STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 23 April 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 23 April 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 20 April 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 20 April 2012
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Dow Jones 13,029.26 +65.16 (0.50%)
S&P 500 1,378.53 +1.61 (0.12%)
[font color=red]Nasdaq 3,000.45 -7.11 (-0.24%)



[font color=green]10 Year 1.96% -0.02 (-1.01%)
30 Year 3.12% -0.02 (-0.64%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
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Yahoo Finance
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
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Brad DeLong
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
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USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
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]

[girl gone mad]

1. LOUISIANA SUES BANKSTERS UNDER RICO LAWS: WILL THE BIGGEST BANKS FINALLY GO THE WAY OF THE GAMBINOS?

Author: L. Randall Wray

It’s about time. One state has finally found the guts to go after the banks that created the MERS monster, invoking RICO laws.

Yes, MERS was part of a vast criminal conspiracy by the biggest banks (including the GSEs) to cheat counties out of property recording fees and to speed foreclosures while destroying the Western property law tradition.

Forget Washington. It sides with the banksters. The Obama administration has made it clear that it will continue to look the other way while banksters steal millions of homes in illegal foreclosures.

The banks do not have title to the properties they are stealing. Because MERS destroyed the chain of title. But Washington sees foreclosure as the only way out of the mess created by Wall Street.

The banks want to take the homes, quietly package them into bundles, and then sell them to the hedge funds at cents on the dollar. That will allow Wall Street to complete the transformation of our country to the “ownership society” sought by former President Bush. (For an early piece on the plan, see my 2005 article here: http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/?docid=14) Yes, the plan all along was to transfer all ownership to the top 1%.

read more: http://www.economonitor.com/lrwray/2012/04/21/louisiana-sues-banksters-under-rico-laws-will-the-biggest-banks-finally-go-the-way-of-the-gambinos

[Demeter]

2. I wish them luck

It's more than Ironic, that Louisiana, one of the most corrupt states in the Union, should decide to go after the Big Fish on Greater Corruption charges.

But who else would have so little to lose, so much to gain? Who else would have the nerve?

One of the problems of starving people into submission is that some people take that as a challenge and a personal affront. Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose, as Janis told us, back in the days when hope was a real, tangible thing, not an empty slogan.

The Questions are Legion.

1. Will Louisiana stay true to the cause, or will the AG be bought off? Or killed, or defeated, or stymied in the courts?

2. Will someone with wit and power of personality (a stubborn Polack type, as my family would call it) see it through to the end, or at least, to the point of unstoppable momentum?

3. Will the Dancing Supremes do a can-can all over it, or a can't-can't?

4. Will the right people stay out of small planes and isolated or overcrowded places?

Boy, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia would really have their noses out of joint, if Louisiana and Florida led us to a new nation of the People, by the People, for the People....

[AnneD]

35. This puts me in the unusual position .....

of defending Louisiana, but I would just like to remind the folks reading this thread that Louisiana was home to Huey Long. Most of the improvements that the poor folk in Louisiana ever saw was in the Long administration. I am very sure he kept FDR awake at night. I always wondered how much of the New Deal came about to blunt some of Long's influence. My knowledge is a bit rusty as it has been years since I read about it but I do remember many folk in La. thinking Long was set up by Roosevelt-who knows. But if some smart person with true populist Democratic leanings wanted to make a big splash and even a chance for the POTUS-they would go after the banks. This is now truly like the Great Depression.

[Demeter]

36. I don't argue your point, you are correct

It's history's second verse, just like the first...only assassination is getting to be old. I sure hope it doesn't come back in fashion...although with the drones...that would be hard to pass off onto a deranged loner, wouldn't it?

[Demeter]

3. Well, Everybody, It's the Last Week of April

and April hasn't been too cruel, this year. The month of Perpetual Spring is one for memories.

Sunday was the brunch and it was a smashing success. I overcame my fear of quiche, there were no leftovers to speak of, etc.

