STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 26 September 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 26 September 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 25 September 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 25 September 2012
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Dow Jones 13,457.55 -101.37 (-0.75%)
S&P 500 1,441.59 -15.30 (-1.05%)
Nasdaq 3,117.73 -43.05 (-1.36%)



[font color=green]10 Year 1.67% -0.04 (-2.34%)
30 Year 2.85% -0.04 (-1.38%) [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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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
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
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent




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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]

[otherone]

1. thanks for the data..

[Tansy_Gold]

2. You're very welcome!

Welcome to DU and Welcome to SMW!

We do this just about every day, with special treats on the week-ends!

[otherone]

3. I used to lurk on du2 these threads were my favorites..

thanks for keep on keepin on..

[Demeter]

4. How could we not?

I miss so much of the old DU...so many bright voices fell silent, others resort to lurking but dare not express an opinion now. But this little corner, well, Hugin fought for it, and we keep it occupied....with a candle lit for homecoming.

[bread_and_roses]

18. Cruising around this place anymore ...

not SMW/WEE but anywhere else - depresses me more than I can say. If you read the climate news it's obvious that nothing else much matters, and here is all rah-rah-sis-boom-bah.

When I think of the future my grandchildren are going to face - and I'm not talking about some far-future, they are ages 10 and 1 - I descend into utter despair.

[Demeter]

5. Pushing your luck, Tansy...or somebody's buttons?

At the board meeting tonight, I expressed the desire to waive a $500 fine if the offender would quit the board....sometimes, it doesn't pay to be PC...

[Tansy_Gold]

11. It was kind of a companion piece to the earlier discussion

prompted by Xchrom's Patriarch of Bling.

A gentle dig, nothing more.

[Demeter]

6. Germany Dismisses Talk of Boosting Bailout Fund

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444358804578015960029877742.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Europe is discussing ways to leverage the assets of its €500 billion ($649.05 billion) bailout fund through the involvement of private-sector investors, but reports that this could boost the firepower of the European Stability Mechanism to more than €2 trillion are "completely illusory," a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said on Monday.

The discussions under way among members of the euro zone, the 17 European Union member states that use the euro currency, are largely about the routine transfer of crisis-fighting tools contained in the temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, which will eventually be replaced by the ESM. The ESM is expected to begin operating next month, and will initially run alongside the EFSF, which will likely expire next year.

Commenting on a report in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said the ESM would "receive and use the same tools as its predecessor, the EFSF, nothing more and nothing less." He denied that the discussion included any instruments that hadn't already been set out in the ESM's rules, or practices that weren't already being carried out by the EFSF. He added that boosting the ESM to €2 trillion was unrealistic.

"It is not possible to discuss numbers at this point,'' said spokesman Martin Kotthaus during a routine government news conference, when asked about the Spiegel report. "It is purely abstract."

[Demeter]

8. Regulator warns banking union could split Europe

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/us-eu-eba-idUSBRE88I14W20120919

Plans to create a European banking union risks a supervisory split between countries in the euro zone and those outside, Europe's top bank regulator said on Wednesday, warning of his concerns about the latest plan to tackle the financial crisis. Last week, the European Commission unveiled plans for the European Central Bank to supervise all euro zone banks as an initial step towards a banking union, a proposal that has divided opinion within the euro zone and worried neighboring states who fear their banks will be indirectly affected. Speaking to lawmakers in the European Parliament, Andrea Enria, the chairman of the European Banking Authority, warned that the union, forming a united front among euro zone countries to protect their lenders, risked seeing one set of rules applied to banks under the ECB's watch and another to those outside.

"We risk a polarization ... between the euro area, with single rules and supervisory practices, and the rest of the (European) Union, which would operate with a still wide degree of national discretion in ... applying the single rulebook."

In his first public remarks since the announcement of the proposal, the Italian economist said that although banking union was something that "needs to be done now", the challenge would be "finding the right glue to keep the single market together". His remarks reflect a concern shared by many countries that rules such as those on capital, that dictate how much banks must hold in reserve for losses, could be applied differently.

There are three major steps in a banking union: the ECB being given responsibility for monitoring all euro zone banks and others that sign up; a fund to close down and settle the debts of failed banks; and a fully fledged scheme to protect savers' deposits....

[Demeter]

9. Merkel, Hollande EU Unity Pledge Fails to Stretch to Bank Union

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-22/hollande-warns-against-selfishness-populism-in-debt-crisis.html

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande’s appeal for German-French unity to tackle Europe’s ills lasted all of three hours as they disagreed over closer integration of the region’s banking system.

