STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 13 January 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 13 January 2012[/font]

SMW for 12 January 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 12 January 2012
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Dow Jones 12,471.02 +21.57 (0.17%)
S&P 500 1,295.50 +3.02 (0.23%)
Nasdaq 2,724.70 +13.94 (0.51%)

10 Year 1.92% +0.03 (1.59%)
30 Year 2.97% +0.02 (0.68%)



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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
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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
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goldmansachs666
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
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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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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]


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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]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Documents Show How Fed Missed Housing Bust

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/documents-show-fed-missed-housing-bust-15350821


Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation's economy could pull off a "soft landing" from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy.

Newly released transcripts of Fed meetings during Bernanke's first year as chairman show that, among Fed officials, he often expressed the most concern about housing. But no official, according to the transcripts, recognized the extent of the damage a housing bubble would cause. A year later, the housing market's collapse helped send the nation into its worst recession since the Great Depression.

In fact, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then a Fed official, expressed confidence in September 2006 that "collateral damage" from housing could be avoided. The transcripts released Thursday covered the eight meetings of the central bank's chief policy-making body, the Federal Open Market Committee, during 2006. That included the last meeting of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in January of that year and Bernanke's first meeting in March after he had succeeded Greenspan as chairman.

The Fed releases minutes of the FOMC discussions three weeks after the meetings but full transcripts do not come out until five years later.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Little Alarm Shown at Fed At Dawn of Housing Bust

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577157001537763864.html

In his second meeting as chairman of the Federal Reserve in May 2006, Ben Bernanke heard a Fed governor warn about the nation's mortgage market. But Mr. Bernanke described the cooling of the housing boom as a "healthy thing."

"So far we are seeing, at worst, an orderly decline in the housing market," he said.

Mr. Bernanke's words were contained in 1,197 pages of transcripts released Thursday of closed-door Fed meetings from that year. The transcripts paint the most detailed picture yet of how top officials at the central bank didn't anticipate the storm about to hit the U.S. economy


(I don't subscribe to WSJ, so all I got was this snippet off the goog. Enough to make you go



FUCKERS!!!!)

[Loge23]

58. At it's peak, Bernanke enjoyed the view.

In March 2006, according to the WSJ article, Bernanke looked out over the view of a 50%+ rise in home values in three (3) years and exclaimed: "Again, I think we unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market."
Ya' think??

In June '06: the Fed staff reports: "We have not seen - and don't expect - a broad deterioration in mortgage credit quality."
Geithner chimed in: "We see a pretty healthy adjustment process under way...The world economy still looks pretty robust to us."
Continuing, Dim Tim, offered up this crystal ball gem: "Our recent financial-market data don't, in my view, provide a convincing case for a substantial increase in the probability of a much weaker path for growth going forward."

In Dec. '06, on the cusp of a sharp rise in mortgage defaults, Bernanke opined: "Like most people around the table, I think that a soft landing with growth a bit below potential in the short run looks like the most likely scenario."

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you your United States Economic Dream Team!!

[Demeter]

64. They were dreaming, all right

Wankers

[Demeter]

5. And in 5 Years, they've done exactly nothing

and criminals walk the streets while the statute of limitations runs out.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. Bank of America, UBS Renew Demand for MBIA Insolvency Review

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-12/bank-of-america-ubs-renew-demand-for-mbia-insolvency-review.html

Four banks suing MBIA (MBI) Inc. over the insurer’s 2009 restructuring renewed a request to a regulator to assess the finances of a unit that guaranteed toxic mortgage debt, citing “substantial additional evidence” it’s insolvent.

The lenders, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and UBS AG (UBSN), asked Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky for a “qualified” expert to review expected losses for MBIA Insurance Corp. The banks said they had data that “clearly demonstrates” the unit “cannot satisfy its policyholder claims in full,” Robert Giuffra, the banks’ lead counsel and a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, said in a Jan. 11 letter to Lawsky.

The banks, which bought guarantees from the insurer on securities tied to home loans, sued Armonk, New York-based MBIA and the state insurance regulator in 2009, claiming MBIA’s restructuring left it undercapitalized and possibly unable to pay future claims. Fourteen of an original 18 plaintiffs withdrew from the suits after settling with the insurer separately. Societe Generale (GLE) SA and Natixis (KN) SA are the other two banks still fighting the split.

“Although the banks have been predicting MBIA Insurance Corp.’s imminent demise for almost three years, it remains solvent and fully capable of meeting all of its expected obligations,” Kevin Brown, an MBIA spokesman, said in an e- mail. MBIA has continues to pay claims, including payments to the 14 former plaintiffs, he said. Bank of America owes MBIA about $3 billion in mortgage put-back claims, according to Brown.





I do not know what all of this means, except that it suggests to me there is some nervousness running through this business.

[Demeter]

6. Sounds like cannibalism is breaking out among the 1%

and about time, too.

[dixiegrrrrl]

103. If I read this right( so ealy in the am)

it is admitting that the banks, which SOLD the toxic mortgages to funds, ( and knew they were toxic)
also got themselves insured against the losses of said toxic mortgages
and now are worried that one of the insurance companies is running out of money.

( perhaps because the banks had so many claims for insurance on the toxic mortgages they sold???)

One reason the banks had claims is because part of the agreement they made to the funds they sold the mortgages, was they
(the banks) would have to buy back any "bad" mortgages.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. For investors, it's all about the dividends

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/stocks/story/2012-01-12/dividend-paying-stocks/52522356/1

Dividends have gone from being an afterthought to one of the top things on many investors' minds.


These periodic payments by companies to their investors are taking an oversized role in the markets. Given the stock market's disappointing performance last year and lackluster targets for 2012, investors are happy taking what they see as a safer bet. That craving for dependable, albeit not guaranteed, dividend income could continue, given that interest rates remain low, analysts say.

"People are throwing in the towel on the horse race," says Jack Ablin of Harris Private Bank. "They want a dividend program that can deliver."



Again, an interesting commentary in light of a subject I brought up some months ago. The argument then made was that stock offerings are a way for the original owners to get big bundles of cash o which the never pay dividends because the company never "makes" any money. So I'm thinking, as I read this article, if people are now going to be looking for dividends instead of buying and selling, is this necessarily going to be a good thing for a market that's heavy on non-dividend stocks that just floated the start-up execs' lifestyle?

[tclambert]

22. Okay, but last year an article said it seems like nobody cares about dividends anymore.

For the past couple of years, I've been looking at my credit union savings account paying .015% annual interest versus AT&T paying around 6%. Centurylink (CTL), a smaller telecom company, pays 7.8% dividends.

I lamented here on SMW that analyst reports often didn't mention dividends as a factor in their rating process, when for many stocks it was my primary reason for considering investing in them.

I know what this is, though. The Dow has been pretty flat this past year. Stock price appreciation has not been as profitable as it was the two years before that.

[Demeter]

43. For one thing, there weren't any dividends

For another, there was gambling fever.

[dmallind]

61. Bullshit - I've had ATT for years and never missed a dividend

And here's their register of amounts and times for the doubtful

http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5675

[tclambert]

93. New Zealand Telecom had nice dividends for awhile.

Yahoo says they are paying 13.3% now. In June, 2010 I bought some because it was paying around 10%. The share price went up 25% by December and I couldn't resist cashing that in. There was also a foreign tax involved, so the effective yield was lower. I kinda traded it for AT&T stock. At that time the yields made that a decent looking exchange.

They increased the dividend since and the price recently dropped quite a bit. Something must have happened in November.

For now, I like the yield on Windstream (WIN) and Centurylink (CTL), both large cap telecoms with yields a little higher than AT&T, but more volatile stock prices. AT&T, with a market cap of $178B, seems about as safe to me as a savings account in a bank. The FDIC makes the bank account a hair safer. But the interest rate on savings accounts now is essentially 0%.

[dmallind]

102. All good but remember "there were no dividends" Hahahahhahhah!!!

[tclambert]

94. There are always some companies paying dividends.

These days, with online screeners it's easy to find stocks with decent dividend yields. Of course, the screener programs don't work perfectly, the data isn't perfectly up to date, and you still have to do do your due diligence to check to see that the companies fundamentals are sound. Very high dividends usually means there's something fishy going on. Though in one case, with a REIT, I concluded the only thing going on was fear, 'cause the RE in REIT stands for Real Estate. For a year and half now, I've collected pretty good dividends from that REIT. Its fundamentals still look sound, so I may buy some more when I save up a few dollars.

