STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday December 12

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday December 12, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 39
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2599 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2896
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

---

U.S. FUTURES &
MARKETS INDICATORS>
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES

---

AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.
$1 USD = EUR 1.06678
$1 USD = JPY 116.6200

In recognition of those prescient of the Dow's precipitous return of Bush values (9/29/08): JuneBourder and AnneD

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON December 11, 2008

Dow... 8,565.09 -196.33 (-2.29%)
Nasdaq... 1,507.88 -57.60 (-3.68%)
S&P 500... 873.59 -25.65 (-2.85%)
Gold future... 826.60 +17.80 (+2.15%)
30-Year Bond 3.09% -0.01 (-0.19%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.65% -0.04 (-1.34%)






GOLD,EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

---

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp

Nuclear Economic Winter Reflected in Shipping, Capex, Jobs,
Treasury Yields
BY MIKE SHEDLOCK

According to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics, Weekly Unemployment Claims are soaring.

In the week ending Dec. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 573,000, an increase of 58,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 515,000. The 4-week moving average was 540,500, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week's revised average of 526,250.

With the 4-week moving average steadily rising for months on end, it is looking increasingly likely that the November job loss of 533,000 jobs was not an outlier.

Looking ahead, Obama has promised to create 2.5 million as noted in the CNN Money article Stimulus: The stuff Obama would build. However, 2.5 million jobs will not do much more than break even if we see a number of -500,000 job reports in 2009, as I believe we will.

Furthermore, jobs programs coming from Obama will not begin to show up until sometime in the second quarter at the earliest. By then the economy will already have lost some 1.5-2.0 million jobs, if not more, at the current pace.

.....

Nuclear Winter In Shipping

The Wall Street Journal is reporting Freight Haulers Slam on the Brakes.

Expecting the Weakest Year in Three Decades, Truck, Rail and Ocean Shipping Firms Are Cutting Back. In a normal year, Gordon Trucking Inc. might replace 20% of its fleet of 1,500 big rigs with new trucks. But given the bleak outlook for the freight business, the Pacific, Wash., hauler doesn't intend to buy a single new truck next year.

"We're settling in for nuclear winter in the first half of 2009," says Steve Gordon, operating chief for the company, which hauls everything from paper products to electronics.

He's not alone. Some industry executives and analysts predict that 2009 could be the worst year for freight-transportation volume in three decades or more...

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[Festivito]

4. Debt: 12/10/2008 10,648,440,877,251.60 (DOWN 7,678,350,151.40) (Mostly FICA)

(Mostly FICA changing again. Good day all.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,410,822,416,494.81 + 4,237,618,460,756.82
UP 87,731,393.17 + DOWN 7,766,081,544.59
(NOTE: Excel 2007 cannot handle ten-trillion plus to the penny. It zeroes the penny.)

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 300-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.33 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: THEIR SHARE IS TEN BUCKS in a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is a federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)
(I hate those end to end dollars to the moon and back, or years to spend $100/second. Just say'n)
If you read this and have a suggestion or comment, good or bad, I'd love to see it.

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 1,248,460,884.24.
The average for the last 30 days would be 873,922,618.97.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 48 reports in 71 days of FY2009 averaging 12.99B$ per report, 8.78B$/day.

PROJECTION:
GWB** must relinquish the presidency in 41 days.
By that time the debt could be between 10.7 and 11.0T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
12/10/2008 10,648,440,877,251.60 GWB (UP 4,920,245,081,070.03 so far since Bush took office.)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01
Borrowed in FY2009: 623,715,980,339.20 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/19/2008 -000,433,628,717.22 ---
11/20/2008 -000,189,695,810.14 ---
11/21/2008 -000,151,096,322.01 ---
11/24/2008 -000,086,920,504.20 ---- Mon
11/25/2008 +001,468,316,558.23 ------------*********
11/26/2008 +000,650,427,812.76 ------------********
11/28/2008 +000,783,239,406.89 ------------********
12/01/2008 +038,288,359,563.07 ------------********** Mon
12/02/2008 +000,199,375,927.74 ------------********
12/03/2008 -000,525,799,120.43 ---
12/04/2008 -022,902,653,130.86 -
12/05/2008 -000,187,074,568.06 ---
12/08/2008 -000,759,942,653.72 --- Mon
12/09/2008 +000,031,558,514.41 ------------*******
12/10/2008 +000,087,731,393.17 ------------*******

16,272,198,349.63 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $983,809,073,992.53 in last 83 days.
That's 984B$ in 83 days.
More than any year ever, except last year, and it's 97% of that highest year ever only in 83 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 83 DAYS NOT 365.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3640587&mesg_id=3640635

[Festivito]

72. Debt: 12/11/2008 10,597,885,059,458.70 (DOWN 50,555,817,792.90) (20 FICA, 30 public)

(The prior 38B$ day week ago Monday -- now reversed. FICA also with big move. Interesting day to all. Mistakenly posted my first on the first response post this morning. Oops. Didn't sleep last night. Stayed at work all night. Bad me. Need sleep now. .. zzzz)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 6,390,881,581,542.01 + 4,207,003,477,916.77
DOWN 19,940,834,952.80 + DOWN 30,614,982,840.05
(NOTE: Excel 2007 cannot handle ten-trillion plus to the penny. It zeroes the penny.)

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 300-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.33 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: THEIR SHARE IS TEN BUCKS in a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is a federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)
(I hate those end to end dollars to the moon and back, or years to spend $100/second. Just say'n)
If you read this and have a suggestion or comment, good or bad, I'd love to see it.

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is -1,106,279,055.63.
The average for the last 30 days would be -811,271,307.46.
The average for the last 31 days would be -785,101,265.28.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 49 reports in 72 days of FY2009 averaging 11.70B$ per report, 7.96B$/day.

PROJECTION:
GWB** must relinquish the presidency in 40 days.
By that time the debt could be between 10.6 and 10.9T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
12/11/2008 10,597,885,059,458.70 GWB (UP 4,869,689,263,277.13 so far since Bush took office.)

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in FY1993: (Maybe later.)
Borrowed in FY1994: 281,261,026,873.94
Borrowed in FY1995: 281,232,990,696.07
Borrowed in FY1996: 250,828,038,426.34
Borrowed in FY1997: 188,335,072,261.61
Borrowed in FY1998: 113,046,997,500.28
Borrowed in FY1999: 130,077,892,735.81
Borrowed in FY2000: _17,907,308,253.43 Bill alone
Borrowed in FY2001: 133,285,202,313.20 Bill and George
Borrowed in FY2002: 420,772,553,397.10 All George
Borrowed in FY2003: 554,995,097,146.46
Borrowed in FY2004: 595,821,633,586.70
Borrowed in FY2005: 553,656,965,393.18
Borrowed in FY2006: 574,264,237,491.73
Borrowed in FY2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in FY2008: 1,017,071,524,650.01
Borrowed in FY2009: 573,160,162,546.30 so far this fiscal year.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/20/2008 -000,189,695,810.14 ---
11/21/2008 -000,151,096,322.01 ---
11/24/2008 -000,086,920,504.20 ---- Mon
11/25/2008 +001,468,316,558.23 ------------*********
11/26/2008 +000,650,427,812.76 ------------********
11/28/2008 +000,783,239,406.89 ------------********
12/01/2008 +038,288,359,563.07 ------------********** Mon
12/02/2008 +000,199,375,927.74 ------------********
12/03/2008 -000,525,799,120.43 ---
12/04/2008 -022,902,653,130.86 -
12/05/2008 -000,187,074,568.06 ---
12/08/2008 -000,759,942,653.72 --- Mon
12/09/2008 +000,031,558,514.41 ------------*******
12/10/2008 +000,087,731,393.17 ------------*******
12/11/2008 -019,940,834,952.80 -

-3,235,007,885.95 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008.
US borrowed $933,253,256,199.63 in last 84 days.
That's 933B$ in 84 days.
More than any year ever, except last year, and it's 92% of that highest year ever only in 84 days.
And it is over 100% of ANY dismal Bush, for any dismal Bush-year, ONLY IN 84 DAYS NOT 365.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3642309&mesg_id=3642316

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Reports

08:30 Core PPI Nov
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.4%

08:30 PPI Nov
Briefing.com -2.1%
Consensus -2.0%
Prior -2.8%

08:30 Retail Sales Nov
Briefing.com -2.1%
Consensus -2.0%
Prior -2.8%

08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Nov
Briefing.com -1.9%
Consensus -1.8%
Prior -2.2%

10:00 Business Inventories Oct
Briefing.com 0.0%
Consensus -0.2%
Prior -0.2%

10:00 Mich Sentiment-Prel. Dec
Briefing.com 58.0
Consensus 55.0
Prior 55.3

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[UpInArms]