The two leaders, marking Franco-German reconciliation after World War II, delivered back-to-back speeches in which they hailed their mutual ties, tried out each other’s language and pledged to work together for a more unified Europe to defeat the financial crisis. The bonhomie broke down at a subsequent press conference when they failed to mask their differences on a planned “banking union” meant to achieve that end.

“The earlier, the better,” Hollande told reporters in the German town of Asperg yesterday, saying that banking union is “an important step in our targets” with a goal of implementation by year’s end. Merkel, standing alongside, declined to set a target date, saying there’s no point doing something fast if it then doesn’t work.

The disagreement was the only point of public discord during an occasion meant to stress the Franco-German alliance that Hollande said was “the heart of Europe” leading the fight against the debt crisis in the 17-nation euro area. For all the entente, the leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies remain at odds on the pace of banking union and on whether Spain should seek a sovereign bailout, plus the conditions that would apply...

[Demeter]

10. EU lawmakers set to curb derivatives competition

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/09/21/uk-eu-derivatives-trade-idUKBRE88K0MU20120921

European Union plans to increase competition in processing derivatives are set to be watered down next week according to documents obtained by Reuters, putting Britain and France on a collision course.

Regulators will require clearing houses to process vast swathes of the $650 trillion (399 trillion pounds) privately traded derivatives market from January 2013, under global reforms brought in to increase transparency and safety after the 2007-09 financial crisis....

[Demeter]

7. Microsoft, HP skirted taxes via offshore units: U.S. Senate panel

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/20/us-usa-taxes-offshore-idUSBRE88J0VY20120920

Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co pushed back against claims by a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday that they used offshore units and loopholes to shield billions of dollars in profits from U.S. taxes.

Calling tax avoidance rampant in the technology sector, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said tech companies used intellectual property, royalties and license fees in overseas tax havens to skirt taxes. The panel subpoenaed internal documents from the companies and interviewed Microsoft and HP officials to compile its report, which uses the companies as case studies.

"The tax practices and gimmicks range from egregious to dubious validity," Democratic Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the panel, said at a news conference.

Officials at HP and Microsoft strongly denied any wrongdoing, noted tax officials had not objected to the structures and said there were valid reasons for tax planning.

Senator Tom Coburn, the top Republican on the panel, signed onto the new report but blamed Congress. "Tax avoidance is not illegal. Congress has created this situation," Coburn said, criticizing the complex tax code and the 35 percent corporate tax rate, among of the world's highest, though few companies pay that statutory rate. The subcommittee said that from 2009 to 2011, Microsoft shifted $21 billion offshore, almost half its U.S. retail sales revenue, saving up to $4.5 billion in taxes on goods sold in the United States. This was accomplished, the report said, by aggressive transfer pricing, where companies value intra-company movement of assets. Corporate units must use a fair market price to value transfers, but critics say they are manipulated to minimize tax. The report also said the software giant shifts royalty revenue to units in low-tax nations, such as Singapore and Ireland, avoiding billions of dollars of U.S. tax. Levin said one Microsoft Singapore unit was legally headquartered in Bermuda and had no employees. Levin asked Microsoft's tax vice president, William Sample, if the reason was to cut its tax bill. "Yes, that is correct," Sample said. Sample also said several offshore units employ hundreds of workers, which Levin noted was a tiny fraction of its workforce.

IRS CITES CHALLENGE

Internal Revenue Service officials are not allowed to comment on specific taxpayers, but Chief Counsel William Wilkins said enforcing transfer pricing law "has been the IRS's most significant international enforcement challenge." U.S. companies have at least $1.5 trillion in profits sitting offshore. Most say they are keeping them there to avoid U.S. tax. Of the top 10 companies with the biggest offshore cash balances, five are in the technology sector.

"The high-tech industry is probably the No. 1 user of these offshore entities to transfer intellectual property," Levin said.

The panel said Hewlett-Packard funded U.S. operations with a stream of intra-company loans, using an exception in the law for short-term loans, to avoid billions of dollars in taxes. Levin said more than 90 percent of HP's cash was sitting offshore, as opposed to about 65 percent of revenue coming from countries outside the United States.

An HP spokesman said in a statement that the hearing was a politically motivated attack....

