STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, October 12, 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

Oct 12 07:00 MBA Mortgage Index 10/08 NA NA -4.3%
Oct 12 14:00 FOMC Minutes Sep. 21

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/10/10-14/#ixzz1aZ2q5fOV

SINGAPORE – Oil fell to near $85 a barrel Wednesday in Asia ahead of a stream of corporate earnings reports that could shape views on the strength of the U.S. economy and likely demand for crude.

Benchmark crude for November delivery was down 35 cents at $85.46 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 40 cents to settle at $85.81 in New York on Tuesday.

Brent crude was up 37 cents at $111.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported third-quarter net income that fell far short of analyst forecasts. The company said demand from Europe dropped sharply in the July-September period, which helped pull down the price of aluminum.

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

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, as investors appeared set to track a rise by European equities while shrugging off a disappointing start to earnings season by Alcoa Inc.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ1Z +0.99% rose 117 points to 11,447. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index SP1Z +0.94% gained 12.2 points to 1,201.80, while Nasdaq 100 futures ND1Z +1.18% rose 24 points to 2,312.50.

A “cautiously optimistic” tone tied to ideas European officials are moving to rein in the region’s debt woes has provided a lift as European equities turned higher, said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets in London.

Aluminum producer Alcoa AA +2.08% kicked off third-quarter earnings season after Tuesday’s close, reporting a third-quarter profit of $172 million, or 15 cents a share, falling short of estimates of 22 cents a share.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-point-higher-for-wall-street-2011-10-12

Morning PBD. Hope all is well with you.

JUST NOT IN THE WAY THE BULLS USE THE PHRASE...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/opinion/this-time-it-really-is-different.html

The title of the white paper is, admittedly, a mouthful: “The Way Forward: Moving From the Post-Bubble, Post-Bust Economy to Renewed Growth and Competitiveness.” It was commissioned by the New America Foundation, which hoped that it might “re-center the political debate to better reflect the country’s deep economic problems,” according to Sherle Schwenninger, the director of the foundation’s Economic Growth Program. Its authors are Daniel Alpert, a managing partner of Westwood Capital; Robert Hockett, a professor of financial law at Cornell and a consultant to the New York Federal Reserve; and Nouriel Roubini, who is, well, Nouriel Roubini, whose consistently bearish views have been consistently right. It is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

I don’t know that anything at this point could re-center the political debate, so unyielding are the two parties. But as Congress prepares to take steps, through the deliberations of the already deadlocked supercommittee, that will likely further wound our ailing economy, “The Way Forward” ought to at least give our politicians pause.

Its analysis of our problems is sobering. Its proposed solutions are far more ambitious than anything being talked about in Washington. And its prognosis, if we continue on the current path, is grim. “Unless we take dramatic steps, it will be Japan all over again,” says Alpert. “Continuous deflation, no economic growth, in and out of recessions. And high unemployment.” Adds Hockett: “It will be like the economic version of chronic fatigue syndrome. A low-grade fever all the time.”

The paper’s central premise is something I’ve been hearing from Alpert for more than a year now: this time, it really is different. What he and his co-authors mean by that is that the bursting of the debt bubble three years ago was not just a severe example of the ups and downs that are an inevitable part of American capitalism. Rather, it was the ultimate consequence of the modern global economy. Chief among the changes that have taken place is the integration of China, Russia, India and other countries into the global economic mainstream. The developed world once had maybe 500 million workers. Today, say the authors, we’ve added another two billion people to the global work force....That change alone has had a great deal to do with the stagnant wages, income inequality and the oversupply of labor in America that was masked by rising home prices and access to credit. The bursting of the bubble exposed how much the American economy depended on cheap credit. Now that the curtain has been pulled back, cheap credit alone can’t fix our problems. The country is in a deflationary cycle that is very difficult to get out of: as wages decrease (or more workers become unemployed), people become afraid to spend. Assets like homes drop in value. Businesses react by lowering prices and laying off yet more workers — which only triggers a new round of deflation. The only thing that doesn’t change is the unsustainably high debt that was accrued during the bubble. MORE

There's hope for you yet. :)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/your-horoscopes-week-of-october-11-2011,26334/

Aries Your belief that everything happens for a reason may remain unshaken in the face of personal tragedy, but you'll certainly be upset when you find out the reason is "to get the Zodiac some chicks."

Taurus This is a great time for romance to bloom at work, because they're about to lay everyone off and inspire an office shooting spree, so hey, gather ye rosebuds.

Gemini You're wasting your potential by living life as you do now, but not as much as you're wasting your potential energy by not falling from high places.

Cancer You're not the kind of person who lets social conventions dictate how you live your life, but it would be nice if you could pull that off without being such an asshole.

Leo The FBI will have to ask you some tough questions next week, such as whether true love really exists and what happens after we die.

Virgo You've tried everything you can think of to get that special person to like you, which of course explains why you're fleeing a nationwide manhunt.

Libra It turns out there are actually plenty of problems you can't solve with a smile, a sincere heartfelt talk, or a large, heavy piece of lumber.