32. 8:30 reports: U.S. Nov. retail sales fall 1.8%

01. U.S. Nov. PPI energy prices down 11.2%
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

02. U.S. PPI core up 4.2% in past 12 months
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

03. U.S. PPI up 0.4% in past 12 months
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

04. U.S. Nov. core PPI up 0.1%, vs. flat expected
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

05. U.S. Nov. PPI down 2.2%% vs 2.0% expected
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

06. U.S. Nov; retail sales ex-autos fall 1.6%
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

07. U.S. Nov. retail sales ex-autos, ex-gas rise 0.3%
8:31 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

08. U.S. Nov. retail sales fall 1.8% vs. -2.1% expected
8:30 AM ET, Dec 12, 2008

[UpInArms]

37. Retail sales fall 1.8%, the 5th straight decline

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Retail-sales-fall-18-5th/story.aspx?guid=%7B6C7BC3C2%2D4EC8%2D4E2D%2DA06B%2DD1FE10CB27C4%7D

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - With gasoline prices plunging and auto sales on life support, U.S. retail sales dropped 1.8% in November, the fifth straight decline, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Retail sales were down 7.4% compared with a year earlier. The big drop was in line with expectations by economists for a 2.1% decline. Sales fell a revised 2.9% in October and a revised 1.6% in September. But the extent of the decline was exaggerated by an historic drop in retail gasoline prices in November. Excluding the record 14.7% drop in sales at gas stations, retail sales fell 0.2%. Many retail sectors reported their biggest sales increases in years.

[ozymandius]

3. Oil prices slip to below $46 in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oil prices retreated to below $46 a barrel Friday in Asia after a strong rally overnight, but traders said expectations of a sharp production cut by OPEC will support the market.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell $2.38 to $45.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.

Prices fell further after news broke that a $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers had collapsed in the Senate. Overnight, the contract surged $4.46, or 10 percent, to settle at $47.98.

.....

Oil's rally overnight was boosted by a falling dollar, which makes commodities like oil more attractive. It outweighed a warning from the International Energy Agency that energy demand will shrink this year for the first time since 1983.

.....

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 3.8 cents to $1.0400 a gallon. Heating oil dipped 4.2 cents to $1.4645 a gallon and natural gas for January delivery lost 10.2 cents to $5.496 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[UpInArms]

39. Goldman, once warning of $200 oil, sees $45 in 2009

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE4BB2BG20081212?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' energy equity research team, which predicted a crude oil spike to $200 a barrel earlier this year, slashed on Friday its 2009 forecast to just $45 as demand deteriorates.

The team led by Arjun Murti, who made waves in 2005 by calling crude's ascent to $100, also said prices would bottom out early next year and that a shift from "demand destruction" to "supply destruction" would ultimately revive oil's rally.

In a separate report, Goldman's commodities research team also cut its 2009 forecast to an average $45 and predicted world oil demand would fall by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and help drive oil prices down to $30 a barrel in the first quarter.

"We expect that an additional 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of OPEC supply cuts will be required in 2009, along with a 600,000 bpd reduction in Non-OPEC production, in order to rebalance the market," the team led by Jeffrey Currie wrote.

<snip>

"We do not believe oil markets are on-track for a decade-plus period of weakness like seen in the 1980s and 1990s," they wrote.

...more...

[happyslug]

74. I agree with them, historically energy markets are known for ups and down in price

The only exception to that rule is when someone controls price by restricting output. People will pay a premium for stable prices, thus Standard oil was able to get a monopoly on oil, for it was capable of providing oil at a stable price. When prices fell, they were able to charge a premium do to having sign long term contracts with users (Customer prefer stable prices to lower prices), and when price rose, Standard Oil would undercut everyone else.

When Standard oil was broken up in 1912 (And Texas oil came into production) you had a period of no control, but overall rising price (1920s) followed by the decline in pride of the early 1930s. Into this mess stepped the Texas Railroad Commission, who was given the right to control Texas oil production. When the Commission thought the price was to low, it cut back production. When the Commission thought the price was to high, it increased production. Now overall the Commission wanted two things, low prices for consumers AND high return for producers and for decades the Commission balanced these two concerns. The Commission only permitted unlimited oil production in Texas twice, the first time during WWII and then again only in 1969. The Commission thus controlled the world price of oil based on whatever it permitted to be pumped from the Texas fields.

The problem in 1969 was Texas was no longer the "Swing Producer", OPEC had become that in the late 1960s as the US cease being a net oil exporter. After a few years of disruption (the 1970s) Saudi Arabia stepped into the void to stabilize world wide prices. Thacher tried to undermined that in the 1980s (Causing the oil glut of the 1980s) but when the House of Saud decided to produce oil at a level that dropped the price below the cost or producing oil from the North Sea, Thacher got the message and after the next price increase (i.e. production deceased by Saudi Arabia) she match the price, unlike her earlier stunts of always pricing North Sea oil BELOW that of Saudi Arabia for greater market share.

The problem today, is the same as in the 1970s, but this time it is the House of Saud that has lost its ability to keep oil prices stable AND no one is in a position to assume that job. Thus prices will go up and down, often radically, as it did in the 1860s (for oil) and has always been done in the coal industry (Which NEVER had any one company or other group capable of controlling price do to their control over a sizable part of the Market). Thus fully expect $1 a gallon followed by $4 a gallon gasoline, and these may be in months of each other. $4 a gallon as people use more oil then is being produced, causing the price to go up, followed by $1 a gallon as two things happen, first oil production is increased (from marginal fields) AND people buy less gasoline do to the price. This addition to production AND reduction of usage will cause an oversupply of oil and a glut, which will drive the price down to a $1 a gallon (Where the low cost forces the above marginal wells to be capped, cost more then a $1 a gallon to get well out of the wells AND the use of gasoline increases do to to low costs).

What the US needs is STABLE prices, and the only way to obtain such stable pricing is for the government to Tax gasoline at $5 a gallon and reduce the tax or increase the tax based on the world price of oil (A better plan would be to for a Federally owned Corporation to "buy" all refined products, i.e. if imported from overseas or made in a US Refinery. This Corporation would have a duty to stabilize price, even at a high price. The Corporation would then "Sell" the product back to the distributors of the refined oil at a price set by the corporation. All profits from the Corporation would go to the US Treasury, to be spent as Congress dictates. Now the corporation would NOT actually take physical control over the refined items, that would stay as it does today, but any refinery will have to show the Corporation its cost to refine, AND its present profit margin, and the difference between those costs AND the price set by the Corporation will go to the corporation and then to the company.

My point is the high price over the summer and the low price today is do to the fact NO ONE CONTROLS THE PRICE OF OIL. As long as that is the case and production is tight (And that is foreseeable given peak oil) prices will go up and down drastically (Often driven both ways via speculators, speculators are the people driving the price low today, they are betting the price will drop and will continue to drop for no one can stop it, until it hits about a $1 a gallon where even some OPEC countries will have to stop production for the cost to produce the oil will exceed what those countries get for the oil produced. As oil wells shut down do to unprofitably we will be facing the same forces that forced prices up over the last three to four years and once that trend starts Speculators will then start to bet on how high the price of oil will go up, just like they are betting on how low the price will go down today. Speculation works both ways, and always has. The reason oil is so cheap is everyone is betting the economy will get worse and with it less people will drive (and less shipping world wide, further reducing the demand for oil).

Thus my contention that we have to get use to the situation where radical changes in the price of oil will occur. Until we either find more oil (Unlikely) or permanently reduce world wide oil demand, this situation will stay with us (The third alternative of some sort of internal government control over the price, will bring stable pricing, but at increase overall costs). Goldman may be right ON BOTH Prices, i.e. $30 a barrel by January 2009, $200 by July back to $30 by January 2010 (and these are guesses the pattern may be more or less radical).

[ozymandius]

5. Bailout dead, automakers in search of a lifeline

WASHINGTON – Their efforts in Congress squashed, U.S. automakers are depending upon a reluctant White House to quickly provide a multibillion lifeline to help them avoid imminent collapse.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks, have few options left after the dramatic defeat in the Senate of a $14 billion bailout for the domestic auto industry.

Its demise late Thursday prompted immediate calls from lawmakers in both parties for the Bush administration to tap into the $700 billion Wall Street bailout to rescue the beleaguered auto industry. The bill failed after talks broke down over the refusal of the United Auto Workers union to meet Republican demands for aggressive wage reductions.

The Senate rejected the bailout 52-35 on a procedural vote — well short of the 60 required — after the talks fell apart.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_go_co/meltdown_autos

[ozymandius]

8. Detroit workers stunned, angered as bailout stalls

DETROIT (Reuters) - William Ford, an unemployed auto worker, grew angry and resigned and then angry again when he thought about the political debate that has stalled a bailout for the once-proud automakers that built Detroit.

"If they can spend billions on war and billions to bail out Wall Street, then they can help the Big Three," said Ford, who was waiting for a bus next to a Chrysler plant on Thursday afternoon as the U.S. Senate debated tightening up terms of a rescue package for the industry.