[tclambert]

12. Yeah, imagine the Virgin Mary as your mother-in-law . . .

Sure, she's sweet and all, but such a perfectionist! It's like she doesn't know what sin is.

And then Jesus spends all his time hanging out with the guys.

[littlemissmartypants]

48. .

[Roland99]

13. US Futures a little foggy

[font color="red"]DJIA INDEX 13,383.00 -22.00
S&P 500 1,434.20 -3.00
NASDAQ 100 2,794.50 -8.75 [/font]

[xchrom]

14. so i bought a new outfit for attending a General Strike - you like?

[Demeter]

22. Well, that's ONE way to get arrested...

Indian summer seems to have started here.

What general strike?

[xchrom]

23. the ones going on everywhere but here

yeah -- we're warming up as well.

it's going to be interesting to see how winter turns out, eh?

[Tansy_Gold]

27. What's winter?

Oh, is that when you don't need oven mitts to drive?

[xchrom]

28. ...

Show off!

[xchrom]

15. Markets fall as Bank of Spain warns on economy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19726981

European stock markets have fallen amid concerns about Spain and as trade unions hold a general strike in Greece.

Spain's Ibex index was down 3%, while markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt were down more than 1%.

The Bank of Spain said in a report that the Spanish economy had continued to shrink at a "significant rate" in the third quarter of the year.

Spain is currently in a deepening recession, with the unemployment rate at its highest level since the 1970s.

[xchrom]

16. Athens clashes as Greek police fire tear gas

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19724284


Petrol bombs thrown by protesters exploded near riot police on Syntagma Square


Greek police have fired tear gas to disperse anarchists throwing petrol bombs near Athens' parliament on a day-long strike against austerity measures.

Clashes erupted during the first trade union-led action since a conservative-led coalition came to power in June.

The protest is against planned spending cuts of 11.5bn euros ($15bn; £9bn).

The savings are a pre-condition to Greece receiving its next tranche of bailout funds, without which the country could face bankruptcy in weeks.

[Hotler]

29. Good morning everyone. Damn sad the Americans....

will fill a football stadium or a NASCAR track but not take to the streets to protest the fucking they are getting. Americans should take lessons from Spain & Greece. If you want to learn how to throw rocks just watch how the Palestinians do it. They get their whole body behind it and really get some good momentum.

Let me also add this. "Demonstrators said they were angry that the state has poured funds into crumbled banks while it is cutting social benefits."
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/26/14107264-rage-against-austerity-violent-clashes-erupt-in-spain-greece-goes-on-strike?lite&ocid=msnhp

[xchrom]

30. Hi Hotler!

[Hotler]

31. Rock throwing.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/throwing-rocks-occupation-and-western-prejudice-too/10263

[xchrom]

17. broken clock - right 2xs a day -Simon Hughes attacks 'racist' banks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19715277

Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes says he has "seen and heard" banks making racist decisions on lending.

He said banks will "say yes to a well established white individual" but say no to a black business person "with a better financial reputation".

The London MP also said he had seen requests for finance turned down with no reason given to the applicants.

He was speaking at his party's annual conference, backing a motion calling for banks to be more transparent.

[xchrom]

19. AngloGold Ashanti says strike in South Africa has spread

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19729953


The strike at AngloGold is just the latest to hit the mining sector in South Africa


A strike at one South African mine owned by gold producer AngloGold Ashanti has now spread throughout its operations in the country, the company has said.

AngloGold said most of its 35,000 workers in South Africa were now taking part in the wildcat action over pay.

It comes after miners at platinum firm Lonmin returned to work last week following a separate strike over wages.

The dispute at Lonmin's Marikana site saw 46 people shot by the police.

[xchrom]

20. MARKETS FRETFUL OVER GLOBAL ECONOMY, EURO CRISIS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-26-06-10-49

LONDON (AP) -- Growing concerns over the global economy combined with renewed worries over Europe's debt problems to send stocks around the world sharply lower Wednesday.

A day after U.S. stocks suffered their biggest retreat in three months in the wake of comments from a leading official at the Federal Reserve, investors in Europe and Asia are jittery. The euro is down further below $1.30 while oil prices edged back toward $90 a barrel, further indications of rising investor unease.

In Europe, Spain's IBEX index led the list of fallers, trading 2.3 percent lower at 7,983. Germany's DAX was 1.4 percent lower at 7,322 while the CAC-40 in France fell 1.9 percent at 3,447. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 1 percent at 5,803.

