STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 8 April 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 8 April 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 7 April 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 7 April 2014
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Dow Jones 16,245.87 -166.84 (-1.02%)
S&P 500 1,845.04 -20.05 (-1.08%)
Nasdaq 4,079.75 -48.00 (0.00%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.70% -0.02 (-0.74%)
30 Year 3.56% -0.03 (-0.84%) [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.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.








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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. Dr. Draghi Prescribes a Dose of Deflation for Spain as his latest Quack Cure BILL BLACK

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/04/dr-draghi-prescribes-dose-deflation-spain-latest-quack-cure.html

HE REALLY TRIES TO EXPLAIN THE INEXPLICABLE...

[Demeter]

2. McCutcheon took us back in time, but it might just birth the next Occupy ROBERT REICH

The conservative supreme court thinks it can build a gilded age for the era of income inequality. They won't know what hit 'em

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/06/mccutcheon-conservative-supreme-court-next-occupy?CMP=ema_565

The supreme court is composed of five justices appointed by Republican presidents, and four appointed by Democratic ones. In the McCutcheon v FEC case decided on Wednesday, the five Republican appointees interpreted the first amendment to protect the right of individuals to pour as much as $3.6m into a political party or $800,000 into a political campaign. The decision by those justices allows individual donors to buy – and federal officeholders to solicit – unparalleled personal influence in Washington. McCutcheon drowns out the voices of ordinary citizens. Presumably, the individuals who were of concern to the majority of the court have incomes larger than the median US family income of roughly $50,000 a year and wealth in excess of the median American family's wealth of approximately $70,000. It is very likely that these individuals have huge incomes and enormous wealth.

The decision rests on the court's dubious finding that such spending does not give rise to corruption. That's baloney, as anyone who has the faintest familiarity with contemporary American politics well knows. As Justice Stephen Breyer noted in his dissenting opinion: "where enough money calls the tune, the general public will not be heard". The majority's decision to open the floodgates to big money would be less important if the distribution of income and wealth in America were more equal. But it has become extraordinarily unequal. Together, the richest 400 Americans now possess more wealth than the bottom half of the American population. A handful of billionaires are, at this moment, deciding on whom to place their multi-million dollar bets in the 2014 midterm election. The McCutcheon decision makes it easier for them to do so than ever before. They don't need to go through political action committees or so-called "social welfare" organizations. The rich can now make their bets directly.

We have returned to the gilded age of the late 19th century, when the lackeys of robber barons placed sacks of money on the desks of pliant legislators. If this is not corruption, what is? The McCutcheon decision coincides with the publication in English of an important book by French economist Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21st Century. Piketty sees the United States, Britain and most of the rest of the world returning to the vast inequalities of wealth that were taken for granted as late as the end of the 1800s. He writes:

It is almost inevitable that inherited wealth will dominate wealth amassed from a lifetime's labor by a wide margin, and the concentration of capital will attain extremely high levels – levels potentially incompatible with the meritocratic values and principles of social justice fundamental to modern democratic societies.

With an extraordinary sweep of history backed by remarkably detailed data and analysis, Piketty shows that, for several centuries leading up to World War I, the financial returns to the owners of capital exceeded the rate of growth of modern economies, creating a wide divergence between incomes and wealth – and, with that divergence, widening inequality between those owners and people who worked for a living. That divergence was reversed in the 20th century's brutal wars and the Great Depression. But the widening gaps in income and wealth that have characterized the US, the UK and most other advanced economies since the 1970s, combined with his historic view, give Piketty reason to believe that the older pattern is reasserting itself. While admitting that such divergence is not inevitable, he finds that "the possibilities are not heartening" and the actual responses to the problem will in practice be "far more modest and less effective" than needed. Piketty's economic analysis and historical proofs are breathtaking. But even as he counsels economists to break out of their narrow habitats and understand the profound influence of politics on economics (and vice versa), he has remarkably little to say about politics...Nonetheless, I think Piketty is way too pessimistic. He disregards the political upheavals and reforms that such wealth concentrations have inspired in the past – such as America's populist revolts of the 1890s followed by the progressive era before World War I, or the German socialist movement in the 1870s followed by Otto von Bismarck’s creation of the world's first welfare state...