.....

As recently as September, the future looked unexpectedly bright for Flint. GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner announced a new $370 million plant for the Michigan city, where GM's roots go deep and unemployment already runs over 10 percent.

"I just walked out of a meeting with 350 retirees, and I had to tell them that I don't know what's going to happen," said Bill Jordan, a UAW local president in Flint. "I don't know what's going to happen to their benefits. I don't know what's going to happen to GM."

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4BB04B20081212

[tclambert]

18. Republican senators to Detroit: "Drop dead."

[JNelson6563]

33. Keepin' that north vs. south thing alive

Michigan closes the mitten sans the middle finger and directs it in the proper direction.

Julie

[Warpy]

44. Pretty much

I'm beginning to think the anti filibuster rule (nuclear option) that the GOP threatened when they were in control is a good thing, that it's high time to stop these damn peckerwoods hobbling this country and keep them powerless until they learn what country they really live in (hint: Dixie lost the war).

Using the nuclear option should have a sunset rule, of course, say 6 years. Having the morons utterly toothless that long might convince them and their voters that retirement is a better option than waiting it out.

Most of the folks down south are good folks. They just need to get over the idea that electing a bunch of obstructionist morons to piss off the Yankees won't do them much good in the long run. They're going to sink along with the rest of the country.

[Tansy_Gold]

47. I have to agree, though reluctantly and with some reservations

But I keep goin' back to some of the "southern heritage" discussions that took place right here on DU.

It's almost as if the "liberals" are so afraid of pissing someone off that they've allowed not only de facto segregation to remain rampant in our society but now they're essentially allowing the return of slavery. And they're allowing the southern faction not only to maintain slavery (low wages) in The South, but they're permitting the exportation of that peculiar institution to spread to The North.


I dunno, folks. Maybe it's time to call the shruggers' bluff. Call a gneeral UAW strike. Call a fucking general strike. Let the Big 3 go under. No, not "let." Drag 'em down ourselves. Let their bankruptcy drag down all the parts suppliers too and strangle the "low wage" auto makers in The South. See how Senator Richard "Let 'em eat Toyotas" Shelby likes that.

Ass hole.


Tansy Gold :grr:

[Dr.Phool]

54. William Greider has a good solution here.

However, I don't see any Dems with the guts to push it.

Cram it down McConnells throat. Otherwise, they can block everything, and destroy Obama's presidency before it ever gets started.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081229/greider?rel=hp_picks


If the Democratic Party intends to get serious about governing, it can start by disabling the Republican filibuster that gives the minority party in the Senate a virtual veto over anything it wants to kill. The chatter in Washington assumes that since Democrats failed to gain a sixty-seat majority, there's nothing they can do. But that's not true. Democrats can change the rules and remove a malignant obstacle from the path of our new president. Given the emergency conditions facing the nation, why should Mitch McConnell and his right-wing colleagues get to decide what the Senate may vote on?


This proposition disturbs the happy talk about the "postpartisan" politics Barack Obama has inspired. But let's get real. McConnell is making nice for the moment, having survived his re-election scare in Kentucky. But he will use the filibuster to stymie the new Democratic administration whenever it looks to him like a political opportunity for Republicans. Thanks mainly to McConnell, the 110th Congress of 2007-08 set a new record--138 cloture motions to limit debate and head off filibusters. That is double the level of ten years ago. Who really believes McConnell will voluntarily give up his starring role as Senator No?

(snip) more

Last year, Democrats had a fifty-one-vote majority, but majority leader Harry Reid lamented their inability to overcome the minority. "The problem we have is that we don't have many moderate Republicans," Reid explained. In the new Congress there will be even fewer. Elections and retirements have left the surviving GOP caucus even more extreme in its ideology. The threat of a filibuster is its lever of power.

[jwirr]

62. Probably impossible, but the UAW should go to China for the loan

to buy out the Big 3 and run it as a worker owned company. As it happens the US government will be borrowing the money from them anyhow.

[HillWilliam]

99. Well, Tansy, as I posted on the other thread

I followed you here from, so long as Shelby, Corker and their ilk are alive, that sonovabitch Helms will never die. (Sigh). There's a lot of Reconstruction history that goes into this mindset, probably worthy of another thread, not germaine to this thread. You're rather close to the truth, but you don't have enough of it. Being from the south and a student of the Civil War (having ancestors on both sides), there's a LOT of education that needs to go on DU about it. Racism and segregation were never peculiar to the south. Let's get that square. But the new southern "aristocracy", much of it risen from the ashes of Reconstruction, has a peculiar punitive mindset that has influences from both sides. They're still punishing the poor southerners and blacks alike. You'd have to live here, or better yet, be born and raised here to understand some of its complexities.

As someone else posted in another thread, it's easy to be blue in a blue state. It's not so easy to be blue in a red state where there is real fear of real reprisal, even in these "modern" times. Walk our shoes, dear friend, and don't withdraw support so easily. We need every ally we can get. We're just now numerous enough to fight back (hey, NC and VA helped put Barack over the top -- I'm proud that NC finally seceded from Dumfukistan!!!).

On the up-side, unions are not totally dead in the South. A major meat-processing plant here in NC that has been trying for years to unionize, did, just this week by a 2/3 margin.

After an oppressive century of very, very complex history that the rest of the nation truly doesn't understand (and often seems belligerently opposes understanding), things are changing. It isn't that we haven't desperately wanted change and full access to citizenship. The political system crafted by the North after the war actively prevented it.

Please don't finger-point, friend. We need your support more than ever to bring those faux-aristocratic arseholes down.

[jwirr]

61. Definitely, people who are broke do not buy foreign cars either.

[AnneD]

69. Excuse me....

did the Civil War erupt after I went to bed last night.....

Texas size :rant:

Not directed at you Warpy-I just have to get this off my chest.

For what it is worth-to a Texan, the only truck is an American truck (we are partial to Chevy in my family). Even the full size imported trucks are called 'Toys'.

There are assembly plants and parts plants here in Texas.

All I can say is that the GOP picked a hell of a time to suddenly get fiscally responsible. I notice most of Wall Street will be getting bonuses and the deal failed because the auto workers refused to take a pay cut. The unions were unfairly made whipping boys.

As we say down here-"Fuck you and the horse you rode in on."

WS is about to find be schooled as to how unimportant they are in the economy once workers start getting laid off en mass.

[Tansy_Gold]

79. I rode in on a Blazer ;-)

I won't go into the long sad story of how I got saddled with this thing, but the fact is I love it. I'd have another one in a heartbeat (pun intended).

The sad thing is that too many people -- including the person I allow to live with me -- forget that the workers aren't the ones to blame for management decisions. The people who make the Chevys and Fords are the same kind of people who make the Hondas and Toyotas. The workers should never be punished for management's mistakes.


I have to wonder, though, how any kind of wage parity would be achieved. It's either cut the retirees loose, or make the UAW workers pay to work there. I don't think either would go over very well.


Tansy Gold

[AnneD]

100. Tansy......

There was never a desire for wage parity with the guys that make Honda and Toyota. If you think about it.....these Southern Senators are working for their Constituents:Honda, Toyota, Hundai....all the corps that manufacture in their states...that are known for poor-low wages and even fewer worker benefits. It is a thinly veiled effort to bust unions and pander to some high dollar donors.

These guys are also for free trade.

AnneD....just because I come from the South and talk slow doesn't mean I think slow!

[ozymandius]

13. Many Auto Suppliers Already on the Brink

GM and Chrysler have been stretching payables, which means that many auto parts suppliers are in dire cash flow straits. And if auto parts makers fail, it doesn't hurt just the Detroit car makers, but the foreign transplants as well.

From the New York Times:

With Congress failing to agree on a bailout for Detroit, the odds that General Motors and Chrysler will be insolvent by year’s end are growing rapidly.

As a result, the hypotheticals about the domino effect of the companies’ troubles through the vast network of auto supplier firms — which employ more than twice as many workers as the carmakers — are becoming real.

General Motors and Chrysler, for example, owe their suppliers a total of roughly $10 billion for parts that have been delivered. G.M. has held off paying them for weeks, and Chrysler is paying in small increments. But the cash shortages at G.M. and Chrysler are getting more severe, according to their top executives and other officials.

.....

“Many of the small suppliers will simply liquidate because they don’t have the resources to go reorganize in Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” Mr. Casesa said. “They’ll just go away.”

.....

While G.M., Ford and Chrysler employ 239,000 people in the United States, the country’s 3,000 or so auto suppliers have more than 600,000 workers.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/12/many-auto-suppliers-already-on-brink.html

[ozymandius]

15. The Politics and Economics of the Auto Bailout

To state the obvious: They want to break the UAW.

