STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday 6 January

[UpInArms]

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday 6 January

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 3 YEARS, 16 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 1842 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1541 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1503
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES





AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 5, 2006

Dow 10,882.15 +2.00 (+0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,276.87 +13.41 (+0.59%)
S&P 500 1,273.48 +0.02 (+0.00%)
10-Yr Bond 43.56 0.00 (0.00%)
Gold future... 526.10








GOLD, EURO, YEN, Dollars and Loonie





PIEHOLE ALERT


Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]


For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government






(Ozy's having dial-up difficulties this a.m. - he'll be joining us later :hi: )

[UpInArms]

1. WrapUp by Martin Goldberg

Elliott Wave Analysis of a Leading Stock Index
“Dramatic Reversal” Ahead?

Over the last two years, absent of any long-term trends, the major US stock market indices have left technical analysts using trend-based tools dazed and confused. Pulling back to the longer term picture, and using Elliott Wave analysis provides some basis for recent market behavior, and more importantly, valuable insight into its possible future. The 3 wave advance of stock prices suggested in the Elliott Wave principle is also part of the rule books of a wide range of technical analysis methods from Dow Theory to the current successful guru, Investors Business Daily.

Before presenting this analysis, some background and a few clarifications are necessary. Elliott Wave analysis is controversial in many ways. I believe, the controversy relates to the long term and extremely bearish views by those popular analysts who use the Elliott Wave principle as their primary forecasting tool. Additionally, so much of the principle and its explanation deal with corrections against the larger trend and the nature of these corrections tend to be difficult to characterize, trade, and predict. Therefore, although forming a large part of the discussion of Elliott Wave principle, corrections have the least practical value compared to major 5-wave trends. The portion of the Elliott Wave principle dealing with 5-wave advances (or declines) is of significant practical value as a long-term forecasting tool. Of the 5 waves in a typical 5 wave advance (or decline), there are three waves in the direction of the major trend, and two corrections against the major trend. In their sequence, waves 1, 3 and 5 are in the direction of the trend, while waves 2 and 4 are in the opposite direction.

<snip>

The current motive wave appears to be that of an ending diagonal. Note how each of the sub waves including waves 1, 3 and 5 subdivide into 3 sub waves, thereby yielding a pattern of 3-3-3-3-3, as described above. (These sub waves are each labeled “a”, “b”, and “c”, in the chart above.) Wave 4 enters the territory of wave 1 as occurs in diagonals, while not in 5-wave impulse patterns. While it is questionable whether the trendlines form the required wedge in the case of the S&P mid caps, as shown below, a similar examination of the similar-behaving Russell 2000 small cap index leaves no such doubt. This analysis suggests we are in the 5th wave of the suspected diagonal, and if so a dramatic reversal may occur soon.



While the current (UP) trend in the leading indices deserve the benefit of the doubt, the formation of the potential ending diagonal deserves attention. This is because as with “extended fifth waves,” and “truncated fifths,” diagonal triangles imply “dramatic reversal ahead”! The “dramatic reversal” would be confirmed with a decisive break of the lower support trendline. Similarly, this analysis would be proven to be incorrect if the S&P mid cap index were to break above the upper trendline of the proposed diagonal and then use this former resistance line as technical support. However, as described by Frost and Prechter, there is the potential for a “throw over” to occur whereby the upper resistance line is broken for a short period of time before a dramatic reversal occurs. It is the fundamental absurdities occurring in the stock market such as recent Wall Street Google price targets that lead me to suspect that a dramatic reversal would be preceded by a “throw over” of the upper resistance line of the diagonal.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm">...more...

[UpInArms]

2. Oil Prices Up; Natural Gas Prices Rise

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060106/oil_prices.html?.v=5">Crude Oil Prices Rise; Natural Gas Prices Gain Ground After Mild Start to Winter in U.S.

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose Friday and natural gas regained ground as well after a mild start to winter in the United States had pushed prices to a four and a half month low.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 33 cents to $63.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude gained 39 cents to $61.52 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

<snip>

In its weekly natural gas report, the Energy Department said underground storage of natural gas in the lower 48 states totaled 2.64 trillion cubic feet last week, an increase of 1 billion cubic feet from the prior week that left inventories 3 percent below year-ago levels. Analysts had been expecting a small decline in inventories.

In a separate report, the Energy Department said commercially available supplies of crude oil declined last week by 1 million barrels to 321.6 million barrels, or 12.5 percent above year ago levels.

Among the flurry of data released by the Energy Department was a detail that highlighted one impact of soaring energy prices in 2005: For the first time since 2001, total demand for petroleum and related products declined from the previous year. Energy demand is closely linked to overall economic activity.

...more...

[UpInArms]

49. Feb Crude @ $63.80 bbl - Feb NatGas @ $9.71 mln btus

10:11am 01/06/06 FEB NATURAL GAS CLIMBS 21.1C TO $9.71/MLN BTUS

10:10am 01/06/06 FEB CRUDE TAPS HIGH OF $63.90/BRL, ITS HIGHEST SINCE MID-OCT

10:10am 01/06/06 FEB CRUDE LAST AT $63.80, UP $1.01 IN EARLY DEALINGS

[UpInArms]

3. Today's Reports:

http://biz.yahoo.com/c/e.html

Jan 6	8:30 AM	Average Workweek	Dec	-	33.7	33.7	33.7	-	
Jan 6	8:30 AM	Hourly Earnings		Dec	-	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	-	
Jan 6	8:30 AM	Nonfarm Payrolls	Dec	-	200K	200K	215K	-	
Jan 6	8:30 AM	Unemployment Rate	Dec	-	5.0%	5.0%	5.0%	-

[UpInArms]

11. Reports in: NO FREAKING JOBS - 108K created - unemployed rate falls

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. 2005 AVERAGE HOURLY WAGES UP 3.1%

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. 2005 PAYROLLS RISE 2 MILLION

8:30am 01/06/06 WITH REVISIONS, DEC. PAYROLLS CLOSE TO EXPECTATIONS

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. MANUFACTURING JOBS UP 18,000

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. TOTAL HOURS WORKED FALL 0.2%

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. OCT., NOV. PAYROLLS REVISED UP BY 99,000

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. AVERAGE WORKWEEK DIPS TO 33.7 HOURS

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. AVERAGE HOURLY WAGES RISE 0.3%

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO 4.9%

8:30am 01/06/06 U.S. DEC. NONFARM PAYROLLS RISE 108,000 VS. 205,000 EXPECTED

[UpInArms]

12. U.S. Dec. payrolls rise 108,000; jobless rate falls to 4.9%

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?guid={52989147-3FC7-4285-B820-DCF09B0C97A2}&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. job growth slowed in December to 108,000 even as the unemployment rate fell to a cyclical low of 4.9%, the Labor Department said Friday. Growth in nonfarm payrolls was less than the 205,000 expected by economists, but upward revisions to prior months totaling 99,000 put total payrolls near the expected level of 134.5 million. Payrolls increased by 2 million in 2005. In December, average hourly wages increased 5 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.34. Average hourly earnings rose 3.1% in 2005. Total hours worked in the economy fell 0.2% in December as the average workweek dropped to 33.7 hours.

[UpInArms]

18. Job Growth Slows in Dec. After Nov. Spurt

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010600377.html

WASHINGTON -- Job growth slowed in December _ following a big hiring spurt in November _ with employers expanding payrolls by just 108,000, underscoring the sometimes choppy path traveled by job seekers.

The Labor Department's fresh snapshot of the nation's jobs climate, released Friday, also showed that the unemployment rate dipped from 5 percent in November to 4.9 percent in December, as some people left the labor market for any number of reasons. Or did they just run out of benefits and fall off the face of the earth?!?

The 108,000 gain in payrolls registered in December followed a big pickup of 305,000 jobs added in November, according to revised figures released Friday. That was the most since April 2004 and was even stronger than the 215,000 job gains first estimated for November a month ago.

But October's payrolls turned out to be a bit weaker _ showing an increase of 25,000, versus 44,000 previously reported. Still, given that was a month where the lingering effects of the devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes were still being felt, the lackluster performance could be explained.

December's gain of 108,000 jobs was about half of what economists were expecting. Before the release of the report, they were forecasting employers to add around 200,000 positions during the month.

...more...

[dweller]

44. how does this factor in?

UPDATE 1-U.S. Dec layoffs rise by 8.6 percent - survey
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Planned U.S. layoffs rose by 8.6 percent in December, pushing the 2005 annual total of job cuts 3.1 percent higher than in 2004, according to a report released on Thursday.

The increases were due in large part to big jumps in job cuts in the government, non-profit and automotive sectors, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm, said.

Total announced layoffs in the month were 107,822 jobs, compared with 99,279 planned cuts in November, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

"Unfortunately for workers in these sectors, there does not appear to be any relief in the near term," John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, said in a statement.

"Budget deficits exist at all levels of government. At the federal level, military base closures will lead to continued job cutting in 2006," Challenger said.

In all of 2005, U.S. employers announced 1,072,054 job cuts, compared with 1,039,735 in all of 2004, marking the first time since 2001 that annual job cuts increased, Challenger said.

"Another factor that could lead to downsizing in 2006 is the anticipated slowdown in housing. This could lead to increased job cuts in real estate, mortgage lending and other related fields," Challenger noted. "It could also impact consumer products manufacturing and retail, as sales of home products and appliances decline."

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-05T130836Z_01_N05285555_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-LAYOFFS-CHALLENGER-UPDATE-1.XML

:shrug:

dp

[Maeve]

81. It keeps the churn going

Job turn-over is normal, but in today's economy, you see older, better-paid jobs disappear and replaced with bright shiny new low-paying ones; manufacturing and white collar jobholders find themselves asking if you want fries with that...

Okay, that is somewhat of an exaggeration, but closer to the truth for the middle class than Cheney's "they're all becoming millionaires selling stuff on E-Bay"!

[54anickel]

29. And the futures markets rejoice as they quietly hope for an economic

slowdown to stop the Fed. :eyes:

[UpInArms]

4. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX

Last trade 89.41 Change -0.04 (-0.04%)

Forex - Dollar steady ahead of crucial US jobs news

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained steady at recent lows ahead of this afternoon's closely-watched US jobs report for December.

Analysts said the non-farm payrolls data will be crucial in the market's assessment of how many more rate hikes the US Federal Reserve has up its sleeve.

Yesterday's news that weekly jobless claims in the last week of 2005 fell by 35,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 291,000, the lowest in over five years, cemented expectations that today's report will show job creation of over 200,000 during the month.

'December job gains well above the consensus would suggest that the economy has weathered energy price shocks quite well,' said Mike Carey, senior analyst at CALYON.

'This will imply that the FOMC's concerns over potential resource utilization constraints will remain in play and additional rate hikes may be needed to avoid overheating but a below-consensus print, however, would support the end-of-easing scenario,' he added.

Expectations of an imminent easing in US policy were fuelled earlier this week when the minutes to the last Fed rate-setting meeting were interpreted as suggesting that the US rate cycle may soon be coming to an end.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/01/06/afx2432027.html">...more...

[UpInArms]

6. China signals gradual dollar exit

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B7C488FC6%2DE0A6%2D412A%2DA561%2D59C4C7CE4B28%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) On the currency markets, reaction was muted to China's announcement Thursday that it intended to begin diversifying its foreign exchange reserves away from U.S. dollars and government bonds. By the close of trading Friday in Shanghai, the yuan slipped to 8.0668 per dollar, a decline of 0.001 yuan on the day.

On Thursday China's foreign exchange administrator posted a statement on its web site indicating a desire to "improve the operation and management of foreign exchange reserves," although it did not specify details.

"They are allowing more flexibility in their foreign exchange and leaning towards currency appreciation," said ABN Amro's chief Asian strategist in Hong Kong, Eddie Wong.

As of November last year China had $769 billion in foreign exchange reserves. Up to $247.6 billion are invested in U.S. Treasurys. Unofficially, China is believed to invest roughly 70% of its reserves in U.S. dollar assets.

During the past two months, new reserve accumulation lifted total forex reserves to between $800 billion to $1 trillion, according to Wong.

...more...

