STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 25 November 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 25 November 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 22 November 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 22 November 2013
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Dow Jones 16,064.77 +54.78 (0.34%)
S&P 500 1,804.76 +8.91 (0.50%)
Nasdaq 3,991.65 +22.50 (0.57%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.74% -0.03 (-1.08%)
30 Year 3.83% -0.03 (-0.78%) [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.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.








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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]

[jtuck004]

1. Failure To Punish Wall St Weighs on Economy

by Washingtons Blog - November 25th, 2013, 1:30am

Government Excuses for Letting the Banksters Off Scot-Free Are Bogus; Failure To Punish Wall Street Criminals Is The Core Cause Of Our Sick Economy

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said:

I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions [banks] becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy

As we’ve repeatedly noted, this is wholly untrue.
...
If the big banks generated prosperity for the economy, would they have to be virtually 100% subsidized to keep them afloat?
...

Indeed, Judge Rakoff notes that the government had a large hand in creating the fraud in the first place. In fact, the government has done everything it can to cover up fraud, and has been actively encouraging criminal fraud and attacking those trying to blow the whistle.

The failure to punish the fraudsters is the core cause of our sick economy.

Here

We live in a country where there ought to be outrage over austerity, over the banksters and their fraud that has been engendered and then protected by, all of which props up the assets of the wealthy on the backs of the working person.

Yet there is no outrage. People just go to work every day, continue their servitude, and die sooner than those they serve.

Leaders of the world, we are.

[DemReadingDU]

8. Exactly, not much outrage, yet

Guess Americans need to come to a boil. They're mainly still simmering, keeping a low profile.

[kickysnana]

24. With the massive brainwashing at School, Church and places of Employment plus

Cities doing "traffic calming" which is impeding the flow of traffic, treating protesters as terrorists, linking anger as criminal behavior, militarizing the police, even medical care is now adversarial as for evil profit medicine takes over we are pretty cowed except when Rush is allowed to direct our anger where they want it to go.

They had a car with 5 kids go in a 10 ft drainage ditch here last week and protocol required someone on the scene to call in a diver, they did not have one sent automatically or on resonable standby. Therefore the rescuers had no air supply and had to fight his inflated suit to try to keep his legs down far enough to try to locate the kids he got three. The others came out when the car was pulled out of the pond by a wrecker. Kids were underwater for up to 55 minutes. When you make everything about politics and terrorism you lose the ability to improvise and rescue is almost last in the protocol, first protocol, then the safety of the rescuer, then the cost, then the victim.

It is a different world but it didn't and doesn't have to be. I hope that people start to come to their senses and start thinking rather than reacting, and blindly following soon. But I have been saying that for over 13 years now.

[xchrom]

2. Parisian craftsman builds heirloom umbrellas that outlast their owners

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/25/parisian-craftsman-builds-heirloom-umbrellas-that-outlast-their-owners/



Easily broken and frequently lost, the humble umbrella is not usually seen as a luxury item. But for Frenchman Michel Heurtault, whose creations can sell for thousands of euros, that is just what they are.

The 48-year-old artisan uses the finest of materials for his umbrellas and parasols, which are made to last and intended to be handed down from generation to generation.

Despite his high prices, Heurtault’s Paris shop attracts clients from around the world — one Qatari princess went for an umbrella handle covered with shagreen, a type of leather, at a cost of more than 8,000 euros ($10,800).

“Umbrellas have always been my passion,” he says with a smile.

***YOU CAN SEE THE COLLECTIONS HERE -- FOR MEN AND WOMEN

http://www.parasolerieheurtault.com/page/collection_intro

[snot]

25. I like the first one, apparently dripping blood.

[DemReadingDU]

27. That's what my car cost

Those umbrellas are lovely, but I'd be afraid of losing it.

[xchrom]

3. WORLD STOCKS RISE ON IRAN DEAL, WALL ST MOMENTUM

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-25-06-55-17

LONDON (AP) -- World stocks rose and oil prices fell Monday after world powers and Iran reached a deal on the country's nuclear program and as Wall Street was set to add to its seven weeks of gains.

Sunday's deal was the first significant progress in years to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions. It will reduce the risk of conflict, improve trade and could boost crude oil supplies to the global economy.

Iran agreed with the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany to limit enrichment of uranium to 5 percent, far below the level needed for nuclear weapons. In return, it got limited relief from sanctions that have hobbled its economy, but an embargo on its oil exports remains in place while negotiations continue for an enduring deal.

