STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 6 April 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 6 April 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 5 April 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 5 April 2012
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Dow Jones 13,060.14 -14.61 (-0.11%)
S&P 500 1,398.08 -0.88 (-0.06%)
[font color=green]Nasdaq 3,080.50 +12.41 (0.40%)



[font color=red]10 Year 2.18% +0.02 (0.93%)
30 Year 3.32% +0.03 (0.91%)
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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[div]
Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison



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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[xchrom]

1. it's Good Friday morning...

Passover starts tonight -- i'll celebrate both this year with friends. a good weekend to all SMWers.

[Demeter]

7. And a good morning to you, X!

The frost got down to grass level last night (usually, it doesn't form lower than the 2nd storey roofs)....so much for global warming. Two weeks of freak weather do not a climate change make. It's still March. Even though it's April.

And what nice horrorscopes we're having!

AriesAries (3/21-4/19)

The items you have on your wish list are closer than ever to being yours today, thanks in part to the magnanimous charm you're displaying. You're being generous with some powerful people, and they want to return the favor. Graciously accept what they give you, and don't act as if you think you're undeserving. Being unable to accept gifts isn't a sign of sophistication. It's a sign that you feel guilty about something -- and you have nothing to feel guilty about!

[xchrom]

10. lol -- my 'powerful' people are taking me out for dinner.

i shall act as if i deserve it!

a good weekend to you miss demeter

[Demeter]

21. thanks for reminding me!

A bunch of us Aries are going for brunch on Easter Sunday...I would have missed the joint birthday celebrations!

A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

[xchrom]

22. i love brunch!{quelle surprise} please give the Aries my best!

[Demeter]

28. Half the choir I sang with is Aries

that's probably why we sound so good...damn, I wish I could get out of papers and back into a real life...

[xchrom]

29. you know i wondered if any of these folk were from your choir?

are guys singing at all this weekend?

[Demeter]

37. I haven't sung for a year

It was a very bad year.

[xchrom]

41. ah

[kickysnana]

44. So sorry. I used to sing to relieve stress.

But first the MS/Lyme ruined my singing voice and eventually temporarily took my voice for almost a year but at least that came back. Thanks to "Medical Incredible" I got my credibility back because when my voice was not working I could shout (very annoying BTW) which makes no common sense but it turns out it is a totally different set of nerves involved.

Hope you are singing again soon.

[Roland99]

54. Happy Easter to all! And here's a little Easter egg, too! >>>>

pics from the honeymoon (Brussels - you'll see the EU Parliament buildings in the Day 1 folder, Disneyland Paris, and Paris!)

http://s539.photobucket.com/albums/ff354/HAVNFN/Honeymoon/

[xchrom]

55. ...

[xchrom]

2. Markets punish Spain as crisis in confidence grows

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/05/inenglish/1333653945_300573.html

The markets continued to punish Spain on Thursday with a volatile session that saw the country’s risk premium rise to more than 400 basis points for the first time since November.

Investors’ doubts over whether Spain will meet its deficit-reduction obligations and whether Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s reforms will put the economy back on track were also reflected in the Ibex 35, which dipped by more than 1.5 percent before closing at 7,660.50 points — its lowest level since March 2009.

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos blamed the volatility on “nervousness” on the part of investors and “doubts about growth in Europe.”

“If there is no economic growth, the markets begin to cast doubts,” he told Efe news agency from Marbella. Nevertheless, the economy chief insisted that Rajoy’s reforms are “going to become the major source for winning back confidence.”

[xchrom]

3. Hefty Gas Taxes Fill Up Germany's Coffers

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,826004,00.html

Germany's most productive tax inspectors work from an enormous new office block in the heart of Hamburg's HafenCity district. In a single year, the six employees here at the city-state's central customs office processed energy taxes amounting to €15 billion ($20 billion) -- or, more precisely, €14,976,199,324. In comparison, the figure corresponds to nearly a quarter of all revenue from taxes paid on consumer products in Germany.

This office owes its immense earning power to the fact that many major players in the oil industry -- such as Shell, Esso and RWE Dea, the gas and oil subsidiary of the German energy giant RWE -- have their headquarters in the northern port city, and all fall under the oversight of this single customs office.

By the 15th of every month, the companies must submit a form on which they record how many liters of various petroleum products they have sold and how much they owe in taxes on those products. They then have 55 days to transfer that amount to the customs office.