The catalyst to the current bout of nervousness was a warning from the Fed's Charles Plosser that the central bank's efforts to support the world's biggest economy would likely fall short of its goals.

[xchrom]

21. US FUTURES DIP AS EUROPEAN SITUATION DETERIORATES

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WALL_STREET_PREMARKET?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-26-08-45-07

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock futures slid Wednesday as the European economic crisis devolved into social unrest in the most vulnerable countries, such as Greece and Spain.

Signaling a broader instability in the region, Germany failed to raise sufficient bids for the country's benchmark 10-year bonds Wednesday as a rush for safe havens in a "very volatile market environment" drove average yields down to 1.52 percent.

Dow Jones industrial futures fell 19 points to 13,386. The broader S&P futures gave up 2.7 points to 1,434.50. Nasdaq futures slid 7.5 points to 2,795.75.

Developments in Europe overshadowed what is expected to be more evidence Wednesday of a U.S. housing market on the rebound.

[xchrom]

24. CHAMPAGNE HEIR JEAN TAITTINGER DIES

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_OBIT_TAITTINGER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-26-08-30-00

PARIS (AP) -- Jean Taittinger, a longtime French legislator and heir to the Taittinger Champagne legacy, has died.

His son Frantz Taittinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his 89-year-old father died Sunday and was buried in a private family ceremony.

Jean Marie Pierre Hubert Taittinger, born Jan. 25, 1923, fought the Nazis at the end of World War II and went on to a long political career. He was a member of parliament and mayor of the Champagne center Reims from the 1950s to the 1970. He also served as France's justice minister under President Georges Pompidou.

He was also honorary president of the Taittinger Champagne house, whose origins date back to the 1700s.

[xchrom]

25. GERMAN DEBT AUCTION UNCOVERED DUE TO WEAK DEMAND

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_DEBT_AUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-26-07-28-09

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's debt agency says an auction of the country's benchmark 10-year bonds did not receive sufficient bids due to a "very volatile market environment" and as investors balked at the record-low yields.

The agency stressed Wednesday "there is no danger for the financing of the federal budget."

Germany's central bank says the auction of (EURO)5 billion ($6.5 billion) only received bids worth (EURO)4 billion. The debt agency (EURO)3.2 billion in bonds at an average yield of 1.52 percent. It will keep the remaining (EURO)1.8 billion for sale later on secondary markets.

The debt of Germany is viewed as a safe haven amid the eurozone's debt crisis. Its popularity, however, has caused the yield to drop sharply, making it less attractive for traders seeking not just safe investments but good returns.

***now, there's a nice big, bouquet of irony.

[xchrom]

26. POLAND'S UNEMPLOYMENT RISES TO 12.4 PCT IN AUGUST

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_POLAND_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-26-06-57-46

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Government figures show that Poland's jobless rate rose to 12.4 percent at the end of August from 12.3 percent in July, as the economy shows signs of a slowdown.

A statement on the website of the Main Statistical Office on Wednesday showed that some 1.96 million people in this nation of 38 million were registered as jobless at the end of August. That was around 11,500 more than at the end of July and 109,000 more than at the end of August 2011.

The rising unemployment rate and decreasing domestic retail sales are evidence of a slowdown. Poland's economy was the only one in the European Union to dodge a recession during the global financial crisis years of 2009 and 2010.

[xchrom]

32. Study Reveals Germans Less Confident than they Seem

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/study-reveals-germans-less-confident-than-they-seem-a-857918.html


A pedestrian in Berlin walks by an apartment balcony filled with German flags: Is Germany going down the drain?

Germans have traditionally been perceived as being reliable and hardworking, but they may have outgrown this reputation. These days, it seems their dark side is coming more to the fore, as one tire dealer found out first-hand when the local job agency sent him an applicant for a position as a mechanic.

As the interview proceeded, it became increasingly apparent that the applicant didn't really want the job. He even came with a laundry list of reasons why he wasn't a suitable candidate. Eventually he admitted that his social benefits weren't his only source of income -- he also ran an illegal tire fitting service. You've got to look out for No. 1, he offered as an excuse.
It fell on deaf ears. Outraged, the tire dealer wasted no time calling the job agency, a government office that seeks to find work for the unemployed, to tip them off. But officials there didn't want to hear what they were being told and instead suggested he keep his complaint to himself. If they started trying to track down welfare cheats, officials said, they would never get anything else done.