The opera after brunch, Bizet's "Pearl Fishers", well, it's no "Carmen". You can't possibly sleep through "Carmen", no matter how tired you are (well, maybe when that drip Micaela is on stage). I slept through a good deal of "Pearl Fishers". The plot is thin and weary, the music so un-evocative, the ballet that this performance incorporated stank, there's no better description for it. The singers had lovely voices, it's just too bad they didn't have better stuff to sing about. There were a couple interesting tunes....about 1.5 hours into it. I don't know what prompted Bizet to write Carmen, but I sure wish it had struck him earlier in life.

And this week the Board gets to reconvene, to try to finish off the month's business. It should be explosive.

[Hotler]

58. Honey I'm home.

"The Obama administration has made it clear that it will continue to look the other way while banksters steal millions of homes"

I will never vote for that man ever again. if only the american people had more spine than he does. Thousands in the streets in every city is the the only way to start the change of hope.
I still have no hope. I still see no future.
had a virus on my puter, got it fixed.
Peace to you all.

[Demeter]

59. Sorry your computer wasn't feeling well. Hope you are!

The Obama Administration will end.

When? Only a matter of time. If politics were like architecture, the damn thing would have collapsed about 3 weeks in. But with enough money, a mirage can be sustained for a long time....

America is too sparsely settled for thousands in the streets. Why do you think the cities are being dismantled? To spread out the discontent. Detroit was pushing 2 million citizens when I was born. It's down to around 700,000. And it's not the only one.

The hope is within us, in our will to survive, to live and thrive, and to right wrongs and dispense justice. We were trained to be democrats by the public schools--which is why the schools are being dismantled, too.

A bit of history: Marie Curie, the famous Polish physicist and Nobel prize winner, was born in a land that wasn't Poland, hadn't been for a hundred years. The children were instructed in Russian, punished for speaking Polish. Yet the children learned their language, their history, and more through an underground school system that sustained the hopes of the people and the cultural archive.

That was the whole point of the Democratic Underground. To sustain democracy, small d, through Republican misrule, and, although there's resistance to honesty around here, Democratic misrule, too.

What cannot continue, will not continue. And this simply cannot continue. But the timing? That's luck, skill, and dedication.

[DemReadingDU]

61. +++

[Demeter]

4. UK regulator loses UBS test case on supervision

The FSA UK financial regulator’s efforts to punish senior managers when failings occur on their watch have been dealt a severe blow after it lost a test case involving UBS

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/4CRBJ7/VTVRG/IIUBBL/623818/ID/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=22

SO MUCH FOR THE CITY CLEANING UP ITS ACT...

[Demeter]

5. US regulators look to ease swaps rules

US regulators are exploring ways to give large foreign banks and overseas subsidiaries of US lenders a reprieve from stringent new derivatives rules, potentially alleviating one of the biggest concerns facing global financial institutions

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/HY65T5/7ZY85/2OWIIX/L92KAY/N9/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=22

SO MUCH FOR THE US CLEANING UP ITS ACT

[Demeter]

6. MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Wall Street Collapse Since Lehman

http://www.alternet.org/story/155078/mf_global%3A_the_untold_story_of_the_biggest_wall_street_collapse_since_lehman?page=entire

Only on Wall Street can you bankrupt a company; misplace $1.6 billion of customers’ money; lose 75 percent of shareholders’ money in two weeks; speed dial a high priced criminal attorney and get a court to authorize the payment of your multi-million dollar legal tab from the failed company’s insurance policies; have regulators waive your requirements to take licensing exams required to work in the securities and commodities industry; have your Board of Directors waive your loyalty to the firm; run a bucket shop out of the UK; and still have the word “Honorable” affixed to your name in a Congressional investigations hearing....

OH, I DON'T KNOW. MURDOCH IS STILL WALKING AROUND...

GOOD SUMMARY WITH NO PUNCHES PULLED, AND NEW (TO ME, AT LEAST) INFORMATION, TOO!

