STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 21 March 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 21 March 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 20 March 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 20 March 2014
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Dow Jones 16,331.05 +108.88 (0.67%)
S&P 500 1,872.01 +11.24 (0.60%)
Nasdaq 4,319.29 +12.00 (0.00%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.78% -0.01 (-0.36%)
[font color=red]30 Year 3.66% +0.01 (0.27%) [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
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.








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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]

[Fuddnik]

1. I'll take them mutz any day of the week.

[xchrom]

2. Venezuela: A Revolt of the Well-Off, Not a 'Terror Campaign'

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/20-6

Images forge reality, granting a power to television and video and even still photographs that can burrow deep into people’s consciousness without them even knowing it. I thought that I, too, was immune to the repetitious portrayals of Venezuela as a failed state in the throes of a popular rebellion. But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw in Caracas this month: how little of daily life appeared to be affected by the protests, the normality that prevailed in the vast majority of the city. I, too, had been taken in by media imagery.

Major media outlets have already reported that Venezuela’s poor have not joined the right-wing opposition protests, but that is an understatement: it’s not just the poor who are abstaining – in Caracas, it’s almost everyone outside of a few rich areas like Altamira, where small groups of protesters engage in nightly battles with security forces, throwing rocks and firebombs and running from tear gas.

Walking from the working-class neighborhood of Sabana Grande to the city center, there was no sign that Venezuela is in the grip of a “crisis” that requires intervention from the Organization of American States (OAS), no matter what John Kerry tells you. The metro also ran very well, although I couldn’t get off at Alta Mira station, where the rebels had set up their base of operations until their eviction this week.

I got my first glimpse of the barricades in Los Palos Grandes, an upper-income area where the protesters do have popular support, and neighbors will yell at anyone trying to remove the barricades – which is a risky thing to attempt (at least four people have apparently been shot dead for doing so). But even here at the barricades, life was pretty much normal, save for some snarled traffic. On the weekend, the Parque del Este was full of families and runners sweating in the 90-degree heat – before Chávez, you had to pay to get in, and the residents here, I was told, were disappointed when the less well-to-do were allowed to enter for free. The restaurants are still crowded at night.

[xchrom]

3. Bank of England's trust in banks 'badly mistaken', says former official

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/21/uk-britain-boe-posen-idUKBREA2K0KQ20140321

(Reuters) - The Bank of England needs to abandon a culture of cosy chats and too much trust in banks following the latest financial scandal to hit London, former policymaker Adam Posen said on Friday.

BoE Governor Mark Carney unveiled a major shake-up of its management on Tuesday, in part to tackle complaints from lawmakers that the central bank had been too slow to spot signs of financial misconduct in the past.

Posen, who served on the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee from 2009 to 2012, said BoE staff had had too much confidence that banks would regulate themselves and would root out bad behaviour by their own traders.

"What is really most important is to see the Bank of England get away from being so trusting of the banks. That was the culture for a long time. It was not corrupt, it was just badly mistaken," he told the BBC in a radio interview.

[xchrom]

4. Deutsche Bank fails to end four U.S. lawsuits over soured mortgages

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/21/uk-deutschebank-hsbc-mbs-lawsuits-idUKBREA2J2FY20140321

(Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG has failed to win the dismissal of four U.S. lawsuits seeking to force it to pay damages or buy back troubled home loans it had packaged into residential mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

The cases concern securitization trusts backed by roughly $2.9 billion (1.7 billion pounds) of home loans, and are among six lawsuits in New York accusing the German bank's DB Structured Products Inc unit of reneging on its contractual duties to address problem loans, court papers show.

In a 35-page decision, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan on Thursday said HSBC USA NA, acting as trustee for the four trusts, was entitled to pursue damages claims, and to determine the extent to which Deutsche Bank knew of problems in the underlying loans at the time of the securitizations.

Many lawsuits accusing banks that packaged mortgages into securities prior to the 2008 crisis of concealing loan defects or deceiving investors about how the loans were underwritten, resulting in losses when market conditions deteriorated.

[xchrom]

5. Downsized Dutch banks start again in tough local market

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/21/uk-dutch-banks-resurrection-idUKBREA2K0LB20140321

(Reuters) - Dutch banks ABN Amro and ING, once the pride of Amsterdam's international financial hub, are emerging from government bailouts to face a very different future in their local markets.