Angelika Schmiedeke, the division's director, is no stranger to large sums. "They're just numbers, whether it's €100,000 or €100 million," she says. Still, she and her colleagues choose to err on the side of caution when auditing these documents since, as Schmiedeke says, "three pairs of eyes are better than one."

[xchrom]

4. UK manufacturing output in shock fall in February

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17623870

UK manufacturing output fell by 1% in February, suffering its biggest monthly fall for 10 months, casting doubt on the country's economic recovery.

Factory output was also down 1.4% compared with a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said.

Economists had forecast a 0.1% rise for both the month and year, but some have questioned the official data.

Recent private sector surveys suggest the economy is picking up, with growth in manufacturing and services.

[xchrom]

5. Asia shares down as economy fears hurt global stocks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17621125

Asian shares have declined after fresh fears over the health of the US and European economies resulted in a sell-off in global markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1% and Australia's ASX 200 was down 0.3%.

On Wednesday, a weaker-than-expected Spanish bond sale saw concerns over the eurozone debt crisis re-emerge.

In the US, markets fell 1% after the Federal Reserve signalled that it may not provide more economic stimulus.

[Demeter]

6. For all us poor, tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free--Dilbert!

[xchrom]

8. ...

so what are your plans for the weekend?

[Demeter]

13. I'm baking bread after the market opens (time at which it would open, if it were)

Last edited Fri Apr 6, 2012, 09:39 AM - Edit history (1)

I like to blog before breakfast...

and there's a small job at 3pm

Saturday I work all day and night.

Sunday....a very quiet day, no plans...demolish the rabbit.

[Demeter]

14. And the Weekend, of course, with a topic suggested by Tansy Gold

[xchrom]

15. i totally admire that you bake bread.

baking is my cooking blind spot because i hate math -- measuring is just not fun to me.

and i LOVE home made baked goods.

[Demeter]

23. It's not THAT rigorous (bread ingredient measurement)

Except for the amount of liquid....that's rather crucial, plus the temperature for rising the yeast....

[xchrom]

25. pizza dough is about the extent of my regular baking.

and i still don't have the knack that i would like to have for countering wet or dry days.

[DemReadingDU]

38. I love homemade bread

One of my sisters uses a cloche to bake her bread in round loaves. The bread is delicious!

The cloche seem expensive and some reviews that I read, indicate the stoneware of the cloche can crack or totally shatter. So have not purchased a cloche yet.

I used to have a bread machine, but it made a tiny 1/2 pound loaf. If I am going to make bread, it has to be a big loaf, or 2 loaves. And must be eaten with Real butter. Yum!

[dixiegrrrrl]

56. ROLF!!!

[Hotler]

57. Obama signs Jobs bill while Cantor looks on and smiles.

I have NO hope. I see NO future. I have NO fight left in me.

[Demeter]

58. Jujitsu, not fighting

[xchrom]

9. Strange: Multiple Reports Of A JPMorgan Trader With An Epic Position In Credit Default Swaps

http://www.businessinsider.com/bruno-michel-iksil-2012-4

Not really sure what's up this...

Both Bloomberg and WSJ have stories this evening about a credit derivatives trader in London, who works for JPMorgan, with a position so large he's apparently rattling the market.

According to WSJ, the trader identified as Bruno Michel Iksil is so big, he's being referred to as the 'London Whale'.

Mr. Iksil has taken large positions for the bank in insurance-like products called credit-default swaps. Lately, partly in reaction to market movements possibly resulting from Mr. Iksil's trades, some hedge funds and others have made heavy opposing bets, according to people close to the matter.

Those investors have been buying default protection on a basket of companies' bonds using an index of the credit-default swaps, or CDS. Mr. Iksil has been selling the protection, placing his own bet that the companies won't default.

And from Bloomberg, the same thing:

Investors complain that Iksil’s trades may be distorting prices, affecting bondholders who use the instruments to hedge hundreds of billions of dollars of fixed-income holdings. Analysts and economists also use the indexes to help gauge interest rates that companies must pay for new credit.

