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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 15 September 2015
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 15 September 2015[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 14 September 2015
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 14 September 2015
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Dow Jones 16,370.96 -62.13 (-0.38%)
S&P 500 1,953.03 -8.02 (-0.41%)
Nasdaq 4,805.76 -16.58 (-0.34%)
[font color=red]10 Year 2.18% +0.01 (0.46%)
30 Year 2.95% +0.02 (0.68%) [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
[/center][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
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
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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]
30 replies
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-09/here-s-how-growing-up-in-poverty-hurts-american-adults
We already know that poverty disproportionately affects children, with about 20 percent of those younger than 18 impoverished versus about 13 percent of adults. New research from the Urban Institute in Washington shows child poverty is actually more common than those headline statistics suggest, and that has consequences for success in adulthood.
Some 39 percent of children are poor for at least one year before they reach their 18th birthday, according to Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow and economist at Urban. For black children, that statistic is 75 percent, compared with 30 percent of whites.
A child is identified as poor if they live in a family whose gross annual money income is below the federal poverty level. For a family of three in 2015, that threshold is $20,090, according to the paper.
Poverty has huge implications for economic outcomes later in life, leaving children who experienced poverty "less likely to achieve important adult milestones," Ratcliffe wrote. Here are some of the things that tend to happen to Americans who grow up poor.
1. They have a harder time finishing high school and college
2. They struggle to get or keep jobs as young adults
3. They have higher rates of teen pregnancy
DETAILS AT LINK
We already know that poverty disproportionately affects children, with about 20 percent of those younger than 18 impoverished versus about 13 percent of adults. New research from the Urban Institute in Washington shows child poverty is actually more common than those headline statistics suggest, and that has consequences for success in adulthood.
Some 39 percent of children are poor for at least one year before they reach their 18th birthday, according to Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow and economist at Urban. For black children, that statistic is 75 percent, compared with 30 percent of whites.
A child is identified as poor if they live in a family whose gross annual money income is below the federal poverty level. For a family of three in 2015, that threshold is $20,090, according to the paper.
Poverty has huge implications for economic outcomes later in life, leaving children who experienced poverty "less likely to achieve important adult milestones," Ratcliffe wrote. Here are some of the things that tend to happen to Americans who grow up poor.
1. They have a harder time finishing high school and college
2. They struggle to get or keep jobs as young adults
3. They have higher rates of teen pregnancy
DETAILS AT LINK
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/with-or-without-fed-one-u-s-banker-is-going-to-raise-his-rates
If the Federal Reserve doesn’t raise interest rates this week, Bill Loving may have to do it himself. The president and chief executive officer of Pendleton Community Bank, headquartered in Franklin, West Virginia, says he sees “increasing loan demand” that will heat up if the central bank keeps its record stimulus in place. Then he’ll have to boost his deposit rates to pull in more funds to lend.
Loving is a country banker. Pendleton, a subsidiary of Allegheny Bancshares Inc., has five branches scattered among valley towns like Moorefield and Harrisonburg, Virginia. Clients include home-loan borrowers, shopkeepers, grade school students who bring pots of coins into a branch to open their first account, and cattle and poultry farmers trying to grow the herd or put weight on a bird. Sometimes his loan collateral is on the hoof. Loving’s credit analysts are from farm families and know how to trade stock -- the kind with four legs. The bank occasionally buys prize-winning sheep or pigs at fairs to help local 4-H kids, then it sells the animals at auction.
Loving says the economy in his area is picking up, reflected in the “help wanted” sign in front of cabinet-maker American Woodmark Corp.’s plant up the road.
Community banks rely substantially on deposits to fund loans, so a bidding war could erupt among Loving and his peers as demand picks up. The Fed has held its benchmark rate near zero since December 2008, and if it stays low, that will “impact our margins, forcing competition on the loan side and competition on the deposit side,” Loving says. So it’s time for the central bank to act, he believes, even though Wall Street traders see a less than one-third probability of that happening when Fed officials meet this week.
MORE
If the Federal Reserve doesn’t raise interest rates this week, Bill Loving may have to do it himself. The president and chief executive officer of Pendleton Community Bank, headquartered in Franklin, West Virginia, says he sees “increasing loan demand” that will heat up if the central bank keeps its record stimulus in place. Then he’ll have to boost his deposit rates to pull in more funds to lend.