[UpInArms]

27. Dollar slides after initial post-jobs report uncertainty

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38723.381693588-856516123&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- After trading in two directions in the immediate wake of a mixed U.S. jobs report, the dollar fell sharply against both the euro and the yen in recent trading. The dollar index slipped to new two-month lows, trading under the 89 mark for the first time since Oct. 28. "Euro-dollar stops were reported at the $1.2150 level, while dollar-yen fell like a stone on the move under 115.50 yen," said currency analysts at Action Economics. The euro was last quoted at $1.2171, up 0.6% from $1.1995 late Thursday. The euro was near $1.2112 just after the report. The dollar was fetching 114.93 yen, down 1% from 116.07 yen late Thursday. The dollar was near 115.76 after the report.

[UpInArms]

35. A peek at the falling dollar

Last trade 88.93 Change -0.52 (-0.58%)

Open 89.45 Previous Close 89.45

High 89.63 Low 88.87

2006-01-06 09:00:41, 30 min delay

[54anickel]

36. Korean Won Falls; Government Plans to Probe Speculative Trading

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=a7wLLKEn_JsA&refer=asia

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's government, ``deeply worried'' about the won's advance to an eight-year high, announced a probe into speculative trading and relaxed limits on overseas investment to curb gains in the currency.

The won fell, paring a 2.5 percent advance from the previous five days, after closing yesterday at the strongest since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Kwon Tae Shin, the vice finance minister, said after an emergency meeting with the central bank that the government will ``mobilize all capabilities'' to stop the currency from slowing economic growth.

``This is some kind of war,'' said Oh Suktae, an economist in Seoul at Citibank Korea Inc. ``Intervention could be quite strong to prevent further won appreciation. The central bank can defend the dollar-won rate at this level.''

The won fell 0.08 percent to 988.10 against the dollar as of 3 p.m. end of trading, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. It yesterday had the strongest close since Nov. 14, 1997. The currency pared a decline of as much as 1 percent.

Gains in the won threaten demand for exports that account for more than a third of Asia's third-largest economy. Overseas sales by companies including Samsung Electronics Co. will probably achieve a fourth straight year of growth above 10 percent, the government said this week.

Not `Normal'

more...

[UpInArms]

52. "It's the death blow to the U.S. dollar"

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={69D9ABBB-0E6D-448A-B626-004D19C722E8}&siteid=mktw">China to diversify foreign-exchange holdings

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gold futures climbed Friday, with a decline in the U.S. dollar driving investors to the precious metals as a hedge against potential losses.

Gold for February delivery rose $7.40 to $535.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell $7.80 on Thursday after an eight-session climb of more than $40.

China said Thursday that it would diversify its foreign-exchange reserves away from U.S. dollars and government bonds. See related story.

"China's announcement of wanting to diversify their foreign-exchange reserves holdings is going to have a profound effect on financial markets worldwide," said Peter Grandich, editor of the Grandich Letter.

"It's the death blow to the U.S. dollar, which had enjoyed a temporary reprieve in 2005, and another bullish factor for gold going forward," he said.

...more...

[54anickel]

55. Sheesh, look at the blood over on the Treasuries floor as well

10:50 EST

10-yr Bond 43.81 +0.25 (+0.57%)
30-yr Bond 45.72 +0.25 (+0.55%)

I posted this one yesterday, but it's worth repeating in light of China's announcement...

Speculators Turn Away From China, Making Revaluation Less Pressing
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/business/worldbusiness/05yuan.html?pagewanted=1

snip>

The flow of money has diminished even with the rise in the Chinese trade surplus, which has tripled in the last year to the irritation of politicians and business executives from Washington to Brussels to Tokyo. They want Chinese officials to let the yuan rise faster to make the country's exports more expensive in foreign markets.

snip>

The reduced speculation has brought measurable advantages as well: inflation has almost disappeared, even as the economy grew at a 9.8 percent rate last year. Economists attribute this in part to dwindling amounts of speculative money sloshing around the economy.

China has also enjoyed excellent harvests, and there has been so much investment in new factories that a recent government report estimated that three-quarters of all categories of manufactured goods suffered from oversupply.

"There's no pricing capacity for anything," said Jing Ulrich, a J. P. Morgan economist here. "Food prices are falling," she said, and those for manufactured goods "are seeing stagnation at best."

The trends of lackluster interest in buying yuan and weak prices in China were especially evident on Wednesday.

The government allowed 13 banking companies, including HSBC and Citigroup, to begin trading yuan directly with each other, using a tightly regulated over-the-counter market. In the past, all currency dealings had to be made with a government agency. But traders said that while the volume was somewhat greater on Wednesday than was typical in recent weeks, it still amounted to no more than $5 billion as the yuan inched up three-hundredths of 1 percent, to 8.0676 to the dollar.

more...


on edit - fixed link to UIA's post here (take out the extra //http
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={69D9ABBB-0E6D-448A-B626-004D19C722E8}&siteid=mktw

[UpInArms]

5. With Consumers Wary, Bush Summons Cavalry

Will they bill this the "Beavis and Butthead Show" for 2006 or will it be "Dumb and Dumber Redux"?

WASHINGTON — Frustrated that Americans are giving him low marks for economic stewardship, President Bush and about two dozen of his top aides will hit the road today to argue that the economy is in better shape than many people think, and that Bush deserves some of the credit.

They may find that much of the nation is skeptical.

Polls show that more than half of the public thinks the economy is in bad shape and that Bush is doing a poor job of managing it. In one recent survey, three in 10 participants said the country was in a recession, even though the economy has grown for the last 2½ years.

<snip>

"This Darwinian economy has got people concerned," said John R. Stanek, chairman of ISR, a research firm in Chicago that conducts worker surveys. "If you feel there's a decent chance you may be laid off — and over a third of U.S. workers feel that could happen to them — you're not going to stop looking over your shoulder. You realize that the laying off of you may be part of the 'good things' that are happening to the overall economy."

David Kelly, managing director of Putnam Investments in Boston, said job insecurity was moving from factory floors to front offices, thanks in particular to outsourcing of jobs overseas.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bushecon6jan06,1,6576954.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true">...more...

[AnneD]

32. Let's look at the obscure indicators.....

WalMart sales up a dissapointing 2.2%
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/13562283.htm

Neiman Marcus up 12.6
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/08/national/main592211.shtml

To paraphrase Judge Judy...don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

[cosmicdot]

96. a chicken in every pot ... there's light at the end of the tunnel ...

... posperity is just around the corner ...

[UpInArms]

7. Gold resumes bull run

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Gold futures climbed early Friday, resuming their upward trend amid continued bullish sentiment toward the metal.

Gold for February delivery was last trading up $3.40 at $531.20 an ounce in electronic trade.

The metal took a pause from its recent rally on Thursday, closing lower for the first time in nine straight sessions. Gold had gained more than $40 an ounce during its eight-session winning streak.

"We continue to be very positive on the outlook for gold bullion," Desjardins Securities said in a note. "The main reason is that investment demand will continue to boost the gold price. Underlying nervousness with regard to the fundamentals for the U.S. dollar is underpinning investment in gold."

Analysts at Nacional Bank raised their forecasts for gold to $525 an ounce in 2006 and 2007 and $500 an ounce in 2008.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={69D9ABBB-0E6D-448A-B626-004D19C722E8}&siteid=mktw">...more...

Do you think those forecasts might be a bit low? :eyes:

[UpInArms]

24. Feb Gold @ $533.60 oz

8:55am 01/06/06 FEB GOLD FUTURES EXTEND GAINS AS DOLLAR WEAKENS

8:55am 01/06/06 GOLD FUTURES UP $5.70 AT $533.60 AN OUNCE

[UpInArms]

62. Feb Gold @ $538.30 oz - March Silver @ $9.05 oz

11:27am 01/06/06 FEB GOLD CLIMBS $10.50, OR 2%, TO $538.30/OZ

11:27am 01/06/06 MARCH SILVER RISES 17.8C, OR 2%, TO $9.05/OZ

[UpInArms]

66. Feb Gold @ $540 oz

12:04pm 01/06/06 FEB GOLD TAPS $540.10/OZ, NEARS 25-YR HIGH OF $543 FROM DEC

12:04pm 01/06/06 FEB GOLD LAST AT $540/OZ, UP $12.20, OR 2.3%

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38723.5084730671-856539955&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- February gold climbed as high as $540.10 an ounce in New York and was last at $539.80, up $12. Prices are nearing the $543 high from Dec. 12, which was the highest intraday level since April 1981. "Disappointing U.S. employment numbers spooked the dollar, an in turn boosting gold prices on its traditonal inverse relationship," said Matthew Parry, an economist at Economy.com. "China's announcement of wanting to diversify their foreign-exchange reserves holdings" also pressured the dollar and lifted gold, said Peter Grandich, editor of the Grandich Letter.

[UpInArms]

78. Feb Gold closes @ $541.20 oz up $13.40 (2.5%) for the day

1:53pm 01/06/06 FEB GOLD CLOSES AT $541.20/OZ, UP $13.40, OR 2.5%

1:53pm 01/06/06 FEB GOLD ENDS THE WEEK UP $22.30, OR 4.3%

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

85. Please Continue To Ignore Gold!

Talk about stocks, talk about bonds, talk about oil, talk about how housing starts are up, or down, or whatever.....but Do Not Mention that Gold is UP well over 100% in the last couple of years.

I do not mind a 20-30% annual rate of return for now, and I can still afford to buy more on the occasional corrections.

Perhaps by the time it's at 1,000/ounce, the Idiots at CNBC might start devoting 5 minutes a day to discussing gold and precious metals, and try to figure out why they continue rising in price. At the rate it's going, that should be well before this Criminal & Ignorant administration has destroyed the economy completely.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

86. Just Read Your Initial Post UIA

"Analysts at Nacional Bank raised their forecasts for gold to $525 an ounce in 2006 and 2007 and $500 an ounce in 2008"

You're right. Perhaps it might be about time to raise those estimates a bit. Not that it matters much to me. Please tell me what these analysts are smoking, so I can get my hands on some in exchange for my gold. Not that I'd sell any for many many years.

Sure sure sure.....the price is going to rise.....or should I say fall.....to $525 this year, remain at that level through next year, and then Drop to $500 in 2008.

Perhaps my forecast is a little better. I say at least $650 in 2006, $800+ in 2007, and so long as King george remains through his fraudulent 2nd term.....easily $1,000 in 2008. But they would never hire me, and by 2010 I won't need a job since the gold I'll have saved up will be worth far more than any minimum wage job that might be available to me in the depression we're headed towards.

[UpInArms]

8. A Look at Abramoff-Related Donations

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/166652.html">Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to three federal charges as part of an agreement with prosecutors requiring him to cooperate in a broad corruption investigation into members of Congress.

[AnneD]

20. Morning Marketeers,

:donut: Thanks for pinch hitting for Ozy UIA. Hope the bugs get worked out.
Can you believe these politico...Like I'm sure they were pimping for charity :eyes: Do they get to take those 'donations' deductions off on their taxes? You can bet they wouldn't have donated if they had not been caught.Jeez.
I think this pretty much sinks DeLay, even if he is not convicted in Texas. What I find even more insidious was the way the GOP totally infiltrated all the lobbies on K street. They made it known that you better hier GOP staffers and those staffers were expected to contribute heavily to the GOP. In India that is called bribery and graft. Here it seemed to be 'Bidness as Usual'. And what about those lobbyist on the floor of Congress writing the bills. Of course this is nothing new to DU'rs.
I saw Snow (for the 1st time) last night on PBS Nightly Business Report. He looks as crazy as a shit house rat (or Frist). He was RAH RAHing the economy. I heard that all the minions and Bush will be out over the next few days spreading the Gospel (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) so a big pie hole alert.
Happy Hunting, keep your gun loaded and watch out for the bears.

[UpInArms]

25. G'morning AnneD!

Yeppers, that "K Street Project" by Norquist and DeLay should hang like a boat anchor around the necks of the GOPpiggies.

http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=721&pubid=483">‘K Street Project’ Delivered For DeLay’s Indicted PAC

Eleven Beltway lobby firms—including some with close ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay—lobbied in 2002 for more than one corporation that contributed to DeLay’s indicted Texans for a Republican Majority (TRM) PAC. Recent indictments charge DeLay’s TRM PAC cronies with illegally using and laundering corporate money to influence Texas’ 2002 state elections.

