STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 18 December 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 18 December 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 17 December 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 17 December 2012
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Dow Jones 13,235.39 +100.38 (0.76%)
S&P 500 1,430.36 +16.78 (1.19%)
Nasdaq 3,010.60 +39.27 (1.32%)


[font color=red]10 Year 1.77% +0.06 (3.51%)
30 Year 2.94% +0.07 (2.44%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.



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[font size=3][font color=red]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.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Demeter]

1. Choosing your own capitalism in a globalised world?

http://www.voxeu.org/article/cuddly-or-cut-throat-capitalism-choosing-models-globalised-world

Amid the current economic slowdown there is renewed interest in what type of capitalism fosters growth and best improves welfare. This column argues Nordic-style capitalism may provide higher welfare but in an interconnected world, it may be the cut-throat US capitalism, with its extant inequalities, that makes possible the existence of more cuddly Nordic societies...

I DON'T BUY IT.

[Demeter]

2. QE Causing Riskier Investments, Bubble Looms: BIS

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100300320

Equity and fixed income prices have reached unusually high levels that don't reflect the current weakening in the global economy, according to the Bank of International Settlements, leading to concerns of a fresh credit bubble.

Further quantitative easing (QE) by the major central banks appears to have encouraged investors to take on more risk to find higher yields, according to the BIS, and sales of riskier types of bonds have increased in the last three months.

"Some asset prices started to appear highly valued in historical terms relative to indicators of their riskiness," it said in its quarterly review.

"Market participants attributed a significant part of the rally in asset prices to further loosening by central banks, notably the Federal Reserve."

AND SINCE THIS REPORT, THEY ARE DOING EVEN MORE OF IT...

[Demeter]

3. Clients aiming for Medicaid: risky but popular

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/07/advisers-medicaid-idUSL1E8N3A3S20121207

Financial advisers are getting a counterintuitive request from clients worried about their long-term care needs: Make me poor.

Called "Medicaid planning," the goal is for the client to give away their money to their kids in order to qualify for government assistance. It is not a new strategy, but with the cost of healthcare rising, retirement benefits shrinking and people living longer, it is increasingly on the table.

A survey released Thursday by the insurer Nationwide Financial found that half of 500 financial advisers polled in July had a client considering this strategy. Most said these clients view it as a way of preserving their children's inheritance.

The first move an adviser should make if a client brings up this plan? Talk them out of it, long-term care experts said.

"Medicaid comes up short in protecting your freedom of choice," said John Carter, president of distribution and sales for Nationwide.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE. THAT'S WHY THEY GIVE IT TO POOR PEOPLE.

These clients probably do not realize how complicated this plan can be to execute and how limited their care options would be on Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for low-income Americans. The only clients who should be aiming for Medicaid are the ones who truly expect to need it. Everyone else should be reallocating their assets, buying long-term care insurance and holding strategy meetings with their families, experts said...

GOD FORBID WE SHOULD STRIVE FOR SOME EQUALITY

[Demeter]

4. Mervyn King raises spectre of currency wars in 2013

WHAT DOES HE CALL WHAT WE HAVE ENDURED THIS PAST DECADE, OR MORE?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9736265/Mervyn-King-raises-spectre-of-currency-wars-in-2013.html

Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has criticised world leaders for not working hard enough to rebalance the global economy since the financial crisis.

HOW CAN YOU BALANCE SOMETHING THAT'S DEAD?

The imbalance between countries such as the UK and the US which relied on consumer spending to fuel growth before 2008, and those including Germany and China that relied on exports, is seen by many economists as a key cause of the financial crisis.

Since agreeing a global stimulus plan in London in 2009 in the wake of the crisis, G20 leaders "have gone backward since then and there's been no agreement on rebalancing the world economy," Sir Mervyn told an audience in New York yesterday.

"The need to rebalance is not confined to those countries that had large trade deficits," said Sir Mervyn, who is stepping down next summer. "The contrast between the deficit and surplus countries is one overshadowing us all."

Should the failure to rebalance the global economy persist, Sir Mervyn warned that more countries will start resorting to lowering their currencies in an effort to fuel growth....

DEMETER---PUTTING THE "DIS" INTO DYSFUNCTIONAL..

[Demeter]

5. Intelligence community: U.S. out as sole superpower by 2030

THAT'S WHAT I'M LIVING FOR: LAYOFFS AT THE NSA, CIA, AND ALL THE REST OF THEM, PLUS THE DISMANTLEMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY...

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/12/intelligence-community-us-out-as-sole-superpower-by-151519.html

A new report by the intelligence community projects that the United States will no longer be the world's only superpower by 2030.

