STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 9 May 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 9 May 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 8 May 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 8 May 2012
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Dow Jones 12,932.09 -76.44 (-0.59%)
S&P 500 1,363.72 -5.86 (-0.43%)
Nasdaq 2,946.27 -11.49 (-0.39%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.84% -0.02 (-1.08%)
30 Year 3.03% -0.01 (-0.33%) [font color=black]


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

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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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]

[rfranklin]

1. Numero Uno!

Mitt Romney sucks!

[TalkingDog]

2. Deux / (DU reply title does not like Greek)

Agreed. He sucks twice as bad.

[Demeter]

3. Now THAT'S A Cartoon worthy of this thread!

The election went smoothly, and in our precinct, at least, the millage passed.

So tomorrow I can do some posting, right now I'm bushed.

[Tansy_Gold]

5. :sigh: If only we could make them

les plus misérables with a placard reading "U.S. VOTE". . . . . . bu there it won't be any different.

So the 'toon is kind of wishful thinking.

[Roland99]

37. I'm sure Victor Hugo would have approved of that toon

[Tansy_Gold]

49. Certainement!

(Provide your own caption!)

[Po_d Mainiac]

71. That face doesn't ring any bells

[Tansy_Gold]

75. Merde alors!

You are bad, very bad, very very bad indeed.

[Demeter]

4. NIKKEI Isn't Happy, Again

Are they that tied into the euro? Or is it something else bothering them?

[Warpy]

6. It's change. Change makes plutocrats nervous

because they never know which change is going to cause the tumbrils to roll again.

[Fuddnik]

7. Everyone looks bright-tailed and bushy-eyed this morning.

Asia tanked again last night. Europe is tanking right now. US futures suck.

Other than that, have a nice morning.

[kickysnana]

66. I wasn't up yet when you posted this.

My MD changed my thyroid medicine and I slept through the alarm, spilled the coffee, droped the toast, tripped over my own feet and had to wait two hours before my vision cleared enough to read SMW. I will try to do better tomorrow and not mess up the great look of SMW like this.

[Demeter]

8. The real job creators By Joan Walsh

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/04/the_real_job_creators/

Consumers, not the wealthy, are the key to an economic rebound, and GOP austerity is shackling them...Republicans have made it official: “The wealthy” must be called “the job creators” in any debate about tax policy. Democrats are playing their own word games: Centrists insist the 2012 campaign shouldn’t focus on “income inequality,” or whether the worst concentration of riches since the Great Depression might have to do with what Paul Krugman has taken to calling the Lesser Depression. “Income inequality” is a downer, the centrists say; better to talk about “growth” and “prosperity.”

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that growth and prosperity are threatened by the declining share of income going to the non-wealthy over the last 35 years.

Friday’s disappointing jobs report confirms that “the job creators” should be fired, since they only created 115,000 new jobs in April, which isn’t even enough to employ new entrants to the workforce. And while the unemployment rate ticked down from 8.2 to 8.1 percent, that’s only because more unemployed people gave up and left the labor market entirely. Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom (Mr. Etch-A-Sketch) blames President Obama, and he even pretends his candidate cares that “people are so discouraged they are dropping out of the workforce all together.”

Let’s get one thing straight: Even with this anemic recovery, the economy under Obama has replaced all of the jobs lost under the Bush administration. NBC’s Chuck Todd deserves kudos for noting to Fehrnstrom Friday that British austerity policies have sent that nation into a double-dip recession – and that Mitt Romney supports the same policies. Fehrnstrom performed the standard Romney pivot – whatever you’re asked, insist on talking about the U.S. economy only – brushing off Todd’s question about how Romney would improve the economy more than Obama has, with his “cut, cap and balance” austerity policies that have failed elsewhere...MORE

[westerebus]

34. I am confused.

Stop laughing. That was supposed to be an understatement.

How did the administration replace all the jobs lost from the previous administration while the total number of those in the work force declined month over month for three years?

It must be the new-new math. If the size of the box remains the same, while the contents of the box is smaller, you then are replacing the total loss when there were more boxes with less content then the same size boxes with a larger content?

