STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 26 August 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 26 August 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 23 August 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 23 August 2013
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Dow Jones 15,010.51 +46.77 (0.31%)
S&P 500 1,663.50 +6.54 (0.39%)
Nasdaq 3,657.79 +19.08 (0.52%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.81% -0.06 (-2.09%)
30 Year 3.79% -0.06 (-1.56%)[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
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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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
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.








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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]

[Demeter]

1. Saw the Butler Sunday

The Kid was complaining that it was a sad movie...I told her that was because it was true. A real story about real people.

I have to admit, they worked really hard on the casting.

Robin Williams as Eisenhower....I never saw any Eisenhower tv clips (too young). But I thought it rang true.

John Cusack as Nixon...for such a slight man, he couldn't pull off the hulking, but he had the slimy, creepy down perfect! Makeup even made his nose bigger! All the makeup and costuming was superb...especially the aging.

I don't know who the actor doing LBJ was, but he was good, if not quite physically large enough.

Jane Fonda looked better than Nancy ever did! But she pulled off the arrogance and condescension well.

Alan Rickman reverted to his usual villain gig by playing Ronnie. Physically, the resemblance was fair, but a noble Brit like Rickman just couldn't pull off the oily used-car-salesman persona. He did do befuddled well, though.

The actress playing Jackie was good, ditto the actor for JFK. No Marilyn intruded, thank god.

And the rest was like PSTD flashbacks...cathartic, but perhaps too gentle about it. I think it will withstand the historical nitpicking. I was amazed that it was only rated two stars, though. Probably the best film this summer.

[Demeter]

2. Shadowstat's Alternate Inflation Charts (update) "Courtesy of ShadowStats.com"

?hl=ad&t=

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

[Demeter]

3. Bank of England helped the Nazis to sell plundered gold

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/bank-of-england/10212234/Bank-of-England-helped-the-Nazis-to-sell-plundered-gold.html

An official history, written in 1950 but posted online for the first time on Tuesday, detailed how the "Old Lady" transfered gold held in its vaults to the Germans despite the UK Government of the day placing a freeze on all Czech assets held in London. In the history, the Bank of England insists its role in the episode was "widely misunderstood", even though it "still rankled for some time".

The Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in September 1938. In March the following year, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) asked the Bank of England to switch £5.6m-worth of gold from an account for the Czech national bank to one belonging to the Reichsbank. Much of the gold - nearly 2,000 gold bars - was then "disposed" of in Belgium, Holland and London. The BIS was chaired at the time by Bank of England director, German Otto Niemeyer. The UK central bank also sold gold for the Nazis in June 1939, without waiting for approval from Westminster.

The history reveals:

"There was a further gold transaction on the 1st June 1939 when there were sales of gold (£440,000) and gold shipments to New York (£420,000) from the No.19 account of the BIS.

"This represented gold which had been shipped to London by the Reichsbank.

"This time, before acting, the Bank of England referred the matter to the Chancellor, who said that he would like the opinion of the law officers of the Crown.

"On the BIS enquiring, however, what was causing delay and saying that inconvenience would be caused because of payments the next day, the Bank of England acted on the instructions referring to the Law Officers, who, however, subsequently upheld their action."

Just three months later the Government declared war on Germany, following its invasion of Poland.

In the official history, the Bank insisted that it would have been "wrong and dangerous" for the future of BIS if Governor Montagu Norman had taken any other course of action. It claimed the UK and French governments would have breached peace treaties if they had blocked the move. Historians have argued that Montagu Norman supported Germany right up until the Second World War. He reportedly attended the christening of the son of Dr Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank before the war. His right hand man at the Bank was Otto Niemeyer who chaired the Bank of International Settlements which was set up in 1930 as a non-political body to facilitate the payments of reparations from Germany after the First World War.

After the outbreak of war, the documents reveal the Government told the Bank of England it should not act upon an order from the BIS "if it seems to the Bank to be likely that the order might benefit the enemy".

BOOK PDF AT LINK

[spotbird]

4. Other than get fucked,

is there any way to protect yourself?

Dollars to pennies is the future, so unless you're an insider, the alternative is to watch your future evaporate? Matress was my old choice, but if dollars are used for bookbinding what can an outsider to do? Wait and watch until there is nothing you've saved for a lifetime that has any value?

[Demeter]

6. Get out of debt, build cash reserve

get as independent as one can of utilities and power. Build community. Run for office. Give up the dream of Consumerism.

What to do with one's savings? If one as any, one is on his own there.

[Demeter]

5. The Hidden Credit Report That Shuts People Out of the Banking System

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/the-hidden-credit-report-than-shuts-people-out-of-the-banking-system.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29



Jessica Silver-Greenberg at the New York Times has an important account of how a system created by banks to catch scam artists like check-kiters has morphed over 20 years into a shadow credit reporting system. Given how hard it is to get the credit bureaus to fix errors in a system that is visible (for instance, you can get your credit report for free once a year from each bureau), imagine what it would be like to have a bank tell you they wouldn’t let you open a checking account due to reports you had no idea even existed.

Here’s the nut:

Unlike traditional credit reporting databases, which provide portraits of outstanding debt and payment histories, these are records of transgressions in banking products. Institutions like Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo say that tapping into the vast repositories of information helps them weed out risky customers and combat fraud — a mounting threat for banks…the databases have ensnared millions of low-income Americans, according to interviews with financial counselors, consumer lawyers and more than two dozen low-income people in California, Illinois, Florida, New York and Washington.

What has happened is that banks are trying to focus their retail banking services on more affluent customers and dump poorer ones (I can see this with the mushrooming of bank branches in my neighborhood, displacing wine and food stores. I wonder what is happening with Community Reinvestment Act enforcement to allow this withdrawal os services from poor areas, particularly when banks are posting record profits). These databases provide the justification for refusing to take customers as a result of comparatively minor mishaps, like bounced checks (which may not even be their fault if a check they deposited turned out to bounce). And since customers who are low income will often be living paycheck to paycheck, it’s not hard for them to have short term cash flow problems. Of course, this system is wonderfully convenient for the banks, since by denying potential customers access to bank accounts, it forces them to use much more costly services like payroll cards. The article estimates that one million consumers have been denied banking accounts thanks to these reports, a 10% increase since 2009.