"In terms of the indices of overall power – GDP, population size, military spending and technological investment – Asia will surpass North America and Europe combined," the report concludes.

“Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds" — prepared by the office of the National Intelligence Council of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — projects that the "unipolar" world that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union will not continue.

"With the rapid rise of other countries, the 'unipolar moment' is over and no country – whether the U.S., China, or any other country – will be a hegemonic power," the report argues....

OR WE COULD BE REDUCED TO THE STONE AGE...BY OUR OWN HAND

[Warpy]

13. "Pax America" is finally over

it's time to dump the military monkey off our backs.

[Demeter]

14. What peace? ADDED QUIP

Last edited Tue Dec 18, 2012, 11:42 AM - Edit history (2)

We are constantly droning, bombing, blockading, or otherwise aggressing against half the world.

It's more like a (you should pardon the expression) Reign of Terror.

[Warpy]

52. So were all the other periods that saw one imperial superpower

The only difference is that we're not conquering and defending territory, we're securing natural resources and trade routes.

It's an incredibly expensive proposition, especially since the main beneficiaries (the rich and the corporate) have decided not to pay the taxes to support it.

[Ghost Dog]

47. Yes. Find full report here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112730651

(Gotta go now. Borrowed computer).

Ciao.

[Demeter]

6. Serious People Could be Seriously Embarrassed: Why It's Important We Not Go Off the "Fiscal Cliff"

http://truth-out.org/news/item/13380-serious-people-could-be-seriously-embarrassed-why-its-important-that-we-not-go-off-the-fiscal-cliff

Much of the media has spent the last month and a half hyping the impact of the "fiscal cliff," the tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect at the end of the year. They have been warning of a recession and other dire consequences if a deal is not struck by December 31st. As we are now getting down to the final two weeks and the prospect that there will not be a deal becomes more likely, many in the media are getting more frantic.

What they fear is yet another huge embarrassment, if people see the deadline come and go and the economy doesn't crash and the world doesn't end. The reality, as all budget analysts know, is that no one will see more taxes coming out of their paychecks until they actually get paid later in the month. If a deal is imminent or actually struck in the first weeks of January then most workers will never be taxed at the higher Clinton era rate. They will be taxed in accordance with the deal that President Obama reaches with the Republicans...And those who do have money taken out of a check will have it returned in the next one. This might be bad news for people who are skimming by paycheck to paycheck, but the impact on the economy will be too small to measure.

AND THE UNEMPLOYED WILL SEE NO DIFFERENCE, ANYWAY...

The same applies on the spending side. If President Obama sees a deal in sight then he will adjust spending in accordance with the amount that he expects to agree to with Congress, not the amount specified in the sequester. The impact on the economy will be essentially zero, except of course for the impact of the budget cuts that Congress and President Obama actually agree to put in place.

In other words, if January 1, 2013 comes and there is no deal, we will likely see that the Serious People were again out to lunch. This will be yet another blow to the credibility of the people who are telling us that we have to cut Social Security and Medicare and do all sorts of other things that somehow always seem to have the effect of hurting the poor and middle class.

MORE

[Demeter]

7. Low-Wage Workers' Wildcat Winter Spreads to Chicago

http://truth-out.org/news/item/13376-low-wage-workers-wildcat-winter-spreads-to-chicago

Hundreds of workers and supporters gathered in Chicago’s Cityfront Plaza on Thursday to speak out against the ways that major retail and fast food corporations are weakening the city’s economy with poverty-level wages. Marching along the Magnificent Mile and its throngs of holiday shoppers, the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago (WOCC) chanted and passed out leaflets supporting their “Fight for 15” campaign for a $15 per hour wage. Coming in the wake of the Walmart workers struggle for better working conditions, these and other low-wage workers now beginning to organize across the country in retail and restaurant industries are becoming a force to be reckoned with as they gain support from consumers and community organizations.

The newly-minted union in Chicago — representing workers from over 100 employers — launched the Fight for 15 campaign to raise the standard of living for the more than 18,000 workers who keep the city’s busiest shopping areas running.

On November 15, WOCC announced its intention to form a union to represent the interests of retail and restaurant workers in the Loop and the Magnificent Mile. The union has until February 14 to file with the National Labor Relations Board for formal recognition. WOCC’s hope is to be able to negotiate directly with retailers for a minimum $15 per hour contract. In less than a month, over 500 workers have already joined the union. During Thursday’s action, a letter from WOCC was delivered to the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association demanding a response to their campaign for better wages by December 22.

Parthenia Barnes, who is on the WOCC steering committee, says the immediate goals are to increase union membership as well as garner public support for the campaign...

