STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday October 20

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday October 20, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 19, 2010

Dow 10,978.62 -165.07 (-1.50%)
Nasdaq 2,436.95 -43.71 (-1.79%)
S&P 500 1,165.90 -18.81 (-1.61%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.48 -0.01 (-0.20%)
30-Year Bond 3.90 -0.01 (-0.33%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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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.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Reports

07:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 10/15
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior 14.6%

10:30 Crude Inventories 10/16
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior -0.416M

14:00 Fed's Beige Book Oct

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

[ozymandius]

2. Oil back above $80 after diving on China rate hike

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose above $80 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, clawing back some of the previous session's steep drop that was triggered by China's surprise interest rate hike.

The contract tumbled $3.59 to settle at $79.49 on Tuesday after China raised rates for the first time since 2007 to help tame inflation and cool credit growth.

The move spooked investors and helped shake the two pillars of oil's month-long jump above $80 a barrel — the global stock market rally and the weakening dollar. Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday after the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.5 percent.

Oil rebounded despite a report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 2.3 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast an increase of 2.1 million barrels. Inventories of gasoline and distillates fell, the API said.

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

[ozymandius]

3. China surprises with first rate rise since 2007

BEIJING (Reuters) – China's central bank surprised on Tuesday with its first increase of interest rates in nearly three years, a move that reflects concern about resurgent asset prices and could mark the start of a more aggressive phase of monetary tightening in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

The People's Bank of China said it was raising benchmark rates by 25 basis points, taking one-year deposit rates to 2.5 percent and one-year lending rates to 5.56 percent.

If there was ever any doubt about China's role in driving the stuttering global economic recovery, the impact was felt by markets across the board. Oil and gold prices tumbled, stocks turned negative in Europe and the dollar jumped.

Some analysts said the rate increase also suggested a deal was in place between China and the United States to strengthen the yuan and put an end to worries about a currency war of competitive devaluations ahead of upcoming Group of 20 meetings.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101020/bs_nm/us_china_economy

[ozymandius]

4. Officials hint Fed on the verge of more easing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A string of Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday indicated the central bank will soon offer further monetary stimulus to the economy, with one saying $100 billion a month in bond buys may be appropriate.

While internal differences on the unconventional policy are still evident, the consensus view at the Fed appears to be that the economy is weak enough to warrant further support, most likely through increased purchases of Treasury debt.

The U.S. economy is expected to have grown just 1.9 percent in the third quarter, a level considered too low to bring down unemployment. The debt purchases would help lower long-term interest rates in the hope of boosting demand.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart's willingness to cite a specific dollar figure for purchases, one largely in tandem with market expectations, was seen as another hint that planning is actively underway.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101020/bs_nm/us_usa_fed

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Lockhart was an unknown entity in terms of QE2. Now that this issue is settled - it's a good time to revisit this graphic:

[Demeter]

9. What are the Policy Position Differences between hawks and doves?

[ozymandius]

5. Bank of America faces massive lawsuit over mortgage debt

NEW YORK (AFP) – A group of institutional investment firms including the New York Federal Reserve is suing Bank of America for failing to pay back debt on failing mortgage bonds, the group's lawyer said on Tuesday.

Kathy Patrick, lead attorney for the consortium of the eight firms, said the group holds 25 percent in more than 47 billion dollars of securities in Countrywide, a mortgage lending affiliate of Bank of America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101019/ts_alt_afp/usbankingfinancefed

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Bank of America conceded to all accusations and began liquidating its holdings in every sector where it has a presence in order to settle the suits denied all accusations.

[ozymandius]

7. U.S. eyes criminal violations in foreclosure crisis

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday the probe of potential fraud by financial firms in the foreclosure crisis includes an investigation into possible criminal violations of federal laws.

Two sources familiar with the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force indicated the multi-agency effort by investigators in the Justice, Treasury and Housing Departments would determine whether prosecutors would ultimately pursue criminal or civil penalties - or both.

"The administration's Federal Housing Administration and Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force have undertaken their own regulatory and enforcement investigation into the foreclosure process," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed Tuesday. "We remain committed to holding accountable any bank that has violated the law," he said.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/19/real_estate/fed_foreclosure_probe/index.htm

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Consider this administration's attitude toward being caught flat-footed on another scam involving banksters. Then consider the wake of destruction and incompetence from the Bush administration. It's a safe bet they are hyper-sensitive about embarrassment and association with Bush's legacy - especially in election season.

It's fine with me if embarrassment is necessary to get this kind of action.

[Demeter]

10. Are We a Nation of Laws? Or Mice?

and who will bell the cat? It's like a serial movie!

[Tansy_Gold]

20. More like a never-ending soap opera

At least serials have eventual endings. . . . .



TG

[Dr.Phool]

19. I'm so encouraged by this.

Obama, Holder, the SEC, and Congress have come to the realization that they missed a few things when they deregulated and paid off Wall Street. You couldn't have expected Bush and Clinton to get everything right the first time, could you?

Criminal behavior? Just an oversight. They can legalize it retroactively. Hey! No crime, no foul. The poor banks were victims of over regulation. They had hoped to do it quietly with that "Electronic Notarization Bill", but too many people caught wind of it, and raised hell at the last second.