[AnneD]

83. We are of the same mind....

and I will add to your reasoning.

In order for a company to give a dividend, they have to be profitable. To be profitable, they have to maintain a balance sheet which requires some integrity. Now I am talking companies that actually produce something not a paper company like hedge funds or money laundering vehicle funds like Blackrock or Cerebus.

This promotes company stablility, real growth, and real profits and benefits the US economy. The reason any small investor is in the market is to be a hedge ahainst inflation.

Mom worked for AT&T for years. As a stockholder then, she enjoyed some shares of AT&T along with the baby bells. She tried to encourage all the people she supervised to keep their AT&T (you could get just more of the baby bells, or have AT&T and slightly fewer of the baby bells). They couldn't even give AT&T away them , but Mom proved to be right in the long run. That dividend is a really nice cushion for her and my stepdad.

While I have very little say in my managed mutual funds now...I will be starting my own self managed portfolio when I have a few bucks. You can bet it will have stocks that pay dividends. In fact, as a small investor, that would be the only way I would get into the market now if I had a mind to.

I am concentrating on cash holdings at the moment with an eye on some real estate (buying a home). No I am not a tycoon and consider myself to be in the 78%, but I do look at things from a business standpoint. My household budget is the accounts. The worst I can do is to break even...I always try to have at least a profit (savings) of 20% every year.

I have a diversified portfolio of cash (and PM's), commodities (my pantry of canned goods), and stocks (a Roth and 403B) and Bonds (my pension).

The best you can do is diversify the nest eggs in your basket and put as many different ones as you can.

[Demeter]

7. When The White House Touts Falling Wages

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/when-white-house-touts-falling-wages

150 factory workers in China threatened to jump off the roof of an iPhone factory unless they received a raise. Similar stories are accumulating. Inflation, especially in food and other essentials, has been rampant over the last few years—and to make ends meet, desperate workers sometimes take drastic measures. These anecdotes underscore a major trend in China: skyrocketing cost of labor....In the US, it’s the opposite. Since 2000, real wages (adjusted for inflation) have declined. The White House even touts this horrid statistic in its just released paper, Investing in America: Building an Economy That Lasts. Clearly, the paper is not intended for the rank and file. It outlines how current policies are making America competitive with low-wage countries like China. And one of the principal strategies is ... lowering wages:

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The paper also touts the administration’s claim of having created 3.2 million jobs over the last 22 months. But these numbers are based on surveys, formulas, and statistical adjustments. The BLS’s Employment Participation rate, which the paper wisely leaves unmentioned, measures the percentage of people age 16 and older who have jobs. It’s the least corruptible employment number available—and at 58.5%, it's where it was in 1983.


?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1326333857515

BLS Employment Population Ratio

The long decline from 64.7% (April 2000) parallels another statistic in the paper: from 2001 - 2007, three million manufacturing jobs were lost. Those were the Bush years, obviously. But what happened during the Obama years? Unmentioned, but just as bad.


?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1326333657937

From the White House paper

The tiny hook at the bottom is the ballyhooed uptick. But during the next economic downdraft, the line will plunge again. And that slack in employment has contributed to the decline in real wages....The problem for a high-wage country in a globalized economy is that jobs will be globalized as well. The decision whether or not to offshore production comes down to calculating the total cost of doing business overseas. This includes worker productivity, transportation, supply chain risks, legal and political risks, currency risks, intellectual property risks, expenses for expats, delays, flexibility, environmental issues, taxes, import duties, etc. Hence, for US manufacturing to be competitive, wages don’t need to match Chinese wages, but they need to be closer. That approach in wages has been happening—at a great expense to US workers. And now there are some results...the net of outsourcing and insourcing among large companies still favors outsourcing. But under certain circumstances and on a small scale, companies might try to insource. And that is a step in the right direction....Smaller companies face different dynamics. It has always been expensive, difficult, and risky for them to offshore production. Many have done it, lured by cheap wages, only to learn costly lessons. And now anecdotal evidence is piling up that they’re having second thoughts. The paper lists KEEN, a footwear maker, and Master Lock as examples of companies that have brought back jobs. I personally know one consumer products company that shut down its manufacturing operations in China and relocated production back to the US (though it still operates plants in other parts of the world). And this is a trend that will likely accelerate. But low-wage countries will continue to draw jobs away from the US. The numbers couldn’t be clearer: in 2011, the trade deficit with China hit another record north of $320 billion. So taking credit for a wave of ‘insourcing’ from China, as the paper does, has an aura of political grandstanding...

[Demeter]

8. And 1983 was a really bad year for finding employment

not as bad as 1975, perhaps, but the Boomers were walloped hard.

[AnneD]

84. That was the year....

I got out of oil and into Nursing. I had to retool myself-and no wisecracks from you Fudd

[Fuddnik]

92. Did you get your cheese too?

[AnneD]

96. Yes...

I had to move it.

[bread_and_roses]

23. OMFG 58.5%

staggering.

[Loge23]

55. Bleak House, Inc.

Noted heartless bastard, Newt Gin-grinch, knows an opportunity when he sees one.
"See! America can compete!"

[Demeter]

9. US acts against Chinese oil trader

The US has slapped sanctions on three firms including a major Chinese oil trader for selling refined oil products to Iran

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/19JYUU/L9BL4R/K91WR/U1G3UQ/2OXJZ6/D5/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

IT MUST BE A DEATH WISH....NOTHING ELSE EXPLAINS IT

[Demeter]

12. Use of force tops agenda on Iran

As Iran?holds?its line, how much longer can Israel and the US wait before they attack the country’s nuclear sites?

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/19JYUU/L9BL4R/K91WR/U1G3UQ/PF6MLP/D5/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

[Demeter]

20. Geithner Gets Japan’s Backing on Iran Oil Sanctions After Snub From China

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-12/japan-considering-gradual-cut-in-iran-oil-imports-as-sanctions-calls-rise.html

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s efforts to tighten economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program won backing from Japan after China rejected limiting oil imports from the country...“We want to take concrete steps to reduce our share in an orderly way as soon as possible,” Finance Minister Jun Azumi said at a joint press conference in Tokyo yesterday with his U.S. counterpart. “The world cannot tolerate nuclear development.”

Geithner’s meetings were part of a trip to Asia’s two largest economies aimed at building support for tighter Iranian economic sanctions after international monitors detected an acceleration in the nation’s nuclear development program.
China, which counts Iran as one of its top petroleum suppliers, snubbed the U.S. this week, with a vice foreign minister saying his nation “opposes imposing pressure and sanctions.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government hasn’t made a final decision on cutting Iranian imports, and that Azumi’s pledge “is just one of several opinions.” Azumi later said he is seeking ways to make sure sanctions on Iran don’t hurt the Japanese economy...“Japan will try and seek a halfway solution where they’ll try and limit imports from Iran and boost imports from other Middle Eastern countries that are also U.S. allies,” said Razeen Sally, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Given its military alliance with the U.S., Japan “is much more susceptible to U.S. pressure than China,” he said.

The U.S. will send officials to Japan next week to discuss how the Japanese government will implement its plans, NHK Television quoted Geithner as saying in an interview. “We share a sense of urgency,” he told NHK.

THE JAPANESE POLITELY BLEW TIMMY OFF...HOW DELICIOUS!

[AnneD]

98. Japan has zip...

in the way of coal. oil, gas, and we know how nuclear energy is working for them. They blew him off because they were too polite to show him their middle finger (that's the smilie I want). They could have buried him with all those treasury bonds they hold.

[dixiegrrrrl]

104. "weapons of mass destruction" part Deux

[Demeter]

10. Draghi hails ‘tentative’ stabilisation

The provision last month of €489bn in three-year loans to eurozone banks had averted liquidity shortages in the financial system, the ECB president said

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/19JYUU/L9BL4R/K91WR/U1G3UQ/GDP69M/D5/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

THIS GOES BEYOND A DEATH WISH INTO TOTAL INSANITY.