Though Iksil reveals little to other traders about his own positions, they say they’ve taken the opposite side of transactions and that his orders are the biggest they’ve encountered. Two hedge-fund traders said they have seen unusually large price swings when they were told by dealers that Iksil was in the market.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bruno-michel-iksil-2012-4#ixzz1rGMow14G

[Demeter]

26. Harpoon the Whale! ( quotes from Moby Dick, Herman Melville)

Call me Ishmael (...but call me!--Demeter)

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

I have no objection to any person’s religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don’t believe it also. But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.





Demeter's Confession: I dropped out of an honors English program, just so I wouldn't have to read the blasted book. I really wasn't in the mood. I'm still not.

[Demeter]

27. It's the Rogue Trader!

[Demeter]

42. JPMorgan Trader's Positions Said to Distort Credit Indexes

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-05/jpmorgan-trader-iksil-s-heft-is-said-to-distort-credit-indexes.html

A JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) trader of derivatives linked to the financial health of corporations has amassed positions so large that he’s driving price moves in the $10 trillion market, traders outside the firm said. The trader is London-based Bruno Iksil, according to five counterparts at hedge funds and rival banks who requested anonymity because they’re not authorized to discuss the transactions. He specializes in credit-derivative indexes, a market that during the past decade has overtaken corporate bonds to become the biggest forum for investors betting on the likelihood of company defaults. Investors complain that Iksil’s trades may be distorting prices, affecting bondholders who use the instruments to hedge hundreds of billions of dollars of fixed-income holdings. Analysts and economists also use the indexes to help gauge perceptions of risk in credit markets. Though Iksil reveals little to other traders about his own positions, they say they’ve taken the opposite side of transactions and that his orders are the biggest they’ve encountered. Two hedge-fund traders said they have seen unusually large price swings when they were told by dealers that Iksil was in the market.
........................................................................

A credit-default swap is a financial instrument that investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on a company’s creditworthiness. Iksil may have “broken” some credit indexes -- Wall Street lingo for creating a disparity between the price of the index and the average price of the credit-default swaps on the individual companies, the people said. The persistence of the price differential has frustrated some hedge funds that had bet the gap would close, the people said. Some traders have added positions in a bet that Iksil eventually will liquidate some holdings, moving prices in their favor, the people said.Iksil, unlike JPMorgan traders who buy and sell securities on behalf of customers, works in the chief investment office. The unit is affiliated with the bank’s treasury, helping to control market risks and investing excess funds, according to the lender’s annual report.

“The chief investment office is responsible for managing and hedging the firm’s foreign-exchange, interest-rate and other structural risks,” Evangelisti said. It’s “focused on managing the long-term structural assets and liabilities of the firm and is not focused on short-term profits.”

Iksil probably traded under close supervision at JPMorgan, said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia. “The issue is how much capital they’re putting at risk,” said Miller, a former examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. A U.S. curb on proprietary trading at banks, meant to reduce the odds they’ll make risky investments with their own capital, is supposed to take effect in July. Regulators are still determining how the so-called Volcker rule will make exceptions for instances where firms are hedging to curtail risk in their lending and trading businesses. Wall Street banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley have submitted comment letters and met with regulators to discuss their complaints about the rule.

“Several agencies claiming jurisdiction over the Volcker rule have proposed regulations of mind-numbing complexity,” JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders released this week. “Even senior regulators now recognize that the current proposed rules are unworkable and will be impossible to implement.”

JPMorgan had $4.14 billion of combined revenue last year from the chief investment office, treasury and private-equity investments, according to the annual report. The treasury and chief investment office held a combined $355.6 billion of investment securities as of December 2011, up 14 percent from a year earlier, according to a year-end earnings statement. Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, who runs the unit, was among JPMorgan’s highest-paid executives in 2011, earning $14 million, a 6.8 percent pay cut from 2010, the bank said in a regulatory filing this week. Drew referred a request for comment to Evangelisti.

Iksil joined JPMorgan in 2005, according to his record with the U.K. Financial Services Authority. He worked at the French investment bank Natixis (KN) from 1999 to 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The trader may have built a $100 billion position in contracts on Series 9 of the Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, according to the people, who said they based their estimates on the trades and price movements they witnessed as well as their understanding of the size and structure of the markets. The positions, by the bank’s calculations, amount to tens of billions of dollars and were built with the knowledge of Iksil’s superiors, a person familiar with the firm’s view said.

