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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 19 September 2012
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 19 September 2012[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 18 September 2012
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 18 September 2012
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Dow Jones 13,564.64 +11.54 (0.09%)
[font color=red]S&P 500 1,459.32 -1.87 (-0.13%)
Nasdaq 3,177.80 -0.87 (-0.03%)
[font color=red]10 Year 1.81% +0.02 (1.12%)
30 Year 3.01% +0.01 (0.33%) [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
[/center][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
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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]
46 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Wed Sep 19, 2012, 06:14 AM - Edit history (1)
There's a lot of value to a person and to society in knowing when to cut one's losses.
How frustrating to be Senator Kaufman and want to do the right things to get regulations passed, only to be stopped by the BLOB. No wonder he did not want to run again.
why can't all journalists tell it like it is the way he does.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19645349
Analysts said the move would stop the yen from rising, which should help Japan's exporters
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has extended its asset purchasing programme by 10 trillion yen ($126bn; £78bn), following similar moves by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The move, aimed at boosting the economy, increases the overall size of the stimulus programme to 80tn yen.
Although the increase had been anticipated by some analysts, many were surprised by the size of it.
Finance Minister Jun Azumi said the BoJ "took more action than we anticipated".
Analysts said the move would stop the yen from rising, which should help Japan's exporters
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has extended its asset purchasing programme by 10 trillion yen ($126bn; £78bn), following similar moves by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The move, aimed at boosting the economy, increases the overall size of the stimulus programme to 80tn yen.
Although the increase had been anticipated by some analysts, many were surprised by the size of it.
Finance Minister Jun Azumi said the BoJ "took more action than we anticipated".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19640127
Fedex said that customers were choosing to send goods overland to save money
Global shipping service company Fedex has cut its full-year profit forecast, warning that the global economy is continuing to weaken.
The company, whose earnings are widely watched because of the number of countries it does business in said its net income for the first quarter had fallen 1% on last year to $459m.
Fedex said it expected annual profits to be about 10% lower than expected.
Customers are moving business from air to slower and less expensive routes.
Fedex said that customers were choosing to send goods overland to save money
Global shipping service company Fedex has cut its full-year profit forecast, warning that the global economy is continuing to weaken.
The company, whose earnings are widely watched because of the number of countries it does business in said its net income for the first quarter had fallen 1% on last year to $459m.
Fedex said it expected annual profits to be about 10% lower than expected.
Customers are moving business from air to slower and less expensive routes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19646526
Workers from all sectors will soon see part of their pay packet diverted to pension saving
The number of people actively paying into a workplace pension scheme dropped for a third consecutive year in 2011, official figures show.
Some 8.2 million people were active members of pension schemes at work, down from 8.3 million the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said (ONS).
The fall came from a dip in membership in the private sector.
However, the figures are expected to pick up as a new pension policy starts.
Workers from all sectors will soon see part of their pay packet diverted to pension saving
The number of people actively paying into a workplace pension scheme dropped for a third consecutive year in 2011, official figures show.
Some 8.2 million people were active members of pension schemes at work, down from 8.3 million the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said (ONS).
The fall came from a dip in membership in the private sector.
However, the figures are expected to pick up as a new pension policy starts.
http://www.businessinsider.com/fedex-ceo-on-china-2012-9
FedEx CEO: I'm Amused Watching Observers 'Completely Underestimate' What The Export Slowdown Is Doing To China
?maxX=274&maxY=205
Earlier today, FedEx reported weak guidance on slowing global growth. Its stock ended down about 3%, and the transport stocks were generally big laggards.
Because FedEx is considered to be such a bellweather for economic activity, its earnings are closely watched by a broad range of folks, not just FedEx investors.
In that light, the comments by CEO Fred Smith on the company's call are fascinating (via Cullen Roche).
First is his comment about the global economic situation: global trade is in a very rare position of growing slower than GDP:
...fundamentally, what's happening is that exports around the world have contracted, and the policy choices in Europe and the United States and China are having an effect on global trade. Global trade has grown faster than GDP, except for the 2000, 2001 meltdown and 2008 and 2009, for 25 years. And over the last few months, that has not been the case. So that's what's really going on, is that exports and trade have gone down at a faster rate than GDP has.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fedex-ceo-on-china-2012-9#ixzz26uvNhWHi
FedEx CEO: I'm Amused Watching Observers 'Completely Underestimate' What The Export Slowdown Is Doing To China
?maxX=274&maxY=205
Earlier today, FedEx reported weak guidance on slowing global growth. Its stock ended down about 3%, and the transport stocks were generally big laggards.
Because FedEx is considered to be such a bellweather for economic activity, its earnings are closely watched by a broad range of folks, not just FedEx investors.
In that light, the comments by CEO Fred Smith on the company's call are fascinating (via Cullen Roche).