...One avenue worthy of pursuit according to Wall Street veterans, is whether Jon Corzine turned MF Global into a giant parking lot for other Wall Street firms’ bad bets on sovereign debt. Fueling that speculation is the fact that JPMorgan, Citigroup and Bank of America were part of a syndicate of 22 banks that provided MF Global with an unsecured $1.2 billion revolving credit line that required no posting of collateral, despite the company’s string of losses and weak credit rating. The firm heavily tapped this line of credit in its last days...

...Compared to Corzine’s former employer, Goldman Sachs, MF Global was a flea on an elephant’s back. It had experienced a string of quarterly losses since 2007, was predominantly a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) holding retail and institutional commodity and futures trading accounts, and had 80 regulatory actions against it since 1997. It had a securities brokerage unit with 300 to 400 U.S. accounts according to the trustee. How big those accounts were is unknown. If they were all institutional or hedge fund accounts, it could have been a sizeable operation. One known account, which presciently moved out before the bankruptcy, belonged to the $100 billion private energy firm, Koch Industries, majority owned by Charles and David Koch, financial backers to numerous corporate front groups.

Corzine had no expertise with running a commodities firm. His trading background at Goldman was in U.S. Government bonds, not commodities. According to a spokesman for the National Futures Association, Corzine passed a limited exam called the Series 32 on August 17, 2010 but never took the full National Commodity Futures Exam, Series 3, which would be expected of Registered Associated Persons working for an FCM. The spokesman suggested Corzine may have been given a waiver....AND THERE'S MORE!

[Demeter]

7. Wells Fargo Insiders Detail Foreclosure Fraud Practices: ‘It’s Exactly Like An Assembly Line’

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/907008/wells_fargo_insiders_detail_foreclosure_fraud_practices%3A_%E2%80%98it%E2%80%99s_exactly_like_an_assembly_line%E2%80%99/#paragraph3

That Wells Fargo has fraudulently processed mortgage documents using a process called robo-signing has been evident for nearly two years, since scandal enveloped the mortgage industry in 2010. That it kept doing it even after the scandal broke has been known for months. The practice, at Wells Fargo and other Wall Street banks, has led to waves of improperforeclosures and a $25 billion settlement with the federal government and state attorneys general.

A new report from MSNBC, however, provided an inside account of how Wells Fargo’s robo-signing department works. Unqualified employees with salaries ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 are given titles like “vice president of loan documentation” so they can sign foreclosure documents. Actual supervisors institute quotas on employees, forcing them to sign a certain number of foreclosure files each day — sometimes telling them they can’t eat breakfast or take lunch until they’re done. Documents required for homeowners to avoid foreclosure were ignored, left sitting on an unattended fax machine.

The result: the nation’s largest mortgage servicer often improperly foreclosed on homeowners who weren’t past due or owed little interest while pushing the files out the door as fast as possible...

[Demeter]

8. 99% Power Movement Kicks Off With Massive Actions at Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting

http://www.alternet.org/story/155097/99_power_movement_kicks_off_with_massive_actions_at_wells_fargo_shareholder_meeting_?page=entire

Every major bank holds its shareholder meeting in the spring, makingtheir nefarious plans about how to invest the billions they have stolen from us: ranging from mineral extraction in the global south to foreclosures in East Oakland.

But 2012 will be different than last spring, and the spring before it. This year, there’s a nationally coordinated effort of the 99% to fight back. We may not have the money for our own strategy meetings in fancy boardrooms, but we have something much better: people power — the millions of people who are fighting to save their homes, struggling to pay their bills,trying to get out from under their student loans, are ready to take action to make things better.

We’re starting off with Wells Fargo....DETAILS FOLLOW

[Demeter]

9. Bank of America Suing Itself Accidentally?

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/907281/bank_of_america_suing_itself_accidentally/#paragraph4

...So why is the banking behemoth suing itself?...

READ IT AND FIND OUT

[Demeter]

10. Argentina's Oil Grab is Timely Retort to Rampaging Capitalism

http://www.alternet.org/story/155094/argentina%27s_oil_grab_is_timely_retort_to_rampaging_capitalism?page=entire

...YPF is its national oil and gas company, which it sold to the Spanish oil company Repsol for $15bn in 1999 as part of its privatisation drive. It has not been a great deal for either party. Argentinian oil and gas production has slumped, exploration for new reserves has been run down and this oil-rich country is now an oil importer, with Repsol accused of looting the company and betraying its obligations.