We can't have all of those banksters losing their bonuses. They need those to stimulate the economy. Much easier to throw a few million suckers out of their Ponzi schemed houses and move along. I mean, all of these people with high-paying jobs and Cadillac benefit packages say that 10% unemployment is normal now. We just have to take their word for it.

Everything is fine. Gawd Save the Blue Dawgs.

[Robbien]

28. Over at the CFTC they are finding that the Judges made pledges not to rule against TPTB

http://www.futuresmag.com/News/2010/10/Pages/CFTC-judge-claims-colleague-is-biased-.aspx

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Administrative Law Judge George H. Painter made serious allegations regarding fellow CFTC judge Bruce Levine in announcing his retirement.In a notice sent to complainants and their attorneys, Judge Painter claims that Levine told him that he had promised former CFTC Chair Wendy Gramm “that he would never rule in a complainants favor”. Painter’s notice goes on to say, “A review of his rulings will confirm that he has fulfilled his vow.”

In the notice Painter recommends the CFTC request the services of an administrative law judge to be detailed to the Commission from another regulatory agency to handle the remain cases on his docket. Painter writes, “If I simply announced my intention to retire, the seven reparation cases on my docket would be reassigned to the only other administrative law judge at the Commission, Judge Levine. This I could not do in good conscience.”

Here's hoping that the article about the Feds finally getting serious about fraud is not just smoke screen propaganda.

[Dr.Phool]

32. Nothing like an impartial judge, who had his mind made up before a case was filed.

A nation of laws.

:puke: :rofl: :puke: :rofl: :puke: :rofl:


:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[AnneD]

37. Morning Marketeers...

:donut: and lurkers. The problem with ignoring criminal behavior, but the ramification of ignoring that Barbour. What point are laws and rules if you aren't going to follow them. The end sum of no laws and drowning government in a bathtub is that there are no laws and no one is safe. I think these idiots have not fully thought this thing through.

I am seeing this at my job already. My principal asked me to do something that was against the laws. It seems minor enough but it something happened, I could lose my job at the least and lose my license at the least. I refused, and when I went back to explain my rational, she would not listen and accused me of not being a team player. She then said (rationalizing) that we are here for the kids and that sometimes that means that we have to step out on a limb. She seemed ok with breaking district policy, like it was not a big deal.

All I know is that when you are out on a limb, you are by yourself. If I am standing out on a limb, I want to make damn sure I at least have the law on my side. Needless to say my blood pressure and blood sugar went wild this weekend. I called in sick on Monday and saw both my Doc and my union rep. My rep asked me a series of great questions and at the end of those questions-I had my answer. I am going to seek a transfer to another school for very obvious medical reasons. The stress makes it a toxic environment for me. It just isn't worth it. I can't battle my incompetent health services AND my principal too. I gave this charter school a try, and I do love my kids, but I cannot have an unsafe practice. Since I cannot in good conscience be a team player, I am declaring my free agent status.

I just can't do drama anymore. So I am trying to de-stress and am taking the week off. I am curious as to how they are managing but I can't worry about it. I am getting Dr's appointment together and taking care of neglected business. I am trying to find a spot to transfer if I can. If I can't secure a transfer, I will start looking for another job else where. When you reach your tipping point, you reach your tipping point.

This feeling laws are for the little people has got to stop before the fabric of our society is ripped to tatters.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[Robbien]

41. With Florida judges only listening to Lenders

Legislature did not approve $9.6 million for judges to listen only to lenders

and these judges only listening to BigMoney

and the Supremes giving corporations more rights than people have

and this Admin not clearing out the Bushies from the JustUs department

I feel we are like that lamb in Jurassic Park being lowered down into the raptor exhibit, surrounded by lots of predators with no rule of law for protection.

And as you say, the predators are spreading their evil by infecting non-predators goading them with taunts of being non-team players.

Good to see you getting out, here's hoping you land in a good place.

[Dr.Phool]

44. Good luck, and I hope you get the transfer.

She wants you to violate policy, and cover her sorry ass. As Captain of the ship, if anyone goes out on the limb, it should be her. Not you.

[Tansy_Gold]

45. I'm sorry to hear this, Anne.

Indeed, take the much needed time off and regroup. You have to take care of yourself before you're going to be of any help to anyone else.

Tipping points are indeed tipping points. I think you've got more of your ducks in a row than most of us, and you'll make the right decision for YOU. That's all that matters!



TG

[Demeter]

47. Good Move, AnneD!

Taking care of your health is No. 1. Everything else is second.

The parents at that school are going to have to organize and fill in the gaps --which parents did when we were kids, at least in my Detroit experience in the 60's.

It used to be that people found a helping hand at the end of their wrists and in their families and neighborhoods. It will have to go back to that, if we want to have a democracy worthy of the name. Responsibility can't be outsourced.

[Roland99]

50. Get out of that mess

less stress is bes(t)


:)

[tclambert]

51. Did you get that request from the principal in writing?

An e-mail would do. Criminals always hate it when you can show documentation of their crimes. Was it illegal in the "violating a contract" way, or "felony or misdemeanor" way? Well, you have enough stress without talking to the local prosecutor.

