STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 24 December 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 24 December 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 23 December 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 23 December 2013
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Dow Jones 16,294.61 +73.47 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,827.99 +9.67 (0.53%)
Nasdaq 4,148.90 +44.16 (1.08%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.93% +0.02 (0.69%)
30 Year 3.85% +0.02 (0.52%) [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]

[Demeter]

1. T'was the Night Before Christmas

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[Demeter]

7. MARK FIORE: SPYING CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN!

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[DemReadingDU]

10. +++

[Demeter]

2. S&P affirms Britain's triple-A rating but strips EU (COAL IN MERKEL'S STOCKING)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10529734/SandP-affirms-Britains-triple-A-rating-but-strips-EU.html



Standard & Poor's confirmed Britain's last remaining triple-A credit rating but said it could be lost if the recovery did not take hold.

However, it cut its rating for the European Union from AAA to AA-plus, citing rising tensions on regional budget negotiations.

S&P said Britain continued to benefit from "exceptional monetary flexibility" as it affirmed the UK's long-term rating at AAA/A-1+.

The rating agency said Britain's economy was recovering on the back of private consumption and residential investment but said the outlook remained negative, reflecting its "view of risks to the sustainability of economic growth".

On the European Union, S&P said: "In our opinion, the overall creditworthiness of the now 28 European Union (EU) member states has declined...

[Demeter]

3. BitTorrent unveils secure messaging service to counter 'NSA dragnet surveillance'

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/19/5228116/bittorrent-chat-private-peer-to-peer-messaging-service



BitTorrent wants to build a secure chat service that will only ever let a message's sender and receiver take a look at what's being sent — encrypted or otherwise. It announced the service several months ago, and today it's detailing how BitTorrent Chat will work. In a blog post, BitTorrent explains that the service will use public key encryption, forward secrecy, and a distributed hash table — a jumble of technologies that mean chats will be individually encrypted and won't be stored on some company's server.

The service is in part a response to the NSA's wide-reaching surveillance programs, among other privacy concerns. "It’s become increasingly clear that we need to devote hackathons, hours and resources to developing a messaging app that protects user privacy," Christian Averill, BitTorrent's director of communications, writes in a blog post. Because most current chat services rely on central servers to facilitate the exchange of messages, Averill writes, "they're vulnerable: to hackers, to NSA dragnet surveillance sweeps."

BitTorrent chat aims to avoid those vulnerabilities through its encryption methods and decentralized infrastructure. Rather than checking in with one specific server, users of BitTorrent chat will collectively help each other figure out where to route messages to. In order to get started chatting, you'll just need to give someone else your public key — effectively your identifier. Exchanging public keys doesn't sound like the simplest way to begin a chat, but Averill tells The Verge that BitTorrent hopes to make it easy enough for anyone interested. "What we're going to do is to make sure there are options for how this is set up," Averill writes in an email. "This way it will appeal to the more privacy conscious consumer as well as the less technically inclined."

BitTorrent isn't quite ready to detail how that'll work or what it'll be like to actually use the service though. For now, it remains in a private testing phase that interested users can apply for access to. There's no word on when it'll be open to everyone, but with all of the recent surveillance revelations, it's easy to imagine that some people will be eager to get started.


SNOWDEN CAN START A NEW CAREER--ENDORSING SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE TO DEFEAT NSA

[Demeter]

4. The Kansas Regents’ (Unintentional) Honesty about Academic Freedom By William K. Black

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/12/kansas-regents-unintentional-honesty-academic-freedom.html#more-7168

I published a column this morning about the Kansas Regents’ effective elimination of academic freedom of tenure.

In thinking about the rule I realized that I had failed to make in blunt terms five points about how radical a rule it was. I circulated these five points about an hour ago to a number of my contacts.

1. The Regents’ rule allows the CEO to terminate tenured faculty upon their arrest for a felony. There is no requirement for a conviction and no provision for reinstatement if not convicted.
   
   
2. Truth is no defense. The comment that tenured faculty makes can be accurate and the faculty member can still be fired by the university’s CEO.
   
   
3. Lack of ill intent is no defense. The faculty member can make an accurate statement of fact or well-founded statement of opinion for exemplary purposes and can still be fired.
   
   
4. There are no meaningful “standards” so the statement by the faculty member could unknowingly subject him/her to dismissal because the faculty member did not know that the CEO was a global climate change denier (or partisan) and believes that those with the opposite view pose a grave threat. The concepts are so vague and subjective (“harmony” and “efficiency”) that a faculty member’s only sure means of safety is to say nothing.
   