These services may be be out of compliance with consumer credit reporting requirements:

….the databases are coming under scrutiny from consumer lawyers and federal regulators, who say it can be challenging to remove inaccurate information or get copies of the reports, a requirement under federal law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fielded complaints about the databases and is determining whether they comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law meant to stanch the flow of inaccurate consumer information, according to people familiar with the investigation. Banks are required to provide a reason for rejecting an applicant.

Some databases, though, provide scant details of the reason for the negative mark, according to a review of more two dozen letters.

While banks maintain that they look to work with customers and don’t rely solely on these reports, and the error rate in them is low, customers and consumer advocates paint a different picture:

“We have had too many experiences where even banks that have offered to be flexible with us find their own internal risk management systems mean that their hands are tied,” said Mr. Mintz, New York’s commissioner of consumer affairs.

The problem, said Jerry DeGrieck, a senior policy adviser to Mayor Mike McGinn of Seattle, is that “lenders just don’t want to take a risk on these clients.”

Recent regulations, which rein in the fees that banks can charge — including overdraft protection, a big moneymaker on lower-income customers’ accounts — have made lenders more reluctant to take gambles on customers with tarnished records, analysts say. Simply put, it is less economical for banks to provide inexpensive financial services and it is tougher for banks to generate revenue on lower-income customers who typically maintain small account balances. Still, banks say they are committed to provide banking services broadly.

I’m not a fan of the banks’ actions, but this outcome is a result of having customers expect to get free checking accounts. When I was in Australia, it was close to impossible to have a relationship with a bank and not incur $25 to $30 a month in fees. Now Australia is a comparatively small market and the banks had an oligopoly. Nevertheless, banks in the US finessed the “free checking account” problem by having all sorts of sneaky income earners, like overdraft charges. Customers would do better to accept more explicit fees on routine services (for instance, the account I chose in Oz ave me only a certain number of checks for free a month, and after that, there was a charge). But just the way people been conditioned to expect information on the internet to be free, they think the payment system should be free, which instead means the costs get buried in funny ways and hit some users a lot more than others. Now that neofeudalism is in, the new strategy for profit enhancement is more aggressively abusing those who have low incomes.

Of course, the more logical alternative would be to regulate banks as utilities, given how massively they are subsidized, or promote the creation of a Post Office bank to provide bare bones bank services on a low fee basis. But we can’t do anything sensible in the US if it will cut into the rentiers’ profits.

[DemReadingDU]

15. 60 Minutes: Credit Reports

Last edited Mon Aug 26, 2013, 11:03 AM - Edit history (2)

8/25/13
40 Million Mistakes: Is your credit report accurate?
This was originally broadcast on 2/10/13

Important:
The credit reports the agencies send to you are different than the ones that they sell to banks, merchants and mortgage brokers.

video appx 13 minutes
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50153672n

text
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57599767/40-million-mistakes-is-your-credit-report-accurate/

additional segments
2/10/13 The ONE thing to know about your credit report
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140713n

2/10/13 How mistakes can harm your credit
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140755n

[Demeter]

7. “The Media Just Won’t Report on This Crappy Economy,” Such As 80% of US Adults Near Poverty...

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/08/the-media-just-wont-report-on-this-crappy-economy-such-as-80-of-us-adults-near-poverty-gdp-funny-business.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

YVES SMITH WRITES: Reader Cathryn Mataga complained yesterday in comments about the under-reporting of how bad things are out in the real world where most people live. It’s not hard to find proof of her thesis.

I received an e-mail today about an Associated Press story that ran on July 28, “80 Percent Of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment: Survey.” The findings are grim:

Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.

The findings come as President Barack Obama tries to renew his administration’s emphasis on the economy, saying in recent speeches that his highest priority is to “rebuild ladders of opportunity” and reverse income inequality.

Notice the framing: the story uses as its hook the contrast between how precarious most Americans’ hold on prosperity is, versus Obama’s rather late in the game efforts to do something to improve the welfare of ordinary citizens.

This piece tells us that things are much worse than most pundits would have you believe, namely, that the overwhelming majority of Americans encounter serious hardship. Now perhaps it was just an accident of happenstance that it didn’t get traction (Huffington Post did feature it, but Obama has told us that you can’t believe everything you see in the Huffington Post, so that doesn’t count). But I wonder if it was politely ignored by many MSM reporters precisely because reporting the survey on a timely basis would undercut Our Fearless Leader’s empty gestures towards what is left of the middle class. As Lambert put it,

“Middle class,” forsooth. It might as well be the Lannisters talking about the “smallfolk”.

Key parts of the Associated Press report:

Hardship is particularly growing among whites, based on several measures. Pessimism among that racial group about their families’ economic futures has climbed to the highest point since at least 1987. In the most recent AP-GfK poll, 63 percent of whites called the economy “poor.”…

While racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poverty, race disparities in the poverty rate have narrowed substantially since the 1970s, census data show. Economic insecurity among whites also is more pervasive than is shown in the government’s poverty data, engulfing more than 76 percent of white adults by the time they turn 60, according to a new economic gauge being published next year by the Oxford University Press.

The gauge defines “economic insecurity” as experiencing unemployment at some point in their working lives, or a year or more of reliance on government aid such as food stamps or income below 150 percent of the poverty line. Measured across all races, the risk of economic insecurity rises to 79 percent.

Marriage rates are in decline across all races, and the number of white mother-headed households living in poverty has risen to the level of black ones.

“It’s time that America comes to understand that many of the nation’s biggest disparities, from education and life expectancy to poverty, are increasingly due to economic class position,” said William Julius Wilson, a Harvard professor who specializes in race and poverty. He noted that despite continuing economic difficulties, minorities have more optimism about the future after Obama’s election, while struggling whites do not.

I’ve been struck at the number of people who’ve shown up in comments vociferously arguing that the threat that someone might rob them justifies shooting, meaning killing, them (Older attorneys have piped up to express their horror that this argument is even being advanced). But economic desperation, and the fallen standing of white people, who once had a presumption of social standing to bolster their dignity, is fracturing social norms. Game of Thrones is looking uncomfortably germane: “Guest rights don’t mean so much as they used to…Some o’ them swinging down by the river figured they was guests too.”