An article recently pointed out that in organizations where union membership is optional, some offices may have no dues-paying union members, and consequently don't get union newsletters or have a local steward. They only get information from management. And when management decides to violate contract provisions, they may not know it, and if they do, they don't know how to proceed to protect themselves. With as many grievances as are filed, and decided in the workers' favor, it makes one wonder how much management gets away with when there is no union presence to protect the employees.

And as far as that accusation of "not being a team player" goes, that is a glaring red flag alerting you to bad management. The only time a manager talks about being a team player is when he wants a subordinate to make a sacrifice for his own benefit. Managers who talk about "being a team player" won't ever jump on a live grenade to save you. If he ever brings up the cliché about breaking eggs to make an omelet, run for it!

[AnneD]

56. There was a witness to her asking me...

to take the kid home in my personal vehicle. There was no wittiness to the you are not a team player speech.

I know the board policy regarding no transporting students in personal cars because I fought to get it in place, ie my finger prints are all the policy. If I break said policy, they will hold me to an even greater standard as I above all others, know the law. As a nurse I will accompany the child but I cannot transport the child in my personal vehicle (this also has to do with insuring my private vehicle but using it for commercial usage-even if I don't get reimbursed for it. Principals have different liabilities and the District would protect them before the protect any other employee.

That team player rational was also a red flag for me. Those people that ask you to go out on a limb are the same folks that will leave you twisting in the wind while you are on your perch. I was stepping back when she started carrying on-I could see my license flash before my eyes.

My dear hubby went out and got me a recording device and told me, "Don't go to work without your ears in your pocket". He has been seeing first hand what all this stress is doing to me and he is very unhappy. I will see what I can do after the tests come back. I have so many options and close to 60 days of sick leave so I am ok. Guess I am going to blow their 95% attendance goal, but I am not going to miss an appointment.

What got me was I had put 12+hours correcting our immunization for 3 weeks. I came in on 1 holiday to work and I had documented my efforts in case we were audited. I also organized the flu shots for the staff, shot clinic for the kids, did over 10 vision and hearing test for the special ed department, and saw over 200 kids in the clinic in September. I also had to do mandatory training for teachers, that I still am trying to finish. In preparing our immunization compliance report, we had so many that appeared to be in error (I suspect a crappy program). Her suggestion was for me to make home visits on all that were non compliant-over 100 students. I said I would do it if she wanted, but I really thought that would be a waste of my Nursing time and would take me out of the clinic for too long. Thank God she did see that reasoning.

For October, She gave me the job of benefits coordinator (new) and the district changed to crappy insurance so people are complaining and confused. I also got stuck with the United Way Campaign (new), and I have Red Ribbon Week (new). I am well on my way of again having over 200 kids, and I haven't even begun to screen the kids for vision and hearing. All this and I am still not a team player. Like I said, it was a tipping point.

The purpose of a Union is to protect the Management from their own stupidity.

[DemReadingDU]

57. The stress makes it a toxic environment

You are one of the most kind and caring people who is always thinking of the kids. For the principal to ask you to do something against the law, then you must leave that situation. You're doing the right thing, your health is of utmost importance. Hope you can secure a transfer, or a different job soon. All the best.
:hug:

[ozymandius]

58. Anne, I wish there were some way to have your back on this.

Already it looks like you've received a bounty of good advice. Witnesses are good. Electronic ears are great. I have a digital voice recorder that is about the size of a pack of chewing gum that does a great job from a shirt pocket. And of course the one thing that you have done so thoroughly - document everything.

Your administrative team appears to be a nasty bunch. I would trust them to do the right thing as I would trust a rattlesnake around my neck not to bite me.

[AnneD]

60. Thanks Ozy......

I have to be so careful these days. I am hoping that in addition to letting me have a chance to de-stress, my absence will give them a clue as to what days are like. They come in and the clinic is quite, but they don't see the madhouse I had just moments earlier.

The first day I was out, this kid came in with an asthma attack. I had tried on 2 occasions to get his medicine and forms in. I heard from my sources that they were running around like chicken's with their heads cut off. NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO DO!

Being a School Nurse is a lot like being a swan gliding in the lake. They move so gracefully with simingly little effort. But what you don't see is the swan rapidly paddeling her feet to stay afloat and to get anywhere.

I have been getting lots of phone calls of support from my Nurse buds-we have all been there at some time or another.

[Demeter]

33. My God

I want them all to lose their LIVES--as well as their "bonuses", perks, golden retirements, etc. After all, they have stolen the same from so many other people.

This Bruce Levine fellow should spend the rest of his life in orange jumpsuits.

[Robbien]

43. I fear we are living in a world made by fraud

The rule of law has disappeared

Even good law abiding people are wishfully thinking of having the ruling class bumped off.

We aren't in Kansas anymore.

[ozymandius]

62. Thanks for this.

I posted something about this over yonder.

[ozymandius]

6. Housing starts at 5-month high, still depressed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Groundbreaking for new homes scaled a five-month high in September, another sign the housing market is bottoming, though permits for future building fell.

While Tuesday's data was encouraging, housing starts remained at depressed levels and added to the case for more monetary stimulus to shore up the sluggish economic recovery.