Busting a Myth

The tire dealer was one of 200 participants in a study, "The Double Lives of Germans," conducted by the Rheingold Institute for Qualitative Market and Media Research and released on Tuesday. An additional 1,060 people were interviewed in order to determine whether those answers had been representative in the study, which had been commissioned by a German brewing company. Surveyed on their view of Germany and its people, their responses suggested that Germans' fabled steadfastness is only skin-deep.

[xchrom]

33. A Fifth SAC Trader Has Been Named In The Big Insider Trading Probe

http://www.businessinsider.com/five-sac-traders-linked-in-insider-trading-probe-2012-9


More questions for Steve Cohen.

A fifth person from Steve Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors has been tied to a sweeping insider trading probe by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office and the FBI, Bloomberg News' Patricia Hurtado and Katherine Burton report.
According to the report, which cites unnamed sources, Michael Steinberg, a 40-year-old tech-fund manager at SAC's Capital New York division, Sigma Capital Management, was named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in court papers for the securities fraud case of Jon Horvath.
Steinberg is the portfolio manager Horvath reported to while at SAC.
Prosecutors allege that Horvath, a former SAC analyst, and co-defendants Anthony Chiasson, the co-founder of Level Global, and Todd Newman, an ex-Diamondback Capital portfolio manager, were able to reap millions by trading on inside information in Dell and Nvidia stocks between 2007 and 2009.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/five-sac-traders-linked-in-insider-trading-probe-2012-9#ixzz27aAlyhmc

[mother earth]

41. I find it interesting that so called "conspiracy" theory becomes truth every day. I recall 911

truthers and the tale of lots of investigations that were zapped away by death and destruction that fateful
day, and interpreters with gag orders...the SHTF non-stop these days. Then there's the coincidence of
a squashed Spitzer...I digress...

Thanks for all you do here, xchrom. Great finds on a daily basis, I don't know how all of you do it. It's a constant.

[xchrom]

34. Everything You need To Know About The Catalan Secession Movement That's Throwing Spain Into ...

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-catalan-secession-movement-dangerously-close-to-derailing-spain-2012-9

Everything You need To Know About The Catalan Secession Movement That's Throwing Spain Into A New Crisis



While Spanish voters descend on Madrid in massive protest gatherings, another major headache for the Spanish government is in the works: a secession movement in Spain's most economically critical region, Catalonia.

Catalonia, Spain's largest region by output, accounting for 18.7 percent of Spain's total GDP, is also the most indebted – its total debts of 42 billion euros are worth nearly 4 percent of the entire country's economic output.

As the country's most indebted region, Catalonia has already had to request a bailout from the central government – to the tune of just over 5 billion euros.

Meanwhile, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is trying to push through unpopular austerity measures and economic reforms that would pave the way for additional aid from troika lenders when necessary, but Artur Mas, the Catalan president, will have none of that.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-catalan-secession-movement-dangerously-close-to-derailing-spain-2012-9#ixzz27aGJs19w

[xchrom]

35. GREECE Russians bargain-hunting in Northern Aegean

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/2756351-russians-bargain-hunting-northern-aegean

Ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky should be pleased. His prophecy, announced shortly after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, that the day when “Russians would wash their boots in warm seas” was near at hand, appears to be coming true. But this Tsarist dream of an empire that extends from the Mediterranean to the Indian ocean will not be realised by force of arms, but rather by tourist flows.

With his offer of a range of luxury holiday homes on the Kassandra Peninsula [southeast of Thessaloniki], entrepreneur Sergei Fentorov, a member of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a former nuclear submarine lieutenant, is already part of this dream.

And he is not alone. Just opposite, on the Sithonia Peninsula, the villa nestling amid four hectares of pine covered hills with a remarkable view on Mount Athos apparently belongs to Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, Russia’s second most powerful man after Vladimir Putin.

Bargains at prices that are undervalued 30%


More and more rich Russians are buying up second homes in the Halkidiki [region of Northern Greece], while Russian companies are purchasing hotels and investing in land. No one knows exactly how much they have already bought.

[xchrom]

36. Poles still looking for better jobs abroad

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/2761051-poles-still-looking-better-jobs-abroad

They are leaving and not coming back”, headlines Gazeta Wyborcza on the rising number of Poles going abroad in search of better jobs. 2011 alone saw 60,000 more people leave for the UK, Germany and Norway than in the previous year. The Warsaw daily notes that –

The number of emigrants has risen for the first time since 2007. There are currently 2.6 million of them […] Emigration grew despite the fact that economic growth in Poland reached 4% of GDP.