Repsol's excuse is that Argentinian price controls are absurdly tough. It has wanted to sell its holding for some time and last July finally found a potential buyer: the Chinese state oil company Sinopec. On Monday, fearing that the deal was about to be done, the Argentinian government seized the lion's share of Repsol's stake to get majority control. Better that YPF is owned by the Argentinian government than the Chinese Communist party is their reasoning....MORE

[Demeter]

11. Foreign and US Insurance Companies Cashing in From Our Farm Subsidies

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/906500/foreign_and_us_insurance_companies_cashing_in_from_our_farm_subsidies/#paragraph3

According to an account in last week’s New York Times, the federal government could save about $1 billion a year by reducing the subsidies it pays to large farmers to cover much of the cost of their crop insurance. Crop insurance subsidies are expected to cost $39 billion from 2012 to 2016, or about $7.8 billion a year.

The Times based this statement on a new report from the Government Accountability Office. This report explains that the billion-a-year savings would occur if the government applied the same limits to subsidies for crop insurance as it applies to other farm support programs...


DETAILS ON THE RACKET AT LINK

[Demeter]

12. Well, Asia's not happy, and Europe Even Less So

So we must expect another 200+ point gain on the DOW...

[Demeter]

13. EU to suspend most Myanmar sanctions

The European Union agreed on Monday to suspend most of its sanctions against Myanmar for a year in recognition of democratic reforms after half a century of military rule.

The suspension, which does not apply to a separate arms embargo, is expected to go into effect this week. It will allow European companies to invest in Myanmar, which has significant natural resources and is a neighbour to China and India.

The EU move rewards a shift in Myanmar’s political environment that has seen veteran pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament and the lifting of a range of repressive measures.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/SP4FWQ/WH2F8/KQL87H/PFMSKC/SN/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=23

AS IF THE ONE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER...MAYBE SOME REALITY IS INTRUDING IN EUROPE.

[Demeter]

14. Dutch PM to tender resignation

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister will tender his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix, on Monday, clearing the way for elections in the Netherlands.

The decision comes after far-right politician Geert Wilders ended his majority in parliament by withdrawing his support for planned budget cuts to meet European Union deficit limits.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/4CR6K2/T10SH/DWRUUA/WTYUDQ/LE/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=23

The Hollow Men (1925) is a poem by T. S. Eliot. (HE IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR "CATS", IF YOU RECALL...DEMETER)

The final stanza may be the most quoted of all of Eliot's poetry;

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

This last line alludes to, amongst some talk of war, the actual end of the Gunpowder Plot mentioned at the beginning: not with its planned bang, but with Guy Fawkes's whimper, as he was caught, tortured and executed on the gallows. WIKIPEDIA

[xchrom]

15. morning...

[Tansy_Gold]

27. I'll drink to that

And I'm thinking something stronger than coffee. . . . .

[xchrom]

28. i think that's required on a monday.

it's in the fine print.

[Demeter]

37. Why didn't anyone tell me that?

Although my stress falls in different days. Monday is a bit of a relief from the weekend.

[xchrom]

42. its been my experience that mondays -- can also happen on tuesdays. nt

[Warpy]

48. There's nothing like living with a drunk

to get you to hate weekends and appreciate Mondays.

Unfortunately, this one is a little tough to appreciate, the ebb and flow of the market seemingly going to be "ebb" for a while.

[DemReadingDU]

16. Stock futures down on Europe concerns, Wal-Mart drops

4/23/12
Stock index futures were sharply lower on Monday as political uncertainty in Europe raised new questions about how effectively the region would tackle its sovereign debt crisis.

The Netherlands government failed to agree on budget cuts over the weekend, making elections in the core euro zone member almost unavoidable. The developments cast doubt on the country's support for future euro zone measures.

German manufacturing shrank at its fastest pace in nearly three years in April, denting hopes it can drive growth in the euro zone.