Housing starts advanced for a third straight month, gaining 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in September, the Commerce Department said. August starts were revised up to a 608,000-unit pace from 598,000 units.

Economists had expected groundbreaking activity to slip to a 580,000-unit rate last month. Compared to September last year, housing starts were up 4.1 percent.

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Reminder: The bubble will not re-inflate.

[Demeter]

11. Considering We Just Had Our First Frost

It's a little late for starting housing in half the nation...

[ozymandius]

8. Dollar Weakens on Economic Outlook; U.S. Futures, Oil Rebound

From Bloomberg:

The dollar depreciated against all but two of its 16 major peers at 10:45 a.m. in London. The pound retreated 0.6 percent against the euro after the Bank of England’s minutes showed policy makers split three ways on interest rates and debt- purchases. The extra yield investors demand to hold Irish 10- year bonds instead of German bunds rose four basis points. Futures on the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1 percent.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book on regional business today may show a slowing recovery in the world’s largest economy. Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said today growth is weaker than originally forecast. The New York Fed joined bond investors including Pacific Investment Management Co. and BlackRock Inc. in seeking to force Bank of America Corp. to buy back bad home loans packaged into securities.

This is just a hunch. China's decision to raise interest rates has reverberated across the globe. We witness how much power China has collected and can now exercise with something so small as a 25 basis point increase (or 1/4 percent) in its interest rates.

This move will rattle the carry trade. It would not surprise me to see an immediate effect on slowing hot money flows into China. Hot money has alarmed Chinese economic planners in that speculative inflows create dangerous asset bubbles. Real estate has attracted heavy scrutiny in that regard.

After the boom and crash in connection to real estate across much of the western hemisphere - who could really blame China for taking this kind of action? Somewhere Paul Volcker is smiling and nodding. This is very similar to his decision to raise interest rates when he was Fed Chairman.

[Demeter]

12. Morning, Ozy and All

I am having to click the little DU prod a lot today...are you having trouble loading, too?

[Demeter]

13. Why U.S. Launched New Financial World War/ How World Will Fight Back By MICHAEL HUDSON

Why the U.S. has Launched a New Financial World War
And How the the Rest of the World Will Fight Back

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26570.htm

What is to stop U.S. banks and their customers from creating $1 trillion, $10 trillion or even $50 trillion on their computer keyboards to buy up all the bonds and stocks in the world, along with all the land and other assets for sale in the hope of making capital gains and pocketing the arbitrage spreads by debt leveraging at less than 1 per cent interest cost? This is the game that is being played today.

Finance is the new form of warfare – without the expense of a military overhead and an occupation against unwilling hosts. It is a competition in credit creation to buy foreign resources, real estate, public and privatized infrastructure, bonds and corporate stock ownership. Who needs an army when you can obtain the usual objective (monetary wealth and asset appropriation) simply by financial means? All that is required is for central banks to accept dollar credit of depreciating international value in payment for local assets. Victory promises to go to whatever economy’s banking system can create the most credit, using an army of computer keyboards to appropriate the world’s resources. The key is to persuade foreign central banks to accept this electronic credit.

U.S. officials demonize foreign countries as aggressive “currency manipulators” keeping their currencies weak. But they simply are trying to protect their currencies from being pushed up against the dollar by arbitrageurs and speculators flooding their financial markets with dollars. Foreign central banks find them obliged to choose between passively letting dollar inflows push up their exchange rates – thereby pricing their exports out of global markets – or recycling these dollar inflows into U.S. Treasury bills yielding only 1% and whose exchange value is declining. (Longer-term bonds risk a domestic dollar-price decline if U.S interest rates should rise.)

“Quantitative easing” is a euphemism for flooding economies with credit, that is, debt on the other side of the balance sheet. The Fed is pumping liquidity and reserves into the domestic financial system to reduce interest rates, ostensibly to enable banks to “earn their way” out of negative equity resulting from the bad loans made during the real estate bubble. But why would banks lend more under conditions where a third of U.S. homes already are in negative equity and the economy is shrinking as a result of debt deflation?

The problem is that U.S. quantitative easing is driving the dollar downward and other currencies up, much to the applause of currency speculators enjoying a quick and easy free lunch. Yet it is to defend this system that U.S. diplomats are threatening to plunge the world economy into financial anarchy if other countries do not agree to a replay of the 1985 Plaza Accord “as a possible framework for engineering an orderly decline in the dollar and avoiding potentially destabilizing trade fights.” The run-up to this weekend’s IMF meetings saw the United States threaten to derail the international financial system, bringing monetary chaos if it does not get its way. This threat has succeeded for the past few generations....

TECHNICAL, EVEN WONKY, BUT IMPORTANT TO READ

[Demeter]

14. Slashing the Dollar - The Future is Ugly By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26582.htm

The Fed has has hinted that it will launch a second round of quantitative easing (QE) sometime after its November 2 meeting. The anticipated intervention has been widely criticized, but for all the wrong reasons. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke knows that adding another $1 to $1.5 trillion to bulging bank reserves will likely have little effect on aggregate demand. Nor will it lower unemployment now hovering at 9.7%. It will, however, send a message to trading partners (re: China) that the Fed is serious about reducing destabilizing trade imbalances that siphon-off domestic stimulus, increase unemployment and keep the dollar perilously overvalued. In other words, the Fed's action is the first volley in what is likely to be a protracted currency war that leads to the final demise of Bretton Woods 2...