From Robert Reich's blog:

Background: There's a new Civil War going on when it comes to automaking in America. Japanese, Korean, and German automakers are now building 18 auto assembly plants in the United States, none of which is unionized. Kentucky (Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell) already has Toyota's biggest auto assembly plant outside Japan. Tennessee (Senate Rep. Bob Corker, who came up with the "chapter 11" bailout amendment) houses Nissan's North American headquarters. Alabama (Senate Rep. Richard Shelby) hosts Mercedez Benz and several other foreign automakers.

So there's no reason to suppose the good citizens of Kentucky, Tennessee, or Alabama are particularly excited at the prospect of handing over their taxpayer money to competing firms and their workforces.

Besides, southern Republican are not particularly enamoured with the UAW, which has steadfastly bankrolled Democrats who have taken on Republicans. (The new Congress will have at least six new Democrats from formerly Republican districts, all of whom received at least $40K from the UAW.)

To state the obvious: They want to break the UAW.

But Republicans also know that the Big Three and their suppliers are spread out over the battle-ground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Minnesota. Republicans don't dare give up these states or alienate their citizens.

So here's where compromise comes in.

To state the obvious: They want to break the UAW.

[boomerbust]

19. Ozy

What's the feeling down in Georgia, is it Civil War?

[ozymandius]

86. That's not the sense I get.

Granted I have two great-grandfathers who fought in the real Civil War which was anything but civil. The mood in this area is resignation. The Doraville GM plant is idle for good. They've been shutting that plant down gradually for almost a year until it finally closed in September.

What Republican thugs do to compound the suffering in this part of the world I believe is moot. Life is already harsh. Yet, our sage Republican politicians still pretend that legislative initiatives will make everything alright because initiatives are based on the hope that people still have money and they're willing to spend it. Fools.

We are in a real estate depression right now. Our magnificent Solons in the Georgia General Assembly are attempting to find some way to re-inflate the bubble. Go figure. If it's civil war then it's the kind of the circular firing squad sort.

[tclambert]

20. Earth humans are stupid. Stupid!

To break the UAW and Detroit's big 3, they are burning their own houses down. Auto suppliers link all the car companies. They are already cutting back and going out of business. Toyota, Nissan, and Honda will have trouble finding parts. Foreign automakers' stocks are plunging. Investors understand this hurts the whole industry.

And then there's jobs. Who's going to buy the cars these stupid, stupid senators think will be built in their states? Millions of unemployed people will not be buying Mercedes built in Alabama.

Stupid.

[Kolesar]

31. At 5:00 PM yesterday, Reich thought the log jam would be breaking

At this time, the only hope is to use money from the TARP $700 billion bank fund.

[DemReadingDU]

53. Corporations never wanted unions. Video: labor history in 25 minutes

I posted this Wednesday, but reposting today. (edit for correct day)

12/9/08 U.S. Labor history in 25 minutes by TheModernMystic
Not much to watch, just listen.
The majority of people today have no clue what people fought for throughout history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNi-T5byBTw


The text originally came from this link, containing full list
An Eclectic List of Events in U.S. Labor History
Compiled by allen lutins (all small letters)

Most citizens of the United States take for granted labor laws which protect them from the evils of unregulated industry. Perhaps the majority of those who argue for "free enterprise" and the removal of restrictions on capitalist corporations are unaware that over the course of this country's history, workers have fought and often died for protection from capitalist industry. In many instances, government troops were called out to crush strikes, at times firing on protesters. Presented below are a few of the many incidents in the (too often overlooked) tumultuous labor history of this country.
http://www.lutins.org/labor.html

Article Reproduction Policy
http://www.lutins.org/policy.html

[ozymandius]

6. World markets plunge as US auto bailout fails

LONDON – World stock markets plunged Friday as the U.S. Senate's rejection of a $14 billion deal to rescue Detroit's ailing automakers stoked concerns that the recession in the world's largest economy will be even longer and deeper than projected.

The FTSE 100 of leading British shares was down 127.87 points, or 2.9 percent, at 4,260.82, while Germany's DAX fell 185.22 points, or 3.9 percent, to 4,581.98. The CAC-40 in France fell 130.48 points, or 4.0 percent, to 3,175.65.

Earlier, Asian markets tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average down 484.68 points, or 5.6 percent, to 8,235.87. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 5.5 percent to 14,758.39.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a big sell-off later on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average was projected to drop 259 points, or 3.0 percent, to 8,311, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was forecast to fall 32.90 points, or 3.8 percent, to 841.60.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

[Ghost Dog]

14. Japan, EU launch new measures; US car talks crash

Fri Dec 12, 2008 6:14am EST LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Japan and Europe sought on Friday to prop up their faltering economies after a $14 billion rescue package for America's top auto makers collapsed, deepening the worst financial crisis in 80 years.

The U.S. bailout's failure in late-night Senate talks will raise fears of an industry collapse that would jeopardise many jobs. The companies say one in 10 U.S. jobs are tied to the auto sector, adding up to several million.

Japan's government said it would expand the size of funds set aside to recapitalise banks to 12 trillion yen ($131.1 billion) from 2 trillion yen and also announced a 1 trillion yen package to secure jobs.

It was not clear how much of the money was new.

Tokyo has already announced a package of economic measures worth 27 trillion yen ($295 billion), which included 5 trillion yen in new spending and featured payouts to families, tax breaks on mortgages and relief for small firms.

"We are working at a very high speed. The size of the economic measures will be worked out until the last minute," Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told a news conference just before the new measures were unveiled.

European Union leaders backed a 200 billion euro ($264 billion) economic stimulus pact, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, despite German misgivings.

Sceptics say the plan rests largely on national government packages already announced but leaders will be relieved after an unusually public spat with Berlin accusing London of 'tossing around billions', including a value-added tax cut. In wording which appeared to reflect the reluctance of Germany, the text noted the possibility of reducing VAT on labour-intensive services only in those states that wished to.

...

Tokyo's Nikkei average .N225 and stocks elsewhere in Asia .MIAPJOOOOPUS fell 5 percent and more after talks failed.

Auto stocks went into freefall with Toyota (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Nissan (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and others shedding over 10 percent.

European shares followed suit, dropping 4.5 percent.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLC32624820081212?rpc=44&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

[tclambert]

21. 1 in 10 jobs linked to auto industry = about 13 million jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says we're in the 130 million jobs range. Well, used to be.

[ozymandius]

7. Alcatel-Lucent to cut jobs as part of turnaround

PARIS – Alcatel-Lucent SA said Friday it will eliminate another 1,000 white-collar jobs as part of its newly installed chief executive's plan to return the company to profitability.

The Paris-based maker of networking equipment for fixed and mobile telecommunications operators also intends to cut 5,000 contractor jobs in measures aimed at saving euro750 million ($991 million) by the fourth quarter of 2009, the company said in a statement.

Investors dumped the stock on the news. In early Paris trading Friday, Alcatel-Lucent shares sank 8.8 percent at euro1.69 ($2.23). The stock was the biggest percentage loser in the CAC 40 index which fell 4.4 percent to 3,160 — down with many major indexes over the failure of a U.S. auto bailout plan.

In a statement, Alcatel-Lucent said the cuts could help it break even at the operating level next year. It hasn't made a profit since the company was formed through Alcatel SA's purchase of Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies Inc. for $11.4 billion in 2006.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_alcatel_lucent

[ozymandius]

9. Bank of America to cut up to 35,000 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America said late Thursday that it plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years as the financial giant adjusts to a recession and completes the pending acquisition of brokerage firm Merrill Lynch & Co.

This comes as the latest wave of mass layoffs in the troubled financial sector, which has been crippled by the credit crunch and the failure of large institutions such as Lehman Brothers. More than 220,000 jobs already have been lost across the sector this year, according to labor-tracking firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.

.....

Still, the bank said it continues to do business actively with all of its clients and has attracted deposits and new customers. It also stressed that it's still actively offering loans through all of its credit product lines.

Bank of America's reductions represent one of the largest rounds of layoffs in the history of the financial-services industry. Citigroup Inc. said last month that it plans to cut about 50,000 staff.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/bank-america-cut-up-35000/story.aspx?guid={3BE563B5-082C-444B-BCA0-8122FC013047}&dist=msr_14

[ozymandius]

10. KB Toys files for bankruptcy, to close all stores

NEW YORK/HONG KONG, Dec 11 (Reuters) - KB Toys Inc, one of the largest U.S. toy retailers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, with a plan to close all its stores and begin liquidation sales in the middle of the holiday season.

KB Toys is the latest retailer to succumb to a sharp decline in consumer spending this year. Others like apparel retailer Steve & Barry's to jeweler Whitehall Jewelers Holdings filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and started selling their merchandise at deep discounts.

"The liquidity crisis is directly attributable to a sudden and sharp decline in consumer sales due to macro-economic forces," KB Toys said in court papers.

KB Toys, which runs about 460 stores, said it will try to find a buyer for its wholesale distribution unit as it conducts going-out-of-business sales.