[Demeter]

11. Nigerian leader in crisis talks on strikes

Goodluck Jonathan met union leaders amid violent protests over fuel subsidies as the biggest union said it would shut down oil production


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/19JYUU/L9BL4R/K91WR/U1G3UQ/TUVXBR/D5/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

THERE'S A LESSON HERE....

[Demeter]

13. NY Fed in new move to sell AIG assets

An approach has been made for about $7bn of the $20.5bn of residential mortgage-backed securities housed in Maiden Lane II, a special purpose vehicle

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/IIL3AI/SUO9T/PF1SRG/TUVXGR/W1/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13


FEEDING VULTURES---TAKE TWO!

[Demeter]

14. China car sales slow as US roars back

Beijing withdraws 2008 tax incentives as buyers hold off purchasing amid credit tightening and fears of inflation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/IIL3AI/SUO9T/PF1SRG/PF6MLK/W1/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13


CHINA ONLY OUTNUMBERS US BY 4:1, SO BIG DEAL....

[Demeter]

15. RBS cuts lift shares and boost executive’s bonus

The state-owned bank’s stock rose 5.5 per cent after it announced plans to cut 3,500 jobs and drastically shrink its investment banking activities

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/IIL3AI/SUO9T/PF1SRG/MSBAUP/W1/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

THE VICTORY IN DEFEATING MANAGEMENT...

[Demeter]

16. Misconduct pervades UK research

A survey of 2,700 scientists found that 13 per cent had first-hand knowledge of UK-based researchers deliberately altering or fabricating data


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/ZE9K33/7AQDNJ/87I64/KQFYE3/B5JTX9/6C/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

WE NEED NATIONAL COMPARISONS ON FRAUD...

[tclambert]

95. If they were keeping national scoreboards on fraud . . .

would you trust them?

[AnneD]

100. We're number one...

we're number one...

[Demeter]

17. DILBERT DOES IT AGAIN

[Demeter]

29. Headlines from the Onion

Nation's Disenfranchised Finally Rise Up, Demand Justice, Are Denied It

Obama Openly Asks Nation Why On Earth He Would Want To Serve For Another Term

http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-openly-asks-nation-why-on-earth-he-would-wan,26933/

Detroit Ending 24-Hour Police Station Access

http://www.theonion.com/articles/detroit-ending-24hour-police-station-access,27027/

[Demeter]

18. Republican Socialists, Democratic Capitalists GOP Pols Exploit Anti-Wall Street Rage By Ted Rall

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30227.htm

...What a difference the wholesale collapse of international capitalism makes. Forget 9/11—everything changed on 9/14/08, when Lehman Brothers hit the skids. Millions lost their jobs. Millions more lost their jobs. And the government refused to help them. The government’s masters, the bankers, wouldn’t let them. They wanted all that taxpayer money for themselves. The system was finally exposed as the corrupt, inefficient, cruel pseudodemocracy that we on the Left had always known it was. More than three years have passed yet neither the political class nor its corporate bosses have found the wherewithal to sate the anger of America’s roiling masses with the traditional bundle of social programs. To the contrary, the powers that be are calling for austerity, for gutting what’s left of the safety net.

They’re stealing the rope with which we will hang them. Political disintegration is disruptive and painful. But it sure is entertaining. The rise of the Republican primary season’s Anti-Capitalist Brigades is the center ring of this circus of death. At the head of the anti-Romney cadres is one of Newt’s well-heeled supporters, who is dropping a cool $3 million on an ad blitz that denounces Mitt Romney for engaging in slash-and-burn capitalism. (Is there another kind?) ...“There’s a company in The Wall Street Journal today that Bain Capital, Romney's company, put $30 million into, took $180 million out of and the company went bankrupt,” Newt Gingrich said on January 10th. “And you have to ask yourself: Was a six-to-one return really necessary? What if they only take $120 million out? Will the company still be there? Will 1,700 families still have a job?” Good questions all. But the heartless beasts who populate Wall Street venture capital firms don’t worry about the blood and tears they leave in their wake. Like all vampires they feast and flee. Their pet Republicans don’t care either. Not usually....“I think there’s a real difference between people who believe in the free market and people who go around, take financial advantage, loot companies, leave behind broken families, broken towns, people on unemployment,” the former speaker continued....Not much difference. Not when you think about it. Still, this is a serious slap-the-forehead moment. Bear in mind, Gingrich is still a man of the Right. A few weeks ago his proposal for forced child labor of impoverished waifs marked the Dickensianest moment of the 2011 Christmas shopping season...Newt isn’t the only Republican presidential candidate attacking capitalism’s sacred right to loot and pillage. Texas governor Rick Perry, whose brain freezes and loutish yucks over his role as the nation’s top executioner of lower-class misérables (and at least one innocent man) make his predecessor George W. Bush look like Adlai Stevenson, calls buyout specialists like Romney “vultures” who “swoop in…eat the carcass, and…leave the skeleton” of companies they target. Romney, he said, is a “buyout tycoon who executed takeovers, bankrupted businesses, and sent jobs overseas while killing American jobs.”

“Governor Romney enjoys firing people—I enjoy creating jobs,” added Jon Huntsman. These are Republicans? What’s up?
...Greg Sargent of The Washington Post chimes in: “The leading GOP candidates are on record arguing that Romney’s practice of capitalism—which he regularly cites as proof of his ability to create jobs, as a generally constructive force and even as synonymous with the American way—is not really capitalism at all, but a destructive, profit-driven perversion of it. Thanks to them, this is no longer a left-wing argument.” (Actually, destruction and profit-taking are the essential cores of capitalism. But why quibble? Everyone agrees that capitalism sucks. Yay!) Times are changin’. According to polls, communism is more popular than Congress. So why isn’t the party of the left jumping on the Wall Street-bashing bandwagon? Throughout the 2008 campaign and his presidency Barack Obama has taken pains to reassure the 1 percent that if he’s not exactly one of them he’ll look out for their bank accounts. Certainly he has enacted policies that have increased the gap between rich and poor while sucking the life out of the dry husk of the middle class.

Meanwhile, revolution looms. Why don’t the Democrats see it? Don’t they understand that capitalism is discredited? Newt Gingrich does. So do most Republicans. It comes down to a simple explanation: Everything has changed, but not the Democrats. They’ve always been slower than the GOP to recognize the shifting winds of American politics, slower to respond, inept when they try. We used to be a center-right country. Now we’re left-right. Soon we’ll be left-left. Both the Dems and the Reps will be left behind. In the meantime, watch the dying Republicans make the most of an agenda that ought to belong to the dying Democrats: bashing the rich and greedy. If nothing else, it’ll be entertaining.

(Ted Rall is the author of “The Anti-American Manifesto.” His website is tedrall.com.)

[Demeter]

19. Homeland Security Given Green Light to Monitor American Journalists

http://news.yahoo.com/homeland-security-given-green-light-monitor-american-journalists-072933420.html

Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that emerged from the Department of Homeland Security in November, Washington has written permission to collect and retain personal information from journalists, news anchors, reporters or anyone who uses “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”

According to DHS, the definition of personal identifiable information can consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.”
RT adds:

Previously established guidelines within the administration say that data could only be collected under authorization set forth by written code, but the new provisions in the NOC’s write-up means that any reporter, whether someone along the lines of Walter Cronkite or a budding blogger, can be victimized by the agency.

Also included in the roster of those subjected to the spying are government officials, domestic or not, who make public statements, private sector employees that do the same and “persons known to have been involved in major crimes of Homeland Security interest,” which to itself opens up the possibilities even wider.

The department says that they will only scour publically-made info available while retaining data, but it doesn’t help but raise suspicion as to why the government is going out of their way to spend time, money and resources on watching over those that helped bring news to the masses.

According to RT, the website “Fast Company” reports that the NOC Monitoring Initiative has been in play since at least early-2010 and that the data is being shared with both private sector businesses and international third parties.

MARKETEERS, WE HAVE BEEN WARNED!

[AnneD]

89. We always knew...

Agent Mike had his ears on.
It should be WS that should be concerned about us.