It means the US is determined to stave off deflation by forcing China to let its currency appreciate. It also means that the Obama administration finally realizes that its attempts to reduce unemployment or spark a recovery will continue to fail as long as stimulus is effectively negated by the surge in imports.

...So, the stimulus--that would have been generating jobs and demand within the US--is being exported to countries that want to keep the dollar propped up to maintain the present arrangement, that is, they want to continue to expand their manufacturing base and keep unemployment low while the US languishes in a permanent recession.

Bretton Woods 2, by the way, is the arrangement under which the US willingly runs large current account deficits with the assurance that trade partners would recycle the proceeds into US Treasuries, Agencies and equities. Naturally, this turned out to be a real boon for Wall Street as surplus capital has helped to fuel massive bubbles in all manner of garbage bonds that enriched the principles at the big brokerage houses....

IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S THE END OF THE FINANCIAL SCHEME AS WE KNEW IT---GOOD.
THE QUESTION IS, CAN THE REST OF THE WORLD ISOLATE AND DISCIPLINE THE US FED RESERVE?

[Demeter]

15. Economics vs. Fakeonomics by: Ian Fletcher

http://www.truth-out.org/economics-vs-fakeonomics64025

We skeptics of free trade are used to being told, "You don't understand economics." In fact, one major reason I wrote the book "Free Trade Doesn't Work" was simply to expose, once and for all, that there do exist extremely serious and intellectually reputable arguments, within the confines of accepted mainstream economics, which question free trade. And, indeed, they exist.

But I've noticed something. We skeptics are often not really struggling against real economics at all. When I pick up a copy of The Wall Street Journal, or Forbes, or The New York Times, or turn on Fox TV or MSNBC, or read papers issued by the libertarian Cato Institute or the Peterson Institute for International Economics, I don't even find economic arguments. I find a mischievous substitute for economics we can call "fakeonomics."

What is fakeonomics? It sounds like economics to the uninitiated. It uses the same language, addresses the same issues and fills the same logical hole in the national policy discourse. Most people can't tell the difference. But fakeonomics is not the real thing.

How is fakeonomics fake? It tells a story that goes something like this ...

Free markets are always right, always and everywhere.

Anyone who doesn't believe this is stupid. Smart people not only understand that free markets are best; they like free markets because free markets mean opportunities to get rich.

Or maybe they're corrupt. The opposite of free markets is government. Government is always incompetent. It never does anything right. Ever.

Or maybe they're evil. Anyone who doesn't believe in perfectly free markets is a Marxist wannabe or a loser jealous of more successful people.

Free trade is just free markets applied internationally.

Therefore, all smart, good, successful people must believe in free trade.

Unfortunately, fakeonomics is, at best, a crude parody of economics. It is often larded with a thick layer of moral hectoring, courtesy of a certain variety of the American right, which seems to think that economics is its exclusive property, a stick given it by God with which to beat liberals. There is even a whole class of people, known as "libertarians," who elevate fakeonomics to the level of an all-encompassing moral ideology. (Their fundamentalist sect is the old Ayn Rand cult, who call themselves "objectivists.")...The really scary thing about fakeonomics is that it is not just a vulgar version of economics, served up to amuse the audience of Bill O'Reilly's TV show. It is also believed in by people who should know better. Like it or not, fakeonomics is mistaken for real thinking by a disturbingly large number of people with top MBAs, graduate degrees in serious fields, Congressional staffers, etcetera. (I know; my job obliges me to talk to these people all the time, and they tell me so.) Perhaps, it's just laziness on their part, but people who should be taking their bearings from more serious sources - people whose careers depend upon the idea that they have genuine expertise - are drawing their ideas from fakeonomics. These are people who pride themselves on understanding the most sophisticated ideas when it comes to, say, corporate finance, but here they are, relying upon intellectual constructs of a chat-show level of sophistication...

[Demeter]

16. Central Bankers Favoring Foolishness Over Facts by: Paul Krugman

http://www.truth-out.org/central-bankers-favoring-foolishness-over-facts64308

These days there seem to be two types of thinkers in the world of central banking: On one side there are the serious people, who believe that central banks should raise interest rates in the face of high unemployment and falling inflation, because, well, that is what serious people believe. On the other side there are the unserious people, who believe that central banks should fight deflation as well as inflation, and try to prevent the economic slump from turning into a quasi-permanent state of depression. But say this to serious people and they wonder: How ridiculous can you get?

In Sweden, Lars Svensson — formerly my colleague at Princeton University and now deputy governor at the Riksbank — is concerned about the recent efforts of his colleagues, who are eager to raise interest rates in the face of inflation that is far below target and in an economy that has not entirely recovered.
On Sept. 2, when Sweden’s central bank voted to raise a benchmark credit rate, Mr. Svensson’s was the lone dissenting voice on the board...But what does he know? He is only one of the world’s leading monetary economists, having spent a great deal of time studying the problems of monetary policy at the zero lower bound...