MORE

[Demeter]

8. ObamaCare Staggers Toward the October 1 Finish Line

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/08/obamacare-staggers-toward-the-october-1-finish-line.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

ObamaCare’s capricious lack of fairness is, I think, a subject readers are now familiar with. Clearly, a program as big as ObamaCare will help some people; my beef is that ObamaCare, by virtue of its system architecture, will not and cannot treat all people equally, as single payer Medicare for All would do. People will be sent to Happyville or to Pain City randomly, and not when buying flat-screen TVs, but when buying a complex product costing many thousands of dollars that may (or may not) prevent bankruptcy or save a life. Moreover, ObamaCare’s system architecture, in consequence of Obama’s decision to preserve and protect the rental streams extracted from the body politic by the private health insurance industry, is needlessly complex, resulting in requirements abandoned and deadlines slipped, as is normal when a bloatware software project goes out of control. It may be that Obama’s public relations machine and career “progressive” enablers will be able to paper over these issues during ObamaCare’s launch phase, but they will become increasingly evident to the general public forced to enter, mandated to enter, the ObamaCare “marketplace” (the Exchanges). Whether what the general public experiences matters to policy makers is another question, of course.

So this week I’d like to take a quick survey of major ObamaCare implementation issues: The state of the California exchanges, the Pruitt v. Sebelius case, and whether ObamaCare will “make projection” and sign up 7 million people.

First, California. As is, again, typical with out-of-control bloatware projects, Covered California (the ObamaCare Exchange, or “marketplace”) is considering slipping its launch date; the euphemism is “soft launch.” LA Times:

Thursday, the state’s new health insurance marketplace said its website may not be fully operational Oct. 1 when consumer enrollment begins under the Affordable Care Act. But officials said they would know more after the results of key computer tests early next month.

This is, let us remember, 37 days from launch. For a complex system with potentially 7 million users (albeit with the more modest goal of signing up 1.4 million). This is insane.

We have not made that call yet,” said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, which is implementing the federal health law in the state. If online enrollment isn’t immediately available, Lee said, there would be other ways to sign up through call centers, enrollment counselors and agents before coverage kicks in Jan. 1. “The date we care about is Jan. 1 when coverage takes effect.”

I don’t care about the deadlines I can’t meet either.

Keith Ketcher, an outside project manager working on the state computer system, told the Covered California board Thursday that “there is work that remains to validate that the enrollment process is ready to go in October.… We will know in the coming weeks what our progress is.”

Well, 37 days is 5.28 weeks so yes, I guess you will. And of course people will be able to sign up on paper (Lee can’t seriously believe people are going to sign up over the phone), but how that will play with the youth Obama’s data geeks hope to attract is unknown,* and I’d bet they won’t do anything if they can’t use their cellphones or, heaven forfend, Mom’s laptop.

Meanwhile, Covered California is also shedding functionality, again typical of out-of-control bloatware projects. Sacramento Business Journal:

Covered California has decided not to include a quality rating system for health plans when the new insurance marketplace kicks off enrollment in October [and to delay this system until 2015]. …

But efforts will be made to post a couple of measures that health plans already report as soon as possible in cases where the provider networks for Covered California have at least an 80 percent overlap to current ones on the market.

So much for the idea that The Exchanged citizens consumers will be able to compare plans easily, like buying a flat-screen TV! If ObamaCare is a political campaign — and by “if,” I mean “since” — then Covered California is Super Tuesday. Here’s a big state, committed to the program, where the Democrats are dominant, where the Democratic apparatus has a ton of walking around money to promote the program, and where the coveted Hispanic vote is huge. So Obama has to win California or, more precisely, be seen to.

Next, the Pruitt v. Sebelius, where the state of Oklahoma has unexpectedly been given standing to go for ObamaCare’s jugular. Here’s the theory of the case, developed in part (you will note) by the Cato Institute. (What’s the matter, ObamaCare is Heritage’s plan, so that’s why Cato has a problem with it?) From a Social Science Research Institute article by Jonathan H. Adler and Michael F. Cannon:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) provides tax credits and subsidies for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans on state-run insurance exchanges. Contrary to expectations, many states are refusing or otherwise failing to create such exchanges. An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule purports to extend these tax credits and subsidies to the purchase of health insurance in federal exchanges created in states without exchanges of their own. This rule lacks statutory authority. The text, structure, and history of the Act show that tax credits and subsidies are not available in federally run exchanges. The IRS rule is contrary to congressional intent and cannot be justified on other legal grounds. Because the granting of tax credits can trigger the imposition of fines on millions of individuals and employers, the IRS rule is likely to be challenged in court.

The 31 states that have not built Exchanges default to the Federal Exchange. That’s the back-up plan. So if the Federal Exchange can’t give citizens in those states their subsidies, ObamaCare’s back-up plan collapses in half the country. Oopsie.** Timothy Yost, an ObamaCare supporter, explains the mechanics of the PPACA bill, and the implications. Oklahoma’s Attorney General Scott Pruitt*** brought suit using Adler and Cannon’s theory:

The Pruitt plaintiffs challenge the Internal Revenue Service’s interpretation of the language of the ACA. Section 1311 of the ACA creates and defines the responsibilities and powers of the ACA’s exchanges. … Section 1311, and Congress in drafting section 1311, assumed that the exchanges would be established and run by the states in most instances. …

In fact, however, under our Constitution, Congress cannot require a state to establish a regulatory program. Recognizing this, Congress adopted section 1321 of the ACA, which provides that if a state fails to create the exchange “required” by section 1311, HHS shall create “such exchange” in its place. The term “exchange” is defined in the ACA as a “1311” exchange, and it is clear that Congress intended the federal fallback exchange to take the place of and fulfill all of the functions of the state exchange.

One of these functions is to determine eligibility for premium tax credits. Section 1411 of the ACA requires HHS to determine eligibility for premium tax credits based on information provided by applicants through the exchanges. Section 1401 creates a new Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code, requiring the IRS to provide premium tax credits to individuals determined eligible. In promulgating rules under its statutory authority to implement section 36B, the Internal Revenue Service has determined that premium tax credits are available through both the state and federal exchanges.

Section 36B(b), however, provides a formula for determining the amount of the premium tax credits. In this formula, the section refers to premiums paid and months of coverage of persons enrolled in a qualified health plan “through an Exchange established by the State under 1311.” Opponents of the ACA have seized on to this phrase to claim that premium tax credits are only available through the state exchanges and that the IRS rule is contrary to the statute and invalid.