[Demeter]

8. Who rules the Internet?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-itu-united-nations-internet-20121216,0,6253388.story

The International Telecommunication Union, the little-known but influential United Nations agency that oversees phone, radio and satellite communications, last week stopped short of fragmenting the Internet into national fiefdoms, as some had feared it would do through a new global treaty. Instead, the draft that delegates approved barely mentions the Internet. The result wasn't exactly a victory for those who are committed to a free and open Internet, however. Although delegates rejected many of the worst proposals, they laid the groundwork for having governments, not Internet stakeholders, regulate the technical aspects of the Web. The agency's effort to update a 24-year-old global telecommunications treaty exposed a sharp rift between the developed countries that were the earliest adopters of the Internet and the developing world, particularly Russia, China and other authoritarian regimes. The former, backed by Internet advocates worldwide, rightly argue that the Web's technical challenges are capably met by industry groups that set voluntary standards.

Many countries in the latter category, however, believe that the Internet is already controlled to some degree by one government — the United States — and thus its benefits aren't properly distributed. Some want greater control over online content and users, which they see as threats to their regimes; others have legitimate problems with access, spam and other issues that they don't think are getting enough attention from Internet authorities. At the agency's meeting last week in Dubai, opposition from across the Internet helped persuade Russia and its allies to withdraw a proposal that critics said would have authorized countries to monitor users and censor content internationally while controlling Internet addresses and domain names within their borders. Such an approach could have Balkanized the Internet, with different countries giving different sites identical domain names.

Over U.S. objections, however, the delegates included language in the draft treaty that would give the agency an explicit role in regulating online content — specifically, spam — and cybersecurity. They also extended the treaty's regulatory umbrella to Internet service providers. These steps, along with a nonbinding resolution promoting the agency's potential role in overseeing the Internet, prompted delegates from the United States and 20 other countries to say they wouldn't sign the new treaty. Delegates from 88 countries embraced the draft, while those from 34 others remained on the fence.

Slated to take effect in 2015, the treaty itself isn't the real problem. The bigger issue is the claim the International Telecommunication Union seems to be staking to Internet governance. The agency is scheduled to meet again in 2014, when it may consider amending its constitution to assert jurisdiction formally over the technical side of the Web. Proponents of the free and open Internet have until then to convince the countries that backed the draft treaty that the current system of self-governance can and will work better for them than one under the thumb of governments around the globe.

[Demeter]

9. Time to profile white men?

http://www.salon.com/2012/12/17/would_the_u_s_government_profile_white_men/

...Let’s review: Any honest observer should be able to admit that if the gunmen in these mass shootings mostly had, say, Muslim names or were mostly, say, African-American men, the country right now wouldn’t be confused about the causes of the violence, and wouldn’t be asking broad questions. There would probably be few queries or calls for reflection, and mostly definitive declarations blaming the bloodshed squarely on Islamic fundamentalism or black nationalism, respectively. Additionally, we would almost certainly hear demands that the government intensify the extant profiling systems already aimed at those groups.

Yet, because the the perpetrators in question in these shootings are white men and not ethnic or religious minorities, nobody is talking about demographic profiling them as a group. The discussion, instead, revolves around everything from gun control, to mental health services, to violence in entertainment — everything, that is, except trying to understanding why the composite of these killers is so similar across so many different massacres. This, even though there are plenty of reasons for that topic to be at least a part of the conversation.

Recounting the truth of these double standards is, of course, boringly mundane, which means my comment on television summarizing them is an equally boring and mundane statement of the obvious. However, as evidenced by the aggressive attempt to turn those comments into controversial headline-grabbing news over the weekend, the conservative movement has exposed its desperation — specifically, its desperation to preserve its White Victimization Mythology.

In this mythology, the white man as a single demographic subgroup can never be seen as a perpetrator and must always be portrayed as the unfairly persecuted scapegoat. In this mythology, to even reference an undeniable truth about how white privilege operates on a political level (in this case, to prevent a government profiling system of potential security threats even though such a system exists for other groups) is to be guilty of both “injecting divisive racial politics” and somehow painting one’s “opponents as racist” — even when nobody called any individual a racist....

[Demeter]

10. Has America got it in for British banks?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/9738801/Has-America-got-it-in-for-British-banks.html

... As a turbulent 2012 draws to a close, it is not surprising that some in the City believe America has turned British banks into the equivalent of an ATM machine. It is a feeling sharpened by the explosive language that US authorities use in the battle for the next day’s headlines.

In July, a congressional investigation accused HSBC of letting “drug kingpins and rogue nations” launder money. A month later, the Department of Financial Services, a New York regulator, claimed Standard Chartered was behind a “staggering cover-up” involving $250bn of illegal transactions.

Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation at the Cato Institute, a think tank in Washington, says that the perception is understandable given the frequency and the size of the fines that have been levied since the summer. However, he adds that, despite the intense competition between London and New York to be the world’s financial capital, US officials are not deliberately picking targets in the Square Mile.

“New York and London are the financial markets of the world. Everyone else is a bit player,” argues Calabria. “What that means is that if there are regulatory issues, it is likely to be with UK and US banks.”

MORE

[Ghost Dog]

44. Cough, cough (here on the road in S. Europe). Yah reckon?

... But, since I've just enjoyed an excellent repast and conversation with hosts/locals in this fine strong wine-producing region (the Priorat, S. Catalonia), I'd better say no more tonight.

I'm heading for CERN's ring. I'll be on the French side. Arriving the 21st in time, very briefly, of course, to witness our creation of that black hole (so folks are warning me).

Otherwise, will be in touch later...

Have fun.

[Demeter]

11. Group Aims to Be a Conduit for WikiLeaks Donations

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/group-aims-to-be-a-conduit-for-wikileaks-donations/?hpw

A group advocating a more transparent government has formed a nonprofit organization called the Freedom of the Press Foundation to serve as a conduit for donations to organizations like WikiLeaks. The goal is to insulate those groups’ fund-raising efforts from political and business pressures.

In December 2010, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal announced that they would no longer accept transactions for WikiLeaks, the online leak group that released thousands of secret documents from the American government. The move to cut off donations, which came after vocal protests against the organization’s activities from members of Congress, eliminated the vast majority of financing for WikiLeaks.

Board members of the Freedom of the Press Foundation include Daniel Ellsberg, the whistle-blower who disclosed the Pentagon Papers; Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who writes about civil liberties for The Guardian; John Perry Barlow, a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Xeni Jardin of the Web site Boing Boing; and John Cusack, an actor who has been a vocal opponent of government secrecy. The foundation has created a Web site, which was scheduled to go online Sunday night, that will allow visitors to donate anonymously to various journalistic and investigative projects. By accepting donations for more than one organization, the site hopes to prevent any single one of them from being targeted.

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/


In addition to WikiLeaks, the site will take donations for MuckRock News, which serves as a proxy and a guide for people seeking to make Freedom of Information requests; The UpTake, a citizen journalism site that generates online video news; and the National Security Archive, a repository of declassified government documents. There will be a rotating list of participating organizations expected to receive financing.

“We believe in openness in government, in transparency, and we don’t think that WikiLeaks alone should have to bear that burden,” Mr. Barlow said. “We are also hoping to support others of the same ilk, organizations that can serve an important journalistic function at a very important time.”

[Demeter]

12. Deutsche Bank Probes Claims of Deleted E-Mails in Tax Probe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-16/deutsche-bank-probes-claims-it-deleted-e-mails-in-tax-inquiry.html

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), whose offices were raided by German police four days ago, said it will investigate prosecutors’ allegations employees deleted e-mails requested as part of a tax-evasion probe.

The accusations, which prompted the arrest of five people for questioning, will be probed by the bank, Christian Streckert, a spokesman for the lender, said by telephone today.

Deutsche Bank Co-Chief Executive Officer Juergen Fitschen called Volker Bouffier, the prime minister of the state of Hesse, to complain about the impact television pictures of the raids would have on the bank’s reputation, Der Spiegel said today. Bouffier replied that it wasn’t his task to intervene in a prosecutorial probe, the magazine reported.

“We confirm that Mr. Fitschen called Mr. Bouffier,” Streckert said. “We cannot comment on the contents of the conversation.” Telephone calls by Bloomberg News to Bouffier’s office today weren’t answered...

MORE

[Demeter]

15. Bread that lasts for 60 days could cut food waste

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20540758

An American company has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days.

The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem.

The company claims it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread - in the UK alone, almost a third of loaves purchased.

The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables...

[Demeter]

16. Human Evolution Enters an Exciting New Phase

YOU GOT PROBLEMS? BLAME IT ON EVOLUTION

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/recent-human-evolution-2?cid=4743134

[Demeter]

17. The 16 scariest maps from the E.U.’s massive new climate change report

AND DIRECTIONS TO MANY MORE...

http://grist.org/news/the-16-scariest-maps-from-the-e-u-s-massive-new-climate-change-report/

[Demeter]

18. It’s 2007 again, thanks to US Fed

AS YVES SMITH NOTES, IT WAS MORE FUN LAST TIME...

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/818517a6-3a4a-11e2-a32f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2FOW2ERlZ

The real beneficiaries of easy money are speculators...Financial conditions are as loose today as they were in 2007, Ben Bernanke noted in a speech he gave in New York on November 20. The Federal Reserve chairman had good reason for that observation.