First is his comment about the global economic situation: global trade is in a very rare position of growing slower than GDP:
...fundamentally, what's happening is that exports around the world have contracted, and the policy choices in Europe and the United States and China are having an effect on global trade. Global trade has grown faster than GDP, except for the 2000, 2001 meltdown and 2008 and 2009, for 25 years. And over the last few months, that has not been the case. So that's what's really going on, is that exports and trade have gone down at a faster rate than GDP has.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fedex-ceo-on-china-2012-9#ixzz26uvNhWHi
http://www.businessinsider.com/currency-wars-are-back-2012-9
With the Bank of Japan announcing a new round of asset purchases early this morning, it's safe to say you'll hear a lot about "currency wars" again.
That term was first coined back in September 2010 by Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega, in reference to countries trying to weaken their currencies to boost exports.
Well all the conditions are now in place.
You have the ECB, the Fed, and the BoJ now easing.
You have global trade slowing (as the CEO of FedEx said yesterday).
And you have Guido Mantega back in the news, blasting QE3.
Currency Wars are back.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/currency-wars-are-back-2012-9#ixzz26uw0HdJb
With the Bank of Japan announcing a new round of asset purchases early this morning, it's safe to say you'll hear a lot about "currency wars" again.
That term was first coined back in September 2010 by Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega, in reference to countries trying to weaken their currencies to boost exports.
Well all the conditions are now in place.
You have the ECB, the Fed, and the BoJ now easing.
You have global trade slowing (as the CEO of FedEx said yesterday).
And you have Guido Mantega back in the news, blasting QE3.
Currency Wars are back.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/currency-wars-are-back-2012-9#ixzz26uw0HdJb
http://www.businessinsider.com/china8217s-corporate-cash-crunch-illustrated-2012-9
***SNIP
On top of slowing sales, however, many companies appear to be finding it harder to actually get paid for the sales, which adds to the cash crunch. The chart below from Macquarie last week shows that the cash conversion cycle is now at the highest level in many years, and so is working capital (defined as receivable + inventory – payables).
Macquarie:
total working capital (inventory plus receivables less payables) has more than doubled between December 2009 and June 2012 for the 2558 companies in our sample of data. In absolute terms, there is now the equivalent of almost RMB4trn tied up in operational leverage – equivalent to 46% of sales.
Practically this means that the cash conversion cycle of new sales has extended by 73% from 97 days (roughly 3 months) at the end of 2009 to 167 days at the end of June 2012.
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AlsosprachAnalyst/full/~3/Ob7Z756S_L4/china-corporate-cash-crunch.html#ixzz26ux7uJEE
***SNIP
On top of slowing sales, however, many companies appear to be finding it harder to actually get paid for the sales, which adds to the cash crunch. The chart below from Macquarie last week shows that the cash conversion cycle is now at the highest level in many years, and so is working capital (defined as receivable + inventory – payables).
Macquarie:
total working capital (inventory plus receivables less payables) has more than doubled between December 2009 and June 2012 for the 2558 companies in our sample of data. In absolute terms, there is now the equivalent of almost RMB4trn tied up in operational leverage – equivalent to 46% of sales.
Practically this means that the cash conversion cycle of new sales has extended by 73% from 97 days (roughly 3 months) at the end of 2009 to 167 days at the end of June 2012.
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AlsosprachAnalyst/full/~3/Ob7Z756S_L4/china-corporate-cash-crunch.html#ixzz26ux7uJEE
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-19/housing-starts-in-u-s-climbed-2-3-in-august.html
Worker Sean Smith nails down sheathing on the second floor of a home being built in Peoria, Illinois, on Aug. 15, 2012.
New housing construction rose in August, boosted by the strongest pace of single-family home starts in more than two years that shows an improving U.S. real estate market.
Beginning construction climbed 2.3 percent to a 750,000 annual rate, less than forecast and restrained by a drop in the building of apartments, from a revised 733,000 annual pace in July, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 767,000. Building permits cooled.
Mortgage rates near all-time lows and cheaper properties are driving sales at companies like Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) and propelling construction, one of the economy’s few sources of strength. Tighter credit standards and unemployment above 8 percent for the last three years are hurdles for the industry.
Affordability is “actually quite favorable right now -- that would be a combination of prices as well as mortgage rates,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics Ltd. in Valhalla, New York, said before the report. “There’s a lot of room for housing to go up over the next few years.”
Worker Sean Smith nails down sheathing on the second floor of a home being built in Peoria, Illinois, on Aug. 15, 2012.
New housing construction rose in August, boosted by the strongest pace of single-family home starts in more than two years that shows an improving U.S. real estate market.
Beginning construction climbed 2.3 percent to a 750,000 annual rate, less than forecast and restrained by a drop in the building of apartments, from a revised 733,000 annual pace in July, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 767,000. Building permits cooled.