I'm still confused. Stop laughing!

Got to go to work. Parting thought. If the buck gets much stronger will the Bernank twist a QE out his shorts?

[Demeter]

36. You and me both

I'm just the messenger...it's an "interesting" argument, isn't it? With leadership like that, we are doomed, even if we win. Maybe especially if we win....

[westerebus]

79. Win.

I'm thinking that's in the bag. If they can get the Doctor to run third party, it's a 100% "fool" proof gambit to checkmate.

[Roland99]

43. Think of it this way...

The contents of the box could be two other things.

1) Schroedinger's cat

2) Something we don't know but Brad Pitt pleaded of Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman to tell him. (spoiler alert)

[tclambert]

74. I love that scene.

"What's in the box?"

"Jesus Christ. Somebody call somebody."

[westerebus]

80. Most excellent flick.

Keyser Soze is the night cap.

[Fuddnik]

45. It's like a can of tuna.

You replace the 6.5 oz cans with 5 oz can, for the same price, and presto! No inflation!

Let's just shut up and eat our peas.

[westerebus]

81. Can of tuna, large box mac and cheese, can of peas, add extra white american and bread crumbs on top

Bake at 400 till done, 20-25 minutes or so, all bubbly and gooey.

It was cheap, still is.

[Demeter]

9. New York Activists Ask Attorney General: "How Can We Help?"

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8947-ny-activists-ask-ag-how-can-we-help

“How can we help? How can we help? How can we help?”

It’s not your average protest slogan, but it’s what the group chanted today as it marched from Zuccotti Park to 120 Broadway, which houses the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The AG chairs President Obama’s task force to investigate the routine fraud and abuse that characterized Wall Street during the Bush-era inflation of the housing bubble and precipitated the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession. According to a Schneiderman-penned Daily News Op-Ed, though, the task force has only been furnished with “[m]ore than 50 attorneys,” whereas the Enron investigation alone required over 100, and the Savings and Loan crisis took over 1,000. Wall Street occupiers today, under the banner The May Fourth Committee for Equal Justice Under the Law, offered to fill that void.

“We can investigate,” said Leo Eisenstein via the people’s mic. “We’re tired of waiting for them, so we’re stepping up.”

Alexis Goldstein, a former net developer and business analyst at three large Wall Street firms, echoed that sentiment. “In January,” she told the crown. “President Obama appointed a financial fraud task force co-chaired by five people to investigate mortgage fraud. He touted it proudly in the State of the Union. But since the task force was created, we’ve seen zero prosecutions brought against the banks who committed securities fraud, conducted robo-signing, and illegally foreclosed on homes. We’ve seen no one thrown in jail following the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

Austin Guest brought a calculator, a pocket protector and news clippings. “I’m good at investigating,” he told me. “Frankly, it doesn’t seem very difficult. People are on record committing fraud. I’m very capable of using Google and a printer.”

“2-4-6-8, we want to investigate!” they chanted, some holding signs which quoted AG Schneiderman’s own words. “I need everyone out there to help us make this investigation as strong and thorough as it needs to be,” the AG told The American Prospect. They adapted that quotation into a chant. “Strong and thorough! Strong and thorough! Strong and thorough investigation!” This was only partly a demand; it was also an offer. In a variation of a popular chant, the marchers tendered their support: “1 – we are the people, 2 – we are united, 3 – this occupation wants to help you.”

In a surreal turn of events, I counted 36 police officer, 8 of them on motorcycles, all there to contain and supervise roughly 50 civilians offering their help to law enforcement. “Why the resistance?” the civilians implored. “We’re offering assistance!”

WOW. I BET THERE'S A CALL FOR DIAPERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

10. After Austerity By Joseph E. Stiglitz

http://www.nationofchange.org/after-austerity-1336401779



This year’s annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund made clear that Europe and the international community remain rudderless when it comes to economic policy. Financial leaders, from finance ministers to leaders of private financial institutions, reiterated the current mantra: the crisis countries have to get their houses in order, reduce their deficits, bring down their national debts, undertake structural reforms, and promote growth. Confidence, it was repeatedly said, needs to be restored.