Well, I’m no strict constructionist, but these guys “seized on to [sic] the phrase” because — follow me closely, here — they actually read the text of the statute carefully. And the idea of the Courts, in essence, redrafting legislation because “everybody knows” what the legislators “really meant” strikes me as more than a little iffy. Does the Executive branch get to do that too? And in secret? Yost goes on to point out what are from his perspective bad policy outcomes, but those are not, or should not be, relevant to the Court’s decision. Picking up the thread:

Clearly these bad outcomes are not what Congress intended. … In the voluminous records of ACA debates, there is not the least suggestion that Congress did not intend federal exchanges to issue premium tax credits, while there are many references to the fact that premium tax credits would be available in all states. Indeed, it was not until late in 2010, months after the ACA was adopted, that the possibility that only state exchanges could issue premium tax credits was first noticed.

Yost goes on to describe how Judge White gave the state of Oklahoma standing, since they’re employers who would be “concretely injured” by the IRS”s decision, in that they’d come under the employer mandate (which is pretty hilarious argument). Then:

In sum, the Oklahoma case is likely to reach the merits of the challenge to the IRS rule. It will do so, however, before a judge that seems skeptical of the claim that the state of Oklahoma has been injured in some way by the IRS’s decision to ensure that its residents receive premium tax credits. In his opinion, Judge White also described the article by Michael Cannon and Jonathan Adler setting out the theory on which the state bases its case as “polemical law review article.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Bottom line is there’s a big monkey wrench flying through the air aimed directly at some even more rickety than usual bits of ObamaCare’s Rube Goldberg-esque machinery, but nobody knows whether it will hit or miss. Pass the popcorn.

Finally, will ObamaCare make projection? From a USA Today survey of state projections:

Estimates from 19 states operating health insurance exchanges to help the uninsured find coverage show that at least 8.5 million will use the exchanges to buy insurance, a USA TODAY survey shows. That would far outstrip the federal government’s estimate of 7 million new customers for all 50 states under the 2010 health care law.

USA TODAY contacted the 50 states, and 19 had estimates for how many of their uninsured residents they expect will buy through the exchanges. About 48 million Americans were uninsured in 2011, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Well, this is interesting; the states running their own exchanges (not the ones who opted out) could put ObamaCare over the top. Of course, since the ObamaCare rollout is a political campaign, and the biggest states (California, New York) are Democratic, that is exactly what we would expect them to say. (You don’t hear “My guy’s gonna lose” a whole lot from party apparatchiks before election day, do you?) So it would be nice to have actual polling data on this point. However, the tactic of managing expectations by lowballing is an ancient one, and again, the ObamaCare rollout being a political campaign, we would expect the administration to have used it. FWIW, my take is that the administration will pass the 7 million bar, and lost in the Hosannas and confetti and pom pom-waving will be the pathetic fact that 41 million Americans will be uninsured, and roughly half of those will still be uninsured when ObamaCare is fully implemented. After LBJ rolled out Medicare for all over-65s in just one (1) year. So, modified rapture.

=================================================================================================

NOTE * It’s important to attract youth to ObamaCare for actuarial purposes, so that the healthy not-yet-old subsidize the sicker no-longer-young. Why the Department of Health and Human Services has decided to adopt a business model from private health insurance baffles me; this is cognitive regulatory capture of a very high order. Why not focus on those who need care, instead of those who don’t?

NOTE ** Of course, if the Democrats had abolished the filibuster in 2009 and passed single payer Medicare for All (HR 676, SB 703), establishing a uniform system across the entire country, none of this would have happened. Unfortunately, the administration was more concerned to preserve the insurance industry, its rents, and its campaign contributions (and its career opportunities). So much for that.

NOTE *** There is a Halbig case as well, but apparently it’s unlikely to get standing, unlike Pruitt

[Demeter]

9. What Would You Have the President Do? Part I, Necessary First Moves

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/07/what-would-you-have-the-president-do-part-i-necessary-first-moves.html

IN BRIEF:

Get rid of the filibuster

Use High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS) to Change the Political Environment and Remove Any Possible Rationale for Federal Government Austerity

DETAILS AT LINK WITH EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY WORTH PERUSING

[Demeter]

10. What Would You Have the President Do? Part II, Getting to Full Employment

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/07/what-would-you-have-the-president-do-part-ii-getting-to-full-employment.html

Full payroll tax holiday

Guarantee annual entitlement spending without regard to “trust fund” balances

State revenue sharing

Pass a Job Guarantee (JG) program

SAME AS ABOVE ON DETAILS AND COMMENTARY


THIS IS BASIC FDR NEW DEAL PROGRAMMING....

[Demeter]

11. What Would You Have the President Do? Part III, Doing Some Economic and Social Justice

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/07/what-would-you-have-the-president-do-part-iii-doing-some-economic-and-social-justice.html?

Fix the Health Insurance System (MEDICARE FOR ALL)

Increase the minimum Social Security benefit

Redeem all outstanding student loan debt and provide for Federal funding of free tuition at State Universities, Colleges and Community Colleges

Put a stop to Too Big To Fail by ending, investigating, and penalizing control fraud

End the household debt and housing crises and the possibility of new SDIs arising again to corrupt the banking system

Fix U.S. Infrastructure

President Obama is a walking chasm between his rhetoric and his actions. And there is no way that those who ask: “What would u have him do?” can bridge that chasm. So, they need to stop asking that question, and also stop pointing out that “He can’t do it alone.”

No one’s asking him to do anything alone. He’ll need the help of the Democratic Party, some Republicans, and many aroused American voters to get this done. What I’m pointing out however, is that he’s not doing what he can be doing given the powers of his office, coupled with the possibilities for action and mobilization of his party and the American people. This situation has existed for the four-and-a-half years he’s been in office. He’s due plenty of blame for that, as well as our opprobrium.

He is not due sympathy from us because life is so tough for him. Life has been tough for many, many Americans since the crash of 2008, and for many others for decades before that. But for him, and in recent years, at least, it is a charmed play on a grand stage living in a bubble, and he has done very little as yet to help those who elected him in a state of national crisis.

So, I think he is not due sympathy, but a time of accountability for his actual performance. That’s what we owe him, accountability, not rationalizations and excuses for his failure to perform in our interests, rather than in those of the rising plutocracy.

[Demeter]

12. The Maddening of America Liah Greenfeld

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A CHICKEN OR EGG ARGUMENT: DID GROWING MENTAL ILLNESS DEFORM THE CULTURE, OR DID THE CULTURE CAUSE THE MENTAL ILLNESS?