Mortgage rates near all-time lows and cheaper properties are driving sales at companies like Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) and propelling construction, one of the economy’s few sources of strength. Tighter credit standards and unemployment above 8 percent for the last three years are hurdles for the industry.
Affordability is “actually quite favorable right now -- that would be a combination of prices as well as mortgage rates,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics Ltd. in Valhalla, New York, said before the report. “There’s a lot of room for housing to go up over the next few years.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-19/farmer-s-daughter-haugerud-reaps-riches-on-drought-struck-corn.html
Renee Haugerud, founder and chief investment officer of Galtere, has led her New York-based hedge fund to gains with a spring bet on corn futures.
For three excruciating weeks in May, Renee Haugerud, the founder of New York hedge fund Galtere Ltd., agonized that her wager on corn was a massive mistake.
She had started buying in March, when futures contracts averaged about $5.59 a bushel, expecting steady to rising demand from ethanol refiners and feedlots to boost prices. Instead, on May 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported record planting and forecast a bumper crop. Prices began a 12 percent slide for the month. Other hedge funds bailed.
Haugerud, 57, the daughter of a part-time farmer, fought the temptation to join the crowd, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its October issue. Instead, she and her team got to work. They rechecked past corn yields and plowed through ethanol production and export numbers to reconfirm their calculation of strong demand for a so-so crop.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency bolstered their case in April when it raised the limit for ethanol in gasoline to 15 percent from 10 percent for cars made after 2001, later aiding the buying Haugerud had forecast. As for supply, Haugerud thought the USDA was overoptimistic in its harvest prediction. If farmers were planting in amounts not seen since 1937, her farm upbringing and commodities experience told her they were tapping marginal land. This all didn’t add up to a corn bonanza.
“Our research said that, at best, we were going to get an average yield,” she says. “The market was pricing in perfection.”
Renee Haugerud, founder and chief investment officer of Galtere, has led her New York-based hedge fund to gains with a spring bet on corn futures.
For three excruciating weeks in May, Renee Haugerud, the founder of New York hedge fund Galtere Ltd., agonized that her wager on corn was a massive mistake.
She had started buying in March, when futures contracts averaged about $5.59 a bushel, expecting steady to rising demand from ethanol refiners and feedlots to boost prices. Instead, on May 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported record planting and forecast a bumper crop. Prices began a 12 percent slide for the month. Other hedge funds bailed.
Haugerud, 57, the daughter of a part-time farmer, fought the temptation to join the crowd, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its October issue. Instead, she and her team got to work. They rechecked past corn yields and plowed through ethanol production and export numbers to reconfirm their calculation of strong demand for a so-so crop.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency bolstered their case in April when it raised the limit for ethanol in gasoline to 15 percent from 10 percent for cars made after 2001, later aiding the buying Haugerud had forecast. As for supply, Haugerud thought the USDA was overoptimistic in its harvest prediction. If farmers were planting in amounts not seen since 1937, her farm upbringing and commodities experience told her they were tapping marginal land. This all didn’t add up to a corn bonanza.
“Our research said that, at best, we were going to get an average yield,” she says. “The market was pricing in perfection.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-17/fake-memo-directs-sustainable-companies-to-tell-all.html
Sustainability is still in its Wild West phase, as companies struggle to identify what information they should freely divulge about their environmental and social performance and corporate governance ("ESG"
. A cottage industry of sustainability consultants has sprouted up to help companies identify the transparency measures that will make them more trusted, respectable and successful in the long term.
Below is an imaginary memo from a made-up consultancy that was recently obtained by Bloomberg.com Sustainability News:
TO: [NAMES REDACTED, COMPANY NAME REDACTED]
FROM: Arthur Billingreen, Trendy Advice Partners, LLC
SUBJECT: Sustainability reporting advice
Institutional investors, governments and nongovernmental organizations have raised their expectations about how much non-financial information companies should disclose as material to investors. They now recommend "a lot."
*** i have a suspicion about what this means -- but i don't really understand it.
Sustainability is still in its Wild West phase, as companies struggle to identify what information they should freely divulge about their environmental and social performance and corporate governance ("ESG"
. A cottage industry of sustainability consultants has sprouted up to help companies identify the transparency measures that will make them more trusted, respectable and successful in the long term.
Below is an imaginary memo from a made-up consultancy that was recently obtained by Bloomberg.com Sustainability News:
TO: [NAMES REDACTED, COMPANY NAME REDACTED]
FROM: Arthur Billingreen, Trendy Advice Partners, LLC
SUBJECT: Sustainability reporting advice
Institutional investors, governments and nongovernmental organizations have raised their expectations about how much non-financial information companies should disclose as material to investors. They now recommend "a lot."