[xchrom]

43. +1

[Demeter]

45. 'London Whale' Rattles Debt Market

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303299604577326031119412436.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

In recent weeks, hedge funds and other investors have been puzzled by unusual movements in some credit markets, and have been buzzing about the identity of a deep-pocketed trader dubbed "the London whale." That trader, according to people familiar with the matter, is a low-profile, French-born J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. employee named Bruno Michel Iksil. Mr. Iksil has taken large positions for the bank in insurance-like products called credit-default swaps. Lately, partly in reaction to market movements possibly resulting from Mr. Iksil's trades, some hedge funds and others have made heavy opposing bets, according to people close to the matter. Those investors have been buying default protection on a basket of companies' bonds using an index of the credit-default swaps, or CDS. Mr. Iksil has been selling the protection, placing his own bet that the companies won't default.



Mr. Iksil, who works primarily out of London, has earned around $100 million a year for the bank's Chief Investment Office, or CIO, in recent years, according to people familiar with the matter. There is no suggestion the bank or the trader acted improperly. Mr. Iksil didn't respond to calls and emails seeking comment. J.P. Morgan said the CIO unit is "focused on managing the long-term structural assets and liabilities of the firm and is not focused on short-term profits." The bank added, "Our CIO activities hedge structural risks and invest to bring the company's asset and liabilities into better alignment."

Kavi Gupta, a trader at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote a message to investors Thursday about the mystery trader, saying hedge funds are accelerating wagers against "the large long," or bullish investor. "Fast money has smelt blood," he wrote. Bank of America declined to comment. The hedge funds are wagering that the cost of default protection using the index will increase, potentially putting Mr. Iksil in a money-losing position and forcing him to reduce some of his holdings. Buying protection on the index is currently cheaper than what it costs to protect the index's component companies individually. Any reduction in Mr. Iksil's position could result in profits for the hedge funds and losses for the bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. There is no indication that any such reduction is planned. J.P. Morgan Chase has emerged from the financial crisis as one of the strongest global banks, and Chief Executive James Dimon often boasts of the company's "fortress balance sheet." Mr. Iksil's trades are partially hedged, or protected by some offsetting trades, according to people close to the matter. Mr. Dimon is regularly briefed on details of some of the group's positions, these people added. One person familiar with the matter said the bank has run tests that show Mr. Iksil's positions likely will be profitable in any economic or market downturn.
....................................................................................................

Mr. Iksil, who has worked at J.P. Morgan since January 2007, commutes to London each week from his home in Paris, and works from home most Fridays. He sometimes wears black jeans in the office and rarely a tie, according to someone who worked with him. Mr. Iksil works with two junior traders and focuses on complex trades in credit markets, developing most of his investment ideas and then getting approval from senior bank executives, according to someone close to the matter. In the past, he often has been bearish on markets and placed trades to express that downbeat perspective, sometimes criticizing colleagues as too optimistic on markets. Some of his best performances have come during market downturns, though he has also made trading mistakes in volatile times. However, Mr. Iksil has turned more upbeat recently. He has been selling protection on an index of 125 companies in the form of credit-default swaps. That essentially means he is betting on the improving credit of those companies, which he does through the index—CDX IG 9—tracking these companies. Mr. Iksil has done so much bullish trading that he has helped move the index, traders say. Now, even as Mr. Iksil is selling credit protection on the company index, a number of hedge funds and other investors are buying protection on it.

Some investors say they are betting that Mr. Iksil could have to exit some of his bullish trades, perhaps because the pending Volcker rule limiting bank risk-taking would push up the cost of credit protection. J.P. Morgan has said the Volcker rule doesn't prohibit its CIO unit from investing or hedging activities. A sign of how hot the trade is: The net "notional" volume in the index ballooned to $144.6 billion on March 30 from $92.6 billion at the start of the year, according to Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. data.

THE SMELL OF HUBRIS ON WALL ST. THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL....

[Roland99]

11. U.S. gains smaller-than-expected 120,000 jobs

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gains-smaller-than-expected-120000-jobs-2012-04-06

The U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in March, marking the smallest increase in five months, the government reported Friday. The number of jobs created last month fell well below expectations and failed to break the 200,000 level for the first time since December. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a 210,000 increase. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 8.2% from 8.3%, mainly because more people dropped out of the labor force. The average workweek fell 0.1 hour to 34.5, while average hourly earnings rose 0.2% to $23.39. Employment gains for January and February were little changed under Labor Department revisions. Employment in March was hurt in part by a 34,000 decline in retail jobs

[DemReadingDU]

12. probably good the markets are closed today

All morning, the news was all about the high expectations of great numbers.
What a letdown.