Tom “the Hammer” DeLay forged his extraordinary rise from bug exterminator to U.S. House Majority Leader by relentlessly pounding special interests for money. Long before DeLay, the lobby functioned as a market where money-hungry politicians and wealthy interests settled on a price. But DeLay and conservative activist Grover Norquist organized the “K Street Project” in the late 1990s to capitalize on the fact that relatively few lobby shops broker the needs of a staggering number of special interests. The K Street Project corralled more special interests into the Republican column by threatening trade groups and corporations with reprisals if they hired Democrats as top lobbyists.

The House Ethics Committee admonished DeLay in 1998 for delaying an intellectual-property vote sought by the Electronic Industries Alliance--which had hired a Democratic director. Back home, the state of Texas sparked a controversy in 2002 by awarding a $360,000 contract to lobby the federal government to a firm headed by ex-DeLay Chief of Staff Drew Maloney.(1) Ethical sparks notwithstanding, the K Street Project has been lucrative for politicians and lobbyists close to DeLay, especially DeLay’s “kitchen cabinet” of trusted lobbyist advisors.

Given this background, Lobby Watch reviewed the 2002 lobby registrations of companies that made corporate contributions to TRM PAC that same year. Lobby filings of nursing-home companies affiliated with the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, Inc. also were reviewed. TRM PAC’s largest corporate contribution—delivered via Rep. Tom Craddick’s courier service—was a $100,000 check from this nursing-home trade group.

In reviewing these filings, Lobby Watch found 11 lobby shops that represented more than one corporate TRM PAC donor. These 11 firms reported receiving more than $2 million in 2002 federal lobby income from 10 different corporations that gave a total of $327,500 to TRM PAC. These contributions account for 54 percent of all the corporate money that the indicted PAC raised.

...more...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=K_Street_Project">K Street Project

The K Street Project is a project by the Republican Party to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials. It was launched in 1995, by Republican strategist Grover Norquist and House majority leader Tom DeLay.

K Street in Washington DC is where the big lobbying firms have their headquarters and is sometimes refered to as the fourth branch of government. Lobbying firms have great influence in U.S. national politics due to monetary resources and the revolving door policy of hiring former government officials. It is common practice for politicians to request money for lobbying firms for an exchange in better access to officials and to buy favoritism in policies.

Historically, K Street hires top ex-politicians from both major parties since party in power can vary between elections and among the legislative and executive branches in government.

During most of the George W. Bush administration, the Republican party had majority control of both houses of Congress, in addition to control of the White House. DeLay of the House, Rick Santorum of the Senate, and Grover Norquist took this opportunity to expand the K Street Project by pressuring major lobbying firms to hire only Republicans in any new or open positions.

...more...

[AnneD]

41. I use to work in a Nursing Home part time

We never had enough Nursing staff (RN's)and supplies were under lock and key that only the Head Custodian had access too(I am talking NURSING supplies here). Like I am going to fence yanker caths on the black market. Well, I walked in to the Head Nurse with a copy of the article about the CEO being charge with embezzling Medicare funds to by art work for the corp office and told her she had better start worrying about the real thieves and leave us Nurses with access to supply closet over the weekends!
Insurance Co's and Nursing Home HQ's make our jobs impossible and in large part their policies are what have driven Nurses out of the profession....it just isn't worth it anymore. We don't have big lobbies and deep pockets to buy face time and we have all but given up hope that legislators will do what is right.

[cosmicdot]

98. fixed links

‘K Street Project’ Delivered For DeLay’s Indicted PAC
http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=721&pubid=483

K Street Project
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=K_Street_Project


UIA, your links had double http://http//:

[UpInArms]

34. Does the Right Know Jack?

This is a real test for conservative commentators.

The Jack Abramoff guilty plea this week puts the crooked lobbyist smack in the center of what could balloon into the biggest congressional scandal in decades. Abramoff happens to be a Bush Pioneer, a DeLay pal, and generally someone who was deeply embedded in the Republican power structure.

What's more, Abramoff is a symbol of a capital awash in tainted cash and legislative favors, a system that turns on golfing trips to Scotland and congressionally earmarked bridges to nowhere--in short, a very fat target for editorial disapproval.

But even though Abramoff steered some client cash to Democrats, this is, for the moment, a largely Republican scandal. So do folks on the right unload on Jack and his enablers, or stick to the defensive party talking points?

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that, according to Nexis at least, Fox's Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly uttered not a word about Abramoff this week. And if this was a convicted lobbyist who funneled big bucks to Hillary Clinton, they'd be just as bored by the story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/01/06/BL2006010600433.html">...more...

[AnneD]

45. Hey UIA,

they said nary a word because the story did not involve Guns, God, or Gays.

[UpInArms]

47. They say nary a word because they are tied to Abramoff's cash

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Capital_Athletic_Foundation">Capital Athletic Foundation

The Capital Athletic Foundation (CAF) is a 501(c)(3) organization started by Jack Abramoff "in 2000 with only $12,850," according to a heavily-documented March 1, 2005, letter from Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

<snip>

On March 5, 2003, Paul Bond of The Hollywood Reporter announced the March 26, 2003, celebrity fundraiser "Interactive Spy Game Gala" to be held at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, "to raise about $300,000 for the Capital Athletic Foundation."

"Daniel Greenberg, who works as creative director for the J.R.R. Tolkien franchise for Universal Interactive, has tapped his brother Andrew, also an award-winning video game designer, and theatrical director Patti Woolsey for the Spy Game Gala. About 30 teams of about 10 people each are to interact with 15 actors who will reveal clues for solving puzzles that will eventually reveal the mystery Greenberg has created. The competition will last about an hour, and the winning team will get $50,000 in prizes."

"Being honored at the gala with the Capital Athletic Foundation's first lifetime achievement award is full-time philanthropist James Kimsey, the founding chairman of America Online."

"The gala is to be chaired by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, so the NFL will be well-represented. Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis will be there, and record-setting Philadelphia Eagles return man Brian Mitchell has signed on as event spokesman."

"Fox News Channel's Tony Snow is master of ceremonies, and Fox's Brit Hume and MSNBC's Chris Matthews are aboard. Opera great Placido Domingo is an event committee member. But, this being Washington, the event will be mostly populated by powerful lawmakers, including Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas; Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif."

Also named in the announcement was the "foundation's director of community relations," Julie Doolittle, the wife of Representative John Doolittle (R-California).

...more...

[cosmicdot]

99. fixed link

http:www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/01/06/BL2006010600433.html

[UpInArms]

63. `DeLay Inc.' Lobbying Firm Has Links to Three Capital Scandals

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Tom DeLay's campaign to get Republicans to dominate Washington lobbying may have worked too well for Alexander Strategy Group.

The firm has links to no fewer than three of the scandals convulsing the U.S. capital. One partner, former DeLay aide Tony Rudy, is now a focus of a federal investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The group's founder, former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham, set up a South Korea junket for his old boss that violated ethics rules. And the firm represents a company whose owner, prosecutors allege, bribed former Representative Randy Cunningham.

Alexander Strategy's links to lawmakers are an outgrowth of a decade-long effort by DeLay, 58, to force lobbying firms to hire more Republicans, who can direct corporate money to the party. The system, known as ``DeLay Inc.'' or ``the K Street Project,'' has fueled a surge of money in politics, and critics say it has also created the potential for greater corruption.

``Alexander Strategy Group is really part of DeLay Inc. and Abramoff Inc.,'' said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who now heads Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an ethics watchdog group. ``There have been some aggressive prosecutors trying to unravel those ties. I am sure that Alexander Strategy is going to have more than Tony Rudy as a problem when this is over.''

...more...

[UpInArms]

65. Alexander Strategy Group

Political Contributions by DeLay Alumni During the 2003-2004 Election Cycle.

Former Capitol Hill employees of Representative Tom DeLay contributed $352,315 to House and Senate campaigns, PACs and the Bush campaign during the 2003-2004 election cycle. Jack Abramowitz, who is being investigated for activities involving Representative DeLay, contributed $77,000 of that amount. Susan Hirschmann, Majority Leader DeLay's former chief of staff and now a partner at Williams and Jensen, contributed just under $50,000 during this period. Edwin Buckham, another former DeLay chief of staff and now chairman of the Alexander Strategy Group who is also being investigated for his ties to the Congressman, contributed $32,500 during this period. Contributions to the Tom DeLay Congressional Committee totalled $16,500 and another $16,500 ($15,000 of it from Jack Abramoff) was contributed to Americans for a Republican Majority, the DeLay leadership PAC. In close to 40 instances, the DeLay alumni contributed two or more times to a candidate now in the House.

Congressman DeLay's leadership PAC paid Susan Hirschmann's law firm, Williams and Jensen, $34,598 during the 2003-2004 cycle for legal services, fundraising fees and other costs. Ms. Hirschmann contributed $2915 to the Williams and Jensen PAC, but that PAC did not contribute to Congressman DeLay's campaign. Majority Whip Roy Blunt's leadership PAC, Rely on Your Beliefs, paid Williams and Jensen $14,155 for legal services during the 2003-2004 cycle. Republican Conference Chair Deborah Pryce's PAC, Promoting Republicans You Can Elect, paid Williams and Jensen $9101 during the same period.

The former staff listing was taken from an April 11, 2005 article in CQ Weekly. A table of contributions by DeLay alumni during the 2003-2004 cycle which may be sorted by contributor, recipient and amount is provided below. Not all former DeLay employees made contributions during this period.

...lots more with $$$ enumerated...

DeLay, Incorporated

Feature: 2/4/2000

excerpt:

Yet unlike former Speaker Newt Gingrich--who, until his spectacular fall from grace in 1998, was a ubiquitous and controversial symbol of Republican power in the House, and who often excelled as a blue-sky theoretician and strategist--DeLay is nearly faceless, rarely making headlines. DeLay's style is almost the polar opposite of Newt's. He operates largely behind the scenes, pulling strings and making the wheels turn in Congress, and wielding enormous power over the GOP rank and file through a top-down command structure of lieutenants. Though fiercely partisan and ideologically bonded to the right wing of the Republican party, DeLay has made himself indispensable by amassing an unparalleled political machine. "He is the implementer," says Robert Rusbuldt, a senior lobbyist for the Independent Insurance Agents of America and a key member of DeLay's kitchen cabinet. "Some think that he is the enforcer." Nicknamed "The Hammer" for his often heavy-handed use of brute political power, DeLay himself prefers a different and more modest metaphor. Acknowledging that among recent GOP congressional leaders Speaker Gingrich was the "visionary" and House Majority Leader and Dallas Republican Dick Armey was the "policy wonk," DeLay said, "I'm the ditch digger who makes it all happen."

For DeLay, making it happen starts and ends with money, in the form of cold, hard campaign cash. "Money," DeLay says, "is not the root of all evil in politics. In fact, money is the lifeblood of politics." Perhaps the staunchest opponent of campaign finance reform in the House, DeLay currently serves as the party's chief liaison to Washington's business lobbyists, money men, and corporate political action committee directors. Using his organizational muscle as majority whip in the House, a key leadership position, and his uncanny ability to raise and distribute millions of dollars in political money, DeLay is an indefatigable driving force behind the Republican agenda in Congress.

But DeLay's money machine faces a critical performance test in 2000. With polls showing that Democrats look increasingly likely to regain control of the House next year, DeLay is scrambling to assemble an unprecedented campaign war chest to be deployed this fall. In so doing, he has stretched Federal Election Commission regulations and campaign finance laws to (and perhaps beyond) the breaking point, putting together a network of funds and PACs nicknamed "DeLay Inc."

<snip>

Potentially the most important part of this apparatus is the R.M.I.C., set up by DeLay and Gallant to raise $25 million for House Republicans. Taking advantage of a series of loopholes in campaign laws and F.E.C. rules, the R.M.I.C. can accept contributions of soft money in unlimited amounts without having to disclose the identity of donors, and then use the money to buy hard-edged political advertisements (the several dozen congressional races that DeLay advisers say will decide the outcome of the 2000 elections). Never before has a politician navigated through the sea of loopholes to create exactly this kind of organization, a new species. Unlike most campaign money, R.M.I.C. cash will be "soft money," which is largely unregulated; and, unlike soft money that goes to the party organizations, the R.M.I.C.'s donations can be kept secret.