It is a little precious to hear such pontifications from those who, at the helm of central banks, finance ministries, and private banks, steered the global financial system to the brink of ruin – and created the ongoing mess. Worse, seldom is it explained how to square the circle. How can confidence be restored as the crisis economies plunge into recession? How can growth be revived when austerity will almost surely mean a further decrease in aggregate demand, sending output and employment even lower?

This we should know by now: markets on their own are not stable. Not only do they repeatedly generate destabilizing asset bubbles, but, when demand weakens, forces that exacerbate the downturn come into play. Unemployment, and fear that it will spread, drives down wages, incomes, and consumption – and thus total demand. Decreased rates of household formation – young Americans, for example, are increasingly moving back in with their parents – depress housing prices, leading to still more foreclosures. States with balanced-budget frameworks are forced to cut spending as tax revenues fall – an automatic destabilizer that Europe seems mindlessly bent on adopting.

There are alternative strategies. Some countries, like Germany, have room for fiscal maneuver. Using it for investment would enhance long-term growth, with positive spillovers to the rest of Europe. A long-recognized principle is that balanced expansion of taxes and spending stimulates the economy; if the program is well designed (taxes at the top, combined with spending on education), the increase in GDP and employment can be significant....MORE

[Tansy_Gold]

76. Don't read that subject line too quickly

I did, and I read "After Austerlitz. . . "

TG has been reading too much European history lately. . . . .

[Demeter]

11. Wealthy of the World, Unite — and Party! By Sam Pizzigati

http://www.nationofchange.org/wealthy-world-unite-and-party-1336368708

Back in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, a short story took the American reading public by storm. Edward Everett Hale’s “The Man Without a Country” told the tale of a poor treasonous soul sentenced to spend the rest of his life endlessly sailing the seven seas, in perpetual exile, as a prisoner aboard Navy warships. How sad, sighed 19th-century Americans....How quaint, muse many of our 21st-century super rich. These awesomely affluent simply do not see statelessness as a penalty. They see statelessness as a goal. And the ranks of our contemporary “men without a country” are increasing. The number of Americans who’ve formally renounced their U.S. citizenship has jumped by over seven-fold, from 235 in 2008 to 1,780 last year. The spark for this surge in statelessness? Since 2008, U.S. tax officials have been endeavoring to clamp down more firmly on overseas tax evasion. Swiss private banks, for instance, have come under new pressure to divulge data on the millions wealthy Americans have stuffed in secret accounts. That pressure has some of those wealthy irritated enough to renounce their ties to Uncle Sam. The cost to renounce: a $450 paperwork fee and an “exit tax” on unrealized capital gains for renouncers who hold assets worth over $2 million — or have paid over $151,000 to the IRS in any recent year.

But the affluent who've gone to the trouble of formally renouncing their citizenship make up just a tiny share of what the Financial Times has labeled the “stateless super rich.” These uber wealthy have no interest in the notoriety of renunciation. They just live their lives as if they had no nation to call their own. The most celebrated of these casually stateless? That would have to be Nicolas Berggruen, a 52-year-old worth over $2.3 billion who has spent the last decade hopping the world from one five-star hotel to another. The German-born Berggruen grew up in Paris and went to college in New York. He made a fortune in hedge funds and now hobnobs with world political leaders and Hollywood celebrities. Reporters have dubbed him the “homeless billionaire.”

Few stateless super rich follow Berggruen from hotel to hotel. Most all of the vagabonding wealthy have personal residences. Lots of them. Typically, the Financial Times reported last month, a stateless super-rich household will have one or two properties in their “country of principal residence,” another in London, New York, or some other “global city,” a “holiday home” in a soothingly warm climate, and maybe still another in the Alps. They'll shift their household, by season, from one to the other. Among the super rich, this perpetual-motion existence has become almost de rigueur, notes Jeremy Davidson, a London property consultant who handles properties that cost at least £10 million, the equivalent of over $16 million.