And the serious people hold that benefits can only come from suffering. But they have gotten it all wrong. Yet “serious” policy makers are rejecting theories that work in favor of those that don’t.

---------------------------
THERE'S MORE--IT'S TECHNICAL AND COMPLICATED, BUT ALL THE ABOVE ARTICLES I POSTED HAVE A COMMON THEME:

THE EMPERORS OF ECONOMIC POLICY NOT ONLY HAVE NO CLOTHES, THEY ARE EXHIBITIONISTS.

[tclambert]

52. I think you're on to something with these two articles.

It's theoretical economists versus experimental economists. Theoretical economists come up with clever paradigms and models based on loads of assumptions, which they can tweak to make support whatever theory they desire. Experimental economists, a relatively new breed, look at actual data, the results of real world experiments, not all intentional experiments, and prove the theorists wrong over and over. Good theorists, if they want to raise their game to the level of science, would then modify their theories. Bad theorists work on better propaganda to mask their failures.

For example, after the failures of Bush economic policies, reasonable people would expect Republicans to modify their stand on economic issues. However, they haven't spent any effort trying to improve their theories and lots of effort on propaganda in support of the same old Bush policies.

[Festivito]

17. Debt: 10/18/2010 13,668,894,473,093.42 (UP 2,967,829,837.46) (Mon)

(Up a little. Good day.)
Rained last night during vacation.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,060,113,086,608.79 + 4,608,781,386,484.63
UP 841,690,317.23 + UP 2,126,139,520.23

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,220.53 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 the 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)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,508,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,021.04.
A family of three owes $132,063.13. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 9,578,533,462.41.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,704,973,423.69.
The average for the last 31 days would be 6,488,683,958.41.
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$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 262 reports in 383 days of FY2011 averaging 6.71B$ per report, 4.59B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 825 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 19.0T$.
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)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/18/2010 13,668,894,473,093.42 BHO (UP 3,042,017,424,180.34 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,107,271,442,201.70 ------------* * BHO
Endof11 +33,494,712,221,872.20 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/27/2010 -000,066,407,812.28 ---- Mon
09/28/2010 +001,463,391,855.14 ------------*********
09/29/2010 +000,391,315,850.35 ------------********
09/30/2010 +058,907,978,013.89 ------------**********
10/01/2010 -005,585,417,177.51 --
10/04/2010 +000,259,208,393.70 ------------******** Mon
10/05/2010 +000,697,809,032.26 ------------********
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue
10/13/2010 +004,079,531,881.58 ------------*********
10/14/2010 -003,450,466,367.69 --
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon

98,000,941,062.81 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4579608&mesg_id=4580129

[Festivito]

54. Debt: 10/19/2010 13,676,109,536,322.09 (UP 7,215,063,228.67) (Tue)

(Up a little. Good day.)
On the front porch cooking steaks, the women folk get salad fixins.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,060,556,124,903.72 + 4,615,553,411,418.37
UP 443,038,294.93 + UP 6,772,024,933.74

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,220.45 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 the 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)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,515,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,043.26.
A family of three owes $132,129.77. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 9,471,102,997.24.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,945,475,531.31.
The average for the last 32 days would be 6,511,383,310.60.
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$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 263 reports in 384 days of FY2011 averaging 6.72B$ per report, 4.60B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 824 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 19.0T$.
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)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/19/2010 13,676,109,536,322.09 BHO (UP 3,049,232,487,409.01 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,114,486,505,430.30 ------------* * BHO
Endof11 +31,731,832,631,247.40 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/28/2010 +001,463,391,855.14 ------------*********
09/29/2010 +000,391,315,850.35 ------------********
09/30/2010 +058,907,978,013.89 ------------**********
10/01/2010 -005,585,417,177.51 --
10/04/2010 +000,259,208,393.70 ------------******** Mon
10/05/2010 +000,697,809,032.26 ------------********
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue
10/13/2010 +004,079,531,881.58 ------------*********
10/14/2010 -003,450,466,367.69 --
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon
10/19/2010 +000,443,038,294.93 ------------********

98,510,387,170.02 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(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=4580790&mesg_id=4580880

[Roland99]

18. Futures - Getting over the hump

S&P 500 1,167 +3.00 +0.26%
DOW 10,971 +28.00 +0.26%
NASDAQ 2,075 +7.75 +0.38%

[Dr.Phool]

21. Lobbyist for Fannie Mae is the new National Security Advisor!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Can it get any stupider?
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Obama Hires a Hustler

Posted on Oct 19, 2010
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

President Barack Obama stands with Tom Donilon, his appointed replacement for National Security Adviser James Jones, on Oct. 8 in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.

By Robert Scheer

One day as Wall Street was crashing, President George W. Bush had the temerity to plaintively ask his treasury secretary, Henry Paulson: “How did this happen?” Paulson, who headed Goldman Sachs before taking the Treasury job, remarks in his memoir: “It was a humbling question for someone from the financial sector to be asked—after all, we were the ones responsible.”