KB Toys filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, along with eight affiliates, listing assets of $100 million to $500 million, and liabilities in the same range.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1138906920081212

[ozymandius]

11. Costco Feels The Pinch

Discount retailer lures customers looking for gas and food, but can't get them to buy much else.

Consumers are still flocking to Costco Wholesale, but they're being more focused about their purchases, buying necessities like food and gasoline and foregoing clothing and other discretionary items. While strong gas sales pushed the discount retailer’s profits higher in the first quarter, it was overshadowed by a slump in consumer spending and a robust greenback that hurt sales abroad.

....

On Thursday, the warehouse-club operator reported only a slight increase in first-quarter profit and sales, which missed analysts’ forecasts as consumers stick with necessities and shun discretionary items. In addition, the stronger dollar caused pain for the company abroad, especially in Canada, the U.K. and Korea, impacting pre-tax earnings by an estimated $22.7 million, or 3 cents per share.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/12/11/costco-walmart-update-markets-equity-cx_ra_1211markets38.html

[Warpy]

45. Costco is the only place I've seen people buying big boxes

this season. The one closest to me was always a leisurely shopping experience until the last six months, when it just sort of exploded with crowds.

I have a feeling business will pick up as neighbors get together and form co ops, the one neighbor with a card buying all sorts of things in bulk for the whole block.

I'm trying to get people interested here. I'm the one with the card.

[AnneD]

101. I proudly shop Costco almost exclusively....

When Target refused to do an even exchange for a packet of under ware for hubby (I pulled a Large from a Med bin). Now it would not be unusual for me not to find the exact receipt as it took them a long time to get the exact package of under ware (5 to a pack instead of the usual 3). I did shop there 3-4 times a week- I have more receipts than I could fish for. IT WAS A FRICKIN EVEN EXCHANGE_MEDIUM FOR LARGE identical packet of under ware. I went all the way to the top-manager. Then finally I said give me my money back, I'll never shop here again. They would only give me a gift card. But you don't understand-I don't want a gift card because I'LL NEVER STEP INSIDE A TARGET EVER AGAIN- IT WON'T DO ME ANY GOOD. I pass by Target every day on my way home but I wouldn't stop there if they were handing out free water and my ass was on fire.

[ozymandius]

12. West Coast Ports: Export Traffic Falls to 2006 Levels

Go to article for one dramatic chart.

This graph shows the combined loaded inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container). Although containers tell us nothing about value, container traffic does give us an idea of the volume of goods being exported and imported.

Inbound traffic has peaked for the year as retailers have already imported most of the goods for the holiday season. Inbound traffic was 11% below last November. This slowdown in exports (inbound traffic to the U.S.) is hitting Asian countries hard.

But even more concerning for the U.S. is that export traffic is declining sharply. For the LA area ports, outbound traffic continued to decline in November, and was 18% below the level of November 2007. Export traffic is now at about the same level as in late 2006. So much for the export boom!

The key supports for the economy earlier this year - consumer spending, exports, and investment in non-residential structures - are all declining sharply now.

[Ghost Dog]

16. Hedge Funds Shrink by $64 Billion, Eurekahedge Says

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The global hedge-fund industry lost $64 billion of assets in November, with an index tracking its performance declining for a sixth month as economies in Asia and Europe joined the U.S. in recession, Eurekahedge Pte said.

“It’s very clear that there is going to be significant consolidation in the hedge-fund industry,” said Duncan Smith, a partner in Hong Kong at Ogier, a firm that provides corporate and legal services to financial companies. “Conditions are quite difficult and that really goes without saying. Underlying liquidity is very hard for funds.”

Market declines contributed to $18 billion in net losses, while investor redemptions made up $46 billion, Singapore-based Eurekahedge said, based on preliminary figures taken from 41 percent of the funds it surveys. It said hedge-fund assets shrank by $110 billion to $1.65 trillion in October.

The slump takes declines to 13 percent this year as hedge funds accelerate job cuts and brace for the biggest annual losses and investor withdrawals since at least 2000, according to Eurekahedge data. Firms including Satellite Asset Management LP and RAB Capital Plc have been forced to limit withdrawals, liquidate funds or eliminate jobs.

Hedge funds fell 0.4 percent on average in November, as measured by the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, which tracks the performance of more than 2,000 funds that invest globally. The final figure for the month may be a 2 percent decline, said Eurekahedge, which typically receives data from poorer performing funds later.

Distressed Selling

Hedge-fund industry assets peaked at $1.9 trillion in June, data compiled by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. show. Investment losses and withdrawals may shrink that amount by 45 percent by the end of this month, according to estimates by analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Distressed selling and the rollback of debt-funded investments continued to pull down funds as the credit crisis sent the U.S., Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recession since World War II.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a6QLLD6W29bs

[Ghost Dog]

17. Madoff Scandal: 'Biggest Story of the Year'

According to RealMoney.com columnist Doug Kass, general partner and investment manager of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Short LP and Seabreeze Partners Short Offshore Fund, Ltd., today's late-breaking report of an alleged massive fraud at a well known investment firm could be "the biggest story of the year." In his view,

it is bigger than Enron, bigger than Boesky and bigger than Tyco.
It attacks at the core of investor confidence -- because, if true, and this could happen ... investors might think that almost anything imaginable could happen to the money they have entrusted to their fudiciaries.

Here are some excerpts from the Bloomberg report, entitled "Madoff Charged in $50 Billion Fraud at Advisory Firm":

Bernard Madoff, founder and president of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities, a market-maker for hedge funds and banks, was charged by federal prosecutors in a $50 billion fraud at his advisory business.

Madoff, 70, was arrested today at 8:30 a.m. by the FBI and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton in Manhattan federal court. Charged in a criminal complaint with a single count of securities fraud, he was granted release on a $10 million bond guaranteed by his wife and secured by his apartment. Madoff’s wife was present in the courtroom.

"It’s all just one big lie," Madoff told his employees on Dec. 10, according to a statement by prosecutors. The firm, Madoff allegedly said, is "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme." He was also sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Madoff’s New York-based firm was the 23rd largest market maker on Nasdaq in October, handling a daily average of about 50 million shares a day, exchange data show. The firm specialized in handling orders from online brokers in some of the largest U.S. companies, including General Electric Co (GE). and Citigroup Inc. (C).

/... http://seekingalpha.com/article/110402-madoff-scandal-biggest-story-of-the-year


Madoff Confessed $50 Billion Fraud Before FBI Arrest

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff confessed to employees this week that his investment advisory business was “a giant Ponzi scheme” that cost clients $50 billion before two FBI agents showed up yesterday morning at his Manhattan apartment.

“We’re here to find out if there’s an innocent explanation,” Agent Theodore Cacioppi told Madoff, who founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and was the former head of the Securities Industry Association’s trading committee.

“There is no innocent explanation,” Madoff, 70, told the agents, saying he traded and lost money for institutional clients. He said he “paid investors with money that wasn’t there” and expected to go to jail. With that, agents arrested Madoff, according to an FBI complaint.

The 8:30 a.m. arrest capped the downfall of Madoff and businesses bearing his name that specialized in trading securities, making markets, and advising wealthy clients. Many questions remain unanswered, including whether Madoff’s clients actually lost $50 billion. The complaint and a civil lawsuit by regulators describe a man spinning out of control.

Madoff appeared in federal court in Manhattan at 6 p.m., wearing a white-striped shirt and dark-colored pants. U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton described the securities-fraud charge against him and set a $10 million bond at a hearing where Madoff said nothing. Madoff later posted the bond, secured by his apartment and guaranteed by his wife.

Hedge Funds, Banks

Madoff’s firm had about $17.1 billion in assets under management as of Nov. 17, according to NASD records. At least half of its clients were hedge funds, and others included banks and wealthy individuals, according to the records.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYzclQY1HkVE

[boomerbust]

22. Could it be

That this guy is the first to admit the obvious, the wmole market the last 10 yrs. was one big ponzi scheme?

[tclambert]

23. Did you say $50 BILLION fraud?

Fifty billion. Fraud. They are going to have to update those caper movies in Hollywood. Ocean's Eleven went after, what, a 100 million dollar score? And it sounded like a lot. Clooney, listen up! Danny Ocean is not the biggest and best thief in the world. Not even close. 50 billion is 500 times more.

BTW, what's the fine on a fraud that size? $250,000?

The guy's 70. He can't do much time in jail. What do ya wanna bet he does a Ken Lay and mysteriously dies before sentencing?