Scorpio In hard economic times like these, people tend to spend more money on booze and entertainment, but they don't have to as long as you're there to go into hilarious convulsions after drinking wood alcohol.

Sagittarius They say you can never step into the same river twice, but thanks to crocodiles and your refusal to learn how to swim, once is all you'll need.

Capricorn You thought you were powerless to deny a pretty face, but damn, not when it's sitting on top of, like, 350 pounds of blubber.

Aquarius Everyone has a part to play in God's plan. For instance, your job is to create a distraction so that God can get away with the money in all the confusion.

Pisces They say hard work never hurt anyone, and that's true, as far as it goes. The work you do at the combination gasoline refinery and drill-bit plant isn't exactly hard.

:evilgrin:

How this modern business of ruling planets in and out affects all that, I have no idea.

like the time of day when i was born -- i don't know.

It wasn't common practice to record the time of birth until recently..and in the drugged "twilight sleep" of 1950's hospital childbirth, most mothers couldn't notice, either.

It's time to get back in touch with your pioneering spirit! After a long period of recommending that you play it safe, stick to familiar territory and stay close to home, the stars are finally saying that it's time for you to get out and about. This is an auspicious time for travel, because you're in a very flexible phase and ready to explore different cultures and new ways of doing things. Why not pick a spot on the map and start planning a nice long visit?

ARE THE STARS SAYING IT'S TIME TO GET OUT OF DODGE?

I thought of you when I read that.

And what he does with/to it.

He wanted to ship me a wooden guillotine...

I've been breaking out the lumber more and more lately.... Sure, it doesn't always work, but, it always makes me feel better. It's so satisfying. ;)

:hi:

:donut:

it must be awfully stressful.

I got back home last night.

I'll update a little more tomorrow. Right now, I have an appointment with Doctor Sobieski. As in Sobieski Vodka. Good Polish stuff.

I'd join you, but it's a paper route night, and because the Tigers have a night game, we are going to be late, late, late....

have I mentioned lately how much I hate my life?

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/paulson-to-investors-we-made-a-mistake/

John A. Paulson had a simple message on Tuesday to nvestors in his ailing hedge fund: “We made a mistake.”

Mr. Paulson, the money manager who made billions during the financial downturn betting against the subprime mortgage market, admitted in his quarterly conference call that he had made a bad bet on a recovery in the domestic economy, the linchpin of the firm’s investment thesis this year.

Now, Mr. Paulson is moving to cut leverage in one troubled portfolio, the Advantage Plus fund, which is down 47 percent this year. He also plans to reduce the firm’s exposure to the stock market more broadly, according to several people who listened to the roughly hourlong call but were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

The money manager also addressed concerns that investors might remove vast sums of money in response to the steep losses. Mr. Paulson and his employees represent about 50 percent of the $30 billion at the firm. If all eligible investors withdrew their money at once, the redemptions would amount to about 20 to 25 percent of the firm’s assets, according to investors on the call.



***:eyes:

tsk tsk.

on a rigged folio...

So much for being a so-called 'elightened' investor.

Redemptions on his flagship fund may put a big hurt on PM's, as crews scramble to fill the leaking lifeboats.

Paulson & Co, the giant US hedge fund run by billionaire investor John Paulson, has warned that in a “worst case” scenario, it could suffer redemptions equivalent to a quarter of its assets by the end of the year

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/R5WAEE/624NMN/A5Q0X/GDDR5M/L9N84C/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=11

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/grouponomics-and-zyngametrics-but-few-sound-numbers/

Both Groupon and Zynga are slowly stumbling toward their initial public offerings. But don’t feel sorry for either company — it’s largely their own fault.

The Groupon and Zynga offerings were to have been the event of the fall I.P.O. market. Both companies were expected to make their debuts to fat valuations and large stock price run-ups reminiscent of the Internet boom.

Instead, both have been delayed, and in a much more volatile market, their expected values are starting to drop.

Groupon has struggled more than Zynga. Groupon filed for an I.P.O. in early June. The filing revealed some extraordinary numbers. In two and a half years, Groupon had grown from nothing to $645 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2011. This was amazing growth, but Groupon’s costs were also astronomical. In 2010, Groupon spent $263 million on marketing and lost $456 million. In the first quarter of 2011, Groupon disclosed that it spent roughly $208 million on marketing and lost $146.5 million. Apparently, it takes a lot of money to make a deal.

They deliver coupon clippers who never become good repeat customers. They always want the low price and have loyalty only to the next Groupon offer.

WHY START NOW?

http://www.alternet.org/story/152678/bank_of_america%2C_citigroup%2C_morgan_stanley_could_be_headed_toward_collapse_--_will_obama_have_the_guts_to_do_the_right_thing_this_time?akid=7688.227380.t2QhZw&rd=1&t=22

...This has been Geithner's strategy since the earliest days of the crisis: work with the Federal Reserve to throw money at the big banks, resist fundamental changes in their business model, and talk up their solvency even in the face of contrary evidence. Given the proprietary data that Geithner surely sees as Treasury Secretary, he must know that these words are wishful at best and downright deceptive at worst. If his assurances turn out to be so much baloney, then Geithner, President Obama's re-election chances, and the economy could all be in big trouble....If events turn critical again and we face a repeat risk of the seizing up of financial markets as in the fall of 2008, the Obama administration's rhetorical populist turn will be of no use. The president will need to make a fateful decision.

