedtime story, no?

who crashed the world economy or torturers. They get places advising our man who was going to save us from the dark times.

I wish I could wake up from this nightmare.
:cry:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/shares-tipped-to-open-higher/story-e6frede3-1226047874778

AUSTRALIAN shares ended the day deeply in the red at a two-month low as finance stocks were hammered.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 89.2 points or 1.88 per cent at 4643, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 84.8 points or 1.76 per cent at 4722.9.

Both indices opened around 1 per cent lower on Monday.

It was the biggest one-day percentage fall since March 15, when the bourse lost 2.1 per cent and took the S&P/ASX200 index to a two month low last seen on March 21.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/banks-hit-hardest-in-australian-sharemarket-selling-spree/story-e6frg916-1226061303238

AUSTRALIAN shares closed sharply lower today and bank stocks lost the most ground as an early selling spree continued to the close.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 89.2 points, or 1.88 per cent, at 4643.0, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 84.8 (1.76 per cent) at 4722.90.

Asian stock markets were down today, with Chinese shares dragged lower as manufacturing data signalled a slowdown in the economy.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.5 per cent, South Korea's Kospi Composite was 2.3 per cent lower, China's Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.9 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.7 per cent and India's Sensex was 1.0 per cent lower.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/market-up-in-early-trade/story-e6freqmx-1225844189730

THE Australian share market ended the day deeply in the red at a two-month low as finance stocks lost the most ground amid widespread selling.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 89.2 points, or 1.88 per cent, to 4643, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 84.8 points, or 1.76 per cent, at 4722.9.

Both indices opened around one per cent lower on Monday.

It was the biggest one-day percentage fall since March 15, when the bourse lost 2.1 per cent.

Global financial crisis-On the Edge with Max Keiser-05-20-2011-(Part1)

In this edition of On the Edge, Max Keiser interviews Dr, Paul Craig Roberts from Georgia who is an American economist, columnist for Creators Syndicate, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in Reagan Administration and an editor of the Wall Street Journal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEPob3kQ-6g&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX7M3w02Bfw&feature=player_embedded part 2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/23/world-markets-fall-eurozone-fears

Renewed fears about the eurozone hit world markets on Monday morning, ramping up the cost of insuring Greek and Italian debt and sending share prices tumbling.

Ratings agencies delivered damaging judgments on both Greece and Italy's debt positions late last week and over the weekend, with political uncertainty in Spain adding to worries.

The euro fell one and a half cents against the dollar overnight as investors piled out of the currency. That triggered a fall in the price of oil, which is denominated in dollars and tends to fall when the dollar rises, because demand is hit by the fall in global buyers' purchasing power. Brent oil futures were down by $3 a barrel, or almost 3%, to $109.

Greek prime minister George Papandreou is to discuss emergency measures to cut his country's deficit on Monday with his cabinet. The latest selloff in world markets was prompted by the Fitch downgrade of Greek debt to a negative outlook on Friday. The cost of insuring Greek debt rose again this morning on the back of the sell-off, with five-year credit default swaps (CDS) on Greek debt rising 50 basis points to 1390, according to data provider Markit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/22/morrisons-iceland-sale-landsbanki

The supermarket chain Morrisons is weighing up a possible bid for frozen food chain Iceland which is expected to change hands for up to £2bn this summer.

A fortnight ago Landsbanki, the failed Icelandic bank and the retailer's biggest shareholder, hired investment banks UBS and Bank of America Merill Lynch to find a buyer for its 67% stake. Morrisons is also close to appointing advisers to assess Iceland, setting the scene for a hotly contested auction. Iceland's chief executive and founder Malcolm Walker, who along with management owns 26%, has the right to match any offer for the company.

Buying Iceland, which made profits of £184.2m on sales of £2.2bn last year, would be the most aggressive move yet by Morrisons' chief executive, Dalton Philips, to catch rivals since he took over the smallest of the four main grocers a year ago. He has pulled off a series of small deals, including a £32m investment in the US internet grocer FreshDirect and the £70m acquisition of baby goods retailer kiddicare.com. But with officials winding up Landsbanki hanging a price tag of between £1.8bn and £2bn on Iceland, this would be in a different league. A spokeman for Morrisons declined to comment.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/markets-global-idUKN2315835320110523

NEW YORK/LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - Doubts about Europe's
ability to manage its debt hammered markets on Monday, knocking
the euro to its lowest in two months and dragging down equities
in Europe and the United States.

Investors shed risk after a block of news raised concern
over the euro zone crisis, a political and fiscal struggle to
bring the huge debt in peripheral economies to heel.