[tclambert]

97. My dear D, I'm sure the file on you fills more than one cabinet.

If I were BARACK OBAMA, I would have the NSA, and at least one WHITE HOUSE staffer keeps tabs on DemocraticUnderground.com and especially the Stock Market Watch thread. They might learn something useful. I know I learned that U6 is a fuller measure of unemployment than U3, the official unemployment rate.

[tclambert]

99. Damn, I'm old. I thought of files in terms of paper files in folders in file cabinets. Cre-eak.

The kids would have thought of thumb drives or said "the file on you is so big, Google's gmail can't back it up."

[dixiegrrrrl]

105. Making a list, and checking it twice.

I was unaware of this until you posted it.
Exceedingly chilling.

[Demeter]

21. Farmers Sue Jon Corzine Over Missing Millions

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/farmers-sue-jon-corzine-missing-millions/story?id=15321298#.Tw_ewqVSS6q

Montana farmers have filed a class action suit against former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, charging that the failed financial firm run by Corzine stole millions from their accounts to pay off its spiraling debts, and that Corzine's "single-minded obsession" with making MF Global a big player on Wall Street led to the firm's collapse.

MF Global's clients included 38,000 wheat farmers, cattle ranchers and others who "hedged" their crop prices by placing millions in MF Global accounts. Those accounts were supposed to be "segregated and secure," according to the federal suit, meaning MF Global could not draw on those funds.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all 38,000 customers, alleges that when MF Global made a series of bad investments -- notably in European debt -- it began "siphoning funds withdrawn from segregated client accounts" to cover its debts.

"This is a suit by the real victims of MF Global," said plaintiff's attorney Mark Baker of the law firm Anderson, Baker & Swanson. "The missing funds were not investments in MF Global, or loans to MF Global, but rather the customer's own money as collateral to guaranty their contracts. They were not to be used by others – let alone their own broker – to speculate on risky and exotic securities."...

[Demeter]

24. I Was Shitting You People - A Message From Ayn Rand

http://paulbibeau.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-was-shitting-you-people-message-from.html

I gave my lawyer instructions to release this message after my death. A joke I concocted when I was a kid has gone way, way too far. The most important thing you should know is this: Nothing I have ever written was meant to be taken seriously...Back in the early 1940s I was living in Tenafly, New Jersey with a guy named Ronnie Hubbard. He was hiding out in his brother's basement so he could avoid the draft, and I was working at a rendering plant. Most nights we'd lie on this cot he'd found on a curb and drink, fuck like weasels, and smoke opium. I'll be honest: We smoked a shit-ton of opium. Anyway over the course of a few weeks -- it's hard to piece it all together -- we started talking about pranks.

"What's the worst prank you could possibly pull?" he wanted to know. I can still see those piggy little eyes glinting while he said it. He was an ugly man. I have no idea how I ended up with him. But he asked the question a few times, and I didn't really have much of a reply. Until one day, the answer just came to me. "The worst thing you could do would be to somehow take the most terrible people in the world, and make them even greater douches than they already are. Find a way to zero in on all of their ugliest faults and vices, and just... just amp them up beyond belief. That would be something..."

"Fine," he said huffily. "Who would you go after?"
"Rich white college kids."
"Jesus," he said. "That's... that's perfect."
"I know, right?"
"They're the worst."
"God, they're horrible."
"But what are you going to do to them?"
"I'm going to convince them... that they're just too nice."

...We laughed for twenty minutes. I was tearing up, and Ronnie was wheezing like he was going to stroke out. I didn't even know where I was going with this idea. But it felt just so fucking wrong. In a good way. In a great way. Of course we never thought we could do any of this. You figure even the most entitled, morally backward people kind of know they're being dicks. No one is going to believe that being selfish and irresponsible is actually a good thing. Right?

[Demeter]

26. MORE AT LINK

Including an interview with the vampire herself.

[Demeter]

38. MORE HUMOROUS FANCY: The C.E.O. in Politics By DAVID BROOKS BARF ALERT

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/opinion/brooks-the-ceo-in-politics.html

...The traits that actually correlate with successful presidencies have deeper roots.

First, successful presidents tend to be emotionally secure. They have none of the social resentments and desperate needs that plagued men like Richard Nixon. Instead they were raised, often in an aristocratic family, with a sense that they were the natural leaders of the nation. They were infused, often at an elite prep school, with a sense of obligation and responsibility to perform public service. Whether it is a George Washington, a Franklin or Theodore Roosevelt or a John F. Kennedy, this sort of president enters the White House with ease and confidence, is relatively unscathed by the criticism of the crowd, is able to separate the mask he must wear for public display from the real honest self he knows himself to be. This sense of emotional security can also be found in great military leaders, like Dwight Eisenhower, and in serenely successful movie stars, like Ronald Reagan.

Second, great presidents tend to have superb political judgment. In his essay on this subject, Isaiah Berlin defines political judgment as “a capacity for integrating a vast amalgam of constantly changing, multicolored, evanescent perpetually overlapping data.” A president with political judgment has a subtle feel for the texture of his circumstance. He has a feel for where opportunities lie, what will go together and what will never go together. This implicit knowledge is developed slowly in people like Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson who have spent decades as political insiders and who have a rich repertoire of experiences to draw on. It also comes from voracious social contact. It comes to leaders who have a compulsive desire to be around people and who can harvest from a million social encounters a sense of what people want and can deliver.

Third, great leaders have often experienced crushing personal setbacks. This experience, whether it’s Lincoln’s depression or F.D.R.’s polio, not only gives them a sense of sympathy for those who are suffering, but a personal contact with frailty. They are resilient when things go wrong. They know how dependent they are on others, how prone they are to overconfidence. They are both modest, because they have felt weakness, and aggressive, because they know how hard it is to change anything.

Finally, great leaders tend to have an instrumental mentality. They do not feel the office is about them. They are just God’s temporary instrument in service of a larger cause. Lincoln felt he was God’s instrument in preserving the union. F.D.R. felt he was an instrument to help the common man and defeat fascism. This sense of being an instrument gives them an organizing purpose. It gives them a longer perspective, so they don’t get distracted by ephemera. It means their administration marches in one direction, even though it is flexible and willing to accept incremental gains along the way.

In sum, great presidents are often aristocrats and experienced political insiders. They experience great setbacks. They feel the presence of God’s hand on their every move.

I EXPECT HE'S SUPPORTING SANTORUM, AFTER THAT BUILD UP. A MAN WHO CANNOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN GOOD CHARACTER, RELIGIOUS MANIA AND ALZHEIMERS REALLY SHOULDN'T GET TO PICK THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD PRESIDENT.

[Fuddnik]

86. Not very many writers can make me hurl further than David Brooks.

As usual, he doesn't disappoint.

[AnneD]

90. I can't even watch ...

PBS news report on Friday because I know they will have him on. He is such a prick.

[paulbibeau]

109. Thanks for sharing this.

I've seen some of my stuff up on DU, and it's made me decide to actually make an account here. I think you guys really get my humor. We are in the freak part of the Venn diagram together!

Merry whatever and a happy however it goes,
Paul

[Demeter]

110. Welcome to DU and the SMW

The Stock Market Watch is a daily production by Tansy Gold in the Economy forum, which overflows into the Weekend Economists thread on weekends, oddly enough...

Hope you find it entertaining and informative.

[Demeter]

25. Legislation needed in every state: The Truth-In-Mortgage Documents Act

http://frauddigest.com/fraud.php?ident=4744


1. On every Mortgage Assignment, and every Missing or Lost Assignment Affidavit, filed in the Official Records of any county in this State, or filed in any Court in this State, each signer, including any witness or notary, must sign his or her own name, regardless of any authorization by any individual or entity to sign any other name.

2. On every Mortgage Assignment, and every Missing or Lost Assignment Affidavit, filed in the Official Records of any county in this State, or filed in any Court in this State, each signer, including any witness or notary, must set forth his or her actual job title, and the name of his or her actual employer, regardless of any authorization by any individual or entity to state any other job title or employer. Any individual signing as an officer of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("MERS&quot must state the name of the Nominee/Lender in addition to setting forth his or her actual job title, and the name of his or her actual employer.