*** i have a suspicion about what this means -- but i don't really understand it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/apr/07/how-to-make-shooters-sandwich?fb=optOut#/?picture=360719874&index=0
Of the almost infinite possibilities suggested by the technique of putting something between two chunks of bread, one Edwardian great stands top-hat, head and shoulders above the rest
You'll need your choice of crusty loaf, a couple of good steaks - these are rib-eyes - roughly the same shape in plan as the loaf, 500g of mushrooms and 200g of shallots
Slice off the top quarter of the loaf, hook out most of the crumb and save for breadcrumbs
Cut your shallots and mushrooms into fine dice and put about 75g of butter into the pan. I got lucky and had a similar quantity of bone marrow left over in the fridge
***you gotta see the slide show -- the sandwich gets smashed like a panini over night -- looks delish!
Of the almost infinite possibilities suggested by the technique of putting something between two chunks of bread, one Edwardian great stands top-hat, head and shoulders above the rest
You'll need your choice of crusty loaf, a couple of good steaks - these are rib-eyes - roughly the same shape in plan as the loaf, 500g of mushrooms and 200g of shallots
Slice off the top quarter of the loaf, hook out most of the crumb and save for breadcrumbs
Cut your shallots and mushrooms into fine dice and put about 75g of butter into the pan. I got lucky and had a similar quantity of bone marrow left over in the fridge
***you gotta see the slide show -- the sandwich gets smashed like a panini over night -- looks delish!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/19/eurozone-crisis-japan-stimulus-spain-bailout
With Spain yet to request financial help,and Greece battling to make cuts, which way will Europe's debt crisis proceed? Photograph: Wu Wei/xh/Xinhua Press/Corbis
14.06bst More details on the potential sale of the Greek consulate in London have emerged, via our friends at the Daily Telegraph.
The DT's Matthew Sparkes flags up that the 10,000 square foot consular residence, situated in London's Holland Park, is being offered for sale by estate agents March & Parsons (can't find it on their website yet tho)
This Google map shows where it is located (the Greek embassy is across the road):
13.24bst Greek cuts talks continue
More in from Greece on the ongoing battle (for it is nothing less) to locate €11.9bn in spending cuts.
Our correspondent Helena Smith reports that the government has announced that prime minister Antonis Samaras will meet his two coalition partners Thursday afternoon.
With Spain yet to request financial help,and Greece battling to make cuts, which way will Europe's debt crisis proceed? Photograph: Wu Wei/xh/Xinhua Press/Corbis
14.06bst More details on the potential sale of the Greek consulate in London have emerged, via our friends at the Daily Telegraph.
The DT's Matthew Sparkes flags up that the 10,000 square foot consular residence, situated in London's Holland Park, is being offered for sale by estate agents March & Parsons (can't find it on their website yet tho)
This Google map shows where it is located (the Greek embassy is across the road):
13.24bst Greek cuts talks continue
More in from Greece on the ongoing battle (for it is nothing less) to locate €11.9bn in spending cuts.
Our correspondent Helena Smith reports that the government has announced that prime minister Antonis Samaras will meet his two coalition partners Thursday afternoon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/18/greek-economy-shrink-great-depression
Teachers protest against new austerity measures. Unions have called a general strike for 26 September. Photograph: Simela Pantzartzi/EPA
The ailing Greek economy is on the verge of a 1930s-style Great Depression, as the Athens government predicted a 25% fall in GDP by 2014, putting intense pressure on the EU to relax the terms on the country's €130bn (£105bn) bailout package
The finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, said a decline in tax revenues and spiralling unemployment will deepen the country's four-year recession, which critics of the EU's stance said could lead to a recession as long and deep as America's pre-war decline.
Stournaras, who is locked in negotiations over the terms of a second bailout, fears that efforts to revive the Greek economy will be undermined by a draconian austerity programme, early debt repayments and high interest rates on its loans.
"The cumulative reduction (of gross domestic product) since 2008 is just under 20% and is expected to reach 25% by 2014," he told a Greek–Chinese business forum in Athens.
Teachers protest against new austerity measures. Unions have called a general strike for 26 September. Photograph: Simela Pantzartzi/EPA
The ailing Greek economy is on the verge of a 1930s-style Great Depression, as the Athens government predicted a 25% fall in GDP by 2014, putting intense pressure on the EU to relax the terms on the country's €130bn (£105bn) bailout package
The finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, said a decline in tax revenues and spiralling unemployment will deepen the country's four-year recession, which critics of the EU's stance said could lead to a recession as long and deep as America's pre-war decline.
Stournaras, who is locked in negotiations over the terms of a second bailout, fears that efforts to revive the Greek economy will be undermined by a draconian austerity programme, early debt repayments and high interest rates on its loans.
"The cumulative reduction (of gross domestic product) since 2008 is just under 20% and is expected to reach 25% by 2014," he told a Greek–Chinese business forum in Athens.
