STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 17 March 2016

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 17 March 2016[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 16 March 2016

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 16 March 2016
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Dow Jones 17,325.76 +74.23 (0.43%)
S&P 500 2,027.22 +11.29 (0.56%)
Nasdaq 4,763.97 +35.30 (0.75%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.91% -0.07 (-3.54%)
30 Year 2.71% -0.02 (-0.73%) [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
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.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.
12/17/15 Martin Shkreli, former CEO Turing Pharmaceuticals and notorious price gouger, arrested on securities fraud charges. Posted $5M bail, resigned as CEO.
2/25/16 Jason Keryc sentenced to 9 years in prison, 3 years supervised release and to pay back $180MM to investors he bilked in a Ponzi scheme while an acct. mgr at Agape World.



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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]

[Hotler]

1. Crude Mystery: Where Did 800,000 Barrels of Oil Go?

Last year, there were 800,000 barrels of oil a day unaccounted for by the International Energy Agency, the energy monitor that puts together data on crude supply and demand. Where these barrels ended up, or if they even existed, is key to an oil market that remains under pressure from the glut in crude.
Some analysts say the barrels may be in China. Others believe the barrels were created by flawed accounting and they don’t actually exist. If they don’t exist then the oversupply that has driven crude prices to decade lows could be much smaller than estimated and prices could rebound faster.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/crude-mystery-where-did-800000-barrels-of-oil-go/ar-BBqztGz?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=iehp

Hhmmmmm.

[Hotler]

2. Coke thinks designer milk could be a billion-dollar brand

In its quest to slake the world’s thirst, Coca-Cola is intent on making milk a billion- dollar brand. But not just any kind of milk. Coke has joined forces with a dairy cooperative to create Fairlife, which produces a filtered, high-protein, low-sugar, lactose-free designer milk also called Fairlife. It costs about $4 for a 52- ounce bottle—more than organic milk and about double what the conventional stuff sells for. In its first year on shelves, Fairlife reached about $90 million in sales, giving a sizable boost to the specialty milk category, which includes milk with more calcium or no lactose.

Coke is part-owner of Fairlife through its Venturing and Emerging Brands group, which has backed Zico coconut water, Honest Tea, and Fuze juice drink. Fairlife Chief Executive Officer Steve Jones worked at Coke as chief marketing officer from 2000 to 2003. While there, he played a role in moving the beverage company beyond its Minute Maid frozen orange juice business to higher-margin products, such as Simply juice, a billion-dollar brand that’s challenged market leader Tropicana—owned by rival PepsiCo—with its clear bottles. “It proved to me you can take a commodity and transform it into a dynamic high-growth category,” Jones says of Simply. “We can do the same to milk.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/coke-thinks-designer-milk-could-be-a-billion-dollar-brand/ar-BBqz3ui?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=iehp

[Hotler]

3. Britain announces new ways to tax multinationals

British finance minister George Osborne on Wednesday unveiled new measures to raise taxes paid in the country by multinational companies, following a public outcry over methods used to avoid tax.

While corporation tax will drop from 20 percent to 17 percent in 2020, Osborne set out a series of measures he said would increase British tax revenues by 9 billion pounds ($12.8 billion, 11.5 billion euro).

The finance minister, seen as a potential future candidate to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron as leader of the Conservative party, said the plan would "make Britain's business tax system fit for the future".

"It will deliver a low tax regime that will attract the multinational businesses we want to see in Britain, but ensure that they pay taxes here too," Osborne told the lower house of parliament as he set out the annual budget.
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The Treasury will also set new "rules to stop the complex structures that allow some multinationals to avoid paying any tax anywhere, or to deduct the same expenses in more than one country," Osborne said.
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Earlier this year US internet giant Google agreed to pay £130 million ($185.4 million, 172 million euros) to Britain following a government inquiry into its tax arrangement.

Can't tax the corporation because they are job creators.

[Hotler]

4. New Russian Hacker Cell Hit 13 Banks Since August, Group-IB Says

Criminals target lenders' payment gateway with central bank.

Largest amount stolen from one bank was $8.6 million.

A newly discovered Russian-language hacker group known as Buhtrap has attacked 13 Russian banks since August using malware that infiltrates their gateway to the central bank, according to Moscow-based cybersecurity company Group-IB.

The hackers spread the malware using infected e-mails that mimicked
correspondence from the central bank and Gazprombank JSC, Group-IB said in a report Thursday. The program then targeted the automated bank-customer system that connects to the regulator.

“This is the most critical system for Russian banks,” Dmitry Volkov, the head of Group-IB’s cyberintelligence department, said by phone. “This is the same as if hackers were to get access to the SWIFT system at Citibank, for example.”

In their biggest heist identified to date, the hackers stole 600 million rubles ($8.65 million), the security firm said, declining to name the lender. Two small regional banks that were targeted each suffered losses totaling 2.5 times capital. In another case, an attempt to steal 1 billion rubles was thwarted.

Russian-speaking hackers are known for sophisticated attacks on financial institutions. A group known as the Carbanak gang, whose members included people from Russia, China, Ukraine and other parts of Europe, created a malware for ATM operating systems that forced the machines to spit out cash to henchmen at a certain time, according to Kaspersky Lab, Russia’s largest maker of antivirus software. Hackers stole 677 million rubles from Metallinvestbank last month, RIA Novosti reported.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-17/new-russian-hacker-cell-hit-13-banks-since-august-group-ib-says

[Hotler]

5. Happy St. Patricks day everyone. already getting thirsty.

Cheers.

[Tansy_Gold]

6. Here's lookin' at you, kid!

Thanks, Hotler.