The first round of the French presidential election added to the uncertainty after anti-immigration crusader Marine Le Pen scored a record first-round score, jolting the race between Socialist front-runner Francois Hollande and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

Europe's debt crisis has been a major headwind for U.S. equities as investors worry it may affect growth and corporate profits. While the S&P snapped a two-week string of losses last week, it remains down 2.9 percent from a closing high in early April.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc shares dropped 2.3 percent to $60.99 in premarket trading after the New York Times reported officials at the retailer stymied an internal investigation into allegations of extensive bribery at its Mexican subsidiary.

S&P 500 futures fell 14.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 121 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures sank 26.25 points.

more...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-stock-futures-signal-lower-wall-street-open-084658101--finance.html

[xchrom]

17. Sarkozy woos far right after Hollande wins round one

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/23/uk-france-election-idUKBRE83J0FB20120423

(Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy hammered home pledges to get tough on immigration and security on Monday as he sought to win over record numbers of far-right voters and whittle down Socialist Francois Hollande's narrow first-round election lead.

The centre-left Hollande pipped Sarkozy in Sunday's 10-candidate first round by 28.6 percent to 27.1 percent, but it was National Front leader Marine Le Pen who stole the show by surging to 18 percent, the biggest tally a far-right candidate has ever managed.

Her performance mirrored advances across the continent by anti-establishment Eurosceptical populists from Amsterdam and Vienna to Helsinki and Athens as the euro zone's grinding debt crisis deepens anger over government spending cuts and unemployment.

Sarkozy, the first sitting president to be forced into second place in the first round of a re-election bid, faced a difficult balancing act as campaigning restarted on Monday to attract both the far-right and centrist voters he needs to win the May 6 runoff.

[Demeter]

20. It's called "Getting Back to One's Base"

I hope Sarcoma goes down in flames.

[xchrom]

21. +1

[Demeter]

18. Evidently there is a way to ensure that some DUers cannot serve on a jury of your post

Since I haven't had a post juried yet (at least, I don't think so) I know nothing about this process. I DO know that I have been on a LOT of juries, and they seem to come in waves. I'm not keeping track of it, but it seems to be a great way to throw sand into the machine of conversation. On the other hand, DU has been reduced in large part to a name-calling, stick-out-your-tongue, engine of contempt for controversy. Rather like grade school.

Anyone experienced a jury on a post? Can you give us details?

[Tansy_Gold]

29. I've been on quite a few but never been alerted on myself

most of what I see these days are petty whines and trolls.

Everyone seems to have found their niche and is just staying there. And i have to admit I'm pretty much guilty of same. I rarely venture out of this little corner.

[TalkingDog]

40. What you said: A LOT of petty whining.

But raise a bunch of people with helicopter parents fixing their every mistake and shielding them from every slight and you end up with a lot of thin-skinned folks who have no actual concept regarding what should lie outside the boundaries of taste or appropriateness, or how to deal with intentional wounds versus accidental ones.

[Demeter]

49. Raised by wolves is more likely, IMO

[Tansy_Gold]

53. That's insulting to wolves, who are

excellent, caring parents. With the help of the entire pack, they raise their children to survive in the real world.

[hamerfan]

60. I just served on a jury now.

Very petty complaint.
I've had "jury duty" here now about 8 times.
I've not had a post "juried" yet, but I hardly post or leave the SMW/WEE.
hamerfan

[xchrom]

19. Euro zone slump deepens unexpectedly in April

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/23/uk-global-economy-idUKBRE83M0L120120423

(Reuters) - The euro zone's business slump deepened at a far faster pace than expected in April, suggesting the economy will stay in recession at least until the second half of the year.

Chinese factories enjoyed their best performance this year, the latest purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) also showed on Monday, but economists focused on the euro zone's grim outlook which was worse than any projection in a Reuters poll.

The Markit PMI fell to 47.9 from 49.2 in March, a five-month low and confounding the forecast for a rise to 49.3.