High-yield bond and loan market issuance year to date in both the US and Europe stands at about $570bn – on a par with the peak five years ago. Almost 30 per cent of all junk bonds have few terms, a new high, according to data from JPMorgan, while debt issuance for the purpose of paying the owners dividends is also above 2007 levels. Issuance of collateralised loan obligations this year will come in at about $45bn, more than the past four years combined.

Most shadow banks and credit hedge funds have never had it so good. So far, this year, distressed debt is among the best-performing hedge fund strategies. “You should be thankful for the Federal Reserve if you are an investor in credit markets,” notes Michael Cembalest, chief investment officer of the private bank at JPMorgan. “The rising tide in credit has lifted all boats.” Today, the debt of fewer and fewer companies trades significantly below 100 cents on the dollar, Mr Cembalest adds.

Also this past week, Equity Residential, the apartment landlord controlled by Sam Zell, partnered with AvalonBay to buy property company Archstone Enterprise, paying $6.5bn for 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Archstone was formerly in the hands of Lehman Brothers. The bank’s original top-of-the-market purchase of Archstone was typical of the frenzied activity in evidence in 2007, as well as one of the main contributing factors to Lehman’s downfall....There are several downsides, quite apart from the fact that the Fed’s policies cannot continue indefinitely and their efficacy diminishes with each round of easing. That is one reason why Jeff Aronson, co-founder of Centerbridge Partners, returned money to investors recently. At this point, after so much credit spread tightening, there is far more potential downside than upside. Other drawbacks, of course, are that households cannot earn anything on their savings, pension funds are badly underfunded and insurers cannot generate enough investment income. The real beneficiaries of easy money are speculators...Meanwhile, from a narrow financial markets point of view, yet another downside is the fact that market prices have lost any real meaning. Prices suggest that the world is a safer place but is it really?

[Roland99]

19. US Futures - continuing yesterday afternoon's run-up

S&P 500 +0.4%
DOW +0.3%
NASDAQ +0.4%

[Demeter]

20. Guess who is bargaining away our social security, again?

but you knew that....the man is like a drunk. He should never be in charge of negotiations, nor play poker.

[Demeter]

22. Why isn’t Obama demanding corporate welfare cuts?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-isnt-obama-demanding-corporate-welfare-cuts-2012-12-18?siteid=YAHOOB


Commentary: $2.6 trillion could be saved without touching safety net...

If President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner really want to reduce federal deficits, they’re doing a lousy job of it. Rather than focusing their negotiations on specific and achievable savings that would stabilize our debt for a decade or more, the two leaders have instead been talking about areas of the budget in which there’s almost no common ground. Instead of reaching a reasonable compromise, each party is insisting that the other surrender unconditionally. The Democrats and Republicans alike would rather win a bloody political victory than achieve a negotiated peace.

For Democrats, the only goal of the fiscal-cliff confrontation seems to be raising tax rates and getting more revenue from the wealthy. For Republicans, it’s shredding the safety net for seniors and the working poor.

They’re ignoring the most obvious solution: Eliminating unproductive and unnecessary federal spending and tax expenditures, especially corporate welfare that only benefits special interests. If even we didn’t have a deficit problem, we should eliminate or minimize this kind of wasteful spending. And, contrary to what you’ve been told, there is plenty to cut.

We know why no one is talking about this solution: The corporate interests who feed at the public trough control the politicians and the media who have worked themselves into a frenzy over the debt and the fiscal cliff. You’ll never see a group of CEOs, like Honeywell’s David Cote or Jim McNerney of Boeing, come to Washington to lobby to have their subsidies eliminated, but you will see them ask for old and sick people to bear the costs of deficit reduction... Obama doesn’t have to run for office again, so he’s free to say what everyone already knows: We don’t need to subsidize farmers, or energy companies, or defense contractors, or pharmaceutical companies, or the real estate business, or banks, or hedge funds. Corn and coal and sugar and 30-year mortgages don’t need to be subsidized. It’s possible to achieve all the budget savings we need for the next 10 years simply by cutting the fat out of discretionary spending programs and tax expenditures, without raising tax rates on the wealthy or cutting the safety net at all. All we need to do is look at the recommendations of such good-government groups as the Government Accountability Office, Taxpayers for Common Sense, or the Cato Institute...

[mother earth]

51. Hope you don't mind, Demeter, borrowed this post, but did give credit. The whole FC is a farce.

[Demeter]

53. The Internet Is Free, and Everything is Creative Commons unless otherwise noted

I don't mind in the least....I'm grateful that you thought it worthy of spreading.