The supreme court's McCutcheon decision may make it easier for today's robber barons to take over American democracy in the short term. But by inviting them to do this so brazenly, McCutcheon may also fuel a popular backlash and a new era of democratic reform. It has happened before. Let's make it happen again.

[Demeter]

3. Why the best laid schemes for retirement often go awry SEE PREV. POST

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/apr/06/threats-retirement-plans-risk-debt?CMP=ema_565


The first step is saving, but the hard part is making sure that any number of threats don't ruin your careful planning...Tomorrow marks the start of National Retirement Planning Week. Do you know what's threatening your retirement? If you do, you probably don't know about the other risks lurking in the wings, waiting to pounce on the unprepared and unwary retiree. Indeed, the experts at American College’s Center for Retirement income have tabulated as many as two dozen of them, some of which I’d never even heard of, much less contemplated. It’s enough to drive a personal finance blogger to drink...I’m not alone, says Jamie Hopkins, associate director of the center. “Not too many people will take care of more than a few of these” and almost no one will take care of all of them. Indeed, he adds, “sometimes taking care of one of these risks makes another one worse.”

Consider longevity risk, for instance. That’s one of those risks that most of us know about and tend to do something about – the risk our nest eggs will expire before we do. One tried-and-true strategy to address this risk is to buy annuities. That’s great: but when we do this, we’ve boosted the amount of liquidity risk in our retirement portfolio. In other words, we have increased the risk that if we need cash for something else – a new roof, a new car – we won’t be able to get it easily, because we’ve locked up a big chunk of our assets in the annuity. Of course, no cloud arrives sans silver lining. In this instance, we’ve addressed longevity risk, boosted liquidity risk, but also helped tackle another kind of problem too few of us want to think about as posing a personal threat to us: financial elder abuse. “The more liquid someone’s assets are, the greater the risk grows,” says Hopkins. That’s logical: predators who seek to take advantage of vulnerable senior citizens are drawn to those with lots of assets in stock market accounts. Once their target has only a modest fixed income, they are less attractive to potential predators. Family members also are a source of risk, however, Hopkins notes. “Children are graduating from college and graduate school with loans, and parents are deciding to repay those.” That’s fine and dandy – except that even if the kids are repaying the principal on those loans, they’re rarely offering to pay interest to their parents that they would have had to pay their original lenders. That means the parents are forfeiting the ability to turn the $80,000 or so that they’re using to pay off the loans into $100,000 by investing it for their retirement. We also tend to forget, after many years of marriage, just how much more expensive it is to live on your own. That’s why Hopkins and his colleagues added “loss of spouse risk” to their list. “You need 75% of the assets you had before your spouse died,” not half as much, he points out. It’s also important, if you’re married, to do Social Security planning together, since your decisions about when to take your distributions will affect how much your spouse will collect when you die.

Alas, some risks you can’t control. Consider, for instance, the category that Hopkins labels “public policy risk” and that covers everything from tax policy to international relations and includes changes to key programs like Medicare and Social Security. Just because we may feel we can’t affect those initiatives doesn’t mean we shouldn’t monitor them. “Some of it is being aware so we’re not surprised by changes,” says Hopkins. Or, as is the case with a new proposal to require Roth IRA owners to begin taking distributions after they hit 70 ½, they may want to reconsider their strategies.

It’s irrational to expect any of us to check of all 24-odd risk boxes and sit back in our lounge chairs, reach for our Martinis and heave a sigh of relief. Everyone – no matter how affluent, how skilled at planning – will end up making tradeoffs. Some kinds of risks we will feel more confident about running: for instance, someone who is disciplined about budgeting in tough times will worry less about liquidity risk, but if you’ve got a family history of folks living past 100, you might want to do a lot more research into annuities to solve the longevity risk issue.

“It’s all about finding our personal risk tolerance, and finding ways to transfer or eliminate the risks” that make us most uncomfortable, says Hopkins.

Being honest about what they are is a great place to start.