3. On every Mortgage Assignment, and every Missing or Lost Assignment Affidavit filed in the Official Records of any county in this State, or filed in any Court in this State, each signer, including any witness, must set forth his or her actual work address at the time of the signing, regardless of any authorization by any individual or entity to state any other address.

4. On every Mortgage Assignment filed in the Official Records of any county in this State, or filed in any Court in this State, the effective date of the Assignment must be plainly and exactly set forth by day, month and year. Effective dates such as "On or before" are not permitted.

5. On every Mortgage Assignment, and every Missing or Lost Assignment Affidavit, filed in the Official Records of any county in this State, or filed in any Court in this State, each signer, including any witness or notary, must sign his or her own name, using a full signature stating first and last name, and may not use initials or abbreviations or marks, regardless of any authorization by any individual or entity to sign using initials, abbreviations or marks.

[Demeter]

27. Chart of the Day: Greek workers work 48% more hours than Germans

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2012/01/greek-german-work-hours-compared.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+creditwritedowns+%28Credit+Writedowns%29



explication at link

[Demeter]

28. Futures slightly down at 8:20 (-19)

So says the Magic 8 Ball.

[Demeter]

31. Gold futures drop on stronger dollar

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-drop-in-electronic-trading-2012-01-13?siteid=YAHOOB

[Demeter]

36. J.P. Morgan profit falls 23%

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-profit-falls-23-2012-01-13?siteid=YAHOOB

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 23% as revenue from its investment banking arm declined.

As the first major bank to report for the fourth quarter, J.P. Morgan’s results offer a glimpse into what is largely expected to again be a bleak quarter for the nation’s largest financial institutions...

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS ON THE CRAPS TABLE, WHEN THE LUCK RUNS OUT

[Demeter]

52. JPMorgan May Report Record Profit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-12/jpmorgan-may-report-record-earnings-as-wells-fargo-closes-gap.html

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), likely to keep the title of most profitable U.S. bank when it reports earnings tomorrow, has a West Coast rival closing in: Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)...JPMorgan is projected to report a record $18.5 billion in 2011 earnings when adjusted for one-time items, a 6 percent increase for the New York-based company, according to a survey of analysts by Bloomberg. Profit at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is estimated to have jumped more than four times as much, to an all-time high of $15.3 billion.

By focusing on the U.S. and eschewing traditional Wall Street businesses such as structured products, Wells Fargo surpassed earnings at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Citigroup Inc. for six consecutive quarters. Wells Fargo, whose $1.3 trillion in assets make it the fourth-largest U.S. bank, also has higher valuations than its bigger peers....Wells Fargo “never really embraced investment banking as heavily as the Wall Street crowd has,” said Paul Miller, a former examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and analyst at FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia. “I think one of the reasons Wells is where they are right now is because they did not get into that business” in a bigger way, he said.
The strains on investment banking will be apparent in JPMorgan’s fourth-quarter profit, as well as weak trading results predicted for its smaller competitors when they report earnings next week, Miller said.

Earnings Ratio

Wells Fargo is being rewarded for its restraint with a market value of $156.2 billion, compared with $139.3 billion at JPMorgan and $91.4 billion at No. 3 Citigroup. (C) Only Goldman Sachs trades at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than Wells Fargo among the biggest U.S. lenders, at 10.76 versus 10.25. The higher the ratio, the faster investors think the company’s profit will grow.

“Traditional banking, predominantly making loans and taking deposits and serving both corporate and individual consumers, is being viewed more favorably right now by the investor community,” said Ed Najarian, who runs bank research at International Strategy and Investment Group in New York. “It’s considered safer and to have a steadier and more consistent earnings outlook.”

[xchrom]

30. well -- it seems to morning -- and i seem to ambivalent about it.

especially since petunia decided to go over the back fence -- and i was forced to get the ladder -- lean it against the fence -- go over{including jumping w/ my old knees} -- bundle her up -- drop her over to her side of the fence -- jump back myself -- and all this BEFORE my first cup o' joe.

[Demeter]

33. Poor, Sweet Baby!

[xchrom]

37. ...

i needed that!

[Demeter]

45. I thought you did

I'm doing Charlie Brown for the Weekend--I know I did that before (at least, I think I did), but it's time for a little of that sweet simplicity.

It's snowing, finally. We saved a lot of money not needing to plow on Xmas and New Years.

Now we are debating if we have to rent a hall again for Annual Meeting, the Re-Run.

[xchrom]

54. oh charlie brown would be great -- and you can never have too much charlie brown.

wow -- finally some snow -- i hope it does'n't get too bad with plows and all.

keep us updated on the annual meeting -- it's always interesting to hear how those meetings go.

[DemReadingDU]

53. Petunia seems to be gaining back her confidence!

and becoming adventuresome again

[xchrom]

56. ...

yes, she is -- she's trying to KILL me.

[dixiegrrrrl]

106. You either need a smaller dog or a taller fence, eh?

I assume you are talking about a dog?

[xchrom]

107. indeed. petunia is my mixed pitie/hound{of some sort}

she has entered her teens and has decided that she knows better than me.

and this after being nearly killed by a car a short while back.

well, she has another thing coming if she thinks she can get past this Royally Pissed Off old Queen.
i'm happy to make both of us miserable til she gets the point -- which you don't do anything that puts you{petunia} in danger.

she can only go out in the back yard with me -- and then it's back in the house.

[xchrom]

32. Dip in China's FX reserves may hasten policy shift

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-china-economy-reserves-idUSTRE80C0DA20120113?type=GCA-Davos

(Reuters) - China's official reserves slipped to $3.18 trillion in the final quarter of 2011, signaling that the days of rampant export-led accumulation of foreign currency are numbered and that new monetary policy steps may be needed to counter capital outflows.

The People's Bank of China published data on Friday showing a $20.6 billion, or 0.6 percent, fall in reserves in the final three months of the year, though Beijing's stash of foreign wealth is still by far the world's largest.

Reserves dropped in November and December, the first consecutive monthly fall since the first quarter of 2009, a clear sign of the impact that a falling trade surplus and an outflow of speculative funds is having on China's capital flows.

And while the quarterly fall does not signal massive capital flight from China, analysts say it does argue for Beijing to further lower the amount of cash it makes banks hold as reserves to ensure sufficient market liquidity.

[xchrom]

34. Brent falls as euro weakens, Nigeria eyed

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-markets-oil-idUSTRE7AD06820120113?type=GCA-Davos

Reuters) - Brent crude futures dropped in volatile trade on Friday as the euro fell amid ongoing worries about the euro zone, although the threat of supply disruptions in Nigeria lent some support to prices.

By 1147 GMT, Brent crude futures were 20 cents lower at $111.06 a barrel, reversing earlier gains after hitting an intra day high of $112.50.

U.S. light crude futures were up 7 cents at $99.17 per barrel, having touched an intra-day high of $100.19 earlier in the session.

Brent futures dropped tracking weakness in the euro, which fell to a session low in European trade after an auction of Italian 10-year bond yields did not manage to attract as much demand as Spain's sale on Thursday.

[xchrom]

35. PRECIOUS-Gold eases as euro dips, heads for weekly gain

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/markets-precious-idUKL3E8CD22Z20120113

London, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Friday, taking a breather from this week's march higher as the euro dipped and other assets rose, but stayed on track for its biggest two-week rise in two months as investors returned to the market after last month's price drop.

Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,641.80 an ounce at 1240 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were down $4.50 an ounce at $1,643.20.

Cash gold prices have risen 5 percent so far this year despite a firmer tone to the dollar, as investors bought back into the market after gold's 10 percent price drop in December.

"I'm always a bit suspicious of interpreting too much of price action in the first couple of weeks of a new year. It's not typically very fundamental," said Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Lewis. "It could well be valuational momentum that is driving these moves rather than anything else."

[Roland99]

39. Today's Reports

[Roland99]

40. U.S. November trade gap widens 10.4% to $47.8 bln

[Roland99]

41. U.S. core import prices up 0.1% in December

[xchrom]

42. Analysis: Race is on for sales of Boeing's MAX vs Airbus neo

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/16/us-manufacturing-summit-boeing-idUKTRE7BF1ZI20111216

(Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) started a year later than its European rival Airbus (EAD.PA) in a race to overhaul the $2 trillion narrowbody aircraft market, and is fighting hard to restore balance to their tense duopoly.