Optimism from this weekend's deal to boost the International Monetary Fund's crisis-fighting firepower quickly evaporated and worried investors sold the euro and bought safe-haven German and U.S. government bonds.



***SURPRISE!11

[Demeter]

32. Unexpected? By Whom?

Even Goldman Sachs isn't that dishonest (at least, to itself)....

One can see the flight to the dollar (poor suckers) in today's charts. I doubt that will translate into market gains, though.

[Tansy_Gold]

44. Condi Rice, maybe? n/t

[Demeter]

50. Who?

[DemReadingDU]

45. Unexpected by most everyone who doesn't pay attention

and that is everyone that I know, totally clueless

[Demeter]

22. Locking Down an American Workforce By Joshua Freeman and Steve Fraser

http://www.nationofchange.org/locking-down-american-workforce-1334928135

Sweatshop labor is back with a vengeance. It can be found across broad stretches of the American economy and around the world. Penitentiaries have become a niche market for such work. The privatization of prisons in recent years has meant the creation of a small army of workers too coerced and right-less to complain.

Prisoners, whose ranks increasingly consist of those for whom the legitimate economy has found no use, now make up a virtual brigade within the reserve army of the unemployed whose ranks have ballooned along with the U.S. incarceration rate. The Corrections Corporation of America and G4S (formerly Wackenhut), two prison privatizers, sell inmate labor at subminimum wages to Fortune 500 corporations like Chevron, Bank of America, AT&T, and IBM.

These companies can, in most states, lease factories in prisons or prisoners to work on the outside. All told, nearly a million prioners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day.

Rarely can you find workers so pliable, easy to control, stripped of political rights, and subject to martial discipline at the first sign of recalcitrance -- unless, that is, you traveled back to the nineteenth century when convict labor was commonplace nationwide. Indeed, a sentence of “confinement at hard labor” was then the essence of the American penal system. More than that, it was one vital way the United States became a modern industrial capitalist economy -- at a moment, eerily like our own, when the mechanisms of capital accumulation were in crisis...MORE HISTORY FOLLOWS

[AnneD]

39. Meh....

Schindler's List but with slightly better food and newer clothes.

[TalkingDog]

41. Yay! The return of work houses!

Where is Charles Dickens when you need him?

[Demeter]

23. It Takes Dark Money to Make Dark Money

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/karl-rove-crossroads-gps-center-individual-freedom

When Crossroads GPS, the conservative nonprofit started by GOP political gurus Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, isn't dropping millions of dollars on anti-Obama ads, it's doling out tens of millions more to like-minded groups. "The ATM of the Right," Politico recently called Crossroads. Between May 2010 and December 2011, new tax records show, Crossroads gave $4 million to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and $500,000 to former Sen. Norm Coleman's American Action Network, among others.

But there was another recipient of Crossroads cash that stood out: the Center for Individual Freedom, which snagged $2.75 million. Among political money experts, CFIF is known for its aggressive legal strategy aimed at toppling disclosure laws at the state level. In other words, Crossroads GPS, which doesn't name its donors, gave millions to another dark-money group whose goals include fighting to keep dark money in the dark.

Spokesman Jonathan Collegio wrote in an email that Crossroads GPS' donations to "effective center right organizations" such as CFIF are intended to "help build an enduring infrastructure on the right—just as labor unions have funded organizations on the Left for decades."

Founded in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom says its mission is to "protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights guaranteed by the US Constitution." CFIF preaches free-market reforms, opposes government regulations, and slams labor unions. The group blasts President Obama's Affordable Care Act as an assault on freedom, wants lower corporate tax rates, and demands less government in the lives of Americans. (CFIF did not respond to four requests for comment.) MORE

[xchrom]

24. Ireland trounces its 2011 deficit target

ttp://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/23/uk-ireland-deficit-idUKBRE83M0K320120423

(Reuters) - Ireland beat the budget deficit target set under its EU/IMF bailout by more than a percentage point in 2011, the government said on Monday, making it more likely that it would stay on track this year despite cuts to growth forecasts.

Dublin said that stripping out one-off capital injections into its banks, the country's underlying deficit for the year was 9.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with the 10.6 percent target.