[Demeter]

21. The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html

Wal-Mart longed to build in Elda Pineda’s alfalfa field. It was an ideal location, just off this town’s bustling main entrance and barely a mile from its ancient pyramids, which draw tourists from around the world. With its usual precision, Wal-Mart calculated it would attract 250 customers an hour if only it could put a store in Mrs. Pineda’s field.

One major obstacle stood in Wal-Mart’s way.

After years of study, the town’s elected leaders had just approved a new zoning map. The leaders wanted to limit growth near the pyramids, and they considered the town’s main entrance too congested already. As a result, the 2003 zoning map prohibited commercial development on Mrs. Pineda’s field, seemingly dooming Wal-Mart’s hopes. But 30 miles away in Mexico City, at the headquarters of Wal-Mart de Mexico, executives were not about to be thwarted by an unfavorable zoning decision. Instead, records and interviews show, they decided to undo the damage with one well-placed $52,000 bribe. The plan was simple. The zoning map would not become law until it was published in a government newspaper. So Wal-Mart de Mexico arranged to bribe an official to change the map before it was sent to the newspaper, records and interviews show. Sure enough, when the map was published, the zoning for Mrs. Pineda’s field was redrawn to allow Wal-Mart’s store.

Problem solved.

Wal-Mart de Mexico broke ground months later, provoking fierce opposition. Protesters decried the very idea of a Wal-Mart so close to a cultural treasure. They contended the town’s traditional public markets would be decimated, its traffic mess made worse. Months of hunger strikes and sit-ins consumed Mexico’s news media. Yet for all the scrutiny, the story of the altered map remained a secret. The store opened for Christmas 2004, affirming Wal-Mart’s emerging dominance in Mexico. The secret held even after a former Wal-Mart de Mexico lawyer contacted Wal-Mart executives in Bentonville, Ark., and told them how Wal-Mart de Mexico routinely resorted to bribery, citing the altered map as but one example. His detailed account — he had been in charge of getting building permits throughout Mexico — raised alarms at the highest levels of Wal-Mart and prompted an internal investigation.

But as The New York Times revealed in April, Wal-Mart’s leaders shut down the investigation in 2006. They did so even though their investigators had found a wealth of evidence supporting the lawyer’s allegations. The decision meant authorities were not notified. It also meant basic questions about the nature, extent and impact of Wal-Mart de Mexico’s conduct were never asked, much less answered...

[Demeter]

23. It's a bone-cracking cold, damp, gray day

It's also Board Meeting night. Wish me luck.

[xchrom]

25. it's not as cold -- but it has been dreary and damp for DAYS...

good luck!

[xchrom]

24. hmmmmm...what to wear...what to wear...

[Demeter]

28. Just do what I do

Wear it all and stay warm

[xchrom]

35. !

by Georgina! i think you've got it!

[xchrom]

26. US CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT FELL IN THIRD QUARTER

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CURRENT_ACCOUNT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-18-08-46-39

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. current account trade deficit narrowed in the July-September quarter to the smallest level since late 2010, but the improvement may not last.

The deficit fell to $107.5 billion in the third quarter, down 9 percent from the second quarter imbalance of $118.1 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the lowest trade gap since the final three months of 2010.

The current account is the broadest measure of trade. It tracks the sale of merchandise and services between nations as well as investment flows. Economists watch the current account as a sign of how much the United States needs to borrow from foreigners.

Many economists predict the deficit will widen in coming quarters, in part because a global slowdown is dampening demand for American exports.

[xchrom]

27. MISSOURI MONKS' FRUITCAKES SUPPORT SOLITARY LIVING

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MONKS_BAKING_FRUITCAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-18-08-44-08

AVA, Mo. (AP) -- Once the bane of pot-luck parties, the fruitcake has been turned into a sought-after treat by Trappist monks secluded in the Missouri Ozarks who some say bake cake that's nothing short of heavenly.

Between February and mid-December, monks at the Assumption Abbey in Ava, Mo., produce about 25,000 fruitcakes. The monks have gained a national reputation for carefully controlling the production. They marinate the fruit, age the cakes and even package and ship the product from their foothills monastery.

Before each two-pound cake leaves the abbey, it gets a special prayer from the monks aimed at all those who eat the cake.

At $31 apiece, the cakes allow the monks to live out solitary lives of work and prayer on their compound southeast of Springfield.

[Demeter]

30. At $31 apiece, so could I

and fruitcake isn't cheap to make.

[xchrom]

32. i just Knew this would catch your eye! nt

[xchrom]

29. Cellphone firms lose record customers{spain}

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/18/inenglish/1355832862_860880.html


With the crisis affecting just about everyone's pocketbook, Spain's three biggest cellphone operators are continuing to lose clients in record numbers as people cut back on services and defect to other companies with cheaper offers.