Worst of all would be to let a large institution like Bank of America just fail. Outside of the hard-core Tea Party right, nobody supports this. The second worst policy would be to just keep throwing money at a zombie institution to keep up the pretense that it is solvent. We tried that policy in 2008 and 2009. It helped entrenched bankers keep their jobs and their outsized profits, but a wounded banking system continued to be a lead weight on the rest of the economy. So now President Obama, if faced with a repeat crisis of large banks, may get a do-over.

In the spring of 2009, when the leading zombie bank was Citigroup, then chief economic adviser Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary Geithner took the position that they could not seize, clean out, and break up Citi because they lacked the legal authority or the tools to do it. It's also clear from several accounts, including my own A Presidency in Peril and most recently Ron Suskind's new book Confidence Men that Summers and Geithner did not want to do it. According to Suskind, Obama himself wanted to break-up of Citi as his preferred option, and Geithner slow-walked the president until the issue was moot.

But the Dodd-Frank Act now gives the treasury secretary explicit authority to find that a large, systemically significant financial company is "in danger of default"; to designate the FDIC as receiver; and to seize, break up, and reorganize failing large banks. Though there is surely contingency planning for the collapse of a large bank, Geithner seems loathe to use his new authority...

BUT THE CHANCES OF THAT HAPPENING ARE SLIM, GIVEN THE PERSONALITIES INVOLVED...

And I don't care if they fail. Let them fail. I can hear it now: I will say Citi doesn't grow my food or make my shoes heal my sickness or take care of my children or or or ... anything at all real. Then the wails will start - OH! but the farmers won't be able to buy their seed corn, the factory pay its workers, the clinic buy its medicines...oh oh oh!

So I might die. So what? All over the world people die every day from the rapacious stranglehold of "capital." Am I more important? No. We are all "nobody" as far as I'm concerned. Not one of us more important than another. Why should I live while a child in Haiti or Nigeria or Afghanistan dies to keep Capital happy?

We've created this crazy system that requires a layer of money the sole purpose of which is to enrich an Oligarch class between all its gears to keep it moving. It's killing us now. Some fast, some slow, but killing all of us. And it has acquired a vampire/zombie life of its own - no matter what we do, it rises stronger and more rapacious than before. If we can't figure out any way to change it without its collapsing, then let it collapse.

why put off the inevitable? When you have an abscess, you cut it open and drain it and apply antibiotics...I have learned so much in the past 3 weeks about abscesses...sigh.

Yes, it will be painful, yes, there will have to be heroic efforts to replace BofA with a non-criminal enterprise,

BUT

there's already lots of pain being inflicted on millions...they just aren't the right ones who can agitate for changes that end the pain...oh, wait a minute!

AND

Change is what we voted for.

money away from consumption or production and pocket it for the bankers.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_ITALY_BERLUSCONI?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-12-07-32-26

ROME (AP) -- Embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to address Italy's parliament this week and likely to face a vote of confidence that will determine whether his government survives.

Berlusconi has been weakened by a sovereign debt crisis threatening to engulf Italy, and by sex scandals and trials in Milan. Recently, his conservative coalition has been bickering over austerity measures.

Berlusconi is set to address parliament Thursday. He is expected to seek a confidence vote, likely held the following day.

The 75-year-old premier has dismissed calls for his resignation. His five-year mandate expires in 2013.



***woudn't he rather get out of there and go Bunga--Bunga some models?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-12-07-07-33

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's central government deficit continued to grow in the first nine months of the year despite a series of austerity measures designed to raise revenues, figures from the country's finance ministry showed Wednesday.

The central government deficit stood at euro19.2 billion ($26.1 billion) for January to September from euro16.65 billion in the same period last year. The 15.1 percent increase was slightly lower than the government forecast of a rise to euro19.24 billion.

The ministry blamed the revenue shortfall on a deeper than anticipated recession, but said shortfalls were likely to be made up over the next three months as recent tax rises, such as a controversial property levy, kick in.

The figures issued Wednesday relate to the state budget deficit, which excludes spending in some areas, and is not the criteria used for the EU's assessment of Greece's financial reforms.



***i'm sure there will be an official expression of SURPRISE that will offer comfort and succor to every one.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-unemployment-hits-highest-level-for-17-years-2369313.html

Unemployment has reached a 17-year high after more than 100,000 people joined the ranks of those looking for a job, grim new figures showed today.

Youth unemployment reached a record high of 991,000, while the numbers claiming jobseeker's allowance increased for the seventh month in a row, to 1.6 million.

Other figures showed a 178,000 slump in employment in the quarter to August - the biggest fall in more than two years - and the largest-ever cut in the number of part-time workers, down by 175,000.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tax-chief-faces-grilling-over-10m-gift-for-goldman-sachs-2369217.html

The head of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will today be quizzed by MPs over a deal which allegedly allowed Goldman Sachs to escape £10m in interest payments on a failed tax avoidance scheme.