With Boeing's announcement this week that it has a launch customer -- Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) -- for its upcoming 737 MAX, the two planemakers have officially squared off in the competition to make the best -- and best-selling -- narrowbody aircraft: the upcoming MAX vs the upcoming Airbus a320neo.

The two airplane families feature new engines in their current designs. Both planemakers boast superior efficiency, and with Boeing's announcement on Tuesday of the list prices and a better understanding of the capabilities of the three models of its 737 MAX, the company will have an easier time converting its 948 commitments from customers to firm orders.

"We are in a position to start firming up the 948 commitments we have so far and continue to meet Airbus in different campaigns around the world," Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Jim Albaugh told Reuters on Tuesday.

[Roland99]

44. The Hidden Dark Agenda of Public Education

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/hidden-dark-agenda-public-education

Yesterday I released an article, “Lack of Critical Thinking is Key to the Corrupt Status Quo Maintaining Their Power”, on my blog and at ZeroHedge and it generated a lot of comments including those that stated they don’t believe in conspiracies or the existence of a “big bad wolf” that deliberately is “out to get us”. However, for those of us familiar with the works of John Taylor Gatto, we know that there are literally mountains of evidence that indict former Presidents and corporate businessmen with deliberately steering the global education system towards the singular mission of producing obedient factory workers to serve the corporate industrialists during the Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, there are mountains of evidence, direct from the horse’s mouth, that their continued mission for the academic system today is to produce obedient servants to the State and to kill any individualism and critical thinking that may lead to an awakened state among the masses that would challenge the moral authority, or rather lack thereof, of those in power.

John Taylor Gatto, one of the most well-known and outspoken critics of the public education system, quit his 30-year teaching career in 1991, because confined within the system, Gatto believe he was hurting children more than helping them. He stated the following as his reason for leaving institutional academia:

“I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells instead of letting them grow up knowing their families, mingling with the world, assuming real obligations, striving to be independent and self-reliant and free...I don’t mean to be inflammatory, but it’s as if government schooling made people dumber, not brighter; made families weaker, not stronger...the training field for these grotesque human qualities is the classroom. Schools train individuals to respond as a mass. Boys and girls are drilled in being bored, frightened, envious, emotionally needy, and generally incomplete. A successful mass production economy requires such a clientele. A small business, small farm economy like that of the Amish requires individual competence, thoughtfulness, compassion, and universal participation; our own requires a managed mass of leveled, spiritless, anxious, family-less, friendless, godless, and obedient people who believe the difference between Cheers and Seinfeld is a subject worth arguing about. An executive director of the National Education Association announced that his organization expected ‘to accomplish by education what dictators in Europe are seeking to do by compulsion and force.’ You can’t get much clearer than that. WWII drove the project underground, but hardly retarded its momentum. Following cessation of global hostilities, school became a major domestic battleground for the scientific rationalization of social affairs through compulsory indoctrination."

I precisely stated in my article yesterday, “Refuse to accept something as fact just because an authority figure, whether a professor, the Vatican, or politician, told you to believe it, and automatically many amongst the sheep will accuse one of pandering to conspiracy theories, even when one can present many facts that support one’s opposition view much more strongly than the widely accepted view” in the hopes that people would read this line and digest historical facts before dismissing the main points of my article. Yet, from reading the comments posted below my article yesterday, it seems as though some may have dismissed my argument before even examining the facts.

[AnneD]

91. Read about ....

the Broad foundation, Koch Brothers, and follow the money with Rhee, Duncan, and Teach for America. I use to think I might have a bit of paranoia, but after 22 years-I don't think I had enough paranoia.

Read any DU posts by Madfloridian for information reguarding the screw job Corp. America is doing to public education, while they send their kiddos to private schools.

[Roland99]

108. yeah...I've been reading Madfloridian for a while.

It's amazing how easily America is being led down the road that will destroy public education

[Demeter]

46. America Isn’t a Corporation By PAUL KRUGMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/opinion/krugman-america-isnt-a-corporation.html

“And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”

That’s how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.” In the movie, Gekko got his comeuppance. But in real life, Gekkoism triumphed, and policy based on the notion that greed is good is a major reason why income has grown so much more rapidly for the richest 1 percent than for the middle class.

Today, however, let’s focus on the rest of that sentence, which compares America to a corporation. This, too, is an idea that has been widely accepted. And it’s the main plank of Mitt Romney’s case that he should be president: In effect, he is asserting that what we need to fix our ailing economy is someone who has been successful in business.

In so doing, he has, of course, invited close scrutiny of his business career. And it turns out that there is at least a whiff of Gordon Gekko in his time at Bain Capital, a private equity firm; he was a buyer and seller of businesses, often to the detriment of their employees, rather than someone who ran companies for the long haul. (Also, when will he release his tax returns?) Nor has he helped his credibility by making untenable claims about his role as a “job creator.”

But there’s a deeper problem in the whole notion that what this nation needs is a successful businessman as president: America is not, in fact, a corporation. Making good economic policy isn’t at all like maximizing corporate profits. And businessmen — even great businessmen — do not, in general, have any special insights into what it takes to achieve economic recovery...Why isn’t a national economy like a corporation? For one thing, there’s no simple bottom line. For another, the economy is vastly more complex than even the largest private company. Most relevant for our current situation, however, is the point that even giant corporations sell the great bulk of what they produce to other people, not to their own employees — whereas even small countries sell most of what they produce to themselves, and big countries like America are overwhelmingly their own main customers...

[Demeter]

47. Obama To Seek Power To Merge Agencies, Streamline Government

DECK CHAIR TIME! OR MAYBE, MUSICAL CHAIRS

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/13/145157412/reports-obama-to-seek-power-to-merge-agencies-streamline-government?ft=1&f=1001

President Barack Obama plans to ask Congress "for more power to streamline the government by merging agencies," The Associated Press reports. It cites a "senior administration official" as its source.

Politico says it has confirmed the news that "in what could lead to a big reorganization of the federal government, President Obama will ask Congress for the power to merge departments and agencies to ... improve efficiency."

And The Hill is on the story as well, reporting that "President Obama, looking to make the federal government leaner, is looking to merge six trade and commerce agencies, a senior administration official confirmed."

According to the AP, the president's "first proposal would be to combine trade and commerce operations into one."

The White House says the president will be delivering "remarks on government reform" at 11:20 a.m. ET, from the East Room of the White House.

[Demeter]

48. Should the U.S. government consider additional initiatives to help underwater homeowners?

2/3 OF VOTING READERS OF THE CFA INSTITUTE'S FINANCIAL NEWSBRIEF NEWSLETTER SAY: "NO!"

[Demeter]

49. U.S. Federal Reserve Jan. Beige Book Summary (Text)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/u-s-federal-reserve-jan-beige-book-summary-text-.html

Summary

Contact reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that national economic activity expanded at a modest to moderate pace during the reporting period of late November through the end of December. Seven Districts characterized growth as modest; of the remaining five, New York and Chicago noted a pickup in the pace of growth, Dallas and San Francisco reported moderate growth, and Richmond indicated that activity flattened or improved slightly. Compared with prior summaries, the reports on balance suggest ongoing improvement in economic conditions in recent months, with most Districts highlighting more favorable conditions than identified in reports from the late spring through early fall.

Consumer spending picked up in most Districts, reflecting significant gains in holiday retail sales compared with last year’s season, and activity in the travel and tourism sector expanded in most areas. Demand strengthened further for nonfinancial services, including professional and transportation services. Manufacturing activity generally continued to expand, although the pace of growth has slowed for selected subsectors such as technology products. Agricultural producers and extractors of natural resources reported generally robust conditions. Activity stayed sluggish in residential real estate markets, and conditions in commercial real estate markets remained somewhat soft overall but showed signs of ongoing improvement in several Districts. Reports from financial institutions generally indicated a slight uptick in loan demand by businesses, along with improvements in overall credit quality.
Upward price pressures and price increases remained quite limited for most categories of final goods and services, as the effects of prior increases in the costs of selected inputs have eased. Upward wage pressures were modest overall, although a few Districts noted substantial compensation increases for workers with specialized skills in selected sectors and regions.