“The more money you have,” explains Davidson, “the more rootless you become because everything is possible.”

...Just how many potential stateless super rich are currently roaming the world? Late last year, the Singapore-based Wealth-X consulting firm put the overall number of global ultra wealthy worth at least $500 million at about 4,650. These super rich together hold an estimated $6.25 trillion in assets....The stateless protagonist in the classic short story Edward Everett Hale penned nearly 150 years ago ends up desperately yearning to rejoin the society he so treasonously spurned. Today's stateless super rich don't figure to display any similar yearning. They’re having too grand a time. At our expense.

THERE'S MORE AT LINK

[xchrom]

12. morning from the Great Bigoted State of North Carolina...

*** can't escape the feeling that people i know vote FOR hate.

[Tansy_Gold]

46. and from the gr8 st8 of AZ

ugh.

just

ugh.

[DemReadingDU]

63. Buckeyes checking in

The faster I try to catch up, the further behind I get

[Demeter]

77. The Trick, I've Decided, Is to Get The Rest of the World to Catch Up to YOU

(start running!)

[xchrom]

13. Spain bank problems loom over markets

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18006408

Spanish shares have fallen and the interest rate on the country's benchmark 10-year bond has risen amid fresh worries over the banking sector.

The Ibex market fell by 3% and bond yields rose above 6%, a level seen as unsustainable.

On Friday, Madrid will unveil a plan to clean up banks exposed to the property and construction sector crashes.

Much focus will be on Bankia, which holds 32bn euros in distressed property assets and whose boss has resigned.

[xchrom]

14. Japan to take control of Tepco in return for bailout

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18002028

The Japanese government will take a controlling stake in Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) in return for a one trillion yen ($12.5bn; £7.8bn) taxpayer bailout.

Trade Minister Yukio Edano approved the business plan on Wednesday.

Tepco faces huge clean-up and compensation costs from a disaster at one of its power plants after the earthquake and tsunami last year.

The nationalisation is to avoid a collapse of the company.

[Demeter]

22. What a stunningly bad deal

No wonder the NIKKEI is plunging.

[Demeter]

15. Spotlight on Greek left after poll surge

Charismatic young leader’s hardline positions appeal to a broad swath of disaffected voters

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/ZGS489/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

GREECE HAS TO HAVE ANOTHER ELECTION...AND THIS PARTY MAY FINALLY PREVAIL, NOW THAT THE LEADER'S MADE A BIG SPLASH WITH HIS PROPOSALS...

[Demeter]

33. Greece braces for a repeat of elections

Failure of two main pro-bailout parties to win a majority compounds a deteriorating economic situation as the government prepares to leave office

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/VLYLQO/52KB7/HYUPHT/DW89GL/6C/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

[xchrom]

16. Portugal scraps four public holidays in austerity drive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17998937

Portugal has taken austerity measures to a new level with the decision to scrap four of its 14 public holidays.

Two religious festivals and two other public holidays will be suspended for five years from 2013.

The decision over which Catholic festivals to cut was negotiated with the Vatican.

Portugal has already cut public sector wages and raised taxes to reduce its budget deficit and deal with its economic crisis.

[Demeter]

21. Now that's just cruel

and anti-worker.

[xchrom]

25. right? like that will 'fix' anything. nt

[Demeter]

17. Hollande at odds with key partners on structural reform

The French president’s programme falls well short of embracing the sort of structural reforms called for by Mr Draghi and Ms Merkel

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/R3XCP9/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

SO, HIT THEM WITH THE CLUE STICK...THOSE "STRUCTURAL REFORMS" AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

[Demeter]

32. Merkel urges Athens to stick with reform

Angela Merkel warns Athens to stick to reforms and budget targets agreed under its bailout as the inconclusive election plunges Greece into fresh crisis

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/VLYLQO/52KB7/HYUPHT/7A1KUU/6C/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

HERE, HOLLANDE, USE MINE

[Demeter]

18. Sinn Féin joins Ireland’s austerity backlash

Adams is gaining political ground for his party at the head of the No campaign


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/4C3YVA/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

SPRING HITS THE WESTERN WORLD, AND AFTER SPRING COMES....