   
5. The rule creates different levels of (not very) protected speech. The same statement by a professor in a traditional physically published journal – if not posted online (recall that most print publishers also make one’s article available on line) — enjoys greater protection that any comment published “online.”

But upon further review as they now say in the NFL, I realized that I failed to point out the most fundamental aspect of the Regents’ rule changes. In an odd way, this aspect suggests a certain degree of (unintentional) honesty by the Regents. There is nothing in the Regents’ rule changes that evidences any understanding that universities are not businesses run for the purposes of whatever the CEO defines as “efficiency.” There is no fig leaf provided by any clause in the rule changes that suggests that the Regents believe there is any value to academic freedom. The Regents have not crafted a word in the rule changes purporting to value vigorous debate and inquiry, the expression of diverse and unpopular views, or academic integrity in “speaking truth to power.” Instead, they had their lawyers craft the most draconian restriction on “online” academic free speech that they believed could pass constitutional review. They never inquired whether that was a good way to run what was, until yesterday, a top university system. The Regents have made clear that they want to crush academic freedom because they do not value it.

[Demeter]

5. Tax Reform Appears Dead By: Jon Walker

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2013/12/19/tax-reform-appears-dead/

The chances of Congress working on tax reform next year have gone from very unlikely to effectively zero with the decision by President Obama to name Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) ambassador to China. Baucus is chair of the extremely powerful Senate Finance Committee.

Despite the long odds, Baucus has been working towards creating a comprehensive tax reform plan with House Ways and Means chair David Camp (R-MI). The plan has faced resistance from many fronts but the pair has between trying to make something work for almost a year

Obviously, if Baucus is in China there is no way he can push for tax reform next year. It is also likely Baucus wouldn’t be entertaining taking this appointment unless it was clear his goal of tax reform was basically dead anyway.

Tax reform can be added to the growing list of legislative goals that appear dead on arrival in Congress next year. Don’t expect this Congress to be any more productive in the second half of the term.


I WOULDN'T EXPECT MUCH FROM BAUCUS, EVEN IF HE WERE STAYING.

[Demeter]

6. Unemployed Americans Speak Out as Benefits are Slashed at Christmas PETITION

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20722-voices-of-unemployed-americans-as-benefits-are-slashed-at-christmas

...Unless Congress acts, millions will be left with no benefits to support their families in an economy where there are still 3 unemployed workers for every job and the average length of unemployment is more than 37 weeks. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program is scheduled to end December 28, 2013 - reducing unemployment benefits from 63 weeks to 26 weeks in many states. According to the Department of Labor, 3.2 million Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of June if this program is not continued....

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-congress-extend.fb40?source=c.fb&r_by=1995909

[Demeter]

8. HOW ABOUT THAT ROMNEYCARE?

My sister sent us that WSJ editorial about Obama's de facto repeal of Obamacare. Since she lives in MA, I asked how the prototype they have been beta-testing is going. She sent this:

http://www.wbur.org/2013/12/18/mass-health-care-spending

Mass. Residents Spend More On Health Care, Report Finds By Michael Norton
December 18, 2013

BOSTON — Massachusetts residents use health care services at an often significantly higher clip than their U.S. counterparts and the cost of those services is higher than in any other state, according to a new report that pegs per capita spending on health care in Massachusetts at 36 percent higher than the national average in 2009. The report by the state Health Policy Commission, which heard testimony this fall from industry stakeholders, found that in addition to higher utilization rates, Massachusetts also has higher prices than the U.S. average across all payer types, from Medicare and MassHealth to commercial plans.

“Spending in Massachusetts is the highest of any state in the U.S., crowding out other priorities for consumers, business, and government,” said the report, which is marked for release and discussion at the commission’s annual meeting Wednesday. “Over the past decade, Massachusetts health care spending has grown much faster than the national average, driven primarily by faster growth in commercial prices.”

The report, which drew many of its conclusions based on data from 2009, does not measure cost escalation against the 3.6 percent growth benchmark established in the 2012 cost control law. The benchmark will be reviewed in 2014 and a report next year will measure progress against the benchmark.

After expanding coverage opportunities with a 2006 law, state policymakers are hoping new transparency, cost control and care delivery methods will bring health care cost growth in line with or beneath growth in the state economy. The preliminary findings of the 2013 cost trends report will factor into the continuing debate over whether the cost control law is working as intended or whether it needs modifications, and whether intervention is required to stem cost growth in a huge economic sector.