Ireland's underlying deficit was still the largest in the European Union, more than twice Portugal's shortfall and higher than the 9.1 percent deficit reported in Greece and 8.5 percent in Spain.

The government is set to cut its growth forecast for the year next week but given the better-than-expected deficit starting point, it said it was on target to meet its 2012 deficit target of 8.6 percent.

[xchrom]

25. Painful GGreek austerity bit into 2011 budget gap

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/23/uk-greece-deficit-idUKBRE83M0H120120423

(Reuters) - Battered Greece saw it budget deficit fall to 9.1 percent of gross output last year as severe austerity required to secure international aid bit into spending.

Athens managed a 1.2 percentage point fiscal improvement compared with 2010 but its primary budget balance - which excludes debt servicing costs - has yet to move into surplus as a deep economic slump continues.

Greece's economy is in its fifth year of recession and could contract by more than 4.8 percent this year. Unemployment is also a record high, hitting tax receipts and requiring more spending on jobless benefits.

"According to provisional data, the deficit of the general government, as measured under the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) is estimated at 19.6 billion euros or 9.1 percent of GDP," the statistics agency ELSTAT said on Monday.

[Demeter]

26. Why “We’re on the Right Track” Isn’t Enough, and What Obama’s Plan Should Be For Boosting the Econom

http://www.nationofchange.org/why-we-re-right-track-isn-t-enough-and-what-obama-s-plan-should-be-boosting-economy-1334927848

President Obama’s electoral strategy can best be summed up as: “We’re on the right track, my economic policies are working, we still have a long way to go but stick with me and you’ll be fine.”

That’s not good enough. This recovery is too anemic, and the chance of an economic stall between now and Election Day far too high.

Even now, Mitt Romney’s empty “I’ll to it better” refrain is attracting as many voters as Obama’s “we’re on the right track.” Each man is gathering 46 percent of voter support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS poll. Only 33 percent of the public thinks the economy is improving while 40 percent say they’re still falling behind financially — an 11 point increase from 2008. Nearly two-thirds are concerned about paying for housing, and one in five with mortgages say they’re underwater.

If the economy stalls, Romney’s empty promise will look even better. And I’d put the odds of a stall at 50-50. That puts the odds of a Romney presidency far too high for comfort. Need I remind you that Romney enthusiastically supports Paul Ryan’s wildly regressive budget, and as president would be able to make at least one or possibly two Supreme Court appointments, and control the EPA and every other federal agency and department?

IT'S A CONTEST OF EQUALS: TWO BONE-LAZY, EGOTISTICAL INFANTS WHOSE ID IS UNCONTROLLED BY SUPEREGO.

[Demeter]

34. Jon Stewart Interviews Robert Reich on the Daily Show

Last edited Mon Apr 23, 2012, 01:07 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.nationofchange.org/robert-reich-extended-interview-1334932520

[xchrom]

30. Italy Consumer Confidence Plunges to Record Low in April

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-23/italy-consumer-confidence-plunges-to-record-low-in-april.html

Italian consumer confidence plunged to the lowest in more than 15 years in April as Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity drive deepens the recession in Europe’s fourth-biggest economy.
The confidence index declined to 89, the lowest since the series began in 1996, from a revised 96.3 in March, national statistics office Istat said in Rome today. Economists forecast a reading of 96.2, according to the median of 12 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
“The drop is due to a technical correction after the rise seen in the previous months and to the fact that consumers are starting to become more aware of the negative effects of the austerity measures in the short term”, Annalisa Piazza, a strategist at Newedge Group in London, said by phone. “None of the sub-indexes give encouraging signals,” she added.
Monti is implementing 20 billion euros ($26.5 billion) of spending cuts and tax hikes to fight the debt crisis. The measures, which will also lower pensions, have brought record gasoline prices and helped push the economy into its fourth recession since 2001. Italy will shrink 1.2 percent this year and joblessness at an 11-year high of 9.3 percent won’t start falling until 2013, the government forecast last week.