[xchrom]

16. DISASTER: JOBS REPORT MISSES EXPECTATIONS AT 120K

http://www.businessinsider.com/march-jobs-report-2012-4

Today's jobs report was a big miss and a big disappointment.

The March Non-Farm Payrolls report came in at 120K, well below expectations of 37K.

Private payrolls missed badly, coming in at 121K vs. expectations of 215K.

Unemployment, however, fell from 8.2%, down a tick from 8.3%.

Futures are instantly falling on the news.

The dollar is tumbling on expectations that QE is back.

Some other numbers:

U-6 underemployment fell from 14.9% to 14.%.

Average hourly earnings increased 2.1%.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/march-jobs-report-2012-4#ixzz1rGS5cniq

[girl gone mad]

49. Ouch.

Even I was expecting it to be better than this.

[xchrom]

17. ...And The Dollar Gets MAULED

http://www.businessinsider.com/and-the-dollar-gets-mauled-2012-4

The bad jobs report boosts the likelihood of more QE.

Hence the dollar getting mauled against the yen right now.

[Demeter]

30. Mission accomplished, then

Saves Ben the expense of trashing it himself.

[Demeter]

20. US economy adds 120,000 jobs in March

The US economy added 120,000 jobs in March, well below forecasts, but the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked down to 8.2 per cent

Economists had predicted 205,000 new jobs last month, following three consecutive months of employment growth above 200,000 jobs per month.

The data followed another report from ADP, the payroll processor, on Wednesday that showed the private sector added 209,000 new workers last month. The government’s official report showed less robust private-sector growth at 121,000 new positions.

Read more >>

http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/FKB7EU/Q38E1/WT2NVH/DWHTUW/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

LIES, DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS...

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"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point.

The term was popularised in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881): "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." However, the phrase is not found in any of Disraeli's works and the earliest known appearances were years after his death. Other coiners have therefore been proposed...

Alternative attributions include, among many others (such as Walter Bagehot and Arthur James Balfour) the radical journalist and politician Henry Du Pré Labouchère (1831–1912), and Leonard H. Courtney, who used the phrase in 1895 and two years later became president of the Royal Statistical Society.[2] Courtney referred to a future statesman, not a past one...

The earliest instance of the phrase found in print dates to a letter written June 8, 1891, published June 13, 1891, The National Observer p. 93(-94): NATIONAL PENSIONS To the Editor of The National Observer, London, 8 June 1891 "Sir,--It has been wittily remarked that there are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third and most aggravated is statistics. It is on statistics and on the absence of statistics that the advocate of national pensions relies....." Later, in October 1891, as a query in Notes and Queries, the pseudonymous questioner, signing as "St Swithin", asked for the originator of the phrase, indicating common usage even at that date. The pseudonym has been attributed to Eliza Gutch.

The American Dialect Society list archives includes numerous posts by Stephen Goranson that cite research into uses soon after the above. .[5] They include:

Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911) is reported twice in Oct. 1891 to have used the phrase, without attributing it to others:

"Sir Charles Dilke [1843-1911] was saying the other day that false statements might be arranged according to their degree under three heads, fibs, lies, and statistics." The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Monday, October 19, 1891

PUBLIC MEN ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), October 21, 1891; Issue 9223 "SIR CHARLES DILKE AND THE BISHOPS" "A mass meeting of the slate quarry-men of Festiniog [Ffestiniog, Wales] was held Wednesday night [Oct. 14] to protest against certain dismissals from one of the quarries...." He [Dilke] observed that the speeches of the Bishops on the disestablishment question reminded him that there were three degrees of untruth--a fib, a lie, and statistics (Laughter)"

The phrase, as noted by Robert Giffen in 1892, was a variation on a phrase about three types of unreliable witnesses, a liar, a damned liar, and an expert (Economic Journal 2 (6) (1892), 209-238, first paragraph; the paper was previously read at a meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science at Hobart in January 1892). 1892 Jan talk, June pub Robert Giffen (1837–1910, Walter Bagehot's assistant editor at The Economist 1868ff; 1882-4 President of the Statistical Society): "An old jest runs to the effect that there are three degrees of comparison among liars. There are liars, there are outrageous liars, and there are scientific experts. This has lately been adapted to throw dirt upon statistics. There are three degrees of comparison, it is said, in lying. There are lies, there are outrageous lies, and there are statistics."