A rather unexpected shift considering the fact that after the first crisis wave hit Europe in 2007-2008, many Poles (up to 1.1 million according to some estimates) were forced to return to Poland with some economists even declaring “the end of emigration”. Not quite so. Attracted by much higher salaries, Poles are still flocking abroad. According to the Central Bank of Poland (NBP), the average Polish emigrant earns between €2,000 and €2,200 compared to less than 2000 zlotys (€500) back home. Experts quoted by the daily stress that even in times of crisis Poles feel more secure abroad than at home –

Not only are they not coming back, they even start taking their families out of Poland.

[Roland99]

37. Today's Reports

[Roland99]

38. US August Single-Family Home Sales / Median Prices >>>>

* US AUG MEDIAN SALE PRICE HIGHEST SINCE MARCH 2007 ($262,600)

* US AUG MEDIAN SALE PRICE $256,900, +17.0 PCT FROM AUG 2011 ($219,600)

* US AUG HOME SALES NORTHEAST +20.0 PCT, MIDWEST +1.8 PCT, SOUTH -4.9 PCT, WEST +0.9 PCT

* US AUG SINGLE-FAMILY HOME SALES -0.3 PCT VS JULY +3.6 PCT (PREV +3.6 PCT)

* US AUG SINGLE-FAMILY HOME SALES 373,000 UNIT ANN. RATE (CONS 380,000) VS JULY 374,000 (PREV 372,000)



Due to less and less shadow inventory or truly price recovery?

I'm betting on the former more than the latter.

[xchrom]

39. China’s Stocks Fall to 2009 Low on Concern About Economy, Profit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-26/china-s-stocks-fall-poised-for-biggest-quarterly-loss-in-year.html

China’s stocks fell, with the Shanghai Composite Index briefly sliding below the 2,000 level for the first time in three years, on concern the deepening economic slowdown is hurting corporate profits.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.2 percent to 2,004.17 at the close, after slumping to as low as 1,999.48 in the last five minutes of trading. The benchmark gauge has lost 9.9 percent this quarter, the most in a year, and is the worst performer among global markets after Cyprus. The CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) slipped 1.1 percent to 2,184.89, led by metal producers.

“The market has no confidence in China’s old growth model of investment and exports any more,” said Wang Zheng, Shanghai- based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co., which manages about $120 million. “With the two growth drivers fading, we haven’t found a new engine. That’s why stocks are performing so poorly.”

China Vanke Co. (000002) and Poly Real Estate Group Co., the nation’s biggest developers, dropped at least 1.4 percent on earnings concerns after the southern city of Guangzhou restricted sales of homes before they are completed. BYD Co. (002594), the automaker part-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., slid to a record low after CLSA Asia Pacific Markets cut its share-price estimate of the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares by 94 percent.

[xchrom]

40. S&P 500 Has Longest Drop Since July Amid Europe Concern

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-26/u-s-stock-futures-are-little-changed-freeport-retreats.html

U.S. stocks fell for a fifth day, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its longest retreat since July, as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

Commodity and technology companies fell the most among the 10 industry groups in the benchmark gauge, sinking at least 0.5 percent. Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) fell 1.2 percent as the company cut staff in Australia while Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) slumped 8.6 percent amid a disappointing forecast. Blyth Inc. (BTH) tumbled 17 percent after its ViSalus business withdrew its filing for an initial public offering.

The S&P 500 slid 0.3 percent to 1,436.96 at 10:09 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.99 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,455.56. Trading in S&P 500 companies was up 19 percent from the 30-day average at this time of day.

“We’re at a point where stimulus continues to be added and yet we’re seeing no meaningful improvements in the global economy,” Sean Lynch, the Omaha, Nebraska-based global investment strategist for Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees $169 billion, said in a telephone interview. “When you figure in some of the political risks along with Spain and Greece leading headlines once again, it makes equity investors want to pause right now.”

[Ghost Dog]

42. FTSE 100 loses £23.2bn as Spain fears rock European markets

London's blue-chips fell 1.4pc, while the CAC 40 in France was 2.5pc lower and Germany's DAX dropped 1.8pc as eurozone crisis fears escalated. In Spain, the IBEX lost 3.7pc and Italy's MIB was down 3.3pc.

Uncertainty over whether Spain will accept the terms of a bail-out sparked the latest sell-off, following violent riots in the country and as strikers again took to the streets in Greece to protest against austerity measures.