[Roland99]

31. DAMN...looking ugly this morning for the markets

[font color="red"]S&P 500 1,362.25 -13.00 -0.95%
DOW 12,864 -124.00 -0.95%
NASDAQ 2,655 -19.50 -0.73%[/font]

[Demeter]

33. WOW

That can't be right...although, it IS May, next week. This year it should have been Sell in March then run away....

It's not like the DOW reflected any kind of reality, anyway.

[Roland99]

38. Europe is tanking and US markets are following the lead. DJIA futures now -140

[font color="red"]FTSE 100 5,667 -105 -1.82%
CAC 40 3,114 -74 -2.33%
DAX 6,547 -203 -3.01%
FTSE MIB 14,029 -373 -2.59%
IBEX 35 IDX 6,839 -201 -2.86%
GlobalDow 1,907 -19 -1.01% [/font]

[Tansy_Gold]

43. Wheeeeeee!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

46. had to post this toon

link to full size below


original here
http://www.smbc-comics.com/#comic

[AnneD]

47. Reminds me of one of my all time fav's on Night Gallery (I just saw it once).....

during the middle ages, there were people that ate the sins of the dead, so they could go to heaven. It was usually the poor that became sin eaters, thus destine to reside in hell for an eternity.

The story revolved around a sin eater that had died. They were so poor they could not afford a sin eater them selves. The mother talks the son (whom the dad tried to protect) into finally eating his fathers sins. It was so sad. Richard Thomas was the son.

That idea really stuck with me. This lack of assuming responsibility by those that can afford it and the poor that suffer in this life and in eternity because of their poverty. A very depressing thought to be sure but it left me with the thought, would you take on the sins of your father or child. I guess it was a spiritual Hunger Game of sorts.

So instead of taking responsibility for the economy, we have a designated whipping boy. Maybe if the pay were good enough........

[Demeter]

51. That's profoundly depressing

Are you TRYING to get me into a Monday Mood?

[AnneD]

54. I don't mean to depress anyone....

but I think some of the ideas in the middle ages, especially those 'church' teachings, were very interesting.

It is interesting how our concepts have evolved. An idea evolves just as much as an organism does. I hope it does not take as long with ideas-there are some ideas that are great....and some that we should be glad they went the way of the dodo.

[Demeter]

52. Former Icelandic PM guilty of negligence

Geir Haarde, the former prime minister of Iceland, has been found guilty of one count of negligence in the run-up to the country’s 2008 banking crash but will face no punishment. A special court of impeachment designed to deal with criminal charges against Icelandic government ministers found Mr Haarde guilty of failing to hold dedicated cabinet meetings ahead of the crisis.

But the court cleared him of three more significant charges that could have carried a sentence of up to two years in jail.

Mr Haarde was the first politician in the world to face a criminal trial in connection with
the global financial crisis. HIS PLACE IN HISTORY IS THEREBY SECURED.

He was the prime minister during the pre-crisis boom years when the country’s banking sector ballooned to 10 times the size of gross domestic product, measured by assets.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/PFMJF2/T10SH/SP0ZYZ/EXG5MZ/JY/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=23

[Roland99]

55. Elliott Wave suggests limited upside here

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elliott-wave-suggests-limited-upside-here-2012-04-23?link=MW_home_latest_news

Last weekend, I left you with several possibilities , most of which were near-term bearish, while one was near-term bullish. At this point in time, the bullish possibility has been invalidated, which now leaves us only with bearish possibilities.

Goldilocks Count — Larger Wave (4)

When I presented this possibility last week, I noted:

When the bullish and bearish counts are somewhat problematic, it leads me to the conclusion that we are in a larger 4th wave, which leaves everyone scratching their heads about the pattern.

What we know about 4th waves is that they are variable in nature, and do not display a specific pattern from an internal-structure standpoint. Based upon all the foregoing analysis above, I think that this explains the wave action we have been seeing of late.

[Roland99]

56. S&P trying hard to hold to 1,365

[Demeter]

57. And the declines continue in Asia

This must be the beginning of the end of all of this pretending.