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/america-s-global-leadership-in-serious-mental-disease-by-liah-greenfeld

Liah Greenfeld is Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology at Boston University, and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. She is the author of Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience (Harvard University Press, 2013), Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Harvard University Press, 1992) and The Spirit of Capitalism: Nationalism and Economic Growth (Harvard University Press, 2001).


The relative global decline of the United States has become a frequent topic of debate in recent years. Proponents of the post-American view point to the 2008 financial crisis, the prolonged recession that followed, and China’s steady rise. Most are international-relations experts who, viewing geopolitics through the lens of economic competitiveness, imagine the global order as a seesaw, in which one player’s rise necessarily implies another’s fall. But the exclusive focus on economic indicators has prevented consideration of the geopolitical implications of a US domestic trend that is also frequently discussed, but by a separate group of experts: America’s ever-increasing rates of severe mental disease (which have already been very high for a long time). The claim that the spread of severe mental illness has reached “epidemic” proportions has been heard so often that, like any commonplace, it has lost its ability to shock. But the repercussions for international politics of the disabling conditions diagnosed as manic-depressive illnesses (including major unipolar depression) and schizophrenia could not be more serious.

It has proved to be impossible to distinguish, either biologically or symptomatically, between different varieties of these conditions, which thus constitute a continuum – most likely of complexity, rather than severity. Indeed, the most common of these illnesses, unipolar depression, is the least complex in terms of its symptoms, but also the most lethal: 20% of depressed patients are estimated to commit suicide. Both manic-depressive illness and schizophrenia are psychotic conditions, characterized by the patient’s loss of control over his or her actions and thoughts, a recurrent state in which s/he cannot be considered an agent with free will. Obsessive suicidal thinking and paralyzing lack of motivation allow depressed patients to be classified as psychotic as well.
These conditions are often accompanied by elaborate delusions – images of reality that confuse information generated in the mind with that provided from outside. Often the distinction between symbols and their referents is lost, and patients begin seeing people solely as representations of some imagined force. The judgment of such people cannot be trusted, to put it mildly.

A massive statistical study, conducted from 2001 to 2003 by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), estimated the lifetime prevalence of major depression among American adults (ages 18-54) at more than 16%. Lifetime prevalence for schizophrenia was estimated at 1.7%. There is no known cure for these chronic diseases; after onset (often before the age of 18), they are likely to last until the end of the patient’s life. Surveys among US college students estimated that 20% fit criteria for depression and anxiety in 2010, and that nearly 25% fit these criteria in 2012. Other studies have consistently shown rising rates of prevalence with each successive generation, and it is argued that, if older statistics were faulty, they erred on the side of underestimating the spread of mental illness. All of this suggests that as many as 20% of American adults may be severely mentally ill. In view of disputes over the significance of available data, let’s assume that only 10% of American adults are severely mentally ill. As these conditions are presumed to be distributed uniformly within the population, they must afflict a significant share of policymakers, corporate executives, educators, and military personnel of all ranks, recurrently rendering them psychotic, delusional, and deprived of sound judgment.

If it is deemed sensationalist to characterize this situation as terrifying, one may add that a much larger share of the population (estimated at close to 50% in the NIMH study) is affected by less severe forms of mental disease that only occasionally disturb their functionality. Comparative epidemiologists have repeatedly noticed something remarkable about these illnesses: only Western countries (or, more precisely, societies with monotheistic traditions) – particularly prosperous Western countries – are subject to prevalence rates of this magnitude. Southeast Asian countries appear to be especially immune to the bane of severe mental illness; in other regions, poverty, or lack of development, seems to offer a protective barrier. As I argue in my recent book Mind, Modernity, Madness, the reason for high concentrations of severe mental illness in the developed West lies in the very nature of Western societies. The “virus” of depression and schizophrenia, including their milder forms, is cultural in origin: the embarrassment of choices that these societies offer in terms of self-definition and personal identity leaves many of their members disoriented and adrift. The US offers the widest scope for personal self-definition; it also leads the world in judgment-impairing disease. Unless the growing prevalence of serious psychopathology is taken seriously and addressed effectively, it is likely to become the only indicator of American leadership. The rise of China is unrelated to this.

I SEEM TO RECALL THAT IN THE ERA OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT, DEPRESSION WAS THE MOTIVATING FACTOR FOR CHANGE: WOMEN WERE SICK OF BEING TREATED AS SECOND OR THIRD CLASS CITIZENS. HAS THAT SEXUAL BALANCE IN MENTAL ILLNESS SHIFTED, OR HAS THE INSTABILITY OF THE MALE, AS DEMONSTRATED BY MASS MURDERERS, ETC., SUCKED ALL THE AIR OUT OF THE ROOM? IS IT THE CULTURE, OR THE POWER STRUCTURE IN THIS COUNTRY, THAT INFLICTS THE MENTAL ANGUISH?

AND AS FOR 3RD WORLD NATIONS, THEY ARE TOO BUSY STAYING ALIVE TO DEVELOP EXISTENTIAL ANGST, TO WORRY ABOUT THE STUFF THAT CONSUMES THE AMERICAN MIND...

[Demeter]

13. Blackstone, Deutsche Bank in Talks to Sell Bond Backed by Home Rentals

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578638093802889384.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Two major Wall Street firms are in detailed discussions to create and sell the world's first bond backed by home-rental payments, people familiar with the matter say. Blackstone Group is in negotiations to bundle monthly rental payments on about 1,500 to 1,700 of its homes. The private-equity giant is among the firms that have spent billions buying homes out of foreclosure, an investment strategy that has helped to bolster demand and strengthen the U.S. housing market. The bond comprised of the Blackstone homes would be structured and marketed to investors by Deutsche Bank AG, the people say.

The creation of a new type of security shows that Wall Street's financial engineering, blamed for deepening the financial crisis, is revving back up. Some investors and analysts have said they are wary of a bond backed by rental payments, citing the dearth of long-term data on how often tenants living in previously foreclosed homes pay their rent on time. Also, some investors and analysts have raised concerns about how quickly firms have purchased thousands of homes, and whether they have the management track record and expertise to oversee the maintenance of properties scattered across the country.

But investors still are hungry for the high returns that are likely to accompany a first-of-its-kind deal, which would be viewed as more risky than well-known securities.