[Demeter]

19. Key Republican senator loses seat

Dick Lugar lost the Republican nomination for the seat he has occupied for 35 years, following a fierce challenge by the Tea Party-backed state treasurer

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/ZGS467/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

WHAT ARE THE DEMOCRATIC "SILVER-BACKS" GONNA DO? THEIR TURN IS COMING, TOO.

[Demeter]

20. Doubts spread to Spain’s big banks

Both Santander and BBVA have seen their share prices move in lock-step with those of smaller, more troubled rivals

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/SPKV1P/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

[Demeter]

23. Hackers target US natural gas pipelines

Industry experts suggested the attack could be an attempt to to disrupt supplies or an attempt to access information for commodities trading

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/FK6EY3/XBAN6/30KK18/62UEAR/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

[Demeter]

24. Yahoo to check credentials of own chief

The discovery that the chief executive of Yahoo claimed a degree he did not have in his résumé has put the group under mounting pressure to act

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/2OR248/9MEOW/L9HHWQ/PF4OUN/AZ/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

[Demeter]

26. Green Mountain ousts chairman over sale

The US coffee group acted after a margin call forced the sale of 5m of Robert Stiller’s shares in the company in violation of internal trading policies

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/2OR248/9MEOW/L9HHWQ/AMHJW9/AZ/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

[Demeter]

27. Freddie Mac to appoint Layton as chief

Donald Layton was a banker for more than 20 years at JPMorgan Chase and then chief executive of E-Trade Financial

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/2OR248/9MEOW/L9HHWQ/2OFKVG/AZ/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

JUST KEEPING IT ALL WITHIN THE "FAMILY"

[Demeter]

28. Repsol warns rivals over investing in YPF

Spanish group says it would take action or legal proceedings to protect its remaining investment in nationalised Argentine oil company

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/B5H4XC/XBAN6/DWFX0Y/7A1KHF/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

THEY STARVED THE COMPANY FOR INVESTMENT WHEN THEY HAD IT, WHICH IS WHY THEY DON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE...

[Demeter]

29. M Stanley reassesses downgrade impact

The bank has dramatically increased its estimate of the amount of additional collateral it would have to post to its derivatives trading partners if rating agencies lower its credit ratings

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/B5H4XC/XBAN6/DWFX0Y/IIVNZC/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

YOU DO THAT, MORGAN STANLEY

[Demeter]

30. Gloomy outlook for new wave of rainmakers

Clampdowns on pay and tougher disclosure rules diminish the appeal of investment banking and foster disillusionment as the flow of M&A deals slows to a trickle

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/B5H4XC/XBAN6/DWFX0Y/5VPWT7/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

[Po_d Mainiac]

31. Major fail of a sales pitch

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A Russian-made plane carrying 46 people lost contact with air controllers while flying over mountains during a demonstration flight Wednesday in western Indonesia, officials said.

Air controllers lost contact after the crew asked permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet (3,000 meters to 1,800 meters) near the Salak mountains in West Java province, said Rear Marshal Daryatmo, chief of the national search and rescue agency.

Several diplomats from the Russian Embassy, potential buyers from several Indonesian airline companies and journalists were among the 38 passengers on board, said Rear Marshal Daryatmo, another search and rescue official.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/indonesia-airplane-missing_n_1502347.html

[Demeter]

38. Darwin strikes again.

Sigh.

[Po_d Mainiac]

52. Butt w8, there's more

http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/2012/05/unfortunate-text-placement.html

[Fuddnik]

54. A "How to avoid the draft"guide by Ted Nugent?

[Roland99]

35. Market fire sale starting today maybe? Futures in the crapper

[font color="red"]S&P 500 1,345.50 -13.00 -0.96%
DOW 12,763 -104.00 -0.81%
NASDAQ 2,598 -24.50 -0.93% [/font]

[Demeter]

39. Look at the commodities

They are already in fire sale status...

and gas DID come down Monday...20 cents, in most places.