...more...

Edwin Buckham: Former chief of staff and an old family friend of House Majority Whip Rep. Tom DeLay, involved, along with former DeLay aide Mike Scanlon, in a 1999 effort by Abramoff to allegedly dangle U.S. tax dollars to influence a election for the speaker of the legislature in the Northern Mariana Islands. Along with former DeLay aide Tony Rudy, ran the lobbying firm Alexander Strategy Group, which accepted a number of clients from Abramoff and paid Christine DeLay, wife of the Majority Whip, $115,000 for work from 1998 to 2002 to determine the favorite charity of every member of Congress. Alexander Strategy Group also counted among its clients California businessman Brent Wilkes, one of four unindicted coconspirators in the bribery case of disgraced former Republican congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Do you see the incestuous web the Conservatives are tangled in? I guess it's no real surprise one conservative supporting anohter. But Michael Tackett's story in yesterday's Chicago Tribune (April 10, 2005) nicely laid out the connection between Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, USA Next and Alexander Strategy (which has been mentioned in the media a lot lately). The media coverage of Alexander Strategy Group has lead me to conduct a deeper review of the lobbying firm’s true intentions and connections to conservative issues, specifically USA Next and the privatization of Social Security. DOES USA NEXT SINCERELY CARE ABOUT SENIORS OR THE CONSERVATIVE AGENDA? So please help me untangle this incestuous web. Is anyone familiar with “Advocacy Technologies LLC?” I’ve come across this group, but have not found much. According the April 10, 2005 Chicago Tribune, USA Next paid them $1.3 million in 2003 for media placements. They are located down the hall from Alexander Strategy Group at 3000 K Street in DC. Is there a relationship between Advocacy Technologies and Alexander Strategy Group? Here is what I can piece together…
[br />The Degrees of Separation:

Ed Buckham:
Founder of Alexander Strategy Group
Former Chief of Staff to Tom DeLay
Introduced DeLay to Jack Abramoff

Christine DeLay:
Employed by Alexander Strategy Group

Mike Mihalke:
Sr. Partner at Alexander Strategy Group
Founder of Advocacy Technologies LLC
Former Board Member of USA Next

Jack Abramoff:
Former Board Member of USA Next

...more...

[UpInArms]

70. Abramoff was on the board of USA Next

http://www.usanext.org/full_story.cfm?article_id=88&category_id=3

USA Next Releases "Stop Scaring Seniors" Ads
New ads featuring Art Linkletter expose reemergence of campaign strategies designed specifically to scare America's seniors.



http://www.forward.com/campaignconfidential/archives/001781.php

excerpt:

David Keene, American Conservative Union -- Host Committee
David Keene Lobbied for Organization Linked to Abramoff. According to Senate records, David Keene lobbied for the United Seniors Association, now known as USA Next, from 1998 through 2004 while a lobbyist at the Carmen Group. Abramoff served as a board member for United Seniors, a group created by archconservative and GOP direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie that lobbied for Medicare cuts in the 1990s. The United Seniors Association is also known as USA Next, the group that earlier this year was criticized for running ads linking the AARP to gay marriage and accusing them of not supporting US. Troops.

[cosmicdot]

97. fixed link

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/166652.html

[UpInArms]

9. Derivative traders see Dec US payrolls at 198,300

Well see how close the gamblers come to the reported number :eyes:

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Traders in the final of four derivatives auction ahead of the government's December U.S. non-farm payrolls report bet on Friday the U.S. economy generated about 198,300 jobs in December, or just shy of what economists are expecting.

The median forecast in a poll of economists conducted by Reuters was 200,000. The report will be released on Friday at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

The implied forecasts in the derivatives auctions edged down in each successive auction this week, with the first one on Wednesday yielding a 216,300 forecast.

One noteworthy aspect of Friday's auction was a fresh concentration of betting below economists' expectations, with traders putting a 15 percent probability of a result between 125,000 and 150,000 jobs.

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T132028Z_01_N06297349_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-PAYROLLS-DERIVATIVES.XML">...more...

[UpInArms]

10. Medicare flaw denies drugs for some poor

Laura Monson, 65, is staying close to her subsidized apartment in Minneapolis, severe leg pains restricting her movement, because her pharmacist would not refill a prescription -- one of 11 drugs that have run out.

Hundreds and maybe thousands of poor Medicare beneficiaries like Monson have been turned away from drugstores this week because of a major flaw in implementing the program's new drug benefit, state officials said Thursday. The problem is that the Medicare computer is telling pharmacists that these beneficiaries are enrolled in a drug plan, but it's not confirming that their poverty qualifies them for nearly free drugs.

<snip>

They typically take more drugs and are in more frail health than other Medicare beneficiaries, Varpness said.

<snip>

But starting Sunday, when the new benefit took effect, pharmacists found that many of them were listed on a Medicare computer database as being enrolled, but not as eligible for the subsidized portion of the plan.

The subsidy allows them to pay between $1 and $5 per prescription, with no deductible and no monthly insurance premium.

In other cases, either Medicare or the private insurance companies appear to have made errors in enrolling people. In addition, an overwhelmed Medicare is simply behind in verifying that people who enrolled in plans actually qualify.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/166491.html">...more...

[JNelson6563]

13. Thank you UIA

This thread is a vital part of my morning news intake, thanks for posting it and all the great info while Ozy's got tech troubles.

On the financial front, my but look at those future charts!

Julie

[UpInArms]

15. Morning Julie!

Yeah, those future charts are soaring on the GREAT news of no freaking jobs! But look at the currency charts to see the world dumping dollars as fast as they can.

:(

[UpInArms]

14. Builders see new home orders fall

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Two homebuilders after the closing bell Thursday said quarterly orders for new homes declined from the year-ago period, supplying fresh evidence the housing market may be cooling in some parts of the country.

Brookfield Homes Corp. (BHS) said net new home orders for the fourth quarter fell 99 units to 156, on "fewer homes available for sale in our California operations, and a fourth-quarter slowdown in sales in the San Diego and Washington markets."

The Del Mar, Calif.-based homebuilder said it expects 2005 profit to "slightly exceed" its earlier high-end estimate of $7 a share.

Shares of Brookfield Homes gained 62 cents to close $51.30 on Thursday.

Also late Thursday, M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (MDC) said new orders in the fourth quarter fell to 2,405 homes from 2,662 the previous year.

The Denver company said a decline in Arizona "primarily resulted from a sharp reduction in the number of net home orders per active subdivision, from the unsustainably high levels experienced in this market during the last nine months of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, to a level more consistent with those experienced in the fourth quarters of 2003, 2002 and 2001."

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={36B44BBC-3312-4912-AD5D-B26322C867CB}&siteid=mktw">...more...

[UpInArms]

16. Futures rally as job growth slows

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B6956DAFA%2D0751%2D49CE%2D8AF7%2D069A4269CB2B%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw">IBM halts pension plan, Microsoft downgraded

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures added to gains after a much weaker-than-anticipated December jobs report strengthened hopes that the Federal Reserve would end its interest rate hiking cycle sooner rather than later.

Blue chip companies International Business Machines and Microsoft Corp. were also in the spotlight after Big Blue unveiled plans to freeze its pension program and after Microsoft Corp. was downgraded by a leading broker.

S&P 500 futures climbed 4.60 to 1,285.90 of a point and Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 7.0 to 1,730.0. Dow industrials futures hiked up 31 points to 10,965.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 13 points to 2,276 to reach a new four-and-a-half-year high, while the Dow industrials rose 2 points at 10,882 and the S&P 500 edged up 0.02 points at 1,273.

...more...

[UpInArms]

17. IBM to freeze US pension scheme

Scheme????? Or was it all a SCAM? :banghead:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/your_money/4587204.stm

The giant computer firm IBM is closing its US final-salary pension scheme to existing members and giving them personal pensions instead.

The company said the change, from January 2008, would give it more control of its pension costs.

In conjunction with similar changes being considered for staff in other countries, IBM will save around half a billion dollars a year.

The IBM pension scheme has assets worth $48bn and is fully funded.

<snip>

"We also believe these are prudent and balanced steps at a time of uncertainty and conflicting legislative and regulatory directions about defined benefit retirement plans in the USA" he added.

...more...

[UpInArms]

19. NationsBank/BoA: NY judge orders $2.82 mln insider trading payment

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T134138Z_01_N06287342_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-BANKOFAMERICA-INSIDERTRADING.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge this week ordered a former NationsBank credit policy officer and his longtime friend to pay $2.82 million to resolve civil charges related to a four-year insider trading scheme.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey on Tuesday ordered the former officer, Richard Svoboda, to pay $556,000, including the disgorgement of $219,100 of improper profits, $186,900 in interest and a $150,000 civil penalty.

The friend, independent accountant Michael Robles, is to pay about $2.27 million, including a $1.26 million disgorgement, $757,800 in interest and a $250,000 penalty.

Lawyers for both men were not immediately available for comment. NationsBank merged with BankAmerica in 1998 to form Charlotte, North Carolina,-based Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), now the No. 2 U.S. bank.

U.S. securities regulators accused the defendants of trading based on inside information that Svoboda, who worked in NationBank's Dallas office, learned through his job.

...more...

[UpInArms]

21. U.S. Treasuries ease on strength in payrolls data

Strength???? What freak of nature writes these headlines????? :argh:

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T135022Z_01_NYG000111_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS-PAYROLLS-URGENT.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Friday after a weaker-than-expected rise in December non-farm payrolls was offset by a sizable upward revision to November payrolls and strong average hourly earnings data.

The government said December payrolls rose 108,000, below economists' expectations of 200,000. But it also revised up November payrolls to 305,000 jobs from 215,000 previously.

December average hourly earnings jumped 0.3 percent, compared with economists' expectations of 0.2 percent and November's 0.1 percent increase.

...more...

[UpInArms]

39. Printing Press Report:Fed adds banking reserves via three-day system repos

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T143321Z_01_N06342849_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-FED-OPERATIONS.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Friday said that it added temporary reserves to the U.S. banking system through three-day system repurchase agreements.

The benchmark fed funds rate last traded at 4.25 percent, the Fed's current target for the overnight lending rate.

Further details of the operation are available at: http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm

[AnneD]

46. The headline was written by someone....

that has a job.:banghead:

[UpInArms]

22. Idiot Alert: Dec. soft job data not sign of econ weakness: economist

I wonder who pays these people or if they are just a part of the "Beavis and Butthead Roadshow"????

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38723.3700741782-856513457&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Although U.S. job growth slowed to 108,000 in December, it is not a sign of economic weakness, said Kathy Camilli, founder of Camilli Economics. Camilli said the decline in the unemployment rate to a cyclical-low of 4.9% in the month is a better sign of labor market conditions as small and medium size businesses add workers. "I would characterize the labor market as strong," Camilli said in an interview. Camilli said she was hopeful that the Fed would not tighten monetary policy in January. "I think that all the reports combined (will show)...that the economy is not growing at aberrant inflationary rate which would require more tightening."

[orwell]

82. Camilli believes...

...that "the economy" will continue to be strong in 2006 while the stock market will not do that well. She cites the above trend gains of the late 1990's as a drag on future performance for the foreseeable future.

Gold is telling you that a shock is coming.

[UpInArms]

23. CTS to close Indiana plant, take charge

8:47am 01/06/06 CTS TO TAKE REVAMP CHARGE $4.5M-$5M

8:47am 01/06/06 CTS TO TRANSFER LINES TO ELKHART, IN; MEXICO AND SINGAPORE

8:46am 01/06/06 CTS TO CONSOLIDATE BERNE, IN, LINES INTO 3 OTHER PLANTS

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T135357Z_01_WEN7335_RTRIDST_0_MANUFACTURING-CTS-URGENT.XML

CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - CTS Corp. (CTS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a maker of electronic components and sensors, on Friday said it will close its Berne, Indiana, plant, shifting to work to three other plants.

The move will result in estimated pretax restructuring charges of $4.5 million to $5 million, the company said.

The consolidation of the Berne plant's work is expected to be largely completed in the second half of this year, the company said.