In October, 486,183 phone lines were lost in the whole sector - the biggest monthly drop in history, according to the Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT).

The three big operators - Movistar, Vodafone and Orange - lost customers to other operators such as Yoigo and carriers that do not have their own networks, such as Jazztel Móvil.

[Demeter]

39. Oh, NO! What will the NSA Do?

And Homeland Security, and all that other spy stuff?

They will have to lurk in shadows and read lips. It's not like the impoverished can afford postage, or paper...

[xchrom]

31. Morgan Stanley is fined $5m for Facebook IPO disclosure

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20765201

Morgan Stanley has been fined $5m (£3m) by the Massachusetts securities regulator for "improperly influencing" analysts before Facebook's share sale.

According to the regulator, there was a conflict of interest when a senior banker coached a Facebook official on what to say to analysts.

It also claimed that the two firms failed to tell all investors that revenues may be lower than forecast.

Many investors criticised Facebook as its shares fell following the listing.

[xchrom]

33. Toyota fined $17.4m in US over safety report delay

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20768942


Toyota has been fined $17.4m (£10.7m) - the maximum allowed under US law - for taking too long to report safety issues to authorities.

It is the fourth time in the past three years that the Japanese car giant has been fined in the US, after paying out almost $50m in total during 2010 over its handling of car recalls.

The latest fine is for a recall in June of about 150,000 vehicles.

The carmaker has recalled more than 10 million vehicles this year.

[DemReadingDU]

34. Bar Code first scanned in Troy, Ohio

In June 1974, the first U.P.C. scanner was installed at a Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first product to have a barcode included was a packet of Wrigley's Gum.
more...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode_system



P.S. Has anyone seen some of those bar codes recently...they use 2 lines for some products!



edit to add link for NYT article

12/13/12 N. Joseph Woodland, 1921-2012
It was born on a beach six decades ago, the product of a pressing need, an intellectual spark and the sweep of a young man’s fingers through the sand.

The man on the beach that day was a mechanical-engineer-in-training named N. Joseph Woodland. With that transformative stroke of his fingers — yielding a set of literal lines in the sand — Mr. Woodland, who died on Sunday at 91, conceived the modern bar code.

Mr. Woodland was a graduate student when he and a classmate, Bernard Silver, created a technology, based on a printed series of wide and narrow striations, that encoded consumer-product information for optical scanning.

Their idea, developed in the late 1940s and patented 60 years ago this fall, turned out to be ahead of its time, and the two men together made only $15,000 from it. But the curious round symbol they devised would ultimately give rise to the universal product code, or U.P.C., as the staggeringly prevalent rectangular bar code (it graces tens of millions of different items) is officially known.

The bar code would never have developed as it did without a chain of events noteworthy even in the annals of invention etiology:

more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/n-joseph-woodland-inventor-of-the-bar-code-dies-at-91.html

[xchrom]

36. China Said to Set Growth Target at 7.5% for Second Year

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-18/china-said-to-set-economic-growth-target-at-7-5-for-second-year.html

China has set its initial target for economic growth at 7.5 percent for a second year and tightened its inflation goal to the lowest level since 2010, two bank executives and a regulatory official briefed on the matter said.

Policy makers said during the annual central economic work conference that ended on Dec. 16 that they aim to keep inflation at about 3.5 percent, they said, asking not to be named as they aren’t authorized to disclose the details. The government didn’t set targets for money supply or new loans at the meetings, the three bank executives said.

Chinese officials are signaling tolerance for a slower pace of growth than the average of more than 10 percent for the past decade as the nation seeks to shift to a consumer-driven economy. China will seek a higher “quality and efficiency” of growth next year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported after the leaders’ meeting.

“A 7 percent growth target would have given a stronger signal that the government wants to focus more on quality and structural change,” said Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS AG in Hong Kong. “However, given that the economy is already in a cyclical upswing, a 7 percent target would mean policy tightening, so 7.5 percent is more neutral and realistic.”

[xchrom]

37. Boehner to Push Budget Bill While Continuing Talks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-18/obama-concessions-signal-potential-bipartisan-budget-deal.html

House Speaker John Boehner will push a budget “plan B” measure that would include tax increases on income of more than $1 million, while continuing to negotiate with President Barack Obama, a Republican aide said.

The plan is consistent with Boehner’s latest offer to the president, according to the aide, who sought anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.

Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are giving House Republicans an update on the negotiations during a private meeting today.
Yesterday, Obama lowered his tax revenue demand by $200 billion and offered to start tax rate increases at $400,000 in income instead of $250,000, moving closer to a budget deal with House Speaker John Boehner.