[tclambert]

24. Can Madoff spare some for GM?

[DemReadingDU]

55. OJ Simpson (61) gets up to 33 years

12/8/08 O.J. Simpson was transferred Monday from jail to a Nevada state prison to begin serving nine to 33 years for his felony convictions in a gunpoint confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers, a state corrections official said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_re_us/oj_simpson


So let us hope Madoff gets a similar sentence

[tclambert]

89. Madoff didn't use a gun, so it's just a white collar crime.

Blue collar crimes get much stiffer sentences. In tougher prisons. What did Michael Milken, the junk bond king, get? Wikipedia says he was charged with 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud, but made a plea deal on six charges. "He was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was released after less than two years." That's what I'm talking about. Oh, wiki also says Milken is still worth about 2.1 billion dollars.

When I was a kid people used to say, "Crime doesn't pay." They lied.

[Ghost Dog]

65. Yeah, you know, big numbers. See, think of ten

(you've got ten fingers). That's ten. Now think of ten of those: That's a hundred (fingers, or try to keep in mind a visual of 100 eg. cockroaches on your kitchen floor). Now, think of a hundred of those hundreds. That's a thousand. Lots of roaches. A thousand. Now, think of a thousand of those thousands. For every individual cockroach, there are now a thousand of them. That's a million. Ok, we're getting there. Now, think of fifty thousand of each one of those millions.

That is a very large number and quite a lot of cockroaches crawling around your innermost reaches, the cracks in your interstices, your kitchen floor. Or not, when you once thought they were, any more. Poof!

Ponzi'd again.

[tclambert]

90. Egon says, "If knocking over a 7-11 was a twinkie . . .

then Madoff's Ponzi scheme would be a twinkie 35 feet long weighing 600 pounds."

Wait, Egon. My calculator says a twinkie that size would weigh about 10 tons.

[Ghost Dog]

98. That's about the size of it.

Although you only need ten hundreds to make a thousand, not a hundred as I said above, so you can divide the number of (disappeared) cockroaches you visualised above by ten: that's a lot fewer but still very many roaches... :blush:

[Tansy_Gold]

29. "At least half of its clients were hedge funds"

Talk about a ponzi scheme! The layers and tiers are mindboggling. The hedge fund managers have someone else do the managing, and that guy has someone else, and that guy has someone else. . .. and they just ran out of sheep to fleece????



:grr:


Tansy Gold, workin' for peanuts (or dog food, whichever comes first)

[Dr.Phool]

30. After today, the dog might BE food.

Here Fuddly, Wuddly, Wuddly.....

Nah, I just spent $300 on his ass at the vet's yesterday.

[Tansy_Gold]

42. I may stop speakin' to you, Doc, for remarks like that

:hi:

[TalkingDog]

66. I know what you mean, our critters get more "real" doctoring than we do.

We have to make do with leaving rum and tobacco out for Loko.

[burf]

43. Paging Mr Cox,

Mr Christopher Cox, please pick up the yellow courtesy phone. It seems as though Mr Cox has been, and continues to be missing.

[specimenfred1984]

71. This is REALLY REALLY good news and a great start to cleaning up corruption

A criminal got what's coming to him, FINALLY!

[tclambert]

25. Ozy, I have tried to remain optimistic, but today I am scared.

Really deep down scared. If the US Senate is this short-sighted . . . If the auto companies go . . . Damn.

Gotta go to work. Gotta make some money while it's still possible.

[truthisfreedom]

26. Umm... yay?

The times, they are a suckin'.

[liberal N proud]

27. It could be a really bad one

Todays crash will all be on the republican senators.

[jwirr]

63. Todays world crash is all going to be on the pug senators.

[Tansy_Gold]

28. You 'n' me both, tc. You 'n' me both.

I can't even put it into words.

:scared:


TG

[AnneD]

102. All of our teachers that were to retire after this year....

nixed the idea-as has Hubby (he checked his 401 today). He had insurance on it so he is ok-eventually.

The bulk of mine had been switched to interest and international so I took a slight hit on the international. I did what I could do on the indexed funds. So we took a smaller hit that most folks, and we have portable wealth.

We are ok...we reduced our debt and are almost debt free so we are piling cash looking for distressed property for sale. It would be rather ironic if we did get the last laugh.

[JNelson6563]

34. I see the 10 yr,. yield's down 8 basis points already.

Hoo-boy, this could be one helluva day!

Julie :scared:

On edit less than a minute later it's now down 13 basis points! Run for your lives!

[DemReadingDU]

35. U.S. DOJ Requires 61 Bank-Branch Sales In PNC-National City Deal

12/11/08 U.S. DOJ Requires 61 Bank-Branch Sales In PNC-National City Deal

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Antitrust regulators at the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday cleared PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s (PNC) $5.58 billion acquisition of National City Corp. (NCC) but required PNC to sell 61 National City branches in western Pennsylvania to address concerns that the deal would harm competition.

The two banks have strong presences in the western part of the state, and the department said the divestitures "will ensure that consumers, small businesses and middle-market businesses in that area will continue to have choices for banking services."

Pittsburgh-based PNC agreed Oct. 24 to buy National City, based in Cleveland, in a stock and cash deal.

PNC moved to make the deal after it was assured of receiving financial assistance from the Treasury Department's rescue package.

PNC has said that it would sell $7.7 billion of preferred shares and warrants to the Treasury Department to finance the deal.

PNC spokesman Fred Solomon said Thursday that the bank had expected the Justice Department to require it to sell some National City branches.

Solomon said PNC hopes to close the deal by the end of the year.

Shareholders for both banks are scheduled to vote on the deal Dec. 23. The merger also needs approval from the Federal Reserve Board.

Once the deal closes, PNC will be the fifth-largest U.S. bank by deposits and fourth biggest by branches.

National City was pushed into the acquisition after banking regulators told the struggling bank that it would not receive taxpayer-funded assistance.

The deal was an early sign that the Treasury Department's rescue plan, intended to spur banks' lending activity, would spur bank acquisitions as well.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires;
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200812111726DOWJONESDJONLINE001016_FORTUNE5.htm

[UpInArms]

36. dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 83.600 Change -0.081 (-0.10%)

Japanese Yen Rises to Highest Since 1995 Against US Dollar, More Volatility Ahead (Euro Open)

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Japanese_Yen_Rises_to_Highest_1229058949570.html

The Japanese Yen roared higher late into the overnight session as US Senators debating a bailout for America’s top three automakers exchanged some choice words regarding a possible vote on the measure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said lawmakers will not make it to the “finish line”, adding that he will “dread” watching Wall Street tomorrow. The comment was quickly followed by news that the Senate failed to pass a procedural vote would have allowed policymakers to weigh in on the measure itself. This sent US stock index futures lower by a whopping -4.5% in a matter of minutes.

The sudden evaporation of risk appetite across financial markets pushed USDJPY below the 90.00 level for the first time since 1995. The Yen is typically used as a funding currency for carry trades and tends to gain if risk appetite sends investors out of risky assets (including high-yielding currencies). Indeed, USDJPY is now 95% correlated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

...more...

Euro Weakens On Failed U.S. Auto Bailout and A 15 Year Low In Industrial Production

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/Euro_Weakens_On_Failed_U_S__1229079706914.html

The Euro started to pare its losses resulting from the announcement of the failed Detroit bailout plan. However, a weaker than expected October industrial production report would derail the bullish momentum as the 1.2% decline in activity signaled that the region’s downturn could steepen. The monthly drop was the largest in 15 years and dragged the annualized reading down to minus 5.3% from minus 2.7%. The region also saw French business confidence fall to a 28 year low of 68 from 75 the month prior. The single currency was threatening the 1.400 price level before weakening which may now serve as a significant resistance level, where previous resistance at 1.300 could turn into support.

The fall in activity was lead by a 2.0% decline in intermediate gods which accounts fro 36.2% of total output. The medium term outlook for the region’s economy remains dim which has led to expectations that the ECB will need to continue their current easing policy. Therefore, the Euro’s recent strength may be limited as markets continue to expect the central bank will cut rates by at least another 100 bps. Therefore, current strength may present a good opportunity to sell the currency if it fails to break above 1.4000

The Yen fell to a 13 year low on the failure of the U.S. auto bailout plan as concerns that the industry’s failure would deepen the global recession. Safe-haven flows would drive the USD/JPY to as low as 88.18. However, we saw an immediate retrace that has the pair back above 90.00. If the carmakers troubles continue to go unaddressed we may see weakness continue and another test of 88.00 is a possibility.

The Pound fell back below 1.500 on the back of the flight to safety, falling to as low as 1.4852. The Sterling has since paired some of its loses but failed to break above the psychological barrier which has served as solid resistance before yesterday’s cable strength. The Pound will have to navigate a significant amount of event risk as BoE minutes may reveal that the central bank plans to continue their easing policy, while consumer prices, employment and retail sales are all expected to weaken strengthening the case for further easing. Therefore, the Pound’s upside potential may be limited and a drop back to 1.4500 is a distinct possibility.