[UpInArms]

26. EMC Corporation cuts 1,000 jobs - repatriates money - "Job Creation Act"

9:06am 01/06/06 EMC to cut about 1,000 jobs - MarketWatch.com

9:07am 01/06/06 EMC expects Q4 restructuring charge of $80M - MarketWatch.com

9:05am 01/06/06 EMC expects Q4 repatriation tax charge of $175M - MarketWatch.com

9:03am 01/06/06 EMC expects Q4 revenue at $2.70B-$2.71B - MarketWatch.com

9:04am 01/06/06 EMC expects 2005 revenue at $9.65B-$9.66B - MarketWatch.com

9:03am 01/06/06 EMC expects Q4 adjusted earnings at 17c - MarketWatch.com

http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/profile.asp?sid=1698&symb=EMC&siteid=mktw">EMC Corporation. The Group's principal activity is to design, manufacture, market and support a range of networked storage platforms, software and related services. It operates in five segments: The Information Storage products consist of information storage systems and software. The Documentum's software and services help companies manage all enterprise content in one tightly integrated system, including new services for collaboration, enterprise report management, scanning/imaging and records management. The LEGATO Software's information protection, automated availability and information access software manage and protect data, assure availability of applications and provide immediate access to information. The Information storage service segment offers professional services, customer support and global technical training to customers during and after the purchase of storage solutions. The Group acquired Documentum Inc in 2003 and Legato Systems Inc and VMware Inc in 2004.

[mmonk]

42. Funny you should mention EMC

I dumped it before the end of the year.

[ramapo]

57. EMC=DEC

Many, many similarities. Not quite as dysfunctional, better marketing but a hardware-centric company trying not to be.

[UpInArms]

28. Federal-Mogul announces restructuring plan (4,500 jobs to be cut)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T140636Z_01_WEN7337_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-FEDERALMOGUL-URGENT.XML

DETROIT, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Bankrupt auto parts maker Federal Mogul Corp. (FDMLQ.OB: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday announced a three-year restructuring plan that could affect 25 facilities and reduce the company's work force by about 10 percent.

Federal Mogul, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in October 2001, said preliminary charges related to the restructuring is likely to be in the range of $125 million to $150 million. The charges are likely to be recorded in the current quarter and future periods, the company said.

As of Dec. 31, 2004, the company had approximately 44,700 full-time employees, of which about 17,200 were employed in the United States.

[UpInArms]

30. U.S. labor market decent, but not solid: economist

What? Someone dares to question the economy?? Give that man a lollipop!

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38723.3832492593-856516423&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. labor market is not as robust than economists had expected at this point in the business cycle, said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "It is still decent but it hasn't moved into that solid range," Naroff said. Job growth is averaging 146,000 over the last three months. But the sharp monthly volatility - from 305,000 jobs creating in November dropping to 108,000 in December "is hiding the underlying trend of things," Naroff said. The Fed will pause with interest rates either at 4.25% or 4.5% until there is more data showing where the economy is headed. "This report just simply adds to the confusion of things," Naroff said.

[54anickel]

40. Decent? The emperor has no damned clothes and this guy is only

noticing the jacket is missing.

I know this article is a bit outdated, but I haven't seen any evidence that the trend has changed for the better -

Arithmetic Reveals Alarming Employment Situation

In April 2004 we examined the true condition of job creation and opportunities for working Americans.

America's top "losing sectors": manufacturing, information, wholesale trade, and transportation

Jobs lost in these sectors since August 2003: 1.85 million

America's top "gaining sectors": health, accommodations, education, administration, and finance

Jobs gained in these sectors since August 2003: 1.24 million

Rising employment in the gaining sectors is still 610,000 short of the jobs lost in the losing sectors.

Average wage for jobs lost in the losing sectors: $17.25

Average wage for jobs gained in the gaining sectors: $14.23

This is $3.02 less than the wages that have disappeared in America.

http://www.economyincrisis.org/article_43.html

[orwell]

83. The problem lies...

...in the height of the perch from which we view "the economy". For asset holders, speculators, financial traders, CEO's and other high level execs, lobbyists, crony capitalists, hedge fund and mutual fund managers, and even the professional class of workers, "the economy" is great. For the middle and lower classes who do not have an investment stake in "the economy," especially those who don't hold real estate with a decent equity position, the economy is lackluster to downright frightening.

Unfortunately, economic statistics are aggregates, which mask many underlying strengths and weaknesses. Keep your eye on gold and the dollar. They will tell you far more than the rest of the noise.

[54anickel]

31. Floyd Norris: If history repeats itself, is it time to panic?

Hmmmm, is this why the Fed is looking to be "creative" with monetary policy - the stuff "financial" markets will understand but business and households won't?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/05/business/norris06.php

Call it the 99-year cycle. If it continues, then this year may not be an enjoyable one for investors.

William Draves, co-author of "Nine Shift," a book looking at parallels between the first years of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century, points out that the stock market over the last nine years resembles the market in the years beginning in 1898.

He suggests that in both periods the economy was just beginning to deal with the changes wrought by new technologies that would change the way business was done: The automobile in the early 20th century changed the economy from an agrarian to an industrial one, and now the Internet is changing it from an industrial to an information economy.

A look at the Dow Jones industrial average from the end of 1897 on shows that it rose nicely for three years, then had three down years, two years of recovery and one year when not much happened. At the end of the nine years, the Dow was up 91 percent for the period.

snip>

There is, of course, no reason to think that such a pattern is bound to continue. But if it does, this year will be a bad one. The Panic of 1907 caused banks to fail and provided evidence that the existing monetary policies of the United States were inadequate.

When the U.S. Treasury was unable to put up enough money to calm scared depositors, J.P. Morgan did so, a fact that appalled those who deemed it risky and humiliating for the government to have to rely on an investment banker to prevent disaster. The reaction led, in 1913, to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System to avert future crises.

more...

[orwell]

84. I have long suspected...

...that the panic of 1907 was "engineered" to pave the way for the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve Act was the beginning of the long descent into financial darkness, marked by the destruction of the dollar's buying power and the rigging of the economy to benefit the financial elite.

It is also not a coincidence that the 16th Amendment (income tax) was passed in 1913 as well. You have one act of Congress essentially (and possibly unconstitutionally) turning over the monetary system to a small group of powerful private banking interests, at the same time you begin the confiscatory regime of a Federal Government primarily interested in wealth transfer from the poor and middle class to the same elite bankers.

The great canard is that the US Government is hostile to large financial interests and protects "the little guy." Without the largesse of the Federal Government, most large multinationals could not compete. That is the real welfare state.

[UpInArms]

33. pre-opening blather

08:57 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +7.4. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +13.5. Futures indications continue to suggest an upside open for the indices as traders digest the December jobs data alongside November's revision. Crude prices are rising in electronic trading on expectations that strong economic growth will spur demand. The Energy Department reported that U.S. oil consumption hit a record-high of 22.2 million barrels in December. Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as $0.86, or 1.4%, to $63.65 per barrel. Presently, the commodity is up 0.9% and sporting a $63.35 price tag.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +8.4. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +12.5. The much-anticipated Secemeber employment report has recently been delivered. Non-farm payrolls, the most scrutinized portion, rose a less than expected 108K; analysts had expected a 200K increase. Sustained payroll growth near 200K per month is expected for 2006, and that pace is key for consumer spending. The unemployment rate ticked slightly lower to 4.9% while hourly earnings rose 0.3% (consensus 0.2%) and the average work week remained 33.7 hours. In its initial response, stock futures have jumped higher. While the non-farm data was below expectations, strong revisions to last month's data have helped futures trade. The bond market has left the 10-year at 4.36%.

[UpInArms]

37. SnowJob pukes bile into everyone's ears

9:35am 01/06/06 SNOW CONFIDENT OF STRONG JOB GROWTH IN 2006

9:35am 01/06/06 SNOW CALLS DEC. JOB REPORT 'POSITIVE NEWS'

"Dumb and Dumber Redux" hits the road!

[UpInArms]

50. Snow-One month's job data no trend (SO STOP SAYING THAT!)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T150737Z_01_WAT004661_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-SNOW-JOBS-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday said it was unwise to read too much into December's downshift in job growth and pointed to a substantial upward revision in November's numbers as a sign of strength.

"I wouldn't read too much into one month's numbers," Snow said in an interview on CNBC Television. Asked why wages have yet to surge despite a strong pace of economic growth, Snow said the pattern was typical of a recovery.

"I think we're at the tipping point where, having seen profits rise, margins rise, employment rise, we're now going to see compensation levels rise," he said, adding that while high energy prices remain a concern, oil and gas inventory levels were "fairly encouraging."

...more...

A Tipping Point??? Yeah, right into the abyss, you freak of nature!

[EuroObserver]

95. "Tipping point"

is an odd choice of words in this context.

Not in the context of what's happening to the dollar right now, though.

[54anickel]

51. Did you catch Snow in NBR last night? I had my puke bucket beside

me. The interviewer asked about how businesses are "misusing" the dividend tax break. All Snow could offer was a bunch of non-answers
The transcript is available under the streaming video tab
http://www.nightlybusinessreport.org/

snip>

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Let me ask you about the dividends tax and the impact that it`s having, because there were reports out there that private equity partnerships are buying companies. They`re borrowing a lot of money and then they are taking out the cash and taking advantage of the 15 percent dividend break basically in order to get out their investment. Is that really what people intended? Is that what the administration intended when you passed this 15 percent tax cut?

SNOW: What was behind the reduction on dividends of course, was to level the playing field between debt and equity financing. Debt financing has had a huge tax advantage over debt financing. And the reductions don`t eliminate that discrepancy, but they narrow it.

GERSH: But it is a loophole if you have private equity partnerships which are buying companies and essentially flipping them and taking their money out and using this 15 percent dividend tax rate in order to do that?

SNOW: Well, the main thing that`s happened is that more companies are paying dividends now, not this phenomenon you are talking about. And by lowering the tax on equity, we do something that`s awfully important to this economy because equity is the risk capital. Equity is the capital that finances new businesses, entrepreneurship and innovation.

GERSH: Well, we also saw last year that companies took half a trillion dollars and used that cash to buy other companies, to merge and make acquisitions, which many business school studies have shown often don`t pay off. They`re often not the best use of corporate cash. Are you disappointed that companies aren`t taking their corporate cash and giving it back to shareholders so that they can reinvest the money?

SNOW: Well, there is with the lower dividends, lower taxes on dividends, managements have an incentive to give more to shareholders. When I was a CEO, I remember -- and participated on a number of boards, several boards, shareholders saying won`t you give us more dividends? And management could then say, but, you know, giving dividends, paying more dividends is very tax-disadvantageous and it was. That`s no longer the case.

GERSH: But companies also took a half a trillion dollars of their cash and just bought other companies with it. They didn`t give it back in terms of dividends to shareholders.

SNOW: Well, look, there are alternative uses of cash. Sometimes the best thing to do is to retain the cash and pursue internal growth. Sometimes the best use may be an acquisition.

[AnneD]

88. That was the show I was talking about earlier....

Not only did Snow look scary, he talked scary too. Gersh kept trying to pin him down (much to his credit) and what you don't get in a transcript was the exasperation in Gersh's voice (would have love to see his facial expressions. It was obvious he wasn't buying that crap.