Following a three-notch cut of Greek debt by Fitch Ratings
on Friday, which pushed the country's rating deeper into junk
status, rival Standard & Poor's revised its outlook for Italy
to "negative" from "stable" on Saturday. For more see
.

"Removing equity exposure amid sovereign debt concerns is
highlighting a headline-driven morning," said Andre Bakhos,
director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2010/09/29/markets-europe-stocks-close-idUKLDE68S22020100929

(Reuters) - European shares fell to a three-week closing low on Wednesday, with Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) leading retailers lower after it posted a weak quarterly profit margin, and as heavyweight banks also fell.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares provisionally closed 0.5 percent lower at 1,065.20 points in the third straight session of losses.

"Markets are pausing for breath after rallying so strongly over the last few weeks. If U.S. GDP data tomorrow is weak, we could see a situation where that could be interpreted as good news because it increases the likelihood of more quantitative easing," said James Hughes, strategist at CMC Markets.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/markets-europe-stocks-idUKLDE74M0XQ20110523

FRANKFURT, May 23 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Monday on renewed worries about the euro zone's debt crisis, gloomy macroeconomic data and the emergence of a new Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which threatens to disrupt European air traffic.

Fitch cut Greece's debt ratings by three notches to B-plus late on Friday -- further into "junk" territory, and the threat of contagion was reflected by Standard & Poor's move to cut the outlook for Italy to negative on Saturday.

"It seems like we are facing the beginning of the week with quite some clouds in the sky," analysts at Close Brothers Seydler Bank said in a note.

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/loan-approval-rates-nearly-halved-in-three-years-cso-141930-May2011/

THE AMOUNT OF loan applications being approved by Ireland’s financial institutions nearly halved in just three years when the credit crunch set in, according to new statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office.

While the volume of enterprises applying for any kind of credit facility had only fallen by six per cent in the three years – from 37 down to 31 per cent – the sheer scale of the declined applications underlines the difficulties faced by Irish businesses in finding capital.

While 90 per cent of all commercial applications were approved in 2007, just 50 per cent of the same loans were approved in 2010.

The gravity of the situation is further underlined by the CSO’s stats which show that 60 per cent of businesses said they would need financing to maintain their businesses between 2010 and 2013.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/may/23/talk-point-food-security-hunger-poverty?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3788

Food and agriculture have rushed up the international agenda as wheat, maize and soya reach price levels last seen in 2008, when a global food crisis sparked riots in developing countries across the world. According to Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president, rising food prices have pushed an additional 44 million people into extreme poverty.

We are at the brink of a new global food crisis, but few can agree on the solution. Faced with widespread hunger and food insecurity, where do you start?

In this month's Global development podcast, we'll look at different ways to approach the issue. What are your thoughts and experiences on how the world tackles this, and feeds the most vulnerable?

We'll look at fresh ideas and new innovations, from the macro to the micro. With the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) set to elect its new director-general this summer, we'll ask what the new leader of the UN's food agency should prioritise in his first year. We'll also focus on the role of smallholder farmers, looking at what grassroots communities around the world are doing to address issues of food security from below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/22/imf-europe-leadership-challenge-manuel


Australia and South Africa challenged the convention of appointing a European as head of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday, opening a north-south rift over the future of the agency in the wake of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York for sexual assault.

The two countries' call for IMF management to be chosen on merit rather than by nationality is believed to have the support of the world's emerging powers, including China, India and Brazil. Britain and other major European states have put their support behind the French economy minister, Christine Lagarde, but Trevor Manuel, a former South African finance minister was emerging as a strong challenger on Sunday. The position of managing director of the Fund was left open when Strauss-Kahn resigned last week to fight charges of attempted rape of a hotel worker in Manhattan.

The challenge to European control of the IMF came in the form of a joint statement by Australia's treasurer, Wayne Swan, and South Africa's finance minister, Pravin Gordhan. "For too long, the IMF's legitimacy has been undermined by a convention to appoint its senior management on the basis of their nationality," it said. "In order to maintain trust, credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of its stakeholders, there must be an open and transparent selection process, which results in the most competent person being appointed as managing director, … regardless of their nationality."

Swan and Gordhan are co-chairs of the G20's IMF Reform Working Group, and their statement reflect the claims of emerging powers, developing countries and champions of institutional reform that the post-war status quo by which Europe chose the head of the IMF and the US ran the World Bank, was no longer legitimate in a changing world half a century later.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/Pakistani-rupee-falls-to-record-low-of-8650-to-dollar/articleshow/8527180.cms

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee fell to a record low of 86.50 to the US dollar on Monday on increased demand for dollars for import payments and concerns that growing tensions with the West could choke off much needed foreign aid.

A major attack by militants on a naval aviation base in Karachi further weakened sentiment on the local currency, adding to the country's reputation for instability, traders said.