Leaked documents claim that Dave Hartnett, the permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, personally approved the agreement with the Wall Street bank last December.

HMRC strongly disputes the charges, but Mr Hartnett will be questioned this afternoon by the Commons Public Accounts Committee. This week documents were leaked to Private Eye, suggesting the committee's previous chairman, Edward Leigh, was misled when he was told it would be illegal to reveal details of such cases to Parliament. Mr Leigh said: "It just underlines the absurd culture of secrecy that still pervades Whitehall."

Mr Hartnett also refused to give the facts about the Goldman Sachs affair to Tory MP Jesse Norman, when he raised the issue on the Treasury Select Committee last month, claiming disclosure would be illegal. The £10m "gift" for Goldman Sachs came after a prolonged attempt by the American company to avoid paying National Insurance on huge bonuses for its bankers working in London. The amount was relatively small beer for the bank, whose employees received £9.5bn in pay and bonuses last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15267628

Two leading credit rating agencies have downgraded some of Spain's largest banks, citing a deteriorating outlook for the Spanish economy.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) said it was downgrading the ratings of 10 financial institutions, including the country's two biggest banks, Santander and BBVA.

Fitch said it was cutting the ratings of six banks, after downgrading Spain last week.

Ratings agencies have been downgrading European banks during the debt crisis.

10/12/11 Harrisburg Files For Bankruptcy Protection


We are confident the spinmasters will spin the first major domino in the muni crisis as bullish: after all it "removes uncertainty." Bloomberg reports that "The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, facing a state takeover of its finances, filed for bankruptcy protection following a vote by the City Council, according to a lawyer for the council.

Mark D. Schwartz, a Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based lawyer and a former public finance banker for Prudential Financial Inc., said he filed the documents by fax to a federal bankruptcy court last night. The filing couldn’t be confirmed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Harrisburg.

The state capital of 49,500 faces a debt burden five times its general-fund budget because of an overhaul and expansion of a trash-to-energy incinerator that doesn’t generate enough revenue. “This was a last resort,’’ Schwartz said in an interview after the council voted 4-3 to seek bankruptcy protection. “They’re at their wits’ end.’’

While bankruptcy would mean the loss of state aid under a law passed in June, it would be preferable to a proposed recovery plan, said Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson." Well, at least Jefferson County will not have the dubious legacy of being the first muni to push everyone else over.

And now that the precedent has been set (yes, Virginia, it can be done) watch as tens if not hundreds of other cash-strapped towns, cities, localities and other entities follow suit promptly to quite promptly.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/it-begins-harrisburg-files-bankruptcy-protection

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WAL_MART_ANALYSTS_MEETING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-12-07-32-29

NEW YORK (AP) -- What Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says about how it's reversing a slump in its namesake U.S. business will be at the front of analysts' minds at the company's annual meeting with Wall Street Wednesday.

The discounter also is expected to offer a peek into its winter holiday strategies and a look at plans for capital spending.

The world's largest retailer announced in August that its second-quarter profit rose 5.7 percent, and it raised its outlook for the year based on strong international sales growth and its cost-cutting efforts.

Business has improved steadily at Wal-Mart's Sam's Club warehouse stores, but the company hasn't been able to stop a two-year sales slump at its U.S. Walmart stores, which account for 62 percent of its total revenue. The company says the weak U.S. job market and other economic woes are straining its core low-income shoppers.

Wal-Mart is a key barometer of U.S. consumer spending, which makes up 70 percent of the economy, including such major expenditures as health care. The retailer rings up nearly 10 percent of all nonautomotive retail dollars spent in the U.S. so any details about how its shoppers are buying everything from cereal to clothing will offer clues about where the economy is heading.





***walmart:mad:

http://www.alternet.org/story/152651/11_facts_you_need_to_know_about_the_nation%E2%80%99s_biggest_banks?page=entire


– Banks make nearly one-third of total corporate profits: The financial sector accounts for about 30 percent of total corporate profits, which is actually down from before the financial crisis, when they made closer to 40 percent.-


AND THAT WAS WHEN OTHER COMPANIES WERE ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY...SO THEY HAVE SHRUNK THEIR OWN HAUL, AS WELL AS EVERYONE ELSE'S...

– The four biggest banks issue 50 percent of mortgages and 66 percent of credit cards: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup issue one out of every two mortgages and nearly two out of every three credit cards in America.

– The 10 biggest banks hold 60 percent of bank assets: In the 1980s, the 10 biggest banks controlled 22 percent of total bank assets. Today,they control 60 percent.

– The six biggest banks hold assets equal to 63 percent of the country’s GDP: In 1995, the six biggest banks in the country held assets equal to about 17 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Now their assets equal 63 percent of GDP.

– The five biggest banks hold 95 percent of derivatives: Nearly the entire market in derivatives — the credit instruments that helped blow up some of the nation’s biggest banks as well as mega-insurer AIG — isdominated by just five firms: JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo.