[Demeter]

40. I gotta go--be back soon!

[xchrom]

42. see ya soon

[xchrom]

41. Greek Future Looking Ever Dimmer

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/05/greek-future-looking-ever-dimmer

This morning we were talking about whether Greece has any leverage to get a better bailout deal out of Germany and its other creditors. The New York Times reports tonight that the answer is "probably not":

“Germans are now predominantly of the opinion that they would be better off if Greece left the euro zone,” said Carsten Hefeker, a professor of economics and an expert on the euro at the University of Siegen....With the so-called troika of lenders — the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — demanding budget savings of $15 billion by the end of June, the issue seems likely to come to a head soon.

Perhaps the one card Greece has to play is the danger its exit could pose to other, much larger members like Spain and Italy, with far greater consequences....In what some consider the most likely possibility, the creditors would agree to renegotiate the terms of the bailout and the new Greek government would go along.

But there is also the possibility that the troika will finally refuse to hand over any money whatsoever, something the I.M.F. did a decade ago in Argentina, when Buenos Aires failed to meet its bailout terms. If this happens, many experts say, Europe will be ready.

“Preparations are quietly being made for the contingency if Greece decides that it’s better off with its own currency,” said Heribert Dieter, an expert on international financial markets at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Most Greek debt is now held by the troika, easing the threat to the banks, and rescue mechanisms are in place to ease speculative pressure on other members of the euro zone. “Those measures could be used temporarily to take speculative pressure away from Italy and Spain,” Mr. Dieter said. “These are the two candidates that may need to be sheltered for weeks, maybe months, but not years.”

[Roland99]

44. Straight down at the start (despite darling Disney)

US
[font color="red"]Dow 12,813 -119 -0.92%
Nasdaq 2,915 -31 -1.05%
S&P 500 1,349 -14 -1.06%
GlobalDow 1,847 -25 -1.32%
Gold 1,588 -16 -1.00%
Oil 96.42 -0.59 -0.61% [/font]

Europe
[font color="red"]
FTSE 100 5,487 -67 -1.21%
CAC 40 3,089 -36 -1.16%
DAX 6,411 -34 -0.53%
FTSE MIB 13,661 -276 -1.98%
IBEX 35 IDX 6,747 -260 -3.70%[/font]

[Fuddnik]

47. Like a rock.

[TalkingDog]

48. For some reason, this seems appropriate.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Roland99]

50. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

nice one!

[Roland99]

55. Still dropping. EURUSD to crack $1.29 today?

[xchrom]

51. How income inequality contributed to the Great Recession

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/09/income-inequality-great-recession

The idea that the Great Recession of 2008 may have been caused not just by careless banking but also social inequality is currently all the rage among macroeconomists.

Much of the impetus for the current debate stems from the widely discussed 2010 book Fault Lines, written by Raghuram Rajan, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. Rajan argues that many lower- and middle-class consumers in the United States have reacted to the stagnation of their real incomes since the early 1980s by reducing saving and increasing debt. This has temporarily kept private consumption and thus aggregate demand and employment high, but also contributed to the creation of the credit bubble which eventually burst.

In Rajan's view, a large portion of the blame for this falls on misguided government policies, which promoted the expansion of credit to households. But the "Rajan hypothesis" also contradicts the dominant textbook theories of consumption, which see no link between persistent income inequality and aggregate private consumption, and hence no need for government action stimulating consumption demand and jobs in response to higher inequality.

These theories, known as the permanent income or life-cycle hypotheses, are based on the assumption that consumers form rational expectations about their long-term income. Short-term fluctuations of income due to, say, unexpected job loss, or lower than average stock market returns, have only a limited impact on current consumption since households expect them to be only temporary. According to this view, households can insure against windfall losses through efficient credit markets and "smooth" their consumption over the longer term.