The rupee was trading at 86.20/30 to the dollar at 9:54 a.m. (0452 GMT), compared with its previous record low of 86.40 on Saturday.

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 52-billion dollars. Good day.)
At McD's it's all about the new world order.
(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)
= 9,716,152,725,750.72 + 4,629,358,121,484.54
DOWN 2,359,793,261.41 + UP 2,358,423,507.64

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,204.70 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,041,792 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 $45,973.04.
A family of three owes $137,919.13. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 1,088,795,310.59.
The average for the last 30 days would be 834,743,071.45.

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$/day.
There were 158 reports in 231 days of FY2011 averaging 4.96B$ per report, 3.39B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 612 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 and 17.5T$.
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)
05/19/2011 14,345,510,847,235.26 BHO (UP 3,718,633,798,322.18 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 +0,783,887,816,343.50 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,238,610,618,897.74 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
04/29/2011 +013,870,888,452.00 ------------**********
05/02/2011 +043,070,259,587.79 ------------********** Mon
05/03/2011 +000,283,435,714.90 ------------********
05/04/2011 +000,080,372,925.23 ------------*******
05/05/2011 -017,721,236,989.45 -
05/06/2011 +000,087,184,054.82 ------------*******
05/09/2011 +000,429,272,774.96 ------------******** Mon
05/10/2011 +000,237,893,268.24 ------------********
05/11/2011 +000,200,317,592.65 ------------********
05/12/2011 -015,508,101,950.43 -
05/13/2011 +000,162,115,757.85 ------------********
05/16/2011 +051,422,548,961.68 ------------********** Mon
05/17/2011 -009,024,423,933.79 --
05/18/2011 +009,842,715,417.27 ------------*********
05/19/2011 -002,359,793,261.41 --

75,073,448,372.31 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=4857148&mesg_id=4857163

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 51-billion dollars. Good day.)
Windows open only at night. Helped Sierra's prom. Large branch at Brown-e's. Gordo at war. 60-page correction. Family email.
(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)
= 9,717,285,305,168.49 + 4,628,213,097,570.29
UP 1,132,579,417.77 + DOWN 1,145,023,914.25

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,204.62 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,048,992 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 $45,971.94.
A family of three owes $137,915.83. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 1,334,850,682.74.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,023,385,523.43.

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$/day.
There were 159 reports in 232 days of FY2011 averaging 4.93B$ per report, 3.38B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 611 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 17.5T$.
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)
05/20/2011 14,345,498,402,738.78 BHO (UP 3,718,621,353,825.70 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 +0,783,875,371,847.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,233,252,201,397.22 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
05/02/2011 +043,070,259,587.79 ------------********** Mon
05/03/2011 +000,283,435,714.90 ------------********
05/04/2011 +000,080,372,925.23 ------------*******
05/05/2011 -017,721,236,989.45 -
05/06/2011 +000,087,184,054.82 ------------*******
05/09/2011 +000,429,272,774.96 ------------******** Mon
05/10/2011 +000,237,893,268.24 ------------********
05/11/2011 +000,200,317,592.65 ------------********
05/12/2011 -015,508,101,950.43 -
05/13/2011 +000,162,115,757.85 ------------********
05/16/2011 +051,422,548,961.68 ------------********** Mon
05/17/2011 -009,024,423,933.79 --
05/18/2011 +009,842,715,417.27 ------------*********
05/19/2011 -002,359,793,261.41 --
05/20/2011 +001,132,579,417.77 ------------*********

62,335,139,338.08 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=4860085&mesg_id=4860278

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/markets-precious-idUSL3E7GN0B420110523

SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - Investors ditched the euro and turned to gold after Fitch cut Greece's debt ratings by three notches, pushing the country deeper into junk, while silver struggled to catch up with gains in bullion.

In another sign that the continent's debt problems are escalating, Standard & Poor's cut its outlook for Italy to "negative" from "stable", helping bullion hit its highest in nearly two weeks.

Spot gold added $1.50 an ounce to $1,508.89 by 0606 GMT, having hit an intraday high around $1,518 an ounce. This was its strongest since May 11, but still well below a lifetime high around $1,575 struck in early May.

"I would expect gold to be supported above the $1,500 level. If the crisis starts to involve other nations beyond Greece, then we could see gold heading to a new record high," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"Has it ever occurred to you that even if you don't achieve all your goals, you're still better for trying? Compare yourself with people who admit defeat before they even get out of bed in the morning -- you have a lot to be proud of. Your past efforts might not have taken you exactly where you wanted to be today, but they took you in the right direction. The rest of the journey might be laborious, but it will eventually lead to its proper conclusion."

There. I feel so much better....