The failure of the auto bailout plan in the U.S. Senate has sparked risk aversion which may be a supportive factor for the dollar throughout the day. A slew of economic data is also scheduled to cross the wires today including U.S. retail sales, producer prices and consumer confidence reports. The declining expectations for growth and the troubles of Detroit are expected to drag sentiment to a new 28 year low of 54.8. Pessimistic Americans have continued to tighten their wallets despite the start of the holiday shopping season as U.S. retails sales are forecasted to have declined another 2% in November following a record drop of 2.8% the month prior. The dour data will only fuel fears that the current global slowdown will deepen which may perpetuate the current flight to safety. However, as traders realized that there are other measures available to help the troubled carmakers including using funds from the TARP, fears have eased and the dollar has weakened. However, when U.S. trading session begins we could see increased safe-haven flows as they react to the bailout failure.

...more...

[UpInArms]

38. Dollar hits 13-year low versus yen

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/failed-auto-bailout-sends-dollar/story.aspx?guid=%7B6EF25EA9%2D6ACA%2D4DC5%2DBB34%2D6CF75ABA63FB%7D&dist=morenews_ts

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar tumbled to a 13-year low versus the Japanese yen Friday and fell against most major currencies after a $14 billion loan package for the auto industry collapsed in the U.S. Senate.

The dollar dropped as far as 88.38 yen in Asian trade, according to FactSet. Dealers said the dollar sank as low as 88.10 yen on some platforms, its lowest level since August 1995.

"It's a risk-appetite trade. There isn't much risk appetite, and when that happens the yen tends to go up," said Russell Jones, head of fixed-income and currency strategy research at RBC Capital Markets.

The greenback subsequently trimmed losses but remains significantly lower at 90.26 yen, down from 91.64 yen in North American trade late Thursday. Dealers said fears Japanese authorities could intervene to stem the yen's tide prompted short-covering on dollar/yen trades.

...more...

[UpInArms]

40. really fugly futures numbers

S&P 500 -30.50 844.00 12/12 8:42am
Fair Value 871.84 12/11 10:55pm
Difference* -27.84

NASDAQ -35.00 1155.00 12/12 8:40am
Fair Value 1185.69 12/11 10:55pm
Difference* -30.69

Dow Jones -275.00 8295.00 12/12 8:36am

[DemReadingDU]

41. Mike Shedlock - Inflation or deflation

A snippet from Mike Shedlock

12/11/08 A Practical Look At "Flation"

Here is a table of conditions and whether or not one would expect to see those conditions in inflation, deflation, stagflation, hyperinflation, and disinflation. Some expectations are debatable so I left those blank.





Shedlock continues...
Those using practical definitions have an easy time explaining things. Those lost souls screaming hyperinflation missed the boat completely. Hyperinflationists have had trouble for years explaining falling home prices, and falling treasury yields.

Those screaming stagflation no longer have a case with falling commodity prices, a rising dollar, and falling treasury yields.

Disinflation makes no sense with stock prices down 40% and corporate bond yields soaring. Stocks do best in disinflation. Corporate bond yields drop in disinflation. This is not disinflation by any stretch of the imagination.

Routine inflation makes no sense in light of corporate bond yields priced for bankruptcy, collapsing stocks, plunging commodity prices and a negative CPI.

Those who think inflation is about prices alone were busy shorting treasuries, and looking the wrong direction for over a year. Only after the stock market fell 50% and gasoline prices crashed did the media start picking up on "deflation". Only those who knew what a destruction in credit would do to jobs, to lending, to retail sales, to the stock market, to corporate bond yields and to treasury yields got it right.

What It's Not

It's Not Disinflation
It's Not Stagflation
It's Not Inflation
It's Not Hyperinflation

What's left looks like a duck, walks like a duck, flies like a duck, and squawks like a duck. And that duck is deflation no matter what Humpty Dumpty suggests.

Those who stick to a monetary definition of inflation pointing at M3, MZM, base money supply, or even Money AMS, are selecting a definition that makes absolutely no practical sense. Worse yet they do it screaming about bond-bubbles at yields of 5% or higher, all because they refuse to see or admit the destruction of credit is happening far faster than the Fed is printing.

And it is that destruction of credit, coupled with the fact that what the Fed is printing is not even being lent that matters, not some Humpty-Dumptyish academic definition that has no real world practical application!

Phooey. I prefer a practical definition of deflation that matches and even predicts what the credit markets and stock markets are going to do, not some definition that is useless for anything but academic debate.

The trick now is to figure out how long deflation will last, not whether we are in it. Humpty Dumpty is of no use, he cannot even see where we are.

full article...
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/12/humpty-dumpty-on-inflation.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

46. What is "CC***" in that chart?

[Tansy_Gold]

49. "Current Conditions"

It's at the bottom.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

52. TY

[DemReadingDU]

50. See line 20: CC*** = Current Conditions

[BelgianMadCow]

48. well that table is quite instructive. I wondered about the scenario

till I heard Paul Krugman.

They are laying off over 10% now, and going faster.

Deflation is an ugly beast. I will likely have to get back on the job market in 2009 and I :scared:

[DemWynner]

51. White House considers using TARP for auto bailout

The Bush administration will consider its options to save the nation's automobile industry, including tapping the $700 billion in funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday.
"A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time," she said.
"Under normal economic conditions we would prefer that markets determine the ultimate fate of private firms."

...

"While the federal government may need to step in to prevent an immediate failure, the auto companies, their labor unions, and all other stakeholders must be prepared to make the meaningful concessions necessary to become viable," she said.

...

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/White-House-considers-using-TARP/story.aspx?guid={081CBE42-3D1B-4884-B83F-2790DF2BB542}

[fasttense]

58. So Corker and company are going to let Paulson

bailout the car manufacturers.

I guess that is why the American stock market hasn't crashed like it did in Japan last night.

Those repuke senators are sure lucky because we could have called this crash the Corker Crash or the Republicon Union Busting crash.

I guess the bush is covering for the Republicon Senator's stupid games.

[Dr.Phool]

56. ArcelorMittal to shut down two US steel plants

I didn't see anything about this in the US press.


ArcelorMittal to shut down two US steel plants
11 Dec 2008, 0931 hrs IST,
NEW YORK: ArcelorMittal has announced it would shut down two of its steel plants in the US, rendering more than 550 people
jobless.

The two plants are in Lackawana in New York and at Hennepin in Illinois
.

While the Lackawana facility has 260 full-time employee, the Hennepin steel plant has 285 people. A company spokesperson said the Lackawana steel plant would be closed by April 30. The exact date of closing down the Hennepin plant has not been announced yet.

The decision has been taken in view of the global economic meltdown that has hit the company's finances and substantial drop in demand of steel. ArcelorMittal had recently announced a cut its production in North America by 40 percent.

"This is in-line with the temporary global production cuts of approximately 35 percent announced as part of the company's third quarter earnings on Nov 5," a company spokesperson told IANS.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/ArcelorMittal_to_shut_down_two_US_steel_plants/articleshow/3821740.cms

[pjt7]

57. Paulson is going to

pay John Snow (ex-Bush treasury head)& now Chairman of Cerebrus.. which owns Chrysler & GM Finance in this "auto" bail-out.

Ha! Ha! the Bush administrtion get's to directly give Billions to itself, again.

I haven't heard 1 Democrat point out this criminal connection.

[fasttense]

59. Because the Democratic leadership is too busy fight off Union Busters

like Porker-Corker.

I guess Busting Unions is just more important to Republicon Senators than worrying about losing 10 to 15 million American jobs.

[BelgianMadCow]

60. heavy stuff going on in Europe too. I worked at ArcelorMittal

in Ghent, Belgium - a plant considered "the jewel in the Arcelor crown" upon purchase by Mittal.

Two days ago, 800 jobs cut in Belgium, of which 200 in Ghent.
Today, an extra 600 to go in Ghent alone.

That means about -15% on a 5000+ site.

Unions are very strong here though, and especially in metal processing. Supposedly, there will be no hard lay-offs - just incentives and (early) retirements.

So far...

[Dr.Phool]

64. I used to work for the railroad division in Cleveland before Mittal bought it.

They got almost 500 "involuntary" last week, plus 150 "voluntary"...so far.

That's about 30% of the workforce there. And both blast furnaces have been down for over a month.

[BelgianMadCow]

67. The personnel cuts always come fast, as do the price increases

hiring: nah, temp workers without the normal protections. Mittal stated "when economy goes up, about half can flow back in"...enough said.

Price decreases? Nah, we'd rather limit production (steel, oil).

Blast furnaces going down, that's a big decision indeed. You don't turn 'm on and off with a switch.

[Ghost Dog]

68. Retail sales, fraud case worsen auto bailout flop

Friday December 12, 11:27 am ET NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Uncertainty over a bailout of U.S. automakers, and declining U.S. retail sales added new headaches for the world's financial stewards, already overwhelmed by recession, tight credit markets and a debilitated White House.