That phrase can be found in Nature in 1885, page 74 Nov 26, 1885: :"A well-known lawyer, now a judge, once grouped witnesses into three classes: simple liars, damned liars, and experts. He did not mean that the expert ..."

A minute of the X Club meeting held on 5 December 1885, recorded by Thomas Henry Huxley, noted "Talked politics, scandal, and the three classes of witnesses—liars, d—d liars, and experts." Quoted in 1900 in Leonard Huxley's The Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley.

IT WAS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAD COME...THE ERA OF THE QUACK, THE START OF PSEUDOSCIENCE, THE BIGGEST GULLING OF THE MASSES SINCE CATHOLICISM.

[xchrom]

18. Investors dump euro and risky bonds as fears about Spain intensify

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/05/euro-bonds-fears-spain-imf


A man injured after a clash with police in Madrid during last month's general strike. Photograph: Jose Luis Cuesta/Demotix/Corbis

Worries about Spain's perilous economic outlook and the threat it poses to its fragile eurozone neighbours intensified on Thursday night as investors dumped the euro and riskier government bonds ahead of the long holiday weekend.

A poorly received Spanish bond auction earlier in the week continued to spread jitters around Europe with economists warning Spain could become the latest flashpoint in the sovereign debt crisis.

The International Monetary Fund fanned those fears by asserting Spain is facing "severe" challenges. It insisted last week's strict budget must be put into practice, with Spain meeting European Union demands for it to cut its deficit.

"We will point to the need to ensure compliance with the new target, not just at the central level also at the regional government level," said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice. "Clearly the challenges Spain is facing are severe. Market sentiment remains volatile."

[xchrom]

19. Italy bank loans sluggish despite ECB cash flood

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/10182593

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian banks took around a quarter of the three-year funds offered by the European Central Bank but the wall of cash failed to persuade them to lend more readily to firms and households in the early part of 2012, data showed on Friday.
The country's lenders scooped up 116 billion euros (95.5 billion pounds) from the ECB's long-term refinancing operation in December and another 139 billion euros from the one in February, the Bank of Italy figures showed.
In all, European banks took more than 1 trillion euros in the two three-year tenders, which were credited with calming euro zone debt markets.
They helped Italian banks cope with frozen wholesale funding markets and a crippled interbank market at a time when the country has hovered close to the sharp end of the euro zone debt crisis.

[xchrom]

24. France tightens grip on super rich

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/06/france-super-rich

On a cobbled street, a man in designer wellingtons was grooming a dappled pony outside the private stables of his historic mansion. A Bentley rolled past the picturesque village green. Liveried staff in waistcoats passed through the high, electric gates of a manor house and visitors politely admired amateur watercolours in an art show in what is held to be the richest village in France.

Quaint, discreet, and perfectly manicured, Marnes-la-Coquette has 1,700 residents, including scores of millionaires, who voted staunchly for the rightwing president Nicolas Sarkozy in the last presidential election. Surrounded by parkland, the village nudges the leafy suburbs west of Paris favoured by bankers, ageing pop stars and aristocratic families dubbed "the heirs". Already living behind high walls, these super-wealthy could soon have more reason than ever to retreat behind a parapet.

"There's a taboo about money and success in this country. One must be discreet about one's wealth," whispered a well-dressed grandmother, clutching her handbag.

Squeezing the rich, banker-bashing, and hammering the boss class have become focus points in a bruising French presidential election campaign. France, whether harking back to its revolution, or simply seething with rage at the injustices exposed by the financial crisis, now wants to lead the world in clobbering the mega-rich. Tax rises for the wealthy are at the heart of the debate and if the left wins, France could become the country with the highest tax on the rich in the EU, and one of the most punishing in the world.

[Demeter]

31. Arms dealer Bout gets 25 years in prison

The former Soviet military officer was sentenced by a US judge for conspiring to sell weapons to US agents posing as members of Colombia’s Farc

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/5VRHUL/Q38E1/YBZN9B/YBIXFV/50/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

THIS MIGHT BE THE ONLY LEGIT STING THE US HAS PERFORMED IN THIS CENTURY...