Among the report’s findings:

• Health care spending as a proportion of the state economy rose over the last decade, from under 13 percent in the early 2000s to 16.8 percent in 2009, a rate estimated to roughly hold through 2012. The report also used 2009 figures in concluding per capita health care spending in Massachusetts is the highest among states, at $9,278, compared to U.S. per capita health care spending in 2009 of $6,815.
  
  
• Spending on hospital care and long-term care accounted for the bulk of the difference between per capita health care spending in Massachusetts and nationwide. Higher per capita state spending on hospital and long-term care was evident in the massive Medicare and Medicaid programs as well.
  
  
• Compared to the United States, Massachusetts has a higher percentage of residents enrolled in Medicaid and spends more per Medicaid enrollee. Using 2009 figures, the report estimated $8,278 in expenditures per Medicaid enrollee, 21 percent higher than the U.S. figure of $6,826, due to factors such as the health status of enrollees, the “breadth of benefits,” and higher reimbursement rates to physicians. At 20.3 percent, Massachusetts has 23 percent more of its residents enrolled in Medicaid than the U.S., at 16.5 percent, a situation attributed to broader eligibility categories and differences in demographics.
  
  
• Massachusetts residents used outpatient hospital services 72 percent more than their U.S. counterparts, and inpatient admissions were 10 percent higher than the United States. Emergency department visits in Massachusetts were 13 percent higher and outpatient surgeries were 27 percent higher than the U.S.
  
  
• Major teaching hospitals play a far bigger role in the delivery of inpatient care in Massachusetts compared to the national average. For example, 40 percent of Medicare discharges in Massachusetts are in major teaching hospitals, compared to 16 percent nationwide.
  
  
• At 15.4 percent, the Massachusetts asthma rate was higher than the U.S. rate of 13.6 percent, but Massachusetts showed lower rates of chronic disease prevalence than the U.S. as a whole, including rates of diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancer and depression.
  
  

[Demeter]

9. MARK FIORE: I'm an Internet Company, I'm the Government

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[Demeter]

11. Fed's Mortgage Role Expands

THIS IS HOW YOUR FRIENDLY FED LAUNDERS FILTHY FORECLOSURES...

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304773104579268540755093058



The Federal Reserve's role in the mortgage market has expanded over the past three months and could remain large for now, even as the central bank attempts to shrink its bond-buying program.

The Fed has been buying at least $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month, and often much more, along with $45 billion in Treasury bonds. The Fed said on Wednesday that it would reduce its monthly purchases of each type of debt by $5 billion beginning next month.

A sharp rise in interest rates this summer ended the latest home-refinancing boom, crimping mortgage-bond issuance. But the Fed won't reduce its share of mortgage-bond purchases until January. Because bond production has tumbled, the Fed's share of total mortgage-bond purchases has risen significantly over the past three months...

MORE

[Demeter]

12. One Hundred Years Is Enough: Time to Make the Fed a Public Utility By Ellen Brown

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20793-100-years-is-enough-time-to-make-the-fed-a-public-utility

December 23rd, 2013, marks the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve, warranting a review of its performance. Has it achieved the purposes for which it was designed?

The answer depends on whose purposes we are talking about. For the banks, the Fed has served quite well. For the laboring masses whose populist movement prompted it, not much has changed in a century.

Thwarting Populist Demands

The Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913 in response to a wave of bank crises, which had hit on average every six years over a period of 80 years. The resulting economic depressions triggered a populist movement for monetary reform in the 1890s. Mary Ellen Lease, an early populist leader, said in a fiery speech that could have been written today:

Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street. The great common people of this country are slaves, and monopoly is the master. . . . Money rules . . . .Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us. . . .

We want money, land and transportation. We want the abolition of the National Banks, and we want the power to make loans direct from the government. We want the foreclosure system wiped out.

MUCH MORE HISTORY AT LINK

[Demeter]

13. BED TIME! SLEEP WELL!

[xchrom]

14. China move calms credit concerns

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25503584

China's central bank has pumped $5bn (£3.1bn) into the banking system to ease concerns over a credit squeeze that has caused rising interest rates.

The People's Bank of China did not explain its actions, but over the last few days there has been growing concern over the availability of credit.

That has been reflected in the interest rates banks charge each other.

On Monday one important benchmark rate rose to its highest level since June, the height of China's credit crunch.

[xchrom]

15. Markets Are Up In Europe

http://www.businessinsider.com/european-markets-dec-24-2013-2013-12

Markets are up early in Europe's holiday-shortened trading session.
Britain's FTSE 100 is up 0.4%.

France's CAC 40 is up 0.2%.

Spain's IBEX is up 0.6%.

Germany, Italy, and most other major European markets are closed.

U.S. futures are up a hair after U.S. stocks closed at new record highs on Monday.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/european-markets-dec-24-2013-2013-12#ixzz2oOO1KGOP

[xchrom]

16. MAP: The Fastest Growing Trade Routes In The World

http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-trade-routes-2013-12

Comparative cost advantages and emerging market growth are among the forces fueling international trade.

Below is a map from Goldman Sachs of the world's fastest-growing trade routes since 2005. And as you can see, it's been all about China.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-trade-routes-2013-12#ixzz2oOOVykMq

[Demeter]

18. I'm surprised that we have any trade left at all with Latin America

Between the mercs and the spies and the 5th columnistas....I'm surprised they haven't put up a huge, electrified fence across the Mexican border to keep us in....

oh, wait a minute, forget that...

[DemReadingDU]

20. What does the U.S. make that anyone would trade for?

IMO, the U.S. imports just about everything nowadays.

[golfguru]

26. USA still exports some stuff such as

Movies from Hollywood
Military hardware ranging from fighter planes to bullets
Commercial aircraft
Food & Agricultural products
Newest & greatest Pharmaceuticals & medical devices
Computer software & services (IBM)
Chemicals

[xchrom]

17. This $7 Billion Deal Explains Who Really Runs Iran

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-7-billion-deal-explains-who-really-runs-iran-2013-12


Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari salute while reviewing a military parade in the city of Yazd, about 560 km (350 miles) south east of Tehran January 4, 2008.

(Reuters) - In the fall of 2009, two of Iran's most powerful entities teamed up to participate in the largest deal in the history of the country's stock exchange.
The partners were the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's elite military unit, and a multi-billion dollar business empire known as Setad that is controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Guards and Setad formed a consortium to bid on a controlling stake in Telecommunication Co of Iran, or TCI, which had a near monopoly on landline telephone services. The partners won the stake for $7.8 billion, Iran's largest privatization ever.

The deal stirred up controversy when Iranian media reported that another bidder for TCI had been eliminated the day before the sale by the regulator, the Iranian Privatisation Organisation, or IPO. The man then heading up the IPO was Gholamreza Heydari Kord Zanganeh. One local news organisation dubbed him "Mr. Privatisation."



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/this-7-billion-deal-explains-who-really-runs-iran-2013-12#ixzz2oOPf1qyl

[Demeter]

19. Poll: Support For Obamacare Dips To Record Low GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-support-for-obamacare-dips-to-record-low



Americans' support for the Affordable Care Act has reached a record low, according to a new poll, continuing a recent trend of poor poll numbers for President Barack Obama and his signature legislative accomplishment.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday showed support for Obamacare dropped five points in less than a month, to 35 percent. Opposition to the law is up four points from November, to 62 percent. As CNN noted, virtually all the newfound opposition to the health care law came from women. Sixty percent of women now oppose the law, up from 54 percent in November. In contrast, opinion of the law remained unchanged among men.

The survey also seemed to show less optimism towards the law: 42 percent said they would be personally worse off under Obamacare, and 63 percent said they believed the law would increase the amount of money they personally pay for medical care.

The CNN/ORC Poll surveyed 1,035 adults nationwide from Dec. 16-19. It has a margin of error of plus of 3 percentage points.


WHO WILL TELL THE BOG? NOT ME!

[Fuddnik]

21. Santa gets ready to take off on his sled.

On Sara, On Rosco. On Stoli and Fudd. On Drinkin and Tokin, and Tiger and Tyson.

Merry X-mas, and spiked eggnog and legalized weed for all.

[Demeter]

22. I can see it now: Santa in a Speedo

I'm not drunk enough (yet) for that

[DemReadingDU]

23. lol!

Merry Christmas to all!

[Tansy_Gold]

24. Some people really ought to be ashamed of themselves...

...for putting ridiculous costumes on dogs and humiliating the poor animals like that!




and a Merry Day to all!

[Ghost Dog]

25. Nice one, Fudd. Some fresh music for y'all here:

http://www.aridisland.com/records/

(I just got home and finished some work. It's 3:12 AM. Cool).

[golfguru]

27. Very Kewl!

But don't you need a hard helmet?