That’s an honest enough admission about the culpability of the financial community in bundling the toxic derivatives packages still disastrously undermining the economic health of the nation. Even more startling was Paulson’s admission in his memoir that he, at the time he was advising the president, still did not know that home mortgages were at the heart of those troubling securities that his former company had marketed to others with such wild abandon.

Were President Barack Obama to ask that question about the origins of this crisis of Tom Donilon, one of his closest aides whom he recently appointed to the critical job of national security adviser, Donilon would find it even more awkward to invoke the defense of ignorance. As the chief lobbyist for Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2005, he was far more intimately involved than Paulson in the manufacturing of this crisis. He successfully pressured Congress to give Fannie Mae the green light to speed past any sound regulation. Indeed, had Congress endorsed the barest semblance of regulation of the Fannie Mae-led housing scam, it would have been stillborn instead of being a very much alive Frankenstein creation.

Fannie Mae paid Donilon, a longtime Democratic Party operative, $15 million to lobby Congress to gut the power of government regulators to check the scandalous behavior in what would have been judged a crime until a majority of pro-Wall Street Republicans and Democrats in Congress rewrote the laws. He was also a top executive at Fannie Mae during the period when cooking the books to increase executive compensation would later lead to a $400 million fine. In pursuit of those profits, Fannie Mae entered into a partnership with Angelo Mozilo’s shady Countrywide Financial, and together they produced the computerized CLUES and MERS credit verification and mortgage registration systems that are at the heart of the housing swindle. Mozilo at least was finally slapped with a huge fine last week, while Donilon has yet to return a penny.

(snip) more

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obama_hires_a_hustler_20101020/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reading stuff like this, first thing in the morning, just warms my little heart, and makes me look forward to the rest of the day.

Thank Gawd for puppies!

[xchrom]

22. worth repeating

'Fannie Mae paid Donilon, a longtime Democratic Party operative, $15 million to lobby Congress to gut the power of government regulators to check the scandalous behavior in what would have been judged a crime until a majority of pro-Wall Street Republicans and Democrats in Congress rewrote the laws.'

[Dr.Phool]

23. And...

When Donilon first entered his presidential campaign in 2008, Obama knew he had been working as a legal adviser to Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, two firms that had to depend on government bailouts to survive a housing crisis they helped create.

[Roland99]

24. Oh STFU and stop whining and just get out and vote your party. At least that's what we're told.

[Tansy_Gold]

26. I was going to suggest, even though we're not supposed to give financial advice

that we all buy stock in the major clothespin manufacturers, as they will probably be selling a lot of their product in the next few weeks.

However, all the clothespin manufacturers are in China.

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2006/2/2006_2_38.shtml



TG, NTY

[xchrom]

25. +1 -- there is the entrenched notion that only certain people with certain educational backgrounds

and with certain employment experiences can fix, design, be in charge of the economic policies of the country.

it must stop.

[Demeter]

34. Meethinks They Just 'Outed" One of the Economic Elite

Those shadowy, mythical "powers" that are killing this country and so many others.

Making a note for the invitation list for Madame LaGuillotine's next soiree...

[FedUpWithIt All]

27. BofA getting sued by company partly owned by BofA?

Company That's 34% Owned By Bank Of America


There are two really weird things regarding the parties who are suing Bank of America over mortgage repurchases.

The first is that the New York Fed -- who you'd expect would be solely focused on the health of big banks -- is one of the parties.

But also suing BofA, according to Bloomberg, is Blackrock, the asset manager that's 34% owned by BofA!

Bank of America, of course, acquired its stake in BlackRock when it acquired Merrill Lynch during the crisis.

It was reported in August that BofA may seek to unload its stake in BlackRock.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-suing-bank-of-america-2010-10#ixzz12uRGTGOr

[Robbien]

29. Also, Pimco has been gobbling up MBS on margin last month

just in order to file this suit against banks.


I expect all these crooks are expecting the taxpayers to bail out these buybacks.

[Demeter]

36. Those Expectations Better Not Be Met

or there will be riots in this country, too.

[FedUpWithIt All]

30. BlackRock's quarterly net rises 74% but it's stock is dropping on the news

???

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackrocks-quarterly-net-rises-74-2010-10-20

[Roland99]

31. 11:05 - Markets recovering most of yesterday's losses.

Dow 11,088 +109 +0.10%
Nasdaq 2,457 +20 +0.83%
S&P 500 1,176 +10 +0.89%
GlobalDow 2,026 +19 +0.94%
Gold 1,343 +7 +0.53%
Oil 81.71 +1.55 +1.93%

[Demeter]

35. But of Course!

We wouldn't want a Correction, now, would we? Another day, all the profiteers satisfied, now we can have the postponed miracle...

[Demeter]

38. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: Banks' foreclosure hustle By Harold Meyerson

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101906212.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

PARDON, YOUR CYNICISM IS SHOWING...

[Demeter]

39. Morgan Stanley slips behind Goldman with surprise loss

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101020/bs_nm/us_morganstanley

Morgan Stanley reported a surprising third-quarter loss, suggesting the bank is losing hard-won ground in the battle with Goldman Sachs for Wall Street supremacy.

The firm's $91 million loss, on weak volumes during one of the most difficult trading quarters in recent memory, came a day after Goldman overcame those same conditions to beat Street estimates with a $1.9 billion profit.