Consumer Spending and Tourism

Reports on consumer spending were favorable in general. Most Districts reported that holiday retail sales were up noticeably over last year’s season, with New York and Dallas describing sales as “brisk” and “robust,” respectively. Consumer spending and confidence generally were characterized as firmer than in recent reporting periods, although Kansas City reported that spending softened. Items identified as the strongest holiday sellers by various Districts included consumer electronics and jewelry, and Chicago noted that luxury items in general sold well during the holiday season. By contrast, many Districts reported weak sales and excess inventories of warm clothing, due to unusually mild weather. Retail inventories more broadly were reported to be at or near desired levels, consistent with retailers’ sales expectations. Boston, New York, and Minneapolis noted exceptional growth in Internet sales for selected items. Sales of new automobiles continued to pick up in most Districts. Among the more favorable reports, Atlanta noted that the pace of auto sales in November and December was “the strongest in over two years,” and strong demand and sales were reported as well by New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minneapolis....

MORE

[Demeter]

50. Federal Reserve's 'beige book' confirms improving U.S. economy

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fed-beige-book-20120112,0,2454641.story

The Fed's report shows that the pace of economic activity around the country is picking up, with the exception of the housing market....

[Demeter]

51. If we add 200,000 jobs a month, will recovery take 7 years or 12 years? by Ezra Klein

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/if-we-add-200000-jobs-a-month-will-recovery-take-7-years-or-12-years/2011/08/25/gIQA6AFtqP_blog.html?hpid=z14

GRAPHIC PORN

?uuid=Ve5Rejh1EeGB7-ryvQnIog

?uuid=j5VKMjxnEeGvGH7A3lkH4g

Before the recession, the economy needed to produce 120,000 jobs a month just to keep up with new entrants into the labor market. Lately, that number has been closer to 90,000. Part of this is that immigration has fallen and many immigrants are leaving. Part of it is that some workers are leaving the labor force — either they can’t find a job and have given up, or they have decided to stay home with the kids or focus on other pursuits rather than take the sort of jobs they can get right now.

The question is whether the growth of the labor force bounces back or holds steady. And it turns out, this question matters a lot. This table that Greenstone sent along shows how long it will take to reverse the jobs losses at different rates of payroll and employment growth. As you can see, if we’re adding 200,000 jobs a month, it will take almost twice as long to recover if we’re adding 125,000 workers a month rather than 90,000:

?uuid=i2l1VjxmEeGvGH7A3lkH4g

That said, this is a case where a longer recovery could mean a better recovery. If we continue growing at 90,000 jobs a month, it likely means that many of the long-term unemployed never made it back into the labor force, and that the economy is producing less than it otherwise could. It means, in other words, that the recovery is proving unable to reverse some of the deepest wounds inflicted by the recession. If we get catch-up growth in the labor market, that may push back the return of full employment, and it may even temporarily increase the unemployment rate, but it will mean we’re seeing a fuller recovery.

[xchrom]

57. Mr. Davidson's Planet: NPR/NYT Guru Adam Davidson's Discredited Economic Principles

http://www.alternet.org/economy/153722/mr._davidson%27s_planet%3A_npr_nyt_guru_adam_davidson%27s_discredited_economic_principles_/

You’d be hard-pressed to find a discipline that shapes our world more than economics, and yet none has weaker foundations or more misguided evangelists. The rise of economic guru du jour Adam Davidson, the co-founder of NPR’s “Planet Money” and columnist for the New York Times Magazine, is perhaps one of the most disturbing illustrations of this unfortunate fact.

The Curious Field of Economics

Not too long ago, I asked Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz how many economists he met still adhered to the Chicago School free market approach, otherwise known as Neoliberal economics, that was proven to be severely flawed by the recent economic crash.

“About 60 percent,” said Stiglitz.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“For the most simple human reason of all,” Stiglitz told me. “People don’t like to admit that they’re wrong.”

[Demeter]

65. You can say that again!

The whole principle of DU3 is based on that.

[Tansy_Gold]

69. +brazillions n/t

[Fuddnik]

87. The entire field is based on discredited science.

Scientific American had an article explaining this a couple of years ago.

Google, "The Economist has no clothes".

I've posted it here a few times, and it's still relevant.

[xchrom]

88. thanks. will do. nt

[tclambert]

101. They're like the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

"Your policies nearly destroyed the economy."

"It's just a flesh wound."

[xchrom]

59. Novartis to cut 1,960 jobs in US

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16544223

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has announced plans to cut 1,960 jobs in the US.

The company said the move reflected the impending loss of its patent on blood pressure drug Diovan and expected lower sales of one of its hypertension drugs.

Some 1,630 jobs will go from its sales force and another 330 positions from the reorganisation of the headquarters of its US general medicines business.

Other pharmaceutical firms have also cut their sales forces as the industry faces a wave of patent expiries.

[xchrom]

60. Vultures Circling Corpse of American Airlines

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/01/13/vultures_circling_corpse_of_american_airlines.html

As American Airlines lingers in bankruptcy in the consolidation-happy airline industry, firms are pouring in to consider buying the company led by Delta (advised by Blackstone) and US Airways with the private equity TPG Group also possibly interested in a piece of the action.

The best outcome from a passenger's point of view is probably a patriotic merger between American and US Air which would give the United States three really big global carriers—United, Delta, and US/American—with the merged entity ideally joining the OneWorld alliance so we'd have strong representation in each of the three major global airline alliances. Then Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, etc. would provide extra competition on domestic routes. An American merger with Delta, by contrast, would raise a bunch of competition policy issues and presumably the combined firm would need to divest some assets in order to be allowed to go forward. However that worked out, we'd be left with a kind of lopsided market with two big players and a bunch of smaller ones. But American's management seems to want to try to restructure and keep on going it alone in which case the can of future bankrupties and consolidations will probably just end up getting kicked down the road.

[xchrom]

62. When Wall Street Sins, SEC Needs to Extract Confessions: View

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/when-wall-street-commits-a-sin-the-sec-needs-to-extract-confessions-view.html

The Securities and Exchange Commission last week said it will no longer allow individuals or companies, when settling civil lawsuits, to “neither admit nor deny” wrongdoing if they have been separately convicted in a parallel criminal case. At first glance, it seems the SEC is doing something highly commendable. But there is much less than meets the eye here. The SEC should make further changes to put real meaning behind its attempt at reform, which affects only a small fraction of SEC cases.

The SEC’s enforcement chief, Robert Khuzami, says the change “eliminates language that may be construed as inconsistent with admissions or findings that have already been made in criminal cases.” This makes sense, since criminal cases require a higher standard of proof than civil ones. In short, if you’re guilty of the crime, you’re often guilty of parallel civil violations.

Internal discussions on revising the settlement language have been going on for months, the SEC said. We have to wonder whether the commission didn’t see the contradiction of its policy after Wells Fargo & Co. last month admitted to Justice Department charges of municipal-bond bid rigging by Wachovia, which Wells Fargo acquired in 2008. As in so many other cases, Wells Fargo skirted an admission of wrongdoing in a matching SEC suit.

The bigger question is why the SEC ever adopted such a stance and let it remain in place since the 1970s. One answer might be that the SEC has sometimes forgotten that its mission is to protect investors, not the industry it oversees.

[Demeter]

66. And Eric Holder Needs to Prosecute, Dammit!

[xchrom]

63. Greece debt write-off talks with banks stall

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16553532

Talks between Greece and its private sector lenders over a possible 50% write-off of its debts have stalled.

Reaching a deal is a pre-condition for Athens receiving the next chunk of bailout cash from the International Monetary Fund and European Union.

Without that money, the Greek government could run out of cash and be forced to leave the euro.

Meanwhile, markets fell on rumours that France and other governments were about to have their credit ratings cut.

[Demeter]

67. So that's what it was! I had wondered

The Confidence Fairy got shot down, again.

[xchrom]

68. and 'breaking' news has it that austria has been down graded. nt

[Demeter]

75. S&P set to downgrade two eurozone nations

The credit rating agency Standard & Poor's is set to downgrade two triple A-rated eurozone nations, with one government official naming France and Austria. The other triple A-rated nations, including Germany, are expected to escape downgrade.
This has yet to be confirmed by the agency or the governments.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/GDUPGA/SUO9T/DWE52V/62ILBR/4O/t?a1=2012&a2=1&a3=13

----------

[xchrom]

77. it's like a scorched earth policy with those guys.

though the irony of austria being downgraded -- i get a little schadenfreude from that.