Both banks cost their country nearly 32 billion euros (£26.74 billion) to prevent a collapse during the financial crisis. Both are close to repaying their debts and standing alone again. But having reshaped the international units that got them into trouble, both now have to work out how to profit in a weak local economy and an industry stifled by some of Europe's toughest regulations.

"If growth was your main objective then you've got a difficulty in this market," says Koos Timmermans, vice-chairman for banking at ING.

The Dutch economy, hit by a 20 percent drop in house prices and a collapse in consumer spending, is expected to grow just 1 percent this year and 1.3 percent next. That's below European Commission estimates of 1.2 and 1.8 percent for the euro zone, and well below long term average growth of 2.4 percent.

[xchrom]

6. S&P affirms Greece's credit rating, citing rebalancing economy

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/21/uk-greece-ratings-idUKBREA2K0CZ20140321

(Reuters) - Standard & Poor's affirmed Greece's sovereign credit rating on Friday and gave it a stable outlook, saying it believed the country's economy was gradually rebalancing.

The positive comments are the latest boost for Greece's government, which hopes to return to the bond markets earlier than planned this year after striking a deal with foreign lenders for the latest tranche of loans under its bailout.

"Although we consider Greece's domestic political environment to be fluid, our forecasts assume that, regardless of composition, the Greek government will adhere broadly to the current policy framework," S&P said.

"We consider that the economy has started to rebalance," it said in a statement affirming its 'B-/B' rating.

[xchrom]

7. Russian shares fall sharply on Western sanctions

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26678145

Russian shares fell sharply on Friday as investors weighed the impact of western sanctions over Ukraine.

The MICEX index, which is priced in roubles fell 3% and the RTS, which is priced in dollars fell 3.6%.

The fall comes after US President Barack Obama on Thursday said sanctions might be extended to key parts of the Russian economy if Russia took further action in Ukraine.

Russia's mining, defence and natural resources sectors could all be targets.

[xchrom]

8. US Sanctions On Russia Contained A Startling Allegation About Putin's Oil Wealth

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-sanctions-on-russia-contained-a-startling-allegation-about-putins-oil-wealth-2014-3

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The most startling part of Washington's sanctions on Russian businessmen loyal to President Vladimir Putin may be a single sentence that contains an explosive allegation: that Putin himself profits from the world's No. 4 oil trading company, Gunvor.

Among the people the United States sanctioned on Thursday as part of its drive to put pressure on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine was businessman Gennady Timchenko, a long-time acquaintance of Putin and, until this week, co-owner of Geneva-based Gunvor, which trades nearly 3 percent of the world's oil.

In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury Department went a step further, adding a single sentence that hits squarely at one of the most controversial topics that Putin has faced in 13 years as the Kremlin ruler and head of the government.

"Timchenko activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin. Putin has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds," the statement said.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-sanctions-on-russia-contained-a-startling-allegation-about-putins-oil-wealth-2014-3#ixzz2wb8Nwe3t

[Demeter]

15. Let's as Edward Snowden, shall we?

I'd take his word over the government's, any day. PLUS, he can probably go right to the horse's email and find out....

[xchrom]

9. Three Things That Will Happen If This Financial Market Warfare Keeps Heating Up

http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-market-warfare-2014-3

Citi's Steven Englander has a big note about "financial market warfare" and what the ramifications are.

He writes:

Long-term implications If the use of financial market warfare intensifies, the risks are:

1) More home bias in investing,
2) Official investors gravitating to jurisdictions and custody arrangements that insulate their assets from seizure
3) Premium on gold, physical commodities and other unattachable assets

This would unwind many years of international capital market liberalization. Moreover, it would have the greatest impact in discouraging long-term, illiquid investments, as these would be most vulnerable to seizure. It is much easier to cut positions in short term liquid assets if there is trouble brewing. External deficit EM economies would probably suffer the most since creditors would see an extra force majeure risk premium added. Apolitical safe havens would probably benefit the most. Where there is an interaction with the traditional currency war discussion is that the damage to EM borrowers would probably be greater than to G10 borrowers. When EM countries depreciate, they often get hit by higher bond yields as well. G10 countries, even when they depreciate sharply, often do not face big pressures on their bond markets. Moreover, higher food prices from depreciation are not nearly the same social issue in G10 that they are in EM.

As if emerging markets don't have enough problems, now they will possibly collateral damage from a retrenchment in foreign investment.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-market-warfare-2014-3#ixzz2wbBmyLaR

[Demeter]

16. Okay, I'm trying to see a downside, here

Maybe if I flip it over....nope.