AND IT GETS WORSE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_VIETNAM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-12-07-58-47

NEW DELHI (AP) -- India and Vietnam on Wednesday signed an accord to promote oil exploration in Vietnamese waters that could escalate long-standing tensions with China as it presses territorial claims to much of the South China sea.

The accord between the foreign arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and PetroVietnam was signed in New Delhi after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. It covers new investments and the exploration and supply of oil and gas.

The South China Sea that links China with Southeast Asia is becoming a flashpoint as Beijing more assertively presses its claims to large portions of it and other countries push back. Vietnam, with centuries of tensions with China, has turned to the U.S., and now seemingly India, to counterbalance growing Chinese power, while Beijing and Delhi have long viewed each other as regional rivals.

New Delhi has downplayed China's recent objections to its state oil company exploring for oil in Vietnamese waters. Vietnam's fast-growing economy, and its natural resources including oil and gas, are an attraction for India, which like China is seeking energy sources to fuel its economic boom.

http://www.alternet.org/story/152654/5_new_rules_for_an_economy_that_works?page=entire

I offer five new rules: two of them Constitutional Amendments and three of them laws.

1. Corporations are not persons.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 gave blacks the constitutional right of citizenship: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In 1886, in a case that had nothing to do with corporate personhood, the court clerk wrote a headnote to the case that contained these fateful sentences, “The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does.” Since the case itself never addressed the question these words did not comprise a legal precedent. Nevertheless, from then on the Supreme Court has considered the question settled. Some 65 years later Justice William O. Douglas observed, “the Santa Clara case becomes one of the most momentous of all our decisions. Corporations were now armed with constitutional prerogatives.” And they made the most of these new prerogatives. The 14th Amendment, written to protect weak and largely defenseless ex-slaves, was mostly used to protect big and powerful corporations. Of the 150 cases based on the 14th amendment the Supreme Court heard between 1886 and 1896, 15 involved blacks and 135 involved business entities. In the next 20 years, relying on the 1886 “precedent” the Supreme Court steadily expanded the number of Constitutional rights accorded to this new type of person. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) offers a partial list: in 1893 the Court accorded corporations the right of due process under the 5th Amendment. In 1906 it extended to them the protection against search and seizure in the 4th Amendment. In 1908 it extended to corporations the 6th Amendment right to a trial by jury. By the 1940s Justice Felix Frankfurter could accurately declare, “Artificial or not, corporations have won more rights under law than people have– rights which government has protected with armed force.” In early 2010 the Supreme Court gave corporations the right, as persons, to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.

Does it need to be said that unlike a real person, a corporation lacks a conscience? It is guided neither by ethics nor morality but rather by laws that required its Boards to elevate the maximization of profits above all other concerns. Does it need to be said that if a person makes a decision that kills or maims people he will go to jail? If a CEO makes such a decision he, at worst, receives a golden parachute. A wonderful sign at the Occupy Wall Street protest reads, “I won’t believe corporations are people until Texas executes one.” We need a constitutional amendment consisting of four words. Corporations are not persons.

2. Money is not speech

In 1976 the Supreme Court ruled that money is speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. Today members of Congress now spend 25-40 percent of their time begging for money. Political scientist Thomas Ferguson observes, “Public opinion has only a weak and inconstant influence on policy. The political system is largely investor-driven, and runs on enormous quantities of money”. When states or the federal government have tried to make elections fairer the Supreme Court says no. Vermont passed a law to cap campaign expenditures for state offices. The Court struck it down. Congress tried to close a loophole in the campaign finance law that allowed billionaire candidates to spend an unlimited amount of their own money on their own campaigns. The Court struck down the law. Speaking for a 5-4 majority, Justice Samuel Alito told Congress that trying to “level electoral opportunities for candidates of different personal wealth” is not “a legitimate government objective.”

The Supreme Court rulings declaring money is speech and corporations are persons make for a lethal cocktail. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland state senator and law professor at American university points out that Fortune l00 corporations had profits in 2008 totaling about $600 billion. If they spent only l percent of their profits on elections, a trivial sum to protect and foster their interests, the total comes to $6 billion. That is more money than was spent for and on behalf of all congressional and presidential candidates in 2008. We need a Constitutional Amendment consisting of four words. Money is not speech.

3. Tax Financial Transactions

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes first proposed a financial transactions tax. “The introduction of a substantial Government transfer tax on all transactions might prove the most serviceable reform available, with a view to mitigating the predominance of speculation over enterprise in the United States.” Economist Dean Baker suggests that a modest tax (0.25 percent) could easily raise more than $100 billion a year. “A small increase in trading costs would be a very manageable burden for those who are using financial markets to support productive economic activity. However, it would impose serious costs on those who see the financial markets as a casino in which they place their bets by the day, hour or minute.”

4. Tax all income as ordinary income

Billionaire Warren Buffett has commented on the unfairness of having a lower tax rate than his secretary. That is so because most of his income derives from dividends and capital gains taxed at half the rate as income from work. (I think it altogether fitting that economists use the term “unearned income” to describe this kind of income.) In 2007 the 400 Americans with the highest income—nearly $345 million—were taxed at less than 17 percent, less than half the ordinary income tax rate of 35 percent because most of their income was derived from investments. If we were to require that all their income be taxed at the 1999 tax rate of 39.6% this alone would generate an additional $300 billion in revenue over the next 10 years.