"Perhaps the Iran nuclear deal, effectively setting limits to Iran's nuclear program, has added to the buoyant risk mood," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia.

[xchrom]

4. AMERICANS NOT WILLING TO SPEND WITHOUT DEALS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOW_HOLIDAY_SHOPPERS_FEEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-24-13-24-11

NEW YORK (AP) -- This holiday season, Americans may not spend their green unless they see more red.

Despite signs that the economy is improving, big store chains like Wal-Mart and Kohl's don't expect Americans to have much holiday shopping cheer unless they see bold, red signs that offer huge discounts. As a result, shoppers are seeing big sales events earlier and more often than in previous holiday seasons.

Retailers are trying to lure shoppers like Marissa Anwar, who has been doing more bargain hunting compared with last year.

The operations consultant, who lives in Toronto and New York City, said the economy "hasn't been great" and she's lost clients. As a result, she cut her shopping budget to $2,800 from last year's $4,000.

[xchrom]

5. PORTUGAL STRIKES, LEGAL ACTION BRING FISCAL RISK

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_PORTUGAL_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-25-07-23-43

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- The Portuguese government's woes are piling up as it battles to comply with austerity measures demanded by its 78 billion-euro ($105 billion) bailout.

Amid a recent spate of strikes by labor groups and street protests against pay and pension cuts, Lisbon ferry workers walked off the job Monday. Also, court sessions were cancelled as magistrates went on strike, while a walkout by border guards caused delays at airports.

Last weekend, President Anibal Cavaco Silva asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the legality of a new law cutting the pensions of government workers. The court has disallowed key debt-reduction measures five times over the past two years.

Inspectors from Portugal's bailout creditors are due in Lisbon next week amid concerns the country may end up needing more financial help.

[DemReadingDU]

9. French soccer clubs want to strike too

to protest a supertax.

[xchrom]

6. US GAS PRICES UP AVERAGE OF 3 CENTS A GALLON

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-24-15-43-24

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- After nine weeks of falling gas prices, the average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline is up 3 cents over the past two weeks.

The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.25. Midgrade costs an average of $3.44 a gallon, and premium is $3.59.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said it's the first price hike since Sept. 6.

Of the cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, the highest average, $3.58 a gallon, was found in San Diego. The lowest, $2.93, was in Tulsa, Okla.

***I WILL NOTE OIL IS DOWN ON IRAN DEAL.

[DemReadingDU]

10. Our gas jumped .20 cents last Thursday, n/t

[Fuddnik]

28. Three cents?

It's jumped $0.35 here the last 10 days. $3.04- $3.39.

[xchrom]

7. DEFENSE BILL CAUGHT IN CONGRESS' POLITICAL DIVIDE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_DEFENSE_BILL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-25-03-46-16

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For 51 years of war and peace, Republicans and Democrats rallied around a bill to pay the troops, buy ships and aircraft and set military policy.

Last week, the Senate couldn't even agree on votes.

Under pressure from President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was determined to avoid a vote on adding a new batch of tough penalties against Iran to the National Defense Authorization Act as negotiators held nuclear talks in Switzerland. A deal announced Sunday temporarily freezes Iran's nuclear program.

Reid wasn't keen on replaying a fight over the health care law, opening up contentious issues such as government spying or allowing probably the last bill out of Congress this year to become a magnet for other matters.

[xchrom]

11. Auto and Shipping Firms Among Potential Iran Deal Winners

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/auto-and-shipping-firms-among-potential-iran-deal-winners.html

French automakers PSA Peugeot Citroën (UG) and Renault SA (RNO) and companies that transport Iranian oil are poised to benefit from the six-month accord to rein in Iran’s nuclear program while easing trade sanctions.

The deal struck yesterday in Geneva among Iran and six world powers, including the U.S. and its European Union partners, will relax restrictions on cars, petrochemicals, aviation parts, gold, and insurance for oil cargoes. In addition, it will let the Persian Gulf state continue exporting oil at current levels instead of forcing further reductions.

Direct commercial benefits from the agreement will be limited because the primary sanctions on oil and banking remain in place. Its significance may be as the first break in a pattern of ever-tighter sanctions on Iran and a potential first step toward its return to the international economy.

“Any indication that we could resume doing business with our partners in Iran goes in the right direction,” Peugeot spokesman Jean-Baptiste Thomas said yesterday. “We’ll of course welcome the re-opening of the Iranian market.”