[UpInArms]

38. 9:40 EST LaLa Land Roars Approval at Lack of Jobs

Dow 10,925.06 +42.91 (+0.39%)
Nasdaq 2,289.97 +13.10 (+0.58%)
S&P 500 1,280.48 +7.00 (+0.55%)
10-Yr Bond 4.364 +0.08 (+0.18%)

NYSE Volume 121,131,000
Nasdaq Volume 149,988,000

09:35 am As futures trade had presaged, Friday's cash market opened well ahead of the flat line. Some upbeat news on the corporate front had catalyzed an early optimistic air, but the December employment report turned trading decidedly bullish. The headline read was disappointing; non-farm payrolls, the most closely-watched element of the report, rose a less than expected 108K (consensus 200K). Considering the upside revision to November's data, however, the net change for December was generally in-line with expectations. While today's read is still a bit disappointing from an economic standpoint, the stock market has taken a bullish view as the smaller increase adds to the argument that the Fed will raise rates only one or two more times. Because the market is keyed to the interest rate outlook, the fact that this data may support a sooner-than-later end to tightening is probably more significant than the inherent economic implications.DJ30 +55.71 NASDAQ +15.31 SP500 +7.01

[54anickel]

53. 10:30 EST and reality check begins

Dow 10,890.24 +8.09 (+0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,283.89 +7.02 (+0.31%)
S&P 500 1,276.50 +3.02 (+0.24%)
10-yr Bond 43.83 +0.27 (+0.62%)
30-yr Bond 45.75 +0.28 (+0.62%)
NYSE Volume 506,015,000
Nasdaq Volume 512,334,000

edit to add blather

10:30 am : Gains have been well-pared amid the indices, but seven of the ten economic sectors lend gains that help the market retain positive footing. Moving parallel with the price of crude futures, Energy now registers +1.5% and still offers the strongest source of support. Financial's fall below the flat line, however, has stunted the morning's advance. Banks demonstrate relative weakness, and moderate declines in several sector bellwethers have taken the sector 0.2% south. Although the lower than expected jobs data underpinned the argument that the Fed's rate hike campaign may be nearing its end, the rate-sensitive sector continues to eye the flat yield curve and today's declining Treasury market. DJ30 +14.65 NASDAQ +8.43 SP500 +4.03 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1088/1528/522.0 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1080/1797/356.7 mln

[UpInArms]

43. Kmart layoffs strike local store (thousands of jobs across the country)

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01062006/business/81457.htm

PORTSMOUTH - Paula Tyo worked at the Kmart store on Woodbury Avenue for 12 years until she was abruptly laid off Wednesday afternoon before her shift was completed.

Tyo, who was a department manager at the store, said she was one of at least seven full-time employees laid off at the same time.

"I handed them the keys to the electronic department and said bye," she said. "There were people bawling their eyes out. One of them (laid off) was a girl who had been there 20 years. Where’s the loyalty?"

<snip>

She was an hourly employee and received no severance pay, only a final check for the hours she worked that week. According to Brathwaite, the impacted employees are hourly workers who do not qualify for severance payments under Kmart’s employment policies.

<snip>

The Detroit News reported Wednesday that a company e-mail sent to store managers said the changes will affect a small number of employees in most Kmart stores. Similar actions taken across many of the 1,400 stores would mean thousands of jobs affected.

...more...

[54anickel]

48. The approaching war with Iran

http://www.teamliberty.net/id209.html

January 4, 2006 – On November 10th 2005, the Muckraker Report published an article that described one of the unspoken reasons why the United States had to invade Iraq; to liberate the U.S. dollar in Iraq so that Iraqi oil could once again be purchased with the petrodollar. See The liberation of the U.S. Dollar in Iraq

In November 2000, Iraq stopped accepting U.S. dollars for their oil. Counted as a purely political move, Saddam Hussein switched the currency required to purchase Iraqi oil to the euro. Selling oil through the U.N. Oil for Food Program, Iraq converted all of its U.S. dollars in its U.N. account to the euro. Shortly thereafter, Iraq converted $10 billion in their U.N. reserve fund to the euro. By the end of 2000, Iraq had abandoned the U.S. dollar completely.

Two months after the United States invaded Iraq, the Oil for Food Program was ended, the country’s accounts were switch back to dollars, and oil began to be sold once again for U.S. dollars. No longer could the world buy oil from Iraq with the euro. Universal global dollar supremacy was restored. It is interesting to note that the latest recession that the United States endured began and ended within the same timeframe as when Iraq was trading oil for euros. Whether this is a coincidence or related, the American people may never know.

In March 2006, Iran will take Iraq’s switch to the petroeuro to new heights by launching a third oil exchange. The Iranians have developed a petroeuro system for oil trade, which when enacted, will once again threaten U.S. dollar supremacy far greater than Iraq’s euro conversion. Called the Iran Oil Bourse, an exchange that only accepts the euro for oil sales would mean that the entire world could begin purchasing oil from any oil-producing nation with euros instead of dollars. The Iranian plan isn’t limited to purchasing one oil-producing country’s oil with euros. Their plan will create a global alternative to the U.S. dollar. Come March 2006, the Iran Oil Bourse will further the momentum of OPEC to create an alternate currency for oil purchases worldwide. China, Russia, and the European Union are evaluating the Iranian plan to exchange oil for euros, and giving the plan serious consideration.

snip>

Is it mere coincidence that the Fed will begin hiding M-3 the same month that Iran will launch its Iran Oil Bourse, or is there a direct threat to the stability of the U.S. dollar, the U.S. economy, and the U.S. standard of living? Are Americans being set up for a collapse in our economy that will make the Great Depression of the 1930’s look like a bounced check? If you cannot or will not make the value and stability of the U.S. currency of personal importance, if you are unwilling to demand from your elected officials, an immediate abolishment of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the fiat money scheme that the banking cartel has used for nearly a century now to keep our government and our people in a state of perpetual debt, than you are faced with but two alternatives, abject poverty, or invading Iran.

more...

[54anickel]

59. Bit more....

snip>

Understanding fiat money is not an easy task, and the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund have purposely made it that way. They do not want the American people to realize that the money in their wallet loses its value with each new dollar that they print. They do not want people to understand that our money does not become money until it is borrowed. When the Federal Reserve has money printed, when it is in uncut sheets of paper, it is not yet money. After it is cut, bundled, and placed into the Federal Reserve vaults, it still is not money. It only becomes money once it is borrowed. Consequently, if all debt were to be paid, if the United States didn’t have an $8 trillion national debt and the American people were debt free, and if all loans of U.S. dollars made to foreigners were paid in full, there would be exactly zero U.S. dollars in circulation because it will have all been returned to the vaults of the Federal Reserve. This might seem hard to fathom, but it is the gospel of fiat money.

snip>

It is well overdue for Americans, every American, to do whatever it takes to fully understand the relationship between the United States and the Federal Reserve, along with the grave consequences of our current fiat money system; for even if the United States wanted to continue to sustain the supremacy of the U.S. dollar with bullets, it is historically, impossible. When bullets become the commodity to secure a currency, it is a clear sign of devastating calamity looming. To ignore the warning signs, is to suffer like you have never suffered before, or to die. Harsh words, but true.



Call me a nutcase, but put this together with UIA's post yesterday on the "Fed deflation tools can work if understood - study", the move by Russia to flex it's muscles so everyone understands they are an oil/gas superpower, China getting ready to cut off our credit line, and this talk of a new pipeline NOT going through Afghanistan. I think the world is trying to tell us to "back off" of Iran and our delusions of Empire. Now think of the nutcases running this country...any chance they are listening?

We are in deep doo-doo. :scared:

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-04T190405Z_01_N04310740_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-FED-DEFLATION.XML

[54anickel]

60. America's nuclear ticking bomb

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060103/news_mz1e3hirsch.html

New U.S. policies for the use of nuclear weapons were formulated in the administration document "Nuclear Posture Review" of 2001 and became more sharply defined through a Pentagon draft document "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations."

They envision the use of nuclear weapons against adversary underground installations, against adversaries using or intending to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. forces and for rapid and favorable war termination on U.S. terms. Implementation of these policies, whose drafters occupy the upper echelons of the Bush administration today, could be precipitated in the near future by events unfolding in the Persian Gulf.

Iran's nuclear program has become a central theme in Israel's electoral campaign, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly advocating a pre-emptive attack against Iran's nuclear installations, and his main rival, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, explicitly not ruling out that possibility. Given the U.S. presence in Iraq and its close alliance with Israel, the United States would necessarily become militarily involved in the aftermath of such an Israeli attack.

Russia and China have sided with Iran in that it is legally entitled under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for nonmilitary purposes. The United States adamantly opposes Iran's restarting of any uranium-enrichment-related activities and is pushing for Iran to be referred to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions. The United States has explicitly not ruled out its own military option against Iran and has recently exercised that option against a state (Iraq) suspected of having weapons of mass destruction and of sponsoring terrorism. Iran certainly falls in that category.

more...

[EuroObserver]

68. Some Iranian Options

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HA07Ak02.html

In a very strong show of support for Tehran, Moscow agreed to sell Iran an air-defense system known as the Tor-M1. Arguably the most advanced system of its kind, the Tor-M1 uses a mobile launcher to track and destroy multiple targets, which can include incoming missiles, aircraft and helicopters.

Moscow's deal with Tehran, which was signed early last month, calls for the delivery of 30 Tor-M1 systems in 2006 and is worth more than $1 billion. According to Russian sources, it is the largest weapons deal between Moscow and Tehran in the past five years.

China also clearly supports Iran. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told EU-3 representatives that placing Iran's nuclear dossier before the Security Council "could encourage Iran to take extreme measures". While Russia has strong commercial ties with Iran in the nuclear and military fields, China has strong ties to Iran's petroleum sector. Given China's growing thirst for oil, it is unlikely that Beijing would abandon Tehran in favor of the US and EU.

Facing almost certain veto by Russia and China, any US-EU attempt to impose sanctions on Iran in the Security Council will fail - a situation both Washington and the EU-3 are aware of. Though individually the EU-3 have practically renounced a military solution to the growing diplomatic impasse, the US and Israel have not.

Because of its commitment of resources to the occupation of Iraq, a US military strike against Iran has been generally described as not feasible. The partial withdrawal of US troops from Iraq this year could give the Pentagon's military planners greater confidence in the success of a strike against Iran.

Israel could also mount a major military strike against Iran, with or without Washington's support. Last month, stories surfaced in the international press indicating that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had already approved a strike against Iran to be mounted this March. Israel's recent acquisition of "bunker-busting" bombs from Washington indicates that an Israeli strike may well be under consideration.

[54anickel]

91. Doomsday for the Greenback

http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=500582

The Federal Reserve is the financial headquarters for the cartel of multinational banking establishments. The confederation of banks in the Fed underwrites the exploitative activities of the world’s main industries and sets rates in a manner that best serves their objectives. This is how the bankers perpetuate the system of economic hegemony and apply the shackle of debt and dependence to the planet’s most destitute countries. The Federal Reserve is every bit as critical to the maintenance of the empire as its political counterparts in Washington or its blood-brothers in the US Military. It is the largest of the empire’s three gears; economic, political and military, which mobilize the might wheel of state terror.

If we look carefully at the Iraq war, the main financial institutions stood squarely behind the hostilities and did their best to create a hospitable economic environment for aggression. The Federal Reserve dropped the prime rate to a paltry 1.5% just 6 months before the Iraq invasion to keep the American economy purring along while Bush dragged the nation to war. The bloody footprints for Iraq lead straight to the oak-panel doors of America’s primary lenders even before they trail off to the bastions of America’s energy giants.

There’s a reason for this. The main impetus for the war was not petroleum, but greenbacks and the future of a currency that is underwritten by $8 trillion of debt. The only way to safeguard its dominance is to back up the listing dollar with boatloads of oil. And, that is exactly the plan.

The Capital of Empire

America’s capital is not in Washington DC. In fact, it is not geographic location at all. It is the greenback, the epicenter of the global rule. The dollar is the cornerstone upon which the mighty pillars of empire rest. At the same time, the greenback is the greatest hoax in human history; a worthless scrap of paper buried beneath a mountain of debt. It is only through the skillful mix of politics, diplomacy, and brute force that the grand deception is maintained. As America’s fortunes grow more tenuous, the probability of attacks on the dollar will increase exponentially. Even now, nations are conspiring to knock the dollar from its lofty perch and introduce a more equitable system.

more...

[54anickel]

92. IRAN IS CHENEY'S NEXT TARGET

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_allen_l__060104_iran_is_cheney_s_nex.htm

It's the financial threat of Iran introducing a euro-based energy exchange.
by Allen L Roland, Ph.D


http://www.opednews.com

Iran is Cheney's next target ( note , I did not mention Bush who is the cheerleader for the Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal ) and the reason Iran is next has nothing to do with a nuclear threat and everything to do with the financial threat of Iran introducing a euro-based energy exchange.

Stay with me ~ this is high powered global gamesmanship and Ryan McGreal , Raise the Hammer, nails it in this short but most informative expose'.