The size of the Blackstone-Deutsche Bank deal is expected to be around $240 million to $275 million, the people familiar with the bond say. The top-rated slice could receive a rating as high as single-A or triple-B from some of the credit-rating firms, some of the people familiar with the deal add. The deal is expected to be backed by equity and properties that are worth between $300 million to $350 million, the people familiar with the matter said.

The deal could be available to investors as soon as August or September. But the metrics could change as the details aren't completed, cautioned some of those people. And Blackstone could still walk away from a securitization or chose to sell a deal without letter-grade ratings from the credit-rating firms...

[Demeter]

14. IT GETS BETTER

...Blackstone has emerged as the biggest investor in single-family rental homes, spending more than $5.5 billion since the beginning of last year to acquire about 32,000 homes in around a dozen major U.S. markets.

Other companies, such as American Homes 4 Rent, Colony Capital LLC and Waypoint Real Estate Group LLC also have been snapping up thousands of foreclosed homes, revamping them and renting them out. American Homes 4 Rent is expected to price shares of its stock Wednesday in an initial public offering.

The companies have transformed what has traditionally been a space for "mom and pop" investors to earn cash into an institutional investment strategy that has helped to boost home prices in cities across the U.S. The investment strategy often is known as buy-to-rent.

The structure of the deal would be similar to better-known securities, such as those backed by home or commercial mortgages...

[Hotler]

36. Rat bastards! n/t

[Demeter]

39. Hey, Hotler!

This is the great opportunity to put them away! Once they have finished bilking the pensions again...

[Hotler]

42. Putting them away eh?

For some reason I'm thinking of one of the last scenes in the movie Casino and it takes place in a corn field. Know the one I'm thinking of????

[Demeter]

43. I never saw the film, but why pollute a cornfield, when we have Fukushima?

[Hotler]

44. If you like mob movies it is not bad. n/t

[Demeter]

16. The Congressman Formerly Known as Crazy Why Alan Grayson is now the most effective member of the Hou

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/07/florida_democrat_alan_grayson_is_the_most_effective_member_of_the_house.html

...

Grayson’s back because the last round of redistricting created a new, safe seat in metro Orlando. He won it, reclaiming a job he says he wants to keep “for a long, long time.” In doing so he’s stopped being a Republican target and started getting along with the majority. In his office, the only evidence that he used to irritate the other party is a plaque on his desk: I Have Flying Monkeys and I’m Not Afraid to Use Them. He doesn’t use them on Republicans anymore. “I don’t think they feel the same sort of glee,” he says. “I don’t see them using me as a fundraising ploy.”

The new strategy is simple. Grayson and his staff scan the bills that come out of the majority. They scan amendments that passed in previous Congresses but died at some point along the way. They resurrect or mold bills that can appeal to the libertarian streak in the GOP, and Grayson lobbies his colleagues personally. That’s how he attached a ban on funding for “unmanned aerial vehicles,” i.e. drones, to the homeland security bill. He swears that they don’t back away from him because of his old persona—well, his relationship with Webster is “strained,” but he points out that Webster won re-election by 5,000 votes and Grayson won with 70,000. Never mind that. Are the members of Congress more forgiving than members of the press?

“It’s either that, or we’re all senile,” he says. “In some cases it’s a short conversation. In some cases it’s a long conversation. In some cases, they’re desperate to talk to somebody. Some members are actually very lonely people.”

This is how he brings members aboard on bills that either keep resources in Florida or enshrine some liberal or libertarian principle in the law. “They might come from the perspective that Barack Obama is a horrible president, and I come from the perspective of being critical of the military-industrial complex.” Grayson added one amendment to the last homeland security funding bill that prohibited “funds in the bill from being used in contravention of the First, Second, or Fourth Amendments.” That was surprisingly easy to do...

[xchrom]

17. Sweden to further toughen rules for banks

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/26/uk-sweden-financialstability-idUKBRE97P08H20130826


(Reuters) - Sweden will introduce tighter rules for its banks, worried about some of the highest levels of household debt in Europe, pressuring lenders that already have some of the toughest rules in the region.

Sweden's centre-right government said on Monday it would propose new measures to strengthen financial stability and said that it could further raise capital requirements for the sector - with assets around four times the country's gross domestic product.

Financial Markets Minister Peter Norman said that Sweden's banks were well capitalized and robust, but more needed to be done to ensure financial stability.

"It is ... our view that going forward we need to further increase the buffers in the Swedish bank system," Norman told a news conference.

[xchrom]

18. Exclusive: T. Rowe bans some American Airlines employees from fund trading

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/26/uk-trowe-amr-tradingban-idUKBRE97P09Y20130826

(Reuters) - T. Rowe Price Group (TROW.O) has permanently banned about 1,300 American Airlines employees from trading among its funds in their 401(k) retirement plans, a rare move to curb "collective" trading by subscribers to an investment newsletter.

About 800 additional employees have received warning letters about their trading patterns, according to sources at the airline and at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), administrator of the retirement plan.

The ban, confirmed by the airline and the fund company in response to a Reuters inquiry, follows a period of several years in which T. Rowe Price imposed a series of temporary trading restrictions on some subscribers to the EZTracker LLC newsletter for American Airlines employees.

The newsletter suggests monthly mutual fund trades to more than 2,000 subscribers who invest in the company's defined contribution plan known as $uper $aver 401(k). The plan has more than 80,000 participants.

[Demeter]

20. WTF?

Does this make sense to anyone?

Good morning, X! Have a happy week! I'm going off to try to salvage my PC...wish me luck!

Doubt I'll be back before tomorrow...

[xchrom]

21. good luck, miss demeter!

no, it doesn't make sense to me. i can't pretend to understand it.

[xchrom]

19. Deutsche Boerse says Eurex trading again after outage

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/26/uk-deutscheboerse-eurex-halt-idUKBRE97P09120130826

(Reuters) - Exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) said trading on its derivatives platform Eurex had been halted for over an hour on Monday, without giving an immediate explanation for the failure.

Deutsche Boerse said in a statement on its website that trading resumed at 0922 Central European Time, with a company spokesman declining to comment further.

The market impact of the trading glitch appeared to have been limited. A public holiday in London meant most traders in Europe's largest equity market were not at their desks, and trading volumes remained well below their daily average.

Global markets have faced technological glitches recently. Last week the Nasdaq (NDAQ.O) stock exchange halted trading for three hours citing a "connectivity issue".