5. Declare a moratorium on foreclosures



*********************************************************

David Morris is co-founder and vice president of the Institute for Local Self Reliance in Minneapolis, Minn., and director of its New Rules project.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/wall-streets-vampire-squid-tamed-at-last-2369139.html

There are a number of reasons why Lloyd Blankfein could have chosen to cancel his planned talk today at Barnard College, a women's liberal arts school in New York City with close links to Columbia University.

Goldman Sachs's chief executive might not have been enthusiastic about giving his "power talk" with an anti-Goldman protest being staged by students at Columbia over the road.

The week-long "School the Squid" event takes its name and spirit from the Rolling Stone article describing Goldman Sachs as a "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity" and coincides with the wider anti-Wall Street campaign taking place near Goldman's lower Manhattan offices.

Then again, Mr Blankfein has plenty of other things on his mind. Goldman's third-quarter results next Tuesday are expected to be the second-worst since the Wall Street powerhouse floated in 1999. The worst was the bank's only post-flotation loss, suffered in the final quarter of 2008 when the financial world came close to meltdown – an event some fear will be repeated soon.

http://www.alternet.org/story/152625/the_4_billionaire_%27vultures%27_trying_to_pick_our_next_president?akid=7675.227380.cSu9gD&rd=1&t=19

Hedge fund magnate Paul Singer likes to breakfast on decayed carcasses. What he chews down is sickening, but just as nausea-inducing are his new tablemates: billionaires Ken Langone and the Koch brothers, Charles and David.

Singer has called together the billionaire boys' club for the purpose of picking our next president for us. The old-fashioned way of choosing presidents -- democracy and counting ballots and all that - has never been a favorite of this pack. I can tell you that from my investigations of each of these gentlemen for The Guardian. When the Statue of Liberty has nightmares, she dreams that these guys will combine to seize America via a cash-and-carry coup d'état.

Welcome to the nightmare. Singer, Langone and the Kochs last month decided to elect Chris Christie for us. The New Jersey governor's pseudocampaign went belly up before it began. But that's beside the point. Now that the Supreme Court has effectively ended campaign finance limits and allowed secretive contributions through "corporations," this new combine of the ultrawealthy should not be viewed as just a political threat to the Democrats, but as a threat to democracy...

DETAILS AT LINK

A Koch Industries executive (not knowing he was being taped) said he had asked Charles Koch, who already had a billion from an inheritance, why Koch was pocketing a few bucks a week from poor American Indians. Koch told him, "I want my fair share, and that's all of it."

And "all of it," of course, includes the White House.

Putting Bush in the White House was worth his weight in gold to these gents - more, in fact. And now, the Kochs, Singer and Langone have teamed up to pick a candidate they pray can take back their real estate at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

...At this pace, it will be around 80 years until the economy gets back to normal levels of unemployment...


http://www.nationofchange.org/double-dip-nonsense-excuses-pathetic-recovery-1318346102

KIND OF SAYS IT ALL....

Bloomberg, 4th Richest Person in US Due to Wall Street, Is About to Snap the Mouse Trap Shut on Those Who Threaten His Fortune

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13051



...You might expect that from a man who is the fourth-wealthiest person in America, with $19.5 billion dollars in his pocket. Moreover, Bloomberg made a lot of money as a Wall Street financier, but he catapulted into the multibillionaire category by revolutionizing financial market information and selling a specialized terminal and access services to the financial industry (followed by Bloomberg media services). In short, his fortune is directly integrated into the Wall Street status quo.

That may be why he told a New York City radio show host last week that "New Yorkers need 'to help the banks.'" The Village Voice headlined its story on the plutocratic pronouncements of Bloomberg, "Mayor Bloomberg: 'We'll See' If The City Will Let Occupy Wall Street Continue." Bloomberg seemed in a baronial haze, claiming, "The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That's the bottom line." Is the mayor mainlining Fox "news" as his source of information? He royally added, "so anything we can do that's responsible to help the banks ... that is what we need."...In his plutocratic cloud of personal financial interest and self-serving disdain for the right of assembly, Bloomberg resembles a monarchist, not a mayor. If the Occupy Wall Street movement spreads and grows, you can count on Mayor Bloomberg to pull the curtains down on this exercise in America's basic right of redress...

Yesterday, BuzzFlash at Truthout wrote that there is little doubt that law enforcement officials - at the behest of corporate-backed politicians - are infiltrating and planning ways to discredit the Wall Street autumn of democracy...As Thom Hartmann noted in a book excerpted on Truthout, Thomas Jefferson warned that "the artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provision should be made to prevent its ascendancy."

Bloomberg is just waiting to snap the mouse trap shut on democracy.

that the OWS "movement" will accomplish something, anything.

It's much much much too vulnerable.

One of the most successful of the movements associated with the 60s was the civil rights movement. But it actually started many decades earlier -- just as the right wing conservative movement that has installed its current stranglehold on the U.S. began in earnest well over half a century ago.