[Roland99]

53. Today's Economic Reports (Wholesale Sales/Inventories) >>>>

* U.S. wholesale sales climb 0.5% in March
* U.S. wholesale inventories rise 0.3% in March

[Eugene]

56. Fannie Mae doesn't need new bailout funds

Source: CNNMoney

Fannie Mae doesn't need new bailout funds

By Chris Isidore @CNNMoney May 9, 2012: 10:23 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Mortgage backer Fannie Mae reported the best quarterly results since the housing bubble burst five years ago, saying it did not need additional billions in tax funds for the quarter and that it believes losses on past mortgages peaked at the end of last year.

The company also reported just enough profit in the three months ended March 31 to cover its latest payment to the Treasury Department, and predicted better profits ahead.

Fannie attributed the better results to a slowing in the decline in home prices, a drop in its inventory of foreclosed homes and better sale prices for the foreclosed homes it sold.

"We expect our financial results for 2012 to be significantly better than 2011," said Susan McFarland, Fannie's chief financial officer, in the earnings statement released Wednesday.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/09/news/companies/fannie-mae-earnings/

[Demeter]

57. Iran accepts renminbi for crude oil

Move comes partly as a consequence of US sanctions and Tehran is spending the currency on goods and services imported from China

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/VLYLQO/52KB7/HYUPHT/U1YOD5/6C/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

THE STAMP, PLEASE

[Demeter]

58. Syria’s silent majority prefer life in denial

Bombarded by a mass of conflicting information, some people suspect they are not being told the full story but feel it is safest to retreat from reality

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/VLYLQO/52KB7/HYUPHT/C4GQBN/6C/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8

THE REALPOLITICK THEORY IS THAT WASHINGTON SOUGHT TO DESTABILIZE SYRIA TO FURTHER ISOLATE IRAN...AND IT ISN'T WORKING, AS USUAL. 26 INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, AND NO INTELLIGENCE...

[Demeter]

59. GOP blocks Senate debate on Dem student loan bill

THE GOP IS ON A SUICIDE MISSION FROM GOD....

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-naw-student-loans-050812,0,4152825.story?track=rss

Senate Republicans derailed a Democratic bill on Tuesday that would keep interest rates on federal college loans from doubling July 1 in an election-year battle aimed at the hearts - and votes - of millions of students and their parents.

Republicans said they favor preventing the interest rate increase but blocked the Senate from debating the $6 billion measure because they oppose how Democrats would pay for it: Boosting Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders of some privately owned corporations.

GOP senators want a vote on their own version heading off the interest rate increases and paid for by eliminating a preventive health fund created by President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. That financing idea has no chance of passing the Democratic-run Senate and has drawn a veto threat from the White House.

Tuesday's vote was 52-45 in favor of starting debate on the Democratic legislation - eight votes shy of the 60 needed. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was the only one to defect his party's position, a procedural move that will allow him to hold the vote again should the two sides work out a deal later....


GOOD OLE HARRY "WEAK" REED.

[Demeter]

60. Gold futures down 1%, falling below $1,600

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-silver-continue-falling-on-dollar-strength-2012-05-09?siteid=YAHOOB

Gold futures extended losses on Wednesday, as the dollar kept up a four-year record string of gains amid concerns about Greece and Spain as well as the rest of the euro zone.

Gold for June delivery GCM2 -1.03% fell $20.40, or 1.2%, to $1,583.80 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold fell nearly $35 to $1,604.50 an ounce on Tuesday — the lowest close for a most-active contract since the start of the year — as global stock markets retreated under pressure amid political deadlock in Greece after Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Other metals also fell Wednesday, with silver and palladium showing the sharpest percentage pullbacks...

IT'S ONLY PAPER GOLD, I THINK...

[Demeter]

61. Nicholas Stern - We need a Queen's speech for growth

Neither the pomp and ceremony of the Queen’s Speech nor its accompanying bills can hide the fact the UK requires urgent action to restart economic growth. So too does Europe as a whole. A European recovery would help the UK greatly. But Europe will take time to agree a strategy: the UK can and must get on with it.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/7AU4JQ/NRHD3/OR88DH/QNW2UE/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=9

HEAR HEAR!