[DemReadingDU]

26. another 'technical glitch'

[xchrom]

22. private lobbyists get public pensions in 20 states

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PRIVATE_LOBBYISTS_PUBLIC_PENSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-25-10-19-51

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- As a lobbyist in New York's statehouse, Stephen Acquario is doing pretty well. He pulls down $204,000 a year, more than the governor makes, gets a Ford Explorer as his company car and is afforded another special perk:

Even though he's not a government employee, he is entitled to a full state pension.

He's among hundreds of lobbyists in at least 20 states who get public pensions because they represent associations of counties, cities and school boards, an Associated Press review found. Legislatures granted them access decades ago on the premise that they serve governments and the public. In many cases, such access also includes state health care benefits.

But several states have started to question whether these organizations should qualify for such benefits, since they are private entities in most respects: They face no public oversight of their activities, can pay their top executives private-sector salaries and sometimes lobby for positions in conflict with taxpayers. New Jersey and Illinois are among the states considering legislation that would end their inclusion.

"It's a question of, `Why are we providing government pensions to these private organizations?'" said Illinois Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz.

[xchrom]

23. WORLD STOCKS UNEVEN OVER US STIMULUS UNCERTAINTY

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-26-06-57-45

LONDON (AP) -- Stock markets in Europe were trading lower Monday despite a positive session in Asia, weighed down by uncertainty over the planned phase-out of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program.

The subdued trading in Europe followed talks on stimulus measures at a weekend gathering of the world's central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told the conference that world's major central banks should not withdraw their unconventional support for weak economies too soon.

Lagarde said stimulus measures were still needed in key regions, especially in Europe and Japan, which have struggled with prolonged economic weakness.

"Unconventional monetary policy is still needed in all places it is being used, albeit longer for some than for others," Lagarde said in her speech Friday.

[Demeter]

24. EverBank to pay $37 million to mortgage customers

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26411-everbank-agrees-to-pay-37-million-to-customers

Borrowers whose home was in any stage of foreclosure between 2009 and 2010 with EverBank will be granted cash compensation, with payments ranging from $1,050 to $125,000 plus equity when appropriate.

Borrowers who are eligible will be contacted directly by a third-party paying agent and will receive compensation whether or not they filed a request for review form. To be eligible for compensation, borrowers are not required to take further action.

Additional information regarding payments will be announced in the near future, the OCC said in a statement.

Because EverBank was subject to a cease and desist order for unsafe and unsound practices in mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing, it will consent to an amendment to the order, which will put an end to the Independent Foreclosure Review process for the bank and its customers...more

[Demeter]

25. Goldman Losses on Options Glitch Limited

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323407104579035793820519368.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -0.48% will rack up tens of millions of dollars in losses for sending waves of erroneous orders into the stock-options market last week, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Goldman's misstep, traced to a technical glitch at a software program used by the firm's options-trading business, roiled prices shortly after U.S. markets opened on Tuesday. After sifting through each trade, exchanges canceled or adjusted many of the trades.

Their actions stanched what would have been an even more costly mistake. People familiar with the matter last week estimated that Goldman's losses could have reached hundreds of millions of dollars....

THE SQUID GOT BIT!

[xchrom]

27. Aid Debate: Merkel Leaves Door Open to Greek Debt Cut

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/merkel-declines-to-rule-out-greek-debt-cut-a-918560.html

German Chancellor Angela Merkel declined on Monday to categorically rule out a debt cut for Greece in a sign that she is keeping all her options open for tackling the euro crisis if she wins a third term -- as widely expected -- in the September 22 general election.

"I would explicitly warn against a debt cut," she told news magazine Focus in an interview published on Monday.
That's just a warning, and it falls far short of the categoric statement made by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble on Sunday when he said that the euro-zone finance ministers had vowed that the first debt cut for Greece was a "total one-off, never again." There would be no repeat of the debt cut, Schäuble said.

Other politicians from Merkel's center-right coalition have also ruled out another debt cut, although European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, a member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, said it may happen. "A debt cut isn't an issue in the foreseeable future but one can't rule it out forever," Oettinger told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Schäuble himself had raised the issue of fresh funding for Greece when he told an election campaign rally last Tuesday that the country would need a third aid program in 2014.

[xchrom]

28. Greece 'may need 10bn euros more' in aid - Stournaras

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23834621

Greece may need a third bailout but would not accept new austerity measures, the Greek finance minister has said.

Yannis Stournaras said: "If there is need for further support to Greece, it will be in the order of about 10bn euros (£8.6bn; $13.4bn), or much smaller than the previous programmes."

Greece has already received two bailouts totalling about 240bn euros.

Meanwhile, Angela Merkel has warned about writing down any more Greek debt.

[xchrom]

29. Markets Are Going Lower

http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-august-26-2013-8

The week begins and markets are lower.
The worst is Europe, where Italy is off 1.6%, Spain is off about 1%, and Germany is down 0.2%.

Stocks had started higher in Japan, but ultimately ended lower to the tune of 0.18%, which isn't too dramatic.

US futures are down just a hair.

This marks the start of a decently busy week for the US economy, including Durable Goods data which comes out later today.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-august-26-2013-8#ixzz2d4ve8ulH

[xchrom]

30. Wall Street Is So Obsessed With The Taper, It's Missing The Bigger Threat Coming Out Of Washington

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-not-talking-much-about-the-debt-ceiling-2013-8

When it comes to talk of policy, the conversation is almost entirely consumed by "The Taper," the possibility that the Fed will reduce the pace of QE asset purchases starting in September.

Assuming the economic data doesn't collapse before then, this is likely to be announced in mid-September (the August jobs report will be the final number to confirm whether or not this happens).

But while tapering might be seen as tightening by some, such an announcement likely just represents a shift at the Fed in how to fight the ongoing malaise, as more emphasis is placed on forward guidance (commitments to keep rates low) as opposed to asset purchases. And so the whole tapering question is overblown.

The bigger immediate story for the market is the fiscal fight, which is getting almost no attention outside of the political press, but is looking kind of 2011ish.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-not-talking-much-about-the-debt-ceiling-2013-8#ixzz2d4xUNn00

[xchrom]

31. America's Imperial Disdain For the Emerging World

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/americas-imperial-disdain-for-the-emerging-world/279012/

August this year has been exceptionally unkind to the emerging world. We know that Egypt has been plunged into political and economic turmoil, yet that is only the most extreme case. Elsewhere, stories proliferate about economic slowdowns in Peru and China, and protests in Brazil and Turkey (among others).