[xchrom]

12. RBS Appoints Clifford Chance to Conduct Lending Probe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/cable-refers-rbs-to-regulator-for-driving-u-k-firms-to-default.html

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc appointed Clifford Chance LLP to investigate whether it pushed companies that owed it money into difficulties to boost profit.

RBS said in an e-mailed statement today it appointed the law firm after a report by Lawrence Tomlinson, chairman and founder of LNT Group Ltd., said that once companies were in default, the bank could charge them advisory fees and buy their assets at reduced prices. Business Secretary Vince Cable has referred RBS to the Financial Conduct Authority.

U.K. lenders, including 81 percent taxpayer-owned RBS, have been criticized by the government for holding back lending to businesses since the 2008 financial crisis as they boost capital reserves and clean up their balance sheets. The Bank of England earlier this year extended its plan to provide cheap loans to companies and consumers and make credit available for small firms to help support the economy.

“There are many devastating stories of how RBS has wrecked good businesses and the ruinous impact this has on the lives of the business owners,” Tomlinson said in an e-mailed statement.

[xchrom]

13. Levine on Wall Street: Smaller Fines, Bigger Paychecks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/levine-on-wall-street-smaller-fines-bigger-paychecks.html

JPMorgan would prefer smaller fines

"J.P. Morgan Lawyer Criticizes Big Bank Fines," as well he might, hahaha. Also, "It was surprising to hear J.P. Morgan's general counsel raise such questions just three days after the announcement of the bank's $13 billion settlement with the Justice Department," but it would be even more surprising to hear him criticize the fines three days before the settlement. Once you get rid of all your government lawsuits in one go, I suppose you get your swagger back. Really, the feds should have asked for $12 billion and a nondisparagement agreement.

(Other fun fact from this Wall Street Journal article: JPMorgan's general counsel, Stephen Cutler, used to work at the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he once fined JPMorgan $135 million and then issued a gloaty press release about how the fine would make JPMorgan think about what it had done etc. I suppose that doesn't say much about the appropriateness of last week's settlement, which after all is two orders of magnitude bigger.)

[xchrom]

14. ECB’s Hansson Says Rate Cut Options Not Fully Exhausted

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/ecb-s-hansson-says-rate-cut-options-not-fully-exhausted.html

European Central Bank Governing Council member Ardo Hansson said the ECB stands ready to cut borrowing costs further and is technically prepared to make its deposit rate negative.

“The options on rate cuts are still not fully exhausted and there are all kinds of other measures that are still on the table,” Hansson said in an interview in Tallinn on Nov 22. “Of course, every time you use one option, you have one less to use. But I don’t see us, by any means, running out of our toolkit of things we can draw on.”

The Frankfurt-based ECB, fighting a slowdown in inflation that threatens to undermine the euro area’s recovery, cut its main refinancing rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low of 0.25 percent this month. Bloomberg News reported last week that policy makers are considering a smaller-than-normal cut in the deposit rate, currently at zero, to minus 0.1 percent if more stimulus is needed.

“We are technically ready” to reduce the deposit rate, said Hansson, who also heads Estonia’s central bank. “We’ve had a tradition of using those 25 basis points so I’d have to look at some analysis of different options. Theoretically, a smaller cut wouldn’t be off the table. Certainly, the bigger the move, the more impact you have.”

[xchrom]

15. Europe Twin Woes Fester in ECB’s Job-to-Inflation Fight

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/europe-twin-woes-fester-in-draghi-job-to-inflation-fight.html

Europe’s twin woes of too little inflation and too many unemployed will dominate data due this week just as officials prepare forecasts backing the rationale for Mario Draghi’s surprise interest-rate cut.

Inflation stayed close to the lowest level in almost four years in November with a reading of 0.8 percent, according to the median prediction of 44 economists polled by Bloomberg News. Data published at the same time on Nov. 29 might also reveal the euro-area jobless rate remained at a record 12.2 percent.

Those reports precede quarterly forecasts that the European Central Bank president will present next week, heralded as an opportunity to help explain the Nov. 7 rate cut to 0.25 percent. Draghi said at the time that the region needs record-low borrowing costs to combat a “prolonged” period of weak inflation and “very high” unemployment, while Governing Council member Ardo Hansson said in a Nov. 22 interview that the central bank’s rate-cut options aren’t yet fully exhausted.