Meanwhile Wall Street was coping with the shock waves of a suspected $50 billion fraud that may rank as one of the biggest ever, Japan weighed a currency intervention, OPEC debated production cuts and Europe agreed to a 200 billion euro ($268 billion) stimulus package.

"This is ugly and getting uglier," Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Management in New Jersey, said on Friday.

"Pick your poison. Do you want to talk about autos, or some of the macroeconomic data we've had coming out or do you want to talk about Madoff? If there's something positive here, share it with me. I see nothing here that is going to give anyone any reason to buy the market."

/... http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/081212/business_us_financial.html?.v=9

Or... talk about revolution.

[Dr.Phool]

70. Song for the day?

[Ghost Dog]

75. Song of day? Try: Leonard Cohen: The Traitor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMehBiX9rz8

(hope this works, my tubes wonky today)...

[specimenfred1984]

73. "I Knew Bernie Madoff Was Cheating; That's Why I Invested with Him"

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/145115/I-Knew-Bernie-Madoff-Was-Cheating--That%27s-Why-I-Invested-with-Him?tickers=^dji,&gspc,^ixic

----Interesting tidbits coming in about Bernie Madoff (read indictment here).

Specifically, we're hearing that the smart money KNEW Bernie had to be cheating, because the returns he was generating were impossibly good. Many Wall Streeters suspected the wrong rigged game, though: They thought it was insider trading, not a Ponzi scheme. And here's the best part: That's why they invested with him.----

[htuttle]

76. Most con scams rely on the greed of the victim in order to work

Ain't no different just because the grifter is wearing a nice suit...

[Ghost Dog]

85. Mother.

Just reminded again why I (we) don't need TV.

'cept (internet), for educational purposes, 'course.

[Wednesdays]

77. Dow finishing on the upside! Whee!

Worst streak of economic news in 70 years this week, and everything's A-okay! Ponies for everyone!

[Ghost Dog]

78. No problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5_0iZQ-TuA (Set the controls for the heart of the Sun).

[Dr.Phool]

80. Wow! That brings back some old memories!

I saw them perform that live, on what I think was their first US tour, in late '71 or early '72 (it was winter is all I remember), at a small venue (Allen Theater) in Cleveland.

Roger Waters and that damned gong in the middle of that song! That was their encore.

They also played "Astronomy Domine", and "Careful with that axe, Eugene".

Wow.

[Ghost Dog]

81. Uh huh. Saw it coming...

:grouphug:

Now I have to add this (from then, since heavily pondered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WzPjJm9iAI

(Stones).

[Ghost Dog]

87. To which, one may well add:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLYFDl5nD14&NR=1 (Play with fire).

[Ghost Dog]

82. Hang on hang on, Dr.

To which this is easy to add, 'course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hkjkTe5kZE (Money)

...and, I suppose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qt6b8B5Bd4 (comfortably numb).

[Ghost Dog]

83. Or, did I mean to play this, for friends?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yekz__cCci0

[ozymandius]

84. Here's your corks-a-poppin' numbers and blather.

Dow 8,629.68 Up 64.59 (0.75%)
Nasdaq 1,540.72 Up 32.84 (2.18%)
S&P 500 879.73 Up 6.14 (0.70%)
10-Yr Bond 2.589% Down 0.059
NYSE Volume 6,033,581,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,916,089,500


4:35 pm : News that automakers won't immediately be receiving a congressionally-backed bailout drove selling in early action, extending the prior session's losses. However, comments from the Treasury and White House staff calmed concern on the matter, helping limit selling pressure enough to give way to gains.

Weakness surrounded stocks after the Senate refused to provide U.S. automakers with $14 billion in bailout money. General Motors (GM 3.94, -0.18) reportedly hired a bankruptcy firm upon hearing the Senate's decision and will begin implementing major production cuts. Mindful of the implications stemming from a bankruptcy, the Treasury and White House stepped forward to express their willingness to prevent automakers from failing. Whether funds will be made available from the $700 billion TARP plan is still uncertain.

The supportive comments helped keep losses from falling back to session lows, where the stock market traded with a loss of 2.6%. The development also helped participants look past other negative headlines.

Former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange and popular broker, Bernard Madoff, was arrested on allegations he orchestrated a $50 billion scheme in which his money management business engaged in fraudulent practices. Such misdeeds can easily shake investor confidence, especially amid ongoing uncertainty in the broader market.

Stocks were able to finish the session with broad-based gains.

Only energy (-0.9%) finished lower. Energy's decline followed a drop in oil prices. Crude futures finished roughly 2.9% lower at around $46.60 per barrel after rallying substantially during recent sessions. This session's move comes as a pullback after investors pushed its price higher on the expectation OPEC will cut production when it meets next week. Oil still finished the week 14.1% higher.

Technology (+2.4%) and financials (+2.1%) finished with the largest gains. Apple (AAPL 98.27, +3.27) and Amazon.com (AMZN 51.25, +3.00) were some of the best performers in tech, also helping the Nasdaq outperform. Meanwhile JPMorgan Chase (JPM 30.94, +1.00) made gains after trading to a weekly low in the prior session.

Retailers (+1.1%) performed relatively well throughout the session. Their advance comes despite a 1.8% decline in retail sales for November. The consensus called for a 2.0% decline. Excluding autos, sales declined 1.6%, which was also less severe than the 1.8% drop that was anticipated.

Sales for the three-month period ending in November are down 4.7% from the prior three-month period ending in August, and down 4.5% from the same three-month period a year ago. The drop in consumer spending is expected to weigh on GDP results, since consumers typically account for more than two-thirds of economic activity. What is more, consumer spending is expected to remain pressured in the face of mounting job losses and falling asset prices.

The continued threat of softer spending has businesses paring inventories. October business inventories fell 0.6% after falling 0.4% the month before. The consensus called for a 0.2% drop in October.

In other economic news, the producer price index fell 2.2% in November on a month-over-month basis, which was larger than the 2.0% decline that was expected.DJ30 +64.59 NASDAQ +32.84 SP500 +6.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1824/1.91 bln/915 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1887/1.44 bln/1199

[Ghost Dog]

88. (Women of Ireland) Mná na h'Éireann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt8p5AxJn18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmANPPIi168
...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0CjBtsG8I (Óró 's é do bheatha 'bhaile)
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGid0BMm7VA&NR=1

[ozymandius]

91. How lovely to hear the different treatment of the same melody

in the top two selections.

So you're n a Sinead O'Connor mood this evening? I love her traditional work.

[Ghost Dog]

95. Well, yes Ozy, I'd say my heart's in in the same place,

more or less, as Sinead's.

(don't get me goin', though, Spanish, or even Cuban, further down the road,,, :) )...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl5sx8q4EuA

[Ghost Dog]

96. Vamos a andar

(Matando al poderoso): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIL9U2PoiYw
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxtwzU0-wPM (Hasta siempre).

[Ghost Dog]

97. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uRUYjMPgTE (Radio Tarifa)

[Hugin]

92. Since I haven't seen Demeter today. I went ahead and started a Weekend Economist thread...

Here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x408655

Come on over and help... Please! I'm beggin' ya! Come on! Puh-leeeeeze! :)

[Ghost Dog]

93. In an over there locked thread, readmoreoften commented:.

76. The problem with anarchism vs socialism is always the Paris commune.

If you don't know, here it is in a nutshell.

19th century. Warlike, global colonizer. Working class= poor. Peasants, landed and unlanded= not doing so well. War breaks out on the border with Prussia (Germany) and Prussia ends up occupying parts of France. People are pissed at the Royalists (clergy, former kings, big capitalists) and a group called the Republicans rise up in the name of secular Nationalism and mediate between the working class and the elite. The working class is made a bunch of promises that aren't kept. The working class and some of the Republican National Guard get together in Paris. The National Guard turns its guns on the Republicans and the Royalists. They even join together with the working class Prussian soldiers and take over Paris.

The ruling class is banished to Versailles. They say they are sorry. The workers now control Paris. The workers immediately change everything, and for 2 months run their society with no help from anyone. No police. No crime. They separate church and state. They own the means of production. They smash the guillotine. They become an international commune for peace. They enter into a treaty with the former ruling class stuck in Versailles, which acts as if it has its tail between its legs and they promise not to hurt them.

Meanwhile, the Royalist (big capitalists) and the Republican nationalists join together, use religion to sway the peasants, and all three groups quietly join with the German invaders. They ignore the peace treaty and storm the Paris Commune, killing 30,000 communards: men, women, and children and imprisoning the other 38,000.

Moral: The ruling capitalist class, if they exist anywhere, will join together and pay off nationalists to manipulate the religious and patriotic rural folks and small business owners to slaughter the peacefully organized working class. If there isn't international solidarity between the working class, wherever the capitalist class flees--their 'commune', if you will--will use its vast reserves of wealth to rise up, infiltrate, and destroy the working class.

[Ghost Dog]

94. ..To which, I would like to add, history will add...

much.