[Demeter]

4. How Crimea Hurts Russia

THERE ARE A LOT OF OPINION PIECES LIKE THIS COMING OUT AND SATURATING THE WEB...I TEND TO THINK THIS IS MORE PROPAGANDA THAN MONDAY-MORNING-QUARTERBACKING.

I'LL PUT MY BETS ON THE MAN WHO TOLD THE GLOBALISTS EXACTLY WHERE THEIR BORDERS ARE....BUT YOU DECIDE!

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Crimea-Hurts-Russia.html

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, slowly but surely NATO added members in Eastern Europe. Likewise, the European Union opened up its doors to its eastern neighbors formerly in Moscow’s orbit. Russia saw this as a threat, and upon the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych, Russia saw the loss of Ukraine as something that it could not tolerate. From this perspective, Vladimir Putin likely feels that by seizing Crimea he stopped the expansion of a NATO-backed plan to expand eastwards. Russia proved that the West didn’t have the stomach for a conflict over an area of the world that is much more important to Russia than it is to Europe or the U.S.

But, in reality, Russia is really shooting itself in the foot. Not only has it received international opprobrium for its actions in Crimea, but its economy is worse for the wear. Its stock market is down, capital is fleeing the country, and as of April 1, it appears that Moody’s is considering downgrading the credit ratings of Gazprom and Rosneft. According to streetinsider.com, the “downgrade reflects Moody's view that the ratings of the companies are closely aligned with that of the sovereign, and that they remain sensitive to changes in sovereign creditworthiness.” These are the two companies that overwhelmingly makeup the source of the Kremlin’s strength – they are the reason Russia is an energy superpower. If their creditworthiness is suspect due to Russia’s aggression, then the gains Putin believes he has achieved in Crimea are arguably outweighed by the damage he is doing to Russia’s economy. And this does not even take into account the economic costs of integrating Crimea into the Russian Federation, which are not trivial.

Moreover, Russia’s actions will likely spur Europe to action. Poland received an immediate upgrade to its energy security on April 1 when Germany brought a pumping station online that would allow the reverse flow of natural gas, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The result of a deal reached in 2012 between the two countries, the pumping station is located in Eastern Germany and would allow Poland to meet its energy needs even in the event of a disruption in supplies from Russia. The Yamal-Europe pipeline connects natural gas fields in Siberia to Western Europe. It runs east to west, and passes through Poland on the way to Germany. That flow, until now, has been one way. The opening of the pumping station in Mallnow, Germany now allows gas to flow in the other direction, potentially supplying Poland with up to 5.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. This gives Poland a degree of insulation from hypothetical moves by Russia to cut off energy supplies to Europe.

While the pumping station was in the works long before Crimea, the EU will look to implement broader measures to cut Russian gas from its energy portfolio. The EU wants the European Commission to publish a roadmap by June 2014 that will detail how Europe will lessen its dependence on Russia. Member states have differed over which paths to pursue – greater LNG imports, development of European shale gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency – but nearly all are united behind an effort to reduce dependence on Russia. This may not mean much in the short-term, but unlike previous clashes with Russia over its ability to be a reliable energy partner, the annexation of Crimea will likely lead to real and sustained efforts on behalf of the EU to cut back on Russian gas. This will cause a decline in Russia’s influence in Europe over time. As Europe pulls away, Putin’s grab of Crimea looks more costly than it first appeared. Indeed, the downsides may also be coming into view for Moscow. Russia signaled on April 1 that it is withdrawing some of its troops from the Ukrainian border, a move that suggests Putin is not on the verge of sending troops into Ukraine and is instead seeking to deescalate. Perhaps the Kremlin realized its belligerence is damaging Russia.

I WOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT LOSING EUROPE AS A CUSTOMER:

FOR ONE THING, THEY ARE BROKE, AND GETTING BROKER.