Morgan Stanley shares fell 3.5 percent in morning trading.

"Morgan Stanley is a caterpillar in metamorphosis. It's either going to turn into a beautiful butterfly or get eaten by a robin," said Brad Hintz, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein...

[Dr.Phool]

40. Denninger: So, you want me to invest?

Looks like Po_d Mainiac has hit this nail on the head for a while.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=169761

Yesterday the dollar advanced about a percent and a half. The stock market fell by more than 100 DOW points.

Today, the dollar declines by (thus far) 1.32%. The stock market advances by more than 100 DOW points.

Simply put, you're not investing. You're gambling on the movement of the currency, which is a direct function of the actions of The Fed and Congress.

A stronger dollar means your imports get cheaper and your exports more expensive. Your money goes further to buy things you want to import, such as energy.

A weaker dollar means imports get more expensive and exports cheaper. Your labor becomes devalued, since you must buy energy in order to survive, and it is in everything you buy - including most-especially food. We import some 70% of our oil, as just one example.

(snip)

[mrdmk]

42. Say goodbye to traditional free checking

Typical ass hat AP article via Yahoo!

<snip from the article>

NEW YORK (AP) -- Free checking as we know it is ending.

The days when you could walk into a bank branch and open an account with no charges and no strings attached appear to be over. Now you have to jump through some hoops -- keep a high balance, use direct deposit or swipe your debit card several times a month.

One new account at Bank of America charges $8.95 per month if you want to bank with a teller or get a paper statement.

<end of jumping through hoops article>

Now this part burns my butt...

<snip>

"I've seen more regulation in last 30 months than in last 30 years," said Robert Hammer, CEO of RK Hammer, a bank advisory firm. "The bottom line for banks is shifting enormously, swiftly and deeply, and they're not going to sit by twiddling their thumbs. They're going to change."

link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Say-goodbye-to-traditional-apf-1888087707.html

<end>

What a crock of shit! It is like AP calls so-and-so just to get a statement to fit the article.

on edit: added link

[Tansy_Gold]

46. Free checking? Where?

The first time I remember a bank charging a fee was about 1978, when I was still living in Indiana. If you kept a minimum monthly balance, you didn't pay the fee, but if the balance dropped below that even for a day, you paid.

My first checking account in Arizona -- 1985 at the Arizona Bank which became Security Pacific which became (I think) Bank of America -- was free for a while. When I opened a business account there, the fees were outrageous.

I switched to Valley National Bank -- which became Norwest, then BankOne, now Chase -- and had free checking with a minimum balance, then free if you had a direct deposit from an employer.

Remember, every business that accepts your plastic pays the bank a fee to do so, usually a flat fee per swipe PLUS a percentage. Now they're just going to do to consumers what they've been doing to businesses -- and to many individuals -- for a long time.

It's a control thing, and they want to control EVERYTHING.


TG, NTY

[CatholicEdHead]

48. I still have it at my regional bank

I have had it for quite a while and I doubt they would change it. I will be very upset if the do so.

[Demeter]

49. (I have free checking)

For the moment, at least.

[tclambert]

53. More on that banker who went missing for a month and was found dead. Bullet wound!

A second autopsy (requested by the family) found a gunshot wound to the back of his head. X-rays found bullet fragments in the skull, and re-examination found a bullet hole in the base of the skull. (The first medical examiner has to answer some pointed questions.)


Gunshot to back of the skull killed banker Widlak, second autopsy finds

BY JOE SWICKARD AND CHRISTINA HALL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

In a press conference this afternoon, Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel confirmed the gunshot to the back of Widlak's head.

The finding is from a second, independent autopsy requested by Widlak's family. Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz said at today's news conference a fluouroscope found apparent bullet fragments. Spitz said the body was badly decomposed. But further dissection revealed what appeared to be a wound track at the base of the skull, with injury to the cervical spine high toward the base of the skull.

He said it appeared to be a close-range, if not contact gun wound.

From: http://www.freep.com/article/20101020/NEWS04/101020057/1318/Gunshot-to-back-of-the-skull-killed-banker-Widlak-second-autopsy-finds
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Well, now, that's a horse of a different color. The medical examiner refused to rule out suicide! But nobody, nobody ever shoots themselves in the back of the head. It's now a homicide investigation.

[DemReadingDU]

55. Homicide!

Seems like this banker pissed off someone.


Appreciate the updates, the ongoing investigation should be very interesting.

[AnneD]

59. A clear case of suicide......

KGB style.

It didn't make the front page because there was no hot tub, scantily clad woman or nude body involved.

Nothing to see here folks, keep moving.

It sounds like a professional hit job. Perhaps a Columbian or Mexican investor that lost money in some scam. CSI is only real to Hollywood. The coroner is in deep doo. He is either incompetent or in cahoots, and neither is a good option.

[Demeter]

61. In Michigan? That's a bit of a stretch

I think the Mob's gone out of business here, even.

Foreclosure or drugs. That's about all we got going.

There are quite a few Russian emigres in Ann Arbor, and Poles still end up in Hamtramck, but not KGB, unless retired...