[Demeter]

32. Sky News admits hacking of emails

BSkyB news channel admits hacking emails and publishing voicemail of individuals suspected of criminal activity but cites public interest

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/5VRHUL/Q38E1/YBZN9B/8ZPRGD/50/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

CONFESSION ON GOOD FRIDAY...SO TRADITIONAL!

[Demeter]

33. Switzerland and Germany amend tax deal

German tax evaders with secret Swiss bank accounts will have to pay the exchequer in Berlin more than first planned

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/5VRHUL/Q38E1/YBZN9B/ZGEKNV/50/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

[Demeter]

34. Facebook to list shares on Nasdaq

The social media group has chosen NYSE’s chief rival when it launches its $5bn initial public offering later this year

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/4CJTRX/3CWTA/SPOS8E/ORZCKV/E4/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

[Demeter]

35. Morgan Stanley broadens clawback rules

Investment bank unveils changes to executive pay, broadening its ability to ‘claw back’ bonuses and more closely linking pay to performance

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/4CJTRX/3CWTA/SPOS8E/FKGL2U/E4/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

[Demeter]

36. Citi ‘deficient’ on money laundering rules

Regulator accuses the bank of failing to comply with rules intended to stop money laundering and the financing of international terrorism

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/4CJTRX/3CWTA/SPOS8E/EXB1V6/E4/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=6

[Demeter]

39. Federal judge approves $25 billion mortgage pact

http://news.yahoo.com/federal-judge-approves-25-billion-mortgage-pact-221810013.html

A federal judge approved a $25 billion mortgage settlement with five top U.S. banks over allegations of foreclosure abuses and misconduct in servicing home loans, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer signed the previously announced series of settlements on Wednesday but the approval was not made public until Thursday. The civil allegations were brought by 49 states and the federal government. The banks did not admit to the accusations.

The five banks: Bank of America; Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase; Wells Fargo and Ally Financial agreed to pay around a total of $5 billion in cash to the federal and state governments. They also agreed to cut mortgage debt amounts and restructure troubled loans from the pool of loans they service, to meet the rest of their monetary obligations under the settlement.

The government had said its intention was to "remediate harms allegedly resulting from the alleged unlawful conduct. The deal faced criticism from investors in mortgage-backed securities, who worried they could be financially harmed by mortgage writedowns and other modifications. The Association of Mortgage Investors, a trade group that represents investors with interests in mortgage securities, had said they planned to ask for changes to the settlement, but did not file a formal challenge in court.

A spokesman for the group declined immediate comment.

Citigroup said in a statement it has been taking calls from customers since March 1 for its program and has moved "a few hundred" cases into the pipeline to determine whether they qualify.

"Assisting distressed homeowners remains CitiMortgage's number one priority," the bank said.

AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK..IF YOU ARE INTO STAND UP COMEDY!

[Demeter]

40. Well, that's enough fun for now

See you on the Weekend!

[xchrom]

46. World’s Richest Lose $9 Billion as Global Markets Decline

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-05/world-s-richest-lose-9-billion-as-global-markets-decline.html

The 20 wealthiest people on Earth lost a combined $9.1 billion this week as renewed concerns that Europe’s debt crisis might worsen drove the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its largest decline of 2012.

Mexican Carlos Slim’s fortune fell by $1.5 billion during the week as shares of his telecom operator, America Movil SAB, dropped 2.2 percent through April 4. Mexican markets were closed yesterday for the Holy Thursday holiday. The 72-year-old remains the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $69.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“This is a little bit of a reality check,” Leo Grohowski, chief investment officer for New York-based BNY Mellon Wealth Management, said in a telephone interview. “The super wealthy are among the most cautious investors in the world. Skepticism is still high, and they are feeling very, very nervous.”

Global markets retreated this week as demand fell at a Spanish bond auction and minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting indicated that it isn’t ready to provide more monetary stimulus. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.7 percent, to 1398.08, its third weekly decline of 2012. The STOXX Europe 600 lost 1.6 percent to close at 259.07.

[Fuddnik]

47. I couldn't find that fiddle thingie.

[xchrom]

48. ...