[Demeter]

72. For Europe, Few Options in a Vicious Cycle of Debt

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/for-europe-few-options-in-a-vicious-cycle-of-debt/?hp

Europe has a $1 trillion problem.

As difficult as the last two years have been for Europe, 2012 could be even tougher. Each week, countries will need to sell billions of dollars’ worth of bonds — a staggering $1 trillion in total — to replace existing debt and cover their current budget deficits. At any point, should banks, pensions and other big investors balk, anxiety could course through the markets, making government officials feel like they are stuck in a scary financial remake of “Groundhog Day.” Even if governments attract investors at reasonable interest rates one month, they will have to repeat the process again the next month — and signs of skittish buyers could make each sale harder to manage than the previous one.

...Given this vicious cycle, policy makers and investors are closely watching the debt auctions for potential weakness. On Thursday, Spain is set to sell as much as 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) of government bonds. Italy follows on Friday with an auction of more than $9 billion.

The current challenge for Europe is to keep Italy and Spain from ending up like Greece and Portugal, whose borrowing costs rose so high last year that it signaled real likelihood of default, making it impossible for the governments to find buyers for their debt. Since then, Greece and Portugal have been reliant on the financial backing of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The intense focus on the sovereign debt auctions — and their importance to the broader economy — starkly underscores the difference between European and American responses to their crises....MORE

[Demeter]

73. Greek bond swap falling short

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/uk-eurozone-greece-idUKTRE80A1VT20120112

Talks about private sector creditors paying for part of a second Greek bailout are going badly, senior European bankers said on Wednesday, raising the prospect that euro zone governments will have to increase their contribution to the aid package. "Governments are mulling an increase of their share of the burden," said one of the bankers, who is familiar with the talks. An IMF source told Reuters if the deal with private bondholders does not help reduce Greece's debt, then Europeans would have to provide more financing for the next rescue package or the IMF may be unwilling to commit more money for Athens.

Banks and investment funds have been negotiating with Athens for months on a bond swap scheme to cut Greece's debt burden from 160 percent of the nation's annual output to a more manageable 120 percent by 2020. This is central to a second, 130 billion euro (107 billion pounds) bailout that international lenders have drawn up to help the country avert default.

As part of these talks, banks have agreed to a "voluntary" 50 percent write-down on Greek debt holdings but have faced demands to make further concessions, a factor that has made it less attractive for some of the investors to take part on a voluntary basis.

The participation rate among private sector investors is currently less than 75 percent, which means Greece's debt will be reduced by far less than expected, the source said....MORE

[xchrom]

74. +1

[Demeter]

70. MF Global sold assets to Goldman before collapse (and JPMorgan Kept the Proceeds from it)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/04/us-mfglobal-goldman-idUSTRE80301V20120104

MF Global unloaded hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of securities to Goldman Sachs in the days leading up to its collapse, according to two former MF Global employees with direct knowledge of the transactions. But it did not immediately receive payment from its clearing firm and lender, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), one of the sources said.

The sale of securities to Goldman occurred on October 27, just days before MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK) filed for bankruptcy on October 31, the ex-employees said. One of the employees said the transaction was cleared with JPMorgan Chase. At the same time MF Global, which was run by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine, was selling securities to Goldman to raise badly needed cash, the futures firm was also drawing down a $1.2 billion revolving line of credit it had with JPMorgan, according to one of the former MF Global employees.

JPMorgan spokeswoman Mary Sedarat said the bank did not withold money because of the line of credit. She declined further comment on details of the transactions. JPMorgan has fought aggressively in bankruptcy court to protect its interests, and received a lien on some of MF Global's assets in exchange for granting the firm $8 million to fund its bankruptcy costs. The lien puts JPMorgan's interests ahead of MF Global customers who have not yet received an estimated $900 million worth of money from their accounts, which remain frozen as regulators search for missing funds.

The hastily crafted transactions and the seeming inability of MF Global to recoup some of the money in the sale to Goldman may start to explain why so much money remains unaccounted for at the futures firm....MORE

[Demeter]

71. Regulators mull more customer protections after MF

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/regulators-mull-more-customer-protections-after-mf-2012-01-11

--CFTC passes rules for customer money in the swaps market

--Chairman Gensler says commission considering broadening those protections and extending them to futures

--CFTC approves rules regulating swap dealers as well as the CFTC's version of the Volcker Rule

DETAILS AT LINK

[muriel_volestrangler]

76. S&P expected to downgrade France and Austria tonight

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/13/eurozone-crisis-live-markets-italian-bond-sale?commentpage=2#start-of-comments#block-19

Christopher Adams, the FT's Markets Editor, made this point on Twitter:

@ChrisAdamsMKTS: France & Austria to be cut to AA+ leaving Germany as only large triple-A country underwriting EFSF
...
David Song, currency analyst at DailyFX:


Standard and Poor's is expected to downgrade France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Austria later today. This credit event could spark a flight to safety as the heightening risk for contagion bears down on investor confidence.

As the ongoing turmoil in the financial system drags on the real economy, the European Central Bank may have little choice but to expand monetary policy further. Additionally, we may see the Governing Council continue to ramp up its balance sheet in an effort to shore up the banking system.

[xchrom]

78. Markets plunge over France rating-cut fears

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/01/2012113153948451215.html

Markets in Europe and the US have fallen after a European Union official said that the Standard & Poor's agency had decided to downgrade France's top-notch credit rating, but will spare Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

"France loses its triple-A rating," the source told the AFP news agency, on condition of anonymity, adding that the credit ratings agency, one of the world's top three, has notified the governments of its decision.

France was, along with Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, among the six eurozone nations with a AAA rating.

The source was unable to say what S&P had decided to do with the two others, Austria and Finland.

[xchrom]

79. U.S. Stocks Drop

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204542404577158320667664132.html?ru=MKTW&mod=MKTW

U.S. stocks fell as fears of a credit downgrade of several euro-zone countries added to disappointing results from J.P. Morgan Chase.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82 points, or 0.7%, to 12389 in midday trading Friday, after tumbling as many as 159 points. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped nine points, or 0.7%, to 1287 while the Nasdaq Composite declined 16 points, or 0.6%, to 2709.

The declines came after reports that credit-rating firm Standard & Poor's could downgrade several euro-zone governments, including France, as soon as today. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a S&P notice is being circulated among euro-zone governments and an announcement "could be imminent." S&P declined to comment.

In a separate blow to confidence, talks to restructure privately held Greek debt didn't reach a conclusion Friday and are suspended. The negotiations had been expected to reach a conclusion next week.

[xchrom]

80. just heard slovakia was downgraded. nt

[DemReadingDU]

81. Twitter from Bloomberg: Italy cut two levels to BBB+ by S&P, EU official says

BloombergNews Bloomberg News
BREAKING: Italy cut two levels to BBB+ by S&P, EU official says

at appx 1pm

[Demeter]

82. Housing Recovery to Give U.S. Economy Modest Push in ’12, Fannie Mae Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/housing-recovery-to-give-u-s-economy-modest-push-in-12-fannie-mae-says.html

Home sales and construction will improve this year, contributing “modestly” to economic expansion after acting as a drag on growth since 2006, according to a Fannie Mae (FNMA) forecast released today.
Sales of new and existing homes are likely to increase 3.5 percent and housing starts are projected to rise 16 percent, fueled by improvement in apartment development and a rebound in single-family house construction, according to the report by Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, and Orawin Velz, a director in its Economics and Mortgage Market Analysis group.
“With an expected improvement in housing activity in 2012, residential investment should start contributing to growth, albeit only modestly initially,” Duncan and Velz wrote.
The housing market has been held back by weak demand as high unemployment and concerns about job security prevent buyers from taking advantage of falling home prices and borrowing costs, Duncan said in an interview yesterday at Bloomberg’s New York offices....

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

Fannie May says: "A girl can dream, can't she?"

[Tansy_Gold]

85. "Housing construction" with how many million homes sitting empty?