For a good primer, read Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters.

Unless and until OWS builds an internal political infrastructure, it's really nothing more than hot air at best, a mob at worst.

You are likely right, Tansy - but I think there is potential - even without an internal political infrastructure. In fact, maybe because of the lack thereof. I keep quoting the same article, and so won't here, but we have had major organizations with very defined agendas, organized structure, and tight message discipline - the Labor movement being one - agitating, organizing, marching - think last Oct in DC - with clear goals, white papers full of policy, articulate spokespeople, even celebrities - and what has it gotten us? Precisely nothing. The rest of the professional progressive sphere should have gotten a clue after what happened to Labor's Employee Free Choice Act (a very modest, non-radical bit of reform). Instead, they've been too afraid of losing their "seat at the table" - even Labor, to their eternal shame and increased marginalization.

I like what Granny D said - that sometimes all you can do is put your body on the line.

I tend to think the lack of structure, the leaderlessness, is a good thing. After all, our last, best, greatest effort to work through a leader - well, we all know how that's gone. Nor have our sane, explicit, exhaustively researched policy proposals, presented by well-respected, internally structured organizations with great political experience and savvy gone anywhere. Nor even the clear, plain voices of the majority, as represented at least by polling.

We - the "99%" (I think the figure too generous, since at least the next 4% batten off our blood as it dribbles from the jowls of the uber-wealthy) get nothing, fail, are rendered impotent and irrelevant, no matter how many times we present and march for our rights and interests.

I am all for OWS. I think they are doing it the only way we have left - and making that visible. I hope their ranks swell.

Though "hope" is too strong a word. I'm afraid I wore out hope. I have no hope. But if anything will change, I don't think it will be through the usual paths we all - or most of us - have trod these last thirty years or so. We've reached a dead-end on that path. Time to try something else.

Plans to expand the powers of the eurozone’s bail-out fund were thrown into disarray on Tuesday when Slovakia’s parliament voted against the move, triggering the fall of the Bratislava government

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/7AW3PL/GYN7Q/1667TT/HYSTM4/FW/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=11

SOUNDS LIKE 1914, THE REMAKE....

Top earners at some of the world’s biggest banks are still taking home as much as 96 per cent of their pay in the form of an annual bonus, calling into question banks’ claims that stricter pay regulations have reduced their flexibility on costs.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/MSP2WL/OFBYP/GDDQIJ/PF1CIP/VU/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=11

The world wants the eurozone to act, to do something that impresses the financial markets, a “big bazooka”, as David Cameron puts it.

Among the recommendations generally given are an increase in the size of the European financial stability facility; a debt-monetisation programme by the European Central Bank; standby arrangements by the International Monetary Fund; bank recapitalisation, and a once-and-for-all resolution to the Greek debt problem.

No matter what you do, do it now, and do it big, eurozone leaders have been told.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/SPBDPF/K91WR/8ZZ4MH/U1G4W4/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=12

the magic software for the day job has yet another glitch. Discovered it halfway through a job last night. Fixing it will require my unpaid time, at their convenience.


:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

(or maybe I'm the carrier?)

The economic damage in the US from cyberattacks on its infrastructure could prove crippling, experts have warned

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/6NPSBB/8ZX1YQ/7ZY85/YBB216/97XFEL/E4/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=12

DECENTRALIZED, RENEWABLE ENERGY, ANYONE?

Very good interview, appx 8 min

"people have been ripped off by the banks"

"need to separate the derivatives from the banks and the .Gov needs to back the depositors and let the bond/stock holders take the hit"

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000050634

more about Asher Edelman
http://asheredelman.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asher_Edelman


Karl Denninger's opinion
10/12/11 OWS: The Risks Facing America Today
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This time support is coming from surprising places. Like former corporate activist (and buyer of companies!) Asher Edelman.

Here's the problem for the "powers that be" who have been trying to ignore this movement: They erroneously believed, as did many others (myself included), that this would be like the Tea Party (which was de-fanged and turned into a fraudulent shell of what it began as) or the other "movements" such as the "protests" at G-20 meetings. That is, people would show up, they'd wave signs, a few would commit random acts of violence and guarantee severe negative billing on the local TV and then they'd all go home and wash the tear gas out of their eyes.

But something different happened this time.

The people came. They didn't throw molotov cocktails, sticks and bombs. They did wave signs, but then they didn't go home. They did what I said would have to be done - in 2008 - in order to make a difference: THEY STAYED.
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Here's the thing: Even today, CNBC is still talking about "recapitalizing the banks." What's "recapitalize" mean? It means steal from you. See, the reason you need to "recapitalize" these firms is that they*****ed away their own capital by doing dangerous, risky, even fraudulent things.

The corporate media and politicians are still claiming that "we made a profit from TARP" and that "everything was repaid."

This is a bald lie. AIG didn't repay their money. Neither did GM. Money was shuffled around in a complex shell game to appear that all was repaid but in fact what happened was that you, the taxpayer, were looted.

You were looted through higher prices at the gas pump, higher prices at the grocery store, lower wages and at the same time zero interest rates so those of you who were prudent got ****ed THREE TIMES instead of twice!