FOR ANOTHER, THEY CHEAT. THERE'S NO REASON TO ASSUME THAT THEY WOULD RESPECT GAS CONTRACTS, IF THEY WILL NOT RESPECT DIPLOMATIC CONTRACTS. EUROPE HAS THE AMERICAN DISEASE, THINKING THEY ARE AN EMPIRE, BUT HISTORY AND FACT WILL SOON DISABUSE THEM OF THIS IDIOTIC NOTION, JUST AS THE DETHRONING OF THE PETRODOLLAR WILL CURE AMERICAN HUBRIS.

[Demeter]

5. Ukraine’s Unelected Government Imposes IMF Austerity

http://www.ianwelsh.net/ukraines-unelected-government-imposes-imf-austerity/

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/03/27/the-danger-of-false-narrative/ This is perhaps best article on what actually happened in the Ukraine and Crimea: the story is a little different than what you’ve been hearing on TV or reading in the newspapers, at least if you’re in most of the West. The author does leave out some bits (like the Tatars boycotting the Crimean referendum), but overall it’s accurate.

Meanwhile the new PM in the Ukraine is imposing IMF austerity measures, like removing subsidies on Gas (50% increase) and cutting pensions (50%) cut. He says he’s on a Kamikazee mission. That’s because he’s not elected, so he can do things that an elected leader could never do, Which is to say: there is a coup, backed by a popular uprising in the capital, which puts in place an unelected government, which does things that elected governments repeatedly refused to do. The East and South of the country, which voted in the last elected government, is unhappy with this. It’s really hard to conclude that Crimea didn’t do the right thing for most of their population by joining Russia. 50% increase in natural gas prices and 50% cut in pensions? Would you stand still for that? Oh, and the average pension in the Ukraine is—$160/month. $80 after it’s cut.

The last government may have been a bunch of corrupt assholes, but it’s hard to conclude that taking Russia’s deal of 15 billion dollars and subsidized gas wasn’t, actually, a better deal for most Ukrainians than approximately the same amount of money from the West + IMF austerity. And these are only some of the measures: the civil service will be slashed, the government natural gas company will be privatized (meaning even higher prices down the road), the ban on selling agricultural land to foreigners will be lifted, and so on. The EuroMaidan’s legacy won’t just be losing Crimea, it will be turning the Ukraine into Greece.

If I were Crimean, I would have voted yes in the referendum. Russia’s a corrupt oilarchy run by a near-dictator, but it has a stronger economy and better standard of living than the Ukraine, and that’s before the IMF gets through with the Ukraine. I don’t know what Putin’s going to do. If NATO membership were truly off the table, he’d be best served by doing nothing more. Let the Ukrainians destroy their own economy through IMF austerity, and in a few years, at least the eastern half of the country will be begging to join Russia. However, if NATO membership is on the table, and it seems to be, Putin may feel he has no choice BUT to invade. Problem is, after the West lied to Gorbachev about not expanding NATO, could Putin believe any Western promises if they were given?

[Demeter]

8. Why Did BRICS Back Russia on Crimea?

http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/why-did-brics-back-russia-on-crimea/

...the BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has unanimously and, in many ways, forcefully backed Russia’s position on Crimea. The Diplomat has reported on China’s cautious and India’s more enthusiastic backing of Russia before. However, the BRICS grouping as a whole has also stood by the Kremlin. Indeed, they made this quite clear during a BRICS foreign minister meeting that took place on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague last week. Just prior to the meeting, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop suggested that Australia might ban Russia’s participation in the G20 summit it will be hosting later this year as a means of pressuring Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.

The BRICS foreign ministers warned Australia against this course of action in the statement they released following their meeting last week. “The Ministers noted with concern the recent media statement on the forthcoming G20 Summit to be held in Brisbane in November 2014,” the statement said. “The custodianship of the G20 belongs to all Member States equally and no one Member State can unilaterally determine its nature and character.” The statement went on to say, “The escalation of hostile language, sanctions and counter-sanctions, and force does not contribute to a sustainable and peaceful solution, according to international law, including the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter.” As Oliver Stuenkel at Post Western World noted, the statement as a whole, and in particular the G20 aspect of it, was a “clear sign that the West will not succeed in bringing the entire international community into line in its attempt to isolate Russia.”

This was further reinforced later in the week when China, Brazil, India and South Africa (along with 54 other nations) all abstained from the UN General Assembly resolution criticizing the Crimea referendum. Another ten states joined Russia in voting against the non-binding resolution. In some ways, the other BRICS countries’ support for Russia is entirely predictable. The group has always been somewhat constrained by the animosities that exist between certain members, as well as the general lack of shared purpose among such different and geographically dispersed nations. BRICS has often tried to overcome these internal challenges by unifying behind an anti-Western or at least post-Western position. In that sense, it’s no surprise that the group opposed Western attempts to isolate one of its own members. At the same time, this anti-Western stance has usually taken the form of BRICS opposition to Western attempts to place new limits on sovereignty. Since many of its members are former Western colonies or quasi-colonies, the BRICS are highly suspicious of Western claims that sovereignty can be trumped by so-called universal principles of the humanitarian and anti-proliferation variety. Thus, they have been highly critical of NATO’s decision to serve as the air wing of the anti-Qaddafi opposition that overthrew the Libyan government in 2011, as well as what they perceive as attempts by the West to now overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria...The fact that BRICS supported Russia ... suggests that its anti-Western leanings may be more strongly held than most previously believed. Indeed, besides backing Russia in the foreign ministers’ statement, the rising powers also took time to harshly criticize the U.S. (not by name) for the cyber surveillance programs that were revealed by Edward Snowden.

The BRICS and other non-Western powers’ support for Russia also suggests that forging anything like an international order will be extremely difficult, given the lack of shared principles to act as a foundation. Although the West generally celebrated the fact that the UN General Assembly approved the resolution condemning the Crimea referendum, the fact that 69 countries either abstained or voted against it should be a wake-up call. It increasingly appears that the Western dominated post-Cold War era is over. But as of yet, no new order exists to replace it.

[xchrom]

6. MARKETS TURN RED

http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-april-8-2014-4

Good morning!
Earlier today it had looked like the bleeding had stopped.

No more. Markets are in the red.

US futures are a hair down.

But Europe is down significantly.

Germany is off 0.9%.

France is off 1%.

The big economic event of the day was a very strong report out of UK manufacturing, which caused the British Pound to surge.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-april-8-2014-4#ixzz2yIBismtJ

[xchrom]

7. How Household Debt Has Radically Changed In Seven Years

http://www.businessinsider.com/household-debt-2014-4



The above chart from Morgan Stanley looks at the contributors to the quarterly change in household debt.

So in other words, you can see that prior to the economic collapse of 2008, US households were taking on more and more debt each quarter, and by far mortgage debt was the big contributor to it. By far.

Then when the credit crunch happen, households were delevering in every area with the exception of student loan debt which has always stayed positive.

Now households are actually relevering a bit. Student loan debt is significant. Car debt (in green) is picking up, and now even mortgage debt has recently grown for the first time in years. Home equity debt continues to get paid down, though it too may turn green before too long.

An thanks to the declining debt and declining interest rates, Americans have basically never had an easier time making their debt payments, as this chart shows.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/household-debt-2014-4#ixzz2yICXKbyu

[xchrom]

9. Apple Has More Cash On Hand Than All These Different Countries

http://www.businessinsider.com/global-cash-reserves-companies-nations-2014-4

Companies still haven't forgotten about the credit crunch that occurred during the financial crisis. At the time, even the healthiest companies had a tough time meeting their short-term financial obligations.

As such, companies have spent much of the economic recovery building up their balance sheets with mountains of cash. Check out this table from U.S. Trust showing Apple's corporate cash hoard against the cash balances of various countries.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/global-cash-reserves-companies-nations-2014-4#ixzz2yIDL27P4

[Demeter]

23. I don't like the Equivalence drawn betwen corporations and nations there

Nations (except those in Euro-thrall) can print money....I am hoping that corporations can't....

[xchrom]

10. BOJ Stands Pat, Decides Not To Do Anymore To Fight Deflation

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-boj-stands-pat-keeps-upbeat-view-despite-japan-slowdown-2014-07

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan stuck to its existing monetary stimulus on Tuesday, confident that it did not need further support measures to beat chronic deflation even as a sales tax hike clouds the outlook for the world's third-largest economy.
The central bank maintained its upbeat view on the economic outlook and affirmed its conviction that Japan is on track to meet its 2 percent inflation target by around April next year, signaling that no further easing was on its near-term horizon.

But it did take note of its own "tankan" survey last week that showed companies see a worse impact on consumers from the April 1 sales tax hike than from the previous increase in 1997.

"Japan's economy continues to recover moderately as a trend, albeit with some fluctuations caused by the tax hike," the BOJ said in a statement announcing the policy decision.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-boj-stands-pat-keeps-upbeat-view-despite-japan-slowdown-2014-07#ixzz2yIDvTvff

[xchrom]

11. Beleaguered Thai PM pleads for justice, fair treatment

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/uk-thailand-protest-idUKBREA370IM20140408

(Reuters) - With legal cases against her mounting, embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded on Tuesday for fair and proper treatment from the national anti-corruption commission and Thailand's Constitutional Court.

Thailand's political crisis looks set to enter a new, potentially turbulent phase as Yingluck faces at least two legal cases that could see her removed from office in coming weeks, a move that is likely to jolt her supporters in to action and bring the country closer, some fear, to civil strife.

"I ask that the Constitutional Court and National Anti-Corruption Commision use fair treatment when they deliberate the cases against me. I ask for the same treatment that past political office holders have received," Yingluck told reporters in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Her supporters have accused the Constitutional Court of bias in frequently ruling against the government. They also question the speed with which the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has pursued her over a failed government rice subsidy scheme. The scheme has run up huge losses and left hundreds of thousands of farmers unpaid.

[Demeter]

12. U.S. warns China over currency depreciation

EGO BOUNDARY PROBLEMS, UNCLE SAM? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, WHEN YOU'VE TURNED INTO THE OLD MAN YELLING "KEEP OFF MY GRASS!" IT'S THEIR CURRENCY...WHY DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN?

http://news.yahoo.com/u-warns-china-over-currency-depreciation-003249149--business.html

The United States warned Beijing on Monday that the recent depreciation of the Chinese currency could raise "serious concerns" if it signaled a policy shift away from allowing market-determined exchange rates. Washington has been pressing China for years to allow its currency to trade at stronger values. A weak yuan makes Chinese exports cheaper for U.S. consumers at the expense of U.S. producers. A weaker yuan also makes Chinese consumers less able to buy foreign goods. Last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew welcomed a decision by China to allow its currency to vary more against the dollar in daily trading.

Monday's comments by a senior official from the Treasury Department suggested the United States was not completely sold on China's intention to reduce authorities' interventions in exchange markets.

"If the recent currency weakness signals a change in China's policy away from allowing adjustment and moving toward a market-determined exchange rate, that would raise serious concerns," the official, who asked not to be named, told journalists in a phone call.

In comments that outlined U.S. positions before meetings later this week of the International Monetary Fund and between Group of 20 nations, the official noted the widening of China's currency trading band came just after a drop in the yuan's value that coincided with reports of "considerable intervention" in exchange markets by Chinese authorities. That is exactly the sort of behavior Washington wants Beijing to ditch. The United States also appears likely to pressure Europe at the meetings to act more decisively to fix its troubled banking sector...The Treasury official said recent economic data from Europe showed the region was experiencing "chronic low inflation and weak demand." That appeared to be a nod to growing concerns that Europe's economy is so weak it risks falling into a dangerous spiral of falling prices and wages known as deflation.

"More needs to be done to support growth," the Treasury official said.

The official had blunt words for other economic powers as well, saying that Japan should avoid engaging in too much fiscal austerity. He said U.S. sanctions on Russian officials were already having an impact on Russia's economy. The official also chided emerging markets for going too slowly in adopting free-floating currencies.

"Resistance in many emerging markets to moving more quickly to market-determined exchange rate regimes is hindering the rebalancing needed to ensure a lasting, strong global recovery," the official said.

I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS UNNAMED OFFICIAL IS, BUT I'D LIKE TO GAG HIM, FIRE HIM, AND BLACKLIST HIM FROM POLITICS, BEFORE HE STARTS WW3

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13. FUNNY PAPERS

COUPLE OF ZINGERS!

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14. CHINESE CUP AUCTIONED FOR RECORD-BREAKING $36M

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_HONG_KONG_CHINESE_CUP_AUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-06-50-32


The Meiyintang “Chicken Cup” from the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is displayed during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Sotheby’s said Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian won the bidding for the “Chicken Cup,” which is decorated with a rooster, hen and their chicks. Including the auction house’s commission, the price for the small cup comes to HK$281.2 million (US$36.1 million), which Sotheby’s said is a world record price for Chinese porcelain. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

HONG KONG (AP) -- A Shanghai collector bought a rare Ming Dynasty cup that's touted as the "holy grail" of China's art world for $36 million at a Hong Kong auction on Tuesday, smashing the previous world record price for Chinese porcelain.

Sotheby's said Liu Yiqian was the winning bidder for the small white cup, which measures just 8 centimeters (3.1 Inches) in diameter and is more than 500 years old. The vessel is known as a "chicken cup" because it's decorated with a rooster and hen tending to their chicks.

It was made during the reign of the Ming Dynasty's Chenghua Emperor, who ruled from 1465 to 1487. Sotheby's said there are only 17 such cups in existence, with four in private hands and the rest in museums.

"There's no more legendary object in the history of Chinese porcelain," said Nicholas Chow, Sotheby's deputy chairman for Asia. "This is really the holy grail when it comes to Chinese art."

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15. VOLKSWAGEN EXPANSION TALKS AT STANDSTILL IN TENN.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VOLKSWAGEN_UNION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-06-22-50

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Expansion talks at Volkswagen's lone U.S. plant have ground to a halt amid disagreements about the role of organized labor at the factory in Tennessee.

An acrimonious vote in February at the plant in Chattanooga resulted in the narrow defeat of the United Auto Workers union.

Since then, the union has challenged the outcome of the vote with the National Labor Relations Board; a top labor representative on Volkswagen's supervisory board told Chattanooga workers that U.S. Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam "interfered outrageously" in the election; and the governor has suggested that the state has been unable to engage in negotiations with a VW official with final decision-making power.

State incentives for expanding the plant would have to be approved by the state Legislature, which is preparing to adjourn for the year in the next few weeks. But Haslam told reporters last week that there were no active talks with the German automaker.

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16. MORE POPULAR THAN FRENCH LEADER, SELLING HIS IDEAS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-06-15-53

PARIS (AP) -- France's new prime minister is a Socialist who has disavowed the word, a cipher on the economic policy he must sell to both the French people and the European Union, and an unapologetically ambitious climber more popular than his conciliatory boss.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls goes before the Socialist-led national assembly for the first time since he was given the job in a government reshuffle triggered by his party's dismal showing in local elections. He is facing a confidence vote from lawmakers suspicious of the economic turnaround he is supposed to lead - and the 50 billion euros ($69 billion) he is supposed to cut from the budget.

With unemployment hovering around 10 percent for more than five years, minuscule economic growth, and a public debt that is a source of tension with the EU, Valls and his boss, President Francois Hollande, will need more than just confidence - they're hoping the vote will give them much needed room to maneuver.

At stake are jobs for 3 million unemployed French workers and prospects for the entire eurozone economy.

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17. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS BILL HEADED TO HOUSE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_UNEMPLOYMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-08-04-46

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Election-year legislation to resume long-term jobless benefits is headed to the House, where a small band of dissident Republicans is leaning on Speaker John Boehner to permit a vote on resuming aid to more than 2 million victims of the Great Recession.

"As many Americans continue to struggle without benefits, we respectfully request that the House immediately consider this bill or a similar measure," seven House Republicans wrote Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Monday. They released their letter as the Senate voted 59-38 for the bill.

The outlook remains cloudy, though, for legislation that took three months to move through the Senate.

In reply, a spokesman for Boehner said, "As the speaker said months ago, we are willing to look at extending emergency unemployment insurance as long as it includes provisions to help create more private sector jobs."

The spokesman, Michael Steel, said Senate Democratic leaders had last week "ruled out adding any job measures at all."

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18. RUSSIA OIL TALKS POSE NEW HURDLE TO IRAN NUKE PACT

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/russia-oil-talks-pose-new-hurdle-iran-nuke-pact

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reports of multibillion-dollar oil talks between Iran and Russia are emerging as the latest obstacle to a comprehensive pact eliminating the threat of an Iranian nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration is weighing potentially deal-breaking sanctions if a contract is completed.

The Russian business daily Kommersant has reported Russia plans to buy 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day, shattering an export limit under the interim nuclear agreement world powers and Iran reached last year. Moscow and Tehran are far from finalizing the contract, the newspaper said, but the U.S. has expressed alarm.

A senior U.S. official said the administration had no information suggesting the oil-for-goods contract had been reached.

The arrangement would break the interim agreement reached in November in Geneva and potentially trigger U.S. sanctions, said the official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name and briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. But the official didn't say the deal would force the U.S. to slap new economic sanctions on Iran — a move that would likely wreck the entire diplomatic process with Tehran.

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19. IMF: WORLD ECONOMY IS STRONGER BUT FACES THREATS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMF_GLOBAL_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-09-05-44

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The global economy is strengthening but faces threats from super-low inflation and outflows of capital from emerging economies, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.

The lending organization expects the global economy to grow 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2015, up from 3 percent last year. Those figures are just one-tenth of a percentage point below the IMF's previous forecasts in January.

The IMF, in its World Economic Outlook report, makes no changes to its forecasts for U.S. growth, which it estimates at 2.8 percent this year and 3 percent in 2015.

The 188-nation IMF and its sister organization, the World Bank, will hold their spring meetings in Washington this weekend. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 leading economies will meet Thursday.

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20. GREEK BORROWING COSTS DECLINE AHEAD OF BOND ISSUE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-07-46-26

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's Finance Ministry says the lower cost and stronger investor appetite for the country's latest short-term debt issue bodes well for a planned return to bond markets in coming months.

The yield investors demanded to buy Tuesday's regular issue of six-month treasury bills fell to 3.01 percent, from 3.6 percent in March. The issue was three times oversubscribed and raised 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

Greece has been unable to sell long-dated debt since it nearly went bankrupt four years ago. It has survived on international bailouts conditional on tough austerity measures and wide-ranging economic reforms.

Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said Tuesday's auction shows Greece is on "a return trajectory" to global markets.

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21. GERMANY SALVAGES COMPANIES' POWER DISCOUNTS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_EU_ENERGY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-08-08-53-29

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany says it will change its rules on energy discounts for companies that use large amounts of electricity to satisfy the European Union's executive Commission.

The changes will allow companies to continue receiving a discount on a surcharge used to promote renewable energy and help Germany wean itself off nuclear power.

The Commission in December started investigating whether the discounts violate EU rules on state aid. On Tuesday, Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Germany has now completed talks with Brussels and is certain that adjustments to the system will mean it complies with EU rules.

Around 2,000 companies were largely exempt from the surcharge that other consumers pay. Gabriel says the number of companies now eligible for full discounts will be cut by under 400.

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22. Citigroup to pay $1.13B to settle investor claims

http://gazette.com/citigroup-to-pay-1.13b-to-settle-investor-claims/article/feed/106582

SHAMELESSLY STOLEN FROM UNHAPPYCAMPER

NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup has agreed to pay $1.13 billion to settle claims by investors seeking that the lender buy back billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.

The New York-based investment bank said Monday that the pact it reached with 18 institutional investors calls for Citigroup to make a binding offer to the trustees of 68 Citi-sponsored trusts that bundled some $59.4 billion in home loans into securities from 2005 to 2008.

The settlement offer, which must be approved by the trustees and the court, would release Citi from having to buy back mortgages sold to the trusts.

But the lender would remain vulnerable to other types of investor claims, including misrepresentations in the offering documents associated with the securities. It could also face potential actions by regulators.