“They’re right that Europe is in line for a period of too little inflation, but not deflation,” said Richard Barwell, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London, whose inflation estimate matches the survey median. “They’re going to try to keep the market on high alert that they’ll move if they need to.”

[xchrom]

16. Putin Paves Way for Gazprom Purge as Economy Weakens

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-24/putin-bets-on-gazprom-purge-as-slowdown-threatens-legacy.html

Vladimir Putin wasn’t having a great day. The Russian president had spent the August morning in a helicopter over Khabarovsk, near the Chinese border, surveying flood damage that had left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Then he met with senior advisers who were on the trip, for a briefing on economic issues. They drew parallels to another brewing storm: The energy-export model Putin had relied on to restore Russia’s economic strength had run its course, he was told, said two officials on the trip. The state-dominated economy needed a shock, and, to prevent stagnation as growth slowed, a reset. Something had to be done.

The solution Putin chose will ripple through the entire Russian economy starting next year: He elected to freeze prices at such state companies as OAO Gazprom (GAZP) and OAO Russian Railways. The plan is to set off a chain reaction that will lead to increased efficiency, more stable costs for companies and tamer inflation.

It came with a hitch. That option, one adviser briefing him said, also would trigger lots of yelling from some of his closest allies. After a moment of reflection, Putin shrugged off the concern. If anyone yelled, so be it, he told the officials. They asked not to be identified as the Aug. 29 talks were private.

[xchrom]

17. Aborted EU Deal: Massive Protests Rock Ukraine After Pull-Back

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/massive-protests-rock-ukraine-after-eu-trade-deal-called-off-a-935470.html

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Kiev to protest the Ukrainian government's decision to call off plans for a trade deal with the European Union. The protests were the largest to take place in the country since 2004's Orange Revolution, when accusations of corruption and electoral fraud during that year's presidential election brought thousands of people to the streets and helped overturn the election of Viktor Yanukovych. According to police estimates, Sunday's protest attracted 23,000 people while organizers estimated the number at over 100,000.

The protests were set off by the announcement on Thursday that the Ukrainian government would no longer pursue preparations for the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union in order to "ensure the national security of Ukraine" and "restore lost trade volumes with the Russian Federation." The deal would have created a new framework for trade between the former Soviet republic and the EU, but was seen as worrisome by Russia, which had threatened economic sanctions and travel restrictions should the deal go through.

The Ukrainian parliament had also voted down bills last week which would have allowed imprisoned former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko -- a key figure in the Orange Revolution -- to go to Germany for medical treatment. The release of Tymoshenko, whose jail term for abuse of power and embezzlement is widely seen as politically motivated, was one of the conditions for the EU deal. Kiev has instead announced intentions to create a joint commission to discuss relations between Ukraine, Russia and the EU.

Clashes with Police

It was Tymoshenko who had called for the Sunday protests, where demonstrators marched with flags of the European Union and Ukrainian opposition parties, and shouted slogans like, "We are not the Soviet Union, we are the European Union." Speakers included opposition politician and boxer Vitali Klitschko, who claimed authorities had delayed his plane from landing and said his pro-European party, the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, would "fight for the signing of the Association Agreement." Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk described the debate around the deal as a "choice between the past and the future." After the protest, demonstrators clashed with police, which used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

[xchrom]

18. Amazon workers face 'increased risk of mental illness'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25034598


Online retailer Amazon employs more than 20,000 people across its eight warehouses during its peak Christmas season

A BBC investigation into a UK-based Amazon warehouse has found conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness".

Prof Michael Marmot was shown secret filming of night shifts involving up to 11 miles of walking - where an undercover worker was expected to collect orders every 33 seconds.

It comes as the company employs 15,000 extra staff to cater for Christmas.

Amazon said the safety of its workers was its "number one priority."

[xchrom]

19. is economist tyler owen the next tom friedman?

http://www.nationofchange.org/economist-tyler-cowen-next-tom-friedman-1385380906



I just had a new piece published in Salon.com about Tyler Cowen, the libertarian economist who’s been described as “the next Tom Friedman.” Cowen is always an interesting and entertaining read, more so than Friedman, but he shares Friedman’s infatuation with technology – and his belief that the middle class is disposable. Here are the first couple of paragraphs:

When I was in grade school boys were encourage to read the “Tom Swift Jr.” adventure novels. (On the other side of the gender ghetto, the girls had “Nancy Drew.”) The books told the story of young Tom, teenage inventor and heir to the Swift Enterprises fortune, in tales like “Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober” and “Tom Swift and His Triphibian Atomicar.”

