STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 27 December 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 27 December 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 26 December 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 26 December 2013
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Dow Jones 16,479.88 +122.33 (0.75%)
S&P 500 1,842.02 +8.70 (0.47%)
Nasdaq 4,167.18 +11.76 (0.28%)


[font color=black]10 Year 2.99% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=red]30 Year 3.92% +0.01 (0.26%) [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. Love it! Where do they return the office holders?

I've got quite a collection of rejects, in all three branches and most of the 50 states...

[Demeter]

2. If I disappear, it's all Tansy's fault

I was waiting for the new SMW thread, and venturing into fora and groups that I usually don't have time to peruse...so if I get all blocked and booted...at least you will know where I am.

God, I miss the old DU, when it wasn't populated by such infantile, crazy ignoramuses!

[Tansy_Gold]

4. That's right. Blame me!

I keep telling you people to stay out of boggy places, or at least sit on your fingers and don't reply. But nooooo, does anyone listen to me???


I went ice skating for the first time in ~23 years. I didn't fall down. My ankles hurt. I'm going to bed.

[Demeter]

5. Laughing so hard, I'm having a coughing fit

Sleep well, Tansy. You earned it.

I'd join you on skates, but the bruise on my foot is still spreading and green, and it makes my toes swell up...

[Ghost Dog]

14. Hey, I got away with posting twice

in sex-war threads and I'm here to tell the tale. Managed to provoke no comment at all. A definite hit!

[DemReadingDU]

17. Springfield Ohio just opened an ice skating rink

The grandkids would love it, will need to take them.


12/22/13 Crowds, first-time skaters make new rink an early success
Springfield’s downtown arena could be open year-round.
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local/crowds-first-time-skaters-make-new-rink-an-early-s/ncRBX/

[Demeter]

3. The Entire Fiat Money System is Bankrupt: Demise of the Global US Fiat Dollar Reserve Currency

ALARMIST--BUT NOT NECESSARILY WRONG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36724.htm

Major issues or trends do not change on a daily or even monthly basis. A trend may take a few years to run its course and unless there is a major factor that may affect the trend, there is hardly any need to comment any further on the trend or outcomes...The events unraveling post Bernanke’s decision not to taper QE ARE most significant because THEY confirm our analysis that the banking crisis has not been resolved in any significant way after five years of money printing and massive asset inflation. The fiat money system has but one outcome – total collapse. It will also mean the demise of the global US dollar reserve currency.

There are no solutions at hand.

Bernanke is totally discredited and his continued tenure as Chair of the FED would only accelerate the realisation that the FED and all central banks have failed. Hence, the need to change the “leadership” at the FED, but the same policies would be followed with some cosmetic changes to hoodwink the ignorant masses. It is analogous to the transition from the second Bush presidency to that of Obama and all the theatrics of “change” propaganda. In fact, Obama is Bush 2 on steroids! Yellen will be Bernanke on steroids. Why are we so certain of this outcome at Future Fast-Forward?

Our reasons are as follows:

Prior to the Global Financial Tsunami of 2008, I had written several articles exposing the global Too Big To Fail (TBTF) banks as financial rapists and predators and they would cause untold havoc to the financial system.

Post the crisis, I had also warned that these global TBTF banks are all insolvent and the toxic assets on their balance sheets would exceed US$20 trillion at the minimum. The entire fiat money system is bankrupt. Printing toilet paper money by the trillions does not make the system solvent. It is a clear admission that the system is totally broken.

The banking Humpty-Dumpty has fallen from the wall and shattered into a thousand pieces! The confirmation for this is the fact that all central banks led by the FED have only one aim – to create massive asset inflation. How can a stock market of a bankrupt nation be at an all-time high?

The FED and central banks the world over are not interested in resolving the unemployment problem because record unemployment would not collapse the fiat money system. It may trigger massive social unrest but that can be put down by a militarised police force, supported by a battle-hardened military as is happening in the US.

In the circumstances, we need to ask the US$ Trillion question – Why are all the central banks focusing on asset inflation via creation of money out of thin air?

The answer: THE FIAT MONEY SYSTEM IS THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

It used to be that the Petro-dollar was the linchpin of the global economy. However, when the derivatives market took off and became a US$800 Trillion global casino, the US$ toilet paper became the currency in global financial trading and speculation. All the TBTF banks were leveraged to their eyeballs and the collaterals were hypothecated and re-hypothecated so many times over, it became an inverted pyramid joke. The collaterals were bundled up into CDOs etc. rated AAA by corrupt rating agencies and traded. We need not repeat this old story. The point we are making here is that not only are the collaterals junks but they are supporting a mountain of debts in the trillions. Therefore, when collaterals are impaired the TBTF banks are in a hole from which they cannot get out. The FED and other central banks have no choice but to bail out the TBTF banks if a systemic failure is to be avoided. If all the junk collaterals were to be off-loaded at once in the full glare of public scrutiny, there would be a run on all the banks. So, what was required was a stealth rescue effort. The TBTF banks were allowed to unload the junk collaterals bit by bit by the various schemes of the FED culminating in the US$85 billion a month purchases of treasury bonds and mortgages by the FED.

Additionally, newly “minted” collaterals were used to replace the junks so as to clean up the balance sheets of the TBTF banks. I have stated earlier that the minimum amount of toxic assets needed to be mopped up is US$20 trillion. After five years, the FED has just scratched the surface. It is debatable how many US$ Trillions the FED has actually pumped into the system directly and indirectly. How much and how long more can the FED continue to pump US$ toilet paper into the system without creating a massive loss of confidence in the dollar? When the balance sheet of the FED reaches US$7 Trillion or maybe US$10 Trillion? It is anybody’s guess. For sure, there will be a point when another US$100 Billion is created on top of the stash of US$ toilet papers which will tip the scale and collapse the entire system. It is a catch-22 for the FED. If it stops creating fiat money out of thin air, the fiat money system would collapse immediately. If it continues with more money creation, it merely postpones the inevitable and more devastating end-game. This is the price we all have to pay for allowing the fiat money system to hold sway for so long. The world was conned into accepting the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of banking and finance – the US$ Global Reserve Currency Ponzi Scheme. This scheme was created on a sand castle of debt, specifically US Treasury Bonds. The world does not need a Global Reserve Currency. Global trade can be conducted in any currency in accordance to the needs and resources of a country.



Matthias Chang is a Malaysian of Chinese descent. He is a Barrister of 32 years standing and once served as the Political Secretary to the Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. He is the author of three bestsellers, “Future FastForward”, “Brainwashed for War, Programmed to Kill”, and “The Shadow Money-Lenders and the Global Financial Tsunami”, published in the US and in Malaysia. Since his student days in England in the late 1960s, he was and still is, actively involved in the anti-war movement spanning a period of 41 years. He is a Catholic but enjoins all to promote inter-faith understanding. He resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and can be reached at [e-mail] or [e-mail]

WHAT MR. CHANG FORGETS (OR IS TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER): THE US DOLLAR WAS PREFERRED BECAUSE OF THE STRICT US RULE OF LAW THAT WAS INSTITUTED AFTER THE GREAT DEPRESSION BY THE PECORA COMMISSION AND ITS FALLOUT. THE US DOLLAR WAS SOUND PRECISELY BECAUSE THE BANKS WERE HANDCUFFED.

AS PRESIDENTS FROM NIXON ON UP STARTED TO UNBIND THE FINANCIERS, THE DOLLAR STARTED TO DETERIORATE.

THE ONLY "FACTS" THAT KEEP THE DOLLAR AFLOAT ARE:

THERE STILL IS SOME RULE OF LAW, OR AT LEAST THE INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY OF IT

NO OTHER CURRENCY IS ANY BETTER, AND SEVERAL ARE A GREAT DEAL WORSE, FOR EXAMPLE: CHINA'S YUAN AND THE EURO.

[Ghost Dog]

16. This means contract law mainly, surely.

The world does not need a Global Reserve Currency. Global trade can be conducted in any currency in accordance to the needs and resources of a country.

[Demeter]

34. Also fraud statutes, I would think

The deregulation of the financial world destroyed the US as a safe haven for investing.

[Ghost Dog]

41. Yep. I see btw that Switzerland has plans to offer 'cloud storage'

that will be guaranteed to be impenetrable by NRS, GCHQ, or any other industral espionage outfit...

Guaranteed by Swiss law.

[Demeter]

6. Wall Street Is My Landlord; Blackstone's Home Rental Bonds Yet Another Sign of Renewed Credit Bubble

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/12/wall-street-is-my-landlord-blackstones.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-12-20/wall-st-is-my-landlord.html



Blackstone Group LP, the world's largest private equity firm, became the largest owner of rental homes in the U.S. , acquiring 41,000 homes in the past two years. In October, Blackstone offered the first-ever "rental-home-backed" security on Wall Street. The bond is backed by just a fraction — 3,207 — of the rental properties owned by Blackstone. Monthly rent checks from the properties will be used to service the $479.1 million security...Let's focus on the credit aspect of what's in the Blackstone/Deutsche "Invitation Homes", first-ever rent-based bond offering.

http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-12-20/blackstones-big-bet-on-rental-homes.html

Let's focus on the credit aspect of what's in the Blackstone/Deutsche "Invitation Homes", first-ever rent-based bond offering. Here is a snip from the gigantic infographic in the link above.



What do investors get for their money?

A Bond Credit Rating Table courtesy of Wikipedia will help explain.

SEE LINK...I CAN'T GRAB IT

Whether or not one really believes the Aaa tranche truly deserves that rating, all those investors get is a coupon rate of 1.314%. Those buying the class "D" offering, rated Baa2, get a "lower medium grade" bond, two steps above junk (again assuming the class really deserves that rating). Those investors get a 2.314% return. Classes E and F, both "unrated" are highly likely to be pure garbage in my estimation...

13-Point Deal Summary

1. Moody's rates 42% of the deal as Aaa Prime, Fitch rates none of it AAA prime. Whom do you believe? I believe Fitch.
   
2. 18.27 percent of the deal is not rated at all, and highly likely pure garbage.
   
3. Cushion to cover interest payments is smaller than in deals tied to apartment complexes
   
4. Collateral for the bonds lower than recent residential-mortgage securities
   
5. No track record for these securities
   
6. Regional risk - properties concentrated in Phoenix and California
   
7. Transactions “highly vulnerable to unknown variables” including property taxes, restrictions from homeowner associations and actions by local governments
   
8. When it’s time to repay the debt, rental-home owners may be unable to refinance or sell the bond collateral
   
9. The offering is loaded with default risk, normal repair risk, renter damage risk
   
10. Estimated current value of homes includes rapid price appreciation (brought on by Blackstone snapping up foreclosed houses en masse)
    
11. Home value estimates made by real estate brokers, not licensed appraisers
    
12. Individual properties can be sold, leaving garbage in the loan portfolio
    
13. Blackstone allowed to sell the Invitation Homes business or take it public before the securities mature

Biggest Risk

What the biggest risk? Whalen says "The largest danger may be that Blackstone will be allowed to sell the Invitation Homes business or take it public before the securities mature".

I disagree. I think the biggest deal-based risk is that individual properties can be sold over time, leaving increasing amounts of garbage in the loan portfolio. That thought alone makes me suspicious as to how Blackstone picked properties to go into this pool in the first place...The only surprising thing is how quickly investors were willing to repeat their last mistake.


YIKES!

[Fuddnik]

48. They bought about $2 billion in foreclosures in the Tampa Bay area.

It's slowed down, but I can see Round 2 coming.

FEMA Flood Insurance rates are going through the roof, and people with mortgages are required by their lender to carry it. One couple just got their new bill. Their rates jumped from about $3,000 per year to over $44,000. The hedge funds can come in, pay cash, and not pay for insurance.

I'm still waiting for my bill.

[DemReadingDU]

50. Me too

My renewal is in February for flood insurance.

[Demeter]

7. Poll: Can the economy rescue Obama from Obamacare? USATODAY GRAPHICS!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/12/10/usa-today-pew-poll-battle-for-obamas-second-term/3958011/

Obama's second-term report card

Nearly one year into his second term, President Obama faces a backlash against his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, and a continuing challenge in handling the country's economic situation. Here's a look at the key numbers from a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll conducted last week to see how he's faring among key demographic groups, how he stacks up against previous presidents in their second terms, and how Americans currently view his handling of the health care law implementation.







Americans split on how to judge Obama's presidency: 46% call it a success; 48% call it a failure...AND THERE'S STILL 3 MORE YEARS!

[Demeter]

8. Americans Suddenly Discovering How Insurance Works

http://prospect.org/article/americans-suddenly-discovering-how-insurance-works

Did you know that if you never get sick, you'll pay more in premiums than you'll get in benefits? Damn those lucky duckies with cancer!...The only people who come out ahead in dollars and cents on insurance are those people who have had terrible things happen to them. What the rest of us are buying, as any insurance salesman will tell you, is peace of mind....



It's been said to the point of becoming cliche that once Democrats passed significant health-care reform, they'd "own" everything about the American health-care system for good or ill. For some time to come, people will blame Barack Obama for health-care problems he had absolutely nothing to do with. But there's a corollary to that truism we're seeing play out now, which is that what used to be just "a sucky thing that happened to me" or "something about the way insurance works that I don't particularly like"—things that have existed forever—are now changing into issues, matters that become worthy of media attention and are attributed to policy choices, accurately or not. Before now, millions of Americans had health insurance horror stories. But they didn't have an organizing narrative around them, particularly one the news media would use as a reason to tell them.

The latest has to do with the provider networks that insurance companies put together. This is something insurance companies have done for a long time, because it enables them to limit costs. If an insurer has a lot of customers in an area, it can say to doctors, "We'll put you in our provider network, giving you access to all our customers. But we only pay $50 for an office visit. Take it or leave it." An individual doctor might think that it's less than she'd like to be paid, but she needs those patients, so she'll say yes. Or she might decide that she has enough loyal patients to keep her business running, and she wants to charge $100 for an office visit, so she'll say no. So every year, doctors move in and out of those private-provider networks, and the insurers adjust what they pay for various visits and procedures, and inevitably some people find that their old doctor is no longer in their network. Or they change jobs and find the same thing when they get new insurance. And that can be a hassle.

But now they have someone new to blame: not the insurance company that established the network, and not the doctor that chose not to be a part of it, but Barack Obama. It's not just my hassle, it's a national issue. As Politico reported, "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said to reporters on Tuesday that the 'fundamentally flawed' health care law is 'causing people to lose the doctor of their choice.' Chief GOP investigator Darrell Issa has launched a House probe into the doctor claim. And House Republicans have highlighted the physician predicament in their weekly GOP addresses." So to reiterate: Your insurance company set terms for its network that your doctor didn't like. Your doctor decided not to be in that network. And that, of course, is Barack Obama's fault.

Before we move on, there's something we should note. You know who never loses their doctor? People who have single-payer insurance, that's who. If you live in pretty much any other industrialized country in the world, you don't have to worry whether your doctor accepts the national health plan that insures you and everyone else, because every doctor accepts it. Even here in America, there are people who almost never have to worry about losing their doctor: the elderly people who benefit from America's single-payer plan, Medicare. Despite their constant gripes about payment levels, 90 percent of doctors accept Medicare, because there are just too many Medicare patients and doctors don't want to be shut out of that business.


...............................................................................................................

To get back to the place we started, it can seem now that people are saying for the first time, "Wait a minute! Insurance is a raw deal! I mean, Obamacare is a raw deal!" And the media are doing their part by running stories that characterize the side effects of the private insurance market, like limited networks of doctors or the fact that less expensive plans have higher deductibles, as something new that's occurring only because of the Affordable Care Act. But they aren't. If you want to have a system of private health insurers, that's how it has worked in the past, and that's how it will continue to work. If you really want to be free of those problems, you'll have to wait until you're 65 and can join the big-government, socialist plan called Medicare.


Paul Waldman is a contributing editor for the Prospect and the author of Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.

[Demeter]

9. New bipartisan plan to 'only' cut food stamp benefits for 1.7 million

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/10/1261709/-New-bipartisan-plan-to-only-cut-food-stamp-benefits-for-1-7-million

?1386708052

Congressional Democrats reportedly think they've found just the food stamp cut—one that they can sell as a not completely heartless "administrative fix" yet will satisfy enough Republicans to pass a farm bill. The big problem is that it's a food stamp cut, and that's a terrible idea in a country with a hunger problem.

The cut in question involves the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Currently, if states award a family a LIHEAP of even $1 or $5, it can increase the amount of a family's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Republicans and some Democrats like to frame this as a loophole that gets people benefits they don't deserve. The answer? Raise the amount of LIHEAP benefit required to get families increased food stamps to $20, so that states can't boost benefits for as many. That would have a big impact: 850,000 households, a total of around 1.7 million people, could lose $90 a month from their already inadequate SNAP benefits.

Of course, LIHEAP is underfunded and only available to a fraction of eligible households but you don't hear Congress talking about dramatically expanding that program to cover all those who need it. No, it's only when a program is on the chopping block that we start hearing a lot about who deserves what or is eligible for how much. Alan Pyke points out another way food stamps and programs to help poor people are judged differently than programs that benefit the wealthy:

Food stamps are less abused than the farm bill’s crop insurance subsidies program, which has a higher erroneous payments rate than the anti-hunger program. And while the crop insurance program diverts billions of dollars to Wall Street coffers, SNAP spending pays immediate dividends for the whole economy. A dollar in SNAP spending yields about $1.70 in economic activity, one of the highest multiplier effects of any government program.

Merely taking $90 a month out of the mouths of 850,000 poor families isn't going to be enough for most Republicans, which means that this "compromise" can only be passed with a lot of Democratic votes. That's not acceptable.

[Demeter]

10. A Very Adult Social Security Tantrum

http://inthesetimes.com/article/16007/centrist_democrats_reject_elizabeth_warrens_populist_social_security_plan

... On another, saner planet, you might expect the strategists of a major political party to hear out a proposal to make the most popular spending program of the past century or so available to more people. You’d also think that said strategists would understand, on a purely political calculus, that it’s a good idea to reinforce the honorable Democratic origins of Social Security in the minds of voters who have precious little else to induce them to vote their pocketbooks in coming election cycles. But you would, of course, be wrong. That’s because the Democratic establishment is an all-but wholly owned subsidiary of Washington’s interlocking lobbying, consulting and pundit classes. These operators are devotees of the catechism that entitlement spending simply must be reined in at every conceivable other cost—and that making the difficult, grown-up decision to do just that renders one a Responsible Political Leader with the bona fides to lounge about in David Gregory’s Green Room.

So it was with the brio of genuine Democratic Grown-ups that Jon Cowan and Jim Kessler, respectively the president and senior policy executive for the center-right Democratic think tank Third Way, took to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal to hammer away at the refrain that the principles of economic populism, as embodied in Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s modest plan to increase Social Security benefits to keep better pace with inflation, are simply “disastrous.” Warren would pay for the increase by raising taxes on the wealthy, they wail. Worse, they argue, increasing federal spending on dread “entitlements” would beggar other progressive Democratic causes, like more robust spending on the nation’s aging infrastructure...But wonder of wonders, Cowen and Kessler’s faux-adult posturing—which was but the latest entry in Washington’s never-ending pageant of fiscal-restraint display, from the Gramm-Rudman balanced-budget act of 1985 to 2011’s imbecilic Simpson-Bowles “grand bargain” on spending—was called out with unusual vigor by actual economic populists. Progressives United, the political action committee founded by former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, sent out a heated round of donor appeals, with subject headings like “Who Do These People Think They Are?”—and then supplied the impolitic answer: “Third Way is a corporate-funded ‘Democratic’ organization that took to the Wall Street Journal to attack Elizabeth Warren and progressives for fighting to expand Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share.” Warren, for her part, threatened to fully expose the corporate donors behind Third Way via a call for Wall Street titans to disclose their expenditures on think tanks—a proposition that would likely be more than a little embarrassing to the group. As Lee Fang has reported at The Nation, Third Way counts two big-ticket Romney donors on its board, Daniel Loeb and Derek Kaufman, and has contracted out consulting work to the corporate lobbying behemoth Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart, which has a vast range of boodlers on its client roster, from the health-care giant Humana to the PhRMA trade association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. It’s a galactic understatement to say that these organizations are none too keen on seeing tax hikes fund a wide swath of income benefits to the nation’s hard-pressed middle and working classes.

It’s too much to hope, of course, that this glimpse into D.C.’s standard-issue policy-racketeering could serve as a teachable moment, driving home for a genuine populist Democratic constituency the disgraceful folly of self-enamored Beltway centrism. That’s particularly regrettable these days, since more impartial assessments of the impact of Great Society liberalism show that its central income guarantees not only remain quite popular politically but have proven quite successful as social policy. This view flies in the face of a whole generation’s worth of Reaganite propaganda seeking to discredit the many vital legacies of the New Deal—but the record, as reported by a team of Columbia University researchers, shows that safety net programs caused the actual rate of poverty in the United States to decrease from 26 percent in 1967 to 12 percent in 2012 and, strikingly, that the expansion of protections like unemployment insurance after the 2008 economic meltdown prevented a significant uptick in poverty despite our job-starved, austerity-addled “recovery.”

Indeed, on closer inspection, the entire centrist Democrat campaign of scaremongering about social spending pales into little more than a pipsqueak’s tantrum. In one bite-sized bit of budget alarmism, Cowen and Kessler complain that in the balmier economic conditions of the 1960s, Washington spent $3 on infrastructure for every dollar it laid out for income benefits like Social Security—and that ratio has now more than reversed, with $5 spent on entitlements for each lousy dollar on infrastructure improvements. But this disparity, which Cowen and Kessler trumpet as a sign of approaching Armageddon, turns out, like so many sky-is-falling spending laments, to be nothing of the sort. The “flipped” ratios here look so startling mainly because two of the main drivers of entitlement spending, Medicare and Medicaid, were not up and running until the late 1960s—i.e. the decade that serves as the baseline of optimal spending comparison for our Third Way shills. The Social Security trust fund, which reliably shows surpluses based on tax receipts and bond revenues, is in precisely no imminent fiscal danger. And Medicare spending, the program most battered by revenue shortfalls, has lately trended below projected outlays by, oh, a half-a-trillion dollars. What’s more, such cost reductions in the program should gain additional momentum as this country finally adopts something like universal health coverage, however slowly and oafishly it elects to do so. In short, the only livelihoods credibly threatened by expanded spending on income supports are those enjoyed by the likes of Cowan, Kessler and other professional alarmists of the punditocracy. They don’t need to worry much, though, by the looks of things. In the recent ballyhooed bipartisan deal on the federal budget, Congress is gearing up to slash some $25 billion in benefits for the long-term unemployed. Call it the Third Way agenda, or the One Percenters’ rule—it’s all just business as usual on Planet Washington.
Chris Lehmann

Chris Lehmann, a contributing editor of In These Times, is an editor of Book Forum and the Baffler and the author of Rich People Things (Haymarket, 2011). He is now working on a book about American religion and the money culture.

[Demeter]

11. Again, soliciting for Weekend Themes/Artists/diversions

I'm going for some zzzz's while you all contemplate that.

[xchrom]

12. Japan moves close to beating 15 years of falling prices

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25524429

Japanese consumer prices have risen at the fastest pace in five years, showing government policies to end its deflation problem may be taking effect.

Core inflation excluding food rose 1.2% in November from the previous year, surpassing market expectations.

Japan is now more than half-way towards meeting the central bank's goal of achieving 2% inflation by about 2015.

This has been due to a massive monetary stimulus policy aimed at weakening the currency and spurring more spending.

[xchrom]

13. UK could be Europe's 'largest' economy by 2030

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25519110

The UK will be in a position to overtake Germany as Europe's largest economy, according to the think tank the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR).

The CEBR predicts that Germany will lose its current top spot in Europe by 2030.

It cites the UK's population growth as an aid to economic acceleration.

The report echoes the recent confidence of other business groups such as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

[Demeter]

30. Clear proof of the success of the Euro

Cry for the peoples of Europe, crucified on a German (double) Cross.

[xchrom]

15. Why Gold Would Be Useless in an Economic Apocalypse

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/12/why-gold-would-be-useless-in-an-economic-apocalypse/282662/

Since November, financial advisor David Marotta has been publishing a series of blog posts on how to manage your money in the event of a financial apocalypse—as in a world of hyperinflation, governmental collapse, and anarachic mobs. You know, the standard stuff of a doomsday prepper's fever dreams. While Marotta admits he has some fears about the direction of the country (the man's not an Obamacare fan, to say the least) most of it seems to be fairly tongue-in-cheek material aimed at talking potential clients down from investing in some of the crazy, survivalist scams advertised on conservative talk radio. (Sadly, The Washington Examiner seems to have missed the humor).

And the first scam on his agenda? Plowing all your money into gold, of course. Here's his biblically inflected explanation of why toting around a suitcase of gold come the end times—and at today's prices, a $1 million in gold coins would fit in a suitcase—would be a suboptimal strategy:

If there really is a collapse of the money supply it is difficult to believe that your briefcase of pretty coins will still have any purchasing power near $1 million. In the 1970s, Christian singer Larry Norman made popular the Apocalyptic song lyric, “A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold” based on Revelation 6:6. In The End, I’d rather not have bought as much gold as possible.
In other words, when an economy goes full-on Mad Max and we're all reduced to bartering, the survivors are going to be more interested in useful goods than in a soft metal useful mostly for ornamental purposes. Part of gold's value as a commodity is derived from the fact that it can easily be traded across borders. But if that were no longer an option, and you were reduced to using bullion to buy a baguette, it wouldn't really matter what people in China or India were willing to pay for your gold.

[xchrom]

18. Moguls Rent South Dakota Addresses to Dodge Taxes Forever

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-27/moguls-rent-south-dakota-addresses-to-dodge-taxes-forever.html


Among the nation’s billionaires, one of the most sought-after pieces of real estate right now is a quiet storefront in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

A branch of Chicago’s Pritzker family rents space here, down the hall from the Minnesota clan that controls the Radisson hotel chain, and other rooms held by Miami and Hong Kong money.

Don’t look for any heiresses in this former five-and-dime. Most days, the small offices that represent these families are shut. Even empty, they provide their owners with an important asset: a South Dakota address for their trust funds.


In the past four years, the amount of money administered by South Dakota trust companies like these has tripled to $121 billion, almost all of it from out of state. The families needn’t actually move to South Dakota, or deposit their money at a local bank, or even touch down in the private jet. Little more than renting an address in Sioux Falls is required to take advantage of South Dakota’s tax-friendly trust laws.

[Demeter]

31. And that's an abuse that needs to be shut down, pronto

Just like the Caymans, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland.

[Ghost Dog]

42. What about Ireland? They're low-tax too

for the likes of Google, Apple,...

[Demeter]

44. The list is exhaustive

[westerebus]

46. Just wait until the President hears about this!!

Drinks at Penney's!!! never mind...

[xchrom]

19. European Stocks Advance After Christmas; TGS Nopec Rises

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-27/european-stock-index-futures-gain-after-christmas-holiday.html

European stocks rose, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbing for a sixth day, after U.S. jobless claims dropped more than forecast and markets reopened following the Christmas holiday. U.S. index futures were little changed and Asian shares advanced.

TGS Nopec Geophysical ASA, Norway’s largest surveyor of underwater oil and gas fields, rallied 5.4 percent. Vestas Wind Systems A/S climbed 2 percent after saying it won an order from the U.S. International Personal Finance Plc plunged the most since 2009.

The Stoxx 600 increased 0.6 percent to 326.29 at 11:41 a.m. in London. European shares completed their biggest five-day rally since July on Dec. 24. The benchmark gauge has gained 17 percent this year, putting it on course for its biggest annual gain since 2009, as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England pledged to leave interest rates near record lows for a prolonged period. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.5 percent.

“Stock markets are indeed seeing a little Christmas rally,” said John Plassard, vice president at Mirabaud Securities LLP in Geneva. “Yesterday’s better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims numbers extend the positive sentiment we’ve been seeing. Without major economic data out today, we should be facing a fairly quiet session.”

[xchrom]

20. Asian Currencies Decline This Week as Fed Taper Spurs Outflows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-27/asian-currencies-decline-this-week-as-fed-taper-spurs-outflows.html

Most Asian currencies fell this week as signs of an improving U.S. economy bolstered demand for the dollar amid tapering from the Federal Reserve that’s spurring outflows from emerging markets.

Global funds pulled $3.2 billion from South Korean, Thai, Philippine and Indonesian stocks so far in December as the Fed prepares to pare stimulus in January, exchange data show. The Thai baht led losses this week as the two-month-long political protests escalated, raising concerns about economic growth and tourism. Trading was muted due to closures in many markets for the Christmas holidays, according to Malayan Banking Bhd.

“Most Asian currencies weakened because of the broad dollar strength,” said Saktiandi Supaat, head of foreign-exchange research at Malayan Banking in Singapore. “The positive U.S. data also supports the case for further Fed tapering.”

The baht depreciated 0.8 percent from Dec. 20 to 32.859 per dollar in Bangkok, having touched 32.873, the weakest level since June 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Indonesia’s rupiah fell 0.5 percent to a five-year low of 12,281.

[xchrom]

21. U.S. Holiday Sales Rise 3.5%, SpendingPulse Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-26/u-s-holiday-sales-rise-3-5-spendingpulse-says.html

U.S. retail sales rose 3.5 percent during the holiday season this year, helped by deep discounts at malls and purchases of children’s apparel and jewelry, MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse said.

Sales of holiday-related categories, such as clothing, electronics and luxury goods, rose 2.3 percent from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24 compared with a year earlier, the Purchase, New York-based research firm said today. SpendingPulse tracks total U.S. sales at stores and online via all payment forms.

Falling store traffic in recent weeks and uneven demand, especially for apparel, spurred chains to risk earnings by pouring on the discounts to generate sales. Retailers including Gap Inc. were offering as much as 75 percent off and some, including Macy’s Inc. (M) and Kohl’s Corp. (KSS), were keeping stores open around the clock starting Dec. 20.

“You are seeing, ‘It’s OK for me to go out and spend,’” Sarah Quinlan, a senior vice president at MasterCard Advisors, said in a phone interview today. “That being said, they are still being cautious, and they are picking their retailers. It is not hot 2006-2007 spending we are seeing.”

[xchrom]

22. Americans’ Confidence at Four-Month High on Jobs: Economy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-26/consumer-comfort-in-u-s-rises-to-highest-level-in-four-months.html

Consumer confidence climbed last week to a four-month high as an improving job market and holiday discounts put Americans in the mood to shop.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index (SPX) rose to minus 27.4 in the period ended Dec. 22, the fifth straight gain, from minus 29.4. Other figures showed applications for unemployment benefits declined more than forecast last week to 338,000.

The report on sentiment also showed a gauge of whether it’s a good time to make purchases advanced to the second-highest level since 2007, signaling a pickup in the spending that accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy. Americans stayed upbeat about economic prospects amid more job opportunities, higher home values and record stock prices.

“Consumers are feeling a bit more buoyant heading into the new year,” said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, who projected 340,000 claims. “This isn’t surprising, given better labor-market data and low inflation. Consumer spending is going to be pretty robust in the fourth quarter.”

[xchrom]

23. Despite Two Industry Bans, Billionaire Phil Falcone Is Eligible For $20 Million Payday

http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/after-two-industry-bans-phil-falcone-is-eligible-for-20-mill




Phil Falcone’s Harbinger Group, a holding company run by a billionaire banned from the hedge fund industry, said in a filing today that Falcone would be eligible for up to $20 million in compensation for the 2014 fiscal year as well as a base salary of $500,000 and a bonus of $750,000, according to a regulatory filing this afternoon. To get the entire haul, he would need to meet certain performance goals. Falcone has not taken any compensation from the Harbinger Group in three years. Falcone first made his riches as a hedge fund manager, where he was one of the wealthiest and flashiest in the industry.

In August, Falcone was banned from the securities industry for five years and his fund, Harbginer Capital Partners, had to pay more than $18 million in penalties in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Falcone and his fund admitted to letting Falcone secretly borrow more than $100 million from the fund to pay his taxes as well as executing a scheme to drive up the price of bonds in order to squeeze a bank that was betting the price would go down and encouraging its clients to do the same.

Following the SEC settlement, New York state’s financial and insurance regulator, the Department of Financial Services, banned Falcone from serving as an officer in any New York–based insurance company for seven years. Falcone’s Harbinger Group owns Fidelity & Guaranty Life, the Baltimore-based insurance company, which has a subsidiary based in New York, Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company of New York. Harbinger also owns a reinsurance company and a majority stake in Spectrum Brands, the consumer product company behind brands like George Foreman, Black & Decker, and Remington.

So what did Falcone do to become eligible for such a big payout from Harbinger?

[xchrom]

24. The Turkish Market Is Getting Destroyed

http://www.businessinsider.com/turkish-lira-getting-crushed-2013-12

Almost everywhere all around the world markets are quiet. There's one exception: Turkey.

The Erdogan government is facing a massive corruption crisis, and the Turkish Lira is getting crushed. Turkey has a large external debt position and an ugly trade deficit, so its economy and financial markets are highly sensitive to the whims of the global investor community. And the global investor community doesn't like what it's seeing.

Here's a look at the dollar vs. the Lira over the last week. You can see the big spike today in the dollar relative to the Lira, as investors are dumping lira the moment they wake up.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/turkish-lira-getting-crushed-2013-12#ixzz2ogHKKzgp

[Ghost Dog]

49. Turkish court delivers rebuff to embattled Erdogan

ANKARA/ISTANBUL Fri Dec 27, 2013 11:21am EST (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Friday blocked a government attempt to force police to disclose investigations to their superiors, setting back Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's efforts to contain the fallout from a high-level corruption scandal.

Police on December 17 detained dozens of people, among them the sons of the interior minister and two other cabinet members, after a major graft probe that was kept secret from commanders who might have informed the government in advance.

The regulation that would have forced police officers to inform their superiors about investigations was announced overnight by the government, angered at having been kept in the dark about the year-long corruption probe.

The crisis is unprecedented in Erdogan's three terms of office, triggering the ministers' resignations and then a reshuffle, as well as destabilizing a Turkish economy whose rapid growth has been a showpiece of Erdogan's 11-year rule.

The lira hit a record low, stocks were at their weakest in 17 months and the cost of insuring the country's debt against default jumped to an 18-month high on Friday...

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/27/us-turkey-corruption-idUSBRE9BQ06E20131227

[xchrom]

25. A Growing List Of Swiss Banks Are Joining The US Tax Crackdown

http://www.businessinsider.com/swiss-banks-joining-us-tax-crackdown-2013-12

ZURICH (Reuters) - A host of Swiss banks have signaled their readiness to work with U.S. officials in a crackdown on wealthy Americans evading taxes.
Many more are expected to follow in the coming weeks, as Switzerland's cherished bank secrecy slowly gets wound back.

The program requires the banks to hand over some previously hidden information and face penalties equivalent to up to 50 percent of the assets they managed on behalf of wealthy Americans.

The number that join this scheme is key for larger banks facing criminal investigations, so-called category one banks, in the United States, such as Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Pictet & Cie.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/swiss-banks-joining-us-tax-crackdown-2013-12#ixzz2ogI5Q7RJ

[Demeter]

33. Swiss Banks Are Now Agents for the IRS Written by Bob Adelmann

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/17254-swiss-banks-are-now-agents-for-the-irs



Bloomberg's note on December 23 that Swiss banks were having a hard time complying with the terms of an agreement between the Swiss government and the U.S. Department of Justice hardly caused a ripple of media concern, not to mention outrage. The time for such expressions is long past. In accordance with the deal cut back in August 2009, the Department of Justice now has the power to force Swiss banks to disgorge any and all information the DOJ demands in its quest to levy taxes, penalties, and interest, and possibly to issue criminal charges against alleged U.S. tax evaders. The DOJ said:

Under the agreement ... the Swiss government will ... initiate procedures which could result in the turning over of thousands of accounts to the IRS.

The IRS will receive information on accounts of various amounts and types, including bank-only accounts, custody accounts in which securities or other investment assets were held and offshore company nominee accounts through which an individual indirectly held beneficial ownership in the accounts.

How effective has that agreement been in punishing miscreants and collecting back taxes and interest? Says the DOJ:

The division's current offshore program began in 2008, with the investigation of UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank. As a result of that investigation, in February 2009, UBS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and admitted guilt on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding the IRS, exited the business of providing banking services to U.S. customers with undeclared accounts, and paid $780 million in fines, penalties, interest, and restitution.

As part of the DPA and a 2009 agreement negotiated among the US, UBS, and the Swiss government to settle a civil summons enforcement proceeding brought by the Tax Division, the IRS has received account information about thousands of the most significant tax cheats among the U.S. taxpayers who maintain secret Swiss bank accounts…

These efforts have resulted in an unprecedented number of taxpayers — over 38,000 since 2009 — voluntarily disclosing to the IRS their previously hidden foreign accounts and agreeing to pay billions of dollars in back taxes, interest and penalties to the U.S. Treasury.

As a result, these enforcement efforts not only remedy past wrongdoing, but also bring into the system tax revenue from taxpayers who become compliant going forward.

As the Bloomberg article noted, the Swiss banks, long known for their bank secrecy, are now having to go back to accounts, many of which have been closed, to determine who owned them and whether or not those owners would be candidates for IRS review and prosecution. As Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) spokeswoman Sindy Schmiegel complained: “It’s necessary for the banks to do a deep analysis of their clients and the history of those relationships. That’s really expensive ... it’s really a painful program.”

Not nearly as expensive as the costs borne by those alleged tax evaders who have already “voluntarily” coughed up more than $5 billion in taxes, penalties and interest, thanks to the agreement. Even more costly is the invasion of Swiss national sovereignty by the DOJ along with the overriding of protections in the Bill of Rights that are being routinely ignored. As the DOJ gleefully notes:

As the Division's investigations focus on an ever-widening circle of banks and others who would assist U.S. taxpayers in attempting to hide income and assets from the United States, those who would use secret offshore bank accounts are running out of places to hide. The Tax Division is committed to using every tool available in its efforts to identify, investigate, and prosecute these wrongdoers.

For example, a growing number of district and circuit courts are upholding subpoenas to accountholders for foreign financial records over Fifth Amendment objections, based on the requirements under Title 31 that such records be maintained.

The fatal crack in the Swiss banking façade first appeared back in 2007 when a whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld, a UBS banker working with high-net-worth U.S. clients, learned that what he was doing was illegal and resigned his position at the bank. He had tried to bring to the attention of the bank’s legal counsel that what he and others were doing was illegal, without success. So he approached the DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the IRS, and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations with everything he knew about how UBS was illegally operating as a tax haven:

I became the very first Swiss private banker in history to reveal to the outside world the inside secrets behind these illegal practices.

I outlined in great detail how the illegal UBS enterprise was operated, who was directing the enterprise, and how they tried to conceal what there were doing for so long to the U.S. law enforcement authorities.

In the summer of 2007, I voluntarily provided virtually every essential and material fact contained within the now-famous “John Doe” summons to UBS.

I revealed tax evasion on a massive and unprecedented scale.

Once the DOJ and the IRS were done with them, UBS was shattered. A series of Senate hearings severely damaged their credibility, UBS’s entire executive management team was fired, and $200 billion in assets moved elsewhere. Even today the stock price of UBS is down 70 percent from its high in April 2007. For his efforts Birkenfeld received more than $100 million as a whistleblower award, but also spent nearly three years in jail for not coming totally clean during an investigation of one of his own clients.

While it’s hard to weep for the Swiss banks who now complain about the onerous requirements imposed on them by the U.S. Department of Justice, what the DOJ and its enforcement arm, the IRS, have managed to accomplish boggles the mind. It has erased Swiss sovereignty, eliminated Swiss bank secrecy laws dating back to 1934, abrogated private property and Fifth Amendment rights of thousands of American citizens, and has virtually turned Swiss banks into foreign collection arms for the U.S. government. While tax evasion, when proven in a court of law, is a serious crime, with the help of Birkenfeld the IRS has managed to ride roughshod over decades of Swiss law and custom, resulting in extending IRS power over the single most defiant defender of those rights on the planet.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

A graduate of Cornell University and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [e-mail]

[xchrom]

26. The Euro Is On A Tear

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-euro-is-on-a-tear-2013-12

Equity markets are fairly quiet today, but currency markets are showing life.

As we mentioned earlier, the Turkish Lira is getting obliterated.

Meanwhile, the euro is on a tear, rising to its highest level against the dollar since late 2011.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-euro-is-on-a-tear-2013-12#ixzz2ogIlVAxq

[Ghost Dog]

47. Evolution of U$D vs. 5 currencies I watch, since five years ago

last Sunday (source: Oanda.com):

[center][/center]

[xchrom]

27. Gold Smuggling Spikes In India As Tax Meets Bridal Season

http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-smuggling-spikes-in-india-2013-12

MUMBAI, India (AP) — With India's wedding season in full swing, the glass sales counters in Mumbai's famed Zhaveri gold bazaars are crowded with customers eyeing elaborate headpieces, nose rings and necklaces.

No one does jewelry quite like an Indian bride, who by tradition wears all the gold she can stand up in and her family can afford.

These days, though, even the most ambitious bridal budgets don't bring the bling like they used to, thanks to hikes in import duties and a rise in local gold prices that have shoppers like Rajanikant Mehta grumbling.

Mehta, who owns a factory outside the capital, had planned to spend about 100,000 rupees ($1,800) on a necklace for the woman marrying his son late this month, but he's unhappy about what he's getting for his money. Gold prices in India, which imports nearly all its gold, have risen 50 percent over the past three years to about 87,000 rupees, or about $1,400, an ounce.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-smuggling-spikes-in-india-2013-12#ixzz2ogN1BfCI

[xchrom]

28. FTSE 100 climbs for sixth day after Wall St. record highs

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/27/uk-markets-britain-stocks-idUKBRE8710BE20131227

(Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Friday, taking its cue from fresh all-time highs hit on Wall Street to notch up its sixth straight day of gains, its longest winning streak in two months.

The FTSE 100 was up 40.50 points, or 0.6 percent, at 6,734.67 points by 1106 GMT, after both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 scaled record highs on Thursday, when the UK market was shut for the Boxing Day holiday.

The rise made it the UK benchmark's longest winning streak since October, fuelled by optimism that the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand the gradual withdrawal of monetary stimulus. The FTSE 100 has risen nearly 5 percent from last week's low.

"The Santa rally came late but now the FTSE is grabbing hold of the Dow and the DAX and getting pulled along," said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG. The German DAX hit an all-time high on Friday.

[xchrom]

29. MONEY MARKET FUND ASSETS ROSE $22.09 BILLION

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MONEY_FUNDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-12-26-15-28-07

NEW YORK (AP) -- Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets rose $22.09 billion to $2.697 trillion for the week that ended Monday, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Assets in the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose $1.27 billion to $926.93 billion, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said Thursday. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category rose $450 million to $731.63 billion. Tax-exempt retail fund assets rose $810 million to $195.3 billion.

Assets in institutional money market funds rose by $20.82 billion to $1.77 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets increased by $21.47 billion to $1.695 trillion. Assets of tax-exempt funds fell $640 million to $74.8 billion.

The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds was unchanged at 0.01 percent from the previous week, according to Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westborough, Mass. The seven-day compounded yield was flat at 0.01 percent.

[DemReadingDU]

32. The Probability Of A Stock Market Crash Is Soaring

12/26/13 The Probability Of A Stock Market Crash Is Soaring

While some individual stocks (cough TWTR cough) may have reached irrational bubble territory, the US equity market is undergoing a seemingly 'rational' bubble. However, as John Hussman illustrates in the following chart, the probability of a stock market crash is growing extremely rapidly.

The diva is already singing, the only question is how long they hold the note...



more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-26/probability-stock-market-crash-soaring

[Demeter]

35. Millions of 'missing workers' continue to make the monthly jobs reports look better than they are

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261253/-Millions-of-missing-workers-continue-to-make-the-monthly-jobs-reports-look-better-than-they-are

?1386614810

The latest job growth report—released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics—would in normal times be an unalloyed piece of good news. The official unemployment rate fell to 7 percent (a five-year low), 203,000 new jobs were created (putting the economy on track to show the best job growth since 2005), the labor-force expanded and the labor-force participation rate grew, wages edged up and the percentage of people forced to work part-time fell (only partly due to a return to work by employees furloughed by the government shutdown). Add November's results to the total, and 7.4 million new jobs have been created since February 2010, definitely nothing to sneeze at.

But those improvements conceal a continuing problem that keeps being ignored or explained away as just a matter of demographics: The missing workers. The folks at the Economic Policy Institute have done an excellent job of keeping track of "missing workers." They explain the category thusly:

In today’s labor market, the unemployment rate drastically understates the weakness of job opportunities. This is due to the existence of a large pool of “missing workers”—potential workers who, because of weak job opportunities, are neither employed nor actively seeking a job. In other words, these are people who would be either working or looking for work if job opportunities were significantly stronger. Because jobless workers are only counted as unemployed if they are actively seeking work, these “missing workers” are not reflected in the unemployment rate.

That's not just a handful of missing workers, but, by EPI's calculations for October, 5.66 million of them. If those missing workers were looking for a job, the employment rate would be 10.3 percent instead of 7.0 percent. It is argued in some quarters that most of these missing workers aren't really missing. The numbers, it is said, are just a reflection of the growing cohort of retiring baby boomers and a long-term trend that started two decades ago of young adults not entering the work force in as great of percentages as used to be the case. Without doubt, both these factors play a part in the dwindling of the labor force. Nobody can dispute that there will be a tremendous long-term impact from retirements of baby boomers—the first wave of whom will turn 68 starting next month. But that assessment ignores one big painful reality: The majority of the "missing workers" aren't those aged 18 to 24 nor the superannuated. Most are, instead, people in what demographers call the "prime earning years"—age 25 to 54. And a big chunk of them are over 55 but haven't reached 62 when they can first start collecting a Social Security check (though without full benefits). That is not an age group likely to quit working unless they have no choice.

If the economy were to really take off, something that has been predicted to be just around the corner since late 2009, many of those missing workers in what were supposed to be their prime earning years would presumably return to the labor force and start looking for work. But despite improvements, that growth is still tepid and millions have given up trying to find a job that experience has told them isn't there. Tie these missing and officially uncounted Americans in with the 4.1 million who make up the long-term unemployed who have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer and the more complete story of the job recovery is clearly not a happy one. Add in income and wealth inequality, wage stagnation that now puts the inflation-adjusted median full-time wage of those who do have work at $1,000 less than it was in 2007, scandalous poverty and child-poverty rates and the continuing outflow of jobs due to unfettered globalization and it's easy to see why the monthly jobs report—through no fault of the Bureau of Labor Statistics—distorts our actual circumstances.

http://www.epi.org/?p=55968&utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21" frameborder="0"></iframe>

MORE CHARTS AT http://www.epi.org/publication/missing-workers/

[Demeter]

36. AG Eric Holder Is Protecting JPMorgan Chase NYC From Criminal Investigation

http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18387-new-revelation-that-attorney-general-eric-holder-is-protecting-jpmorgan-chase-nyc-from-criminal-investigation

Providing additional evidence that the Obama Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) is protecting "banks too big to fail," Pulitzer Prize winning financial reporter David Cay Johnston has revealed that the DOJ has refused to force JPMorgan Chase to comply with an ongoing investigation into the bank's possible knowledge of Bernard Madoff's fraud scheme of a few years ago. The information obtained might reveal that the bank chose to financially benefit from criminal activity:

Bernard Madoff’s principal bank, JPMorgan Chase, has for years obstructed federal bank examiners trying to ascertain what it knew about his gigantic Ponzi scheme, an official document obtained by Newsweek shows.

The Justice Department refused in September to back up Treasury inspector general staff who wanted a court order to enforce a subpoena, in effect shielding JPMorgan from law enforcement, the October 8 document shows.

The Justice Department told the Treasury Inspector General “that they were denying the request for enforcement of the subpoena,” which means officials “could not undertake further actions regarding this matter,” wrote Jason J. Metrick, the inspector general special-agent-in-charge.

Johnston disclosed the latest damning indication of the DOJ shielding Wall Street banks that dominate US finanes in a Newsweek article. The DOJ pattern of not exploring potential big bank criminal activity was admitted to by Attorney General Eric Holder -- as BuzzFlash at Truthout reported at the time -- as recalled by Johnston:

Last March Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate hearing he was afraid to prosecute the Too Big to Fail Banks, as it could do even more economic damage, in effect declaring them Too Big to Prosecute.

“The size of some of these institutions 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," Holder testified.

...The bottom line of the Obama DOJ's position is that Americans are left vulnerable to criminal bank activity on a massive scale because if they were held accountable, Holder believes, the US economic system would be hurt. But the 2007-2008 crash showed what such uninvestigated and unprosecuted behavior leads to.

In short, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States is authorizing our largest banks to engage in criminal behavior because, he claims, preventing them from doing so might negatively impact our economy? But hasn't it prima facie been proven again and again that the likely criminal bank activity undermines our financial system?

[Demeter]

38. BofA's legal costs mount in Countrywide mortgage fiasco

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-countrywide-bofa-20131227,0,618632.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fbusiness+%28L.A.+Times+-+Business%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo


Prosecutors want BofA to pay $864 million over a program called 'The Hustle.' The bank already has shouldered about $50 billion in losses, settlements and other costs related to its Countrywide purchase... A federal judge will soon decide how much Bank of America should pay for some of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s sins in the lead-up to the financial crisis.

Federal prosecutors want BofA to pay $864 million after the bank's stinging defeat in a major civil fraud trial in October. A jury found BofA liable in a case centered on a Countrywide program called "The Hustle," which churned out risky home loans before selling them to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But whatever penalty the bank might pay, it will amount to a mere drop in the bucket of BofA's legal bills — much of it stemming from its ill-fated acquisition of the former Calabasas mortgage lender in 2008.

MORE

[Demeter]

37. Yeah, Just a Bit...Still have a ways to go to match banksters, though

[Demeter]

39. 50 Is the New 65: Older Americans Are Getting Booted from Their Jobs -- and Denied New Opportunities

http://www.alternet.org/economy/age-discrimination-workplace?akid=11314.227380.ji1Fc2&rd=1&src=newsletter940963&t=4&paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

READ IT AND WEEP

[Demeter]

43. Our Coming Chronic Discouraged-Worker Epidemic: Friday Focus By Brad DeLong

http://equitablegrowth.org/2013/12/06/1069/our-coming-chronic-discouraged-worker-epidemic-friday-focus

[Roland99]

40. Markets a bit flat but euro currency flying. 10yr yields over 3% now. Oil over $100/bbl

Dow 16,510 +30 0.18%
Nasdaq 4,167 +0 0.00%
S&P 500 1,844 +2 0.11%
GlobalDow 2,478 +14 0.57%
Gold 1,215 +3 0.22%
Oil 100.09 +0.54 0.54%
[font color="red"] Euro 1.38 +0.01 0.79%
Pound 1.65 +0.01 0.55%
U.S. 10yr 3.01 +0.02 0.51% [/font]

[Demeter]

45. I have a topic!

I hope hamerfan will show up and post relevant music for it! I have only one that I know of;

well, that's not true, just thought of another. Anyway, anticipate an exploration of something fundamental, fun, mental, and educational.