Representative government? Where? By anywhere from 100:1 to 300:1 the people demanded that TARP NOT pass. That the banks that did foolish and in some cases criminal things be forced to eat the consequences.

Again, as I've said for four years: We need a banking system because we do indeed need a way to clear payments so you can pay a bill or buy gasoline and food - so commerce can flow. We do not need these banks that committed these acts.

But rather than do the right thing, our politicians were bought and paid for on both sides of the aisle. It's particularly telling - and galling - that when allegedly being "grilled" by Hank Paulson in 2008 the banksters left the meeting smiling and yucking it up.

lots more...
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=195841

10/12/11 Big Trouble Brewing

I do not toss around the idea of a market crash lightly. If you've been following me long enough, you know that only in very rare instances do I issue a cautionary Alert (I've only issued four since my website launched in 2008), and I am generally not given to hyperbole.

Let's be clear: I'm not issuing an Alert at this time. But I am concerned that a materially adverse disruption to the financial markets is increasingly likely in the near future.

Perhaps a definition will be helpful as we begin. A 'market crash' is an event where there are no bids to meet a wall of selling. The actual amount of the percentage decline is less important to note than the amount of chaos, or loss of control, that a given market experiences. Some like to say that a market downdraft requires a decline of 10%, or maybe even 15% or 20% (or more), in order to qualify as a 'crash.' For me, the key factor is not so much the amount of the decline, but the pace of the decline.

With perhaps a quadrillion US dollars of hyper-interconnected derivatives outstanding -- that's the notional value, but who really knows what the real number is? -- an orderly market is essential for knowing whether or not the counterparty to one's trade is solvent. During periods of intense price swings in the market, such things are simply not knowable, and spawn the fear and paralysis that really define a market crash.

Like everybody, I have no idea when the next market crash will occur, but I do happen to hold the view that a market crash is on the way. In fact, my view is that the entire future from here onward will be marked by sharp plunges (both crashes and regular market declines), followed by periods of stability, if not apparent recovery.

What I track instead are imbalances and risks. Sort of like being a fire marshal who takes note of an outlet with fifteen things plugged into it, some with frayed cords, located near a pile of old cleaning rags. I can't tell you for sure that a fire will result, only that the odds are elevated. A prudent person will take steps to remedy the situation or at least prepare for the possibility of a fire.

more...
http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/big-trouble-brewing/63455
or
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-big-trouble-brewing


Part II: What to Do Before the Next Crash

Executive Summary

* Are you prepared for a 'bank holiday'? (Hint: It's not nearly as fun as it sounds)
* Smart wealth safety strategies
* Securing the "big four" essentials: shelter, food, fuel, and water
* The immense advantage of cultivating a healthy mindset
* Why the steps before a crisis are so much more valuable than those taken afterwards

What a Bank Holiday (Collapse) Means
If the next shock to the system is a sovereign debt default in Europe that spreads throughout the world banking system or perhaps a surprise that comes from China, we might expect a bank holiday. During such an event, the idea is that the banking system has to be shut down for some period of time in order to sort out whatever mess has interrupted its normal operations.

By this I mean that the banks are literally closed to normal commercial and retail traffic, and things like credit and debit cards, ATMs, and even checks are no longer useful for moving money or conducting transactions.

The key risk here is that by and large, the world runs on credit. Without that credit, things don't ship, and shortages will rapidly develop.
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A bank holiday, then, simply means that banks close for some period of time, ranging from a day to perhaps several months, limiting or precluding some range of transactions, and affecting only retail customers or impacting everybody. A bank holiday can fall anywhere between a minor inconvenience and a world-changing event.

note - must be a paying subscriber to read the entire section :(
http://www.chrismartenson.com/martensonreport/what-do-before-next-crash

Gives me the heebie jeevies. :scared:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15269270

Hong Kong will resume a programme to subsidise home purchases to address public frustration over sky-high property prices.

The government will make thousands of homes available for lower income families to buy.

The move comes as a boom in the Hong Kong economy has seen property prices reach record levels in recent times.

But the gap between rich and poor has worsened, stoking anger towards the government and property developers.

Not Chucky. Me.

We got Dear Old Pappy half-way straightened out. So I drove back home last night. I've been stuck in Asshole, SC for the last week, with no internet, or decent cable, and only a sorry excuse for a newspaper filled with Bill O'Reilly, and Ann Coulter.

It feels good to be back in civilization again. If you can call Florida civilization. But, it beats the hell out of wall-to-wall stupid SC any day.

Now, I just want to go out and spend some quality time with my favorite barmaid.

Glad your dad is fairing along.

I'd be really nutty by now if I didn't have Internet access for several days.

Cheers!

I made the mistake of saying: "But Daddy, you DO need a hip replacement!"

Now he won't talk to me. His loss.

Next thing you know, they're charming their nurses while YOU get to make all the TOUGH DECISIONS not to mention the physical running around making sure of this, that, and the other thing - It's an experience, for sure--I empathize.

but gets a little droopy around 3:30 PM. Still the DOW is over 11,500....so all's right in the world. :eyes: