STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 28 April 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 28 April 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 27 April 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 27 April 2015
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Dow Jones 18,037.97 -42.17 (-0.23%)
S&P 500 2,108.92 -8.77 (-0.41%)
Nasdaq 5,060.25 -31.84 (-0.63%)


[font color=black]10 Year 1.92% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 2.61% -0.01 (-0.38%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
Market Updates
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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.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts







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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]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Bonus round

I should have taken a screen shot yesterday and saved it but didn't.

The cartoonist has corrected his spelling error. Yesterday, the second speech balloon said, "Not true, you little bibmo."

[DemReadingDU]

3. The toon disappeared from yesterday's thread

I didn't think much about it, because this computer sometimes has similar glitches with other images.

[Demeter]

2. Eurogroup Demands Varoufakis’ Ouster; Trajectory Toward Default Continues

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/04/eurogroup-demands-varoufakis-ouster-trajectory-toward-default-continues.html



In case you had any doubts that Greece is supposed to act like a good debt vassal, the Eurogroup’s hissy fit over Yanis Varoufakis at last Friday’s meeting, which stoked a raft of unflattering articles, has now led it to demand to that Greek government remove him. Not that this is new news; there were similar rumblings in February, when the hostility between Varoufakis and German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble reached the level were Schauble refused to be in the same room with his Greek counterpart. The solution during the negotiations then was to isolate Varoufakis while Christine Lagarde, Eurogroup chief Jeoren Djisselbloem, and other top Eurocrats played conference room shuttle diplomacy to hammer out language that was presented to Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras directly, circumventing Varoufakis entirely (later reports described the memo as a fait accompli, with one account stating that Tsipras was told to take it or leave it, and another saying he was permitted to change one word).

Is Varoufakis really on his way out? Take this assessment with a fistful of salt, since the Eurocrats seem to believe that Tsipras is more likely to bend to their views than Varoufakis. In fact, by all accounts, Tsipras is very much in charge (despite all the uncoordinated mouthing off by various ministers; talk and decisions are two different matters). So there’s no strong basis for thinking that getting what the Eurogroup deems to be a prettier face as the Greek front person will change anything they care about. Nevertheless, here is the Financial Times’ account:

In a sign that Mr Varoufakis’s combative approach is prompting concern in Greece as well, a senior Athens official said the Riga meeting was likely to lead to him being sidelined as Mr Tsipras and his deputy Yannis Dragasakis take a more hands-on role.

Amid the acrimony, differences over a new list of reforms that is to be agreed by Athens were barely discussed at the meeting, putting off indefinitely a deal to unlock access to the funds left from Greece’s €172bn bailout…

Some eurozone and Greek officials believe divisions between Mr Varoufakis and Mr Tsipras are deepening and that a concerted appeal to the prime minister could still produce a deal by late May, the time many feel an agreement has to be reached if any aid disbursement can be made before the current bailout expires at the end of June.

Although there are wide differences between Athens and eurozone creditors on matters of substance the current stand-off with Mr Varoufakis is mostly on matters of process, officials said.

Because of the new government’s vow not to return to intrusive inspections by bailout monitors, formerly known as the “troika”, Mr Varoufakis has refused to engage with mid-level negotiators on the ground in Athens and has insisted a political agreement be reached at high levels instead. Eurozone leaders have stymied the strategy, insisting a deal be struck on a new economic reform plan with monitors in Athens before any talks on releasing aid money can occur within the eurogroup.

After creating the impression that Varoufakis is on the ropes, it later quotes an unnamed Greek source that says that Varoufakis would not be removed (assuming he is removed) prior to the reaching of a deal on the so-called bailout.

Varoufakis remains unperturbed:

Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis

FDR, 1936: "They are unanimous in their hate for me; and I welcome their hatred." A quotation close to my heart (& reality) these days
5:49 AM - 26 Apr 2015

And a Bloomberg article on the blowup at the Eurogroup meeting points out that Varoufakis is still popular at home:

Varoufakis has the backing of a majority of Greeks, according to an Alco survey published in Proto Thema newspaper. Some 55 percent of respondents said they had a positive view of him, compared with 36 percent who said they viewed him negatively.

Is this really a “process” problem? One of Lambert’s sayings is that when people in organizations say they have a communication problem, it’s actually a management problem. There’d good reason to suspect that this so-called process problem is a symptom of an outtrade on fundamentals. As we’ve said from the outset, there’s no overlap between the bargaining positions of the two sides. So as much as we’ve depicted the Greek government as being in denial about the willingness of the creditors to make concessions on structural reforms, the flip side is the creditors, or at least the Eurogroup, seems to be operating from its own case of denial: that if they can just get the right personalities and negotiating procedures in place, there’s an agreement to be had.

The problem, as we’ve said before, is that the government is boxed in by its coalition members. Even if the moderates in Syriza wanted to make concessions (and Tsipras and Varoufakis are both moderates), they need the support of the hardline left Syriza members, which are about 1/3 of their bloc. And they won’t give in. They’ll bring down the government first.

MORE

[mother earth]

4. Yves Smith is wonderful. I think it is important to know who these solid truth tellers are.

from wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Capitalism

Naked Capitalism is an American financial news and analysis blog that claims to "chronicle the large scale, concerted campaign to reduce the bargaining power and pay of ordinary workers relative to investors and elite technocrats”.[1] Under the pen name Yves Smith, Susan Webber principal of Aurora Advisors Incorporated and author of ECONned, launched the site posting the first article in December 2006. She focused on finance and economic news and analysis, with an emphasis on legal and ethical issues of the banking industry and the mortgage foreclosure process, the worldwide effects of the banking crisis of 2008, the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, and the aftermath of all related events. The site has amassed over 60 million visitors since November 13, 2007, and earned it a place in CNBC’s 2012 top 25 The Best Alternative Financial Blogs, calling Yves Smith “a harsh critic of Wall Street who believes that fraud was at the center of the financial crisis”.[2]

Every single time I resonate with what is being reported it frequently comes back to the same few.
This is an excellent article.