[xchrom]

38. The Owners Of Venice's Iconic Harry's Bar Have Been Forced Out Over Millions In Debt

http://www.businessinsider.com/harrys-bar-in-venice-in-massive-debt-2012-12



The family behind Harry's Bar, the legendary Venice drinking hole where Charlie Chaplin and Ernest Hemingway once raise their glasses, has been asked to step aside for the first time in 80 years as it sinks under a mountain of debt.

After three years of losses, the bar has accumulated a debt of almost six million euros (£4.9 million) and creditors are now demanding a restructure of the world-renowned bar and restaurant.

President and managing director Arrigo Cipriani, the 80-year-old son of Giuseppe who opened the bar's doors in 1931, has been forced to step aside after external commissioners were appointed by the Banca Popolare di Vicenca and the Banco Popolare.

The banks have asked Gianluca D'Avanzo and Salvatore Cerchione from Blue Sky Investment, the Luxembourg company that runs the group with the family, to supervise the restructure and radically cut costs.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/harrys-bar-in-venice-in-massive-debt-2012-12#ixzz2FPrjaEhw

[Demeter]

40. That's a lot of debt to accumulate in 3 years

Declared a national landmark by the Italian government in 2001, the bar is known for its signature Bellini cocktail and classic dry martinis as well as its traditional carpaccio.

It also spawned a worldwide empire of bars and restaurants from New York to Istanbul run by Mr Cipriani and his own son Giuseppe. But Mr Cipriani insists that Venice is the only establishment fighting for its survival.

"From 2008 to today we have seen a 20 to 30 per cent fall in our clientele. These days many day trippers come to Venice, but not quality tourists," he said.

"We cannot deny that we miss the Americans who were a guaranteed clientele for the whole year, we are feeling that. And that is not compensated by the new wave of rich Russians or Chinese. Maybe in the years to come they will replace the Americans. But today that is not so."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/harrys-bar-in-venice-in-massive-debt-2012-12#ixzz2FQ2NWst9

With an attitude and the price structure to support it, no wonder they are in trouble. And of course, take it out on the staff...

[Demeter]

41. Tell the President: No Deal That Cuts Benefits

http://action.ourfuture.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=182

Make that now and in the future...

[Demeter]

42. Look at gold and silver plunging, while the Euro soars

Somebody's being a jerk

[Ghost Dog]

45. Cough, cough (here on the road in S. Europe). Yah reckon?

<g>

[AnneD]

43. It has already started.....

a pay as you go multi tier system instead of the common good.

This wet dream is no less the brain (fart) child of Patri Frieman grandson of Milton Frideman

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/12/17/166887292/dont-like-the-government-make-your-own-on-international-waters.

It was all I could do to stop flipping the bird or throw up.

[Ghost Dog]

46. Cough, cough (here on the road in S. Europe). Yah reckon?

Hiyah AnneD.

¿Ready to join us yet?

The (educated) consensus I'm hearing so far is that: to encarcerate the guilty for life is too expensive; capital punishment is morally wrong (and too easy); no: something like Chairman Mao's (Great Helmsman's) Cutural Revolution with, you know, reeducation for the guilty, increasingly would appear to make sense.

With, of course, environmental-wise revolution at the heart of what is needed.

Hell. If I get to go just a little bit more native around here I'll be discussing these issues, heart to heart, with, for a start, local Catholic Priests, by the looks of it...

Did you pick up on Bolivia's policy, btw? - http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021959916

Besos...

[AnneD]

49. I heard that...

the Spanish Parliment was thinking about offering a green card to foreign home buyers....I know I can swing that. Never been to Spain but I like wine and tapas.

Edited to add that they are making these 'scum cities' around the nice cities in the Netherlands. Watch "Children of Men " and tell me what you think.

[Ghost Dog]

54. Nope, I'm afraid not.

They're talking about offering the right to residency, the right to live permanently in Spain to those purchasing property above a certain value, like €150,000, to those nationalities that don't already have that right, but no automatic right to employment nor to social security benefits... Arabs, Russians, for example, with independent offshore sources of income come to mind.

The slum-urbs around about all EU cities are a sight to behold.

[AnneD]

55. The right to live there permantly is fine...

I will be retired living on my pension so I should not be a burden. But the value of the property is more than I had in mind. Off shore scources is right.

[Demeter]

48. They are nuts

[AnneD]

50. They can do it...

if they pay an exit tax through the nose and give up their citizenship totally. No more tax payers bailing out their pimply white powdered pampered asses. They can figure it out for themselves, since they were too good to be with the masses.

I remember the joys of communal living. They are too privileged to roll up their sleeves and do some hard word.