“Customers feel more confident,” Loving says in an interview at O’Neill’s restaurant on North Main Street in Moorefield, West Virginia, about 130 miles west of Fed headquarters in Washington. “They are feeling better about where things are.”
Loving is a country banker. Pendleton, a subsidiary of Allegheny Bancshares Inc., has five branches scattered among valley towns like Moorefield and Harrisonburg, Virginia. Clients include home-loan borrowers, shopkeepers, grade school students who bring pots of coins into a branch to open their first account, and cattle and poultry farmers trying to grow the herd or put weight on a bird. Sometimes his loan collateral is on the hoof. Loving’s credit analysts are from farm families and know how to trade stock -- the kind with four legs. The bank occasionally buys prize-winning sheep or pigs at fairs to help local 4-H kids, then it sells the animals at auction.
Loving says the economy in his area is picking up, reflected in the “help wanted” sign in front of cabinet-maker American Woodmark Corp.’s plant up the road.
Community banks rely substantially on deposits to fund loans, so a bidding war could erupt among Loving and his peers as demand picks up. The Fed has held its benchmark rate near zero since December 2008, and if it stays low, that will “impact our margins, forcing competition on the loan side and competition on the deposit side,” Loving says. So it’s time for the central bank to act, he believes, even though Wall Street traders see a less than one-third probability of that happening when Fed officials meet this week.
MORE
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-14/sushi-losing-to-meat-means-japan-flying-fish-surplus-across-asia
The country that gave the world sushi now finds itself with too much fish.
Demand for seafood has been dropping in Japan for much of the past decade as people eat more pork and beef, forcing domestic fishermen to look for buyers abroad. With the help of a plunging yen, that strategy is working. Exports are surging, and companies like Yamato Holdings Co. and ANA Holdings Inc. are expanding a delivery network across Asia, a region that still gets most of its sushi salmon from Norway more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) away.
MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THE JAPANESE DON'T WANT TO GLOW IN THE DARK
The country that gave the world sushi now finds itself with too much fish.
Demand for seafood has been dropping in Japan for much of the past decade as people eat more pork and beef, forcing domestic fishermen to look for buyers abroad. With the help of a plunging yen, that strategy is working. Exports are surging, and companies like Yamato Holdings Co. and ANA Holdings Inc. are expanding a delivery network across Asia, a region that still gets most of its sushi salmon from Norway more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) away.
MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THE JAPANESE DON'T WANT TO GLOW IN THE DARK
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/how-healthcare-gov-botched-600-million-worth-of-contracts
The public employees responsible for overseeing $600 million in contracts to build healthcare.gov were inadequately trained, kept sloppy records, and failed to identify delays and problems that contributed to millions in cost overruns.
That’s according to a new government audit, published today. It reveals widespread failures by the federal agency charged with managing the private contractors who built healthcare.gov. The audit is the first to document, in detail, how shoddy oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal health programs including Obamacare, contributed to the website’s early struggles.
To develop healthcare.gov, CMS hired and managed private companies to create vast, interlocking software systems that would allow consumers to shop for insurance policies. According to the report, issued by the agency’s inspector general, lapses in oversight of those companies started early on—well before the website’s limping debut, on Oct. 1, 2013. The site faltered for months, frustrating consumers until a scramble to repair it ultimately allowed millions to enroll in health plans.
The agency says it has already addressed some of the auditors' recommendations and is working on others. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, declined to say whether any employees had been terminated or disciplined over the lapses the inspector general identified.
MORE
The public employees responsible for overseeing $600 million in contracts to build healthcare.gov were inadequately trained, kept sloppy records, and failed to identify delays and problems that contributed to millions in cost overruns.
That’s according to a new government audit, published today. It reveals widespread failures by the federal agency charged with managing the private contractors who built healthcare.gov. The audit is the first to document, in detail, how shoddy oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal health programs including Obamacare, contributed to the website’s early struggles.
To develop healthcare.gov, CMS hired and managed private companies to create vast, interlocking software systems that would allow consumers to shop for insurance policies. According to the report, issued by the agency’s inspector general, lapses in oversight of those companies started early on—well before the website’s limping debut, on Oct. 1, 2013. The site faltered for months, frustrating consumers until a scramble to repair it ultimately allowed millions to enroll in health plans.
The agency says it has already addressed some of the auditors' recommendations and is working on others. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, declined to say whether any employees had been terminated or disciplined over the lapses the inspector general identified.
MORE