[Roland99]

62. Something goaded the markets...cutting losses in half in the last 30 min.

[Demeter]

65. Uncle Ben Unleashed the Fairies

I sure hope he is working with their union.

[Demeter]

64. DILBERT ON HE MEANING OF "ASSUME"

[xchrom]

67. ...

[xchrom]

68. Dragon Down

http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/663-chang-gordon/665-corruption-in-china

At the moment, China’s economy is faltering; the Communist Party is splintering; the authority of the central government is eroding; the military is breaking free of civilian control; and the Chinese people, from one end of their country to the other, are taking to the streets, often in violent protest.

The wheels are coming off China. So many things are happening all at once, it’s hard to know where to begin. But to understand where the country is going, it’s necessary to look at two ongoing developments. First, the motor of China’s rise is sputtering. After 35 years of virtually uninterrupted growth, the economy has reached an inflection point and has now started a long downward slide.

Data, and especially the crucial electricity production numbers, contradicts official claims and shows that growth has in fact fallen to about 6%. The downward shift is not temporary because the three principal conditions that created growth in the last three decades either no longer exist or are disappearing fast. The country has abandoned reform, external conditions are not now benign, and the country’s “demographic dividend” is turning into a demographic bust.

It is in this adverse context—not the favorable one of the last three decades—that Chinese leaders will have to act. In other words, they will no longer be propelled by trends; going forward, they will have to succeed in spite of them.

[hamerfan]

69. I got nothin'.... except

a pretty picture. The Milky Way over Devil's Tower in Wyoming, USA:

[Roland99]

72. nice...wonder how it would look taken with one of these?

www.lytro.com

just read about that camera today. I want one!

[Eugene]

70. Euro zone agrees to make 5.2 billion euro payment to Greece

Source: Reuters

Euro zone agrees to make 5.2 billion euro payment to Greece

BRUSSELS | Wed May 9, 2012 1:52pm EDT

(Reuters) - Euro zone governments kept Greece afloat on Wednesday after agreeing to authorize a payment of 5.2 billion euros ($6.72 billion) from the region's bailout fund, despite opposition from some member states following the Greek election results.

After a conference call, the board of the European Financial Stability Facility, the 700 billion euro bailout fund administered by the 17 countries that use the euro, agreed to make the scheduled payment, which will allow Greece to meet near-term bond redemptions and other obligations.

European bond and currency markets were on edge in late trading on Wednesday out of concern the board could decide to withhold the payment because of frustration over the anti-EU/IMF bailout sentiment prevailing among Greek political parties.

"They will get the money," one official who was on the conference call told Reuters after it ended.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/09/us-greece-tranche-efsf-idUSBRE84812W20120509

[Eugene]

82. Greek bailout: Eurozone holds back 1bn-euro payment

Source: BBC

9 May 2012 Last updated at 21:05 GMT

Greek bailout: Eurozone holds back 1bn-euro payment

The eurozone's rescue fund has decided to hold back 1bn euros ($1.3bn; £800m) of its latest instalment of its bailout to Greece.

This comes after a majority of Greeks voted against the political parties that supported the country's bailouts and the austerity they have imposed.

The rescue fund said that it would disburse 4.2bn euros of the 5.2bn euros due to Greece.

It said that Greece did not need the remaining funds this month.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18014075

[Demeter]

83. As a Bribe, It's an Insult...Too Little, and Too Late

It's a hard way to learn, but some banksters will not learn any other way...

[bread_and_roses]

73. Was listening to William Black on Alternative Radio today

on Banks, Fraud, and Looting - goddess - good thing I was in and out of car and couldn't hear all of it - as it was I was ready to drive off a bridge. I know we all know all this stuff - but when you hear the story as a story - coherent, in overview - it's still just so stunning, so devastating.

I think you can listen on the website

http://www.alternativeradio.org/collections/latest-programs

not sure - maybe have to be a member

BTW, anyone take a look at the thread on recommendations for readings in economics elsewhere in this section - group - whatever it's called?

[girl gone mad]

78. Thanks for the link.

Is this a new interview?