Excerpt: " One of the major unstated reasons the United States invaded Iraq was to stop Saddam Hussein from trading oil for euros, which he had begun in 2000. Hussein actually made more money selling oil for euros, as the euro appreciated 17 percent against the dollar between 2000 and 2003. Other countries in the region, particulary Iran and Syria, began public musing about switching from dollars to euros around the same time.... All three countries were subject to a barrage of threats from the United States government, but only Iraq went through with the switch, and it was summarily invaded. One of the US government's first acts in Iraq was to switch oil sales back to dollars."

Allen L Roland


Iran in the Crosshairs

By Ryan McGreal

http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=133

08/24/05 "RTH" -- -- Starting in 2006, Iran will start up an "oil bourse", or a stock exchange for trading energy, that will be based on the euro, not the US dollar. While this may seem innocuous, it will be a grave risk to continued American global hegemony.

Petrodollar Hegemony


more...

[54anickel]

54. Ponzi’s legacy alive and well

http://www.prudentbear.com/randomwalk.asp

snip>

Consider Ponzi’s scheme which promised investors a 50% return on their money in just 45 days. The potential profits were so irresistible that for a time Ponzi was attracting a million dollars a week into his office. And that’s in 1920 dollars. That’s especially impressive considering that his clients included thousands of small investors including local police officers, retirees and small business owners.

Aside from the boldness of Ponzi’s 50% guarantee, the recent banking scandal in Machala, Ecuador sounds much like a South American version of the old Ponzi’s operation. There, 71 year-old José Cabrera promised investors a return of 10% interest a month. The provincial notary claimed 6,500 investors, mostly military personnel, but also high ranking officers and other officials, including a judge and the former commander of Ecuador’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. In Ecuador, the provincial notary helps facilitate real estate transactions but is prohibited from acting as a banker. This detail failed to prevent $800-$900 million from finding its way into Cabrera’s alleged pyramid operation over a 10-year period.

In Boston back in 1920, people stood in long lines for the chance to hand their money over to Charles Ponzi. Sometimes it came in so fast that tellers had to rake the cash into waste baskets and stuff it into drawers. In Ecuador, residents of Machala begged for the Cabrera to take their money, some shedding tears as they pleaded for a piece of the action.

The Ecuadorian scheme fell apart in October after Cabrera died suddenly. His death triggered panic among his investors who were counting on Cabrera’s magic to deliver their outsized returns. Sensing the game was over, locals ransacked his office, among them police officers who were seen leaving the scene with their flack jackets stuffed with money. There was also panic among Cabrera’s military investors, some of whom “borrowed” military planes so that they could jet down to Machala to join the frenzied search for cash.

Even though Cabrera was 71, many investors wondered if he had faked his death. Just to be sure they dug up his grave. The biggest skeptics scraped off bits of skin to present to the coroner’s office for DNA testing. That was far more due diligence than investors performed on Cabrera while he was alive.

more...

[UpInArms]

56. Bankrupt Refco seeks to pay new CEO $685/hour

If they pay $685/hr - at 40 hrs per week for 52 hours = $1,424,800 per year!

That's a lot of green for a "bankrupt" company :eyes:

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T154116Z_01_N06300904_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-REFCO-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Refco Inc. (RFXCQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research), which has said it owes $16.8 billion to creditors, has asked a U.S. bankruptcy court for permission to pay $685 an hour for the services of new Chief Executive Harrison Goldin.

The futures and commodities broker, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on Oct. 17 and is selling assets to help pay creditors, on Thursday asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain for authorization to retain the CEO's firm, Goldin Associates LLC, as crisis managers.

The firm provides financial advisory and risk management consulting services.

Another Goldin executive, Mark Slane, would serve as chief restructuring officer and charge $550 an hour. Five other named executives would charge $350 to $500 an hour.

Refco said the seven Goldin executives would spend substantially all of their time working on its restructuring. If it retained others, they would charge $100 to $550 an hour, depending on their positions.

...more...

The initial calculation was for the CEO only - go figure on the rest of those pay packages. :argh:

[UpInArms]

89. Adviser PlusFunds Caught in Refco Riptide

http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/stocks/brokerages/10260359.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

An investment firm that owns the exclusive license to peddle Standard & Poor's hedge fund indices as trading proxies is being haunted by its close ties to Refco (RFXCQ:OTCBB) .

PlusFunds, an eight-year-old firm started with seed money from several top Wall Street banks, is scrambling to avoid becoming the latest casualty of Refco, the derivatives brokerage that collapsed three months ago in an accounting scandal. The latest allegations involve loans and cash payments to a PlusFunds principal with ties to the bankrupt brokerage.

Many of PlusFunds' travails were reported earlier by TheStreet.com. In December, Refco's creditors cried foul when it came to light that money managed by PlusFunds had been transferred out of a Refco account just prior to the brokerage's implosion. The creditors alleged in a lawsuit that the assets should have been subject to the same strictures as any Refco asset that was frozen when the brokerage filed Chapter 11 in October.

PlusFunds, which has close ties to Refco itself, has two main businesses. It manages about $2.5 billion in assets via mutual funds that mimic a portfolio of indices designed by Standard & Poor's to gauge the performance of hedge funds. It also sells the right to run funds based on those indices to other money managers, including a number of big foreign companies such as Deutsche Bank (DB:NYSE) , United Overseas Bank and Commerzbank.

The first business took a major hit last month when a bankruptcy court judge, in response to the lawsuit filed by Refco's creditors, froze $312 million in an index fund that had been jointly managed and marketed by PlusFunds and Refco. The order signed by Judge Robert Drain effectively prohibits investors from redeeming money in the Sphinx Managed Futures Fund until the dispute is sorted out. ("Sphinx" is the brand name under which the S&P hedge fund indices are licensed.)

...more...

[salin]

58. UIA and other marketeers...

I was pondering the amount of time passed since Sarbanes-Oxly was passed into law - care to come over and discuss? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2352513

It just struck me, that outside of this daily thread, in the GD forums there is very little discussion of what the state of affairs is today and what the implications are therefor. Even less discussion in the MSM. I almost never ask for comment upon another thread - but you all pay very close attention - and your comments would be very interesting.

[UpInArms]

61. Hiya Salin!

Thanks for the invite - have been to your thread - will try to follow along with any further discussion :D

:hi:

[ret5hd]

64. this guy "gets it"...

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/willie/willie010606.html

<snip>
Absurd talk continues of USEconomic robust strength. It is really robust philandering corruption distortion and deception in the calculation of all major economic statistics. A mere 12-yrold kid can unmask the lies on the statistics. Gee, wages will rise to catch up to strong productivity! Well, the benefits of this imported productivity are in Asia. Gee, robust performance with "full employment" is the mindless manipulated mantra. Well, such a boast requires not counting those who no longer receive jobless insurance benefits. Gee, low price inflation has returned to our shores. Well, let's stop driving, shipping, heating, and eating for that matter, and ignore asset bubbles.

The December Institute of Supply Managers (ISM) reports a drop of 9.2% in two months, from 59.1 in Oct to 58.1 in Nov to 54.2 in Dec. Detroit carmakers are bleeding still. General Motors sales in December are down 10%, Ford sales are down 9%, and Chrysler domestic sales are down 5%. Even Honda US sales are down 3.3% in December. The Mortgage Bankers Association seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage index fell 3.4% to 418.3 from the previous week 432.9, its lowest level of activity since February. The index is considered a timely gauge on US home sales. November new home sales are down 11%, with 503k homes in inventory, which makes for a 4.9 month supply. New home prices are down 4.1% over last year. November existing home sales are down 1.7%, and sport an inventory the highest since 1986. Yet consumer sentiment and confidence are each surging, those wondrous soft statistics more linked to the S&P stock index than reality. Easy money prospects push up the major stock indexes, so the consumer gets a lift. The punch bowl is to be refilled, even as household credit card balances have reached an average of $7200.
</snip>

<snip>
Few seem aware of the importance of the petro-dollar superstructure wherein crude oil is bought and sold in US$ denomination. The maverick madman Saddam violated the rules and got slammed. The March splash to the Iranian Oil Exchange heralds a new dawn, putting a message on financial billboards of a massive challenge to the US$. The petro-dollar system links oil to bonds and currencys. Russia has promised military support for Iran if attacked. China has inked numerous deals with Iran, ranging from oil projects to natural gas deals and liquefied natural gas port facility construction, and yes, Silkworm missiles. Look for Israeli "black bag" operations to hit Iran. Their first strike occurred last summer, again unreported by the US lapdog press. They hit, harmed, and temporarily shut down Iran's largest oil facility. By reporting the Teheran demonstrations, and not the previous attacks, the public is being steered like cattle into a corral of public opinion. The Iraqi War was built upon a false justification. Look for the same if a coordinated attack is waged against Iran. My position is not to take political positions, but rather to present information and to provide interpretation. You decide.

In time, the United States will wake up and realize that nuclear power and uranium should become a more critical component to our national energy plan. Hey wait!!! The USA does not have an energy plan, but rather an amalgam of corporate incentives for producers, surely not to be confused with an actual plan. Any national plan takes a back seat to lobbyist efforts and corporate agendas. Look for the USGovt to react defensively, on an increasing basis with military action.
</snip>

[EuroObserver]

67. Asia Times: upswings and downturns

Timing is all...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HA06Dj01.html

It is likely the Fed, under the leadership of Bernanke, a Bush appointee, will suspend its efforts to tighten monetary policy during the first half of 2006 to ensure that US economic growth remains robust, improving the electoral chances of the Republican Party in the mid-term elections.

The result of more accommodative monetary policy will be accelerating US economic growth in the first half of 2006. Accelerating growth is expected to increase US demand for oil. The US is by far the world’s largest oil consumer, using more than 20 million barrels of oil per day. By comparison, the entire European Union consumes about 12 million barrels per day. As US oil demand increases, global oil-supply growth is expected to remain weak. The ratio of oil-producing countries likely to experience continued natural production declines to countries expected to increase oil output in 2006 is about 6:1.

Rising oil-demand growth in the US should propel international oil prices toward $100 per barrel in the first half of 2006. Much higher oil prices will rapidly translate into accelerating US and global non-core inflation. Though core inflation in the US may remain stable, much higher non-core inflation will eventually trigger the flight of foreign capital from US bonds.

As of mid-2005, foreign investors, including foreign central banks, held an estimated $6.6 trillion worth of US bonds and equities, up from less than $4 trillion in mid-2002. About 60% of this money is parked in long-term US Treasury, agency and corporate bonds. The rapid and sustained increase of international oil prices is the main factor behind the growth in foreign holdings of US securities and the external supply of dollars used to purchase these securities.

The risk is high that foreign investors will increasingly question the credibility of the US Federal Reserve as monetary policy becomes more accommodative in the face of rising inflation. The strong advance in gold prices in recent months indicates that the Fed’s credibility is already under scrutiny. By the second quarter of 2006, foreign sales of long-term US bonds and the sliding value of the dollar could push market interest rates sharply higher.

[Danascot]

69. Just wanted to say thanks

for posting the stock market watch reports. I read them religiously.

I like to follow economic news and the regular market watch postings on DU, and the additional info posted in the comments are always worth while.

It takes a bit of effort for you to post these and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate it. Given the number of comments that always follow, I'd say that goes for a number of folks here.

:yourock:

[UpInArms]

71. Hi there Danascot!

Welcome to DU and the SMW! :hi:

Feel free to drop in and comment anytime - add your perspectives and any additional information!

[ozymandius]

72. Finally! I get to join the thread.

Thank you UpInArms for your kind stewardship while I experienced technical difficulties. I regret that my participation will be sporadic, at best, due to the high volume of work that must be done away from any computer today. Nonetheless - here's some data:

12:49
Dow 10,927.54 +45.39 (+0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,295.90 +19.03 (+0.84%)
S&P 500 1,281.22 +7.74 (+0.61%)
10-Yr Bond 43.65 +0.09 (+0.21%)
NYSE Volume 1,210,767,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,166,459,000

12:30 pm : The market holds higher as the session's second half gets under way. Each of the ten economic sectors remain on positive ground; while Energy (+2.4%) and Technology (+0.9%) continue to act as the market's crutches, Material's 1.1% gain is an additional, recently-emerged bright spot. Gold (NEM) is soaring, alongside the 2.3% jump in the price of gold futures contracts for February delivery. Today, the commodity has doubled its week-to-date gain. Back to the Materials sector, aluminum is its only industry trending lower on the day.DJ30 +49.15 NASDAQ +17.27 SP500 +7.80 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1141/1732/1.09 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1097/2058/779.4 mln

[UpInArms]

73. Hiya Ozy!

Am glad that all is well and that you are back :hi:

No problem (well - okay - my calendar was off a day :D ) with starting the thread - and as for the rest, what can I say ... am definitely a news junky :blush:

[loudsue]

74. Hi Ozy! Welcome back! UIA has had your back this a.m.

:applause: What a GREAT bunch the SMW threadsters are! :applause:

Those of us who NEED our market fix every day would be lost without you guys!