[xchrom]

10. Russian Prime Minister: Ukraine Owes Us $16 Billion

http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-prime-minister-ukraine-owes-us-16-billion-2014-3

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Medvedev said in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday that in total Ukraine owes Russia $16 billion, local news agencies reported.
Medvedev said that Ukraine owes Russia $11 billion because the treaty under which Russia provides Ukraine with cheap gas in return for the Sevastopol naval base was "subject to denunciation".

In addition, he said that Ukraine owes Russia $3 billion for a recent loan in the form of Russian purchase of Eurobonds, and that around $2 billion is owed to Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas concern.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-prime-minister-ukraine-owes-us-16-billion-2014-3#ixzz2wbCyDaTZ

[xchrom]

11. Putin Looks To Asia As West Threatens To Isolate Russia

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-putin-looks-to-asia-as-west-threatens-to-isolate-russia-2014-21

MOSCOW (Reuters) - When President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty this week annexing Crimea to great fanfare in the Kremlin and anger in the West, a trusted lieutenant was making his way to Asia to shore up ties with Russia's eastern allies.

Forcing home the symbolism of his trip, Igor Sechin gathered media in Tokyo the next day to warn Western governments that more sanctions over Moscow's seizure of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine would be counter-productive.

The underlying message from the head of Russia's biggest oil company, Rosneft, was clear: If Europe and the United States isolate Russia, Moscow will look East for new business, energy deals, military contracts and political alliances.

The Holy Grail for Moscow is a natural gas supply deal with China that is apparently now close after years of negotiations. If it can be signed when Putin visits China in May, he will be able to hold it up to show that global power has shifted eastwards and he does not need the West.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-putin-looks-to-asia-as-west-threatens-to-isolate-russia-2014-21#ixzz2wbDjOXHr

[xchrom]

12. Rail Traffic Continues to Show Expansion

http://pragcap.com/rail-traffic-continues-to-show-expansion-2

Rail traffic continues to show signs of growth here as intermodal traffic surged 11.9% in the latest week. This data can be volatile at times, but the 12 week moving average remains fairly healthy at 3.2%. No major change in trend and still, in my opinion, consistent with a muddle through economy. Here’s more from the AAR:

“The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported increased U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 15, 2014 with 289,375 total U.S. carloads, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 255,991 units, up 11.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Total combined U.S. weekly rail traffic was 545,366 carloads and intermodal units, up 7 percent compared with the same week last year.

Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, led by grain with 21,045 carloads, up 21 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year were led by motor vehicles and parts with 17,936 carloads, down 8 percent.

For the first 11 weeks of 2014, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,009,897 carloads, even compared with the same point last year, and 2,677,098 intermodal units, up 2.3 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 11 weeks of 2014 was 5,686,995 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.1 percent from last year.”

[xchrom]

13. HATZIUS: Here's Why It's Still Going To Be A Long Time Before The Next Rate Hike

http://www.businessinsider.com/hatzius-on-the-next-rate-hike-2014-3

But Goldman's top economist Jan Hatzius doesn't see a rate hike in 2015.

Here's why, according to a new note that just went out:

...we still think that rate hikes are far off. First, we do not think that Yellen meant to send a strong signal of a shift in the reaction function. Second, while we agree that the most likely path for growth is a pickup to a 3%+ pace, the risk to this forecast is on the downside. Third, we expect a more gradual return to 2% inflation than the FOMC. Fourth, we see a significant risk that a tightening of financial conditions in the run-up to the first rate hike will delay the first hike, much as last summer's "taper tantrum" delayed the actual move to QE tapering.

Our central forecast for the first hike remains early 2016, although the risks now tilt in the direction of a slightly earlier move.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/hatzius-on-the-next-rate-hike-2014-3#ixzz2wbJ0UXD3

[xchrom]

14. Markets unsettled by Yellen's rate rise comments; S&P cuts Russia to negative

http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2014/mar/20/markets-unsettled-by-prospect-of-earlier-us-rate-rise-business-live


And here’s S&P’s explanation of why it’s lowered Russia’s outlook to negative tonight, which could lead to a credit rating cut:

“The outlook revision reflects our view of the material and unanticipated economic and financial consequences that EU and U.S. sanctions could have on Russia’s creditworthiness following Russia’s incorporation of Crimea, which the international community currently considers legally to be a part of Ukraine,”
Yesterday, 1:25pm
S&P cuts Russia's credit rating outlook to negative
One last thing.... S&P just cut the outlook on the Russian Federation’s BBB credit rating to negative, from stable.