Tom Swift Jr. mirrored a nation’s self-image in the 1950s and 1960s. He was rich, educated and destined for great things. Nothing was impossible and there was no problem technology couldn’t solve.

We won’t say economist/writer Tyler Cowen is Tom Swift Jr. That distinction may already belong to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. But Cowen and Friedman have a shared worldview that, like the Swift Jr. books, sees technology as the answer to our ills. But their future comes with a new twist: It will be a great party, but not everybody’s invited.

Uh-oh, there’s a new Thomas Friedman!

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/22/thomas_friedman_with_a_better_computer_meet_tyler_cowen/

***SNIP

Give him points for audacity. Cowen says of himself in “Creative Destruction,” “I ask some fundamental questions about culture in a market economy. This trade and cultural product support the artistic diversity of the world, or destroy it?”

His response won’t surprise you. Cowen makes the questionable claim that “economic growth usually leads to a reallocation of creative activity to the dynamic and growing artistic sectors …”

But Cowen’s own case studies can betray him. Consider African pop music. Cowen claims that “traditional African drumming … is being replaced by a variety of creative African urban music based on acoustic and electric guitars.”

Not so fast. There was a brief period matching Cowen’s description, but it preceded the major waves of globalization in Africa. It was a good time for African pop: American soul music was fused with Latin dance styles, vibrant electric guitars and traditional percussion, giving rise to styles like high life in Ghana, soukous in Zaire, chimurenga in Zimbabwe and mbaqanga in South Africa.

[xchrom]

20. Markets Are In Rally Mode

http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-november-25-2013-11

The week begins and markets are in rally mode again. It's pretty much clockwork.
US futures are up to the tone of 0.3% or more. Germany is up 0.6%. France is up 0.3%.

Japan had a big night, as the Nikkei gained 1.5%.

Meanwhile, oil, silver, and crude are all down over 1%.

If there's one thing to point to as "news" it's the Iran agreement, which at least has some marginal impact on easing immediate tensions in the region (it would seem). Otherwise, this week will be light on volume and short on time, but actually packed with economic data.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-november-25-2013-11#ixzz2lfTlYu4T

[DemReadingDU]

22. Bubblicious!

[xchrom]

21. Hedge Funds Have Been Getting Smoked This Year

http://www.businessinsider.com/q3-2013-hedge-fund-performance-2013-11

Not many people are able to invest directly in hedge funds. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Through Q3 of this year, hedge funds on average have returned a measly 6% year-to-date.

This is according to Goldman Sachs latest Hedge Fund Trend Monitor report, which examines the performance of 783 hedge funds with $1.7 trillion of gross equity positions.

This year's hedge fund returns compare with a 25.3% gain in the S&P 500. Even mutual funds returned 24.8%.

Interestingly, hedge funds have actually been pretty good at picking long positions. From Goldman Sachs: "Our Hedge Fund VIP list contains the 50 stocks that appear most frequently among the top 10 holdings of fundamentally driven hedge fund portfolios. The basket has returned 30% YTD, 330 bp better than the S&P 500... The top 5 stocks are AIG, AAPL, GOOG, GM, and C, the same as the last two quarters."



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/q3-2013-hedge-fund-performance-2013-11#ixzz2lfVykyCT

[Eugene]

23. Chrysler won't go ahead with IPO in 2013: Fiat

Source: Reuters

Chrysler won't go ahead with IPO in 2013: Fiat

MILAN Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:30am EST

(Reuters) - Italian carmaker Fiat (FIA.MI) said on Monday a planned initial public offering of its U.S. unit Chrysler will not take place this year, prolonging the uncertainty over whether it can reach a deal to buy the stake in the group it does not already own.

The IPO, which Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne had previously said could take place in 2013, was expected to shed light on the U.S. carmaker's value and help settle a long-running spat between Fiat and a healthcare trust which owns 41.5 percent of Chrysler.

"The Board of Directors of Chrysler Group ... has determined that it will not be practicable for Chrysler Group to launch and complete an initial public offering prior to the end of 2013," Fiat said in a statement.

It said it expected Chrysler to work towards an IPO in the first quarter of 2014, but added it could not say if and when such an offer would happen as it would depend on "market conditions and other relevant considerations".

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/25/us-fiat-chrysler-idUSBRE9AO0ER20131125

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26. Guess Wall Street loves Marxism! (snark,,.,do i really need to add that?)