Yet rather than viewing these events in the larger context of the past decade, the most common response is to write the obituary of emerging world development. As a lead article in the New York Times said this week: "with expectations mounting that the Federal Reserve, led by its departing chairman Ben S. Bernanke, may soon begin to tighten its monetary spigot, Istanbul's skyline could well be a harbinger of an emerging-market bust brought on by unpaid loans, weakening currencies and, eventually, the possible failure of developers and banks." The Wall Street Journal even got a tad cheeky, saying about the investing landscape, "Buying Dips? Stick To Hummus, Not Emerging Markets."

These obituaries are likely to be premature. Our imperialist mindset -- a hangover from the 20th century -- suggests that developing countries are always helpless without the West. That says more about our limited analytical abilities than about how the emerging world will fare.

[xchrom]

32. Orders for U.S. Durable Goods Fell More Than Forecast

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/orders-for-u-s-durable-goods-fell-more-than-forecast-in-july.html

Orders for U.S. durable goods fell more than forecast in July after three months of increases, indicating manufacturing will be slow to strengthen.

Bookings (DGNOCHNG) for goods meant to last at least three years decreased 7.3 percent, the most since August 2012, after a 3.9 percent gain in June, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 4 percent drop. Orders waned for aircraft and capital goods such as computers and electrical equipment.

The report shows struggling overseas markets and the effects of federal government spending cuts are lingering and holding back manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the economy. Further improvement in the labor market and sustained demand for automobiles and housing would help spur production through the second half of the year.

The figures reflect “a pretty soft global demand environment and still not incredibly strong domestic demand conditions,” Sean Incremona, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, said before the report. “I think we’ll probably continue to see this modest growth path through the end of the year with headwinds abating next year.”

[DemReadingDU]

33. 60 Minutes: Facial Recognition

8/25/13 A Face in the Crowd: Say goodbye to anonymity
This was originally broadcast on 5/19/13
Even if your picture isn't on the Internet, computerized facial recognition makes it virtually impossible to keep your "faceprint" private. Lesley Stahl reports.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57599773/a-face-in-the-crowd-say-goodbye-to-anonymity/
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50153673n video appx 13 minutes

additional segments
5/19/13 12.8M mug shots and counting
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50147167n

5/19/13 Facebook and the FBI
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50147168n

[DemReadingDU]

38. Ohioans not told how license photos used

8/26/13 Ohioans not told how license photos used
2 months ago, facial recognition software launched that scans IDs, mug shots

Without informing the public and without first reviewing security rules for the system, Ohio law enforcement officers started using facial recognition technology more than two months ago, scanning databases of driver’s license photos and police mug shots to identify crime suspects, The Enquirer has learned.

After they launched the system, officials in Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office weighed what new security protocols to establish for the state’s law enforcement database and wondered when they’d be ready to tell the public about it. In hundreds of pages of e-mails and memos reviewed by The Enquirer, officials also disagreed about whether the system was in beta testing or in a full launch and promised to make changes to the website that would be used to upload license photos, which was vulnerable to hackers.

Since June, police officers have performed 2,600 searches using the new database feature, which is designed to analyze a snapshot or, in some cases, security camera image, and identify the person by matching the photo with his or her driver’s license photo or police mug shot.

DeWine last week told The Enquirer he didn’t think the public needed to be notified about the launch because 26 other states have facial recognition databases. Now, more than two months into the launch, he’s creating an advisory group of judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials to make recommendations for updated rules for the system’s use.

more...
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130825/NEWS010801/308250087?nclick_check=1

[Demeter]

40. I have no words

that are fit to print.

[DemReadingDU]

41. and 26 other states!

We're all going to need to wear masks, 24/7

[DemReadingDU]

34. Wal-Mart air fleet gets taxpayer aid

8/26/13 Wal-Mart air fleet gets taxpayer aid

Taxpayers are increasingly picking up the tab for the control tower at an airport that’s home to Wal-Mart Stores’ corporate fleet, at a time lawmakers say they want to ban perks for hometown interests.

Language inserted into a spending bill two years ago spared the world’s biggest company by revenue from losing taxpayer-funded controllers to guide its approximately 20 jets based in Rogers, Ark., near its Bentonville headquarters.

The measure was championed by two Arkansas lawmakers – Republican Rep. Steve Womack and Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor – whose biggest donors include Wal-Mart employees. Taxpayers were left responsible for a higher share of costs of operating the Rogers tower than called for by U.S. guidelines for low-traffic airports.

“In this time when we’re trying to reduce deficits and find smart ways to cut what we’re spending, here we are essentially giving a subsidy to a private corporation under the guise of air-traffic control,” said Erich Zimmermann, senior policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense in Washington.

The measure shows lawmakers are still granting perks to special interests after banning earmarks to aid specific projects more than two years ago. It also demonstrates that support in Congress for the nation’s 251 air-traffic towers staffed by contract workers instead of government controllers hasn’t wavered, as a decline in flights has turned some airports into sleepy backwaters.

more...
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130826/BIZ/308269986/1031/biz

[Fuddnik]

37. Awww. Fuck me with a......(insert inanimate object here)

Just my wonderful mood today.

Can anything get any more fucked up than they are now? Don't answer that, I know the answer.

Walmart "employee donors"?

I didn't know you could donate food stamps and medicaid cards to politicians.

[DemReadingDU]

35. Excellent Documentary - Fault Lines: Made in Bangladesh

8/26/13 Fault Lines: Made in Bangladesh
AlJazeeraEnglish - After deadly factory disasters,we investigate if retailers like Walmart know where their clothes are being made. video appx 25 minutes

&feature=youtu.be


8/26/13 Made in Bangladesh
After deadly factory disasters,we investigate if retailers like Walmart and GAP know where their clothes are being made.

In November 2012, a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh killed at least 112 people. Walmart’s Faded Glory brand shorts were among the clothing found in the charred remains. The retailer blamed its supplier, saying the order had been sub-contracted to Tazreen without its authorisation.

Fault Lines obtained documents related to the order and investigates whether Walmart has lost control of its supply chain in Bangladesh. We speak to the owner of the factory at the centre of the Faded Glory order that ended up in Tazreen, as well as other players directly involved in the order.

We also interview an auditor who gives us an insider’s perspective on the way Walmart gets its clothing manufactured.

And we visit factories where clothing items are being worked on by children as young as 12.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2013/08/201382611617275364.html