Investors were also spooked by a member of the US Federal Reserve casting doubt on the effectiveness of its economy-boosting efforts, which sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street more than 100 points lower overnight...

... Spain's central bank said the country's gross domestic product continued to fall at a "significant rate" in the third quarter.

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/9568698/FTSE-100-loses-23.2bn-as-Spain-fears-rock-European-markets.html

... Spanish democracy may indeed be in peril, but the danger is not in the streets. According to the Financial Times, the EU has been in secret talks with the economy minister Luis de Guindos to implement further austerity measures in advance of Spain requesting a full bailout. On Thursday the government will announce structural reforms and additional spending reductions, on top of the already huge cutbacks in health and education.

Pre-empting the bailout conditions means the government is able to retain the illusion of sovereignty.

In reality, Spain is on the brink of insolvency and under huge pressure to accept a rescue package. In return, the eurozone's fourth largest economy will have to surrender sovereign and financial control to the IMF, the European commission, and the European Central Bank.

If talk of a financial coup d'etat sounds far-fetched, consider this statement from a recent Goldman Sachs report: "The more the Spanish administration indulges domestic political interests … the more explicit conditionality is likely to be demanded." That's banker-speak for, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Meanwhile, in his heroic denials that a bailout is even necessary, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy increasingly resembles Saddam Hussein's information minister continuing to insist the Americans were fleeing and killing themselves by the hundreds at the city's gates, even as Baghdad was falling. Rajoy's strategy of denial has form. In June he insisted Spanish banks would not need to be bailed out, two weeks before they were. This paternalistic, old-fashioned attempt to mould public opinion in the face of reality seems to indicate that, as many local commentators have observed, the Spanish administration is operating "as if it didn't know the internet existed"...

... The main problem for Rajoy is that what Goldman Sachs calls "indulging domestic political interests" the rest of us call "democracy"...

/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/25/spain-public-financial-coup

[Demeter]

43. Deposit Flight From Europe Banks Eroding Common Currency 9/19/2012

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-18/deposit-flight-from-europe-banks-eroding-common-currency.html

An accelerating flight of deposits from banks in four European countries is jeopardizing the renewal of economic growth and undermining a main tenet of the common currency: an integrated financial system.

A total of 326 billion euros ($425 billion) was pulled from banks in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece in the 12 months ended July 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The plight of Irish and Greek lenders, which were bleeding cash in 2010, spread to Spain and Portugal last year.

The flight of deposits from the four countries coincides with an increase of about 300 billion euros at lenders in seven nations considered the core of the euro zone, including Germany and France, almost matching the outflow. That’s leading to a fragmentation of credit and a two-tiered banking system blocking economic recovery and blunting European Central Bank policy in the third year of a sovereign-debt crisis.

“Capital flight is leading to the disintegration of the euro zone and divergence between the periphery and the core,” said Alberto Gallo, the London-based head of European credit research at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “Companies pay 1 to 2 percentage points more to borrow in the periphery. You can’t get growth to resume with such divergence.”

[Demeter]

44. EUROZONE MONEY MARKETS-Counterparty risk measure at lowest since mid-2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/markets-money-idUSL5E8KJIJQ20120919

Central bank action helped push down a barometer of counterparty risk in the euro zone this week to its lowest since the U.S. subprime crisis started in 2007, but has done little to breathe life into frozen money markets...

ALSO FROM 9/19

WATCHING THE BATHWATER SLOSH IN THE TUB...UNTIL, OOPS!

[Demeter]

45. U.S. Seeks to Patch Laundering Net

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444032404578008501644101688.html

U.S. regulators are proposing to enlist companies across the financial sector—and possibly beyond—as a front-line defense against money laundering.

A sweeping proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCen, could require financial institutions to collect and verify information on all customer accounts.

If adopted, the new rules would create a broad new compliance structure that banks and others say would increase costs and add to complexity for the firms and their customers.

Under current practices, banks verify data only on larger foreign-controlled accounts and on some accounts that the banks, using their own guidelines, deem high risk. Banks and other financial institutions also already file some reports, including reports on suspicious activity and transactions over $10,000 under the Bank Secrecy Act...

ANY VOLUNTEERS? ARE THEY NUTS?

[Roland99]

46. Germany to Tap Brakes On High-Speed Trading

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014246137

[DemReadingDU]

47. Should be done in U.S. too, n/t