:kick::kick::kick:

[UpInArms]

75. U.S. deficits could be C$'s real driver in 2006

http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-01-06T170545Z_01_N03281695_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-CANADA-DOLLAR.XML

TORONTO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Rising commodity prices and interest rates will continue to light a fire under the Canadian dollar in 2006, but concern about U.S. deficits could be the real driver of its march higher, analysts predict.

The loonie charged into the first couple of trading days of 2006 and hit its highest close against the U.S. dollar in 14 years, underscored by expectations that U.S. interest rate hikes may soon end.

But almost as quickly as the Canadian dollar surged, it then reversed course and suffered its steepest fall in a year on Thursday, dropping more than a cent versus the U.S. dollar.

Most analysts, however, say that reversal of fortune is temporary.

"We are still expecting the Canadian dollar to climb to 90 cents. We think that there will be a lot of negatives in terms of the U.S. dollar," said Carolyn Kwan, financial markets economist at Scotia Capital.

"With the U.S. current account and fiscal deficits showing no signs of turning, I think that's going to start weighing. We've already seen a bit of that. When things change, they can move quite quickly."

...more...

[UpInArms]

76. PIEHOLE ALERT: A full head of shit or a head full of shit?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a4sZdnTnKz1Q&refer=us

Bush Says U.S. Economy Strong, Urges Tax Cuts Be Made Permanent

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. economy is being propelled by tax cuts that should be made permanent this year.

``Cutting taxes helps people find a job,'' Bush said in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago. ``The American economy heads into 2006 with a full head of steam. The American consumer is confident.''

The administration is taking credit for a strong economy and a jobless rate of 4.9 percent. Democrats assert Bush is out of touch with middle-class Americans who are struggling with higher prices for medicine, college tuition and home heating costs.

``Bush has his eye on the big picture, claiming credit for the economy,'' said Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta. ``This is Ronald Reagan politics: Cut taxes, get the economy back.''

Bush said Americans are benefiting from tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. ``To ensure that the United States of America is the most productive in the world, the United States Congress must make the tax cuts permanent,'' he said.

...more...

[UpInArms]

77. 2:00 EST buying into the rapture

Dow 10,952.53 +70.38 (+0.65%)
Nasdaq 2,301.66 +24.79 (+1.09%)
S&P 500 1,284.34 +10.86 (+0.85%)
10-Yr Bond 4.364 +0.08 (+0.18%)

NYSE Volume 1,524,672,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,480,639,000

1:30 pm : Standing still, the market holds fast to today's gains. In terms of sector standing, the indices face little challenge. The Telecom sector, off 0.1%, poses the only loss; as that pocket of the market accounts for just 3.1%, its minimal decline has little to no effect on trade today. Treasuries, meanwhile, stand similarly still ... but in the red. The December jobs data weighs upon that market, as November's revision couples with the slightly higher than expected rise in hourly earnings in feeding inflation fears; that re-surfaced concern counters this week's sentiment that the tightening cycle is near finished. Separately, the spread between two and 10-year note yields has narrowed; the two-year offers 4.35% while the 10-year yields 4.37%.DJ30 +48.99 NASDAQ +20.23 SP500 +8.32 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1117/1829/1.35 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1043/2149/982.4 mln

12:55 pm : Little has changed for equities over the past 30 minutes, despite the fact that the price of crude futures contracts have just hurdled the $64.00 (+2.0%) mark. The commodity's gain continues to be the Energy sector's (+2.0%), and ,following in last year's fashion, it maintains its market-driving position. Technology runs neck-and-neck, however, adding 1% today to its own 4% week-to-date gain. The Consumer Discretionary sector demonstrates considerable resilience to the crude action: Relative strength is broad-based, ranging from outperformance in Ford (F 8.55 +0.20) to eBay (EBAY 46.71 +0.83) to Blockbuster (BBY 46.58 +3.08). Particularly-sensitive retailers are up an aggregate 0.5%.DJ30 +46.52 NASDAQ +19.34 SP500 +7.65 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1074/1832/1.18 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1033/2146/860.3 mln

[UpInArms]

79. GM to unveil price cuts next week -- Detroit News, Bloomberg

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38723.5634291319-856550195&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp. (GM) will announce lower prices at the Detroit Auto Show next week, two publications reported Friday. The automaker on Tuesday will unveil cuts on cars and trucks representing about 90% of its U.S. volume, Bloomberg News reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the plan, including Buick, Chevy, Pontiac and GMC brand cars and trucks and two Cadillac models. "We're going to be much more direct this year," Mark LaNeve, vice president of GM's North American vehicle sales, service and marketing division, was quoted by The Detroit News as telling reporters Thursday at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. "We'll say, 'Best product, here's why. Best price on an MSRP basis.' We think our product story has gotten lost in all the reporting of our financial results," LaNeve reportedly said.

:eyes:

[UpInArms]

80. Fitch cuts Lear Corp. to junk on cash flow concern (auto supplier)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-06T181222Z_01_N06323804_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-LEAR-FITCH.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings on Friday lowered its ratings on Lear Corp. (LEA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to junk, citing concerns about limited free cash flow generation.

The auto supplier's weakened operating profile also increases the potential for further balance sheet deterioration in the near term, Fitch said in a statement.

However, Fitch expects Lear to break even or show slightly positive free cash flow in 2006, mitigating the extent of the downgrade, the ratings agency said.

Lear posted a third quarter loss of $750.1 million on Oct. 26, pressured by vehicle output costs in North America and rising raw materials costs.

It said it saw significant risks, including automaker production schedules, volatile prices for resins and other materials due to U.S. hurricanes, and the cost of supporting stressed suppliers.

...more...

[UpInArms]

87. Today's Howler: Walmart's Racism Exposed

Activists call on Wal-Mart's Scott to probe Web snafu

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B96E626B0%2DA6D5%2D4647%2DA373%2D00EFC578B977%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - An activist group called on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Lee Scott Friday to launch an independent probe into how the retailer's Web site randomly linked a "Planet of the Apes" DVD to films about African-Americans.

Late Thursday, Wal-Mart apologized and shut down the automated system that was directing shoppers to movies about Martin Luther King, Tina Turner, actress Dorothy Dandridge and boxer Jack Johnson.

A screen shot of the sci-fi movie about intelligent apes and a suggest list of movie recommendations that included the four DVDs circulated the Internet Thursday.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said in a statement that the company was "heartsick that this happened."

"We were horrified to discover that some hurtful and offensive combinations are being mapped together," she said.

Paul Blank, director of the Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign that has been keeping close track of the retailer's mishaps, called the incident "racist and insensitive." Wal-Mart has faced a number of discrimination-related charges in recent years and is defending itself in the nation's largest civil-action suit that claims the behemoth discriminated against 1.6 million women.

...more...

I can only hope that the good citizens of this country cease all their purchasing from Squal-Mart.

[AnneD]

90. DUH....

I finally did a google search to see if we had a Costco.....We had 2 here in Houston. Hurray!!! It is a bit out of the way but I am ready to make the switch now that I have an option. Good to see you back Ozy and thanks UIA for picking up the mantle. I feel newsless if this thread isn't going.

[54anickel]

93. Dollar Gets New Year Mark Down

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Schiff/jan062006.html

If the first trading week of the new year is a sign of things to come, 2006 may finally reunite Americans with economic reality. Behind a smoke screen of optimistic market forecasts, upbeat predictions of continued prosperity, and rising stock prices, lies an economy teetering on the brink of disaster

Currency traders decided to ring in 2006 by selling those dollars foolishly accumulated in 2005. In the first week of the year the dollar lost about 3% of its value. Against gold, the ultimate barometer of purchasing power, the dollar lost over 4% of its value. Even worse, in terms of a barrel of crude oil, the dollar lost more then 5% of its value.

snip>

However, not only are rate speculations premature, they are likely inaccurate. The main problem is that U.S. interest rates are not determined by the Fed, but by foreign savers and central bankers. In a savings short, debt ridden economy, the lenders call the tune, and Ben Bernanke and company will have no choice but to march to the beat. Stepping out of time could turn the current dollar selling into an all-out run, sending consumer prices, gold and long-term interest rates soaring.

At this point, fundamental, technical, and sentimental indicators all paint a bleak picture for the U.S. dollar, and by extension America’s bubble economy. Ironically, the dollar's bear market rally of 2005 only worsened its long-term outlook, and will hasten its near-term decline. Those who helped sow the winds of that rally had better brace themselves for what could well be “the mother of all whirlwinds. “

more...

[UpInArms]

94. closing and blather

Dow 10,959.31 +77.16 (+0.71%)
Nasdaq 2,305.62 +28.75 (+1.26%)
S&P 500 1,285.45 +11.97 (+0.94%)
10-Yr Bond 4.379 +0.23 (+0.53%)

NYSE Volume 2,417,168,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,328,299,000

Closing the week with an average 3.2% gain, the equity market's major averages continued 2006's streak today. A mixed interpretation of the December employment report triggered some intra-day melee, but buyers ran back post-lunch and carried the market to a fourth straight day of advances.

Each of the ten economic sectors finished on positive ground. A 2.3% surge in the price of crude futures was the Energy sector's gain, with which it closed the week 6% higher. While the energy price action drove that sector, it did little to dampen buying across the broader market. Speaking of commodities, gold futures rose to the highest closing price in 25 years, and helped incite surges across the Materials sector (+1.2%). It was Technology that retained the spotlight today, though; on account of still-surging semiconductors, soaring communication equipment issues, and an altogether general extension of bullishness across the board, Tech rose a weighty 1.4% and continued the 2006 Tech theme. The SOXX index jumped 2% -- up 8% on the week -- and the Nasdaq hit a four and a half year high. Some upbeat corporate news helped to extend the sector's recent rally. Goldman Sachs upped its price target and profit estimates on Google (GOOG 465.15 +13.91) and Yahoo (YHOO 43.20 +1.67) shares, and The Wall Street Journal ran an article discussing those companies' partnership with Briefing.com recommended holding Motorola (MOT 24.47 +0.95) - an example of their efforts to reach consumers beyond the traditional PC. Signifying strong end-market demand, Samsung asserted that it will raise DRAM contract prices by 10%. Garnering particular attention was IBM's (IBM 84.95 +2.45) announcement that it plans to freeze its $48 billion pension plan in 2008. Hardware rallied, and that stock led the Dow, which also hit a four and a half year high today. A lone sore spot was Microsoft (MSFT 26.91 -0.08), which declined following an analyst downgrade.

With respect to the jobs data, investors took somewhat of a mixed interpretation. For a market focused upon the interest rate environment, a lower than expected rise in December non-farm payrolls supported the argument that the Fed may end its current monetary tightening cycle sooner than later. Futures trade jumped, and the indices ran upon the market's launch. However, the consideration of November's upside revision, which essentially puts today's data in-line with what had been expected, served as a tempering factor. A greater than expected uptick in hourly earnings was an additional offsetting element; although the rise was unalarming, that caveat nonetheless fanned inflation concerns. As a result, the Treasury market spent another session submerged and bond traders further flattened the yield curve. The rate-sensitive Financial sector took a bearish cue, but banks reversed course and pushed the influential sector to a supportive 0.5% gain.

Aside from the four and a half year highs hit by the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq this week, the NYSE Composite, S&P Financial, Oil Services, S&P Midcap, and Russell 2000 also touched historic highs.DJ30 +77.16 NASDAQ +28.75 SP500 +11.97 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1037/2020/2.29 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 843/2450/1.77 bln