[Demeter]

50. Here it is, Fuddnik

[Demeter]

51. Corporate Cash Streams Into Ohio to Unseat Senator Sherrod Brown

TOO BAD, BROWN IS A KEEPER

http://www.alternet.org/story/154852/corporate_cash_streams_into_ohio_to_unseat_senator_sherrod_brown?page=entire

2006...he first won election to the Senate—with one of the largest margins of victory over an incumbent in history

WE'LL KEEP AN EYE ON THIS RACE

[Demeter]

52. 10 Unbelievably Sh**ty Things America Does to Homeless People

http://www.alternet.org/story/154830/10_unbelievably_sh**ty_things_america_does_to_homeless_people?page=entire

No population has their human and civil rights so casually and routinely trampled as do homeless Americans. For decades, cities all over the country have worked to essentially criminalize homelessness, instituting measures that outlaw holding a sign, sleeping, sitting, lying (or weirdly, telling a lie in Orlando) if you live on the street. Where the law does not mandate outright harassment, police come up with clever work-arounds, like destroying or confiscating tents, blankets and other property in raids of camps. A veteran I talked to, his eye bloody from when some teenagers beat him up to steal 60 cents, said police routinely extracted the poles from his tent and kept them so he couldn't rebuild it. (Where are all the pissed-off libertarians and conservatives at such flagrant disrespect for private property?)

In the heady '80s, Reagan slashed federal housing subsidies even as a tough economy threw more and more people out on the street. Instead of resolving itself through the magic of the markets, the homelessness problem increasingly fell to local governments. "When the federal government created the homelessness crisis, local governments did not have the means of addressing the issue. So they use the police to manage homeless people's presence," Jennifer Fredienrich told AlterNet last year. At about the same time, the arrest-happy "broken windows theory," which encourages law enforcement to bust people for "quality of life" crimes, offered ideological support for finding novel ways to legally harass people on the street. Many of the policies end up being wildly counterproductive: a criminal record bars people from the very programs designed to get them off the street, while defending unconstitutional measures in court ends up costing cities money that could be used to fund homeless services.

Here is an incomplete list of laws, ordinances and law enforcement and government tactics that violate homeless people's civil liberties.

1. Outlawing sitting down.

2. Denying people access to shelters.

3. Making it illegal to give people food.

4. Installing obstacles to prevent sleeping or sitting.

5. Anti-panhandling laws.

6. Anti-panhandling laws to punish people who give.

7. Feeding panhandling meters instead of panhandlers.

8. Selective enforcement of laws like jaywalking and loitering.

9. Destroying possessions of the homeless.

10. Kicking homeless kids out of school.

DETAILS AT LINK

[Demeter]

53. 3 Corporate Myths that Threaten the Wealth of the Nation

http://www.alternet.org/story/154873/3_corporate_myths_that_threaten_the_wealth_of_the_nation?page=entire

Corporations are not working for the 99%. But this wasn’t always the case. In a special 5-part AlterNet series, William Lazonick, professor at UMass, president of the Academic-Industry Research Network, and one of the leading expert on the American corporation, along with journalist Ken Jacobson and AlterNet’s Lynn Parramore, will examine the foundations, history, and purpose of the corporation to answer this vital question: How can the public take control of the business corporation and make it work for the real economy?

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

The wealth of the American nation depends on the productive power of our major business corporations. In 2008 there were 981 companies in the United States with 10,000 or more employees. Although they were less than two percent of all U.S. firms, they employed 27 percent of the labor force and accounted for 31 percent of all payrolls. Literally millions of smaller businesses depend, directly or indirectly, on the productivity of these big businesses and the disposable incomes of their employees.

When the executives who control big-business investment decisions place a high priority on innovation and job creation, then we all have a chance for a prosperous tomorrow. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, the top executives of our major corporations have turned the productive power of the people into massive and concentrated financial wealth for themselves. Indeed the very emergence of “the 1%” is largely the result of this usurpation of corporate power. And executives’ use of this power to benefit themselves often undermines investment in innovation and job creation.

These corporations do not belong to them. They belong to us. We need to confront some powerful myths of corporate governance as part of a movement to make corporations work for the 99%. To start, we have to recognize these corporations for what they are not.

• They are not “private enterprise.”
• They should not be run to “maximize shareholder value.”
• The mega-millions in remuneration paid to top corporate executives are not determined by the “market forces” of supply and demand.

DETAILS AT LINK